It wasn’t an unreasonable list. Thomas had asked for only three things - digital luggage scales that could weigh up to 80 pounds, green sauce from Dee’s Burritos and for his dad to help him rig a turkey fryer. Although I have to admit the request to rig a turkey fryer was a little worrisome, the list was doable.
The green sauce was easy. J.B. stopped by Dee’s Burritos in Snyder and ordered a quart of green sauce. The digital luggage scales took more than half a day and a tank of gas to find, but the end of the day we had luggage scales in hand. J.B. and I decided that rigging a turkey fryer wasn’t such a good idea and Academy Sports had them for $49.99. Let’s see - possible explosion and maiming or spending the fifty bucks?
Buying the items on the list was easy; figuring out how to get everything to Italy along with all of the necessary items for a three week vacation was a little more challenging. The luggage scales were no problem; stuff them in the side pocket of the suitcase. How to package the green sauce was a little more troublesome, but after careful consideration and much discussion about whether or not a container of green sauce would explode mid-flight, we decided that a plastic work thermos would do the trick; dump the sauce in, screw the lid on tight, wrap it with duct tape to prevent oozing and put the thermos in a plastic bag.
It was the turkey fryer that got us into trouble. Being the smart girl that I am, I called American and found out that an extra bag would be $60, which seemed reasonable to me. But, J.B. being the tight wad that he is, held on to the belief that there was a cheaper way to get it there. Ok, whatever. First stop was FedEx. Want to guess how much it cost to FedEx a turkey fryer to Italy? The going price for shipping a $50 dollar turkey fryer to Italy is $400! That wasn’t going to happen. Second thought – U.S. Postal Service; the price was right, but it was over the weight limit and there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in July that it would get there before Turkey day. Third thought – admit that there comes a time when some things aren’t worth the trouble and effort and return the turkey fryer. Returning the turkey fryer made the most sense, so back to Academy it went.
By Sunday night J.B. was rethinking the turkey fryer and was willing to pay the extra $60 luggage fee. Why he had to change his mind after he left San Antonio where he had a turkey fryer in hand is beyond me. Finding a replacement fryer in small town West Texas proved somewhat more difficult than finding one in San Antonio, but when J.B. left Texas he left with one large duffle bag, a turkey fryer box with green sauce and burritos (a last minute addition) stuffed inside the cooking pot of the turkey fryer, a back pack and a small carry-on bag. The things we do…
Thomas’ original request and I dare say expectation was simple; help him rig a turkey fryer. He did not ask his dad to buy one and figure out how to get it to Italy. J.B. and I were the ones that came up with the idea, complicated things and wasted a lot of time trying to make something happen that wasn’t asked of us in the first place. The turkey fryer escapade reminds of how we complicate things with God. God’s list, much like Thomas’ is simple. God’s expectation of us is to love Him with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind. While we don’t always understand or believe that what God expects of us is simple and doable, it is comforting to know that God really doesn’t need much from us to accomplish His plan for our life.
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