In The Kitchen With...Grandma

Where are you at this very moment? 

Well...I am in the kitchen cooking! This was NOT always my favorite place as it would bring bittersweet memories of being taught to cook [and clean fish] with my beloved Grandma Ruth.

She never used a cookbook...she cooked by taste with a pinch here and a pinch there, and her meals especially her cakes and biscuits were SCRUMPTIOUS!

Yet I can still recall the countless times my little cakes burned, came out flat or tasted horrible, and the family would eat because of "sympathy" love. LOL

"Awwww, bless her heart..."

As a grown woman, I decided to give it another go...I'll try this baking thing one more time...I'll shake off the disappointments, shake off the pity looks from family faces and even the nasty past taste of my failures. 

I'd pull out the recipe books [yes hardcovers then], prep my utensils and ingredients...then I'd FREEZE like a deer in the headlights!

All of a sudden it seemed too hard, too daunting, "this will never turn out like the recipe pic, so why should I try?" "It surely won't taste as good as Grandmas". So I'd put everything away and did not complete my goal.

Until one chilly Sunday returning from church, I REALLY wanted a  warm scoop of HOMEMADE banana pudding with vanilla ice cream. I got home pulled out my recipe books, laid out my cooking utensils, baking dishes and a counter full of FRESH ingredients. Again, I was about to freeze like a deer in the headlights, YET this time I heard---

"Michele, ask for help. Call your Grandmother she can help you!"

Well, I [the BIG fat " I" ] was a grown 30-year-old, why do I need to bother my Grandmother with this? "I can surely figure this out!" Well, 30 minutes later I was still procrastinating and frozen like a deer in the headlights. No movement at all!

I finally picked up the phone and called New York---"Grandma it's me, I want to bake a banana pudding like yours, would you walk me through it?!" I heard the kind smile in her voice "Sure, baby, it would be my honor. Now do you have this, and this and this?..." [as she led me down the recipe listing and steps]

I wrote every word down and followed her patient tips ...and sure enough, everything turned out fine as I applied what she shared. Her experience made ALL the difference as it calmed AND broke my "bakers anxiety".

What am I saying?

Sometimes we don't know WHEN to ask for help

Sometimes we think we can do it on our own

Sometimes we wanna FIRST do it our way 

Many times we don't know what we don't know! And someone else can accelerate our learning curve.

There is tremendous POWER in asking of The Lord...then of others.

As you proceed into your 2020 journey you too my freeze like the deer in the headlight. 

It's normal as The Holy Spirit takes you...STRETCHES you OUT of your "safe comfort zone" into the next level HE has planned for you.

Yet, if you feel "STUCK" over your next steps or afraid to step forward because of past disappointments...it's okay...simply decide to SHAKE OFF last year and ASK God and others who are already doing what you want to do...or have already surpassed where you want to go.

"If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought." James 1:5-8a MSG

Blessings,