Saturday, June 7, 2014

A Little Taste

I am getting my favorite meal in the oven to make ahead for my Mother in law who will have the Littles for a week.

I remember almost by heart the seasonings and measure them out in a bowl. I have run out of pepper and need to fill the shaker again. The words "POUR" stand out to me and I fill my teaspoon to running over because I am thinking.

And I remember, as I have always remembered since making the recipe for the very first time, not to add the full amount of Thyme that it calls for. I smile thinking that I have never had to write it down on the recipe, it has just been permanently written on my brain.

Half the Thyme.

I pop it in the oven and sit and think a bit more.

This afternoon I was just back from visitation and my eye caught sight of what seemed to me as a sea of daisies just waving in the sun.

I did what any normal sleep-deprived Momma would do. I walked through the prickers and thistles and bugs and began to pick them.

As I bent to snag the first beautiful bloom, the Lord brought this verse to mind:

 O taste and see that the Lord is good: 
    Psalm 34:8

And as I picked it just ran over and over and over in my head.

There are days when it is easier to praise the Lord than others.

Easier to notice His goodness.

Trace His smile on your life.

I was drawn to these daisies because I so longed to see some goodness. They are cheery and lovely and I had them right outside my doorstep when life was good, the kids were happy and the floors were dirty.

Is the devil so deceitful that he would bring these to my notice to spark some feeling of discontentment in me???

Youbetyourbottomdollar he is.

But God did not leave me comfortless.

"O taste and see" He would remind.

And I realized I was picking daisies left and right.

I was picking more than I had even meant to.

I was picking and picking and picking so many that one hand could hardly hold them all.

And I lifted my eyes to see yet so many more around me.

Waving at me their cheery blooms and God softly saying, "O taste and see.."

See that there are so many blessings to be had.

More than you can hold in your hand. In your heart.

I am good.

I am God.

I am your Provider, Father, Maker, Healer, Comforter.

Look around you.

This is just a taste.

Enough to wet your appetite for me.

My eldest girl sees me picking like there is no tomorrow and it makes my heart happy that she knows me and is not surprised that I am knee-deep in prickers and comes to see me.

She warns me that there is poison ivy where I am.

I shrug.

I've never been allergic to it, and she knows this.

She also knows  that she IS very allergic to it.

She comes in to be with me and we smile and my heart is overflowing that she knows the risk, yet she comes to pick with me anyway.

She comes for a taste. O that I may always be seeking the right things to show her where the blessings are.

Life is not easy. Thorns and prickers hit us all.

You may even know that you are stepping into something that will make your life miserable for a while.

But it is worth it for a taste.

On the way back to the van, the Lord brings in the rest of the verse that I had not yet thought upon.

  blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Isn't that just like the Lord? To give you what you can handle, to bring your heart to the truth you are struggling with?

And my hand is overflowing with flowers and he tells me He can be trusted.

He can be trusted in the prickers and poison ivy.

It's a risk, but the taste reminds me that it is only the beginning of the Lord's goodness.

The daisies are still waving, reminding me that there are so many more yet to be picked.

After all, it's His church, His house, His possessions, His money, His children, His man.

If everything comes from Him, can He not  be trusted with them all??

I run to turn the oven on low. This dish is best when it simmers low all afternoon.

And I am seeing how funny it is that I am so concerned with too much Thyme, and in reality time is fleeting.

My youngest learned to ride a bike yesterday.

She didn't even ask us if she could.

If we were ready for some childhood time to be taken away.

Are we ever ready?

And I want half the Thyme, but all the time I can get to learn, to lean on Him and to trust Him for what is His already.

Vases come out and the youngest gets pollen on her lips and nose from too much smelling of this goodness.

She hands them to me and I cut them to size and we distribute them in vases of various colors and sizes.

Blessings come to us in so many colors and sizes, don't they?

And she holds a bundle and tells me that they are a family.

I could have squeezed the stuffing out of her right then.

We ARE a family.

My family needs to know that God can be trusted.

They need a taste of His goodness.

We scatter vases and the oven fills the house with a delish aroma.

Just another day of learning, of leaning hard into Him.

Because He can be trusted.

*Pictures forth coming. They are too sweet not to share.