Jelly Bellies

Recently the boys bought a box of Jelly Bellies (fancy jelly beans).  It was actually a game.  There were lots of colors, each color had two different flavors but you couldn’t tell by looking which flavor you were getting.  The funny part was for each color there was a good flavor and a bad flavor, like the brown ones were either chocolate pudding or canned dog food.  When the boys asked to buy them, I knew the bad flavors wouldn’t be very good but I never dreamed they would actually taste exactly like the bad flavor they were supposed to be.  So we separated the Jelly Bellies into colors and handed them out not knowing who got the good flavors and who got the bad flavors.  Lucky me only had to try them if there were more than four of one color, which wasn’t too many.  The great thing is I got all the good flavors.  While I was eating peach, strawberry jam, blueberry, and coconut my pour husband and the boys were eating  baby wipes, tooth paste, vomit, and skunk spray.  I mean I have never eaten canned dog food, skunk spray, or any of the other horrible flavors but I have smelt them and let me tell you, when the boys would bite into the Jelly Bellies the smell gagged me and I didn’t have to taste them.  Oh my, they were all gagging and spitting them out and I sat here and laughed and laughed, not because they were gagging, but because they are boys and no matter how bad the flavor was, they continued to go back for more!!

He looks like he is crying, but believe it or not he is laughing and gagging!!

Another good GAG!!

Last night one of the boys was talking about that day and eating those gross Jelly Bellies and he was saying how they are kind of like the world.  You can’t always tell if something is good by the way it looks.  You can see someone or something with a great outer appearance only to find out you were mistaken, appearance can be deceiving.  It sure makes me JOYful to hear things like this from my guys.  To know they are getting IT!!  

I think the appearance thing is something everyone struggles with occasionally, not only in the world, but even in ourselves, especially girls.  We can get so caught up making sure we look good, our hair, our tans, our nails, our make-up, our clothes, and even the shape of our body, than we do our hearts.  I know the Lord wants us to care about our outer appearance but I also know HE cares way more about our heart than our looks!!  Because in the end, you can be the most beautiful thing but once someone gets close enough to you to see your heart, you can lose that beauty if your heart is not beautiful.  I pray that from this day forward, I always look at my heart first and keep it healthy, and looking good.  

1 Samuel 16:7 - "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

What are your kids reminding you of today?

Counting it all Joy!!