A Goat Ate My Soap and I Learned a Lesson
There is a beautiful quote by Amy Carmichael that has been fresh in my mind lately. “A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred,” (Amy Carmichael, Candles in the Dark). This quote is a creative way to rephrase the Bible verse Luke 6:45, “...for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” I have been frequently discussing this truth with my daughter as she is growing and learning to handle emotions and frustrations as a young lady. It is so very true that we can often keep up a calm and civil demeanor and tongue, but that all can change once we are vexed or bothered by someone. In those moments, the truth of what is really in our heart is often revealed!
Being a parent is a sanctifying journey. Many times we find that as we teach our children right from wrong and tell them how they ought to live and behave, it is almost as if a mirror is being held up to our own lives. Whether it be in the way a child mimics our own imperfect behavior or language or how we fail to “practice what we preach” and therefore get caught in hypocrisy, we find that we have much to learn along with our children! I had one of these very humbling parental moments this past week.
I have a small goat milk soap business that I have been operating out of our house. We have a large bathroom that I was temporarily using to cure and store my soap on shelves. We recently had that bathroom remodeled and I consequently lost my soap storage. I decided to move my soap to our schoolhouse building that is separate from the house and we installed a portable air conditioning unit so that the soap would be in a cool dry environment as it cures.
I loaded the trays of soap into our minivan and drove them over to the schoolroom to save several walking trips. As I entered the schoolroom with my first trays of soap, I realized that the air conditioning unit drain had overflowed the bucket I was using to catch the water and a part of the floor was flooded. I ran back to the house to grab towels to mop up the water. I then heard my children tell me that Eloise, our itty bitty goat that we let wander free, had gotten into the van and taken a bite out of a bar of soap. My children said that they removed the goat and closed the doors, so I returned my focus to finishing cleaning up the water on the floor and then walked up to the van to get the next tray of soap.
When I approached the van, there was little Eloise amidst the trays of my delicate freshly cut soap that now had many visible hoof and teeth marks in them. The children had closed one of the doors yet failed to close the other door and Eloise wanted a second helping. I watched her walk through the trays stepping on the soap and knocking it over. That was the moment of my cup jarring. In fact, my cup got knocked over flat and both I and my children can tell you that it was not sweet tea that spilled out. I would describe it more like molten lava. I was angry and I let it get the best of me.
After I cooled down, I realized very shamefully that I had let my own struggles and frustrations become more important than showing love for my children. I had major forgiveness to ask for, both from them and from God. When I was able to take a casualty count on my goat eaten soaps, I had only lost 6 bars. What an entirely insignificant thing to cause such a significantly ugly response. My cup was jarred and inside there were selfish and complaining thoughts about moving my soap and cleaning up the water mess that I myself had allowed to happen and it splashed meanness and bitterness at my children and even Eloise, although I don’t believe she quite understood my rant.
That night, after a sincere apology from me, I laughed with my daughter at the very thought of little Eloise in the van eating soap. What an unexpected situation to bring about a much-needed moment of learning and sanctification. What is in your cup, friend? I suggest we all examine our hearts and ask God to fill them with His love before they are jarred and something bitter splashes on someone we love.
Also, in case you are wondering, Eloise the goat highly suggests our “Spa Day” soap flavor. She seemed to rather enjoy it!
