Do you ever find it funny how the Lord takes the little things
in your life and somehow, years later, you look back & see how He has woven
something beautiful from them? I
began thinking about this truth this past week when I decided to take an old
cast iron pan handed down from my late uncle and clean off the years of grime and grease to see if it could actually be usable again.
When I was young, I remember going over to my uncle’s home
and making a Danish pancake, called an Æbleskiver, using this special cast iron “monk
pan.” I loved being able to spend
the time with Uncle Ed and enjoyed becoming an “expert” at making these unique
pancakes. I remember the pride I
felt at being able to successfully make a perfect sphere of the pancake batter,
not to mention the joy in tasting the delicious product!
As I was reflecting on those years so long ago, I began to think how
this tiny pan & the making of these “foreign” cakes had begun to stir
within me a love for international people. When I was ten, I had no idea that the Lord was beginning to
cultivate within my heart a desire to reach out to people who were from a
different culture and country than my own. At the time, I just enjoyed learning a recipe passed down
from generations from another culture other than mine. But today, I look at this grimy cast
iron pan and think … thank you, Lord for the simple things in life that you use
to change us and direct us to be useful for you.
The story of this little grimy pan continues! It has been the center of many family celebrations
as the kids have grown and they have developed a love for Æbleskivers, as well. In fact, they have each expressed their
desire to have their own pan one day to carry on the tradition that my uncle
began with me so many years ago. As
I was thinking today though, I have a feeling that they will be carrying on
something much more important than a delicious, old recipe from Denmark. My hope is that the Lord has sparked
within them, just as He had within me, a desire to share the love of Christ
with people from all around the world.
Call me too reflective, I know. Tell me I am getting older … it’s true! But maybe, I am just beginning to look
back on life and see the simple ways in which God moved in my life to bring me to
where I am now - living in France & interacting with internationals on a
daily basis.
Thank you, Lord for a silly old cast iron pan that has grime from
“who knows when” on it. It’s a lot
like me … covered in the filth of my own making, but with Your help, Lord, I am
ready to be used to communicate your love to people from every tribe &
nation.
