Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Feelin' Fruity?

It's true.  I eat a lot of mangoes in Thailand.
My sister-in-law Tammy saw this first hand when she stayed with us earlier this year.  
But what's strange is, when we lived in Australia, I never used to like them.  Or eat them. At all.  Ever.
But now that I have developed a taste for them... now... I LOVE mango!  I just can't get enough of it.  In fact I can't imagine life without mango now.
And then there's other fruits.  Take the dragon fruit for example. I'm not a huge fan of the taste of dragon fruit, but I can eat it and I definitely appreciate it's amazing appearance and completely different looking flesh.  It's kind-of bland but it's truly an exotic and one-of-kind type of fruit.  So I like that about it.
And the pomelo.  It was one of the first new fruits I tasted when I moved here and it was love-at-first-taste.  Kind-of like a grapefruit but not sour, more refreshing and just-plain-old yummy!

Anyway so all these reflections about fruit had me thinkin' just how much us girls are like fruit too... it's a long-shot, I know, but hear me out.

Us women come in all different shapes and sizes.  
Some of us are like plain like a longan, some short and round, others (like the lychee) a bit spiky on the outside but soft in the middle.  And some women are beautifully sweet- like biting into an amazing apple.

We're not all made to look like the perfect, red strawberry or taste like the delicious pineapple.   
We're all made uniquely!  We're different.
But each of us have a special purpose.  A reason for being here.  A job to do.
And just like we don't instantly like the taste of every different fruit, nor will we instantly get along with every other person.  
But that doesn't mean we can't appreciate them; marvel at their gifts, their talents, their strengths and their individuality.

Just like the example of the mango.  My friends didn't all become my friends "instantly".  Some did.  But many friendships have taken me much longer to establish.  It's taken many "tastings" and a getting used to before I realized just how special and great they were.  Other friends are like the pomelo.  I'd just never had the chance to meet them until recently.  But when we met, I knew there was something special right away.
Whatever 'fruit' you are, know this: You are amazing!
You were created for enjoyment and you are loved.  

Let's make a choice today not to criticize the pineapple for its prickly exterior, the kiwifruit for its furriness or the banana for... well let's be honest, the really banana has no faults!  {But then there's always one that gets pulled down just for being-way-too-perfect LOL}.


Let's instead appreciate the wonderful combination of flavors that can be found in a fruit salad.  
The joining together, complimenting and combining of all our individual goodness to make something extraordinary.

But what about if right now... you're feeling like an old, brown, ugly, bruised banana as you read this?  What if there is just no way that you can see that you could be used for anything good but the compost.
Take heart.  We all know that even the most over-ripe, brown and unattractive bananas make the BEST, yummiest banana cakes!!


Did you know that there is not (and never will be) another you?  Not another single person will ever live and be the same as you.  
I remember a little poster stuck above our toilet when I was a kid and it said, "You Are An Unrepeatable Miracle".
Cool hey?

And so my encouragement is this, use your unique gifts and talents.  Your humor, your ability to communicate, your way of encouraging, your depth of understanding, your wisdom, your life experiences, your amazing knowledge or your incredible personality to make a difference.

We have now.  Let's use it.

4 comments:

Chaplain's e-Corner said...

Very refreshing! Thanks Andrea ... I remember putting that poster up! LOL!
I think that I could make use of some of your fruity analogies in my chaplaincy work.
Thanks for posting.
Love Dad.

Cross Family said...

Thanks Dad. Glad you found it "refreshing" hahaha. So, you probably thought I'd forgotten about that poster but all these years later and now I am saying it to my kids!!!

Christine Henderson said...

What a lovely encouraging post! I'll look at bananas differently from now on :)
Bless you, Andrea xx

Cross Family said...

Thanks Christine. I hope your trip to India was good x