We are in the U.S. on a short home leave to visit our family, friends, and church. I am so grateful for the articles and devotionals that some of our readers sent after my appeal last month. I believe everyone will be blessed as we share insights and stories from others. Carolyn shares from life overseas with a baby and a toddler. Be blessed!
Pancakes By Candlelight
Yesterday I felt like the Proverbs 31 woman—entirely by accident.
Ben (my 4 month-old) woke up for his morning feed, and I looked at my watch and thought it said ten minutes to seven. Thinking Will (my 2 year-old) would be up soon, I decided not to go back to bed because I knew I’d feel even more tired if I went back to sleep. I was craving pancakes, so I went to the kitchen, turned the heater up to “medium” because it was freezing in there, made pancake batter, finished last night’s dishes, started Ben’s diapers in the washing machine, and went back to flipping pancakes. After the second pancake, the power went out. Well, I thought, thank goodness I have a gas stove and everything’s ready to go for breakfast—and I just unpacked all my candles the night before. So I cheerfully went around the house lighting candles, feeling very pleased with myself for having everything under control. Will woke up about ten minutes later, crying a little because it was pitch black (he’s just started being worried about the dark lately), so I went into his room with my candle, sat down and gave him a hug, and then said, “Will, do you know what candles mean?”
“Hmmm?” he said.
“They mean that Jesus is always with us, even in the dark.”
“Oh!” he said, “Jesus can-noh (candle)!”
“Do you want a pancake?”
His eyes lit up and he made his “ ’sited!” (excited) face, so I put his fleece on over his pajamas and as we went into the candlelit kitchen I started singing “This Little Light Of Mine.” Will loved it, and by the second verse was holding up his little index finger and singing “Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine” with me. I was so thankful for how God worked things out—here I was, totally in control even with no power, with a good breakfast all ready to go by the time James got up. He came in and said, “Wow, the Proverbs 31 woman!” And then proceeded to tell me that it was only just after 7 am—I had gotten up at ten minutes to six! No wonder it was so pitch dark outside! And as it turned out, the power wasn’t really off (thank God!)—I had only flipped the breaker by having the washing machine, hot water heater and kitchen heater on at the same time. Oops.
So James went outside to fix the breaker, and as the lights came back on and I saw my candlelight disappear into electric brightness, I was thankful for how God had worked everything out—instead of being stressed out by not having power, somehow pancakes with my son by candlelight started the day off on such a cheerful note!
Carolyn Broughton
Now that you have read Carolyn’s story, why not take a mini-break from your hectic schedule. Put your feet up. Grab a hot or cold drink, whichever tastes best in the place where you live. Now, recall some moments that could have been bad but turned out good, all because of your attitude. Think about a time when your attitude was sliding downhill fast and one of your children said something that turned you around. Finally, take a few moments to thank God for his presence in the small moments of life as well as the big ones.
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