So teach us to number our days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom…

                                                                                               Psalm 90: 12

It was our regular Thursday after-school special with the youngest grand girls. When our time was over their dad pulled up in the driveway. As our nine-year old gathered up her backpack and rushed out the door to get in his car, she called back over her shoulder, “I want to learn to bake a cherry pie.”

Going back at least five generations, cherry pies are a family tradition. Whatever else the year held, a cherry pie would appear each February in honor of George Washington’s birthday.  It would always and only be made one way: with a scratch crust and a lattice topping. And in every generation, among the chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake lovers, there would be one who cherished a fondness for this pie--made with the cheapest, sourest canned fruit on the planet--and request it on their special day.

And it is necessary to understand the precious one who made this request. She is nine years old and the dictionary definition of free spirit. Remember The Sound of Music? “How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?” That’s her.

But there was too much riding on this for me to shy away from her request or postpone it for another time: preservation of American history and the continuation of a cherished family tradition for starters. So when, in the twilight of your days the fifth of six grand girls wants to learn to make a cherry pie? Well, you will darn well make that happen.

I am pleased to report that our maiden voyage was a success. (In what universe don’t nine-year olds love to have their hands in pie dough?) In the process of planning and prepping for our big day with a counter that resembled a Food Network set, I started thinking about learning curves.

We live in a culture of mind-blowing moments executed by one-in-a-million talents, all captured on video. How different is God’s Word! In its pages we learn that the foundation of all lasting success is purposeful, incremental and often hidden from general view. In the world’s eyes, it is about the podium moment; Scripture assures us that it is about the process. God is at work in all things, failure, success and the hum-drum of the in-between, to train us for what only He knows lies ahead.    

Nancy Shirah 

(All Scripture references are from the NASB unless otherwise noted )