Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.
It is said,
if it is too hot,
stay out of the kitchen.
But what are you supposed to do if you are really hungry?
Each Tuesday I have dinner with a gathering of friends.
We rotate the location of the dinner weekly
between each of our four homes.
It's a great way to catch up
on what is happening in our lives......
and 3 weeks out of 4
I get to enjoy
a hot meal
without having to cook.
It's a win-win deal.....
well except for the blast furnace that occurs on week two.
Let me explain.....
During the winter months
my one friend uses a wood stove to heat his home.,
and his home might be described as "toasty"
to say the least.
Now I admit that I favor cooler temperatures.
I have been known to wear shorts throughout the winter,
and I prefer to sleep in a bedroom that feels like a freezer.
But I don't think I am alone in this
when I say that dinner at my friend's home,
is similar to a picnic..........
that would be a picnic in the Sahara Desert.
When you walk into the home,
the heat hits you like a punch in the face,
only this is a punch that keeps on giving,
all the way through dessert.
I have learned to come dressed in layers
when dining in this lava zone,
but one can only "unlayer" so far,
without breaking social rules of etiquette,
and civil laws.
Even the host's pets seem affected...
I have seen the tropical parakeet
passed out in it's cage.
The cat is curled up
under the toilet bowl
in an fruitless effort to find relief,
and when the front door opens,
Fido sees it as a chance to escape from the furnace of hell.
Now I am sure there is a good reason
for my friend's preoccupation with heat.
Perhaps he is on a mega dose of blood thinner,
or maybe he grew up near the equator.
Whatever the reason,
I always take a deep breath
as I sit down to the table,
I always hope that the menu will offer some relief.....
maybe some chicken salad,
or COLD cuts
or a popsicle souffle.
This evening, I sat down
to a bowl of spicy hot chile.
You can hide many things in life.
You can hide your emotions.
You can hide Easter eggs,
but you cannot hide perspiration.
Sweat was beading up on my forehead
as I complimented the host on
his four alarm chile.
Somewhere between the garlic bread
and the shredded cheese,
I was tempted to bury my face in the apple sauce.
I vowed silently to wrap ice packs around
my neck the next time I visited..
I remembered how often I am told
that God never gives us more than we can handle.
I quoted this thought
as I felt the heat coming off the oven
while the dessert brownies were baking.
I tried not to think about the house that puts hell's thermometer to shame
even as the host bragged that his wood stove
could pump out 50,000 BTUs of heat
on even the frostiest of nights.
Sometimes the good is mixed with the bad in life.
The day that my mother celebrated her retirement,
was the day that my father died.
The promise of recovery from an illness or an injury,
is also accompanied by the painful journey of healing.
The beauty of the first spring flowers
must first endure the cold thaw of winter.
Yes, the good comes with the bad.
Jesus said as much.
It comes to both good and evil people
and is not so much an indictment about our lives,
as it is a statement about life.
Life includes both joy and sorrow,
pain and pleasure,
light and darkness.
What is revealing is not so much
whether we receive more good than bad,
but that we receive fully the grace
that allows us to savor the good,
and overcome the bad.
So the next time you are going through the fires of hell,
don't view it as a judgement from God,
but as an opportunity to once again
place your trust in the One
who carries you through all things.
As for me, mental note........
take a 10 minute ice cold shower
before I come to my friend's house next month.
for He causes His sun to rise on the evil, and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous, and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:45b
It is said,
if it is too hot,
stay out of the kitchen.
But what are you supposed to do if you are really hungry?
Each Tuesday I have dinner with a gathering of friends.
We rotate the location of the dinner weekly
between each of our four homes.
It's a great way to catch up
on what is happening in our lives......
and 3 weeks out of 4
I get to enjoy
a hot meal
without having to cook.
It's a win-win deal.....
well except for the blast furnace that occurs on week two.
Let me explain.....
During the winter months
my one friend uses a wood stove to heat his home.,
and his home might be described as "toasty"
to say the least.
Now I admit that I favor cooler temperatures.
I have been known to wear shorts throughout the winter,
and I prefer to sleep in a bedroom that feels like a freezer.
But I don't think I am alone in this
when I say that dinner at my friend's home,
is similar to a picnic..........
that would be a picnic in the Sahara Desert.
When you walk into the home,
the heat hits you like a punch in the face,
only this is a punch that keeps on giving,
all the way through dessert.
I have learned to come dressed in layers
when dining in this lava zone,
but one can only "unlayer" so far,
without breaking social rules of etiquette,
and civil laws.
Even the host's pets seem affected...
I have seen the tropical parakeet
passed out in it's cage.
The cat is curled up
under the toilet bowl
in an fruitless effort to find relief,
and when the front door opens,
Fido sees it as a chance to escape from the furnace of hell.
Now I am sure there is a good reason
for my friend's preoccupation with heat.
Perhaps he is on a mega dose of blood thinner,
or maybe he grew up near the equator.
Whatever the reason,
I always take a deep breath
as I sit down to the table,
I always hope that the menu will offer some relief.....
maybe some chicken salad,
or COLD cuts
or a popsicle souffle.
This evening, I sat down
to a bowl of spicy hot chile.
You can hide many things in life.
You can hide your emotions.
You can hide Easter eggs,
but you cannot hide perspiration.
Sweat was beading up on my forehead
as I complimented the host on
his four alarm chile.
Somewhere between the garlic bread
and the shredded cheese,
I was tempted to bury my face in the apple sauce.
I vowed silently to wrap ice packs around
my neck the next time I visited..
I remembered how often I am told
that God never gives us more than we can handle.
I quoted this thought
as I felt the heat coming off the oven
while the dessert brownies were baking.
I tried not to think about the house that puts hell's thermometer to shame
even as the host bragged that his wood stove
could pump out 50,000 BTUs of heat
on even the frostiest of nights.
Sometimes the good is mixed with the bad in life.
The day that my mother celebrated her retirement,
was the day that my father died.
The promise of recovery from an illness or an injury,
is also accompanied by the painful journey of healing.
The beauty of the first spring flowers
must first endure the cold thaw of winter.
Yes, the good comes with the bad.
Jesus said as much.
It comes to both good and evil people
and is not so much an indictment about our lives,
as it is a statement about life.
Life includes both joy and sorrow,
pain and pleasure,
light and darkness.
What is revealing is not so much
whether we receive more good than bad,
but that we receive fully the grace
that allows us to savor the good,
and overcome the bad.
So the next time you are going through the fires of hell,
don't view it as a judgement from God,
but as an opportunity to once again
place your trust in the One
who carries you through all things.
As for me, mental note........
take a 10 minute ice cold shower
before I come to my friend's house next month.
for He causes His sun to rise on the evil, and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous, and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:45b
.
1 comment:
Oh, Brother Dave how I remember those days! I too used to wear shorts all winter. My wife was so embarassed at times she would not even go out with me. I liked the family room cold, the kitchen colder, and the bedroom the coldest. My wife said that the headstone on her grave would read "Here lies the frozen soul of a wife who loved her husband so much she let him turn the thermostat down". My father was the opposite of me. He liked it HOT. While he was still living we would visit him every Friday evening. First of all, I would put my shorts on before we left the house if I hadn't already changed into shorts after work. We would walk into Dad's house and the heat was like opening the oven door to see what was baking. I would walk over to the thermostat and see that it was set on 80 or maybe 82. I'd say, "what are you doing in here - baking bread?" Now all of this has changed as I have gotten older and have had the "thrill" of having open heart surgery. I still get hot at times, but not like I used to. I may even turn the thermostat up to 70 now. So, enjoy your perspiration while you can, because some day you will all of a sudden like HOT.
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