I believe I have experienced the
exhilaration of a man with a new power tool. I now own a Vitamix. This machine
is amazing! Mesmerized by its myriad of miracle-working culinary powers, I set
out to actually make soup in a blender. My foray into homemade honey-nut peanut
butter was a smashing success, so I was feeling pretty good about stretching
beyond simple smoothies.
Mouth watering from the picture,
I scheduled the soup in my weekly menu and integrated its ingredients into my
shopping list. The appointed day arrived! Salivating at the thought of a warm
bowl of comfort, I precooked ingredients during the day, making sure everything
was just right for the great debut that evening.
It was time.
Ingredients layered in the
container in the exact order prescribed, I flipped the power and slowly turned
the dial to turbo. Engines full blast, the blender died. Silence. Unplug, plug.
Nothing. Reset the outlet. Nothing. Look for a secret kill switch on the
machine. Nothing. Wind knocked from my sails, I would not give up. Half-blended
ingredients safely preserved in the refrigerator, I would return the Vitamix
for a new one and make a second attempt the next day. It was a frozen pizza
night.
Turns out, the blown out blender
just needed a little rest. Morning smoothies went off without a glitch. I was
back in the blending business! Paring down portions and adding extra liquid, my
second attempt was headed in the right direction. Dumping each batch into my
family-sized stock pot, my excitement waned. I couldn’t recall any restaurant
potato soup with such a sticky consistency. Was the texture supposed to be like
paste? On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t have modified the amount of
spinach. Perhaps the reason it called for only a few spinach leaves blended a
mere two to three seconds was to avoid the glow in the dark green goo brewing
on my cook top.
The soup was a total failure! The
appearance, texture, and flavor were awful. I was devastated. Wind once again knocked
from my sails and hormonal to boot, I approached my sweet husband soaking in
the hot tub at the end of a hard day, visions of delicious soup dancing in his
head.
“Want to go on a date?” I hinted,
plopping myself into a lawn chair on the back deck.
“Why? I thought you were making
soup.”
With all the drama I could
muster, I explained the federal disaster area just inside the back door. He
agreed the local Mexican restaurant sounded pretty appealing. Walking through
the kitchen on his way to shower, curiosity got the best of him.
Peering into the mysterious green
mixture, he inquired, “What’s in it?” Listing the ingredients, I invited him to
taste it. It took several spoonfuls, a few swishes, and some thought, but he
decided it wouldn’t be too bad. We’d just stay home and eat the soup with the
thawing hand-made empanadas from our missionary friends in Argentina.
Mustering my resolve, I carefully
attempted to extract the empanadas from their Ziplock. The dough, now more like
glue, clung to the plastic like a child who doesn’t want to be left in the
church nursery, and four of the twelve folded meat pastries lay dying on the
cookie sheet. The rest were wadded up in the trash.
I was beyond caring. I threw the
salvaged quartet in the oven and waited. When everything was ready, James
surveyed his fare and gently commented, “Do you think it’s too late to go to
the Mexican restaurant?”
Dinner was completely unsalvageable.
A total write off.
Sitting in my office later that
night, eating a smorgasbord of leftovers, I found myself feeling grateful. I
once felt like that meal – unsalvageable. Unpalatable. Ugly in every way. Some
days I still feel like that (especially the hormonal ones)!
I’m so thankful God didn’t and
still doesn’t toss me to the side and write me off. No matter how wrong things
go, God can salvage anyone and anything. Not only can He salvage, He can
restore.
Want proof? Pick up the Bible.
Start in Genesis and read through thousands of years of documented history of a
perfect God who redeems His imperfect people, starting with Adam and Eve. Some
of the people and events are worthy of their own reality television show!
Are you feeling unsalvageable? Don’t trust
your feelings. Trust God. Trust the truth of His word. Make the words of these
verses from Psalm 31 your own:
In You, O
LORD, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness
(verse one).
For You
are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name's sake, lead me and guide
me (verse three).
Into Your
hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth (verse five).
I will be
glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have
known my soul in adversities, and have not shut me up into the hand of the
enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place (verses seven and eight).
As for me,
I trust in You, O LORD; I say, "You are my God" (verse fourteen).
Oh, how
great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which
You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of
men. You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of
man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues
(verses nineteen and twenty)!
Blessed be
the LORD, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city (verse
twenty-one)!
Oh, love the
LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays
the proud person (verse twenty-three).
Be of good
courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD
(verse twenty-four).
God is in the business of repurposing
the trash of our lives into something worth praising Him! Let us do so today!
Thank You, Lord, for salvaging us!
Thank You for taking what was helpless and hopeless, and through Your Son
Jesus, redeeming us. For the person reading this who feels like they are the
one person who truly cannot be saved, or who looks at their circumstances and
sincerely can’t see how things could ever get better, speak Your truth to their
heart. May we be of good courage as You strengthen our hearts. We put our hope
in You as we become more wholly Yours today!
Shauna Wallace
Holy His
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