As Easter draws near, the Peeps have become part of our lives. You do know what I’m talking about? Peeps! Those lovely little sugar coated marshmallow animal shaped candies that used to only appear at Easter. Used to be they were exclusively bright yellow and shaped liked chicks. Now they have bunny shapes and have added bright pink, blue, and purple sugar coatings. Our family loves Peeps. My daughter Jillian learned a long time ago how marvelous it is to microwave your Peeps. Place one or two in a mug or bowl, and microwave it on high. Watch it while it ‘nukes’ and you will see it swell, expand, and plump up to such great volume that it will ooze over the edge of the cup or bowl with marshmallow goodness dripping everywhere. Grab a spoon and enjoy. My husband Ted prefers his Peeps another way. He will take off the plastic wrapping on the Peeps package and set the opened package out in the open so the marshmallow dries out. We prefer the bunny shapes for this process because they are of equal thickness, unlike the chicks that are thick in the middle. If you wait several days, the soft marshmallow bunny dries up so that when you eat the Peep, it is drier but chewier. Delicious! We have had a challenge around her with being patient enough to wait for our Peeps on the counter to dry and age properly. The solution? Out of sight, out of mind: Ted has been putting the unwrapped Peeps packages in the cupboards behind cupboard doors. The joke around here now is that as he and I take turns at opening the cupboard for a plate or cup, we each check the bunny stock. Some mornings, I have to report to Ted that, “Some bunnies went missing last night!” We have the same problem with our peanut butter jar as it always seems to lose volume by the spoonful.

I had to find a way to talk about Peeps and relate it to our lives and here’s what I see. The talents and gifts we get from God are like sugary treats – Peeps! Once we recognize the gift we have, whether it is singing, teaching, painting, preaching, or building, comforting, listening, or giving, it is up to us how we use it. If we hide our gift away in a cupboard, it may just tend to dry up. It’s in the dark where few will see. It is not shared. It shrivels and loses it freshness. It is not of much use to anyone, save for the person who may sneak a taste of it once in a while. But if we put our gift out where it can be seen, maybe use it and warm it up – then it will expand and grow! If we share that talent or gift we are given then our cup will runneth over with sweet stuff and spread.

I know – it is kind of a long shot trying to relate Peeps to our gifts or talents. But it is Peeps season and I had to share the family ‘recipes.’ Do you like your Peeps dried out? And if you have never microwaved them before, I bet you’re going to try it now!

Peeps.

Sweet.

Romans 12:4-8 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

just Laurel