Monday, October 07, 2013

The Not Yet Cup



Mom, it’s perfect morning for hot cocoa, but we are all out of Swiss Miss.

It’s early October and morning temperatures have briefly dipped into ‘chilly’ upper 60’s, enough for my children to call for the cool season's favorite. True products of the instant generation living inside the micro-second culture, they are paralyzed when anything 'instant' is out of stock. 

Maybe it’s time for you guys to learn how to make it from scratch. We have cocoa powder and there is always milk and sugar. It’s not rocket science.

They get the supplies out and I measure a teaspoon of cocoa and a little sugar in each cup.  I stir in just enough milk and warm it up in the microwave (I have to yield somewhere) to break up the clumps. 

There is a little inspector standing next to me, watching my every move.  A thick brown sludge covers the bottom of her mug. It looks unappetizing and it’s not what she had in mind when she asked for hot cocoa.

She tries hard to hold back the disappointment but feels compelled to ask:

Is this ALL I am going to get? Her dream of perfect morning is quickly dissipating along with the cocoa clumps inside her cup.

You need to be patient.  It’s not ready yet. I am still working on it. I can't believe how short-sighted my children can sometimes be!

Then I hear the words again, this time as if spoken to me!

It's not ready yet…I am still working on it... You need to be patient...

Just like my junior assistant, I often find myself standing on my tippy toes, watching over God's shoulder as He mixes in the ingredients inside the cup of my life. I peer in and all I see is the thick brown sludge covering the bottom. 

Is this all, God?  Is this all I am going to get?

I fight back the waves of disappointment and the loss of a dream of a perfect fall morning, hot cocoa and all…

It's hard to live in the not-yet, when the cup is almost empty, and all I see is what looks like crud to me. 

You need to be patient, dear…He whispers… You need to be patient…. I am still working on it…  I am not done yet… 


Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Psalm 37:7

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