The "Pie Incident"

Mmm, chocolate crème pie. I remember going into Tippins restaurant and scanning the cases of freshly made pies. There were many to choose from, but the best was French Silk. As a young family, we could not always afford to purchase pie so one day I decided to make it from scratch. I gathered all the ingredients, put it together and set it in the refrigerator for dessert. Later that evening while making dinner, I noticed the refrigerator was minus one chocolate crème pie. I couldn’t imagine what had happened. Did my husband sneak in and help himself to an early snack? I went to investigate. After talking I realized he was not the culprit and this was quickly becoming a situation for a Father to sort out.

He called our children in to his workroom one at a time and asked if they knew anything about the missing pie. The first three had convinced him of their innocence and that left only one, our five-year-old daughter Karlie Jo. “Karlie, do you know what happened to mom’s chocolate pie?” “No daddy” wide-eyed and innocently she replied. “Are you sure Karlie?” He asked again. “I don’t know anything about the pie.” she stated. My husband then reminded Karlie of one very basic principle in our home. If you do something wrong and confess there is mercy, but if you lie about it there is a greater consequence. He asked one last time. “Is there anything you want to tell me Karlie?” She looked down at the ground for a long while intently considering her answer. Then she looked him right in the eyes and said “no”. My husband scooped Karlie Jo up, held her before the mirror and showed her what he had been looking at all along. A beautiful little face covered in chocolate crème pie.

Karlie’s father would have preferred to use the “pie incident” as a teaching moment with little consequence. If Karlie had the right heart she would have put her father in a position to show mercy. He would have set her upon His knee, wiped the pie clean from her face, wrapped His arms around her and taught out of love.

How many times have I let fear, embarrassment or just plain pride get in the way of mercy? How many times have I put off lessons, endured additional consequences only to find my self back in the same place again? It’s somewhat like trying to run away on a merry-go-round. And, from someone who already knows the things I am so desperately trying to hide. There is no use denying it, He can see the pie all over my face. That only leaves one thing to do, humble my heart (become teachable), trust in His love (daddy to daughter) and crawl on up. There is mercy to be found sitting upon our Father’s knee.