Spit the Seeds! (Angel in the Kitchen)

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 We recently faced one of life’s cold hard facts: there are no perfect foods.

For instance, honey, often called “the perfect food,” can be fattening and promote tooth decay. And drinking too much water can strip away beneficial electrolytes. Seriously! And although it seems overly critical to complain about the downside of water and various foods, which are otherwise delicious and which have great nutritional value, we usually don’t hesitate to approach life with a similar critical eye. LIFE, LOVE, RELATIONSHIPS — will never be perfect! Like food, most aspects of life here on earth are enjoyable and beneficial. Life has great “nutritional” value; but often we focus on the imperfections, the “seeds” in the heart of our relationships, in our jobs, our churches.

Interestingly, we frequently hear friends and coworkers grumbling about life and people, but we rarely if ever hear them complaining about what they’re eating. Probably because most of us tend to expect more from life, love, and relationships, than we do from what we eat. (Picky eaters aside.) We previously stated one remedy to this: keep your high expectations, by all means. Always hope for the best, but don’t put your high (and mighty) expectations on your spouse, your pastor, your boss, your parents, or your kids. Face it, no one can meet our lofty expectations — including us!

None of us are perfect, so why should we expect others to be? And by the way, almost assuredly, at even given moment, we’re not living up to someone else’s expectations. In other words, somewhere, at sometime, we’re letting someone down! Oh well. C’est la vie! Anyway, don’t put your expectations on people. Instead, put your expectations on God. He’s perfect, and He’ll never let you down.

Another remedy for avoiding disappointment in life? Read on, as we further discuss a favorite topic — FOOD!!

Crab legs: ever notice that people who love them REALLY  love them? Personally, we’ve never enjoyed fighting with our food, and crab is one dish that manages to put up a struggle long after its days are over. Sort of like the crab’s last-ditch effort to get revenge. But people who love crab don’t seem to mind, at all. Armed with those heavy-duty cracker gizmos, they happily snap, crack and pop shells until their knuckles are white and their fingertips red — all this work to secure a tiny piece of crab meat.

Onions: these weird veggies manage to get around, and often end up being the life of the party. We invite them into our soups and stews, welcome them in our salads and subs. And we usually include them when we’re having steaks or burgers. We absolutely adore onions, but dealing with them often makes us cry! But a few tears never stop us from hanging out with onions! Watermelon: a summertime favorite. Cool, refreshing, and loaded with a gazillion seeds. But the seeds don’t seem to bother most people. We doubt they even notice the seeds. They merrily chomp away at huge bites of crisp red fruit, and their dispositions don’t change when they encounter a few seeds. They keep smiling and eating, and just spit the seeds — hopefully not in our direction!

Foods aren’t perfect. Neither are people. Why can’t we deal with the imperfections of life and people in the same manner we deal with hard shells and tears and seeds? Happily,  cheerfully, eagerly. Why aren’t we willing to work as hard on our relationships as we do on cracking crab legs?  Well, we can. It just takes a little willingness, prayer, and God’s grace, to penetrate the shells people hide within.

Why do we run from people and relationships after we shed a few tears? Life can be painful. People disappoint and hurt each other constantly. It’s a consequence of the imperfection of the human race. But relationships are worth it. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Each of us has something to offer; but we also, by our very nature, come loaded with “seeds”: faults, blindspots, bad habits. Since we all have seeds, shouldn’t we be willing to overlook them in others? Better yet, why not enjoy the good things we can find in each and every individual; and simply spit the seeds out? It’s Food for thought. Think and pray on it.

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (Colossians 3:13 NLT)

“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 NLT)

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