M&Ms. . . and bleeding?

Have you ever tried to really savor the flavor of something but each time you do, you find yourself just crunching right through it and each time you swallow, you curse yourself again for not being able to just let it melt in your mouth? I'm eating Peanut M & Ms right now and for the last 6 or 7 pieces, I just can't seem to let it sit in my mouth until I get to the peanut. I only have two left (a Fun-Sized pack) and I really want to get to the peanut on at least one of these darn things before they're all gone! Why? So I can taste all three layers. . . candy coating, chocolate, peanut AND experience all of the individual stages that come with that. You know, candy coating and chocolate, chocolate and peanut, chocolate, peanut, candy coating. There are a lot of things in life like that. All those stages of a job - being the new person, being the middle man on the totem pole, being the boss. Now, some people just want to be the boss and some people are happy being the new guy all the time which is why they never stay with a job long enough to know their co-workers middle name. I'm working on savoring each stage in life, each experience, painful or pleasurable. It's all a part of humanity I guess. Sometimes I really hate being human. It's hard to want all of those good things in life and know, deep down, that you dread the difficult things. And at the same time, I've grown to kind of enjoy the difficult and uncomfortable, when it comes. I DON'T go looking for it, OH NO. I'd be perfectly happy if I never had to experience loss, sickness, loneliness, anger, brokenness, fear. But it's there.

I wonder if Jesus, in His perfect human existence, ever cut his hand while working at his carpentry and sat there saying to himself "This is pain. Remember this." I mean, we all know that He eventually suffered the cross and we can't even fathom that amount of spiritual, emotional, and physical pain. We live a reflection of the cross in our own suffering but we'll never know what His experience was like and, no doubt, He knew that. So, when He stubbed His toe or felt exhaustion, did He stop and think "This is what they feel. This is frustration, impatience, clumsiness." Maybe, maybe not. But we do know that He had the patience and fortitude to live His life knowing what was coming. Maybe we don't know our futures because we wouldn't have the patience to wait for the good things and the strength to stand firm while waiting for the storm.

Hmm. . . there's that peanut. AND it has that paper thin sheath around it that peanuts sometimes have. I didn't expect that.