Up on the Housetop

"I'm on my way to town to get a gingerbread house kit for the kids," my daughter Amy said over   phone.  "They have already made five," she went on.  Five! When I asked what they were doing with them, she said they were miniature ones for a gingerbread village.  Our 16-year-old granddaughter was home recovering from surgery, bored and depressed, so this was something she could do.

I couldn't help but think of the time about 10 years ago when I was babysitting these grandchildren, and Amy had brought along a gingerbread kit to entertain them.  Well, it looked pretty daunting to me, but after I put a chicken on to stew for supper, we opened the box and began.  How hard could it be? I'd seen one my other grandchildren had made, and it looked straight out of a story book.

The frosting (glue) seemed right, and there were slots on the special tray to hold up the sides while we worked.  Amid much finger licking and tasting, we applied the "glue" and set up the sides.

The young'uns  quickly lost interest when a neighbor child wanted them to play outside, so I carefully applied the roof sections, which I held in place for awhile for a better set.  When one side started to slide, I gently pressed on it, and the roof section split in half!  After trying various things to reinforce it, I resorted to sticking it onto a piece of cardboard.  (Under all that frosting, who would know?)

By the time the three little rosy-cheeked kiddos came in, I was ready to let them decorate it.  They carefully applied gum drops to the roof, M&Ms to the windows, and sprinkles to the pathway. Everything and everybody was getting to be a sticky mess, when one cherub announced, "The front wall caved in!"  We decided we'd call it a picture window and go on.

Then the roof slid off, was re-fastened, and under the weight of little fingers and heavy ornamentation finally collapsed, bringing the house down with it.

Maybe it was the steam from the chicken in the pot that had made the icing unable to stick, but I knew how the man who built his house upon the sand must have felt!  I haven't made a gingerbread house since, but if I do, I won't multi-task, and there will definitely be no children present!  I much prefer a house like the one built on a rock! Matthew 7:24.