For a Limited Time only

It’s that time of year. The limited time that McDonald’s brings back the Shamrock Shake. It is a great marketing gimmick using “for a limited time”, the phrase that gets our attention and makes us think I have to get one now or I will miss out. And I assume it works, since businesses don’t do things that have a negative effect on their bottom line. These shakes started showing up at the Golden Arches a couple of weeks ago and will be gone in the next couple of weeks, usually disappearing a few days after St. Patrick’s Day. So if you want one, you better act fast because they are here “for a limited time only”.

So are you one who dashes out to get one of the creamy mint green shakes? Or, do you avoid them like the plague? From what I have learned, those seem to be the two extremes when I talk to people about this menu item. You either love it or you don’t. Now a couple years ago, to broaden the appeal, McDonald’s expanded their limited time treat to include a Chocolate Shamrock Shake. Me, I still really like the original whipped cream topped green delights.

Someone else that fell into the really like category was my mom. Every year since they were introduced back in 1970, my mom would make the half hour trip to the closest McDonald’s at least once in March to grab one of those Irish delights. I think, like me, my mom truly loved the flavor, though originally it was just a vanilla shake with green coloring in it. There was another aspect to the shake that my mom loved: they were Irish. My mom’s last name? McVay. Yea, she had Irish heritage and she loved it. St Patrick’s Day was a day that we could not forget around my house when I was growing up, partially because of the celebration and partially because if you did not have green on you would be pinched. And she was good at pinching! So when this mint flavored shake came along, it was a perfect combination for my mom.

Unfortunately about ten years ago we lost my mom. A truly wonderful woman, though I may be slightly biased. We remember different things about my mom at different times of year, but in March we remember her in a special way. Every year on St Patrick’s Day my family, and their families, along with my brother and his wife all head to McDonald’s in different cities across the country. That’s right we buy Shamrock Shakes to remember and to honor my mom. And though she is no longer with us in a physical way, her sweet loving nature is remembered through a simple green shake that is here for a limited time only.

This week I want to encourage you to remember something. (No, not by grabbing a Shamrock Shake, but feel free to if you want.) But when you drive by or stop into a McDonald’s, stop to remember. Not my mom, but something even greater. . .God’s love for you. We take time on Sunday to have what we call the “Lord’s Supper” or communion, to remember what was done for us by a life that was given. So often we leave that feeling of gratitude in the building as we hustle through a very busy week. Use those Golden Arches this week to think, to remember, to appreciate what was done for you when Jesus went to that cross. And best of all, unlike the shake, what Jesus did is not for a limited time only but for eternity.

Remembering,

Randy