ME, GOD AND OREOS

My mind takes me back to a time our daughter Cindy, and grandchildren, Katie and Brady came for a visit. The children were very young. Brady was still on the bottle and in diapers. He had just recently learned to walk. And had learned only a few words. Kids have to get cookies when they go to their grandparents. It is all part of the grand scheme of things. So when snack time came, MaMaw brought out the oreos. Brady being as young as he was, I handed the oreos to big sister and said, "Here you go Katie. Share with your brother." Within a matter of seconds I heard Brady scream at the top of his lungs. I was paranoid to say the least. I thought he had been seriously hurt. He was still on his feet, no blood, no injuries of any kind just yelling, crying and jibber jabber. It took a while for PaPaw and me to figure out what the problem was. Katie had obeyed. She shared the oreo with baby brother. But when the top portion of the cookie separated from the bottom, she kept the part that had the sweet, good tasting filling. She handed Brady the part with only the cookie. Young? Yes. Did they have a lot to learn? Yes. Were they unknowledgeable? No. They both knew that the sweet and good part of the oreo was in the center. And, they both were going to go after what they knew was sweet and good, regardless of how much noise they had to make. ME, GOD AND OREOS are similar to this event. God knew in the center of me there was sweet and good. And He was going to go after it, regardless of how much noise He had to make. He separated me just like an oreo. God worked with me by taking off the top portion, giving me the desire to take a super honest look at myself. Observe what was staring back at me in my mirror. He gave me the will to improve the areas of myself that were not sweet or good to Him or me. The hardened heart, negativism, impatience, bad language, lack of concern for others, failure to communicate with my loved ones and so much more. God knew that was only half the internal battle I was fighting. I had to work on the bottom portion. The sweet and good He uncovered about me, would remain stuck to the bottom. Just like an oreo. God sent me back to my mirror. This time I found the reflection of guilt, shame, pain, low self esteem, inadequacy, fear and again so much more. These were feelings coming from the poor choices either I or someone in my life had made. Feelings that were affecting my every day life. The wrongs of my past had to be removed so the bottom base could be strong to hold the sweet and good. Do I have a lot to learn? Yes Am I perfect? No Am I going to make mistakes? Yes Will I have bad feelings again? Absolutely Will I think of the past? Definitely Will any of this affect my present or future? Positively Every day I have to learn. Now I go to God for the knowledge I need. No one is exempt from error. Not even christians. We are all human beings. When errors are made, bad feelings surface. We do think of our past. It is part of who we are. Sometimes God reminds us of it so we do not make the same bad choices and mistakes. Sometimes Satan reminds us of it so he can get us to make the same errors. But, now I know enough to go to God for guidance. It is our choice how we let all that has ever been in our lives, affect our present and future. With all of my faith and trust in God, I have chosen to let my experiences affect my present and future in a POSITIVE way. Because ME, GOD and OREOS got down to the center for the sweet and good of me.