The Red Striped Straw

I drink quite a bit of water throughout the day.
It is good for me; it keeps me hydrated.
I have a favorite cup for my water that is usually within arm’s reach.
It has a design on the front that suits me.

It is from the place of Amish buggies.
There is a variable star quilt pattern on the front.
The cup holds 20 ounces of water, which I fill multiple times throughout the day.
The design of the quilt on the front of the cup makes me smile.

Since the cup has a lid, I usually use a straw.
The kind of straw my children loved; the straws with the stripes of various colors.
Can I have a red one? Was the request of my older son.
Red is his favorite color.

Every time I happen to pull out a red straw, I think of him.
This was the boy who walked confidently into school to meet his kindergarten teacher.
You get to pick a pencil from the cup, she said sweetly as we were leaving the classroom.
My son chose the red pencil; a young man who knows what he wants, she said to him.

Straws were a favorite thing to use in our house especially when you lost your front tooth.
It was always fun to put the straw right in the open space and drink your milk that way.
My children each loved the fact that they didn’t have to open their mouth to drink.
The straw went in the space where the tooth had been and they could sip that way.

Each one showed me their new found skill.
Each time I pretended to be surprised, acting as if I had never seen it before.
I can drink with my mouth closed, was their pronouncement.
It was not new to me but it was new to them so it was always a big deal.

The only time straws were forbidden was after wisdom teeth extraction.
The drawing in through the straw presented a problem.
After a tooth is extracted, a blood clot forms in the jaw where the tooth used to be.
Any kind of suction can dislodge the blood clot and prevent healing.

No straws and lots of rinsing with salt water were the main instructions.
They needed to obey the food rules, which foods you can eat and which ones you cannot.
After both of my daughters had their wisdom teeth extracted, I felt like a pro.
That was until the young man who knows what he wants, got his wisdom teeth out.

The oral surgery went well.
There was not too much swelling and not too much pain.
Healing seemed to be coming along nicely.
The salt water rinse seemed to be helping.

It was the day when he was to go back to the oral surgeon to get the stitches out.
I always went back into the room with each of my children for a short consultation.
It was reassuring to hear that the sockets had closed over properly.
With this son, the nurse started to look in his mouth while I was still there.

She seemed to make a face, but I thought I was imagining.
Do you eat nuts, she asked, which was one of the forbidden foods.
He couldn’t answer with her working on his mouth.
I wanted to answer but thought better since he was old enough to talk for himself.

The oral surgeon came in and checked his mouth.
Yes, it has healed nicely, he said quite proud of his work.
We had to take a lot of pieces of nuts out of that one socket.
The doctor left with a, don’t hesitate to call me if you have any problems, remark.

As soon as we got outside, my son burst out laughing.
I must have looked terribly confused which made him laugh even harder.
What did he mean when they said that they had to take a lot of nuts out of that socket?
Remember the other night when I went to the Phillies game? he began.

I began to put the pieces together.
Well, it was two days before my checkup and I thought it wouldn’t be a problem.
What wouldn’t be a problem? I asked already knowing the answer.
Well, I had some peanuts, he said as he laughed harder.

He drove home and every time I looked over at him we both laughed.
If you could have seen your face, Mom.
I’m so glad I didn’t answer the nurse’s question, I said looking out the window.
Oh, my son doesn’t eat nuts, which made us both laugh harder.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Christ Jesus our Lord! (Romans 7:15-25)

When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
Whether it is eating peanuts when you’re not supposed to or something far worse.
We have a sin nature that rears its ugly head and makes it difficult for us to do good.
We can “do good” for a while, but that sin nature is constantly at war inside us.

But all is not hopeless.
There is victory in Christ Jesus.
Jesus alone can rescue us from sin when we come to Him in faith.
All of our sin, past, present, and future was placed upon Him on that cross.

There, our sin was paid for.
Jesus satisfied the wrath of God.
Jesus took our sin upon Himself and traded us His righteousness.
We have mastery over sin because of Jesus.

What a reason for praise.
How blessed we are.
We are saved from this body of death.
We are victorious because of Jesus.

To think that a cup of water with a red striped straw would bring all this to mind.