Day 266- A Peanut Butter/Chocolate First

Laura is coming home from an out of town trip as I type this. She has a consulting business and so travels out of town occasionally to teach a class on supervisory skills, hiring/firing guidelines, customer service, etc.  She left yesterday and is coming home tonight; probably arriving here between 11-12.

I taught a small group Bible study tonight.  A very, very sweet friend of ours stayed with our children while I did that.  After I got home, I decided to make Laura a treat for my "first."  I've never made her a dessert for a homecoming surprise before. 

I do not cook.  By that, I mean I really do not cook. I can grill a good steak and I can microwave stuff.  After that, it's just not in my wheelhouse.  Tonight, I thought it would be sweet (pun intended) to make Laura a dessert for when she gets home.  The problem is, as I mentioned earlier, I don't cook.  So, I scoured the cabinets (keep in mind this is at 9:15 p.m.) for something I could make her that did not require a trip to the store or any real culinary skills. 

I found a box of Reese's dessert bar mix.  It is not with entirely pure motives that I chose this. I love Reese's peanut butter cups.  I looked on the ingredients on the back and I had all the ingredients that I needed to cook this.  I took this as a sign from God that I should do this.  Of course, I could have taken this as most people have butter and water in their homes.  But, to each his own interpretation.

I promise that I did not realize that this was a no-bake recipe until I had started.  I had planned on baking something.  Since this was a no-bake recipe and I had already opened the box, I interpreted  this as the favor of God upon my endeavor.

This was about as simple as it gets.  I can melt butter in the microwave and stir. That's about all this required, though I will say that spreading gooey stuff is not easy.  I'm definitely going for the "it's the thought that counts" and not the good presentation idea here.  Now, I wait until Laura gets home.

Glad they identified what was what

 

As I wait, the thing that hits me about this "first" is that Laura is such an appreciative person to live with as a wife.  When we got married, the minister that married us said to Laura, "You are the most appreciative bride I have ever seen."  He had done a lot of weddings.  She was an appreciative bride and is an appreciative wife.  Tonight's "first" is a bit simple. It's not hard to make Reese's no-bake bars.  I did not make them to look very pretty.  They certainly won't taste as good as a homemade dessert. The fact that I'm doing this as a "first" might make some wives a bit unappreciative. I could be nervous about presenting this to her as a surprise.  I am not nervous as all. I am not worried in the least that she might take it wrong that I did this as a "first" or that it was so easy that it should not really count as something sweet. She will love it and I will probably get a kiss out of it. Yay for me!!

Being an appreciative person is an admirable trait. It sure makes someone easy to live with during the day in and day out trials of life. It absolutely sets me free to try new and different things. If I was afraid that Laura might say something like, "Well, anybody could do that."  Or, "You could have tried harder to do something sweet. You could have at least done something that required you to turn the stove on."  She won't say any of that. If I was afraid of that, I would not have tried this as a "first."

So, be appreciative of what others do for you. Don't criticize what they could have done better.  Remember, life is grace. Any act of kindness is grace and is to be appreciated. You could just sit down and thank God for 5 things about your spouse, child, grandchild, or friend right now.

Thankful for an appreciative spouse on the journey in the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. An appreciative spouse
2. A godly spouse
3. A beautiful spouse; inside and out