God’s provision in the nearly rotting produce
Somewhere in the brokenness is beauty.
There was the red pepper at the bottom of the L’Arche fridge. I had just realized that I was cooking dinner for 20 instead of 10. And as I was struggling to find an extra dish to make, I found the red peppers. As I began to cut them up, I realized that the one red pepper was black on the bottom from rot. I cut it away and threw it in together with some whole wheat pasta, parsley, oregano, basil, white wine, some olive oil, and (secret ingredient!) V8; it made a delicious dish. Another day or so, and it would have been beyond use.
Then there was the next morning when I was going to make oatmeal. Our groceries had dwindled, and the only apple in sight was one that on the outside was of questionable quality. I was ready to reject it, but something stopped me. I decided to check it out, and as I cut it open, I saw that it only had a few bruises on the outside, but on the inside was a tasty, crisp, tart apple. I cooked it in some butter and brown sugar, and threw it in my oatmeal with raisins…for a taste of…goodness.
Finally as I was ending up meetings yesterday at L’Arche, I fished around the the fridge for some lettuce. At first sight, there appeared to be none. But as I dug deeper, I saw a bag of lettuce that looked like it might just be turning. I decided to give it a chance and poured it out into a bowl. As it turned out, the lettuce was just a day from going too bad.
There are so many places I can go from here, but I feel like having all this happen to me in the course of 24 hours weighs it on me a little more. God is teaching me something? Somewhere in the brokenness is beauty…