One day when the children were small and we were experiencing a morning of rushed confusion, numerous mishaps, misplaced homework, a lost shoe, and all the usual situations that create chaos. As I spread peanut butter and jelly onto a warm slice of toast and stepped back, a child scurried around my legs. I raised my arms; the knife clung to the bread briefly, the toast flipped up spinning into the air, twirled and hurled itself toward the floor. In that moment, I uttered the prayer of a mother near her stress threshold.

“Please dear God, let it land jelly side up.”

(Not because I wanted to salvage the toast but because I didn’t want another mess to clean up.)

The toast did land jelly side up! In amazement, I started to laugh. The children came to the kitchen, looked at the toast on the floor and joined in the laughter.

This is not about an earth-shattering event, nor is it about a dynamic prayer. However, I did pray that morning. 1) It’s okay to ask God for help with an immediate need. 2) It’s okay to see the funny side sometimes, it lightens the moment.

My hope for you today is that more often than not, the concerns of your life land

Jelly Side Up!