A Fruit Medley Pie Lesson- Embracing God’s Plan For Us
What does a fruit medley pie have to teach us about God’s plan? Wendy shares her reflections on baking an unusual pie and learning to trust in God’s plan for our lives.
Waste Not, Want Not
Who would have thought that a fruit medley pie could teach a valuable life lesson? I’m an experimenter in my garden, in my writing, in my sewing, in my art, and in my kitchen. I’d rather piece together my own unique meals than wrestle with a recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I do follow cookbooks—at least at first I do, but over time I tend to make my own adjustments or substitutions to the ingredient lists.
It’s risky because I have created some catastrophic cuisine. And my family, though gracious, knows I appreciate an honest critique of my cooking, for I don’t want to repeat a recipe experiment if it flopped our family’s taste test.
Sadly, I often don’t carry this adventurous spirit with me outside of my hobbies. I like life to follow its usual course.
Recently, when I was listening to CBC radio while preparing dinner, a radio host told listeners not to waste food because there’s way too much stuff being thrown into the garbage these days; my conscience went into overdrive as I recalled the homemade piecrust waiting patiently in the fridge for me to transform it into a mouthwatering apple pie.
I glanced at the clock. Hmm … there’s just enough time for me to prepare a pie and pop it into the oven before returning to my supper preparations. So I sprinkled flour on the counter and placed the dough on top of it.
A Kitchen Experiment
What I should have done was count the whole cost first—especially how many apples were available for the task. But I didn’t. I waited until I had the bottom crust on the glass pie plate and the top crust rolled out and waiting to blanket a savory hill of sliced apples, cinnamon, sugar and other tasty ingredients.
I opened the fruit crisper and discovered I was short on the starring role.
Oh, well, I’ve come too far to back out now. If worse comes to worst, I’ll scrounge some apples from my neighbor’s abandoned tree. But the message about not wasting food reminded me of a half-bag of forgotten frozen fruit in the freezer. No one wanted it, and I thought it would be wise to use it before it aged out. But I was already bugged about my failed pie plans, and I wasn’t sure this would be a wise substitution. What would the trio of frozen fruit and apples taste like together? Should I risk it?
I dumped the contents into the mixture-in-progress and tossed the works until it was well-coated with sugar and spices. Too late now to back out.
As one by one, my family members asked me what I was making, I answered them truthfully so I didn’t raise false hopes for my usual beloved dessert. Because there wasn’t going to be anything usual about this one. But maybe, just maybe, it would be passable when drowned with dollops of vanilla ice cream.
Will It Be Alright In The End?
I’m addicted to the usual and allergic to the unusual. I like life to roll out as predictably as my pie crust does. I don’t mind surprises like chocolate or fresh flowers. I love unexpected letters or cards in the mail. But otherwise, I prefer each day to follow a familiar pattern. So of course, I sometimes ask myself why I got married and why I had children if I’m so adverse to the unusual. Because you know, the more people you have in your household and in your heart, the more you’re going to be tossed upside-down and turned inside-out. It’s going to a medley of mixed-up-plans, clashing-purposes, and dueling-passions.
I slid the dessert into the preheated oven. It looked like my usual apple pie. And as time passed by—while I prepared a supper of sweet and sour pork, rice, and vegetables—the pie baked like usual. But the aroma that emanated from it was more delicious than normal.
Was this just a tease or was it going to be alright in the end?
A Fruit Medley Pie Lesson
And speaking of things being alright, was this whole family thing going to work out in the end too? I mean, I married a good-willed man who loves me as perfectly as an imperfect human can. But are we all going to make it to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb? That’s what all of this bakes down to. It’s not about how usual or unusual our journey is. It’s not about the stuff we accumulate or waste. It’s about what’s going on inside of us. And who is inside of us. When it’s all been lived and died, we’ll be asked who we say Jesus is. And when the Lord asked this of His disciples, Peter—who much like me—wasn’t fond of the unusual, gave the right answer only later to deny three times that he knew the Lord.
But Peter didn’t hang up his life and waste it like Judas Iscariot had done. He kept moving forward and was available for the unusual life-course correction Jesus gave him. And Peter’s life turned out so much the amazingly better for it.
My fruit medley pie not only created a pleasing aroma that permeated our entire house, but when we dug into it, we were satisfied and thrilled to discover that my not giving up and my decision not to waste, blessed us with a dessert worthy of repeating. I even hid the leftover portion so my husband and I would be assured of a rare second serving. You lose if you snooze in our kitchen, for hollow legs abound in every direction
Embracing God’s Plan
So what’s the fruit medley pie lesson in this? May each of us embrace the medley of mundane days, miraculous moments, and testy trials that make up the recipe of our lives. Let’s keep moving forward and allow God to transform us through the unusual life events that are sure to show up and turn our plans into His plans for us.
Just as it says in Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
I’m learning to embrace the unusual—slowly but surely. I hope I’ve encouraged you to as well.
Oh taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8 KJV)
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Wendy Macdonald
Wendy L. Macdonald is a Canadian, inspirational writer/blogger who also loves to photograph nature. When she’s not writing, drawing, gardening, or sewing, she enjoys hiking, with her husband, in the beautiful parks of the Comox Valley. She home-schooled her children and believes all those years of reading wonderful classics aloud helped develop her love of storytelling and writing.
Wendy’s show, “Walking With Hope” airs on HopeStreamRadio, providing observations and insights from both her life experience, and her knowledge of God.
Read and hear more from Wendy L. Macdonald on the contributor’s page or on her personal website.
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