If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

If you give a mouse a cookie,

He's going to ask for a glass of milk.

When you give him a glass of milk, he'll probably ask you for a straw.

When he's finished, he'll ask for a napkin.

Then he will want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache.

When he looks in the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim.

So he will probably ask for a pair of scissors.

When he's finished giving himself a trim, he'll want a broom to sweep up.

He'll start sweeping.  He might get carried away and sweep every room in the house.

He may even end up washing the floors as well!

When he's done, he'll probably want to take a nap.  You will have to fix a little box for him

with a blanket and a pillow.

He'll crawl in, make himself comfortable and fluff the pillow a few times.

He'll probably ask you to read him a story.  So you'll read him one from one of your books,

and he'll ask to see the pictures.  When he looks at the pictures, he'll get so excited he'll 

want to draw one of his own.  He'll ask for paper and crayons.

He'll draw a picture. 

When the picture is finished, he'll want to sign his name with a pen.

Then he'll want to hang his picture on your refrigerator.

Which means he will need...scotch tape.

He'll hang up his drawing and stand back to look at it.  Looking at the refrigerator will remind

him that he's thirsty so...

he'll ask for a glass of milk.

And chances are, if he asks for a glass of milk, 

he's going to want a cookie to go with it. 

The first thing I thought about when I read this story was that sometimes, I am the mouse in this story.  This story made me stop and think about what I am asking the Lord for, and then am I satisfied with what the Lord has and is giving me?  OR am I constantly unsatisfied and always asking for something else?  Do I receive what the Lord is giving me and then quickly forget about that and want something else?  OR am I receiving what the Lord is giving me and standing in the beauty of that?  

When I went back to read it again, I the Lord showed me that sometimes HE is the mouse... wait.. stay with me, hear me out... 

When I became a follower of the Lord, that was the first thing I gave Him.  As I grow in Him, He is constantly asking me to give things up for Him.  Things that are not good for my life, maybe make a sacrifice for Him.  He asks for a cookie, or a glass of milk from me, when I choose to not give that up, He might ask for something else...He asks for me to hand Him scissors so He can cut the strings of bondage for me, I just have to allow Him to... He wants to sweep "every room" of my life, AND clean the floors. Some of those things, I might choose to give up to Him with no resistance, and some of those things I might struggle with more.  The Lord wants to write and read me my story, at His pace.  He wants to draw pictures for me, that coincide with my story, sign HIS name and then put it on the fridge for me to see.  Yet when I look at the picture, I am sometimes focused more on the picture rather than the artist; and sometimes I look past the picture and the Lord is asking for those things I've held onto for so long.  My milk and my cookie... He never forgot about those hurts, disappointments, failures, but because He loves me so much, He is asking for them again.  Because He wants to take those things from me.  I mean that is the whole reason He came to DIE for me, so that I wouldn't hold onto that stuff. 

He is constantly asking us to give ourselves to Him.  So that He can write our story for us and then read it to us when the time is right.  

So I have two questions for you... When you ask the Lord for something, are you satisfied with the answer He gives you, are you constantly asking for something else?  and 

Is He asking you to release something to Him?  

Ask the Lord to show you areas that you need to release to Him, and then don't be stubborn about it.  Know that there is freedom on the other side of releasing those things!