Sniffing Ice Cream

This past summer Kristin and Jonah and I went to sunset beach on vacation with Kristin’s family, and whenever we go to sunset beach we usually spend all day at the beach and then at night we go out for some mini golf followed up with some ice cream from the Calabash Creamery. It’s this little ice-cream shop in the famous town of Calabash that has by far the most amazing ice cream I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. Personally I’m a big fan of their Mango Tango, and their Sunset Peach. Well on this particular night Kristin and I and all of her cousins were there getting our sugar fix. We were sitting outside on the rocking chairs, I had my sunset peach in a waffle cone and was enjoying every lick, when this little seven year old boy with a back pack came running over by us with several other kids his age. He was one of the cutest little kids I’ve ever seen and was just a little ball of energy running around jumping and playing as he waited for his mom to bring out his ice cream. Well a moment later the creamery door opened up and several bowls of ice cream were brought out. All at the once a mob of little kids stormed in and grabbed their ice cream and then scattered. The seven year old with the backpack just waited patiently, The door opened and his mom came out with his ice cream, two heaping bowls of ice cream all for him. “Here you go,” she said, and he ran over and put his face down to the ice cream, his nose hovering less than inch away, and he took several deep breaths, savoring the aroma of the ice cream, and then took off running to join the rest of the kids. But before he got far his mom yelled for him; “You need to go back in there and thank that nice lady who gave you this ice cream for free,” “Yes mom,” he said, and then ran back inside. We were all watching curiously because well we’d never seen a boy with two bowls of free ice cream, just smell it and then run away and play. The grandfather noticed us watching and said, “It’s heart breaking isn’t it.” I said, “What’s heart breaking?” He said, “The poor kid has been in the hospital for most of his life. He has a digestive problem and can’t eat anything, he’s fed through tubes, which are hidden in his back pack and they go directly to his stomach. But for the rest of his life he can never actually eat food. But he sure does love to smell it.” Just then the boy came bursting out of the door, and said, “Mom can I have some more ice cream?” “Which kind?” she asked. “Cow Abash Crunch!” She held out the bowl, and he stood there for thirty seconds smelling it with his eyes closed, just savoring it. And then he ran off. My heart shattered, and I sat there feeling guilty for licking my Sunset Peach in front of him. I turned to his grandfather and said, “So he really can’t eat anything?” He said, “No but as you saw he is as happy as can be, he takes everything in stride and honestly he is so thankful he can at least smell his food. Every night the family eats dinner together, and he sits at the table next to his brother and sister, and they make him a plate just like everyone else and he sits there while they're eating and smells his food. It’s heartbreaking to watch, he will smell his chicken for a minute or so, and then his mashed potatoes and gravy, and then his corn, even his coca-cola, but he loves it, he never complains, he always says he is thankful he can enjoy the smell of food.” He came over again and took another whiff of cow abash crunch, and his mom stopped him and introduced him to us. He smiled at us and then said “Do want to see my tubes?” My head nodded yes but everything inside of me screamed “No I don’t want to see your tubes!” But he pulled up his shirt for us to see where his tubes were inserted into his stomach. I said, “Cool man!” Because I didn’t know what else to say, and he said, "Nice to meet ya," then turned and sniffed his ice cream and ran off. It was a quiet drive back to the beach house, and the entire time I was wondering one thing. How this kid who has spent most of his life in the hospital, and is fed through tubes, and sits every night at the dinner table watching people eat while he sits and smells his food, how that kid seemed to be far more grateful than I am? That night I snacked on some trail mix, and when no one was watching I buried my nose in it and smelled it for about thirty seconds, and then I made sure I savored every bite of it.

You see the gift of taste is just one more thing I’ve realized that I take for granted, along with the gift of smell, touch, sight, sound, breath and life. It’s a tragedy really; it’s a tragedy how most of us never fully appreciate what we have unless it’s gone. For most of us we don’t think about it, we don’t dwell on how blessed we are every day that we wake up and can roll out of bed and breath in another day of life on this tiny planet spinning in this enormous universe. No we dwell on problems. We are worried and stressed out, busy and tired, anxious and insecure, and so we focus on what’s wrong, on all the things that we don’t have instead of enjoying what we do. Instead of breathing in like that boy smelling his ice cream instead of savoring life, instead of being thankful, so often we just whine and complain.

GK Chesterson once said that the worst moment for an atheist is when he feels grateful and has no one to thank. I wonder if then the worst moment for a Christian would be when he has someone to thank, but doesn’t feel grateful. I wonder if the worst moments for you and me is when we take God for granted, when we get so focused on our problems, our worries, and stress, homework, and family strife, that we miss the Glory of God all around us. So often we miss out on the ordinary miracles of everyday life. Don’t miss out today, breathe it in, and be grateful!

"Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High."