The Secret Ingredient

I pulled a 'mom' the other day. My mom has a tendency to not look twice when taking groceries off their shelves in the store. As a result and much to my dad's chagrin, it's not uncommon for her to come home with an item that she really didn't intend to buy.

In thinking of something new and fun to do with the little girls on Tuesday afternoon, I thought to make play dough and searched the Net for recipes. Several of the sites stated that 'cream of tartar' was the secret ingredient to making a choice batch of play dough. At the store I was pleased to find several bottles and swiped them off and into my cart. Arriving home with my purchases, I prepared some play dough ahead of time. I threw in the items, carefully measuring each one, and made sure not to forget the most magical ingredient of all: cream of tartar.

Placing the mixture over low heat, I began to stir. The formation should have taken few minutes, but after five, it was still lacking several play dough qualities. Except for the fact that the colour was pink, it resembled Campbell's Chunky soup. I began to wonder, "Fork or spoon?". I thought, "Where did I go wrong?" and beckoned Alison to the kitchen. Initially she had nothing to offer, but at the sink she picked up my empty bottles of cream of tartar and asked, "Um, is this what you're using?" Although it may look the same in colour and texture, and the bottles are freakishly similar, meat tenderizer does not replace cream of tartar as the secret ingredient in play dough.

Learning my lesson, I whipped up a successful batch and pulled together a simple teaching to share, using play dough as my illustration. The most obvious passage that came to my mind was Isaiah 64:8,

"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."

As the little girls decorated old margarine containers to store their play dough, I explained the simple message of how we were the play dough in God's hands. I asked them to think about that every time they played with their play dough. We can trust his shaping and forming because he is a good Father.

I was enjoying this idea so much, that I opted to use the same theme for my Wednesday morning devotional with the ladies. As each squeezed and held a piece in their hand, the Spirit's presence led to a super cool time of sharing and praying together.

On a roll with the play dough theme, I prepared some more and used it for my Friday chat groups. Laying out all the ingredients before the girls, I related how the flour represents our most basic make-up, that of dust, our flesh. The salt speaks to us of our role as Christ followers in the world. The water and oil remind us that soft hearts are needed so the Holy Spirit may be poured in and make us maleable to his will. The secret ingredient is God's grace found in Christ. A package of Kool-aid, although not essential, makes play dough a whole lot more fun and delightful to use.

All these elements are essential to the creation of play dough. However, it's formation does not occur until it is placed over a hot coil. This heat is necessary to bring the ingredients together. Similarly, God uses the difficult times, past and present, to form and shape us. Sometimes we turn things upside down as if we are the cooks and God is the play dough. We, the formed, say to the one who forms, "You didn't make me, you know nothing." (Isaiah 29:16). Typically the pot doesn't reprimand the potter. The Kool-aid moments, the salt of the Saviour, the oil of the Spirit, and the flour of our flesh over the reddening coils of crisis all work toward the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Still, sometimes his purpose is unclear, our calling is cloudy and we find ourselves ranting and raving in the direction of a certain Deity. He understands but he wants us to know that he is completely trustworthy and so very good. Unlike me, He won't throw in meat tenderizer when the recipe calls for cream of tartar.