How I found Jesus in a failed Lemon Meringue Pie

I am telling the truth when I say that God speaks to me in very mysterious ways. For instance... I have been thinking about the church pie contest for weeks. I have been brainstorming the perfect pie. I finally decided on Lemon Meringue. Everyone says how hard it is to get the meringue to set right and ya da ya da ya da... I decided that I am an intelligent woman and if I can birth a baby I can make a darned pie. So I used the recipe on the cornstarch box and also googled
"lemon meringue pie tips" and "foolproof meringue" I called my aunt for tried and true advice as well. I was armed with beaters and enough lemons to beat the band. I made my crust, and filled it with the filling. I zested lemons so hard that I grated my hand. (Very gross). My lovely assistant Steve watched Blake all afternoon so that I could make this pie. Now for the glorious meringue, I whipped those egg whites in the cleanest bowl you ever saw! They made beautifully stiff peaks and I spread it over the hot topping, sealing the pie as I had been so carefully instructed by my aunt the pie guru! I put the beautiful pie in the oven, the meringue was not really high but good enough I thought. I took it out, and it was beautiful. I let the pie cool and when I returned to it, it had pulled away from the crust and filling. Now don't get me started on the filling, it looked like someone had just peed under my meringue, that is how watery it was. The meringue also had little brownish droplets on it. "Weeping" according to the internet. I was so sure this pie was the path to my success, but alas, I would need another test one.
I decided that I was just too lame to make this pie. I gave up
I traded it in for Chocolate Coconut Pecan and to increase my chances of winning, I also made a Creamsicle pie. (After losing the woman's christmas dinner and chilli contest by a thin margin, i decided i needed to step it up!)
The day started off hectic because Blake and I fell asleep at noon and didn't wake up until 2!! I ran to the store and raided the baking aisle and ran home as fast as I could. Blake was happily playing as I began to melt the butter and choclate for my pie. I read the next step "add eggs...."
WHOA WHOA WHOA ..HOLD the phone! I don't have eggs. I thought "ok I will just ask the neighbors". Well, if you have read any previous posts, you know that is quite a risk. I might interrupt a romantic afternoon, or worse yet, get roped into helping someone spank their kid. I decided that was out of the question. SO I loaded Blake back up in the carseat... (at this point 2 1/2 hours til showtime!) .. I ran to safeway, getting stuck behind every slow person. I passed a case of chicken, showcasing "$5 chicken friday!!! Cold chicken tenders for $5" . Yea, because everyone wants to pay $5 freakin dollars for cold chicken! I plowed on, through my disgust, got my eggs and the sugar that I was also out of and ran through the check out. The cashier admired Blake and said "boy isn't it hard going out with them.. loading up the baby and all their gear"....Hah, you have no idea lady. I regaled her with the story about how I just CAME from the store. As I went back to my car, I loaded the groceries in, while Blake stayed in the cart on the sidewalk (I got a great parking spot thankyou Jesus!) (Because NOTHING irritates me more than giant SUVS parking in the compact spots ). So I went back to get Blake and nearly tripped over this ugly creepy little black bird. So then we had a standoff. Anybody who is anybody in my world knows that i abhor birds. Quite frankly, they gross me out. So I just kept walking toward it, and it would not move, it just kept hopping. So i ran past it, grabbed my baby, and got the heck outta there. Long story short (ok shorter!) I took my pie to church. Pies that is. Set them next to a BEAUTIFUL Lemon meringue. The tallest fluffiest you ever saw. I listened to all the old guys talk about how that was the best one, and their favorite. I pretty much gave up the ghost of winning, and then.....tada... 3rd place! Out of 18! I was so excited ... and guess what ? The lemon didn't even win. God knew that I really wanted to do well, but I just followed my own heart and will. When my path swerved, I gave up on succeeding. I listenned to the "world" (the old men who love the lemon meringue) and I lost confidence in what I had done. Ok I know this sounds INCREDIBLEY CHEESY! But can you see the parallel? So often we take our own paths to success in life . Or take paths to what we think will get us the gold. Instead we end up disappointed. If we seek out God first, it is there we find success. Moral of the story:
Ask God to show his plans to you
and for goodness sake check your darn grocery list before you leave the store!

Jer 29:11 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."