Expiration Dates-No use crying over spoiled milk

There is a small amount of anxiety that enters my body when I’m standing in front of the milk section at the grocery store. I search for the one with the expiration date furthest away. I question whether I should get a half gallon or a full gallon because it’s a better deal. And now with the knowledge of my sons mild allergies, I try to remember which kind of milk I bought last to try and balance how much of what kind of milk he is drinking. And then i stand there hoping I’m not the only one that takes this long to buy milk. I try to remember to go through my refrigerator and pantry at least once every couple of months to toss out expired foods. And the things I find sometimes…I can’t even explain.

My purchased milk goes into the fridge, and serves it’s purpose for as many days as I can get it to last. Bowls of cereal, baking, cooking and the occasional cup of “strawberry lechita” after a long day for my son to enjoy. The problem with buying milk is, eventually it will expire. And once it’s expired, it can no longer serve the same purpose that it did when it was made and bought. The reality is that milk isn’t the only thing that expires or spoils in our life. Many other things have expiration dates: careers, friendships, material items, relationships.

I think we can all agree that we have had things go wrong for us before. We’ve lost things, and sometimes we don’t understand why. But the easy answer to all of it, is that whatever was lost or broken finished serving its purpose in our lives. We hold onto things that no longer provide us any positive purpose. I am guilty of it. I recently went through a very unplanned house cleaning experience. Almost every appliance I owned just began to break. From my Air conditioner to a busted underground pipe in my house. After about the 4th repair or replacement I was having to make, I questioned why, why all at once and why now.

It wasn’t just the broken appliances or home repairs, it was all the spoiled things in my life that were slowly leaving. The connection to my dysfunctional past, things that I still had that served absolutely no purpose, and things that I still held onto or allowed in that were hindering a future I still hoped to have. I wanted to move forward. I didn’t want to pick back up the spoiled milk from the trash.

A friend recently told me a story about how her Grandmother kept her refrigerator stocked with old food. And when my friend tried to clean it out for her, her Grandmother got upset. It was as if she was holding onto things, just to make her refrigerator seem full. It was possibly in hopes that it would bring back her husband. We do the same things sometimes. We pile on more stuff and then refuse to let it go when we know we have to much and some things end up getting neglected anyway. Maybe we hope for magical repairs, returns or exchanges. But the truth is, if something was meant to expire, there is no changing that.

I went to a Trent Shelton event last year and something he said has stuck with me ever since. He mentioned that in order to fulfill our greatness, we have to learn how to protect our peace, which sometimes means we have to say goodbye to certain things or people. He also mentioned that just because someone started on a journey with you, it does not mean they are meant to finish the journey with you. So whether it’s a person or thing that I’m willingly or being forced to part with, I try to appreciate the purpose it or they once served and move on because I know God would only allow it to leave for a good reason, beyond what I can see. At the time, I couldn’t understand why I was having to replace these certain appliances, but as I found my moments in silence and peace, they often came to me. God was cleaning up my life in a way that I never thought I needed.

Shockingly, or maybe not for those of you who already knew this, there is one food item that never expires. Honey. I had read about it on an online article, and decided to research some, because I know I have thrown out some unused honey before. And if you know me, I hate wasting food. And it was in fact true. Honey will change its shape and form over time, but if stirred or heated, it returns to it’s original form that we are most familiar with. As I relate this, oddly, to my life, I can identify my honey filled relationships and items I hold onto closely. We cannot avoid having items that will spoil and will need to be tossed out. But we can be better at recognizing them and accepting the loss. And in turn, we can evaluate our honey and make sure we put in the steps it takes to preserve it and reheat as necessary…

Accept what was, be thankful for what is and be hopeful for what will be. And if you need to switch those around, by all means, do it, because our God given life is only what we choose to make of it.

Marielis, cleans up nicely