Lesson From the Kitchen

I absolutely adore fresh asparagus cooked in scrambled eggs. I first quickly sauté the bottom 2/3s of three asparagus stalks cut into bite sized pieces in a tiny amount of olive oil or sesame seed oil till they turn bright green yet are still not soft. Then I add the top 1/3. Being tender, they do not require but a moment of time to be perfect. I then pour the scrambled eggs over the veggie and turn off the fire. The residual heat in the pan gently cooks the eggs until just set, not hard cooked. A little salt and pepper the only seasonings needed. To me, the combined taste and texture of the silky eggs with the pieces of asparagus still semi-crunchy is simply pure, clean and delightful. We eat a lot of spicy, salsa covered, pepper filled dishes and the contrast of this asparagus egg dish makes it stand out even more. Add a toasted bagel or English muffin and it is a breakfast meal fit for a king.

I grew up with fresh vegetable from the grandparents’ gardens but never experienced fresh asparagus until I was an adult. On the rare occasions we had asparagus it came from a can. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it but once the fresh crisp asparagus made its way into my life I could not eat the canned again. Asparagus is not meant to be soggy in my way of thinking. To prepare the asparagus you must first remove the bottom portion of the stalk that has grown tough and woody rendering it unusable. When holding the stalk at the very bottom and gently bending it will snap at the point that divides the good from the bad. The hard end pieces go into the compost pile leaving you with only the delicious and nutritious parts; the good stuff.

This morning’s preparation of asparagus and scrambled eggs served as another life lesson from God. While removing the rigid end pieces, it occurred to me that we, too, must have our inflexible parts removed so we can be usable to God. Hardened hearts and unbendable minds and spirits are fairly useless in the Kingdom. It is the tender and willing to change attitudes that can become less like their original fleshly-selves that become good. The eggs, as well, have hard exteriors we must do away with to find the wealth of nutrition inside. Once we have the good with which to work, they are tested by fire to bring about the desired result. We, too, have daily tests and trials. It is the end result, the finished product that determines how well we withstood the trials. Will we come out delightful to our King or will we wither under the fire of trials and be useless?

I found my morning meal to be satisfying and a pleasure. My desire is to live and be transformed into someone God can use and hear Him say, “Well, done…”so I willingly ask that my inflexible, rigid parts be removed; rendering me useful and good for His purposes.

My day is off to a great start, hope yours was too!