The Grill-Master
I like to eat.
Now, I know that’s not exactly a lady-like thing to admit, but it’s the truth. I like to eat. Food makes me happy.
I’m not picky about the types of food, either. I like sweet things, salty things, skinny things and fluffy things. I like breakfast, lunch and dinner. I like dessert. I like good-for-you foods and really, really bad-for-you foods, and pretty much everything in between.
The problem is, I also like to fit in my clothes. And that goal doesn’t co-exist well with my love of food. Therefore, I’ve recently swept off my back porch and fired up my grill. When I grill, I can eat a lot of food without doing much damage to my waistline.
Last weekend, my little family crammed our grill so full, we almost couldn’t shut the lid. We grilled burgers and fish, sausage and shrimp. We grilled broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and carrots. We grilled sliced apples. We grilled corn on the cob, still in the husk.
Man, oh man.
We feasted Friday night. We enjoyed leftovers on Saturday. We grilled again on Sunday, and ate leftovers Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Now the last remnants of our grilled gorge-fest are gone, and I’m sad.
So, so sad.
Yeah, there’s always the microwave. It’s faster, but microwaved food doesn’t compare. It doesn’t taste as good. Plus, all the nutrients get zapped out.
Grilling makes food tender and tasty. Plus, it keeps the nutritional value without adding a bunch of fat and calories. My taste-buds tingle, just thinking about it.
The key to a good grill-out is to maintain the right balance of heat and moisture. If it’s not hot enough, your food won’t cook well. If it’s too hot, your food will burn to a char.
Sometimes I feel like I’m being grilled. Like the heat’s being turned up and up in my life, and at any moment, I’ll combust into a pile of black powder. Yet as uncomfortable as I may be at times, I know the Grill-Master. He loves me, and all His actions toward me are good. He knows how to maintain just the right balance of heat and grace in my life to get the desired results.
He wants to make my heart tender and my thoughts tasty. He wants my actions to be marinated in love and seasoned with kindness. When He turns up the intensity in my circumstances, I may squirm a little. But I can also trust in the knowledge that he’s making something flavorsome and delicious of my life.
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
For an example of how God made something beautiful of a painful situation, you can look forward to our upcoming Divine Healing, God’s Way by Daniel Arrotta, with Kathy Ide. In it, Dan tells the story of how God used his daughter Shayla’s illness to bring about some much-needed healing in his life and his family. Here’s what one of Armonia’s editors had to say after reading it:
“This story reached through me, reminding my soul how differently God moves when transcending pain and hardships; His healing and wholeness interwove brightly through Dan’s heart-rending words of testimony. Transformative. Powerful. Unforgettable read.” — Billi Joy Carson, Senior Editor, Editing Addict
If you’re interested in receiving an advanced reader copy and you’re willing to give it an honest review, leave a comment below. We have a limited number we can give away, and we’ll add as many of you as we can to the list.
And on a lighter note, remember Gerald’s Journal? Apparently, Gerald’s a ladies’ man! For some reason unbeknownst to us, he got added to the “romance” category on Amazon, where he’s been holding his own in the top 20 bestsellers for more than a week now. He’s also a bestseller in the children’s category! Here he is at number four, on the same page as Debbie Macomber and Danielle Steel. Not bad, Gerald!
And here he is at number nine in the children’s category, on the same page as Newbery winner Sarah, Plain and Tall.
As you can see, Gerald is getting around! If you haven’t read this delightful, poignant book yet, you should. Gerald will have you laughing, crying, and nodding your head in shared childhood memories. And one thing’s for certain; you can’t read this book and not be changed.
God bless, and have a beautiful weekend!
–Renae from Armonia
