Chocolate Chip Cookies

The holidays are drawing near, and if your house is anything like mine was growing up, then that means Hallmark movies with a warm fire in the fireplace and maybe a chocolate chip cookie or two... or three. There is something about a warm chocolate chip cookie that just makes me feel a little more at home no matter where I find myself laying my head at night.

Several weeks ago I found myself sitting outside at the Hope House talking with one of the girls. I had noticed for several days that this particular girl seemed to be struggling, and after a few failed attempts to get her to talk, I decided to just let her be. Then one afternoon it happened. A simple “Hello” and “How are you today?” opened the floodgates, and this beautiful girl began to pour out her heart.

The topic was heavy, and with only about a year of Spanish under my belt I began to pray that the Holy Spirit would do what I couldn’t. I found myself fighting back tears as I realized just how wide the chasm was between my world and the harsh world that this precious girl had grown up in. And then something strange happened—right in the middle of all the tears, she asked me a simple question: “Have you ever had a chocolate chip cookie?”

The question was so random that my first instinct was to blame my Spanish—maybe it really was that bad—but then she started going on and on about the day when another missionary had brought chocolate chip cookies to the Hope House. Chocolate chips are nowhere to be found in our little jungle town, so the simplicity of a chocolate chip cookie really is quite the treat. After just a few minutes of talking about the cookie, the young girl dove right back into her story and the tears began to fall again.

Despite the heaviness of the conversation that we had that afternoon, I have replayed that one moment in my mind over and over again throughout the last several weeks. Sometimes the simplest things in life bring joy to the darkest moments.

So don’t overthink it this week. Whatever little thing the Holy Spirit has been prompting you to do, whatever talent you have that you thought was too trivial to matter—give it to Jesus and let him use it. You never know when a simple chocolate chip cookie can give someone a little taste of a place called home.

Shelby Fulcher