When I was a senior in high school, a youth minister whom I have always admired gave a talk at a retreat I was attending that has been so meaningful to me as I have navigated my way through college and the first few years of young adulthood. I was in my last semester of high school at the time and the talk was about developing an adult faith life, so he had my attention. My parish in my hometown was my home--I was so involved in everything and it fed me so well during my high school years (both literally and spiritually). But it was all I knew, and I was about to move. He talked about how when you're in high school, there are so many opportunities to go on retreats and be involved in a youth group, and how God provides us with so much consolation during that time. Its a beautiful experience that draws us close to God and shapes us in faith, but faith, he said, is like a chocolate chip cookie.
The sweet moments of consolation we have in prayer, the times when we really feel close to God and encounter Him in an emotional way, those are the chocolate chips. But a chocolate chip cookie is made of more than just chocolate chips. In fact, the bulk of a chocolate chip cookie is actually flour. The flour represents the hustle and bustle of adult life...work, bills, assignments, the things we don't normally think to see God in. But if we're only seeing God in the chocolate chips, we're missing out on the whole cookie and not seeing the Lord in the bulk of life. And honestly, school, work and struggles are the places we need God the most! So the message was to recognize that in adult life, there might be a lot more flour than chocolate chips, but we have to know that God is present in both and that prayer and being faithful are important in those sweet chocolatey moments of consolation and in the not-so-sweet moments. You can't have a chocolate chip cookie without both ingredients.
He also talked about how the chocolate chips flavor the rest of the cookie, and just so, those moments of sweetness with the Lord should "flavor" the rest of our lives. Not only should we look for God in our every day lives, but we should bring him to others as well by showing love at our jobs, in our communities, and to our families.
I hope you have lots of chocolate chips in your life, but I also hope that you look for God in the flour because I promise you He's there.
And if you're craving a cookie after reading this, the best ones are at Whataburger.
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