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Tuna Casserole
I have to admit: I love tuna casserole. I don’t know why. I think it has something to do with the amazing flavor you get when you combine melted cheese, macaroni noodles and tuna. Leave the celery out it, please, but fill my plate with some good ol’ tuna casserole.
I like the stuff so much that even though I was eating it on the night that completely changed my life; I still can’t get enough of it.
I was 9 years old and sitting around the dinner table with my four other siblings, probably arguing over who had the biggest serving of the amazingly tasty dish. At the time I had no idea my life would turn a corner and head off into a different direction, but moments later my father came downstairs and along with some bad words, threw dishes and a chair across the room. My mother followed him with her own bad words, “Get Out!” And so there it was. The next five minutes are pretty clear even today. A parent on each arm, violently discussing which way I would go, a few moments later I was in the backseat of a van with the same four siblings, unable to finish my favorite dinner. I learned then how quickly life can go from tuna casserole to plain green peas.
My life, I guess you can say, has been a journey. I’ve toured with my own band. I’ve experienced some of the most beautiful cities in the world. I’ve also failed out of college and I’ve discovered a close connection between my then best friend and now ex-wife.
It’s amazing how different your feelings for God can be in those moments. When the going’s good, so is God. When it’s not, well…God didn’t have the same view in my eyes then. Even though He stood on my shoulder, I flicked him off. “No thanks, I don’t need you right now.” When life offered me green peas, I decided I’d rather starve.
Yet here I am today. A proud Christian, whom although doesn’t deserve even the smallest serving of tuna casserole, continues to receive God’s blessings.
I find it amazing how I got here. A 26-year-old little boy, whom through his life has been blessed with so many gifts from God, yet has thrown 90% of them away. Somehow…someway…I’m here…and quite often I smile. I smile because God is a forgiving God. His mercy and grace can mend a torn heart, lift a fallen soul, and put a smile on a face.
So many times we look away from God for answers that we feel we can only find ourselves. Life gets rough and we run. We can have God on our shoulder, only to flick Him off because we feel we just don’t need Him in that moment.
I thank God for a friend, a friend who took me to church for the first time after five years. God proved to me then that although we can give up on God, He’ll never give up on you. Like He did for Moses and Jonah in the bible, He’ll wait for you as you run, yet He’ll never let you run too far. He’ll run alongside you or run ahead and be waiting for you when you get there. And when you do, He’ll be there with open arms.
Thank you, God, for that friend. Thank you, God, for being there when I got there. And thank you, God, for tuna casserole.
