Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

KuneKune BBQ

My daughter, Mariam, is having the time of her life raising farm animals on their little homestead. A few years ago, she acquired two KuneKune (cooney cooney) piglets. The name of this breed means “fat and round” and they produce high-quality pork. KuneKunes are friendly, docile, and easy to handle which made them sweet and fun pets. My three granddaughters were told from the get-go that Cookie and Oreo would eventually end up on a dinner plate, and they were OK with that because they love bacon.

When the big pigs were butchered, there wasn’t enough freezer space to store all the meat. So Mariam brought a bunch of it in a black trash bag to store at my house. One day  my son Aaron was at my house and he put some venison burger in the deep freeze. I mentioned that there were several outdated packages of meat, so he took the hint and started cleaning it out. I couldn’t oversee this project because I was cooking our Thanksgiving meal — so he was on his own. He took all the old stuff out and threw it on my brush pile in the pasture (to be burned sometime in the future).

When all the family was enjoying our holiday meal together, I mentioned the good job Aaron had done in cleaning out the deep freeze for me. My daughter’s eyes got as big as quarters as she looked at her brother and, with a mouthful of pickled beets, point-blank  asked, “You didn’t throw away my KuneKune pig meat did you?!” Aaron nonchalantly answered, “I don’t know, maybe.” The end of the story is yes, he threw it out, but she retrieved it from the burn pile, still in the bag and still frozen.

Aaron simply didn’t take the time to open the trash bag and look inside, therefore, he didn’t know what was in it. It’s been said that believers live below our privileges as children of God. The Word of God is full of promises but many of them are never “cashed in”  because we don’t know what they are! We must open the Bible to read and study it so we won’t be ignorant. For example, we may personally pay for damage to our home when, in fact, we have insurance that would cover the cost. Ignorance is certainly not bliss when it comes to knowing God’s inexhaustible spiritual riches.

God gave Apostle Paul the special responsibility of preaching salvation to the Gentiles. “And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6 NLT). God’s riches are our spiritual blessings as we daily live our lives in Him. Let’s read God’s Word to find out what inexhaustible riches are ours. When I purchased a new dishwasher, I read the owner’s manual in order to benefit from all the available options.

Apostle Paul wrote: “Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, He graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ” (Ephesians 3:8 NLT). Paul wrote letters (manuals) to the churches in the Books of Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. If we want to walk in the spiritual blessings that God intends for us, let’s  study the Owner’s Manual from cover to cover and stake our claim.

The Key: Don’t burn, through ignorance, what’s rightfully yours.

Greta watched me play pickleball and asked if I would like to join an elite group of female players.  Would I ever!  My tryout would be the following Thursday evening.  I showed up a little early, not too early (as not to appear overly eager), but just the right amount of “early,” I hoped.

Greta arrived soon afterward and asked me and another player, Kim, to play against Greg and John. She and Stephanie, the advanced team’s captain, would watch and determine if I was good enough. I was confident and excited to show I had the skills they were seeking.

Greg served the ball. My paddle never touched it.  His spin caused the ball to hit the ground and skid, not bounce like a normal serve. For the rest of the match, this did not change. Greta and Stephanie stood on the sidelines and whispered.  This was not good.

In my next match, I was paired against John and was forewarned that he took great delight in smashing it right at his opponent’s body, especially females.  Which he did. And even though I was able to deflect his ball, I was unable to return it into his court.  The harder I tried, the worse I played.  My mind kept repeating, You’re pathetic.  What’s wrong with you?  Get it together.  You’re embarrassing yourself.         

I had the yips, a term sports teams use for players who cannot do what they are supposed to do.  With the yips, for example, pitchers will throw twelve feet from a catcher, quarterbacks will pass the ball to the sidelines instead of the receiver downfield, and golfers will swing like I do.  It’s all in their heads, and few ever come out of it.

Perhaps I would take up knitting.  (Do knitters get the yips?)

When I arrived home, Dave asked me how I did; I told him I was terrible.  He didn’t believe me until a few days went by and Greta never invited me to join their league.

The following week, playing in my recreational pickleball league, with Greta present, Janel said that she was going to sign me up for the advanced women’s league.  Greta started stammering like a jackhammer as to why that wouldn’t work.  Janel disagreed.  I would have found it amusing, had the argument been about anyone else but me.

In my tryout, I had let my nerves (fear) get the better of me.  Have you been there?  You want to try out for the Praise and Worship team or take up photography or lead a Bible study, but those inner voices scream your unworthiness.  And if, by chance, you take a stab at it only to be told you’re not quite enough, is your confidence shaken?  I hope not.

According to Paul’s second letter to Timothy, God does not give us a spirit of fear.

The Bible is not short on stories of individuals who feared something.  Moses.  David.  Elijah. The disciples.  They all had to overcome that fear to use the gifts God had given them.  I was no different.  What happened to me on that pickleball court was all in my own mind, doing what it does well…making me doubt myself.

Ironically, as I was writing this article, Greta texted me and asked if I would help her coach a couple of relatively new players.

A chance to redeem myself… or a subtle way for her to coach me as well?

Something is seriously wrong with my mind.