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In the recipe of life, God's love is the main ingredient and we're spices
By Cindy Jury Have you been to those new-fangled kitchens where you prepare a month’s worth of meals in two hours? I have. Let me tell you about a “spiritually speaking, kitchen” kind of experience. I mean, this is spicy!
Here’s what happened. My fun friend, Sherrie, offered to fix 12 meals with me. It was a time of getting together, giggling, talking about our lives and having fun. The problem was that we were visiting with each other and laughing so hard that we were not paying attention to the ingredients.
The finished meals looked lovely. I was deliriously happy. I proceeded to drive home with a trunk full of meals, all the while thinking, “ I am such a homemaker queen. My family and friends will finally believe that I don’t just burn toast and kill quesadillas. They will see that I can actually function in the kitchen!”
I was feeling so June Cleaver.
When I arrived home, I greeted my new best friend, Mr. Oven. I popped the just-made quiche in with high expectations. I was extremely excited to taste this cheesy, egg opulence and experience the sensations of food delight. Meanwhile, my children and husband wandered hungrily and expectantly into the kitchen, drawn in by the sensational smells of a delicious meal simmering in the stove.
After the timer beeped, (I actually heard it this time; I refused to burn this quiche delight), I pulled out a sumptuous, carefully constructed meal. I thoughtfully crafted triangular pieces sized to meet each person’s appetite.
The time had come. I took a sneaky bite before serving each piece of pie to my ravenous loved ones.
”AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed in shocked disbelief. My mouth turned round in salty surprise. There was so much salt that for a moment I felt as if I was drowning in Puget Sound.
I snatched up each plate before my broken dream of Homemaker of the Year could be stolen away from me. I quickly popped an instant mac-n-cheese into the microwave, cranked up the can opener and served up some spinach. I then declared, “Have at it, family! I may be a kooky kitchen klutz, but there is a successful wife and mom in me who loves you too much to push you into the salty dimension of water retention.”
Inside, I was so sad. I love a cheesy quiche with ham. I love my family. Which disappointment was greater? No cheesy quiche for me, or no homemaker genius moment to impress my family?
I admit I was suffering from a demented division.
Now, let me take you a little deeper than a ruined recipe, and take a look at life as a gourmet meal. In this imaginative slice of life that I am proposing, what ingredient do you think you would be?
We all have our unique flavors and personalities. Some of us are like salt, which enhances or encourages the flavors around it. . Others may have a sweet disposition, and some are quite dashing and full of multifaceted flavors. They add a dash of this and a dash of that to our everyday lives.
But let’s be honest: People in our lives can drive us crazy, and it’s often our differences that cause this friction. But how could we accomplish anything worthwhile without the added flavors of others in our lives? How do we remain true to ourselves and who we are, yet respect others for who they are, differences and all?
I love to look to the Bible as a cookbook for life, and I think that it offers some answers for us on this issue. I have likened people and their peculiarities to ingredients in a recipe, but in the Bible, Jesus likens his church to a human body with many separate parts. In this line of thinking, some of us are ears, some hands, some feet, etc. All of us are different, yet equally important. If we were all alike, there would not be a whole, functioning body. There would be one big foot or one big mouth, or one big foot in a mouth.
What can be learned from Jesus’ example and a simple homemaker’s failed plan is this: In the recipe of life, God’s love is the main ingredient, and we are the spices. Like eggs in a quiche, he holds us together and helps us to blend well with one another.
Life is full of hope-filled relationships that we expected to be so sweet, yet, over time tasted like… well, too much salt. God can give us his heart and forgiveness for others when we are feeling this frustration. And if we are someone who feels disappointment with ourselves, we can look into the mirror that God has created for us, seeing both ourselves and others as beautiful, because of his loving forgiveness. God can pour over and through the difficult relational recipes of life, blending us together, spices and all, bringing love and acceptance, creating a marvelous masterpiece!
And hey, on those off moments when you feel that life has handed you too much salt, while it isn’t like making lemonade out of lemons, it sure is good on prime rib, baked potatoes… and yes, in moderation, a cheesy quiche.
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