Lately, I have been challenging some of the norms that I have held my entire life. And this post is just sort of a fun one talking about some of the stuff I have recently done.
About a month ago, I wrote about wrestling with the idea of giving up our landline telephone. You may recall that I got my first phone when I was 10 ears old and lived in Beverly on the south side of Chicago. I still remember the number – 312-238-2426. I have had a landline since then and the last number we had was from 1982. I was seriously nervous about giving it up but I screwed up my courage and so far, so good. I am pleased with our decision to “cut the cord” and go completely mobile.
One thing I didn’t expect as a result of that change was the freedom that I felt and that has led to challenging some of the other norms that I have had for as long as I can remember. Earlier this week, Janet and I were shopping and she mentioned that we needed eggs. That in itself is nothing new, but as I was standing there in front of the dairy area, I noticed a huge number of large eggs, but not many X-large eggs. Now I realize that most people wouldn’t agonize over this, but I kind of freaked out a little – wondering why my entire life I have only bought X-large eggs. Janet was about ready to move on but I was deep in the past, remembering my childhood cooking with Mom in the kitchen.
I remembered that Mom taught me that recipes were always made with the understanding that all eggs used should be X-large. Recipes were just written that way. And as you know, when it comes to cooking with Mom, I am a creature of habit and very compliant. She taught me to cook when I was a little boy and I have never forgotten the lessons she taught me. And she was a world class cook, having studied at the finest culinary institutes. I could not bring myself to ever buy another size egg. Yes, I know, it sounds goofy… but I’m trying to be vulnerable with you and admit that this was a thing with me!
By this time, in front of the egg case, Janet was about ready to have me committed. The store manager came over and we discussed my dilemma – what size eggs to buy… He suggested large, as they were a much better deal from the warehouse – and he admitted that nobody bought medium eggs because they were about the size of golf balls. And Mom always cautioned me to never buy jumbo eggs because it came across as gluttonous. She would never be caught dead buying jumbo eggs! So, to be sure, for almost three quarters of a century, it’s always been X-large. Until this past week! I have to hang my head in shame that I went to the register with a dozen jumbo eggs… I am sure that Mom is rolling over in her grave about now… but life goes on – after all, I got rid of the landline, didn’t I ?
Kyle, the store manager, and I decided that we should try an experiment and see what size eggs offered the best value. I admitted that sometimes I wanted eggs for breakfast and I could never decide if I wanted two or three. So… and here’s where it really gets goofy, my birthday party with the family was this evening and we decided to weigh eggs of each size, factor in prices per dozen and see what size eggs offered the best value. Our daughter, Jill, understood my concerns and was a co-conspirator in our mission. As you can tell, we are a fun bunch…
None of us could believe the size difference between jumbo and X-large. To cut to the chase, two jumbo eggs equals about 2.6 X-large eggs and almost 3 large eggs. So now, when I am undecided, I can fix two jumbo eggs and not worry about whether I made the right decision. Now we live in a tough family to please. Of course, almost everyone questioned whether egg sizes had changed in the last 65 years… such as, are X-large eggs today the same size they were back in the day or have the standards changed for egg sizes? I refused to go there. I can only assimilate so much change at one time.
I always get asked which came first, the chicken or the egg. Somehow, tonight, this seems like an appropriate topic. Chickens came first, then eggs. God created everything fully formed. He created Adam and Eve fully grown, not as children or babies. Our verse for tonight testifies that God made “man” in His image. We are told the words of God in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So mankind had dominion of the the creatures of the cosmos, including chickens. My encouragement this evening is that by exploring God’s universe, we can gain important insights as to the grandeur of our Heavenly Father. My prayer is that we will always be amazed by the complexities of the universe and the animal kingdom – even if we don’t know what size God made the first eggs – large, X-large or maybe even jumbo! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…