Turning apples to applesauce

Ooops! This morning I decided to trim my goatee and in a brief moment of a mental cramp I shaved off half of my mustache. I took off the attachment and went right down to the clippers without realizing what I was doing. I had a real predicament. After trying to balance off the sides, I went in to ask my daughter' opinion on what I should do. She laughed and said, "Shave it off. It looks stupid!" I pleaded with her to change her opinion but I knew in my heart that she was right.

Then I tried the next best thing to salvage my goatee. I shaved the mustache part completely off and decided I would go with the Kevin Youkilus look. Rachel laughed even harder when I came back in to her room. She said "Shave it off. It is all you can do."

As I finished the job it struck me that life has a lot of these little unintentional moments. Half of life is dealing with unexpected happenings. Isn't it funny that we worry about a lot of stuff that never happens. We fret and stew and run around worrying. Then something like this happens and we just deal with it.

Did you hear about the lady who turned a bunch of bruised apples into apple sauce? The truth is that there is an awful lot of stuff that comes our way that we see as horrible that may really just be opportunities. I know this pales in comparison to losing your job or having a fender bender, but instead of crying over this mishap, I shaved off the goatee and I am going to add a little color to my hair. I'm thinking I'll look ten years younger. I may even have some fun with this. On Sunday we are having an historical service and I can play up the fact that I look younger than when I arrived at the church 23 years ago.

The truth is that although some of the situations we face do have some difficult consequences that need to be dealt with, sometimes they also come with a fresh start. I know one man who lost his job. He hated the job but it fed the family. When he finally got a new job it turned out to be one that gave him much more satisfaction. I know another family that lost their home to a fire. It was terrible and they lost some precious memories. But today they have a beautiful new home and a lower mortgage payment to boot.

I know that I always look for the silver lining in every situation. You can do that too. For we have the promise of God that He works together for good for all those who love the Lord. That phrase doesn't mean that we will always have good times, but it assures us that God will work through even the misfortunes to provide a better outcome for us if we trust him.

So next time you see me you might not recognize me. I'll be the younger looking guy with a smile on my face.

Cal