When’s the last time you did something just for the fun of it? When did you let go of the expectations and pressures put on all of us and just enjoy the life God has given you?
When I was about 16, I did a group study on John Piper’s book Desiring God which embraces what Piper calls Christian Hedonism.
Take the old foundational catechism question
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. To glorify God and enjoy him forever
Piper suggests a slight tweak: To glorify God by enjoying him forever.
Since I was pretty much just here for a good time as a teenager, I loved that premise. It gave me permission to enjoy life and not feel bad about it!
It’s in that spirit that I bring you this deeply theological suggestion: Have breakfast for supper.
My son requested pancakes for his birthday dinner recently and my other son had the idea to use cookie cutters to cut the pancakes out into shapes. This quickly changed to wanting to cut a word into the pancakes and then eating the scraps, but the lesson here is do the fun thing for the pure enjoyment of the life and love God has given you. Enjoying the good things He gives us is one way to enjoy Him. (Remember Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”)
Here is a rough guide to how we made our pancakes:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Mix your favorite pancake batter to make enough for 10 pancakes. Line a baking sheet (not a flat cookie sheet, but one with a little bit of an edge) with parchment paper and pour the batter onto the parchment. Spread evenly with a spatula. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, check to see if the middle is set and cook a few more minutes if needed, checking every 3 minutes until done.
Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for about 10 min. Then slide the cooked pancake and parchment paper onto the counter, and have fun cutting shapes, using cookie cutters, or making whatever design you’d like. Arrange the creations on a platter. Serve and enjoy!*
Maybe it’s not breakfast for supper for you, but I’d say don’t knock it until you try it. It’s not just for families with young kids – invite some friends over and I’d be shocked if cookie cutter pancakes didn’t evoke some smiles and enjoyment. But whatever it is, I hope you can find something to do just for the fun of enjoying God and the life he’s given you.
*We found that adding rainbow sprinkles to the batter greatly enhanced the experience for everyone. As did the Reddi Whip. We also served them with turkey bacon, which is not as fun to eat as real bacon, but now that I’m in my forties, I’ve got to make some tough choices sometimes.
ABOUT THE BLOGGER:
Originally from Georgia, Mary Beth Gombita is a lover of sweet tea, a proud Georgia Bulldog and an avid music fan. She works in public relations, running her own communications consulting business from home. Mary Beth and her husband, Stephen, have two young sons. She is currently the editor of our Willowdale Women blog.