Oreo Cookies

My kindergarten Sunday school teacher enjoys telling a story about me. I must admit I don’t remember the incident. I was a very shy child, and evidently I have blocked the minor trauma from my memory.

Our family had just started attending church, so everything church-related was new to me. One Sunday morning, Oreos were the snack of the day. This was eons ago when the only Oreos available were the chocolate variety.

I find it necessary to interrupt this story to question the snack choice. There we were, young children dressed in our Sunday best. All of the unsuspecting mothers were sitting in their own Sunday school class thinking all was well, when at that very moment their child was eating chocolate.

I am told each child was armed with 2 cookies, one for each hand, which is where I kept mine. I did not eat them. This is strange to me since 1) cookies are one of my favorite snacks; 2) I cannot think of a cookie I don’t like, and 3) obviously, this includes Oreos.

I can only guess I was too nervous to eat them and too shy to reject them. As a child I tried to be pleasing in every way and was too intimidated to say how I felt. I suppose I was trying to fade into the woodwork, hoping to go unnoticed.

Trying to be inconspicuous, can at times, make you more easily noticed; especially if you are holding two Oreo cookies in hot, sweaty palms.

My sweet Sunday school teacher rescued me from my mess and cleaned me up, and most likely has never seen an Oreo quite the same.

Now I am grown and not quite so shy, but there are times I try to conceal my heart from God, hoping He won’t see something I’ve hidden. Ultimately comes a time, much like the Oreos episode, I cannot hide it any longer. I have a mess on my hands, much like the cookies.

“But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.”

1 John 1:9 (ERV)

God rescues me from my mess and cleans me up. He’s happy to do it.