"I know that God won't give me more trouble than I can handle...
but sometimes I wish he wouldn't trust me so much."
The above is a time worn quote from Mother Teresa, and about lunch time, I was thinking my plate was pretty full. It's hot, it's humid (which means the house we live in is hot and humid, the kids were nipping at each other, Ellen and I were getting a few things done before we both headed into work for the evening, and right before I walked out the door, Ellen gave me some information that added yet a few more things to ponder and think about.
Walking into Lowe's, that Mother Teresa quote ran through my mind. My first thought after that was: What do I do when I run out of room on my plate? Second thought -- get a bigger plate!
Since then, what was a full day turned into an ugly day. I had just gotten home for lunch, when I get a phone call from Ellen. She's been involved in a three-car accident right in front of the mall. The next couple of hours were spent getting a few pictures, getting Ellen to St. Francis to be checked out, making a few phone calls making sure that the kids and Ellen's mom would be taken care of, getting prescriptions filled at 8pm on a Friday night, and (most importantly), getting the both of us dinner. Fazoli's always tastes this good, but the breadsticks were extra yummy.
Now that all of this has stewed around for a while, here's a little insight I've picked up over the past 24 hours. And of course, the analogy involved uses some of the best food around -- that found at a family reunion. Or, more precisely, the plate involved.
My family reunions typically are great fun. Cards and Rummikub are typically played, kids spend most of the day outside running around, but when the dinner bell rings, the feast is typically pretty vast. And an informal challenge goes out -- who can best pack and stack their plate so that there's room for everything. From fried chicken to turkey and gravy, to mostaccioli, to chicken and dumplings, AND still have room for corn, some sweet potato casserole, green beans, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, cole slaw, sweet potato casserole (trying to send a message to Ellen...). We won't even talk about dessert. The simple truth is that no matter how big of a plate that you have, it's just one plate. So, what do you do when you run out of room on your plate before you get to the sweet potato cassarole? Let me give you a few tips from a veteran of many a reunion.
- Get picky.
First of all, let's use a little common sense. Do you really want THREE chicken legs? FOUR deviled eggs? TWO HEAPING SCOOPS of dressing? You can either get a lot of a little, or a little of a lot. If you go with the former, you'll find out that you're probably going to miss out on a lot of variety in life. In the same way, be careful what you dish up for your life. Don't let your rabid hunger for Uncle Butch's Famous Fried Chicken get in the way of the delicious seven layer salad, or cole slaw a little bit further down the road. In the same way, don't let things you enjoy grow to the point to where you can't do the things you need to do.
- Get a second plate.
If "many hands make light work," having a "wing man" help out in carrying a drink or (if you really, really trust her) your dessert can be invaluable. Even better, getting a helping hand in carrying a second plate full of food the two of you can share is worth the food's weight in gold. So, if you need some help in handling what life is scooping on your plate, go to a trusted friend or advisor, and get some help! Of course, turning to God and asking for a little help is a great start. But don't forget those friendships and fellowships that you've been blessed to be a part of.
- Be careful on who's scooping.
Like I've mentioned before, there's plenty of choices of really good food on the buffet table, and there's more than enough to go 'round. And when my kids grab a plate, and start dishing up their favorites, sometimes, their choices aren't the wisest. "No, let's not take 4 scoops of Ice Cream Delight. How 'bout some corn instead." "Let's save some room for some baked beans!" "Let's get some ham or turkey first, then we'll make our way to the cookies..." You don't think that the Devil is over there at the dessert tray, saying "Forget about that healthy stuff, here, you can have a few extra cookies. You're big enough for a BIG piece of pumpkin pie. You don't need any room for that ham sandwich, or that fried chicken..." Be careful on who's putting what on your plate. The Devil seeks to distract and divide us. And dangling tasty treats out in of us is the basic definition of temptation. Be sure that the person scooping the potatoes and gravy on your plate has your best interests in mind.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry for some reason. And I think there's some leftover Fazoli's still in the fridge...
Until later :: Greg
