Failing Inspection

This morning our local paper featured its report on recent restaurant inspections. My stomach tightened as I scrolled through the list of establishments that failed; happily, none the places we order take-out from were highlighted..this time.

There were a few surprises though, local favorites were dinged for everything from grease build-up to improperly stored medicine.

“Improperly stored medicine??” What are we saying here, the burger n’ beer joint doubles as a Covid vaccination site or that the chef left his bottle of blood pressure meds on a shelf..?

Details matter!

One of the area’s best (most expensive) restaurants found itself on the “failed list” along with 17 other establishments. Seventeen doesn’t sound like much until you read that only 72 restaurants were examined.. Curiously, Chuck E Cheese passed with flying colors. Good for them.

Good for the kids.

As I scrounged though my fridge looking for un-shriveled strawberries for my cheerios I wondered if my own kitchen would pass a pop-up inspection. I’ve only got one pot soaking in the sink, but I do have bread on the counter..probably a no-no in Florida. I also have a flying ant problem..for three days running this whopper ant with long legs has been making an appearance on my wall. We keep trying to whack him, but this thing must have eyes in the back of his head.. (ew.) I asked my husband yesterday if he thinks we keep seeing the same “super-ant”..or if maybe, there are in fact more than one.

So yeah..I guess you could say we have bugs on the wall, unwashed dishes in the sink and “expired food” in the fridge. A harsh examiner would “fail” me for sure.

Which brings me to the “build-up” I have hiding not on my stove, but in my soul; nooks of un-forgiveness, anger and shriveled up resentments that fester and thicken like the expired cream in the back of my fridge. Why don’t I regularly throw that garbage out? Bad food, like bad thoughts, takes up space that could be filled with nourishing, healthy stuff instead..but (just like with my fridge) I can’t bring in fresh and new until I make room by tossing out the (m)old.

Lucky for me, God doesn’t roam around with a clip board looking to “out” my failings. While He encourages honest introspection, shutting me down is not His goal..opening me up to ever greater possibilities in life is. He doesn’t just want me to pass inspection.. he wants me to thrive so I can continue to serve others.