It is what it is
/I made it a whole three weeks after moving into our latest rental house before I finally had to just bite the bullet and do it. The dreaded first grocery stop. It’s not a normal grocery run you see.
Before we move I always raid the kitchen cupboards and fridge and send all our food items through a rigorous elimination process.
If they fall into any of the below categories then they don’t make it into the box:
1. I don’t know what it is- like dill weed…what in the world is dill weed?!
2. I’ve moved it twice and still haven’t used it once
3. If it’s perishable and it’s clearly perishing
4. If the expiration date is 2000 or older
5. I can’t fit it in the box
So basically I get to my new location and my kitchen is empty.
Which means I have to start all over, wherefore the dreaded first grocery shop accompanied by a general sense of remorse for keeping my own rules.
Today was that day.
I knew I was already pushing my limits when I headed out since Ellia’s nap time was approaching quickly. But I was out of milk and cereal (my staple) so it was going.to.happen.
Two hours later I’m pulling back into my driveway while pulling my hair out at the same time. Ellia’s screaming in her carseat and only half the groceries I needed made it into the cart before I abandoned ship and fled the grocery store.
In usual Esther fashion I was determined to make it into the house in one trip; screaming baby, binky, the rogue shoe, diaper bag in one hand and 30 bags of groceries in the other…all at once. Sometimes I wonder what the neighbors think when they see me.
And that’s when I dropped one of the bags and *clink* it hit the cement. Dahhhhhh of ALL the bags, it had to be that one. The cute coffee mug I had found at the store.
Frustration set in as I bent down and picked it up while oranges are rolling out of one of the other bags and Ellia’s slipping out of my arms and crying for the binky she just saw in my other hand.
When I got inside and pulled it out of the bag to assess the damage I saw a tiny chip on the rim. "Crap. Where's the receipt" was my first thought. But then I read the text and smiled. How ironic.
It is what it is.
We’re all that mug with a little chip broken out of it. As long as we’re here on this earth we’ll never live a perfect, easy life. Sometimes we’re careless or just plain dumb and chip our life up, and other times chips get taken out of our life for reasons we don’t understand.
But there are some things in this life that we can’t change.
I can’t change the fact that I don't know when and where we’re going to be moving to next. I can’t change the fact that I had a rough morning or that I miss my husband because he’s 5 states away working right now or that I lost three oranges under the car. I could go on and on but the point is that it is what it is.
Scripture doesn’t promise us an easy road. As a Christian it actually promises the opposite. Imagine that! But we have hope because even with that chip damage we can still be used because the Lord promises to be with us along the crazy road.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Isaiah 43
I might be chipped up and cracked a bit (a little more than usual on some days with Ellia) but I have One who stands by me and Who knows why it is what it is when I have absolutely no clue.
So I’m keeping my little chipped mug. I don’t think it was an accident that I dropped it today in the midst of all that was going on. Now every time I resort to my desperation coffee in the midst of a frazzled day that little chip will serve as a reminder:
it is what it is... and it's not gonna be perfect cause you aren't either.