MY SALAD SCREAMS
“You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies. You anoint my
head with oil; my cup overflows.”
 Psalm 23:5

If you could hear a salad scream, what do you think it would say; “Back away big boy” or “How about another cupcake?” I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s just how my imagination works sometimes. While I may appear like Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter on the outside, God often floods my mind with thoughts that only superman or I should see. It may just be the side effects from the sautéed mushrooms and guacamole that graced my Memorial Day hamburger, but I believe that God does “prepare a table” for each one of us to enjoy over the course of our life. Unfortunately, some of us believe in the old adage that says, “Life’s short, eat dessert first.” Regardless of your position, pull your chair up to the table so we can examine the three course meal that I believe God has planned for our lives. The first course in our banquet is the “salad” that screams. We’ll cover the rest at a later date.
 
start with an empty plate (an open mind)…
 
Most of us would not want to eat off of a plate that still had residual evidence from a previous meal still clinging to the surface, but think nothing of approaching God with our preconceived views of what we will or won’t do etched into the “salad plate” of our mind. Perhaps it was put there by well intentioned family members, friends or the result of our own misconceptions about our talents. An open mind gives God permission to place whatever He deems best for our unique personality and abilities on our plate. The first course in our meal of a lifetime “screams” for us to be prepared for the main entre. Because each of us is created with differing potentials, some of us need to eat more salad. We need to be willing to stay at the table for as long as it takes to finish our first course, regardless of what everyone else is doing. Some people just need to eat more salad until they understand their true mission in life.
 
Add the basics (a good education)...
 
Every salad starts with the basics; in most cases this means lettuce. In our “salad” it’s a good education. So what does a good education look like? Well that depends on what you are designed to do with your life. A brain surgeon has different educational needs than those of a mechanic. Both are important. Both are needed. Okay, before the cards and letters pour in from teachers everywhere, I do believe that we all need a well-rounded education. It’s more a matter of tailoring our education programs to meet the needs of each student. I don’t have all the answers. I am just raising the flag to say that every student has different needs that can be met in a variety of ways. Am I safe now? If we want to have the best meal possible in life, it all starts with a good education.    
 
Layer with variety (lots of experience)...
 
A salad consisting of just lettuce can be quite boring; it needs a variety of ingredients to make it on the menu. The same is true with educated individuals they are not always ready to function in the workplace. They often need actual experience in a job or profession before they reach a reasonable level of competence. I am always amazed at how a company can hire a person right out of college to manage people who have been “doing” a particular job before their new boss was even born. Granted there are exceptions to every situation, but for the most part, you cannot get the experience you need for the main course of your life in the sterile environment of a classroom. Experience from the ground up (read here; mail-room to corner office) is often required to be of significant value to an organization. We can set people up for failure because they lack the appropriate training for their position and then sit back and collectively critique their shortcomings. The solution is to require people to “eat lots of salad”, layering each bite with a variety of experiences before giving them positions of responsibility. These “experiences” don’t always have to be in the same field as long as it’s appropriate to their new situation.     
 
Amplify with seasonings (overcoming failure)…
 
A good chef can transform a mediocre salad into a fabulous salad by tweaking it with just the right seasonings. My future son-in-law isn’t that fond of blue cheese, but told me that a particular restaurant he frequents makes a killer cob salad. It’s all in the seasonings. Failure is the seasoning that prepares us for the main course or entre of our life. Failure exposes our weaknesses and our strengths if we take the time to examine the fall-out. Failure can either overwhelm us or we can overcome it. Which would you prefer? Even though you know the appropriate answer to this question, check your “salad”. Do you give up too soon, perhaps when things get tough or do you take inventory, readjust and go back with new fervor? Amplify your “salad” with the seasonings you need to make an impact with your life.
   
Drizzle with oil (spirit filled affirmations)…  
 
Oil or some other salad dressing, binds all of the ingredients of a “salad” together into a delectable experience. The oil in the “salad” of our life is the affirmations we receive from God and those around us who acknowledge our expertise. These “spirit-filled affirmations” serve as proof that our “salad” is complete. Therefore, we must be careful when we give someone our verbal affirmation if we are harboring some doubt within our heart. We must be honest, not cruel, in our evaluations. If our unspoken reservations are founded in fact, we could be setting them up for a lifetime of pain, until someone loves them enough to tell them the unvarnished truth. If you are unsure, it’s better to be honest and explain whatever concerns that you may have up front. You may just the one voice in the wilderness that gives credence to the questions they are battling with in their own mind.     
 
Does your “salad” scream? What is it saying? I don’t care how old or young you are; you could still be eating “salad” in your life with God. It may be time to switch forks and get down to business with the main course (more on that later). I hope you find some answers, past and present, to these questions as you “check your pulse” this week. As for me and my wife, the best is yet to come…
 
Del Brixey
“Next Course Please”
 
CHALLENGED TO THE CORE
P.O. BOX 414
LAKE ARROWHEAD, CA 92352-0414
 
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