Taffy by Mary Bursch
December 6th, 2018
Every summer for the past 10 years Dan (the husband) and I have packed up our kids and headed down the Oregon coast for our week at Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center (check it out @ cbcc.net). Everyone enjoys their time there, but it is an especially good week for Dan and me as the ocean is our happy place. Here we find peace, deep breaths of fresh sea air and the ability to remove ourselves from the hurriedness of our usual daily life. It’s therapy for our spirits and rest for our bodies. There are so many places that are “can’t miss” visits for us (and we try to do them ALL. Every year), but the numero uno spot for my kids is undoubtedly Bruce’s Candy Kitchen. There’s no way of escaping it as 1. it’s only 2 buildings down from where we stay all week and 2. t’s the bright pink building with the big striped awning. I’ve learned over the years to just let the kids peruse the entire store and pick out whatever their little hearts desire, as long as they can do so within their allotted budget (aka $5). This is not the grown-ups allotted budget, by the way….. chocolate costs a little more than that! There is, however, one thing they can have every single time they pop into the store whether we are there to buy or just passing through, and that is the basket of samples of the freshly-made salt water taffy flavor of the day.
We are usually there the week before the 4th of July, so my personal favorite is the American apple pie. You wouldn’t think it would be that amazing…. but it is, trust me. When you are standing there in front of the basket, if you’re lucky, there is a guy running the machine that actually pulls, cuts and wraps the taffy. The process is entrancing to watch- first stretching one way and then slack, only to then be stretched another way, then slack. Repeat. What starts out as a dull, misshapen lump over time softens and begins to gain a luster to it and almost a feathery lightness. When it’s ready, it’s immediately cut, wrapped and put out for consumption. It must happen quickly before the taffy begins to harden again and is more difficult to shape, and then even more down the line, eat.
I don’t know if you’ve ever found yourself in this season as you’ve journeyed through your life with Christ (I suspect you have) but I am definitely right in the middle of it: Stretch, slack. Stretch the other way, slack. Repeat. If you’re involved in ministry leadership to any degree you probably LIVE in this reality. There aren't enough volunteers to cover kids church (which is not your ministry, btw), so you fill some holes….. stretch. You’ve been asked to add yet another job onto your already-full plate of responsibilities within your own ministry…. stretch. You just pulled off an amazing women’s event that was well-attended and organized and feedback has been amazing…. slack. Oh, your worship leader and associate pastor have just been called to another assignment. In another church…… STRETCH. How about if God is asking you to venture personally into something that seems scary and intimidating and impossible (going back to school, getting your pastoral license, saying yes to an assignment you find yourself questioning your credentials and qualification to be a part of)?
As leaders I think we have to be able to pull ourselves away every now and then and take inventory of the big picture. The discomfort and challenge of the stretching that is entirely quintessential has purpose: to soften, shape, and eventually mold what started as a sticky clump into something completely changed and different and useful beyond its original form. As we seek the Lord in his will for our lives, ministries and families, when you feel Him asking you to do something that seems unfamiliar, uncomfortable, or something that you feel completely unqualified or unprepared to do, ask Him for the discernment to tell fear from direction. You know what I’m talking about- when you give more credit to the internal voice (or even sometimes external opinions) than you do to the Holy Spirit’s. Pray and seek wisdom from the Lord as to whether the thing placed before you that will require so much more is, in fact, from Him. Limits and boundaries in leadership are so important! Know that saying yes to too many responsibilities outside of His will (however noble and wonderful your motives may seem) will ultimately cause us to break. The stretching process, when it is directed by God, is profitable and ultimately makes us more usable for His purposes. We need to be able to trust in Him. Trust in His process. Trust that although it may get uncomfortable, sometimes MANY times, that He is shaping us into something He’s going to use even though we have NO idea what the end product is going to look like. I love the visual I get when I read Isaiah 54:2-4 from the Message:
“Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities. Don’t be afraid- you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back- you’re not going to come up short.”
Spread out. Be stretched, worked on, molded and transformed into His treasure. Think big. A huge, hard glob of sugar can become a beautiful, silky ribbon of taffy – it just requires a little work and a candy maker’s eye. Next time you find yourself perusing the candy store and come across the salt water taffy section, be reminded of God’s eye and vision for your life and the process He takes you through to bring it to fruition.
Mary Bursch
