Okay, I have often teased my family that I have to be part Italian because I love Italian food! Reagan took me to an Italian restaurant on our first date and that may have sealed the deal!! Thankfully, all of the boys seem to have that same passion for marinara, alfredo, ricotta, pasta, and ......garlic bread. I love garlic bread.
The problem is that lately, I have burned it. Now, I may not be a chef in the making, but I am a pretty good cook. I rarely have a meal that the family doesn't enjoy and fairly often friends request recipes from me. So, it is pretty unusual for me to let something burn, but I think it has happened 3 times over the past couple of months. So much so that Carson and Caleb have started to tease me about it. I have become a proficient charcoal scraper to get the burn off the crusty delight. I have requested that they not bring it up at my funeral - maybe they will forget in time.
Last night we had a new pasta dish and ....(wait for it).... I did not burn the bread! I was so excited!!! It hit me later that I kept a closer watch on it this time. In some of the previous attempts I had gotten distracted with the final meal preparations and just didn't keep an eye on the bread in the oven. So, the bread began to resemble a piece of charcoal.
You know I think we all have some areas in our life that we have to watch closely or we get burned. Sometimes we are burned by others and sometimes it is because of our own decisions. If we have a relationship that is difficult in our lives, we may have to set appropriate boundaries in that relationship in order to protect ourselves. Beyond setting those boundaries, we have to watch the boundaries we have set to make sure that we are remaining true to them. Sometimes, we get burned because we make decisions which are unhealthy and set ourselves up to fail.... we must stay alert to situations that are difficult for us to handle. For example, I once had a single friend mention that she had learned to not go to certain places by herself as too often she would become depressed and would struggle with self-pity. She learned that it was best to avoid certain "pitfall" situations in order to not get burned and lose her focus on what God had for her. Another friend was going through a difficult financial period and decided for a short time to avoid unnecessary trips to the stores because seeing things that they could not purchase was upsetting. In order to not get burned by a focus on worldly possessions, they had to watch themselves closely and make an effort to limit certain shopping trips.
I know certain areas in my life that I have to keep a close watch on in order to protect myself from being burned. It takes being focused, alert and on guard when dealing with those certain areas of struggle- just like the garlic bread.
"Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart." Proverbs 7:1-3 NLT
As Christians, we are to be on guard and watch ourselves as well as to love wisdom and discernment. As disappointing as burned garlic bread is to taste, being burned in life has far more lasting consequences and painful ones at that. So, keep your oven mitts on and watch the oven- don't burn the bread!
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