Shrimp Coffee, Peanut Butter Hamburgers and Something Wonderful
Elie and I were driving home from church tonight and she was playing a Ninetendo DS game called Cooking Mama. She "made" me a pizza on the way home and then she announced:
"I'm making you coffee, Daddy."
"Okay, I don't put any cream or sugar in mine."
"Well, I'm going to put a little something in it, but you won't really taste it."
"Um...okay."
"Just...it will make it taste like hot chocolate, Daddy. I'll just put a little shrimp in it, and it'll taste like hot chocolate."
"Okaaaaay..."
Boy am I glad she wasn't really making me coffee - can you imagine it? Coffee with a little shrimp...bleah...
Worship can be like coffee with shrimp in it sometimes. Here's what I mean. Everything is flowing, everything is going just right...and then, bam, something happens. Maybe it's a technical thing...a mic isn't on or something...maybe I say or do something that distracts from worship...maybe something else happens...
But it doesn't have to be like shrimp coffee.
When I worked in a restaurant we sometimes got bored so we would try different combinations of things. Turns out, just so you know, that you canNOT use strawberry jello to make strawberry pancakes...and it makes a mess of the grill... But, once we put peanut butter on a hamburger and you know what? It wasn't bad. Now, I wouldn't want to do it every time...but it wasn't bad. And dipping french fries in Miracle Whip is pretty good (okay, maybe it's NOT so safe eating at the Beatty household...at least when I'm cooking!!).
And the point of all this is...
I think it's partly how you look at it. When the unexpected intrudes on worship we can feel like it's shrimp in our coffee...or we can wait and see what God is doing, and try it and maybe...who knows? God might just do something new in our lives, in our hearts, in our church.
Isaiah was in worship one day and suddenly his spirit could see God on the throne, and God called Isaiah and said, "Whom can I send?" And Isaiah said, "Here I am, send me." No shrimp coffee moments...but something wonderful.
"I'm making you coffee, Daddy."
"Okay, I don't put any cream or sugar in mine."
"Well, I'm going to put a little something in it, but you won't really taste it."
"Um...okay."
"Just...it will make it taste like hot chocolate, Daddy. I'll just put a little shrimp in it, and it'll taste like hot chocolate."
"Okaaaaay..."
Boy am I glad she wasn't really making me coffee - can you imagine it? Coffee with a little shrimp...bleah...
Worship can be like coffee with shrimp in it sometimes. Here's what I mean. Everything is flowing, everything is going just right...and then, bam, something happens. Maybe it's a technical thing...a mic isn't on or something...maybe I say or do something that distracts from worship...maybe something else happens...
But it doesn't have to be like shrimp coffee.
When I worked in a restaurant we sometimes got bored so we would try different combinations of things. Turns out, just so you know, that you canNOT use strawberry jello to make strawberry pancakes...and it makes a mess of the grill... But, once we put peanut butter on a hamburger and you know what? It wasn't bad. Now, I wouldn't want to do it every time...but it wasn't bad. And dipping french fries in Miracle Whip is pretty good (okay, maybe it's NOT so safe eating at the Beatty household...at least when I'm cooking!!).
And the point of all this is...
I think it's partly how you look at it. When the unexpected intrudes on worship we can feel like it's shrimp in our coffee...or we can wait and see what God is doing, and try it and maybe...who knows? God might just do something new in our lives, in our hearts, in our church.
Isaiah was in worship one day and suddenly his spirit could see God on the throne, and God called Isaiah and said, "Whom can I send?" And Isaiah said, "Here I am, send me." No shrimp coffee moments...but something wonderful.
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