Crock Pot Miracles

"Heap on the wood, kindle the fire,

cook the meat well, mix in the spices"

Ezekiel 24:10

We had a great dinner tonight.  Pork roast.  Or pork butt.  Or pork shoulder.  Or is that the same thing as pork butt?  I've never understood that...

So anyway, we had a hunk of pork tonight.  But it was a great meal, because it was sort of "all hands on deck".  I love those.  All of us in the kitchen, each preparing one part of the meal.   The pork I had put in the crock pot, with some potatoes, onions and apples.  Sauteed cabbage (one of my daughter's favorites), asparagus, and homemade french fries. 

One of the challenges when I'm thinking about dinner each night, is my energy level.  What kind of day have I had, and am I up to creativity and extra effort?  Or do I need for that dinner to be spaghetti and a jar of sauce from Trader Joe's?

A few months ago, I was giving my son a hard time one night after dinner.  I think I asked him help me with something, and said something like, "after all, I made you dinner."  And he jokingly replied, "Oh big deal.  All you did was dump stuff in a pan!"  Which was true.  But it kinda got me thinking. 

Some nights, dinner might be easy.  But I still have to take the responsibility for putting it on the table.  I have to work with what we have, and how much time I have to make it (taking into account what time I get my act together to get it started, and whether or not someone has practice that evening, etc.)  But truthfully, I would expect less appreciation on a night when all I did was boil water and dump spaghetti in, than on a night when I made something complicated.

And I wondered how often I treat God the same way.  Do I under-appreciate Him because what He does is easy for Him?  After all, it only takes a word from Him to create a universe, but He's the reason the sun comes up and my heart keeps beating.  Nothing I can do about those ~ I need Him.

Everything He does is beautiful and miraculous.  His gifts to us are every day; sometimes overwhelming, but mostly small and seemingly insignificant.  But just as my kids need to eat every day, whether a crock pot did all the work or not, we all need God's hand in our lives, every hour of every day.  And it's all awe-inspiring.

~ "The Lord is with me

      as a mighty awesome One." ~

Jeremiah 20:11

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