Kickin' Caramels

In the small town of Black Mountain, North Carolina there sits a wonderful little shop that sells homemade chocolates. Just recently, Kevin and I attended World Harvest Mission's Sonship Week Conference just down the road from Chocolate Gems. We enjoyed hugging the necks of folks we have a long history with and entering into relationships with new, now dear to us friends. We left our four wonderful kids with my mother (I can hear those gasps!) and had 5 nights and 6 days of time away to expand our view of the gospel, to contemplate who we are and who we serve. We took a long hard look at ourselves in a safe place full of other people doing the same thing. We took a long hard look at Jesus. We grappled with the inconsistencies between what we say we believe and what we do. We opened the door to the hurt and sorrow of the last 10 years, of both our failures and our wounds. And we were reminded of the great, deep and true love of one who doesn't accept us based on our performance. One who is jealous of both our attention and devotion.
It never feels good to uncover the places in my life that don't measure up. I mean, who really likes that? And is that what this faith race is really about... becoming more worthy? And what happens when trying harder doesn't cut it? Or when my dedication to my performance perverts my faith? Everything about our Sonship Week experience thwarted the prevailing wisdom of "try harder, just believe more."
Our worldview challenged, we drove home sharing together what we learned, what we each "heard" and felt. We realized that the perfect analogy of our time this past week was the unusual candy that surprised us both at Chocolate Gems. Kickin' Caramels are sweet, delicious, melt in your mouth wonderful, pieces of dark chocolate coated caramel loaded with cayenne pepper. It's quite the surprise to eat one. It surrounds your mouth with an "ahhh" type sweetness and then the "kick your butt" spice just pours out. Your eyes get wide and start to tear up as the sweetness is replaced by the heat. They are difficult to eat yet strangely addictive.