As I start this post, I can still feel the “sticky” of the Polynesian sauce I didn’t fully get scrubbed off the kitchen table. That sauce is a must-have for my oldest boys; their three and two year-old fingers dip into it, whether there’s any chicken left or not. It’s the second day we’ve been through that drive thru this week. It’s the second time I’ve waited in a car line backed out past the street and the second time I’ve had to ask for extra Polynesian sauce when I finally made it to the pick-up window. And this week is not much unlike many others. Run errands, work out, teach lessons, play dates, clean house, Chick-fil-A. It’s becoming such a part of our lives that when I tell my boys I’m picking up chicken for lunch, they immediately ask if it’s the kind with the special sauce — their favorite. They’ve even mentioned that sauce by name in thankful prayers at night before bedtime. But even as much of a part of our lives that dependable restaurant is becoming, I want them to know it isn’t one of the most important parts. Because let’s face it, their dipping sauces may be different, but there’s a Wendy’s next door and a Zaxby’s down the street. We can easily find us some tasty chicken. And even though my kids eat it up, and I do, too, it really won’t nourish us in The Way that lasts. Even though it saves some time — when the car stops running or the dryer is broken or our toddler trips and bites through his tongue, it isn’t going to save the day. I think back to a conversation I had just before lunchtime, as I shared a testimony of God’s provision with a friend. As she and I talked, I knew my boys were listening — they may have been trying to siege the whole play area, but they were listening. I shared how a neighbor prayed a specific request for a specific tool and how the very next day — God sent it to him — at first, via a text that it would be his for the taking. And God proved again – He is alive and able. And He shows us His power and His presence time after time.
And that is the stuff I pray that “sticks.”
I swept the crumbs off the floor and washed up little faces and hands. Oh, how I want them to appreciate what it means to enjoy God’s goodness and the amazing grace of getting clean. We can eat and we can drink and we can play and chase each other so fast we might fall. But that is not what life is really all about. Jesus says — “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” Matthew 6:25 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Vs 33) And so we teach that our lives don’t revolve around those waffle fries but around our loving, relational God who created us to enjoy So. Much. More.
He is the good stuff.
And although, i will cry if they were to close that fast-food restaurant down, I am thankful our boys will know that some things matter so much more — Desiring God. Loving people instead of Polynesian sauce. At the end of the day, what we fill ourselves up with will matter — may it be of the stuff that lasts. “And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:13
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