Gingerbread Houses

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement
Gingerbread Houses

The imagination of the human mind can amaze us with endless ideas. The Gingerbread house contest in our community was a case in point. From humble slabs of gingerbread, creative people made a football stadium with an accompanying parking lot, high rise apartment, a seashore, and a community of houses nestled in a Christmas tree. A Covid-safe Santa house sported a line of tiny people complete with masks waiting to see a masked Santa beside signs to stay 6 feet apart. Even the more usual structures of a church and charming houses, were unique and delightful. It reminded me of the times when the children were small; and, we built much more standard gingerbread houses, made unique by small, hands learning coordination. What always amazed me was how eagerly our children devoured the, by then, stale and dusty cookie house in January.

Gingerbread houses are a lesson in patience. The icing doesn’t always hold the walls up. The roof may slant at a crooked angle, gum drop door knobs fall off. On a tiny scale we can see what patience is required in the construction of real houses. Maybe even more we gain a little glimpse of the patience God has with His creation, us, when we construct a gingerbread house. Just like the trim on the gingerbread house which wanders away from the line where it is supposed to stay, we wander from where the master wants us for our own protection. We don’t always stand firm when faced with challenging situations, and the icing between the wall of our relationships fail to solidify. Our hands aren’t coordinated enough to build our projects or our relationships as well as our brains conceive them. Sometimes our feelings don’t cooperate with the process needed for our project. Or the result of our work doesn’t match what we saw in our mind’s eye. The trim of our lives ends up crooked and the walls of hearts are fragile. We need the master builder to come along and prop up the walls of our hearts and re-align the roof of our thinking. Just as it helps to consult with the pros when we are undertaking a craft, we attain much better results with the tasks of our life when we consult God each step of the way.