Through Chicken Fingers, Mac and Cheese, and a Brownie, the Lord Teaches Me

Last night it was around 8, I was frustrated with my project group, and I was starving. The pizza, pasta, and sub lines were closed and I didn't feel like walking somewhere else to get food. And I definitely wasn't going to eat a salad from the commons, so I went into the convenience store and bought a frozen dinner to heat up.

I got back home and Rachel texted me "I'm sick of group projects. Treating myself to Grub Burger, join me?" She didn't have to ask twice. I through my frozen meal in the fridge and headed out to enjoy burger and fries with my roommate.

After class today, and more frustrations with my project group (but luckily that's over with), I remembered I had that frozen meal in my fridge. So I headed back to home, and proceeded to heat it up. The directions seemed way too complicated for a frozen dinner that was now already half thawed out since it was in my fridge as opposed to a freezer. The directions said to only remove half the film covering from the chicken fingers and brownie, but leave on the macaroni. You were to take out every 30 seconds to stir, and progressively finish removing the film paper over 2 minutes of cooking. Then you were to take out and let sit for 2 minutes, then re-microwave for 45 seconds.

For a frozen dinner? You've got to be kidding me. I ripped off all the film paper, through it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes, and called it good.

My chicken fingers had the consistency of rubber, and tasted very similar to what I would assume rubber tasted like.

My macaroni and cheese had interestingly separated from itself, to have liquidy noodles and cheese in solid form.

My brownie looked more like hot chocolate than a brownie.

This is what happens when I decide not to follow the rules, and to think that I know better than the original maker of the frozen dinner. It turns out looking, and tasting, rather undelightful and disgusting.

The same thing happens in life. Too often I think that I know the best way to do something. That I know better than the original maker of this Universe -- our Father. When that happens my life gets off course, messed up a bit, out of order, and in chaos. Luckily (unlike the maker of my frozen dinner), when I get off track in life, I turn to the Maker and He pulls me back in, refreshes me, and sets me back out in the world, given another chance at life.

We mess up daily, but God is always there to pull us back, wipe us off, and remind us that we are His.