IQF’s

Traveling along the Gulf Coast, the Fodor Travel book says you must sample the seafood. It made sense to us, so upon arriving at our destination in the evening we pulled into the first seafood market we saw - a warehouse on the dock with a sign that said: “Retail Customers Must Pay Upstairs.” Having left warmer parts of Florida that morning I still had my shorts on, but threw on the hoodie for the cold blasts that were now coming off the gulf.

A kind lady had just come outside and seeing my lost expression asked if she could help. 

“Umm, we’d like to buy some seafood.” 
“What kind?” 
“Umm... do you have scallops?” 

In five minutes she came me a quick tutorial on products, hours, and offerings. Being the end of the day she did still have some IQF’s. 

“IQF means...?” 
“Individually quick frozen: the shrimp are frozen on the boats and they come in already preserved.” “Sounds great! What’s next?” 
“Just go up the stairs around back.” 

We traversed past the stacked pallets, crates, lift jacks and hand trucks looking for a set of stairs. Ascending them we found a number of rooms... tried one door and found an office with two ladies at their desks. 

“Uh, is this where we buy shrimp?” 
“Yep, but all we have is IQFs.” 
“Great! IQF will work,” I said, glad for the recent tutorial. 
“What you looking for: 16/20s, 26/40s, or 36/50s? We also carry 2 lb.” 
“Um, I’m not sure...” 
“Well, what do you plan to do with them? Grill, boil, sauté, brine, fry, bake, roast, broil or poach?” 
“Well... sauté them I guess.” 
“Hmmm... Hon, let me get you some pics, that might help.”

She quickly returned with four frozen bags (IQFs!), and said, “The 26/40s are the best for sautéing.” Yvonne quickly said, “We’ll take those.” 

This was in the U.S.! I wasn’t even dealing with another language, just a different culture, and there was a disconnect, confusion, a feeling of being ignorant, foolish, even odd. Have you ever experienced that? And it wasn’t that the people were being mean. They were very kind and helpful. There was just... a gap.

I thought about that interchange this morning as I came to approach God in prayer. Talk about gap! But I don’t feel it. Not from him.

I marvel at some of the stories of God showing up in the Bible. Take Abraham for example:

"And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth,"–Genesis 18:1-2.

Abraham implores them to rest while he prepares a meal, has water brought to wash their feet, and stands by while they eat. God seemingly teases with Sarah who has laughed at the declaration that she will bear a son. Afterwards Abraham walks with them, and when the two angels head off to Sodom, Abraham commences a six part haggling deal with God for the sake of his nephew Lot. And God not only listens, he responds.

To be sure, there are sections of scripture, whether in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel or Revelations, which recount visions of the throne room of God. The writers of these events are clearly grasping for words and pictures to try and describe what they have seen: a wheel within a wheel; eyes all around; a throne like sapphire; a sea of glass; the appearance of his waist as it were gleaming metal; hair like white wool, like snow; a face like the sun... 

These passages underscore the otherness of God, and the distance that needs to be traversed for God to meet us where we are, no matter who we are. It is this God that speaks to Elijah in “the sound of a low whisper,” who touches the unclean leper and says: “I am willing, be cleansed,” and who calls a weeping Mary by name in the garden near the tomb.

Oh, when I come to prayer, there are voices saying I am inferior, foolish, unclean, despicable..., but they are not his voice. He doesn’t use acronyms, or big words, or even a different dialect. He comes and speaks to me in my tongue. He knows my thoughts - no matter my status, role, nationality or appearance. 

With him, I am at home.