Take Me Back Tuesday | Choosing Your Cup

 

Their house is the greatest place on earth. It’s like a bed and breakfast only better…way better. When we would visit my grandparents house as kids, we’d wake up in the morning to the smell of cinnamon rolls and homemade hot chocolate. Some of the sweetest smells in all of the earth. What made it the most memorable, was the way we’d drink it. With the most delicate teapots and teacups. We felt like princesses every time. My grandmother had collected beautiful tea pots and painted china tea cups over the years, so we’d go to the cupboard and pick our tea cup for hot chocolate. Now, you didn’t just pick ANY cup. Nope. You picked your cup. The one that fit YOU. Some were simple. Some were elaborate. Some were wide. Some were narrow. Some cups were shallow. Some were deep. Some were pretty on the outside and some were pretty on the inside. It was a big decision.

Now, bear with me for a second. Lately I’ve been thinking: Isn’t life funny? Funny in a sort of sarcastic ‘haha’ kind of way and not a belly laugh kind of way. Belly laughs are the best. Unfortunately though, I think a good amount of life’s humor is more of a sarcastic kind of funny. You laugh because if you don’t, you’ll have emotions very much on the other side of the spectrum. Life has a way of weighing down on you sometimes and exhausting you with decisions, expenses and changes. Unexpected difficulties or just plain annoying frustrations. They are inevitable you see. They are life.

However, before you start thinking I’m a major Debbie Downer, let me explain. You see, lately I have learned something very valuable. Something that is changing my life perspective.

While I can’t choose what is poured in to me… what challenges come my way. What frustrations I will encounter. What unexpected circumstances I will endure. While I can’t I can’t choose those…there is one thing I can choose. I can choose my cup.

A while ago, after having a frustrating day dealing with some of life’s challenges, my father asked me a staggering question. “How deep does your trust go, Mary?” He wasn’t meaning trust in myself or anything trivial, but trust in something much greater. Trust in the Lord. He was asking, in the midst of life’s challenges, what would I choose? Would I choose shallow trust that won’t withstand the trials that are inevitably ahead? Or would I choose something deeper? Something wider.

While my life has been incredibly blessed and I hope to never take that for granted, I know and have experienced that life is full of challenges. Some small and some great. Inevitably, I cannot choose what is poured out. However, I can choose how I receive it. What I do with it. And so, when I stand at the cupboard, I don’t want to pick something delicate and beautiful to the eye. No, I want mine to be strong, wide, deep and ready for anything.

So, in the name of childhood lessons, homemade hot chocolate and deep cups,

I say, Take Me Back!

Happy Tuesday!