A few months ago I invited my grandmother over to eat dinner with us in our tiny love-shack-of-a-kitchen.  Not just the quick and easy kind of dinner either.  It was the full home cooked spread.

Given my previous lack of skills in the kitchen, this moment was truly an amazing feat for me.  I have kitchen stories from the early days of our marriage that we won’t even speak of…there are jello disasters and dish rags full of tears from the trials and “terrors” of my efforts with Mr. Uncle Ben…moments that had prevented me from even opening the cabinets, forcing me to accept my fate as a future drive-thru mom.

However, I am blessed with a heritage of heroic Godly women, and also of great southern cooks.  Dinner is traditionally more than just a meal, it’s a moment.  My mom and grandmother, and their mothers, made sure of that.  We eat at the prepared table, and we eat together, when it’s just ready.  There’s a call to wash up, then the call to “gather round.”

After the rounding, we “gather” hands and pray.  Each one has their own favorite words, “Dear Lord,”  ”Dear Heavenly Father,” “Thank you Jesus.”   But there is one that phrase resounds at the end of every prayer.  You can almost feel it coming, the breathing pause, and then these precious words, “…and bless the hands that prepared it.”

I’ve never really given a second thought to why we prayed this.   Gathering over our meal that night, I hear my grandmother praying the family blessing over my hands.  That moment awakened me to the secret of how, and why my favorite women have been so richly gifted with great cooking hands.  It’s not the special cast iron skillet, its not from her special spoon or pan, or even the particular brand names she favors, but rather from the many gathered hands simply asking God to “bless them.”

Now, the more I cook, the more I hear someone blessing me, helping me move a step further into this rich heritage.

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”               — Mother Teresa.

The bible says, “In all things we are more than conquerers…” Rom 8:37

~What things do you need God to help you make great?

Searching for a love like no other,

in a world full of many trials and choices,

this heart had wondered far too long and nearly lost the race.

Once again hoping to find the one who would journey along side

to the endless depths of my tomorrow,

knowing the prize ahead, and promise from before,

I accepted God’s unfathomable grace.

A stolen song had been returned,

many ageless scars had been made new

when I released my heart to the Fathers eternal trust and care.

He simply said ‘wait’ and sent his peace;

my heart had found its resting place

and from there I began to discover the fullness of living.

Not knowing all along,

God’s perfect timing had began to appear.

He took me to the point of needing only Him,

for my future was trusted to his keeping.

There were nights still I wept for longing,

I prayed for patience when He showed me once again

that I simply needed to wait.

It was in that waiting of many nights and days

that I found my place of perfect peace and true surrender

in the Master’s plan.

As silent as a whisper and as perfect as the rain,

the waiting was over and the journey began

with the one who is now holding my hand.

His faithfulness and patience resemble that of Christ.

His loving arms and warm embrace show me each day

how deeply Christ loves his church.

I never knew the many ways of this perfect three chord love,

for I had only held the untrue fame of belonging without Love.

This love will stand the test of time,

this love will never fail.

The test of patience,

the test of trust,

in due time have revealed

that Love outlast the greatest pleasure

the world will ever fill.

written:  4.17.07

Epilogue: I began this piece sometime in the fall of 2003. It was edited and added to a word document April 29, 2004. Tonight April 17, 2007, I completed the last few paragraphs to give closure to “This Heart.” It began in my heart as a confirmation to my love for Keith and the total trust that had been developing in my heart for him. Keith and I had been dating for just a few months when I wrote this piece. I had been broken and unloved so many times before, that I was not able to trust my heart or any one else again. I had fallen in love with him and I knew that my heart was totally beginning to trust him and I became afraid of being hurt. I was in his office one night praying for him and our life together. I remember he was at the church setting up working. In my time with the Lord, praying for our future and knowing the Love I had in my heart for Keith, the Lord showed me a strong vision of a church and the powerful role Christ plays with his Bride. He impressed upon my heart his total unwavering love that he pours upon His church and the oneness that we are in Christ. He then ‘proved’ to me that Keith loves me like no other man has ever loved me before because God had planted a love for ME inside of him – the kind that He gives to men – to love their wives as Christ loves the church, and Keith now possessed that for me. I knew that this kind of Love was pure and knew God had confirmed in me to trust him as the Church should trust Christ.