Cheese Touch!

I went to my daughter's school the other day to have lunch with her.  I do this once or twice a month and she and I both look forward to it.  She loves it because she loves when I show up at the school and I love it because I love seeing my daughter and I still like school pizza.  Yes, I go visit my daughter on pizza day at school.  Her whole class gets involved.  Some days the boys want to arm wrestle me.  Other days I'm the audience for "Look at this" which involves various tricks in the line of "look what I can do."

So this particular day I was enjoying my daughter and my pizza when I was introduced to the "cheese touch."  I was in the middle of a deep conversation with one of Abby's classmates about the merit of eating Fruit Loops without milk using a fork when all of a sudden my daughter reached over, touched me with her finger and declared, "Cheese Touch!"

She could have declared, "Monkey sidewalk running bubbles!" and it would have had as much meaning for me.

"What does that mean, honey?"

"It means you have to keep your fingers crossed so you don't get a cheese touch" is what she said.

Wait, what?  That doesn't help me.

"Monkey sidewalk running bubbles."  She could have said that and given me exactly the same amount of information.

All I knew was that I had to keep my fingers crossed as I ate my food so as not to contract what I could only assume was an incurable case of cheese touch.

We finished lunch and I stood with Abby in line, fingers crossed, while she waited for her teacher to come pick them up from the lunch room.  That day happened to be "wear your favorite sports team's shirt" day and Abby and I were wearing Pittsburgh Steelers shirts.  Me, because that is my team.  Abby, well, because that is my team.  My wife asked me to send her a picture of the two of us so I got out my camera.  One thing led to another and before I knew it her whole class was involved.

She went back to class and I went back to wondering what a cheese touch was and how I could recover from it.

Now I realize that I am a man in his 40's who doesn't really care that much about pop culture so I am out of the loop on what is popular or trendy.

For example, I was chatting with a teenager from our church the other day as they were waiting to leave for a weekend retreat.  She had sprained her ankle and in the course of conversation she told me that she felt like a "non-functioning, tasteless noodle."

What?????

Once again I interjected my standard question, "What does that mean?"

"It means I don't have any sauce," she said.

"Monkey sidewalk running bubbles." is what I heard.

Being disconnected from teenage cool, I had to probe deeper.  I had to ask her if that was a teenage subculture thing that they all understand or just a teenager flourishing in their spiritual gift of randomness.

It was randomness.

While I may no longer be in the same zip code with what teenagers are into, I do have a secret decoder ring at my disposal...Google!

Google serves me well when I come across things that I don't get.  For instance, Google helped me understand why it should be even remotely interesting to me to find out What Does the Fox Say?

I assure you it still doesn't matter to me but at least now I know why.

Anyway, back to the cheese touch.  After using the secret decoder ring I learned about the cheese touch.

Here is a short video to explain:

Having the cheese touch is like having "nuclear cooties!"  I love that line!

I learned that the only way to avoid it is to keep something crossed!  So that is why I had to eat my pizza with my fingers, or eyes, or legs or something crossed.  Heaven forbid I leave the school with nuclear cooties.

Nuclear cooties.  Now I'm relatively sure none of you are probably thinking, "It bet that is in the Bible!"

But I believe it is, kind of.

Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48 all record the biblical story of the "cheese touch."  Only it is the story of the woman with the issue of blood.  She had been bleeding for 12 years, had seen every doctor she could and had spent all of her money trying to recover.  Problem was, in that society she would have been ostracized for having that infirmity.  In essence, she had nuclear cooties, she had the cheese touch.  Having done everything she could to fix the situation she turned to Christ.  She wasn't looking to pass it on, she was looking to be free.  She touched the hem of His garment and was immediately made whole.  Her bleeding stopped.  Jesus turned to look at her and told her that her faith had made her well.

It didn't take having her fingers crossed but rather one touch from the Man who would die on the cross for her to be healed.

So what is your cheese touch?  What is that thing you just can't seem to get rid of?  Take it to Jesus.

Isaiah 53:5  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;  the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

You Are More Than Welcome!

So I went on a Daddy-Daughter date with my 6 year old, Abby, the other night to McDonalds.  It seems that McDonalds is the origin of all kinds of randomness that I feel compelled to write about.

We get up to the counter, Abby and I order and then it happens...I tell the lady at the cash register, "Thank you" and she responds, "You are more than welcome!"

I'll admit it, I have said that very same thing.  But think about it, what does that actually mean?

If you are more than welcome are you welcome and a half?

Is that like being welcome with a coupon or a rebate?

At McDonalds, I would think it should mean something like, "You are welcome and here is a free ice cream cone!"

"Why am I getting a free ice cream cone?"

"Well, its because you are more than welcome, of course!"

The world would be a better place if we got a bonus for saying thank you.

I can think of some places that I would love to be "more than welcome:"

The bank

Pizza Hut

Thanksgiving dinner

The bank

I love the concept of being more than welcome.  I just wish people really meant it when they said it.

The concept is actually biblical

 Romans 8:37 says, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

 (NKJV)

We understand the concept of being a conqueror.  Engaging a foe in battle and coming up the victor!  That's the stuff great action movies are made of.  

Personally I have been quite the conqueror for many years.  My family loves engaging in a spirited board game now and then and I have often been the victorious conqueror.

But what does it mean to be more than a conqueror.

To be more than a conqueror means that we reap the benefits of the conqueror without the risk or cost involved in conquering.

I have never been a huge boxing fan but there was a time that I did take a passing interest in it.

The 1984 U.S. Olympic team was hugely successful.  Of 12 possible medals, the U.S. won 9 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze.  

Oddly enough, the lone bronze medal was won by the boxer who ended up being the most famous...Evander Holyfield.

But it was the silver medalist-Virgil Hill-who stoked my interest.

You see, Virgil was from North Dakota like I was.  So I followed his career.  He was truly a conqueror.

I imagine his bouts went something like this...

Virgil got in the ring and went round after round, dispensing and receiving blow after blow.  At the end, battle weary, Virgil's hand would be lifted in victory.  He would stand in the ring, the promoter would hand him an envelope with a check containing the victor's share of the prize purse.  He would hold the check up, pry open his swollen eyelid and look at the amount and smile, knowing he was a conqueror.

But his wife, Carla, she wasn't just a conqueror.  Virgil would hand the check over to her and she would smile knowing she was MORE than a conqueror.

She reaped the benefits of victory without having to endure the pain.

We too are more than conquerors.  Christ endured the pain of the cross so that we could be the recipients of His grace and mercy.  No pain, all gain!

It happens like this, we realize that we are lost in our sins and need a Savior.  

Christ Jesus forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

We say thank you.

He says, "You are more than welcome!"