Cold Hard Ice 5/15/2020

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by Sherry Chamblee

I like my coffee frozen, then melted just enough to turn into a slushy. Now that I’ve moved to one of the hottest cities in America and summer months are in full force, this is more about survival than a fun treat. So I make myself a cup of coffee at night, flavor it the way I want, and put it in the freezer. When I get up in the morning, it’s a solid block of coffee-ice in a mug – a big mug.

Then the slushifying begins. I have to set the cup out on the counter and let it melt a bit, if I want to speed the process, I have to pour a little bit of hot coffee over the top, maybe run hot water over the mug too. I might set it in the sun, maybe even microwave it a few seconds. All of this is done in an attempt to soften it up a little. Remember, so I can survive the heat later.

That block of coffee-flavored ice is no good to me in its present state. I have to make it into something I can use. I have to do things to it that the ice might not enjoy if it had feelings. Its state isn’t damaged by those things, but its form is changed.

By making it a bit uncomfortable – running hot water over it, chipping away at the edges with a spoon, adding a few things to make it melt a little – I take it from something I can’t use to something I can use.

Isn’t this like God with us?

I know that sometimes I’m that block of ice, cold and hard, unusable to God in my current state. God has to chip away at my hard edges, maybe add something that will melt me a bit, put me in some uncomfortable situations that will not damage me, but they do transform me into someone He can use.

I don’t like change. I never have, even though my life has rarely stayed the same for any length of time. Change has been constant, so much so that I’ve found myself getting anxious over the next change whenever I see one looming in the distance.

Our family just went through one of the biggest challenges we may have ever faced so far – it took us over a year to get through, but we’re finally on the other side of it, and I can look back now and see all the ways God worked on us.

That change didn’t just transform our circumstances, it transformed us – me. It made me into a different person. I can stand and say that I trust God will rescue us, I know He has a plan, even when I don’t feel that plan at the moment. Because I’ve seen God take a seemingly impossible situation and turn it into something that directed us to be exactly where He wanted us to be at exactly the time He wanted us to be here.

It is a blessing to be able to say that, though the last year and a half have been filled with uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and sadness. Let me say again that I know that God will provide now that we’re on the other side.

And I know that God will provide for you too, if you rely on Him.

Psalm 100:3

Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

About the Author:

Sherry ChambleeSherry grew up in various cities around northern and central California. This gave her all sorts of stories that sat and festered in her brain, waiting to be let loose. She eventually went to college in Wisconsin, where she met her equally frenetic husband, Rich. They have six (yes, count them) children, two dogs and a cat, and currently reside in a madhouse in the southern California area. As a family, they enjoy being active in their local church. Sherry spends her time writing when not caring for Granny, the kids, the dogs, the cat and any number of strays in the neighborhood.

Sherry Chamblee can be found at http://www.sherrychamblee.weebly.com Or check out her books at http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Chamblee/e/B00BA06RJ2/

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