Candy bars and heart tablets

331 days have passed since I started working at Clover Hill Foods, and today I did something I have never done before: I used the company vending machine.

4pm snack time + no groceries at my house + carrying cash from paying tolls this weekend meant it was time to slip my first dollar in to the rectangular box that eats your money 50% of the time and is filled with who-knows-how-old snack food…who says life isn’t about taking risks?!

As I approached the faded glass I was looking for something remotely healthy that would hold me over until dinner, and this is what I ended up with:

Ahh, old faithful—Oats ‘N Honey Nature Valley bar.  As I crunched my snack that always makes me slightly nervous that my two front teeth are going to break and which inevitably produces a 2:1 crumbs:actually-makes-it-in-my-mouth ratio, my ol’ marketing mind got to work.  I realized that I picked the Nature Valley bar simply because of its advertising.  Who doesn’t associate that all-familiar green and yellow package with a “healthy snack”?...plus, anything with the word “Nature” in the name has to be good for you, right?  I realized as I was eating it that, in actuality, I have no idea if those two pesky little bars are really any better for me than the box of cookies sitting on my desk.  All I can do is trust what I see.

In the most cliché but confronting way, the experience got me thinking about what my life says.  What do people see when they look at me?  Would they be able to pick me out and describe me in a way that reflects Christ?  Or in my mind am I the “healthy snack” but really this is all they see:

 

(Sorry if this is your favorite candy, but these are so weird)

“Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3)