A few weeks ago, I went grocery shopping. As I wandered down the salad dressing aisle looking for Chomps sticks (that the app said were located there and which, oddly enough, is
also the beer aisle – I think that aisle is having a personality crisis), I thought of something else I needed that might also be in that same aisle of random things. My gaze wandered to the left where I saw a gallon of milk precariously balanced on a case of beer. My immediate reaction was an escaped giggle, which very quickly turned into a story. Anyone else see or overhear something and your mind races to make up a story to go along with it? Hmm, well as I finished up my shopping, I made good progress on the story of a hypothetical mom or dad, already bone-tired from Christmas break and kids home from school, making the choice between the need (milk) and the want of sanity (beer). I forgot all about it as I checked out, loaded up, and headed home; but it wasn’t until a few days ago that I had an epiphany.
You see, I remembered lamenting to a friend over the summer about how I hadn’t been able to enjoy reading lately, and that I'd lost my voice the last few days of the school year, and my administration had commented that I’d had a rough year. Recalling that statement to her suddenly floored me, and I stopped to think about it for a bit. I have had a rough year. That's when I started down the pity-party path.
It started in March of 2023 with the death of my father-in-law. He was a wonderful man, a gifted teacher and coach, and a loving Christ-follower. I considered him a father, too, as mine had passed before I even met my husband. God, in his goodness, blessed me with a father-in-law that was so very like my own daddy. We also started our daughter’s senior year and our son's 8th grade year -- with all the things happening -- and in the fall, we had several difficult personal months. Last January, my husband started a new job. Then, the "lasts" began to come quickly – our son's last middle school basketball games, shopping for our daughter’s senior prom, college visits and decisions, graduation everything, his last track season. Keep in mind that I also work full-time and am the transport for our son and some of his friends. In the middle of all of this, the weekend before prom and a month before graduation, I fell at one of my son's track meets. I severely sprained one ankle, scraped up my leg, and twisted my other ankle. After twelve days, I finally gave in and went to the doctor where I found out I had actually fractured one ankle as well as broken a toe on my other foot. But, no time to rest – end of senior year, graduation, college orientation and registration, end of 8th grade year, and end of school year in general await! So, I dutifully wore my boot the following four weeks and somehow managed to maneuver our lives. Honestly, it was really no surprise that I lost my voice; the real surprise was that I made it out in one (though bruised and broken) piece!
I reminisced over those fifteen months. Then I began thinking about our summer of illnesses and my daughter moving away to college, navigating distance-parenting, learning to live with one less in the house, and all the illness I’ve had this school year. That's when God called to mind that lost gallon of milk in the beer aisle and the decision that was made there: to choose the want, the easy, the immediate instead of the need -- the more desirable but possibly more difficult. How many times over this last year or so, I thought, have I dropped God’s good things for something quicker or simpler in order to ease a moment of pain or frustration? For me, the easy is dropping down the rabbit hole of social media and playing games on my phone instead of reading or praying. For someone else, it might be drinking or drugs, relationships, or hiding away. The reality is anything can be used as a moment’s distraction and become an idol. Satan knows our weakest points. But don’t forget the most important part – so does God! He knows our weaknesses; that’s why he offers us the good.
So, as our new year moves forward, take those steps and make the changes to walk with God - and don’t leave your milk in the beer aisle!
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