The good pasta

Last night we had to run by the store to grab a few things for our dinner. Of course I got the question “What are we having?” When my quick and simple answer was pasta, I was met with whines and complaining from a few cuties in the backseat. Ok, I’ll admit it, I probably make spaghetti too often. It’s fast and easy and it pleases most everyone in the family…so sue me, ya know?

But last night quite honestly, I just wasn’t in the mood. And I am easily put off by food complainers. So in my sweet (ha) and gentle (double ha) mommy voice, I launched into "the speech." You know the one…be thankful you are getting dinner…if you aren’t hungry enough to eat what I am making you’ll be fine until breakfast…it’s not an easy job, planning meals for everyone…and for extra emphasis I added that the complainers were free to fix their own meal tonight if they wanted and not eat what I cooked. The complainers readily agreed. So it was settled.

As we started through the store I began to get the items I needed for the dinner that I had planned. I stopped by the bakery for some of our favorite bread. I stopped at the seafood section for some shrimp. As we moved through the store a quick inventory of the cart revealed to anyone interested that my plan for dinner was shrimp pasta with alfredo sauce and buttery toasted French bread. A favorite meal at our house. Yeah, that’s right, the good pasta. Suddenly the complainers were backpedaling. “But you just said pasta! You didn’t say that kind! I didn’t know…”

Since I have had children God has frequently used my relationships with them to help me understand how He feels in OUR relationship. Last night as I pouted over the fact that I had planned this yummy meal and gotten complaints because I hadn’t immediately disclosed my full agenda, I began to see some symbolism. How many times has God laid out the beginning of His plan for me only to have me balk at it, thinking I knew a better way? How many times have I hurt Him by complaining instead of graciously accepting that He has my best interest in mind? How many times have I told Him “No thanks, I’ll take it from here,” and gone with my own haphazard ideas instead of His?

Ouch. I do not even want to know the number of occasions when I have taken off on my own and left God standing there waving my customized blueprint…never even realizing that I was probably about to miss out on the good pasta.