Bon Appetit!

"the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, 

  the onions and the garlic"

Numbers 11:5

I read a great quote recently.  Actually, I've read a lot of great quotes recently.  There's nothing better than a great quote, so I find them wherever I can!

This one was from Susan Wiegand, author of Cooking as Courtship, which I must confess, I never read.  I've never even heard of it, actually, so this isn't an endorsement by any means.  I just happened to come across this quote, which I do recommend...

"Oddly, it is not real cooks who insist that the finest ingredients are necessary to produce a delicious something... Real cooks take stale bread and aging onions and make you happy."

I think the reason this struck a chord with me is that I love doing that in the kitchen.  I love making a delicious and nutritious dinner out of what we have, especially when what we have doesn't seem like it's going to come together as a meal!

Are you familiar with the TV show "Chopped" on Food Network?  It's a competition wherein four chefs are given a basket of unusual ingredients that seem like they are not going to work well together.   For an appetizer, an entree and a dessert, they are given a limited amount of time to create something that will impress the judges, and earn them the $10,000 prize. 

And as impressive as that might seem, housewives everywhere do it every night. 

The spiritual connection here is simple ~ it's what God does, too.  He takes eleven weak men and sends them out to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.  He uses weak humans to do amazing things in the lives of other weak humans.   He takes the pain and mistakes and troubles in our lives, and uses them to grow and perfect us.  Romans 8:28.

But here's another spiritual challenge for each of us to think about:  "Am I doing this in my life?"

It's the thought behind, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade".  Or "bloom where you're planted".  There is no challenge in doing a lot with a lot.  The challenge is in doing a lot with not very much.  Are you doing that?

Take a look at the goods and bads in your life and ask yourself, "What good can I make from this?" 

Then take what God has allowed in your life, and make something of it.  Grow closer to Him.  Edify others.  Be blessed, and be a blessing. 

~ "A little that a righteous man has

      is better than the riches of many wicked" ~

Psalm 37:16

~