Thursday, February 27

Some of us learn the hard way.

Sometimes, some of us just have to learn the hard way. Have you ever found yourself rushing through life, cutting corners here and there to simply just "get the job done" or to just "get by"? I do this a lot. I rush and I race, I cut corners to fit it all in and you know what? Sometimes I get by doing that. And there are the times where I don't and I end up hurt, messy and frustrated. That is when I know it is time to slow down, reevaluate, re-prioritize and pay attention.

Just 2 weeks ago I found my self rushing and cutting corners to just "get the job done" so I could move on and do other things. Other more important things like, check my email, or maybe Facebook messages. I was preparing dinner and I was in a rush. I was behind on cooking my dinner because I had shamefully watched a lot of TV that day, "checked a lot of emails", I might have gone to Homegoods...again... and I was just falling behind. I strive to have dinner ready when Phillip gets home in the evening and on this evening I wanted it done and ready so I could go run right after. I was rushing.

I was making a Mascarpone Fettuccine with roasted, sliced Zucchini that night. I am terrible at perfectly slicing Zucchini. I can never get it even and just right for roasting. My mom had given me a mandolin a few months back and I thought this particular night would be perfect to try it out! So I set my mandolin up, grabbed my zucchini and quickly began slicing my zucchini. I didn't have time to figure out how it actually worked so I just winged it. You don't want to just "wing it" when you are using a mandolin. So I grabbed my little Zucchini, set the mandolin blade gage at 1/2 and inch and yanked it across that blade.

The next thing I remember I was grabbing my thumb and frantically reaching for my phone to call Phillip home.  It looked like I had slaughtered a chicken in my kitchen sink. My kids were crying, I might have been crying and I was beginning to feel a little faintish. It was terrible. Phillip came home from work, my father in law came to watch the kids and we went to the Urgent Care clinic so I could get stitched up. I did not plan on my monday evening playing out this way.
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6 stitches later and Chick-fil-a for dinner, I was home and ready to throw that mandolin away. After cleaning up my mess and and washing up the mandolin I saw a little red thing that appeared to fit over the mandolin.
Like a GUARD maybe?? 
So I pulled out the instruction manual...like I should have in the first place...and looked for the image page that explains what each part is and how it works. And yes, sure enough, that little read thing I thought was for tomatoes or something, I don't even know, was in fact... A HAND GUARD!!!!

I could have prevented nearly slicing my thumb off if I had of been paying attention. I was rushing and thought I had control. Clearly I didn't. And I overlooked the one thing that could have prevented it all.

After thinking over and over "How in the world did I miss that?" I thought, isn't that how we go through life? Rushing, racing, not paying attention, cutting corners, making mistakes that end up harming us and frantically trying to just "get by" when we are given an "instruction manual", a guide to life. God has given us the keys to life, the answers to a lot of our problems and instructions on how to avoid harming ourselves and others around us. Yet, we over look it because "We've got this".

There have been so many times where I have taken the reigns of my life and said "God, I got this" only to find my self hurt and broken. When all along he was there with the instructions on how to avoid that situation or how to get through it. Yet I do it on my own and I have found myself needing to be put back together by Jesus. My heart has been broken, my soul had been worn out and my mind has been tired. I have needed the holy spirit to come in and stitch me back together so many times.

He faithfully meets me there in my brokenness, he gently reminders me of his truth and his promises found in the word, our instruction manual.

So, I guess some of us just have to learn the hard way. But we don't have to, we can prevent learning the hard way. I want encourage you to slow down. Take some time to know whats in your "instruction manual".  Write those promises and truths on your heart. Know them. Dwell on them.

And always remember to use the HAND GUARD while using a mandolin. Your fingers will thank you!! 

1 comment:

  1. yup both my mother and i almost lost a finger on that thing! they are so dangerous!

    ReplyDelete

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