The Gift of Stinky Cheese

I had just walked into work.  The only thing heavier than my work load for the day was the sigh what laid squarely on my chest.  The looks on the faces of most of  the children said they did not want to be at school today either.  One child caught my eyes and signed for me to come over.  With a grunt akin to, "Here, for you." He handed me a piece of cheese.


I did not ask for cheese. I did not particularly want-- or need--the six inch cylinder of cultured dairy product.  What's more, I did not feel I had the time to delve into the reasons why I had been given this unexpected gift, or what I was going to do with it now.  (It had been sitting unwrapped in the pocket of his seldom-laundered pants for several hours.  Eating it was not high on my to-do list.)   He handed me this rubbery, lint-covered room-temperature globule from his small stunted fingers.  His face beamed  and conveyed his thought:  decomposing cheese equaled treasure fit for a princess.   How could I refuse?  And yet, how could I accept?


Sometimes we are given these gifts.  Monogrammed note cards with someone else's initials.  That pea green polka dot shirt three sizes too big.  That tie was so great last year, it made an appearance again this year, too.  What do you do when you get something that makes you say, "Wow, you really shouldn't have? " or , "What were you thinking?" What do we do with the fuzz-covered fromage?


January is the time of year when stores will shout about no hassle returns and great customer service.  Web sites offer deals to give cash for store credit gift cards if there is no suitable replacement gift.   We are a world of consumers who want to believe that the customer is, in fact, always right.  Sometimes we can return or exchange our gifts.   But in the case of my Colby-Jack specialty, and many other gifts, it just doesn't work that way.


Growing up, my mother kept a gift closet. (She still has one now, but the rules and the aura surrounding said closet  have relaxed a bit.)  Once upon a time, the gift closet loomed strictly off limits to snoopers like me.  It was where all the future presents, treats, bribes, boredom-busting-treasures, etc. lived.   It also housed all of the unwanted gifts that someone else might  really need, or want.  Pea green polka dots have to suit somebody right?   I will admit that this sometimes worked well;  Other times it just didn't fit.    And I am left, again, holding my unpleasant cheese.


It's bad enough when Aunt Sally or Mr. Bill who lives down the street passes us unwelcome bounty. But  even the oddest things that-make-you-go-hmm can be dealt with. What happens with lifts gifts more difficult to contain, or when the giver is more mysterious still?  Often, we do not get the things we pray fervently and faithfully for.  Often in this broken world things just are not as we world think that a just and powerful God would make them be.  Sickness. Infertility. Poverty. War.  Loneliness.  Injustice.  Grief.  Need.  Exhaustion.  The list continues.  Maybe The family holiday time is filled with strife and anger instead of joy and peace.  Maybe financial worry is overshadowing the fearless faith you strive to have.  Maybe there is something in your life that makes you ponder, "Really? Is THIS what the FATHER of lights truly intended?  What am I supposed to do with THIS?" 


If you are facing some "fuzzy-cheese" situations you honestly wish you could return or re-gift: Take heart, my friend, you are not alone.  God is big enough to handle your honesty, and His Church is, too.  We are all in this big world together.


It seems easy to believe in His good and perfect gifts when they are good and perfect to our own eyes.  We get the job we wanted.  The relationship is healed and healthy.  Our bodies cooperate with the things we want to do.  Our family is safe and whole.  We can shout:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17) 

What when the answer is no?  When the finances are gone or the sickness remains or for whatever reason we are stuck with something we would rather reject?   The Father of Lights did not change.  He still wants good and perfect things for us.  We can trust in that truth.  Sometimes the prayers we pray are answered in ways that change us as much or more than the circumstances that have our attention.  And the God who uses everything from a talking donkey, to a prostitute, to some spit and mud to bring us HIS good gifts can work through even the fuzziest of cheese.  (Even if He did not cause the circumstances to begin with!) 


See, I walked into work thinking of a to-do-list to be done, rather than children to be served.  I thought of heavy responsibilities, rather than joyful duties.  The cheese refocused my heart to the heart of the matter at hand:  the mind and heart of the boy at my side.  


What unwanted gifts have you received?   How did you handle it?


What do you do when prayers deem to go rejected or unanswered?