Just Peachy!

I'm going to tell you a secret. My attitude is not always peachy! Like today. Many things have have caused my attitude to be more like a sour grape. No amount of sugar can make a sour grape taste good. Pie crust won't cover it up, either. They just have to be tossed out. And so it is with bad attitudes...which, if not dealt with, like yeast, expand and grow and blow things all out of proportion.

Have you ever heard of Hannah Whitall Smith? She has been dead for over a century but her words still speak to me, loud and clear. Her books are amongst my favorite reads. In chapter twelve of The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life she tells us that miserable people with reeking attitudes like mine, will often tell her, "I can easily submit to things that come from God; but I cannot submit to man, and most of my trials and crosses come through human instrumentality."

Can you relate to that? Aren't most of our un-peach-like attitudes the direct result of some relational rift? It could be an unkind word poked under your skin by a loved one, or, heck, you know. We all have relational issues that give our attitudes a yank off the road to holiness.

If you've ever prayed the last two verses of Psalm 139, you can bet that you are going to soon come face-to-face with some bad peaches in your attitude bin. This is just what has happened with me. I prayed that prayer, as I so often do, and wham! That 'human instrumentality' plays me like a harp out of tune. I don't like seeing how quickly I get baked over such things...

We read our Bibles, we pray to be like Jesus, and He answers by supplying the very opportunities we need for honing humble and sweet attitudes.

So, here I am. Softening under the heat of Stephen's words in Acts 7:60, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Wow. An attitude like Jesus, a sweet aroma to the Lord!

Just what the Lord would want baking in our heart's oven! I just told my wonderful friend Emily that if she could see into my heart she would scream and jump back! and the Lord, He sees it all...gulp... and uses those sharp human instruments to cut a hole in our crusty heart and let the unpeachy attitudes be revealed...and tossed out by confession and forgiveness.

And that is just peachy!

And so is this! It was a hit at my Bible study brunch this morning.

Peach Crumble
Juice of one lemon
8 peaches, skinned and sliced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup oats

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix peaches, cinnamon, nutmeg together. Toss them into a baking dish. Mix topping ingredients till crumbly (hmmm...wonder why they call it Peach Crumb?). Spread on top of peaches. Bake till bubbly and lightly browned.
(@ 15-30 minutes.)