We are a popcorn loving family. At least once or twice a week, we make it and devour bowls as we spend time talking and laughing together. We have our pretty red popcorn bowl that we regularly use and Brian even mentioned that one day, they will all want the popcorn bowl!
Last week, the final week of 2010, I was stressed. It is a normally difficult time for me anyway with the anniversary of our sweet boy Oskar's birthday. There were other deep stresses on us as well, and they left me sleeping poorly, run down and generally feeling depressed. I tend to be an optimist so when I was down it was extra difficult because my family counts on my buoyancy.
I could tell I was stressed because while I was sleeping and actually dreaming of our adoption (and it had all gone wrong!) I woke up to myself saying with great horror, "Oh no!!! I printed at 72 dpi!!!" (Never mind what this means, but in photography world, this is trouble!) I had no conscious level of thought regarding our photography jobs, but apparently it was going on in my head somewhere. I fell back asleep after getting up and attempting to remedy the situation and later woke up with a popcorn analogy in my head. I thought I would share it with you.
When you buy popcorn kernels, you expect them to pop. No one would dream of eating them in their unpopped state.
No, we want them in their delicious white puffy state! But the Lord spoke to me a truth right there as I lay in my bed: what is required for the kernels to reach their potential? Intense heat!!! It is with the pressure of heat that the kernels finally explode into their beautiful, fluffy, tasty state that we know and love. Hmmm.
I got up the next day and took my children to the stove. We made popcorn in a glass-covered pan so we could actually watch the steam build up inside. Finally the heat and steam gave way to the delightful sound of pop pop popcorn! Before I even made the analogy for them, Jensi jumped in with her eyes lit up! "Oh!! I get it Mommy!! We have to be heated up in life so that we can pop and do our best for God!" In the words of a child, that's just it, isn't it?
We all face trials in this world. It's actually a promise we get from our Savior. (But you'll be hard pressed to find it in a cute little promise book!) "In this world you will have trouble," Jesus said. "But take heart! I have overcome the world!!" John 16:33 So this silly popcorn analogy will apply to us all. You and I require intense situations for our potential to burst forth. But let's take another look into the bottom of the popcorn bowl:
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