Apr
16
2012
Of Spoons and Spatulas
Posted in Discipleship 2 Comments
After my mother died, I was thrown into the kitchen somewhat unwillingly.
It was either learn to cook or eat pizza…often.
I wanted to learn to cook.
I had watched my mother a bit, but the kitchen was her place.
Cooking was not something we did together.
My best friend, all those years ago, lived down the street.
Her mother took me under her wing.
I spent so much time in their home.
Mrs. F was a wonderful cook and an excellent housekeeper.
She exuded hospitality.
Summers at their house consisted of playing tag after dinner or some sort of capture the flag game. Their back yard seemed huge to me.
Mrs. F had a garden where she grew her own vegetables.
She had a lovely, circular strawberry patch with large berries that you could pick and eat.
Those berries would melt in your mouth.
I remember on hot summer days, Patti and I would sit on their back porch and her mom would make us Kool Aid in a big glass pitcher.
We had a some sort of snack with our cold drink.
How fondly I remember those memories of summer.
What I did not realize, until I was married and had my own home, was how much Mrs. F influenced me.
I watched her make pie crusts from scratch.
I noticed how she kept her house…even her windowsills, sparkling clean.
I got the recipe for her homemade salad dressing, which unfortunately I have lost.
She stepped in at a time when there was a huge hole in my life and filled it with kindness and pieces of herself.
I have told many people about Mrs. F through the years.
If I can do anything at all…it is because of her.
I love to cook and love to bake from scratch.
Unlike the way I was raised, my children were in the kitchen with me.
We even drew Humpty Dumpty faces on eggs, when they were little, so they learned how to crack an egg without getting shells in the batter.
I realized a few years ago, that I had never said those things to her.
I have kept in touch with her at Christmas, sent her a picture of our family and updates on what was going on with each of the children.
But, I never told her how much she meant to me.
She still lives in the same home.
She still has the same phone number.
One day, I called her.
We talked and laughed and remembered many of the same things.
She was amazed at the little things that meant so much to me…Kool Aid? Really?
She needed to know.
I will be forever grateful to her…for how much of herself she poured into me.
She didn’t even know that she was pouring.
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back, lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes, for you will spread out to the right and to the left…(Isaiah 54:2)
We need to open up our homes and our lives to those that need what we have to offer.
There are many that need to see how a family operates.
They may need to learn how to cook, learn how to do simple repairs, learn how to manage a home, or learn how to take care of children.
We are all capable of being mentors.
We have already walked where those younger than us will soon be walking.
They could benefit from the wisdom we have gained through our experiences.
That is discipleship.
We often think that discipleship only takes the form of Bible study and helping someone to grow in their faith.
But true discipleship is living out a Christ centered life before them, meeting their physical needs and being available to answer whatever they need to ask.
Jesus set the precedent here.
He had compassion.
He fed the people. He healed them. He cast out demons.
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things. (Mark 6:34)
Some walked away believing that Jesus is the Christ.
Some walked away fed or healed, but no closer to the Kingdom.
Opening up our lives to another really opens up a space.
In that space, hearts are shared, questions are answered, lives are changed.
Opening up that space allows Christ to be seen…in the everyday.
We make ourselves available.
The results are in His hands.
Go ahead and pour.
Change some lives.
In His Name.
I had a “Mrs. F” in my own life, my best friend’s Mother, Ruth. Her creativity, energy, joy, and genuine love for her family was in direct contrast to the strict order and lack of affection I experienced in my own home. Whenever my friend Linda and I get together, our conversations always come back to those special times of learning and growing by her wonderful, Godly example. Thank you for sharing your own Mrs. F with us!
Linda,
Isn’t it wonderful?
What would we have ever done without them?
God does know what He is doing when He sprinkles those sweet people in our lives.
I’m sure Ruth helped to make you the special person you are!
Gina