It was a colossal baking failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow did your muffins turn out?\u201d hubby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTerrible!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen throw them out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, no,\u201d I said. \u201cI can eat them.\u201d Immediately I began\nthinking of ways to make them better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d made those muffins several times using raisins and dried\napricots. But the raisins are high-calorie. Why not substitute pineapple? I\ndidn\u2019t drain the crushed pineapple, thinking the juice could replace skim milk\nin the original recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After baking them for the suggested time, I removed the\nmuffins from the oven and checked one. The inside was a gooey glob. Back in the\noven another ten minutes. Still gooey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After five more minutes, the muffins were still slightly\ngooey but looked edible. I could hardly wait to sample my ingenious creation.\nMy impression of the first bite: overwhelmingly pineapple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like pineapple, but this was too much of a good thing. I\ndon\u2019t like throwing away good stuff. I also have a little streak of\nstubbornness that wouldn\u2019t let a muffin win this contest of wills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So\u2026I started thinking about ways to make the muffins better. I cut one into chunks and heated in the microwave, sprinkled almonds and coconut on top, added a generous scoop of sugar-free vanilla ice cream and sugar-free whipped topping, and drizzled caramel syrup over all. Delicious!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I only have two muffins left. Thinking I may bake another\nbatch. And don\u2019t be surprised if my dessert shows up at a church potluck!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do we do when life hands us a colossal failure? We can give up\u2026or we can consider ways to make things better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do we do when life hands us a colossal failure? We can give up\u2026or we can consider ways to make things better. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Another term for my \u201clittle streak of stubbornness\u201d is a\n\u201cgift of perseverance.\u201d I refuse to give up. Giving up is easy. It takes\ncourage to persevere through failure and make something delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the quality I most admire\nin my biblical friend, Joseph. No matter what life threw at him, he made the\nbest of his situation. Despised by his\nbrothers, thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, unjustly accused, imprisoned, and\nforgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But God had put a promise in his heart; and believing it would come to\npass, he made the best of every situation (read his story in Genesis 37-50).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if the future didn\u2019t bring what he expected, making the best of\nhis circumstances enriched his present. No way could he fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know the end of the story. Overnight he went from prison to\nPharaoh\u2019s palace, becoming second in command in Egypt. Through his wise\nleadership, the nation stored grain during seven years of plenty to sustain\nthem through the harsh seven years of famine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What has life thrown at you? Has failure stolen your dream and your grit and left you thinking about giving up? Don\u2019t do it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What has life thrown at you? Has failure stolen your dream and your grit and left you thinking about giving up? Don\u2019t do it! <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Right now, start making a list of ways to make things better. God has given you all you need to turn colossal failure into something delicious!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make\nmention of thy righteousness, even of thine only\u201d (Psalm 71:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would you tell me about a time when failure nearly robbed\nyour dreams? And please share this article with your friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a colossal baking failure. \u201cHow did your muffins turn out?\u201d hubby said. \u201cTerrible!\u201d \u201cThen throw them out.\u201d \u201cOh, no,\u201d I said. \u201cI can eat them.\u201d Immediately I began thinking of ways to make them better. I\u2019d made those muffins several times using raisins and dried apricots. But the raisins are high-calorie. Why not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,330,438,509,510,18,511,508],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-dianne-barker","tag-joseph","tag-living-the-maximum-life","tag-muffins","tag-never-give-up","tag-perseverance","tag-stubborn","tag-turn-failure-into-something-delicious"],"yoast_head":"\n