Perfect Shell Noodles

The perfect giant shell noodle, there is no such thing. A couple of Sundays ago, I was making a family favorite recipe that is a Mexican twist to the old stuffed pasta shell. After boiling the giant shell noodles, the recipe calls for the noodles to be stuffed with a hamburger and cream cheese mixture. Usually this is not too hard a task, but this particular day, I was hard pressed to find a noodle that was not split so badly that I could use it. As I examined each one and tossed it to the side, the thought came to me, what if God tossed all the broken lives he encounters to the side, waiting for a perfect one to come along? What if he looked at my life and said "No, this one has messed up too many times to be able to be used?" My heart immediately began to rejoice that I know the truth of scripture that he uses even the broken noodles in life. He is in the mending of lives business. It is what He died for. The more broken the life, the more glory he receives from its ultimate usefulness. In the end, the recipe noodles filled with cheese tasted the same whether they had a few splits in them or not. Same for our lives,it will not matter in the end how broken our lives were, but what we filled our lives with on the inside that will count and make us perfectly fit to enjoy heaven. Is your outside split and cracked from the world of sin? Have you made some bad choices? What is your inside filled with? God uses cracked outsides and Jesus filled insides when we surrender both to his all-powerful hand. Thank you Jesus! Isaiah 61: 1-3- "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Ephesians 3:8- "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."

Personal Update

It's been a while since my last post, and I wanted to take a moment to let you know what has been happening in my life that has kept me from writing. I am happy to tell you, we have added a baby girl to the family born September 23, 2012. It was a rough pregnancy and babies turn your world upside down for awhile. Along with that another birth of sorts has taken place, I have completed a devotional book with articles just like you read here, that I hope to be able to publish this year. Since baby girl is now 15-months old and the book is complete except for editing, I hope to begin posting more. Prayers appreciated for both. Thanks to all my readers, you have been missed!