Eat!

There's this scene in the commercials for the movie "Julie and Julia" in which Julia Child's husband asks her what she likes to do. Her response? "Eat!"

Oh how I identify. Over the last several years, I've begun to really enjoy cooking. There are a lot of things about cooking that I enjoy.

Cooking is so creative. I love the way different ingredients with different flavors come together to create something amazing. I love how you can use the same ingredient in so many different ways (garlic anyone?). I love how all the pieces come together to a finished product. I love that moment when you lift the lid of the pan or open the oven door, take a whiff, and just know that it's going to taste amazing.

It turns out that I have some kind of talent when it comes to cooking. I find this amazing, especially considering my culinary background. Mom wasn't much of a cook. Most of the cooking I remember from my formative years included a box and probably a boat load of sodium. I didn't learn to dice, fry, or sautee, and certainly didn't know what a roux was.

Oh how times have changed! Now I understand the difference between a dice and a julienne. My birthday and Christmas wish lists include things like an All-Clad sautee pan and a mandoline. Best gift yet? A Shun chef's knife. Sure, I've cut myself many times on it, but when it slices cleanly and effortlessly through a tomato, I just want to cheer.

But if we get right down to it, I think the biggest motivation for my love of cooking comes from the simple fact that I love to eat.

There's something about food and flavors that brings joy. To me, it really does speak to the creativity and love of God for us. Eating is a requirement, something we must do for survival. God could have made eating boring, just another task that we have to accomplish during the day. But He didn't. He made it interesting, exciting, enjoyable, He made it something that speaks of Him.

And oh man am I thankful. Because dinnertime really is my favorite time of day!

just a job

Someone asked me last night if I bring work home since I'm a teacher. That question, along with the series that Jeff is teaching at church, got me thinking about work.

The answer is no, I try very hard not to bring work home with me, except in the most extenuating circumstances. However, lately I've been spending a lot of extra time at school. It's always tough at the beginning of the year to get things going and stay on top of things. I guess that's why I've been feeling tired and run down lately, from all the hard work and the stress I let myself feel for it all.

The truth is, as a teacher at a Christian school, the word "ministry" gets thrown around a lot, as in this isn't just my job but it's also my ministry. That word carries with it some hefty implications. Usually when people talk about ministry like that, they are expressing a set of expectations that go beyond what we typically think of a job. In a ministry, people expect more of your time, more of your energy, more of yourself. I'm not insinuating that giving of yourself is a bad thing. However, in talking about ministry people also often refer to one who is "doing the Lord's work."

This is the point that starts to rub me wrong. If I choose to give of myself for a ministry, then that's wonderful. But why do we naturally assume that anything titled a "ministry" must be the Lord's work?

When I decided to join staff with Crusade, people often congratulated me and expressed appreciation for me doing the Lord's work. But in some ways, that implies that I was not doing the Lord's work before. And what about after?

What makes us call some things the Lord's work and not others? If we are about God, is not everything about the Lord's work?

I have been reading this book lately called Spirituality for the Rest of Us. The author brings up the issue of those of us who don't necessarily aspire to what our culture would call "great things." Many people have grown up hearing that God desires to do great things with His people, that He has big plans and great dreams from us. For some people, that's incredibly exciting. And for other people, that's incredibly stressful.

There are people who don't aspire to greatness. They may aspire to great impact, but on a smaller sphere. They may desire to serve God with all their hearts, but may do so by being a wonderful mother. They may desire to share Christ, but may never go to Africa. They may simply aspire to a quiet life lived in honor of God.

The author also points out that there is Biblical support for this idea. Although we all love to sing Paul's praises, there was only one Paul. When Paul moved throughout the ancient world, he shared Christ with average, ordinary people. Those people were carpenters, mothers, cobblers, etc. Some of them stepped up to lead, but others were content to follow. But whether they led or followed, they all were lights for Christ right where they were. Paul didn't leave behind thousands of other Pauls, although he did train up some wonderful leaders like Timothy, but he left behind ordinary people who were dedicated to God.

Which brings me back to this job... although I truly enjoy being a teacher and truly love the school, I can't say that I feel like this job is my purpose in life. It's my job and it may even be my ministry for now. I will give of myself there as I can. But I truly feel that my "Lord's work" and my greatest impact will not be at school, with children I only spend ten months with, but with my family. And so, while I enjoy my job, I still won't be bringing home work, but I'll be spending my evenings with my fabulous hubby.

my head's on vacation

I hate feeling sickly. Today my head is in la-la land. I am guessing it's congestion or some kind of sinus pressure. Either way, my head feels like it could explode given the slightest opportunity. I spent a large portion of the day at school feeling like I could pass out. So I'm guessing that being around all my wonderful new students also exposed me to all kinds of wonderful new germs. I'm really hoping that I feel better tomorrow, though. I hate having to take a sick day at school. It just seems to put you so far behind on the lesson plans.

But the sweet part about feeling sickly is that my husband takes care of me. He tucked me in for a nap this afternoon and made me dinner. Then he cleaned up the kitchen with no complaints. It's nice to be so well taken care of!

Perhaps I'll be more insightful once my head's screwed back on correctly.

this is my quiet life

I can't say that I have high aspirations for this blog. I don't consider myself to live a wildly adventurous or particularly notable life. But I would like a place to keep my thoughts, ideas, accomplishments, and memories all in one place. Thus, I shall blog!

This weekend was a good, if short, weekend. Brandon and I spent all day yesterday working in the yard. Admittedly, he worked much harder than I. We both discovered that I am simply not "cut out for" tough manual labor. But I did my best to help.

Brandon built me a garden for my herbs. And when I say built, I mean he built a retaining wall, built up the bed, and then planted all my herbs in the space. Today, he came back and mulched the bed. I have to brag on the hubby here a little... he's such a handy guy. I'm a lucky lady to have a hubby with the variety of talents that Brandon has. I picked a good one.

The best part about yesterday was spending time with Brandon and working on something together. I love how just doing something so ordinary can make you feel so close. Even though I hurt all over today from the work, I think it was more than worth it even if just to spend some quality time with the hubby.

So here's the masterpiece.