23 October 2011

BLESSINGS: WASTED AND DELAYED

Quiet as I have kept it, my Keurig has been on the blink for about a month.  (For those of you who don't know, Keurig is a coffee maker that brews single cups of coffee, tea and cocoas to perfection - one cup at a time).  As an avid Starbucks aficionado (and shareholder), the Keurig is a great "substitute" for going to my local Starbucks and ordering my "tall toffee nut latte in a grande cup with whipped cream to the top".  [I didn't have a picture of my machine, so this coffee cup picture will have to do]

When, all of a sudden the Keurig stopped brewing, I was traumatized...to the point of inertia.  I tried everything.  I emptied the reservoir and tried to restart the mechanism.  It would appear to go through the cycle, even say it was brewing and produce ... NOTHING.  I unplugged and replugged the machine endlessly. .  Finally, I emptied the water from the machine and just left it there.  Sitting on the counter.  Staring at me.  Mocking me with its inability to perform the function it was made to fulfill.  I probably let it sit for a week before I tried again...without success.  At no time during this process did I think , "get the manual, maybe there is an easy fix" or "Call Keurig, surely they can tell you what is wrong."  (Or if I thought it, I took no action in that direction)  I just stared at it as if the power of my desire for it to work would be enough.

Eventually, my mother (who didn't even initially LIKE the Keurig) said to me, "Uh, when are you going to get the Keurig fixed, I miss it."  (She uses it to make her evening cup of Sleepytime tea).  Even my brother, visiting my house, commented on my inaction regarding the repair of the machine that brought me such joy.  Finally, frustrated with my stymied response to the situation, HE looked up the number for Keurig and texted it to me with an implied message of "if you don't get off your duff and do something..."

I could not find the manual.  It has misappeared and is nowhere to be found, so I broke down and finally called Keurig's toll free customer service number.  I talked to a very nice customer service rep who made me go through a couple of troubleshooting maneuvers before she said the following magic words:  "Well, since none of that resolved your issue, let me get your mailing information so we can send you a FREE REPLACEMENT machine!"  WHAT?!  All this time I was in torment and I coulda had a FREE machine all along!!!  I coulda kicked myself in the butt.  My mom just shook her head at me when I told her and walked away.  My brother, yeah he just laughed.

Short digression, but I promise, I'm going to pull this all together.  I have a friend who bought a house that had the most beautiful, lovely, huge marble jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom.  When she was house hunting, and I accompanied her on one of her final walk-throughs, the tub was what sealed the deal for me.  In fact, after she bought the house. several times when she would travel, I would volunteer to housesit (she lived only 1.8 miles away) just so I could use her tub!  (Yeah, it was THAT nice!)  She lived in the house for over 5 years and recently confessed to me that, in all that time, she probably took a bath in it less than a dozen times.  She said it was too big, took too long to fill up and was difficult to keep clean.  I told her, incredulously, "Girl!  You wasted the blessing of that tub!"

Both of these situations make me wonder what God thinks about His children.  He has blessings untold in store for us and yet, whether through inertia or lack of appreciation, we block or fail to receive the blessings He willingly wants to give us.  And in further evidence of His goodness to us, He doesn't stop blessing us just because we are knuckleheads who are unappreciative.  He still sends the sunrises and sunsets that are beautiful to behold, even when we don't take the time to stop and look up and see them.  He still allows flowers, plants and trees to bloom and blossom even when we just walk on by as if they were not there.  He still wakes us up every morning, breathing, limbs in working order, minds functioning normally, even when we will not take two seconds to stop and say, "Thank you Lord for Your protective care during the night."  He is a good good God. We (starting with me) really need to serve Him better, don't you think?

Open your arms wide to receive the blessings God has for you.  Whether it's the free Keurig coffeemaker sitting in the warehouse ready to be shipped to you or the marble Jacuzzi tub. that may require a little bit of cleaning and patience as it fills  He has them for you because He loves you and there is nothing better than that.

Be blessed.

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