Never hide your zucchini in a refrigerator drawer

I found a moldy zucchini. In the refrigerator. Buried at the bottom of the crisper drawer.

It was gross. And rather smelly!

I discovered it quite by accident. I was innocently retrieving an onion for dinner. But when I plunged my hand into the depths of the drawer, my fingers made contact with something wet. And mushy. And did I mention gross?

I immediately jerked my hand back, which knocked me off balance, because I was squatting. I promptly landed on my backside and somehow managed to kick the ketchup bottle on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator door, which all happened in three seconds.

Well, wasn’t that fun?

I quickly righted myself, still unaware of what disgusting thing was hiding under my onions. As I peered into the drawer, I realized the offensive intruder was, in fact, a moldy zucchini!

Yuck!

I swiftly disposed of the decaying vegetable and washed out the crisper drawer. I suppose I should not have been surprised to find that rotten zucchini. And to tell you the truth, this was not the first spoiled squash I had found. It was, however, the first one that had taken me off guard and knocked me to the floor!

You see, we grow zucchini in our garden every year. For some reason, this year, we decided to plant seven zucchini plants! And they all produced. Abundantly. I had zucchini coming out of my ears. Well, not literally, of course. But I sure had a plethora of those green vegetables!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love zucchini! But this year I just could not keep up with them. I made zucchini boats for dinner. More than once. We ate zucchini sauteed, grilled, and in various side dishes. I baked zucchini bread (plain and with chocolate chips), zucchini muffins (plain and with chocolate chips and pecans), and zucchini cookies! And then I made more muffins!

I shredded zucchini, packed it up, and stored it away in the freezer so I could make more muffins this winter (when I am no longer tired of eating zucchini muffins)! By the end of the season, I was all zucchini-ed out! I had cooked or baked approximately 347 zucchini (give or take a few) Okay, maybe not that many. But that’s what it felt like. We even gave some away, but apparently not enough.

And that is why I found a zucchini moldering in the bottom left drawer of my refrigerator. I had put it there, out of sight, and eventually forgot it existed!

This year, I had an overflowing abundance of zucchini. But I kept it to myself. Mostly. Oh, I used it. At first.  But then I got tired of it. I stored it away, to be used at a later date, and forgot about it.

Perfectly good zucchini. It wasn’t until I stopped using it (or giving it away) that it became useless.

Rotten. Moldy. Smell. And gross!

We all have gifts, given to us by God. They are not all the same. Because we are not all the same.

I have an abundance of zucchini growing in my garden. But maybe you have lots of tomatoes. Or green beans. Or onions. Some people have the gift of teaching, preaching or encouraging. Still others have the gift of music, or serving or baking zucchini muffins to share with others!

We are all different. We all have different gifts. And those gifts are meant to be used, shared, and given away! Not buried so deep inside that they wither away and become useless, moldy, and gross!

Use the gift the Lord has given you. Share it with others. Give it away. And don’t let it rot inside you.

Because a chocolate chip zucchini muffin is far better than a moldy green squash!

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10