We have cupcakes in the house, leftovers from a six pack that Whole Foods offered as a $2.99 Valentine’s Special. I should fess up that I didn’t get them for Valentine’s Day. No, I got them because on a Sunday evening a couple weeks ago, I whined to David about needing a sweet fix.
Cupcakes are my chocolate, y’all.
So while I wrapped up bedtime duties with the kids, David kindly found me cupcakes. And yep, you’re totally right: I’m spoiled by this man who entertains my grocery store whims.
I savored my vanilla cupcake topped with a cloud of vanilla frosting in crazy, dramatic fashion while watching Downton‘s Mary deal with two suitors she isn’t crazy about. After licking my fingers clean, I placed the rest of the 6 pack in the freezer.
(Not just so they’d keep longer, but so the kids wouldn’t find them.)
I pulled them back out yesterday because y’all, it was a cupcake needy kind of day.
If I’m being honest, it’s been a cupcake needy kind of season. A season that resembles late spring where it’s sunny and 75 one day and rainy and 40 the next. I’ve enjoyed some great highs, and just when I settle down to celebrate them, a different kind of news arrives that makes my celebratory mood (with my tagalong heart) sink to my shins.
I know, I know. Welcome to Life. But I also know that when the peaks and valleys come in rapid succession, one must sit down for a bit and take a breather. And when I do, a message blows in on a breeze,
You aren’t cut out for this, Kristen.
Well, this much I know is true. Most people have this thought during their mountain top moments, and I’m no different. Am I really cut out to handle all I’m handling, even the successful parts? But I also ask this about the valleys and the slow steps up and out of it. Am I really cut out for failure and disappointment?
I place that thought in context with some words I read recently in Emily Freeman’s book, A Million Little Ways. She writes how the Lord whispers this,
“No, you are not cut out. You have been placed in.”
Emily reminds us that this is the perfect place to remember we are desperate to depend on a source other than ourselves.
I am also desperate to not just nod my head up and down and agree, but live like it’s true.
God gives all of us the abilities and tools we need so that we may build beautiful things that frame the good name of Jesus. But sometimes I measure wrong or try to use a nail where I need a screw. I may have the right materials, but I’m not building the right thing with them in this season. So I look at the tools in my hands, take a step back, and re-evaluate the best plan for using them.
If you woke up on this Tuesday to discover you must re-evaluate your own plans, don’t let the disappointment that shadows this realization lead to defeat. No, disappointment is where we find His appointment for something better.
You have been purposely placed where you are with the tools you have, and God won’t leave you just standing there holding a hammer and nails.
And if you don’t feel cut out to handle the sweet and the sour on your plate today, take in this fresh air: You aren’t cut out because you have been placed in. That means He has confidence in you and you are definitively, totally capable. It’s just a matter of matching your tools with His plans.
It will happen.
And when it does, I’ll be cheering for you, ready to offer a cupcake.
Oh how your words echoed my own this morning.
“Life is full and I’m afraid to live this life. I feel exposed and naked.”
So I see your heart and I nod right along with you. (And I love Emily’s quote! So true!)
Yep, that’s it Lori.
Thanks for sitting with me, friend. xo
Thank you so much for this. I needed to hear these words today.
Thank you, Brandi.
I love your words! He equips us, doesn’t he? We just lose sight.
I started following you after you were on Kats podcast and am so glad I found your blog. I mentioned on your Instagram feed that I have twins boys 7 (almost) and a 3 year old girl, so honestly I started following in order to stalk your parenting and get some ideas! :). However, I’ve found so much encouragement from you. Thanks!
I remember that, Becky. And I believe I responded that we’re meant to be friends! #ParallelLives
I’m so glad you find some encouragement here ~ and thank you for returning the favor. Much love.
“(Not just so they’d keep longer, but so the kids wouldn’t find them.)” – Girl, I laughed out loud! I do this, too. Thank you for these words of encouragement, Kristen, which I’ve come to trust I will find here on a regular basis. I’ve been feeling “un-cut out” lately for some things God has asked me to do, and I wonder if I’ll ever measure up. Or if those disappointments can really be trusted. By the way, I gave a presentation to a room full of women at our church women’s retreat last weekend and quoted some words from one of your recent posts about grace. It sure was fun to share you with them. You spoke into me just when I needed it then, too. Blessings!
“I wonder…if those disappointments can really be trusted.” ~ that is how it feels, isn’t it? Well said, Becky. And thanks for the kind mention about sharing my words at your women’s retreat. That blesses me heart and soul. Thank you! xo
I loved this, Kristen. The other day I found myself at my computer sobbing. I don’t know why (I’m sure menopause had something to do with it). I felt unloved, unworthy, unwanted and incapable of doing those things I know I can do. But the Lord showed me all the ways I was wrong and after my crying jag I went to a friend’s house to bask in friendship and chocolate cake.
Friendship and chocolate cake: that’s my kind of prescription for a bad day.
You’re a gem, Victoria, and I’m thankful for gifted, capable *you*.
Ok, I don’t know if you’re a mind reader, but I know God brought me here on purpose today. I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear this. “It’s just a matter of matching your tools with His plans.” Just what I needed to hear. Thank you for sharing your heart, my friend. I am truly grateful. Love you. xo
Love you right back, Karin.
Just when my shaky legs started feeling they were stepping in quicksand, I read your words and feel solid ground once again. Thank you.
I definitely needed this today. Today I am over scheduled and over stressed because everyone needs something of me. It is good to remember that he placed me here, right now…Thanks, and please pass a cupcake. 😉
Kristen,
As always, I find what I am needing when I visit your place. Coming off a mountain top experience – my wedding and now in the not so great valley of severe and debilitating back pain, I am reminded that I need to lean into the one who truly knows my disappointment. Thanks for your encouragement!!
((Hugs)),
Bev
Bev,
Prayers for relief from back pain. May God swoop down and touch you with His healing hands. Also prayers for a wonderfully, loving & long marriage!
Blessings 🙂
Kristen,
Thank you for a most timely comment!! God knew I needed to hear this now and believe it also!!
Some days at work I feel misplaced and misguided–like I don’t fit in, shouldn’t be there. Your words “God won’t leave you just standing there holding a hammer and nails.” were just what I needed to place in my brain and heart today. I know that God has plans for me and He placed me there himself for a good reason.
Thanks Kristen Blessings 🙂
Kristen, I know I’m late to this conversation, but I just read the post tonight. I had to comment and ask if you’d ever heard the song “Disappointment ~ His Appointment” sung by Phil Keaggy? It was popular back when dh and I were at Virginia Tech in the 70s. I just looked up the lyrics and evidently they were written by Edith Lillian Young. I immediately thought of the song when I read your post; it fits so perfectly. All’s grace, Kay in VA
Here are the lyrics:
“Disappointment — His Appointment”
Change one letter, then I see
That the thwarting of my purpose
Is God’s better choice for me.
His appointment must be blessing,
Tho’ it may come in disguise,
For the end from the beginning
Open to His wisdom lies.
“Disappointment — His Appointment”
Whose? The Lord, who loves me best,
Understands and knows me fully,
Who my faith and love would test;
For, like loving earthly parent,
He rejoices when He knows
That His child accepts, UNQUESTIONED,
All that from His wisdom flows.
“Disappointment — His Appointment”
“No good thing will He withhold,”
From denials oft we gather
Treasures of His love untold,
Well He knows each broken purpose
Leads to fuller, deeper trust,
And the end of all His dealings
Proves our God is wise and just.
“Disappointment — His Appointment”
Lord, I take it, then, as such.
Like the clay in hands of potter,
Yielding wholly to Thy touch.
All my life’s plan in Thy moulding,
Not one single choice be mine;
Let me answer, unrepining —
“Father, not my will, but Thine.”
~Edith Lillian Young