A few weeks ago, my dad asked me to try making one of our family’s favorites: Sansrival. But, because the recipes I found were either too complicated or expensive, I decided to try making Silvanas instead.
The first step included beating the egg whites until they were stiff. It was a challenge for me because I couldn’t use my broken, electric hand mixer. I had no choice but to manually whisk it.
I thought to myself, “If only I had a Kitchen Aid mixer right now (my dream mixer)…” I was tempted to complain because it would have been so much easier for me to whip it with a mixer. However, God reminded me to use what I had (my hands) at that time and do my best to work with the egg whites, instead.
After attempting to whisk them, I also asked help from my older brother, Michael, to assist me in producing the desired consistency of the whipped egg whites. By God’s grace, we were able to make a stiff batch of egg whites (with the perfect consistency for the meringue).
I continued to do the next steps in the recipe and prepared the different layers.
After making the layers, the only thing that I needed to do was to put finely crushed cashew nuts all over the Silvanas. The recipe suggested to use a food processor for the nuts, but, I didn’t have a food processor. And I found myself thinking about what I didn’t have again. “If only I had a food processor, this step would have been so much easier…”
But, God (being the awesome God that He is) gently rebuked me and said: “What’s up with you, Nic? Why do you focus on what you don’t have and keep on complaining? Have I not given you the things that you need?”
Right then and there, God showed me how foolish I was to practice that kind of attitude. I still have hands that I can use to bake/cook. And besides, even if I didn’t have a food processor, I could use the blender we have to easily crush the nuts for the Silvanas.
I realized that every time I choose to focus on what I don’t have and complain about it, I miss out on the privilege of being able to thank God — for who He is and for what He has given me. I remember reading this quote* in one of the images in Google: “What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?”
It was a good reminder for me to constantly have a grateful heart, not because I am afraid that God would take away what I already have (material things, relationships, etc.), but because God simply deserves the best. He deserves my best thanks and praise! :)
Moreover, it says in Hebrews 13:5:
“…be content with what you have, because God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
I like how God related ‘being content’ to ‘acknowledging His presence’ in our lives. I realized that one of the reasons why we aren’t content/grateful is because we forget how much our Father God loves us. We forget how He is more than enough for us.
What’s keeping us from being content? From being grateful?
I learned that we may not always get what we want, but God provides for us everything that we need for His good purposes to be fulfilled in our lives. Ultimately, He is all we need.
Encourage yourself one treat at a time! :)
*I still don’t know who said the statement I quoted earlier. If you do, please let me know, so I can properly cite him/her. Thank you! :)
