Expiration Dates.

When I was in Africa, my sister and I decided one day we were going to organize the food pantry at the house we were staying in. The house, also known as "the Triplex", is where most visiting teams stay. With teams coming in and out, it was in need of some organization to say the least. When my sister and I told the missionary what we were going to be doing, she said, "okay, but I have just one request. Don't throw anything out because of expiration dates. You know, us missionaries don't really go by those, and the majority of the time they have put enough preservatives in there to last a lifetime."

And she was right. Most of the canned food we came across had expired. I think some of the expiration dates were almost 2 years old!

Yesterday I put some jelly on my english muffin. As I was closing the lid, I noticed the expiration date was 6.14.08. I still ate it.

Expiration dates used to be a rule in my life. Even if I wanted to eat something one or two days before the expiration date, I was always a little nervous about it. I would look at it, smell it, taste a little bit of it, and still eat it with caution. (Now, don't get me wrong, some expiration dates need to be followed closely...dairy products in particular.)

I am currently reading The Shack. While I'm not sure it's quite what I thought it was going to be and is necessarily worth all the hype and popularity it has received, it is a story of a man whose ideas about life are drastically changed. The truth of his situation is brought to light, and he has the choice to change or remain the same.

And isn't that our choice for almost every aspect of our life? To change or to remain the same. Change is hard. It requires much. It asks much. But whether it is a small thing like how you view expiration dates or something big like your view of God, everyone reaches a point where they have to believe it's worth it because the cost is too great to remain the same.


"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud became greater than the risk it took to blossom." -anonymous