Sometimes Broken Eggs Look Beautiful

One of the most discouraging things about my vision difficulties is the loss of my driving privileges.  I’m not whining, promise!  There are just work-arounds that sometimes need to be done for normal, everyday things.  Something I really miss is being able to jump in the car and run to the store.  Within the past year, I have discovered that I have grocery delivery available to me from our local Food City grocery store. (Shout out y’all!)  The service is not actually provided BY the store, but by a shopper service.  I appreciate Food City allowing the shopper service to operate through their business.  

I put an order in yesterday for a few items that I needed.  We were having a dinner guest.  I keep basic prep stuff here for every day cooking, but I wanted a couple of special things for company dinner.  Within an hour after I put my order in, my motion detector chimed that there was someone in the driveway.  When I checked, it was the grocery delivery.  I stepped out on the porch.  The deliverer was a pleasant-looking young woman.  Bless her heart, I had her out in the freezing rain and cold.  She handed me the bag with dinner rolls and an 18 pack of EB eggs.  I was thanking her for her delivery service as she was handing me the other two bags.  I was not paying attention to what I was doing and as I was reaching for one of the other bags, I let the bag with the dinner rolls and eggs go.  Yep, it crashed to the ground.  

Bless her heart, her eyes got so big.  She asked me to check them.  When I checked, it looked like most of them were cracked on the bottom.  The egg carton had hit flat on the ground.  She was so upset.  She wanted to take them back to the store and exchange them. I told her not to worry about it.  It was my bad.  I was the one that dropped them. She offered a couple of times to take them back.  I told her it would be fine.  I’d broken eggs before and the world did not end.  So I sent her on her way. 

I brought the groceries in and set them on the counter.  I opened the eggs and looked at them.  My first thought was that I would have to end up throwing most of them away.  I let them sit on the counter while I put the other items away.  I came back to them and started flipping them over to see how many were damaged.  There were six that were not broken.  I washed them off and put them in the refrigerator.  There was one that was totally broken, but there were eleven of them that could be saved.  I was able to get them into a bowl.  

The thing is, I fix fifteen omelet sandwiches for my brother each week.  He eats one for breakfast and takes two for lunch each day.  I have figured out that one-quarter cup equals one egg.  So, I  added some salt and whipped the eggs up to a foamy consistency.  There were eleven one-quarter cup servings in the bowl.  I was able to make eleven omelets to stash in the refrigerator for next week.  I think that is pretty good.  

I am sure the young woman has had days where the same situation would not have worked out the same way. Working with the public can be difficult. I know this from experience… been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I did not see any reason to blame her for my clumsiness. I could have though. I could have told her to take them back and bring me fresh, clean, unbroken eggs.  She would have.  I’m sure the shopping service has those kinds of incidents built in for the shoppers.  It most likely would not have cost her anything but the time to do it.  To me, it just did not feel like the right thing to do.  Plus, it worked out OK.  I only lost one egg, really… maybe. 

What is one egg compared to being kind and considerate to someone else, especially someone that you do not know.  She could have been having a difficult day and I could have made it worse.  God’s Word tells us to be kind to one another and treat others the way you would like to be treated.  It seems to always work out in the end.  Kindness beats crabbiness every time.  

“Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”   {1Pe 4:9-10 KJV}

Do you want to know what the coolest thing was about the day?  My friend and I had planned this dinner visit a week and a half earlier.  As she walked in the door, she handed me a dozen, fresh from the chicken house, eggs.  She had no idea about my egg crisis earlier.  She’d taken the eggs to work with her to bring to us.  

That is how God works in our lives.  When we give others grace, as He has given us grace, He will honor that effort.  The broken eggs are just a picture. Don’t hesitate to give grace to others as you go through your daily lives.  Let the man with only two items in front of you at the grocery store.  Let a few cars out ahead of you on a congested road.  Count to three (or ten or twenty or a hundred) before you answer someone in anger.  Take a few minutes to stop and talk to that person you know is alone and might need some companionship.  Just BE NICE people!  It is pretty simple, really.  

_____________________

I feel that since God has given me the gift of this platform, I must always tell you about Him.  

Do you know the God of grace? He created a perfect world. He loved His creation. Then, through the disobedience of man, God’s created beings, sin came into that perfect world. God, as the Creator, was the only One that could redeem His creation. Over two thousand years ago, a season in time came to be when Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, God in the flesh, was born as a tiny babe. (Christianity.com has a very good article about how Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies of the much looked for Messiah. Of course the better place to read this is in the Bible itself.) He lived a sinless life. At the age of about thirty, He began His earthly ministry. Jesus was abandoned by His followers, tortured and crucified to death. This He did deliberately, giving up His life freely. He was buried in a borrowed tomb that was heavily guarded by Roman soldiers. Then, as He had promised His followers, He arose from that grave on the third day. “Why,” you ask, “would He do this, go through this?” Ah, the reason… Love…Grace. He did it for you, His beloved creation! He did it for me also, of which I am eternally thankful. The thing is, He gave His life as redemption for the sin of the whole world. This same Jesus will come into your life. God is Spirit. You come to Him in spirit. Confess to Him that you realize you are a sinner. Tell Him that you believe that Jesus is His Son-His only Son, that He came to this earth to redeem you. Tell Him that you will turn away from a sinful life and follow the teachings of Jesus. Then find a local, Bible-believing church and become involved with the fellowship of the Church.

Here is an excellent website that can give you additional information about making Jesus Christ YOUR best Friend! PeaceWithGod.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’” (John 3:3). 

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’” (Romans 10:9-11).

“And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).