19 December 2010
He'll Redeem Every Mistake
12/22/10 05:51 AM
Romans 8:28 And we know that in ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Special greetings to all our readers this Christmas season. I have a special Christmas story to share with you.
Christmas traditions are really important in our family. For over 20 years we have had a special candle-light dinner for our family Christmas party — with the same menu. It started when my boys were young ... and has continued every year until now. The main course is Ham loaf. Though daughter-in-laws have joined us and it is not their favorite, the boys are adamant about not changing the menu. This year we were discussing by email if we wanted to change one of our gift traditions ... and my middle son said, "I don't care ... as long as there is Ham loaf and family!" In that order.
Well, I made a BIG mistake this year. I waited too long to purchase the Ham loaf. Our party was early this year because of one son's work schedule, and in all my running around I left it till the night before. I had a feeling it was a bad idea. East Side Deli is the only store in the Northwest that sells this Ham loaf — and it's very popular. I stopped in after 8 p.m. friday night — and, you guessed it ... the entire freezer in the back corner of this little corner store was EMPTY! The Asian man behind the counter said, "We all sold out, but we get more on Monday or Tuesday." "You don't understand", I said. "This is the main course for our family Christmas party — for over 20 years now ... and I have to have Ham loaf!" I even told him about my sons email ... as if that would make him go to the back and cook some up himself. He shook his head and said, "No ham loaf until Monday."
I panicked. As I got into my car I immediately called my mom and my sister to see if they had by any chance purchased a ham loaf or 2 this year and had them in their freezer. No such luck. They said, well, there's always turkey ... even they did not understand. As silly as it might seem ... I knew my kids would be devastated.
So, I got home and began a search online — allrecipes.com is my friend. Out of the hundreds of ham loaf recipes I chose one that sounded like it might be close to the ingredients we were used to.
The next morning we found out no local grocery store would grind 3 pounds of ham for sanitary reasons. So, my husband went and bought the ingredients and took the ham to my parents house who have an old meat grinder. They spent some special time together grinding ham, and I spent longer than usual mixing and preparing the loaves.
As we sat down and did our usual sharing before eating, I had to share the story and my apologies that it may not be quite the same this year - but hoped they would appreciate all the effort we went through to keep our tradition intact.
THEY LOVED IT! They all ended up deciding it was the best ham loaf they'd ever tasted ... the extra pineapple sauce on top was the clincher... and they want me to make it this way every year from now on, if I wouldn't mind!!!!!
So, what was at first a bad judgement call on my part, ended up becoming our new 'favorite' and our family traditional menu was enhanced, not diminished. It also added a special dimension with my kid's grandparents blessing the event with their contribution... and we've already decided we will make a tradition out of grinding ham with them each year from now on.
A simple lesson, really. But profound for many things in life. What we consider our mistakes, usually end up opening new doors and bringing more good into our lives in the long run. Not because we did everything perfectly... but because God is good and knows how to turn ALL to our good in the end.
So whatever you are facing this holiday season... pray this simple prayer I am learning:
"Lord, thank You that this is going to turn out so well,
because You are so good."
Have a blessed Christmas and a prosperous (in every way) New Year!
Love,
Janet
Special greetings to all our readers this Christmas season. I have a special Christmas story to share with you.
Christmas traditions are really important in our family. For over 20 years we have had a special candle-light dinner for our family Christmas party — with the same menu. It started when my boys were young ... and has continued every year until now. The main course is Ham loaf. Though daughter-in-laws have joined us and it is not their favorite, the boys are adamant about not changing the menu. This year we were discussing by email if we wanted to change one of our gift traditions ... and my middle son said, "I don't care ... as long as there is Ham loaf and family!" In that order.
Well, I made a BIG mistake this year. I waited too long to purchase the Ham loaf. Our party was early this year because of one son's work schedule, and in all my running around I left it till the night before. I had a feeling it was a bad idea. East Side Deli is the only store in the Northwest that sells this Ham loaf — and it's very popular. I stopped in after 8 p.m. friday night — and, you guessed it ... the entire freezer in the back corner of this little corner store was EMPTY! The Asian man behind the counter said, "We all sold out, but we get more on Monday or Tuesday." "You don't understand", I said. "This is the main course for our family Christmas party — for over 20 years now ... and I have to have Ham loaf!" I even told him about my sons email ... as if that would make him go to the back and cook some up himself. He shook his head and said, "No ham loaf until Monday."
I panicked. As I got into my car I immediately called my mom and my sister to see if they had by any chance purchased a ham loaf or 2 this year and had them in their freezer. No such luck. They said, well, there's always turkey ... even they did not understand. As silly as it might seem ... I knew my kids would be devastated.
So, I got home and began a search online — allrecipes.com is my friend. Out of the hundreds of ham loaf recipes I chose one that sounded like it might be close to the ingredients we were used to.
The next morning we found out no local grocery store would grind 3 pounds of ham for sanitary reasons. So, my husband went and bought the ingredients and took the ham to my parents house who have an old meat grinder. They spent some special time together grinding ham, and I spent longer than usual mixing and preparing the loaves.
As we sat down and did our usual sharing before eating, I had to share the story and my apologies that it may not be quite the same this year - but hoped they would appreciate all the effort we went through to keep our tradition intact.
THEY LOVED IT! They all ended up deciding it was the best ham loaf they'd ever tasted ... the extra pineapple sauce on top was the clincher... and they want me to make it this way every year from now on, if I wouldn't mind!!!!!
So, what was at first a bad judgement call on my part, ended up becoming our new 'favorite' and our family traditional menu was enhanced, not diminished. It also added a special dimension with my kid's grandparents blessing the event with their contribution... and we've already decided we will make a tradition out of grinding ham with them each year from now on.
A simple lesson, really. But profound for many things in life. What we consider our mistakes, usually end up opening new doors and bringing more good into our lives in the long run. Not because we did everything perfectly... but because God is good and knows how to turn ALL to our good in the end.
So whatever you are facing this holiday season... pray this simple prayer I am learning:
"Lord, thank You that this is going to turn out so well,
because You are so good."
Have a blessed Christmas and a prosperous (in every way) New Year!
Love,
Janet
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