Life is messy. Thinking back a few years ago, I believed I could not make yet another mistake because I may not be able to recover from another bad decision. The funny thing about life is that no matter how much you try to get it right; we are not perfect. (Although we like to think we are, especially when compared to others, especially spouses.) The truth is mankind needs a lot of help. When we are born, we are cute and cuddly and have so much hope and promise for the future. As parents, guardians, grandparents, and foster parents, we give our hearts and souls into child-rearing, and even as our children grow we teach them right from wrong and good from bad. Hoping and praying as they grow all the principles we instill in them remain and give them purposeful direction and positive guidance for their lives.
Children love sweets. You name it–candy, cookies, cakes, donuts, pies and the like are favorites. But as we raise or even teach children we train them to eat ‘real food’, or a sound nutritional meal first before enjoying the ‘good stuff’. One lesson I learned from my grandmother (God rest her soul) is not to waste food. I remember one night for dinner she served beets; I hated beets. I was hungry and ate everything on the plate, but the beets. My grandmother would not let me leave the table until I had eaten everything. Needless to say, it was a long night; I sat there for hours until I choked down all those disgusting beets. Looking back on it now, I’ve learned much about life. Sometimes, we are waiting for the ‘good things’ to happen, and we are not grateful for the people, places, food, and events that are right in front of us. Sometimes we try to bypass the difficulty to savor the reward, and life does not work that way. Life is a process.
The process makes life interesting and vibrant. Not only should we be enjoying the process, but we should be learning from it. One unit taught by many teachers is procedural texts. I enjoyed pulling books from the campus library when the first grade teachers were teaching this unit. One of the first areas I normally go to is the non-fiction cooking books; great for teaching how-to’s, and students really love making and eating their creations when possible. Recently, I read D is for Donut (June 2023) by Rachel Teichman; this is a brilliant book for many reasons. Firstly, I love the cover because it is beautiful and has texture. When I run my fingers across the cover, it feels like I am touching the sprinkles on a donut. How inviting! Secondly, not only does Teichman feature various yummy treats by alphabetical order but the author includes the procedures and recipes for making the yummy treats. I think I gained a few pounds just reading the book (smile). My point being one has to go through the steps in order to devour the treat. Often, in life we want to skip a few steps and still enjoy the reward. It does not work that way. We must take the time to find a good recipe, then shop for the ingredients, then prep the ingredients, then mix and bake the items, wait for them to cool, and finally enjoy the goods.
It is annoying; I know. I get it. Believe me. It is unrealistic to be mistake free for the rest of our life even as believers. We will make mistakes; that is a given, but the beauty of our failures is that God has us. That was His purpose for coming even when we mess up utterly; His strength is made perfect in our weakness as we go through the process. No matter how ugly it is; we follow His recipe for our lives. Something beautiful will come out on the other side. I saw a message on a mug once, “God bless this mess”. We all like cute phrases on mugs, t-shirts, memes, and more; be careful what words come out of your mouth as well as enter your thoughts.
I am God’s work in progress, and I am not a mess. We all have a purpose to love and serve Him as we show kindness towards others. What we think and speak over ourselves and our lives can and does come alive. In the previous blog, I asked What Do You Have To Say?, in which I encourage you to speak up. Many of us have been silent far too long and recently it occurred to me that language is vital to each of our missions. Language is one of our most powerful tools. God changed the language of people so they would not build a tower in the land of Babel, and obviously changing their language so they could not understand each other worked. There may have been an instance in the past or maybe even in the future where you may not understand what is happening due to a language barrier. That’s ok; God still has you.
My wonderful husband is a military veteran, and recently I attended a meeting for veterans and spouses to learn more about business. Like a good student, I sat at the front of class and the speaker had each of us introduce ourselves and tell what branch of the military we or our spouse was a member of. During the speaker’s introduction, he looked right at me (because my spouse is retired Air Force and he was too) and said, “What’s the key to airpower?” I’m sure I looked like a “deer in headlights” because I had no clue. Look at the language. I’m sitting in a room full of service men and women and I did not know the language. I felt like an outsider. I quickly texted my husband and asked him the same question, and of course he knew and responded with the answer. That day I said I’m never going anywhere without my husband if I was going to be among military people.
Then, I digressed. I said to myself the next time I go. See the change in language. I’m going because I am supposed to be in the room. I have a right to be there, but next time I’m going to get a little lesson from my spouse about the language of the Air Force. The next time you are in a room, know the language of your environment; get with the expert beforehand and get the ‘cheat codes’ so you are better prepared. Knowledge is power. But, language holds secrets. (That’s good, right. I just made that up.) Flexibility–that’s the answer. The key to airpower is flexibility. Can you follow the recipe God has for your life? Your sweet treat may be a pie, but mine may be a donut but we are both eating what God has for us. Be flexible in your life’s process. Don’t strive for perfection; strive for completion. Be humble. Ask for help when needed. As the scripture says, “the Lord will perfect that which concerns you.” (Psalms 138:8)
Lighting the way,
Fiya Librarian
コメント