DON'T DO IT!

This morning, I decided to have a smoothie, one of my favs for breakfast. It doesn't take as much prep time as a full-blown American breakfast of eggs, bacon (uncured turkey, of course!), some sour dough toast with real butter and perhaps a bit of organic apricot preserves. And, if made properly, tastes like you're having a milkshake for breakfast!

So I pulled out all the ingredients from the fridge — organic french vanilla yogurt, one raw egg, extra virgin coconut oil, some strawberries from the garden, raw honey, and some unsweetened cranberry juice. This was going to be very nice, indeed!


Then, I spied the liquid supplements I had recently purchased from my favorite provider. I use most of their supplements because they are organic, non-GMO, whole, raw food supplements. I usually get the gelatin capsules, but was getting tired of having to swallow so many from the several supplements I use. So, the *NEW* liquid sounded like a good thing.

NOT!!!

The directions say to take one capful a day. Now, that didn't sound so bad and I happily poured the dark, thick liquid into the top. By the time I got it up to my nose, my brain was already starting to get suspicious. "Well", I thought, "I'll just put it as far back as possible and quickly swallow it down.

The first second after hitting my tongue, there was a pleasant, fruity flavor and I thought, "Ok, that was nice." But then it came - blasting through the back of my throat and up my nasal passages like a backdraft of flames and sludge. The taste was so far past bitter that I can't even begin to describe it! It left a kind of acrid, burning sensation on the back part of the roof of my mouth. I kept swallowing to make it go away, but that wasn't working.

I turned to the fridge again, and grabbed a piece of sour dough bread, crammed it into my mouth, and chewed quickly so I could swallow it and perhaps take that 'BLECH' out of my throat. It helped for the most part, but I could still 'feel' that taste, if you get my drift.

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience at all, but I refuse to waste my money by throwing it away. I know it's great stuff and I can feel the difference physically, but I just can't get over that taste! Every morning, I hold my nose, have something ready to shove in after I swallow the stuff, and just steel myself to endure for the next 26 days when it runs out.

Back to the smoothie...

I began putting all the ingredients into my Ninja, my mouth watering at the thought of the cold, creamy concoction that would shortly be created. I licked the spoon after adding each item, and got ready to put the mixer on top to complete my flavorful mission.

Then I had an idea. Why not take that small capful of tongue-jolting bitterness and put it in my smoothie? After all, it's only about two teaspoons full in a 20-ounce flavor-whopping delight. How bad could it be?

BA-A-A-A-A-A-D!!!

It was a very bad idea followed by a very bad experience. That small capful of over 100 organic fruits and veggies with every mineral and vitamin a body needs is so potent that it will permeate anything you mix it with! Instead of my delicious delight, I am sitting here as I write this blog, trying to get 20 ounces of that awful, stinging stuff down. Instead of only enduring the nastiness for just a minute or two, I now am having to grin and bear it until it's all gone. At this point, that  might take all day!

I guess I should have listened to my cautionary, intuitive side. But I didn't. I reasoned that something so small could hardly affect such a large portion. But in fact, it made the whole drink unpalatable with it's intensely astringent taste.

I believe the same is true when we exercise our flawed reasoning over the wisdom of our Heavenly Father. Our fallen nature prompts a "testing of the waters", even though we know His Word has given us a specific path to follow. In goes the toe in spite of the warnings of swimming outside the protected areas. But that 'toe' is like a wick and the next thing you know, we're up to our necks with man-eating sharks circling like vultures of the deep. It's a very bitter pill to swallow when we have to reach out and ask God to get us "out of this mess we've made". Even though He is always faithful to do so, that little 'toe' incident has colored our lives forever.

So, when trying my little experiment, I should have listened to that still, small inner voice. I should listen every waking moment of every day. Instead I 'reasoned' it for myself, trying to make my life easier. *Sigh*  I still have half left to drink...   (Genesis 2:16, 17)