2004: A Blog Odyssey

Cruising through the archives of what is now strictly Mr. Nygren's blog -- before I finally came to terms with the need for my own -- I came across a guest entry from two years ago today. It's crazy where two short years can take you, but I think it's good not to forget where we've been.

"Misplaced Trust" (an entry by Mrs. Nygren) -- ruthlessly swiped from tribalicious.squarespace.com

This morning, on my way into the office, I stopped in at the newsstand downstairs -- it's like a 7-11 without the petrified sausage exhibit -- to pick up a couple things for breakfast. There's a $5 minimum for using credit cards, so in addition to my oatmeal bar and bottled Frappuccino, I grabbed a some gum, and... what the heck, I threw in a package of mint Skittles. They looked fun.

Five dollars and thirty-seven cents later, I got back to my desk, peeled the shrink-wrap off the Frappuccino bottle and shook it. Whether the lid wasn't secure when I bought it or I somehow loosened it when I took off the plastic wrapping, I don't know. What I do know is that cascades of vanilla-scented coffee went sloshing onto the bottom third of my monitor and streaming down onto my workstation. My keyboard drank nearly half a bottle.

Maybe it was best, though, because if I hadn't doused my desk, I'd never have had a reason to examine the bottle more closely and discover that my Frappuccino was more than two weeks past its expiration date.

What was I going to do, take back a mostly empty bottle and ask for a refund? I mentally wrote it off and opened my oatmeal bar. Now, what I experienced next is difficult to describe exactly, but I'll say this: the parts that are supposed to be soft were tough, and the parts that are supposed to be crisp were mushy. I flipped the package over. The oatmeal bar didn't technically have an expiration date. Who knew The Quaker -- my wholesome breakfast friend since childhood -- could be so deceptive? Beneath his black hat, gray curls and self-satisfied smirk, The Quaker said only that my breakfast bar was "Best Before OCT 29."

I started to wonder about the newsstand downstairs.

Unfortunately, I didn't start to wonder before I opened the Skittles and popped a couple in my mouth. The first one I tried to chew on barely budged. It was like biting down on an aspirin.

I had to laugh. Not necessarily because I found it funny, but because crying would have been awkward for my coworkers and cursing wouldn't have improved the situation.

Only a couple weeks ago, a friend and I were talking about faith -- more specifically, he was telling me that he had none. So I'd asked him, "Why are you sitting in that chair? Did you know for certain that it wouldn't collapse, or sink into the floor? Oh, you know because you've sat there before? Then I suppose you've never been the first person to sit in a new chair...? Okay, you can stand instead, if you like, but how do you know this won't be the day that floor beneath you -- for all you know it could be riddled with cracks, since it's covered in carpet -- won't let you fall into the office below us? Do you know all the intricate workings of these things before you entrust yourself to them, or could it be that everything you do requires some measure of faith?"

Since then, I must admit, I have worried about a number of things -- things I should have been trusting the Lord to work out, because He has already shown us the direction we should be headed. I was worried about whether I should really be returning to Russia when He has already given me a great deal of confirmation that I should be moving forward, whether or not I actually wind up boarding the plane next March.

I realized that I accepted my groceries from the newsstand without question... far more readily than I have accepted the assurance of God.

So, I'm going to start my morning over (NOT with another Frappuccino or oatmeal bar -- chances are pretty good that I won't touch either of those again anytime soon) by putting my confidence back in the One who has never given me anything soured or stale... who can be trusted.

Then, I'm going upstairs to dissect and clean my keyboard. Perhaps it can be sufficiently un-Frappuccinoed to where I can type myself the following memo:

TRUST IN THE LORD.
AND, STOP SHOPPING AT THE NEWSSTAND.

Comments

[Erin-erin-bo-berin]

I needed this reminder today, specifically, to trust the Lord with discipline. God had the ONLY perfect child, and his son willingly gave his life for me. I was not a perfect child, and none of my daughters are 'perfect'. Praise God that I can can count on Him to see me through to my daughters' adulthood!