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Coffee And... Chocolate Dipped Cookies
by Louise Bergmann DuMont (Louise's bio)
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I heard the incessant buzzing of the alarm but chose to roll over instead of rising to its call. My husband's bare feet made a soft pit-pat sound on the wood floor as he strode to our dresser and silenced its relentless plea for attention.
Refusing to get out of bed, I burrowed deeper into the warm cocoon I'd entered the evening before. I was taking the day off from work – for me there would be no rushing headlong into the black morning, no scraping frost off my cold car windows and no forcing myself out of idyllic dreams calling for my return.
I moved not a muscle as I heard the shower shut-off. Pretending to sleep, I listened as my husband, John, quietly dressed using only the dim light from our master bath. A thought began to hack its nasty little way into my consciousness. I had dozens and dozens of cookies to make today. I should get up and get started. But I could make simple cookies and be done in half the time. No one really expected me to make the elegant, bittersweet, chocolate-dipped, almond rolled, sugar sprinkled confections I'd planned. Simple cookies would give me extra time to sleep.
John fumbled for his keys on the nightstand then leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek.
“You told me to wake you before I left. Should I reset the alarm to give you another hour of sleep?” Through half-open eyes I saw him grin unmercifully as he jostled the covers once again. I squeezed my eyes firmly shut.
“OK then. I'm leaving now. Have fun baking, “ he called over his shoulder.
“Sure thing,” I mumbled in return.
Moments later I could hear the thump of our front door closing. I rolled over, punched the pillow and hoped I could find a cozy position that would allow sleep to return… but God would not let me rest.
“Its only 5:45 a.m.” I grumbled. “I have a right to sleep in.”
Silence surrounded me like water does a drowning man.
“OK, OK… I'm up!”
I responded in the only way I had learned would give me peace – I obeyed God's call. I washed, dressed and set to brew a large pot of coffee. Sipping my first cup I watched the sun rise out my front window.
“Awesome, God,” I whispered. “Thanks.”
Watching that sunrise reminded me that getting up early to bake and chocolate-coat twelve dozen cookies was not really that big a deal. Each morning my Heavenly Father generously creates for me a brand new sunrise. For my pleasure He laces the spring air with the fragrance of fresh flowers. In winter my sin-crusted world is coated with a layer of soft white snow. It reminds me that that, by His grace, I too am clean.
I could have made some quick and easy bar cookies, but God was calling me to put myself into this gift. This wasn't about making cookies for a group of senior citizens… my task was to prepare a gift that would share Christ with people who needed to feel the kiss of His sunrise. Now eager, I set my mug down, picked up a bag of chocolate chips and turned toward my oven. It was time to get to work.
“Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do… But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly toward outsiders…”
1 Thessalonians 4:9-12.
Copyright 2002, Louise Bergmann DuMont. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
| About Louise Bergmann DuMont: Louise Bergmann DuMont is the facilitator of the North Jersey Christian Writer's Group and a recent winner of CWG's 2001 conference scholarship. She has written for numerous local periodicals, journals and newspapers and recently began expanding her horizons to include more widely circulated publications. Louise's interests include gifted/learning-disabled children and fiction/fantasy writing. She is married and has three sons. E-mail Louise |
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