Thursday, October 16, 2008

It WAS so good!


Yesterday was interesting and I learned quite a bit. It was my second trip to the new Walmart---:0 Yes, the hunt was on. It was kind of fun and exhausting at the same time.
The fun thing about that? (add a slight ting of sarcasm here) I love learning new things. :)
And since this was the first time I really had things I had to find.....it was time to learn the new location of all the things I had to have.
I was on a mission to get all the ingredients for making my lasagna.
Nothing was where I thought it should be, BUT 2 hours later I walked out
with all the necessary stuff. Or so hope the people I am cooking for. ;)

We began our small group (associated with our church) a few weeks ago
and not it is my turn to make the entree. We eat lunch together after church every other week.
I am just a tad limited with cooking equipment and food storage.... so my brother has offered to let me use his kitchen. \o/
I am always a little nervous preparing food for people for the first time. I was not that way in the restaurant business...maybe because I could not see their faces when they took that first bite? :)

I don't use a set recipe (this is my favorite way to cook)....thus it is easy to get to the end and remember you left something essential out.
Not something you want to do when you feed someone for the first time.
Noodles? It was supposed to have noodles?

The last time I made the dish I remember thinking...hmmm, not what I remember-- I wonder what I left out. If it is not over cooked or under cooked you know you left something out. Or I guess you could have used sugar instead of salt.....gross!....sweet lasagna.
Before I purchased things yesterday I stopped to think back to when it was just right- walking through the stages in my mind so that I could make sure I had everything. I do realize that I started making shortcuts. Money would be a little tight and maybe I would not put in as much cheese and meat. Or I would be in a hurry and forget to add the herbs or garlic to the layers .....not a good idea because no one wants to eat bland lasagna.
And you can be sure that when I get ready to put it together this time--- I will walk through all the stages again to make sure everything goes in and at the right proportions.
I want our new friends to thoroughly enjoy their first taste of my cooking.

Now you know me-- I thought this was a great example of what can happen
with our spiritual walk.
Haven't we all had times when we felt like we we just floating along in our relationship with God?
Sublime would be a word used to describe our walk.
Everything is falling together the way it should. You can't wait to get to your time with Him....the Spirit is speaking. Time spent with God hit us all in the right places. It is just good. You feel like you could stand on the mountain top and scream....TRY IT YOU'LL LIKE IT!

And then all of a sudden...it seems,
(but you know really it does not happen over night)
you feel that things are just not right. Maybe it is that empty, lost feeling.
Maybe it is just that you are not lingering in your time with God. It seems you have "lost that lovin feelin". Life is busy and so you figure at some point you will just sit down and figure it all out. It will be good again you tell yourself. And then times goes by and you drift further.
You hear a Sister all pumped about what is going on in her relationship with God and you have a hard time breaking a grin of understanding. In your mind you think.......I remember when.
And if you are not too far gone you think that one day you will return to spiritual zone.

Now is the most important time to sit down and reevaluate things--before you get to the point where you just don't care anymore.
Recently I had to do that.
Where had things gone wrong? What was I missing?
Was it not enough time in the word? Not enough time in prayer?
I guess these questions would be for anyone.....but each will have questions of their own.
And before I close I do want to mention the obvious.......our walk
is something that we "serve up" daily to the public.
We are supposed to taste and see that the Lord is good........when others touch our lives
do they leave with a good taste in their mouth?

Well that is it for now......just some thoughts floating around in this brain of mine. ;)

Question of the day........What ya cookin?

11 comments:

luvmy4sons said...

You always leave me with a good taste! And I sure hope that I do the same when others encounter me...I want to point to Jesus. Jesus! He is all that matters! And lately I have been feeling His touch and wanting to scream from the mountain tops!

Mimi's Toes said...

Oh my Dear Sharon,
You even have a message in a recipe. You never cease to amaze me! I have grown so much closer to God lately and it's such a good feeling. Thank you for praying for me. Sometimes I feel so weak and I don't know why.
Glad you like your new Wal-mart. I live close to our Super Wal-mart and go every week. I make a good lasagna, if I say so myself. The secret to my lasagna is the cheese...ok, I will share the secret...Velveeta!

Denise said...

My sweet sis, may God cook up something wonderful in your life. I love you.

MelanieJoy said...

I'm hearing ya...I can't wait to talk to you about our session tonight in Bible study. I hope your study was awsome tonight too. I can't wait to hear how your small group details go this weekend =)

Rebecca said...

I hope I am cooking up somethin' good...a sweet aroma--isn't that what God calls th prayers of the saints? I hope I'm not a reakin' stench...
(I'm not...I don't think...of course, that probably depends what day of the week you catch me on)
Cookin' some love mixed with a little peace and some joy sprinkled on top!!

:)

Demara said...

did you really forget the noodles?

i don't cook! (it's always more enjoyable to cook food people will eat.)

Thanks for the analogy!

ThreeGirlyGirls said...

Great thoughts my friend! I'm cookin up something sweet with my Savior today. =)

Mary said...

Sharon,

What a wonderful post. Yes, there are times when we need to step back and thoroughly examine our spiritual self. When we do we often find we are coming up short in some areas. We need to always be sure we are not taking shortcuts with our spiritual walk.

Blessings for a great weekend.
Mary

Vicki said...

Hey Sharon...that lasagna looks so tempting; my tummy is growling right now. But dear me, I'm officially committed to this South Beach diet, giving up pasta, sugar, breads, etc. for awhile. But your post was enriching, not fattening at all. Thanks for your encouragement. Guess it just goes to show us that we can't live by bread alone, but our Daily Bread.

Love ya,
Vicki

Anonymous said...

Well that was interesting! I guess we'll know what they really think of your lasagna if they suggest going out to a local restaurant when it's your turn next time. :)

Okay, now that you are home and somewhat settled again, I will do my best to give you a call this weekend. It's birthday weekend for us here.

eph2810 said...

You are right, Sharon. Sometimes we want to scream from the mountain top - because we are right there with HIM...Other times I don't feel as close, but I know that He will never let go of me :)...

Thank you so much for leaving this yummy taste in my mouth.

Blessings to you and yours...