The Missing Element - Where's the cream in my raspberry turnover? by Tracy Williamson

My friend Marilyn and I are on holiday at the moment and  have indulged a little in various naughty offerings! However, above all other temptations, the best is the  raspberry cream turnover sold by Morrison's.  It is yummy, even nicer than the cakes in all the fancy bakeries and tea rooms that proliferate in this seaside town.
At first we resisted temptation, but Morrison's is literally just across the road from where we are staying...Three days passed then we  cracked.  On the pretence of getting some milk I ran down the road and soon found myself paying not just for a litre of semi skimmed but a pack of two delectable looking raspberry turnovers.
We thought we'd be very good and share one between us instead of a whole one each.  So I got out the plates, cut one turnover in half, made the tea and we sat down to enjoy.  Marilyn took one bite and said in a heartbroken tone, 'where's the cream?'  I thought she meant it had less cream than usual so I tried my own, only to find there was no cream at all.  We were eating a creamless raspberry cream turnover!

We still ate them and they were ok, sort of nice but nothing like the luxurious indulgence we'd anticipated.  Something was missing and the lovely pastry and sharply sweet raspberry filling just didn't make up for the lack of that most important element, the cream. 
As I mourned our loss, the thought came to me - how often do we miss out the most important element, both in our writing and even sometimes in life?  If the lack of cream makes such a difference to a cake, how much more if we somehow miss out the very thing that will make our writing or our lives come alive?

But can this really happen? 
Well, sometimes I've tried so hard to finish, for example, a series of Bible notes by the deadline, that it's all become focussed around finding the right words, adding some pithy insights and  a bit of personal story to make it 'real'. Then relief, another one done, correct word count, bible passage  explored, one down, thirteen to go!
But somehow I've missed something.
The most important thing.....

The point of a raspberry cream turnover is that you indulge.
And surely the point of a Bible reading is that you inspire?
But suppose in all my deadline meeting efforts to get the right passage, insights and 'feel', I've missed the actual Source of inspiration Himself?
Or what if I'm writing my own story?
Surely the point of a good memoir is that in engaging with someone else's story we feel more empowered to live our own?
But if I've focussed so much on all the details and facts will I be missing out the cream, that vital element of reality and empathetic sharing that will empower and inspire my readers?
What makes a thriller thrill?
Or a comedy truly side splitting?
Or a Christian teaching book, life changing?
Or a poem, searching?
Or a life truly lived to the full?

What creates the cream and provides the missing element?

With our turnover tragedy I'm glad to say that Marilyn and I found a wonderful solution.  We had a tiny amount of double cream in a jug and decided to whip it up.  It made the equivalent of 2 heaped dessert spoonful's.
Just enough to spread a nice bit into each half of the other turnover.
It was yummy!
So much nicer than the first one!
All it needed was a bit of cream and it was perfect!.

We added it in ourselves, that missing most important element.
And I thought,  What do I need to add to my devotionals, bible readings, stories, life....? 
And I realised, if I want to inspire, nothing can equal letting the Lord inspire me first.
If I want to make others laugh, I need to let the Lord open my eyes to life's humour and learn to laugh myself.
If I want to write a thriller do I understand what scares me or makes me live on the edge of suspense?
If I want a reader to enter into my own story and be helped by it, have I taken time to encounter myself and the Lord in the deeper areas of my life first and so share my story from that real place?

The Lord and His life transforming encounters with me provide that missing element.

We took our cream and added it in and the turnover came alive.
So what do I have, what have I experienced, what is my life about?
How does the Lord bless me?  What do I miss and long for? what makes me laugh, cry, scream , guffaw, love, give up, climb mountains, persevere, write, live, have faith?
What impassions me, what gives me joy and hope?

I am sure now that if I can spend time with the Lord finding these elements and letting all I am and all I do flow from them, then the turnover of my writing, my life and my ability to inspire and influence will be full, overflowing and yes, yummy!

Tracy Williamson is an author and speaker working together with the blind gospel singer songwriter Marilyn Baker for the charity MBM Trust - www.mbm-ministries.org   Tracy, who is deaf and partially sighted shares a home with Marilyn in Kent.  Tracy has written several books on hearing God's voice and being inwardly transformed by His Spirit.  Her latest book, The Father's Kiss will be published by Authentic Media on 7th September.