Years ago now, back in the 90s, I had the privilege of serving on our local school board. It’s a seat I held for eight years. I learned a lot during those monthly meetings as well as volunteering one day a week in one of the junior high classrooms in order to be with students. Because of my personal involvement I was able to attend a student assembly where we listened and learned about canine units in police departments, specially trained dogs to sniff out drugs, bomb materials, etc. The fact I am able to recall that day all these years later is an indication of the impact new knowledge had on me. 

We–I–learned that these dogs are trained to root out one particular smell; they have the ability to ignore all other scents in their immediate surroundings. The example the trainer gave us was this…imagine making a batch of chocolate chip cookies. In the bowl you put the flour, butter, eggs, sugar, chocolate morsels. When the cookie is baked and we inhale their sweet aroma our noses are taking in the aroma from ALL the ingredients. To the dog, he is able to smell each individual ingredient….thus if he’s trained to sniff out marijuana he may walk right past another type of drug because that’s not his target. 

The trainer’s baking illustration has stuck with me, not only as information stored in my memories, but has also served now as an image of looking at life, especially for those of us living as Christ followers.  Jesus stated that …”I came that they might have life, and may have it abundantly”. (John 10:10)  Who is the “they” He’s talking about? It’s you and me.

There’s no argument that life is hard. Each one of us will suffer losses whether it’s a job, rejection from a school we applied for continuing education, the death of a loved one, losing all our assets or material possessions…loss takes on many definitions. Each loss–even joyful moments–go into “our bowl of life”. Each one is like flour. Alone, it has no flavor. It represents those bitter moments or circumstances of life. Sugar is sweet and is easily tolerated when tasting. Its sweetness reminds us of all the good things that happen for us. Raw eggs aren’t the most appetizing, but when mixed in with the dry ingredients, they bind them and create the right reaction for dough to stick together and rise under the oven’s heat. Our “bowl of life” holds the very abundance Jesus talked about as recorded by John. Notice He didn’t tell us our lives would be “perfect”. No, in the reality of this world He promised great “abundance”, that no matter what comes against us, He’s got us!

For myself, the end of March is hard for me. The days between March 21 and 24 are bittersweet. They are the dates my parents died, though years apart. Mom died on the 21st and we buried her on the 24th. The 24th was their wedding anniversary date. Dad died on the 24th. It seems God chose to end their stories on earth in a very tender way to show His compassion and plan. At least that’s how I’m choosing to see it. Within just a few weeks every year, Easter comes on the tails of their death dates, causing my emotions to combine sadness from still missing them to being layered with the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus. I’ve learned that rather than trying to dismiss the sorrowful emotions that creep in, to embrace them and stir in everything good, too, for I know that this is the reality of my life. I am able to allow moments of grief, yet remain joyful. This is abundance.

Next year at this time, I will most likely still experience brief moments of grief again when those March dates roll around. Easter 2027 will come and with great joy I’ll be able to reflect that on Easter weekend 2026 a young grandson became more confident on a two wheel bike with no training wheels and our youngest granddaughter, age 6, chose to be baptized in her church. 

I don’t know what your “bowl of life” is accumulating. What I do know is that when we allow Jesus to be the one guiding and providing for us in our lives, everything will be just fine. Living as Christ followers does not give us a perfect life by any description of the word. Following Him gives us a person to cry out our grief and applaud our mountain top experiences. He is able to take ALL the single, bitter, sweet, raw circumstances of life and create something good!