Once when I was in San Francisco with my sister and niece to eat out, we frequently chose Subway sandwiches.
I had eaten there many times before but for some reason this one hunger trip to the restaurant was going to be different.
As I watched the people ahead of me from the beginning to the end everyone told them exactly what they wanted on their sandwich. Whole wheat, sourdough, white, or whatever bread you wish came first. Do you want it to be six inches or a foot long was the next order of business.
Next came all the trimmings and whether you wanted it toasted or not. At the end each person got the sauce of their choice to top it all off creating a great sandwich to enjoy at the end.
In all the times I’ve ate such a sandwich I have yet to see someone add things they didn’t like. Each choice seemed to be done rather quickly as everyone knew precisely what they wanted on their sandwich.
After I received my finished product I went to sit down to eat. Quickly I found out I had something more to digest in my heart than just a sandwich for my stomach. Quietly as I sat the table I began to think about my breast cancer and how it was the piece of bread I was handed.
It wasn’t my choice of wheat but I got it anyway.
I can stand there with it and pile on good things to it or I can load it down with things not so pretty like “pity me” pickles, “why now” slices of cheese, “God really let me down” leafy lettuce, and so forth.
Once piled high with all the negative toppings I could add then I could slap on the other half of the bread to finish my “Why Me” creation and try to digest what I myself had built.
A better choice for all of us in life would be to learn to stop at a half a sandwich. To take our original piece of bread that life has handed us and add to it thankfulness for God, praise for His guidance, and smother it with our choice of “trust in Him” sauce.
Too often we start out positive until the other half of our sandwich gets added to by the attitude we choose.
Before long we start to feel as if we are some kind of sitting duck for hard times, rough waters, and troubling moments to target.
No, not really. We are the ones to blame for feeling like a sitting duck via the attitude we use to pick our toppings. Instead of knowing precisely what we want and going for it, adding the positive to the negative, we figure we have it bad already so why not add to it.
How intelligent is that? Not very! We need to take our bread, pick our toppings, and build the best sandwich we possibly can.
It may not come out exactly what we want. However, it will be closer than if we allow life itself to choose our toppings. Indeed the time is now to build our own sandwiches.
Read more posts by Karen Gillett here. Karen blogs for JenningsWire.
