Ugh! My ice-cream keeps melting..!
Peering through the window, watching months of winter slowly recede away. Excited to feel a little sunshine come through, I happily tag with my husband for some much needed shopping.
Preparing for the summer, we always have a list.. Or let me be honest, I HAVE A LIST!!
Where and what we would like to do for the summer? It always feels like we have so little time before the harsh winter sets again. It’s a rush, I have to enjoy every bit of sun. No time wasted, we chug along our annual list to make sure we are prepared to enjoy the few weeks of scorching heat.
And then that moment I’ve been waiting for, what seemed like a decade….
Our local ice-cream shop is open and there are warriors like me standing in line to get their hands on their favorite ice-cream after patiently waiting all winter.
It’s a different kind of feeling to see my brethren in taste, come together. I hop out of the car and quickly claim my spot in the line. Short that I am, looking at the menu is a bit tough, I ask my husband who stands a foot taller than me, if there are any new flavors.
Talking about the new menu, I suddenly find myself at the end of the line. I’m at the window, FINALLY! Thank you GOD!
You shall remember Me, that I may remember you, and be thankful to Me; do not be unappreciative. Quran (2:152)
We placed our usual order, and now the wait begins, I see the wonderful lady disappear from behind the window and walk towards what I like to call the “goodness machine”. I see my cone slowly coming to life. As I kept staring at my order, didn’t realize another wonderful lady brought my husbands shake to the window.
For a moment I lost sight of my cone, but here it was finally in my hand. My heart filled with joy! I take God’s name as I dig into my first bite.
Do not eat from that upon which the name of GOD has not been mentioned, for it is an abomination.. Quran (6:121)
I know this sounds weird, but it felt like a moment in heaven. As we walk towards the bench, something starts to annoy me.
It’s my cone, it’s melting faster than I can eat.
DRIP! DRIP! DRIP!
It’s all over my hand and I have just begun to enjoy this blessing. My husband lets out a laugh, said I need to eat faster but how much more fast do I have to go?
I found myself eating faster than I’ve ever before and it seemed to me like I was in a race or maybe even a war.
A few minutes later, job was done, cone was gone. But I didn’t enjoy it as I should’ve. It left me feeling unfulfilled, maybe a bit heartbroken. I waited for this moment for months and it was gone in a blink of an eye.
Life to me is just like this soft serve cone. Whether we get to enjoy every bite of it or treat it as a race, it always melts away. We work so hard to build our life and years of hard work goes into being the people we are today. Bonds we build, material possessions that we acquire, all of it, only to have it disappear before we even know it.
One often would want to wonder then, what’s next?…..
The life of this world is no more than illusion and vanity, while the abode of the Hereafter is far better for the righteous. Do you not understand?! (Quran 6:32).
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm. 90:12 NIV).
