The Queso Situation

I am  frustrated. I’m sick of  preparing/cooking  every.  single.  meal.

I’m crazy loyal to Publix (seriously, their customer service is right up there with Chick-Fil-A) but if I don’t see the inside of Publix for at least a week, I’ll be a happy girl.

Forget all that stuff I wrote about this being “not to hard”.

I seriously almost threw in the towel tonight, over queso. You know that cheesy, yummy goodness at Mexican restaurants that fill you up before your food arrives? Lets just take a moment to think about queso……

Anyway, in my frustration about having to cook, and my yearning for cheesy goodness, I decide that I couldn’t stand it any longer and hopped into the car to head to Publix (for the second time today) to figure out this thing called queso. I found a recipe online that looked pretty easy. How hard could it be, right?

I found the small can of green chilies and the queso cheese. I grabbed some frozen pizza and burritos to round out our healthy meal. (Don’t judge, I was in the depths of frustration here!)

As I headed home, I began to get excited about making my own cheese dip. I felt empowered! No silly Lenten fast would break me! I can cook anything!

As soon as I walked in the door, I got my husband working on the cheese. I turned on the stove and dumped in the can of chilies. The original recipe said to bake it in the oven, but I didn’t have time for that. The queso was almost within my grasp. I added in the grated cheese. At first, things were going smoothly. The cheese began to melt nicely. But then, no matter how much I whisked, it wouldn’t melt properly. Half the pot was a thin liquid, and the other half was rubber. I was starting to panic.

I decided that perhaps I should have considered the original recipe a little longer. I poured the thin cheese into a bowl for the kids (who were literally hovering over the pot of cheese. We are a cheese loving family, I tell ya.) I put the rest of the rubber  cheese into an oven safe dish, and put it under the broiler (as the original recipe said). I  kept thinking, “It just hasn’t melted enough” and  “A little more heat should do it”

Wrong.

So, so, so wrong.

The extra heat and time turned it into a gelatinous blob. It wasn’t even dip-able.  The frustration of the evening turned into sorrow, as I  realized that the thin (but edible) cheese I had poured out for the kids…..was gone. Not a drop left. At this point, I had spent so much time on this stupid cheese that ALL the other dinner options were gone (the aforementioned pizzas and burritos).

So I had wine for dinner.

Then I sat down to write this post (a little outlet for my sorrows), and my phone goes off. It was my sister responding to a text I sent her earlier. I vented about cooking and being frustrated. Here’s what she said:

Need a little perspective, Crystal? There ya go. You see, she and I volunteered last week at a ministry called Clean of Heart. (You can read about it here) We washed clothes for the homeless, and then she saw some of the same faces as she was out to dinner.

A reminder. How easily I forget. I have bread on my table and shoes on my feet. And I’m letting a little thing like ruined cheese dip screw up my night?

Ok Jesus, I hear you.  “Be thankful. Don’t get caught up in these little discomforts. Don’t let all these little things steal your joy. Focus on Me. Lean on Me.”

There is a hole inside each of us, we try to fill it and fill it with things. Shoes, money, food, stuff…..cheese dip.

But it’s a God-hole, only He can fill it.

He’s it.

The One and only.

When I try to fill my God-hole, He uses silly things like cheese dip to bring me back to Him.

I love that.