What Megan Forgot

Megan was excited. Grandpa and Grandma were coming for supper! “Mom, can I bake a cake?” she asked, flipping through the cookbook. “Don’t you think they will like this one, with chocolate frosting?”

“I’m sure they will. Do we have all the ingredients?” Mom asked.

“I think so, if we have baker’s chocolate.”

“We have one bar left,” Mom said, looking in the cupboard. “But, be careful when you melt it. It burns easily.”

“Oh, I’ll be careful!” Megan agreed, as she hurried to get out the ingredients. “I know how to bake cakes.”

A few minutes later Mom headed out of the kitchen. “Did you mean to set the temperature at 500?” she asked, as she passed the oven.

“Oh, no!” Megan said, rushing over. “I thought I set it at 350,” she said as she turned the dial down.

Megan tried to pay attention after that. She measured and poured, stirred and tasted. When her older sister Alisha came into the kitchen, she was pouring the cake into the pan.

“Is that for dessert?” Alisha asked. She watched as Megan whisked the cake into the oven. “I hope it turns out good.”

“It will,” Megan said confidently. “I’m making chocolate icing, too.” Megan pulled out a pot and dropped the chocolate in it. “Yum, this is going to be good. I know Grandpa and Grandma will just love it!” She was turning on the stove burner when Alisha interrupted.

“Did you read the instructions? It says to put the chocolate in a double boiler.”

“Really?” Megan stopped to look at the page. “Maybe I can just melt it on low.”

“You’d better follow the directions, or it will be a flop,” Alisha warned. “Here’s the double boiler.”

“Humph,” Megan said, dumping out the chocolate.

Just then Mom called for someone to get the baby. “Don’t forget to put water in the pot,” Alisha said over her shoulder, as she hurried down the hall.

“Big sisters think they know everything,” Megan muttered to herself, as she set the pot of water on the stove. “I would have remembered that.”

An hour later the cake was done and Megan stood back to admire it. The golden cake stood on a glass dish. Its top was shiny with dark brown chocolate that dripped beautifully down the sides. “Just perfect,” she told herself. “I knew I could do it.”

“Yum, that looks good!” her brother said, stomping through the back door. “Can I taste it? I should make sure it’s good, you know.”

“Of course it’s good, but you can lick the icing off the spatula,” Megan agreed.

“Delicious!” Mike said, smacking his lips. “I can’t wait until dessert!”

“Megan, we need the table set,” Mom said, as she slid a casserole into the oven. “Grandpa and Grandma should be here before long.”

Megan hurried to set out the plates and silverware. She set the cake as the centerpiece and then ran to her room to change her clothes. It was important to look her best on such a special occasion.

Mike passed her in the hall. “I’m going to give Grandpa one of my paintings,” he announced. “Don’t you think he will like this one I made of a moose? He likes hunting.” Megan smiled a little. The moose in Mike’s painting looked rather like a dog, but she didn’t say anything. Instead she remembered the drawing of a horse that she had made in art class.

“I’m going to give it to Grandma,” she decided, as she pulled it out of her drawer. “It is my best work so far and I know she’ll be impressed.”

When Grandpa and Grandma arrived, the children flew to the door to meet them. “My, how you all have grown!” Grandpa said, patting them on the head. “What fine young ladies Alisha and Megan are growing up to be, and Mike here looks about old enough to go hunting with me one of these days.” Mike grinned and gave Grandpa his moose painting. “Sure enough, he reminds me of my hunting dog, Allie,” Grandpa said.

Megan giggled and Mom gave her a warning look. “I’m sure you want to hold the baby,” Mom said, handing him to Grandma. “He’s already getting his fourth tooth.”

“What a chubby little fellow,” Grandma said, taking a seat on the couch. Megan hurried to sit next to her. “And what has our little artist being doing lately?” Grandma said with a smile, when she noticed the drawing.

Megan sat up taller. “I’m actually almost 11 now, and I have been learning to draw horses.”

“Very well done,” Grandma said. “Did you draw it all yourself?”

“Yes,” Megan said.

“With help from your art teacher,” reminded Mom. “Megan has been learning a lot in her art class.”

“I thought you traced part of it,” added Alisha.

“Well, I can do it without tracing, too,” Megan said quickly. “This is my best one and I thought you would like it.”

“That is so sweet of you,” said Grandma, taking the paper.

When they all sat down to eat, Grandpa was the first to notice the cake. “I wonder who knew what I was hungry for tonight?” he asked.

Megan beamed. “It is yellow cake with chocolate icing,” she said. “I baked it all by myself.”

“You don’t say!” Grandpa said, looking at her in surprise.

“Megan is our baker,” Dad agreed, taking his seat at the end of the table. “Sometimes they turn out splendid, and other times… we’ll just say that we admire them from afar.”

“Daddy!” Megan scolded. “Mike already tasted it, and it is delicious.”

“Well then, we will be sure to give thanks for it,” Dad said with a wink, as he bowed his head for prayer.

Megan could hardly wait until it was time for dessert. Sure enough, the cake was a hit. Grandpa even wanted seconds, and Grandma asked how the icing was made. “It wasn’t that hard,” Megan said, trying not to sound too proud of her achievement. “You just melt chocolate in a double boiler and stir in the other ingredients. I can show you how.”

“And I’m sure Grandma could show you quite a bit about cooking, too,” Mom said. For some reason she wasn’t smiling, and Megan looked over to see Alisha rolling her eyes. Megan felt funny. Why didn’t they think her cake was so great? Everyone else liked it.

After the grandparents left, Mom sat down with Megan. “You enjoyed having Grandpa and Grandma spend the evening with us, didn’t you?” she asked.

Megan nodded. “They really liked my cake, and Grandma said I was a good artist. I think I’m going to draw some more pictures for her.”

“I know it feels good to be praised, but I think there is something important that you left out of the evening,” Mom said, quietly.

Megan looked puzzled. “Oh, we forgot to serve ice cream with the cake!” she remembered. “At least everyone liked it.”

“I’m not thinking of ice cream, but something else that makes everything taste right. It is called humility,” Mom said. “You were so full of yourself this evening that all we heard was ‘I know’ and ‘I can’ and you didn’t remember all those who have helped you. You took all the praise for yourself, just like King Nebuchadnezzar did before God humbled him.”

Megan hung her head.

“You said that you drew the picture yourself, but Who gave you the ability to draw and learn?”

“God,” Megan whispered.

“Yes, the cake was delicious,” Mom continued. “But what if you had no ingredients, or instructions, or a big sister to remind you to follow them? You see, pride makes us only think of ourselves. Then we can’t learn or be thankful. Remember how God warned King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream about his pride? What was it about?”

“The dream about the big tree with all the animals under it?” Megan asked.

“Yes, the tree that filled the whole earth. But then an angel from heaven came down and commanded for the tree to be cut down. Only the stump was left in the field, until he knew that the Most High rules,” said Mom. “Nebuchadnezzar woke up wondering what it all meant, but no one knew. At last Daniel, the servant of God, was called in. When he heard about the bad dream, Daniel looked at the great king, Nebuchadnezzar, with sadness. He knew it was a warning of what God was going to do to this proud and selfish king!”

“ ‘You, O king, are the great tree,’ Daniel said at last. ‘Your greatness has grown and you now rule over all the earth.’

“The proud king nodded. That was certainly true. But what did the angel’s message mean? Daniel explained that next. ‘The Most High has decreed that the king will be sent to live with the beasts in the field.’ Nebuchadnezzar frowned. Who would dare make him do such a silly thing!

“ ‘You will be wet with the dew and eat grass like the cattle,’ the prophet continued. ‘After seven years you will realize that the Most High rules over all, and then your kingdom will be given back to you.’ Nebuchadnezzar frowned, but Daniel knew God’s warning was serious! ‘Please listen to my advice, O king,’ Daniel said. ‘Stop doing wrong and living selfishly. Do what is right and show mercy to the poor, that your kingdom may continue peacefully!’

“But the great king didn’t like to be told what to do.”

Mom stopped telling the story and looked at Megan. “Sounds like someone I know. Why is it hard to listen to instructions sometimes?”

“Because I already think I know what to do,” Megan said slowly. She remembered how she hadn’t wanted to listen to Alisha that afternoon. She listened soberly as Mom continued.

“No, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t want to change his attitude. The great kingdom of Babylon belonged to him and no was going to take over it! A whole year went by and he forgot all about the dream.

“One day, as he looked over his kingdom, the proud king told himself, ‘Is not this great Babylon, which I have made by myself?’

“And that moment it happened just as he had been warned. In a single hour the great man lost all his power, his riches, and his glory. All God had to do was make his mind stop working and he was left to wander around like an animal. When people came to the city of Babylon now, someone would whisper, ‘Look, there is the crazy king, eating grass like a sheep!’ Soon the poor man didn’t even look very human, for the Bible says that his hair looked like eagle’s feathers and his nails grew into claws.”

“That would be horrible!” Megan said, making a face. Thinking of the crazy king made her feel strange inside. “I’m sure glad my mind works,” she added.

Mom continued the story.

“For seven years Nebuchadnezzar lived in the fields, while his servants ruled the land. It is amazing to think how God kept his kingdom in perfect order without him. At last the poor man was able to look up to heaven and realize the truth. He wasn’t any super great ruler that could do anything he wanted. He was ragged and dirty, but how glad he was to think again! He realized now that the most high God was in control and that His kingdom never ends, and Nebuchadnezzar praised Him.

“When the humbled man returned to the palace, he wondered if anyone would even notice. But God gave his kingdom and glory back to him, just as He had said. Soon no one would have thought that the royal king on the throne had ever lived like a beast in the field. But one thing, one important thing, was different. And Nebuchadnezzar wrote a letter to tell everyone all about it. ‘I want to tell you all the wonderful things the high God has done to me,’ he began.”

Mom stopped the story and smiled. “What was that wonderful thing?”

“That he learned not to be proud,” Megan said, hiding a yawn.

“Yes,” Mom said. “It is bedtime now. Let us ask God to help us to be humble and thankful, so we don’t have to learn the hard way, like Nebuchadnezzar!”

“I’m sorry I was being proud today,” Megan whispered, as she gave Mom a good-night hug. “I want to be humble and thank God for everything!”

“Me, too,” said Mom.