One of my favorite things that I remember about growing up was cooking with my mom. My mom did many things well but food was one of the things she did best. She did it so well that she groomed me into becoming a bonafide "food diva" as Brett would say. (A title that he gave me to give me a hard time because he wants to eat at Mayflower Seafood grease-pit-who-knows-where-that-seafood-came-from restaurant and I want to eat my favorite salad at the Village Grille, but I am proud of it nonetheless.)
But back to mom, I say she did food well for several reasons:
1. She made delicious food. Still does. Everything mom makes is a labor of love and you can taste every minute of effort in it. Here are some of her recent amazing creations:
2. She taught us not only to eat our vegetables but somehow to LIKE them, too. One of my favorite memories is when I went home for a weekend in college and she and my brother and I watched a season of Friends together and ate a pound of asparagus a piece for dinner. It was AWE.SOME.
3. She let me cook with her. I know that I was mostly in the way, but I distinctly remember where the ovens were located in each of the houses we lived in and how I would stand in the spot beside it watching her and asking questions and "helping."
4. She taught us to like food. Which doesn't seem that difficult but all sorts of negative emotions are attached to food for many people, most especially girls in my experience, who feel the pressure to be thin or pretty or the like and to them food is their enemy. I am so thankful that she gave that gift to me and spared me from the battle I have watched many girls and women I love fight.
And so as you can guess, with this kind of upbringing, I like to cook. Now don't get me wrong, fixing dinner with a fussy baby on your hip and tired three year old at your ankles is not my idea of fun and we order pizza like the best of them, but on the whole, cooking is fun for me.
Since Haddie was born, Karis and I have had a lot more down time together. In the mornings when we would have typically ran errands or gone on a play date or something of the sort, we are at home together while Haddie takes her morning naps. Lots of mornings I passed out while she watched 19 episodes of Daniel Tiger because let's be honest, when you're nursing and trying to sleep-train and dealing with a colic-y infant, you don't have all sorts of extra energy to be Mrs. Pinterest.
But Karis loves all things crafty and so we have also logged tons of hours painting, making crafts, doing chalk in the front yard, ruining markers by leaving the lids off of them, and yes, baking and cooking.
One day I wanted cinnamon rolls so I asked Karis if she wanted to make some with me while Haddie napped and you would have thought I had invited her to Cinderella's ball as the guest of honor, she was so excited. And so we rolled up our sleeves and made these amazing cinnamon rolls, that my mom (who else?) taught me how to make.
Out of the mouths of babes.
Oh my sweet three year old, thank you. My precious girl has always been an encourager and when I get to be on the receiving end of that encouragement, it's the best.
In the months since she said it, that phrase, "Mama, you're a good maker." has echoed in my head. And then the other day I read this blog by Ann Voskamp, about why your soul needs you to make time to be more creative, and this sentence stopped me in my tracks:
"God made woman TO BE A MAKER, to open her empty places and let life be knit from within her."
Of my closest friends, five of them have had babies in the last year and one of them is so close to having her baby boy that she very well might be texting me right now that she's heading to the hospital. I have had a front row seat to see God INCARNATE in these women who I love lay down their lives to be makers of babies.
But it's much more than making babies, right? We are all making things. It's what we do. I think about some of my friends in town right now. My fantastic type A friend Katie makes lists. My friend Ashley makes a budget stretch like WOAH. My crazy talented friend Jenny makes things on her sewing and monogramming machines. Her sister, Sidney, makes beautiful art work with watercolors. My friend Pam makes beautiful images with her photography. My friend Crystie makes relationships happen in Young Life by pursuing people relentlessly with the Gospel. My friend Casey makes magic happen on a computer while doing graphic design. My friend Rachael (aka Rachypoo) makes gorgeous events like weddings and such get pulled off without a hitch. My friend Ann makes BSF happen for 70 preschoolers every Wednesday. My friends Olivia, Courtney and Katie make miracles happen as they serve as medical professionals.
We're pretty aren't we? (And humble, too. :))
But we are so much more than just makers of babies or food or crafts or anything else. I don't think it's really about what we MAKE as much as it is that we are image bearers of THE MAKER. Because we are made in His image and He is a Maker, then we get to carry that in us, too. And as I have reflected on that over the past few days I can't help but being overwhelmed at the thought that this is such a HOLY PRIVILEGE.
"Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness."
Genesis 1:26
love all you makers…and the ONE who made you!
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