The Parable of The Yellow Gummy Bear

Before I became a Mom, (I feel like I could begin so many stories this way, because really- wisdom comes with experience, am I right?!) Anyways…. Before I became a Mom, I never knew you could ruin someone’s whole morning by handing them the wrong colored sippy cup. But, as I have learned this is a REAL thing ya’ll! A few weeks ago I was grocery shopping with all 3 children,  on pay day,  at the commissary.  In my defense,  I didn't realize it was payday till we saw the giant snaking line and by then it was too late. So we finally get to the checkout and my younger two are melting. We have eased over into that magical period of past lunch time to nap...and they have had neither. When from the corner of my eye I see some momentary golden, salvation; a whole bag of Haribo Gummy Bears. I let the cashier quickly scan them and hand them to my children. (because we all know that shopping with 3 or more children needs to be an Olympic sport!) So- I hand my children this bag of gummy bears allowing me a few quiet minutes to check out. We get to the car and I buckle kids in carseats, unload groceries, sit in my chair and I reach my hand inside for some sweet gummy rewards, only to find the ONLY color left is the yellow gummy bears. I am holding a bag of rejected, sad, lonely little yellow bears. I'm exhausted and annoyed so my drive home I start asking some silly questions: why is this bear everyone’s least favorite? If the Haribo people know it is everyone’s least favorite WHY do they keep making it, and furthermore,...WHY is there more of it than there are any of the other colors??? Or maybe I just feel like they make more of the yellow, because that is all I ever get to enjoy  
As things often go with me …I was sitting there watching the kids play in my yard, much later in our afternoon,  thinking about this silly yellow gummy bear and how it relates to the other flavors and why it is so sad and lonely and God told me to grab my bible. I opened it up to 1 Corinthians 12:12 -19“ The BODY is a UNIT! Though it is made of many parts and though all it’s parts are many, they form together, ONE BODY. So, it is with Christ. We are all baptized under ONE Spirit in Christ, whether JEWS, or Greeks, Slaves or FREE. Now the body is made up of many parts, A foot doesn’t say “I am not a hand so I do not belong to the body” and cease to exist. And if an ear should say “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But- in fact GOD arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. “
You all- I AM the yellow gummy bear sometimes. I generally get along with everyone, but sometimes I am the one who is picked last, who doesn’t fit, the square peg in the round hole! BUT in Jesus, none of that matters. When we are fixed on God’s love and His will for us, God will transform us- like- here- let me make that square peg into playdoh and now Bailey fits in to whatever job/ministry/calling I need her to. Because building God’s kingdom takes every color, every talent, every part of the BODY in line with God’s vision.
SO back to my little yellow friends, anyone who is a chef will tell you that often dishes need something that contradicts the other flavors to actually create balance. Like when salt is added to caramel, it actually intensifies how sweet and rich the caramel tastes. Citrus is often used on fruit salads, not just as a preservative, but because it brings out the sweetness of the fruit. With a hint of bitterness the sweetness shines. In the BODY we will all experience people who may leave a bitter taste in our mouths (pun intended) but from now on I want you to look at those people who are a tad salty and remember that our God (who is NEVER coincidental, but highly INTENTIONAL) placed them in your life to give you the opportunity to be sweeter! How you use that opportunity is the important part, because they aren’t going anywhere and the hand can’t just wish the feet didn’t exist because they aren’t as soft or graceful as the hand. But, the hand can massage lotion on the feet, scrub it’s callouses and as a whole the body becomes healthier because of the work of that hand when it was challenged.  
Learn to LOVE the Yellow Gummy BEARS in our lives. 

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The Parable of The Yellow Gummy Bear