Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Cookies by Sarah's Sweet Shoppe

Hello, I am Sarah from Sarah's Sweet Shoppe, and I was thrilled when sweet Kim asked me write a guest post for The Cookie Puzzle.  Kim is practically my neighbor as far as cookie decorators go. Well, not quite close enough to borrow an egg, but we cheer for the same baseball team (Go Royals!), so that is close enough!  Thank you, Kim, for this opportunity to share my heart and a few cookies with your friends... So, grab your cup of coffee and ENJOY! 

"Mom. Mom! MOMMA!!!" yelled "Curious K.," my five year-old middle daughter, from the way-back of the minivan, one afternoon as we were making our thrice-daily trek to the school to drop-off or pick-up a child.  Since she had stayed home that day recovering from the stomach flu, I anticipated the worst and took a deep breath as I turned down the radio and lovingly responded. "Yes, dear..." (Ok, that isn't exactly how it came down...) "WHAT?!?  Are you OK? Did you get sick?  Do I need to stop the car?" I hollered back in near panic mode.

"Momma... Even before I was born, GOD had a great plan for my life." 

Wow. Wow! Thank you Jesus! I muttered... in my head, as I more thoughtfully responded. "Yes... Isn't that AWESOME?!?"

"Curious K." with her special birthday gift. 

As a sweet child, Curious K. gets it.  She knows deep down what most grown-ups so easily forget.  She knows that she is "fearfully and wonderfully made."

"I will praise you, 

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

Marvelous are Your works,

and that my soul knows very well." 

 Psalm 139:14 (NKJV)

Recently, for Curious K's birthday, we gave her this picture for her room.   I was initially drawn to it because she loves butterflies... but as I looked closer, I noticed the cute little caterpillar in the lower right-hand corner.  The inscription reads: "God sees the real me!"  When I posted this picture on my FB page, Kim messaged me right away.  "I love that picture...  when I saw [it]... my first thought was that would make GREAT Autism Related Cookies."

As cookie bakers, Kim and I both have "Tootsie Roll" eyes.  Do you remember the late 70's Tootsie Roll commercial "Whatever it is I think I see, becomes a Tootsie Roll to me."  (For the record, I was only two years old when this came out.  Why I remember it so vividly "...the world will never know.")  Well, the same thing happens to cookie bakers.  When we see a fun design, it turns into a cookie in our head, and if we are blessed with an occasion or a few spare hours, it may actually turn into one in real life too... At my house, we call it "cookie-d."

Curious K's picture cookie-d.  Hand-painted cookies.
"A little bit of sugar and a lot of love."

As an exceptionally awkward tween, the Bill Gather chorus "He's Still Working on Me" was one of my favorites (Yes, I am old. ;^) and it still speaks to me today:  

"There really ought to be a sign upon my heart: 
'Don't judge me yet, there's an unfinished part!'
 But I'll be perfect, just according to his plan, 
fashioned by the Master's loving hand."

The caterpillar reminds me that we may never become perfect butterflies this side of glory, but that is how our Creator sees us through Christ.  

When Kim and I were talking about this picture, she summed it up so well: "It means that Collin was made PERFECT, that the Lord did not make a mistake, that he was put on this earth for a reason, that he has purpose, that it is up to ME, as his mom to help him be all that he was meant to be." Yes!  Kim gets it. 


My friend Emily put it this way about her son Logan:  "Last night at our Good Friday service, we were singing a bunch of songs that were a bit somber and in the minor cord. Logan loves to sing along and picked up on the somber sounds of the song, so he was singing very dramatically. One particular note at the end of a line, he was just belting out...but didn't stop when the church did and was singing it REALLY loudly. He was so 'into' singing that he didn't notice we had stopped. While my first thought was to be embarrassed, my heart immediately remembered that God loves to hear the music and worship of His children. While he was off key and sounded a bit like a cow giving birth, to God it was sweet, sweet music. Then I got all teary and praised God for the precious reminder of why He sent his son to die; so that one day we can all stand before His throne singing praise to Him and Logan will be fully restored, never again having to worry about any of his health issues and worshiping God forever in His new perfect body."

As a parent, we want lots of things for our children.  One thing that I wish for my girls is that other people would know and appreciate who they really are... beautiful creations, masterpieces, children of God.  God doesn't make junk.  God doesn't make mistakes.  So, whatever makes your child "special," whether it is Autism, or Down syndrome, or chronic illness, or blue eyes... He or she was made just that way, on purpose, for a purpose.  As parents, this can sometimes be difficult to accept.  No doubt.  

But as a curious on-looker to God's perfect plan, we should hold tight to it and never let it wander far from our minds.  When we see a mom struggling with a child, when someone sings "too loud" at the end of a hymn at church, when we see a child being hurt by the unkind words of other children... there are millions of occasions to remember that these children are "fearfully and wonderfully made."  Shall we treat them and their caregivers that way?

"For I know the plans I have made for you,
declares the LORD, 

plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you a hope and a future." 

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Sarah

P.S. - If you love this plaque as much as Kim and I do, you can get your own at Dayspring.com.  They are on clearance for only $12!!   (I love to pass on a good deal! ;^)