Supper’s Ready!

Yesterday, my wife made one of our favorite meals on the planet. It’s not a quick meal but rather one of those meals that takes some simmerin’ time. She started by browning cube steak in a frying pan around lunch time. Without breaking a sweat, she whipped up some of that brown milk gravy that makes southern men sit up straight and behave at the table. And then she did it. She put the browned meat into the crockpot and covered it with that artery clogging, heavenly goodness. She set the heat to low. And she walked away.

All day long our house filled with the scent of southern hospitality. If the Yankee Candle Company could capture the aroma of this meal, I would buy their “Country Style Steak & Gravy” candle tarts by the dozen.

Working from home is difficult when she cooks like this.

I haven’t even mentioned the sides that played a supporting role in the meal later that evening: Magnificent Mashed Taters, Sliced Homegrown Maters and Steamed Broccoli [okay, so maybe the broccoli wasn’t doing much of the heavy lifting but it was there, and it made us feel better about the gravy].

Our youngest son is a picky eater. My wife is an incredible cook.

Our son would rather eat popcorn than the meal that I just described. And for the life of me, I don’t understand it.

When I think about discipleship, I think about country style steak and mashed taters. I think of how Jesus calls me to forgive and how I rather stubbornly want to hold a grudge. I think about how Jesus calls me to be generous and how I rather childishly want to be stingy. I think about how Jesus calls me to see and care for the widow, orphan and immigrant and how I rather selfishly tend to overlook those who are in need.

I think about how Jesus has made something good, how he called me to it (like a mom calls her children to supper) and how often I have opted for popcorn instead.

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I think the order here is important. Disciples are called to the table to taste the life God has prepared for them. And after they TASTE it, they see just how GOOD it is.