Finding God in little things!

Who doesn't love birthdays? We all do.Growing up, birthdays have always been special at our home-nothing extravagant but simple birthdays that made us feel special and loved.My Mom had to put up with my constant stream of reminders everyday, right from the beginning of my birthday month.I made sure she wouldn't forget it by any chance.On my birthday as a kid, there was usually a Bible passage from Isaiah read and I would be specially prayed over during our morning family prayer. Clad in a new outfit, I'd be beaming when the whole school would sing the birthday song during the morning assembly. Chocolate distribution to the whole class and to all the teachers would soon ensue. I'm sure we've all envied that friend who accompanied the birthday girl to all the classes.

Now that I've become a Mom, my role in making birthdays in the family special is pretty big, which translates to back-breaking work in the kitchen.For my daughter' s sixth birthday this year around, I had made Aapam with Aatu Kaal paaya (Lamb trotters stew) for breakfast, Biriyani with ennai kathirikai (eggplant curry)and Raitha for lunch.I had stayed up the previous night to bake a cake.Extra lunch boxes were packed for colleagues at  my office and my husband's.

I felt so accomplished! I had cooked, cleaned , gotten the children off to school and daycare and had made it to office on time! The biriyani had become an instant hit at our offices and I couldn't help brag about the morning feat to a few. Evidently, pride had kicked in.

The next morning my husband preferred the simple and easy-to-make curd rice for lunch. I headed to the kitchen, made the curd rice and began to prepare some capsicum kootu and soya stir-fry. Halfway through, I checked the clock and it was already 8:20! With just 5 mins for the school bus to leave, I panicked. My husband who usually helps was already hurrying for a meeting at work.I took out my temper out on my daughter who was still playing, got her dressed, and hurried her to the bus, only to have the capsicum burnt and the soya a complete mess.

I had terribly failed.That's when I was reminded of the verse,"Without me, you can do nothing".Although the verse implies that we can do nothing of eternal significance without God, I have seen God work in me or my circumstances when I depend on Him even in the little things of everyday life-like cooking.I wouldn't have lost my temper and handled everything much better, if only I had prayed before heading off into the kitchen.Doing life without God is indeed a recipe for failure!