Chocolate Pudding

My name is Elizabeth, and I am a sugar addict. I'm not a bread/pasta/carbs person. I am not addicted to fast food. Sugar is my vice.
Pop + Chocolate = Heaven.
I've been trying to cut back on my sugar, so I'm employed the use of a couple of my own personal "methodones." When I am really in the mood for something sweet I'll settle for a chocolate pudding. I know, not my best option, but I'm weaning myself slowly.
And I freakin' love chocolate pudding.

As I sat down at my kitchen table to eat my chocolate delight, I thought about how I should really write a blog entry. I like to pretend that people are counting on my quasi-inspirational words to get them through their monotonous, wearisome work week. Then I thought about how tired I am.
Pastor on a Sunday = ex.haus.ted.

I looked down at my pudding.
I looked up at my computer.
Back to the pudding.
Back up to the computer.
Back to the pudding. (now empty)
"hmm... is there any more pudding in the cupboard? I should recycle this."
Back to the computer.

Then I remembered- I wrote a little note on Facebook back in 2009 about Chocolate Pudding! Woot woot! A little copy and paste and it's beddy bye time.

"Wait," I thought to myself, "will anyone recognize this from that time I posted it on the obscure 'notes' section of Facebook that no one pays attention to?" Yeah. I am actually that egotistical to think that someone would remember a little anecdote I shared two years ago.

So, I'm assuming that you haven't read this before, or have read it and completely forgotten about it. And honestly, I think the message is one that bears reminding.

So rewind your timepieces back to the grand ol' year of 2009...
Aidan is two and we are in the midst of potty training. And, he won't eat anything. Like, anything. Here's a list of Aidan-accepted foods:

macaroni and cheese
grilled cheese
cheese pizza
cheese
chicken nuggets
mashed potatoes
tortilla chips
ice cream
pudding
scrambled eggs
pancakes
cheddar cheese goldfish
cheddar cheese goldfish swimming by a sailboat-shaped grilled cheese sandwich which is drifting lazily in a sea made of easy cheese.

He really liked cheese.

That particular spring day potty training was going splendidly AND Aidan ate waffles for breakfast (note waffles are not included on the approved foods list).

It was a time for celebration, so we cracked open the chocolate pudding. I let him get at it while I cleaned up some dishes in the kitchen. Soon I heard a panicked, "Mom, help!"

I run to see what is so upsetting. Aidan has spilled some of his pudding on his wrist and hand. The kid can play in a big hole in the ground full of mud, but he gets a little pudding on him and he loses it.

I tell him to wait a minute while I get a rag to clean him up, but he insists on fixing the problem himself. Soon he has chocolate pudding on his arms, face, hands, and shirt. It's everywhere.

I told him to be still. If he just let me clean him up, the mess would have been taken care of in no time. But instead, the more he struggled the bigger the mess became. I can still hear my voice, "Aidan, be still!"

I started thinking about the messes I get myself into. I try to clean myself up on my own, in my own power, and I just end up making a big mess. The whole time I can hear God just saying, "Elizabeth, be still!"

We need to humble ourselves before God and cry out to Him for help. Let Him bring us up out of our mess. The more we struggle against His hand, the more we hinder His work in our lives.

"Come now, let us argue this out," says the LORD. "No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool.
Isaiah 1:18
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
1 John1:9
I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.
Psalm 40:1-2

Have you ever tried to make things right on you own? Did you ever end up making a bigger mess of something in your life because you weren't willing to just let God handle it?