Skin Deep

​I bought a grapefruit a few days ago.  It is mid-October and not yet citrus fruit season here in central Florida.  I love white grapefruit so I bought it anyways. I peeled it today finding the fruit sections about 1 inch inside the peel.  As I separated the sections I was disappointed.  The sections disintegrated as I divided them.  The membrane between the sections fell apart and the droplets of fruit spilled out.  Bummer.  I was tempted to toss it all in the garbage, but with a sigh, put it in a bowl and took it with me to the porch where I was editing a document.  I was pleasantly surprised as I took my first bite of one of the sections.  True, the texture wasn’t ideal, I did not need to dab the juice from my chin and the ends of a few sections were inedible; but the flavor was the sweet tart of a grapefruit.  I’m sure glad I did not follow my first impulse and throw it all away.  I would have missed the grapefruity delight, a teaser to hold me over until harvest season.
 
It reminded me of experiences we have when we move.  I left a Bible study with a close-knit sisterhood of participants.  I have found here a study with fifty or sixty attendees.  The first study I attended was frustrating so unlike what I had left behind.  Thankfully, I didn’t throw it out.  There are Christian sisters to share and love.   The study can be in depth, challenging my life and my intellect.  It will never be identical the group I left behind. It is tasty and life-giving in its unique way.