Storage Wars

The other day I tried out a new recipe and made some black bean humus. It was seasoned with garlic, cilantro, lime juice and so yummy! After I ate one (or five) servings, the recipe said to store in an airtight container in the fridge. There was just the right amount left that the game began to pick the right size storage bowl.

Now first of all, all that I have in my kitchen, old butter dishes and KFC take out side dishes included (Oh you know you were excited too when you saw that fun little dish said dishwasher safe!), is all referred to as Tupperware. Sorry Rubbermaid and Glad, you will forever be Tupperware to me.
The next thing you should know about my kitchen is when we moved several years ago I purged all bowls and lids that had no mates. I keep all the dishes in one space of my kitchen and all the lids in a big box in another space. (Will there ever be a perfect way to store bowls and lids?)

So the infamous game began of eyeballing the amount of my remaining fabulous hummus in the serving dish and picking the perfect size Tupperware to keep it in. Side note here, I have so many memories of being in my mom's kitchen after a big meal and playing this game. She was a champ at this and would get it perfect nearly every time. I was queen of picking a bowl that was waaay to big and nearly eliminted the whole concept of storing leftovers in a smaller container, or the other extreme, choosing and filling a Tupperware completely and finding myself with three more spoonfuls left of food that were just NOT going to fit. Makes me giggle to think about it. Maybe this explains why I can never accurately judge and serve myself the proper chips to salsa ratio either! I digress.

Back to the point of the story. By now, I'm sure you can guess what happened. I found the perfect size Tupperware and won the Will-All-This-Fit-In-Here game with flying colors. In fact, I was pleased with my bowl choice as it was one I had not used in a while due to it's size. All was well with the universe. I move my perfectly portioned remaining hummus over to the other counter to get the lid out of the Tupperware lid box. I remember this bowl specifically even though I haven't used it in a while, it's a royal blue square with a little tab on the side. These kinds of details are the ones that we women memorize that baffle and entertain my hubby. Grin. I began hunting for the lid. I know it's in there. I'm sure of it. But, I'm not finding it. So I take out some of the lids so I can better hunt. A new game has begun that I am NOT winning and quickly moves from a game to Mission Impossible as I empty the ENTIRE big box of lids looking for the small royal blue square with the tab on the side. It is not here and nowhere to be found among this plethora of perfectly formed plastic. Aggravation sets in. And then the next round of choices begins. Do I just eat the remaining amount hummus now? Oh don't judge me, I told you it was a small bowl. haha Do I foil the top and hope I remember to throw the bowl away after I finish my yummy hummus in a few days? No, it needs to be in something airtight and likely I'll forget the dish has no top and find myself in this same predicament at a later date! So my only option is to go back and play the Will-All-This-Fit-In-Here game again and hope I can win two times in a row. I did find another Tupperware and it's matching lid, although it was not as a perfect fit at my first try and thus our little story has an end.

As I began cleaning up all my bowls and lids it occurred to me, well first, that it's time to match and purge all my Tupperware again! Haha  But more importantly how many times in my life do I store and keep things that just really wont help me or are just no match for my life?  Old wounds. Unrealistic expectations. Unfulfilled longings. Regret. Worry. An ungrateful attitude. It's interesting to think about how many containers we have in our hearts. Spaces we make within our selves to put pieces of our souls. I think there are many moments in life we are to store up airtight as treasures just like Mary did when the shepherds came at the birth of Jesus. But like the Tupperware in my kitchen, my heart needs a regular purging. Throwing away all the containers that just don't work for me anymore.

Jesus had something to say about the Tupperware of his day. In Matthew 9:17 he says this:

Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved. 

(Im sure wineskin translates to Tupperware somewhere.)

What a great picture. My old sinful heart cannot hold the new wine of Jesus' love. It bursts every single time. But Jesus said he makes all things new including my heart and it's ability to be loved by the King. On my own I try to earn his love and make space to hold parts of my soul that really need to be thrown out.  But through the beauty of the cross Jesus makes my heart brand new. And he keeps perfectly the things that need holding into. He makes in me a container that holds his love wholly. A heart that beats for him and treasures the only thing really worth possessing - himself.

Jesus, you are good and you do good! Like yummy black bean hummus you feed me with your words of life. These are the things I want to keep. But how often my soul makes space to hold and garner things that aren't worth preserving. Purge me Lord. Get rid of the spaces that are no match for the new person I am in you. Create in me a clean heart oh God and help me to store up treasures in heaven.  You always win the Will-All-This-Fit-In-Here game because you only give exactly what I need. Thank you. Use my heart Jesus, that others may taste and see that you ARE good.