Saturday, November 13, 2010

Under Different Circumstances

As you (well) know, I’ve been making a lot of dried apples lately.  Each morning and night my routine is the same; I wash a bunch of apples and dry them off, then cut them with Becky’s super cool apple slicer/corer. 

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When all of the apples are sliced & cored (which takes about 55 seconds, seriously) I cut the apple in half and lay the slices on the dehydrator screen.

A few days ago I decided I would stop drying the end pieces—the ones that you can see in the picture above that have skin all the way around.  They always come off a bit thicker, and because of this they just don’t dry as reliably.  And the last thing I want is for my stored apples to get moldy, right?!?

As I cut the sliced apples in half and lay them on the dehydrator screen, I set those end pieces aside.  Usually I take a bite of them as I’m working; this keeps me from eating the already dried apples. 

Last night I had about 8 small apples and one much larger apple.  When I bit into the end piece from that large apple my thought was “yuck!”  I am a very picky apple eater—I like my apples crisp and juicy, sweet and a bit tart as well.  (My favorite apple is a Cameo; I refuse to eat Red Delicious on general principle.)  This big apple was none of the things I liked.  It was mushy and bland and I couldn’t bring myself to eat another bite of it.

The next morning I opened the dehydrator and started unloading the pieces. 

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The pieces from the big apple were obvious—they were almost twice the size of the pieces from the smaller apples.  Out of curiosity I picked up one of the big dried pieces and ate it.

It was delicious.  Really, truly amazing.  Yum, yum.  I ate every piece of that big apple, marveling that something  so unappealing while fresh could have transformed into something so tasty once dried.

As I stood there by the counter, chewing and enjoying the wonderful flavor of this dried apple, the spirit spoke to my heart.  It said, “You never know when something might have great value under different circumstances.”

I knew instantly what this meant.  It was not just a heavenly commentary on the incredible transformation of my mealy fresh apple into a delicious dried apple.  It was a reminder that I have always been too quick to judge people, and that Heavenly Father has been generous over the years with His gentle reminders that I really have no clue and should not be judging at all.  It was a reminder that I am who I am because I have been given so many choice blessings and so much support in my life. 

And a reminder that I can never know who someone else would be, under different circumstances.



3 comments:

  1. That is something I struggle with as well, and I always feel so bad when someone I've judged harshly ends up serving me in some way. I hope I get to try some of these apples!!

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  2. I agree. It happens all the time, that "reminder"...:) You know that people are doing the best they can with what they know!

    Where are you getting all your apples? And, I'd love to try some too!

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  3. I'm the apple enabler. I get to go to the Farmer's market for lunch to pick up another box.

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