I am a most fortunate husband. I have married a gourmet cook.
If anyone knows Nancy for long, they understand she loves cooking and creating culinary delights for all to enjoy. I look forward to our traditional Christmas Swedish tea ring, holiday pies, and meals of chicken curry, Italian spaghetti or spicy enchiladas.
As a shopping-challenged husband, I quickly discovered a whole arena of potential gifts… super-quality cooking tools. A couple Christmases ago, I purchased a nice Wusthof chef’s knife for her. The gift was a hit and used constantly.
On Monday, we returned home from the states, unpacked our bags and started to get back to life in Moldova .
Then she saw the knife.
The girl we had stay at the house must have used it to cut wires or chop nails into smaller pieces. On the blade are dings and dents upon the dings and dents. A couple of places have an actual divot taken out of the edge. We both wanted to cry seeing such a quality knife ruined.
It is amazing how one person’s valuable tool, appreciated and taken care of, is just another person’s toss-away item. One person values the work and detail of a handcrafted table, while the next just sees an old piece of junk. One man’s treasure is another man’s trash.
We treat things in accordance to how we value them. But as I was writing this little story about our knife, I felt God simply say, “People are what I value.”
Lord, don’t you know that wasn’t the application I was driving toward? I wanted to just talk about minor irritations, and how we have to work around them! Why did You have interrupt me in that way? That statement strikes a little too close for comfort!
How often have I treated God’s valuable possessions nonchalantly, leaving dings and dents in other people’s lives? How have my careless words bent the corner on another’s soul, denting their esteem and self-value? How has my preoccupation left blemishes on the hearts of those around me?
We treat with care that which we value.
Too often we are careless with the most valuable of all items–the people that surround us. Businessmen treat employees as disposable assets. Spouses toss out critical words without regard to the damage. Even Christian leaders often tear down rather than build up.
What do you value? A damaged knife is replaceable—a broken soul is not.
Your knife-loving missionary,
Andy Raatz