When I was very young, our freezer was usually stocked with two half gallons of ice cream. One was plain vanilla (often accompanied by chocolate syrup) and the other was Neapolitan (equal parts vanilla, chocolate and strawberry). I remember the day my ice cream world (and so my whole world) changed.
My oldest brother, Bob, began his freshman year at Penn State University when I was three years old. Sometime during his first year of college, my parents and I visited him, and Bob took us to the Creamery. Penn State has an agricultural program that includes raising cows whose milk is used at the Creamery to create the most incredible ice cream you can imagine.
Until that day, I thought ice cream came in three flavors. I was overwhelmed with all the different flavors offered at the Creamery. It took me awhile, but I finally settled on mint chocolate chip. And my world was changed.
What else was there I didn’t know about?
You might think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s not. I remember thinking that 1) if ice cream wasn’t limited to vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, and 2) there was something out there as delicious as mint chocolate chip, what else was there in life that I didn’t know about?
What other wonders would I encounter? I’m not sure my three-year-old mind could have expressed those thoughts in that way, but I do remember feeling that sense of awe and amazement. All over a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone that rocked my toddler world!
When’s the last time you experienced awe and amazement? The last time you realized there were new wonders awaiting you? If we shed our cynical tendencies and remain present in the moment, we’ll experience awe and amazement more often than we might expect.
Did you see the super blue blood moon yesterday morning? Have you held a newborn baby lately? Are you starting seeds for spring planting? Have you listened to a bird’s call? These and of so many more things are all part of the awesome and amazing world God has created for us. Take some time today, and every day, to be present and open to all that God has made.
Linda Post Bushkofsky is executive director. She was excited to visit the Allegheny Synodical Women’s Organization convention a few years back, held in State College, Pa. There she was able to visit the Creamery again and enjoy another mint chocolate chip ice cream cone that was as good as she remembered!