A few weeks ago, I reheated some food in my favorite pie plate. When I went to pull it out of the microwave, I realized the dish was broken. I threw it out, after showing my mother the pieces. I knew she would love to buy a new pie plate next time she is looking for a gift for me.
You can certainly survive life without a pie plate. This weekend, though, I decided to bake an apple pie. Because we don’t have our regular pie plate, I bought a few disposable pie plates. They’re perfectly adequate—and great for giving pies away—but they are a little small. As I filled one with dough and apples for a pie, I realized I had extra dough.
There wasn’t quite enough for another double-crusted pie, but I could maybe make a tart. I’ve never made a tart before, but I didn’t want the dough to go to waste.
So, I rolled out the dough, pressed it into a second pie plate, and filled it with some of the leftover apple slices from the pie. I added some sliced strawberries, tossed in some cinnamon and sugar, and crumbled some flour, sugar, and butter together for a topping.
I didn’t really have a plan, but I had nothing to lose except a little fruit and some sugar.
I slid the fruit tart into the oven and cooked it for…I have no idea how long. I checked it now and then, watching the top to make sure it didn’t burn but that it seemed to be cooked through.
I finally took it out and set it on the counter to cool.
If it worked, I knew I would never be able to replicate this recipe. If it didn’t work, I would never really know what to adjust if I wanted to make another attempt.
It was a low-risk adventure. I never planned to make this tart. I didn’t even take the time to find recipes or do research online. But even without a plan, somehow I had everything I needed to make it come together. As pleased as I was to be pulling a fresh apple pie out of the oven, it was the tart—a sweet surprise—that really made me smile.
I found myself realizing that this new treat had only happened because my normal pie plate was broken. But that’s how life is sometimes. Challenges can set us on different paths. We discover new opportunities. Somehow God gives us what we need and lets us surprise ourselves with something new, some unexpected pleasure, a small sign of his love for us.
For me, that was a freshly baked tart I never planned to make. I hope you’ll see your own sign of God’s love in your life today.
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