Four Toasters Deep
This morning, I pushed down the lever on the toaster and the little plastic handle went flying. Upon closer inspection I realized that half of the plastic carriage receiving the metal lever had snapped off. It’s still a functional toaster, but it looks kinda janky. This led me to wondering how much toasters cost these days, since it’s been about 8 years since we last bought one. This then caused me to reflect upon how many toasters we’ve owned.
If memory serves, I think this is our third toaster. Which means if we buy another toaster, we will be four toasters deep into life, which is kind of a heavy thought for so early in the morning. The kind of thought that might lead people to an existential crisis, which might bring about the purchase of a corvette. You know a mid-life kind of thought?
I tried to walk away from this thought, but the house was very quiet, and I have a son who is a senior in high school. So instead, more thoughts came. I realized, since we have a son headed to college, we might not need a four-slot toaster for our next bread browning machine. Two slots would probably suffice. Then I realized as we get older, toast might be off the menu and this next toaster would be our last toaster. Maybe we’ll have so many grandkids, that we will need a six-slot toaster. Maybe our fifth toaster will be the happiest one. By the way do they even make six-slot toasters?
Who knows how many toasters deep this life will go? Only the Lord knows.
I must be honest; this wasn’t how I expected the morning to go. I just wanted some toast with my coffee. And to be even more honest, this line of thought was a little unsettling and might have moved into more extreme feelings, except for one comforting truth, I belong to Jesus.
Here we are, just a few days from Christmas and my toaster ruminations have brought us to the manger, where God gifted the world with His one and only Son, who came for a very specific purpose and who brings peace to all who know and follow Him. We don’t know how many toasters deep we’ll get into this life, or what our toaster needs will be. But we do know that God loves us and holds us dearly in His arms. And the gift that provides all of this, well… He was born on Christmas Morning.
Happy Merry Christmas Family of Peace!
In his Grip, Pastor Guy Roberts
