Bean Pie

"What are you doing?" asked Jonie, astonished to see her grandmother spilling beans into a pie crust."I'm using uncooked beans as weights so my crust will bake evenly," answered Grandma. She slid it into the oven and set the timer.Jonie laughed. "I thought you were making bean pie!"Grandma smiled. "No, beans add pressure so no air gets inside to puff up the pastry. My crust will bake beautifully once the real filling replaces the beans." She pointed at a bowl of green apples. "There's our filling. Would you like to peel those?""Sure. Apple pie sounds way better than bean pie!" Jonie got to work with the peeler. "I love your baking, Grandma. It never affects my allergies."Cutting the fruit, Grandma said, "It must be hard keeping track of what's in your food."Jonie raised her hand. Counting on her fingers, she listed, "Nuts, eggs, tomatoes, and seafood." She returned to her task. "It's not fair. Some people only have one allergy or none at all."The timer beeped. Using oven mitts, Grandma removed the crust. She dumped the beans into a bowl. Setting the crust aside, she returned to slicing the apples. "We all have difficult situations--burdens--that weigh us down. Jesus knows our burdens. When He came to earth, He experienced hard things too. We can trust Him to give us the strength we need to face them, even if we don't understand why." She added sugar and cinnamon to the fruit. "Whether our burdens are big or small, Jesus is with us, and we can rely on Him for help. He willingly took on the biggest burden of all--our sin--so we could be free from all our troubles one day when He comes again." She stirred salt and lemon juice into the mixture. "Sometimes it may seem unfair to have difficulties, but they can make us stronger and prepare us to become who God intended us to be."As Grandma transferred the apple filling to the crust, Jonie exclaimed, "It's like those beans! Your pastry needed them to get ready for the apples, otherwise it wouldn't become a delicious apple pie."Grandma's smile widened. "Right. The beans helped the crust take shape for something better--the apples.""Don't forget the ice cream!" added Jonie. -Elena Dee