Fun Gift

I am the type that does not want to toss old food from the refrigerator. Why throw out molded cheese when you think about how cheese is made?  Just cut the mold away and enjoy. Some of the most expensive cheeses are aged up to two years, and bacteria is injected into some of these cheeses to give them that distinctive flavor. Why should I throw out a chunk of cheddar cheese just because it has a little mold on it?

The same goes for yoghurt. It is made from fermented milk, so how can it go bad? Now, I am not in accord with keeping everything in the refrigerator that is old. Our house helper in Burkina Faso was named Etienne (Stephen in English) who lived in a mud hut very close to our house. Etienne believed that any food kept in a refrigerator would never go bad.

Our refrigerator was a kerosene-operated type. Most nights when we went to bed it was still 100 degrees in the house, so you can imagine how hard that little kerosene refrigerator had to work to keep a decent inside temperature in the high 60s. That’s right! Naturally, food would not keep very long in our fridge. We had to be careful in taking spoiled food out of the fridge because Etienne would take it home for his family.

OK, so I am not as bad as Etienne about eating old refrigerator food. I was brought up not to waste food, but I think my kids and grandkids just think I don’t want to throw away food because I want to save money. Actually, I am challenged about trying to finish leftover food instead of tossing it.

I admit that I may be tight about some purchases, and I don’t buy hottest brands in clothing. I laugh at some of my grandkids because they shop for the right branded clothes and accessories. I am well past that, but, by and large, I believe that you get what you pay for.

One thing I don’t do is cut corners on gifts for Cheryl. For years I have given Cheryl a purse for our anniversary (just celebrated our 52nd!). I only buy name brands. I do not like shopping for clothes for her, but I really enjoy shopping for purses. Fortunately, she likes what I buy—or at least she says she likes them and she uses them. This year was hard because I have never bought her a purse that I did not pick out in person. I had to order one online. I wasn’t able to touch it and feel the material that it is made from,  nor was I able to see how many pockets it had and how deep they were. Frankly, it was a gamble, but guess what? She loved it.

Maybe Cheryl is bored with getting a new purse every year. She knows what to expect. But, I never know what to expect from my bride. For our anniversary she bought me a cell phone sanitizer. But she also gave me a really awesome gift—three soft dart pistols and a package of 100 extra soft-tipped darts! That’s a woman who knows how to give unusual fun gifts. I can’t wait to have some dart fights with grandkids. We get our second COVID-19 vaccinations next week, so we are looking forward to reintroducing ourselves to our grandchildren soon.

By the way, this is the same wife who gave me a hang-gliding experience for my 60th birthday.

Isn’t it great that the Lord gave us the ability to have fun? Go ahead! Have some fun and honor the Lord in all you do.