expiration date

The other day i was doing some grocery shopping. My mom taught me well to always check the prices, and specials. not to just take my normal brand. I saw that the cream cheese, in a really good brand was on special. I almost broke into song right there and then, i love cream cheese, any cream cheese except for one flavor.

My eyes went back and forth looking at the flavors, pondering in my mind what crackers i would pair it up with. . . my saliva glands were already working over time. . . then i saw it, my ultimate goal..."smoked Salmon" cream cheese- that one wasabi rice crackers....*blush* did i just drool on myself in public? *discretely tries to wipe it away*.

No experience has taught me another thing. Sometimes specials are too good to be true. So i pick up my prize, turn it over and check the expiration dates. Yup, as suspected 1 week till it expires. i check through all the flavors, just in case. its all pretty much the same expiration date. still i can eat a tub by myself in a week, and not waste any. it just means i will only be buying one tub. so i grab the preferred smoked salmon flavor tub,  throw it in my basket. all the while thinking, i miss the days when i lived with my parents. i never checked expiration dates in those days, i just took food out the fridge and assumed it was fine. With these memories playing through my mind, i head off to get my crackers.

grocery shopping done, i head home, eager to enjoy a snack. . . i grab the tub of cream cheese, crackers and a knife. spread some on the cracker, pop it in my mouth and......*gag*. . . not it wasn't off. it was "Smoked Ham" flavor . . . the ONLY flavor i dislike. [i don't like any fake bacon/ham flavored things. . . they are vile to me]. and even the wasabi cracker couldn't help make the taste better. i was gutted . . .  for those of you who don't understand that expression . . . it means i was completely and absolutely devastated.

You see i had been so focused on the expiration date, that i didn't pay enough attention to the flavor, and in the end lost out on what should have been an awesome taste experience. How often in life do we do that? We get so focused on the "end game" the "conclusion" or "goal". Or we get so focused on trying to figure out the game.  "What is God doing?" "what is God trying to teach me?" "what part of my character is being shaped by this?" "why is this happening?"

So absorbed in an area of it that we miss out on the fullness, the flavor, the joy of the actual game? just some food for thought!

The good news is that God isn't just about the end game. . . He is about EVERY tiny little detail. Everything is crafted and planned in, no matter how small, and for a reason.

Psalm 37:23 [new living translation]

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
    He delights in every detail of their lives.