So, Kim and I were in Indianapolis the other night, tending to some business, and decided to stop by Wild Oats on the north side to pick up some groceries. Now, what’s somewhat important to the story, is the knowledge that we’re trying to eat more healthfully these days, and we were there to buy some organic goods. But during the drive home, Kim was experiencing a bit of indigestion, and I suggested she grab one of the fruit seltzers we had just bought. She starts fishing around in the grocery bag behind my seat, and can’t find them. We were already well on our way and couldn’t turn the car around to grab something we’d left behind. Plus it was getting late. Kim kept digging through the bag, pulling item after item out of the bag, taking inventory with a question mark after each item — 2 pounds of blueberries? broccoli? SESAME TAHINI???? What’s Sesame Tahini?Yup. We’d grabbed the wrong cart. We bought SOMEBODY ELSE’S groceries! We hadn’t merely forgotten a case of fruit juice seltzer, we’d forgotten to pay attention to our own dang cart and brought home stuff we didn’t even pick out! Kim found the receipt and read through it. I glanced at it while driving. This was certainly the case. So what ELSE did we get besides sesame tahini? How ’bout a frickin’ HUGE fillet of organic salmon. Quite the treat, but something I’d likely never buy simply because of the premium charged for a piece of meat I’d have to convince Kim to eat. How ’bout 2 pounds of blueberries? I’ve had to eat them about the same way I do popcorn, a fistful at a time till I get to the bottom of a bowl.As we realized this, we kept laughing, then we’d switch into chastising ourselves for not being more careful, then we’d laugh again.Funny thing is the receipt total was off the charts when we got to the check out. Kim was reading a magazine while I paid and I just figured, “hey, if this is what it costs to eat healthier food, then that’s the cost!” You see, I’ve been a bit hesitant to make the switch to picking up the healthy alternatives because of the cost. Organic milk is twice as much, antibiotic-free meats cost more as well. It’s not that I want to be unhealthy, its that my reconditioning comes in the form of comparing the mainstream item to this specialty item and learning to see our choice as the right choice for us.And so I found it a bit providential that this mix up actually brought us the foods I’d have LIKED to buy but didn’t because I couldn’t get over the price tag.Over vacation last week up on the shore of Lake Michigan, I finished Brian McLaren’s [“Generous Orthodoxy”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0310257476/qid=1121608374/sr=8-…). In his chapter “Why I Am Depressed – Yet Hopeful” McLaren turned my thinking on it’s side with this kernal of thought right here:
There is a high cost to repentance, to be sure: our pride, our superiority, our complacency, our smugness, our self-confidence, our judgmentalism all will feel the sharp sting of the shot of repentance. But there is a high cost to non-repentance too.” — p. 273, Zondervan, © 2004
Of course, this has NOTHING to do with buying the wrong groceries, but this hilarious incident has brought this thought of McLaren’s to mind regarding this positive decision that Kim and I have made for our lives. I was not wanting to pay for the higher quality items, not considering what we’ve already decided was MORE expensive for us in terms of buying the lesser quality items. It’s just ironic to me that this decision has to do with what we put INTO our bodies. I needed this mixup to occur in order for me to understand the cost of non-repentance in this singular decision in our lives and that this cost was far more expensive than the receipt total at Wild Oats. I’ve decided I can’t renege on that commitment. And for those worried that this site will become a platform for “organic living,” rest assured, it won’t.Kim just had a fantastic line over on [her site](http://kimberlynentrup.com/?p=50): > “Never underestimate how God will bend the cosmos for you.”I think about how He does that for me — breaking through and even using my most silly mistakes, overlookings, and blunders. Since our fairly recent decision to pursue a life of service with [Kingdom Building Ministries](http://kbm.org) we’ve printed out a passage of scripture and taped it to the door of my office. Thanks to [Lonnie](http://urven.com, we’re greeted by [this passage from Deuteronomy](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=5&chapter=8&version=31) every time we enter the room. After Lon suggested it to me, I printed it out as a constant reminder in these that all of our needs are provided for by God, and that it is our duty to trust Him as we go forward. Little did I know until I paused to re-read it yesterday did I realize how it applied to this other facet of change in our lives.It may sound like a bit of a stretch, but not as much as learning a few recipes that include sesame tahini. So, I best get to work.
Eric Nentrup 