Fallowfield United Methodist Church is already gearing up for its Crawford County Fair pie project. I’ve been on both sides of the table at the fair, literally. It’s so disappointing when I order Dutch apple and all they’ve got left are raisin and lemon meringue. I don’t like either, but I’ll eat lemon. But when I’m waiting tables at the fair and people get angry at me for not having Dutch apple pie, I get disgusted. As if it’s my fault!
I often work the closing shift on Saturdays, when we’re trying to sell out of pie. And typically I work the 6 a.m. bake on Saturdays, so I know exactly how many pieces of Dutch apple pie we have. Once they’re gone, that’s it.
Last year I had my feelings hurt so badly. I made Dutch apple pie filling, helped make the topping, and filled the pies around 7 a.m. My mom supervised the ovens, so I know they were perfectly baked. One thing I’m self-confident about is my baking. I’m sure these pies were made properly.
Around 7 p.m., the man I was waiting on told me his piece of -- you guessed it – Dutch apple pie deserved a C and his friend’s deserved an F.
An F?! Fallowfield pie deserved an F? The Dutch apple pie I made flunked? I still can’t figure this out. It truly hurt my feelings. A few people I shared this story with said some people are impossible to please.
They’re right. I don’t know if this is the case with that customer at the fair, but I do know people who are just plain impossible. Nothing is ever good enough to make them happy. I grew up with a family of people-pleasers. They’re sweet, tender-hearted, loving people who genuinely want to see everyone get along and be happy. They’re harmonizers.
Here’s the problem with harmonizers: They end up unhappy whenever there’s conflict. And let’s face it, when isn’t there conflict? Any time people are involved, there’s going to be friction, spoken or unspoken.
There’s a verse in the Bible that speaks perfectly to this issue. It reads, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10 NIV)
Living to please people is a trap. You’ll never, and I mean never make everyone happy. It’s impossible. Only God can fill people with joy and peace, and you’re not God.
Living to please God sounds great, but how does it look? It looks like this. There you are, sipping coffee at 5:45 a.m. while reading your Bible. You’ve dedicated that quiet time to reading the Bible, praying, and listening for God’s direction first thing in the morning every day. While reviewing your bank statement, you see the debits for tithes and charitable donations. Giving has become a lifestyle. You sacrifice sleeping in on Sundays and go to church. You use the leadership abilities God gave you to serve on committees at church. This is how you start living to please God. As you continue this lifestyle, you’ll find yourself opening your heart and mind to watch and listen for God’s direction for your life.
When you do this, God uses you to accomplish His will. It’s His will for you to live to please Him. And here’s a little secret I’m learning: Living to please God will give you peace.
Getting back to the fair project, several volunteers picked, cleaned, cut, and froze 175 pounds of rhubarb on June 4 and four stalwart volunteers cut and froze 50 pounds of rhubarb on June 7. We’ll use this in strawberry-rhubarb and plain rhubarb pies.
Please pray we can find elderberries. For the first time in my memory we don’t have any leftover elderberries from last year. We always count on last year’s surplus. The birds devoured last year’s crop before we got to them. Elderberries are becoming scarce. So I’ll warn you now -- Go to the fair on Monday and Tuesday if you want a piece of elderberry pie. We may not have any later in the week.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!