So my day started off with a bang….literally.
I learned the hard way what happens when you stick a spoon in a blender while making a milkshake. Mount Vesuvius strikes again.
Although I really do like the smell of vanilla ice cream and peanut butter, I thought it would be best not to leave that creamy goodness on my cabinets, walls and kitchen floor.
Unfortunately, my husband was just walking out the door for work and couldn’t stay to help with the clean-up effort. Ugh. He did, however, mention that he wished he had captured this spectacle on video because it surely would have gone viral. On the bright side, there was still just enough of the shake left in the blender to give to my daughter, who was recovering from a tonsillectomy.
Culinary wiz, nurse and housemaid all in a matter of 15 minutes…not bad for a Monday morning.
Interruption or Blessing in Disguise?
It’s funny how God can use some of the strangest, most unexpected (and often annoying) moments in our lives to bring clarity and perspective. I had quite a few things on my to do list that day, and I really did feel ready to tackle my week. We had made it through Thanksgiving (surgery included), and now the Christmas season was beginning. But everything suddenly had come to a screeching, explosive halt.
As I stood astonished looking at the scene before me, wondering if maybe I should just crawl back into bed, I remembered the sermon I had heard at church just one day before. The pastor had challenged us to allow God to “interrupt our lives”, to remember that God is sovereign over everything that happens to us. He suggested that we try not to over-spiritualize every minute occurrence but to instead just look for what God may be doing in the midst of it all.
So here’s what God spoke to me about in the midst of my Monday morning mania:
Slow down and remember that interruptions can be blessings in disguise.
Sometimes we have so many tasks we’d like to accomplish that we begin to just click along like a rumbling freight train, not slowing down long enough to consider whether or not what we’re doing is really all that important. And for me, there’s also the temptation to try to do too many things at the same time. That’s when I usually end up not doing anything very well.
As I mopped up the slippery sweetness, I began to remember how many things I am thankful for – a husband who laughs with me (or sometimes at me), a daughter who received excellent medical care, a warm home on a cold day, and yes, even a blender. I wasn’t happy about the mess I had to clean up, but I was glad that this strange, unexpected interruption to my agenda slowed me down long enough to remind me of God’s sovereignty and loving care — my first gift of the Christmas season.
One gift that won’t be on my wish list this year? A blender.
