Tip of My Iceberg

I’ve found myself in cow country a lot lately.

Not the pasture, dairy farm, huge herd type of moo land.

Chick-fil-A.

The big kids are beyond the kid meals. Eating them only whets the appetite, never satisfies. Isley is still enamored with the play area and ice cream to focus much on real food.

Ryken, at 17 month, is discovering new tastes and textures. He has strong opinions in these areas.

Catsup became a new food group the first time John and I took the kids to Chick-fil-A. He learned to dip his fries, chicken and fingers to get as much of the red stuff as he could.

This time John introduced him to Polynesian sauce.

You’d have thought he was tasting the finest food in the world.

Pinky raised in gentlemanly fashion, he dipped his chicken. Put it carefully in his mouth.

And grinned.

He has better manners than most adults. He chewed carefully, mouth closed, smiling the whole time.

Dipped again. This time, he just sucked the sauce off the chicken.

He abandoned the chicken all together and used his finger.

“You know you’ve ruined him for real food,” I pointed out to John.

“You’ve got to have the sauce. It adds flavor.” He smiled. And dipped his own fries in the sauce.

How do you argue with an adult role model?

I find myself existing in routines that quickly become ruts. Where life loses flavor. Those places that dig you deeper, walls go steeper, and you forget why it had been such a good idea in the beginning. Not just actions–the way I drive to work, the coffee I order from Starbucks–but attitudes. Feeling dismal when things don’t go my way. Having an attitude of entitlement because, well, I’m me. People who rub me the wrong way–and have for some time. I can choose the way I respond, flavoring my day with hope and grace.

Think of how you perceive God. So many see just a caricature of Him–the One with all the rules. Who ruins fun with limitations. Who’d rather “don’t” us than see us “do”. Jesus reminds us who the real joy-sucker is.

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”       John 10:10

The thief is the enemy of our souls, the devil. His single goal is to keep us from experiencing life in all it’s wonder the way God created us to enjoy it. He seeks to steal joy, kill hope and destroy all things beautiful and loving. Not obviously, as the red-robed, pitchfork-carrying demon, but often subtly, in the lies we choose to believe.

Jesus wants us to experience life in His lavish love. Not full of stuff, but overflowing with hope, care, love, peace. The world can only offer a facsimile of those things which never satisfy. Jesus wants to flavor our lives with His truth, His purposes. His love.

That’s the kind of “special sauce” I’m talkin’ about.