Still Learning

I learned a lesson this evening in a very unlikely way. It has been one of those days, if you know what I mean. I over-committed myself, and then I showed up for a doctor's appointment that wasn't until tomorrow. Luckily, they worked me in, and when I finally got home, I had to throw something together for dinner. The dinner part I actually had already prepped for; the execution of dinner is what hung me up.

I decided last night that we would have Smokehouse Spaghetti for dinner. It is one of Jason's favorite recipes, and I thought that I would be a good wife and fix it for him. It requires crispy bacon and ground beef, so I thawed the beef last night and cooked the bacon this afternoon. When I pulled the bacon out of the refrigerator, I noticed that it looked a little brown, but my mom always taught me to smell the meat to see if it was okay or if it was just brown. It smelled fine, so I put it in the pan. It cooked -- no problem. I drained off the excess grease and put some freshly opened bacon in the pan. This is where the problem occurred. I started smelling a very sick, sweet smell. That is never good. I sniffed the bacon in the pan (not too close because I didn't want to have to explain that at the ER). It smelled fine. I pulled it off the stove and cooked the ground beef.

All that to say, I got the spaghetti completely ready and in the oven, but I couldn't get over the sick, sweet smell. When Jason got home, I had him smell the grease, which is what I determined finally smelled, and he said that we were not eating that. I couldn't be offended because I really didn't want to eat it either. It smelled really bad.

God spoke to me in that moment because so many times in my life, I look at something that I really want, and I desire it so intensely. It looks okay; it smells okay, but in reality, it is not okay. It is rotten and stinking. Satan is very good at making things that are terrible for us look very appealing. My spaghetti looked very appetizing. It was just what I wanted to eat, but had I eaten it, it would have been the last thing I wanted to eat.

I pray that God surrounds you with his protection and that you begin to see things the way he does.