Celebrating Our Differences
Once upon a time I started making Waikiki (beef) meatballs for my little family of four from my beloved Betty Crocker cookbook that was given to me as a wedding gift. Here I am 53 years later, still using that treasured cookbook and you can see I haven’t been too careful while making the sauce.
What’s different this year about my recipe, is my “different” family members. This photo represents our “different” food choices. One group still wants beef meatballs, another no-red meat group, gets turkey balls, and we have another one this year – meatless “balls” for my one vegetarian – our 13-year-old Bryson, the animal-lover, who refuses to eat an animal that was once alive! I love this family so much. I want to give them what they prefer. Bryson even said “I can’t tell any difference from the meat ones” that he loved every year before now.
These, my people, are all different. “Different strokes for different folks” is a saying that means there are different ways of doing something. We are all different and we all have different needs and wants — which is ALL okay! What an amazing God Who created us with so much incredible diversity and variety – just like my meatballs! And, to top it off, He gives HIS kids so many options to what we prefer in life.
I’m always amazed when I think of how God created a world of different kinds of colors, tastes, sounds, foods, scenery, animals, ideas, and the list just goes on and on. But one area that is especially intriguing is the variety of people He has created. In fact, everyone is different. There are no two of us alike. We are each, individually, special.
In spite of our great diversity, the Bible says that we were all created in the image of God so we all have some things in common. We all think, reason, make decisions, worship, communicate, create, appreciate beauty. Those are “image of God” traits and abilities. But every one of us is unique, a one-of-a-kind, special, limited edition! This uniqueness doesn’t happen by accident. It’s also part of God’s grand design and plan. He forms each one of us lovingly and intentionally. There’s purpose, planning, and design that led up to our existence. Whether our parents rejoiced when they received the news of our pending arrival, or regretted their decision to procreate and conceive, we are here nonetheless, because God wanted us here!
David became a voice for each of us, expressing gratitude to God for His creative involvement in making us: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-15.
When we become a Christian, God’s creative work in our lives begins again in a different way. God gives each of us spiritual gifts through the person of His Holy Spirit. And with those gifts comes the opportunity to “serve up” a variety of “meatballs” — er, rather, a variety of love and care and concern for believers and unbelievers (I Corinthians 12:7). The more we “serve up” a big old plate of kindness and generosity…..the more we hunger for more opportunities to serve. Sometimes, God will even change our minds about our likes and dislikes so we can serve even more, even better than before. Sometimes He will even change our ministries as we mature. Just like changing our food preferences – like my family! So, be YOU — the you that God created to flourish and to be His representative to the world He has you in right now — in this season!