“Surprise! And you thought it was beef!”
Yesterday,
we had some family members over to our house for Mother’s Day. We cooked shish kabobs on the grill, and
enjoyed a great day eating outside. Just
before eating, my son asked my sister-in-law if she liked venison or not. She said, “No, I won’t eat that.”
My
wife immediately motioned for him to be quiet because (you probably guessed it)
there was venison on those shish kabobs.
Sure, there was chicken, onions, mushrooms, and peppers on there too. I felt a little bad for my sister-in-law
being tricked by her own “flesh and blood” like this. UNTIL…
Completely
unsolicited, she suddenly said, “This beef is really good, Julian. What did you marinate it in?” I told her about the ingredients I used, and
I let it go. A few minutes later, she
restated her opinion, “This beef is really good. Don’t you think so, dad.” Well, her dad decided to have some fun with
her, and he asked what kind of beef she thought it was. She said she didn’t know, but that “it tasted
really good. Is there some more?” (That’s her 3rd proclamation of
great tasting “beef”) He laughed and
said he thought it might be Black Angus beef since she probably hasn’t had that
in a while.
So,
about that time, the whole family is pretty much stopping the “laughing on the
inside” and starting to chuckle out loud.
Then, she turned to me and asked a question with a look of disgust on
her face, “Julian, is that venison?”
Silence!
My
brother-in-law spoke up with a great question:
“What does it matter if it’s venison?
You think it tastes great, right?”
Once again, silence! In the end,
we had a great time together as a family, and that is what really matters.
In
John 21: 15 and following, Peter states his love for Jesus three times. Not too many days earlier, Peter had denied
even knowing Jesus three times. Peter
probably felt like a traitor, but Jesus makes him a very significant leader in
the early church. Surprise!
Family
Discussion Points!
Have
you ever been surprised by someone with a gift showing you their love? How did it make you feel? Share an example with your family.
Have
you ever been tricked into doing something, eating something, etc. without
knowing it? Share with your family.
What
surprises you most about what God?? Talk
about something that is very surprising to you about God, but that you really
like. (example: how the human body works and God created it
that way)
