Mac and Cheese

I guess the best way to say it is that sometimes this is a whole lot harder than other times. And right now...right now is a time that it is really, really hard to not think about tomorrow. It’s interesting to me though...you would think that the Son of God, the King of the world, the One who knew all things, would have a whole lot to say. You know, if He was given the opportunity to come to Earth and live a short time and then die for all mankind. At least, I would think that He would have a whole lot to say. And in his first ever public speaking event, here is what He says, “Can any one you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?” 

I wonder what it would be like to live your entire life, even before your teenage years, knowing that you were just on a death mission anyway. Can you imagine being twelve years old and knowing that you were going to be around for another twenty or so years, then be put to death by the very people that you created and were trying to convince of who you were? Oh, and you were doing it all to make their life better, even though they didn’t have the ability to recognize it. “Do not worry about tomorrow. It has enough trouble of its own.”

Try this, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” I think the answer is yes, but some of you need proof. 

Two months ago, a local realtor contacted me with a simple question, “How can I encourage people to help?” I tried to think of something easy that would be fun for them to collect, easy to manage, and something we would need. We settled on macaroni and cheese. I gave him the product, he ran with the vision. They were going to collect 1,000 boxes for House of the Harvest. And to be honest, I had my doubts. 

It wasn’t long before another local company jumped on board to help. Shortly after, they realized they could collect 1,000 boxes themselves. From there, the two groups became competitive. By the end of February, both groups had amassed over 4,000 boxes. 

We don’t even have a place to keep that many boxes without them being in the way. No sweat. Great problem to have. One delivery goes to House of the Harvest. One delivery comes to my house and waits until the first delivery dwindles. 

But as we turn the corner in March, coronavirus hits. Schools shut down. Kids lose meals. Two-thirds of their meals for some of them. Imagine losing 66% of the food you are accustomed to each day. So, as we scramble to come up with a safe, efficient, and effective method to replace these meals...we already have a head start with over 2,000 boxes of macaroni and cheese. 

I didn’t see that coming. I definitely didn’t orchestrate it. And we definitely didn’t plan for that timing to come together like it did. But just like Jesus said some 2,000 years ago, “Your Father feeds the birds. Don’t worry about what you will eat or drink.” 

Coronavirus is scary for all of us. It’s real. It’s obviously destroying lives. I would encourage you to take it seriously. Be safe. Be responsible. Take care of yourself and the people you are responsible for. Follow the guidelines, wash your hands, social distance. But do not worry. If there is one thing that macaroni and cheese in my basement does, it is give me hope. Crazy, right? Not really.

Here’s my logic. Our Father wouldn’t send us what we need, that we didn’t even realize we needed, if we weren’t going to make it through it. So we got that going for us. I can’t think of anything I’d rather have on my side. So for now…we keep on, with a little mac and cheese, and a whole lot of hope.