Tear Here

Making marinade for beef jerky tonight and I bought a bottle of liquid smoke to put in it.  Well since it was a brand new bottle, it has to be opened...  right?  You are thinking, yes, duh!  ;)

It had a plastic seal all around it.  It also had a little spot that said "Tear Here".  Ya know, it's supposed to tear, but the little tab that said tear here, ripped off.  I then had to get a knife and get it under the plastic to get it to start tearing.  It was tight enough I just couldn't get it with my fingers.

I am thinking, wow, this is annoying.  I just want a little bit of this stuff, and here i have to go through all this work to get the stupid bottle open!  I get it opened and realize there is another seal on the inside of the bottle!  Wow, really?

You are really thinking, big deal, wow, crazy lady going off about a plastic seal on a liquid smoke bottle...  My brain is going and as I'm dealing with the bottle, thinking, we can apply this to our life...  How? Plastic seal?  Huh?

The tear here is us, and our skin...  so to speak...  ;)

The knife I used is God, or His word, the Bible...  Also, Him speaking to us.

Does He have to get through those 2 layers of  "skin" to get to you before you listen?  Or you do you listen right away?

I think most of us, in our human state don't want to listen!

I'm very thankful that God doesn't get annoyed when we don't listen the first time! So glad He doesn't stop loving us! :)

Curt and I have been talking to some friends, and I actually forgot about this, and most people don't know, but we had signed up to be missionaries to CHINA!  Yes, we had most of the paperwork filled out and about ready to do our face to face interview with who we were going through... and we heard God's voice tell us no.

He was testing us, kinda like he was testing Abraham when He told him to sacrifice his one and only son.  Abraham had the knife in hand, hand up in the air ready to sacrifice his son when he heard God say STOP!

Well, we heard LOUD and clear a STOP on being missionaries.  But we knew God wasn't finished with us and China...  Now, we are listening to God and getting not 1 but 2 kids from China!

Not trying to say, ooh, look at us, we are listening.  Not trying to boast at all... But think about it...

I can tell you that we REALLY prayed about becoming missionaries, esp that far away!  And to a country that TOTALLY frowns on God, where you have to worship in secret if you are from China.  I can also tell you were REALLY prayed on where God was directing us!  We didn't understand why he said STOP, don't go.  But I'm thankful for that test! I would've gone, b/c I knew He was calling us, but He has other plans for us!  And I'm pretty sure we aren't done after we adopt Keegan and Ella!  ;)  Not sure what all He has in store for me/us, but I can tell you, I don't want to be like that second layer of plastic to get the bottle open!  I want to be ready, no tear here.  ;)