Cooking is love

I know that I had motioned how I wanted to use my blog to share my journey to finding God and adding him to our daily lives. I know that I post mostly on menus, and recipes, and even lessons learned for the week. Today I wanted to focus on my love for cooking and why I put so much energy into sharing it with you. When I cook for the people I love I am giving them love. When I am in the kitchen mixing, chopping, kneading, stirring, baking, and tasting I am at peace. Although I am never absent from what is going on around me I allow my mind to wander in relief. I often spend the time chopping, dicing, mincing, or slicing onions with whatever worry that is there. By the time I am finished with the onion my soul is quieted by the simple task of cooking. In the peacefulness that surrounds my activity I can explore my theology, my relationship with God, what I believe God is. When I am quieted I can hear whispers of the truth as I brown the meat, or saute the vegetables. I am also very grateful for the love our small family is blessed with. I know with out a doubt that God loves us, and that God is everywhere we allow him to be.

I may not be rooted in a faith, but I do not find that a hindrance to my belief. It allows me to be open to thought and option without being trapped by what others believe is righteous. I believe that all thing that happen, happen for a reason, that it is all part of God's plan to teach us a lesson we need to learn in order to grow. That doesn't mean I want something bad to happen so that I can learn forgiveness, or grief, or any of the other lessons that come from a bad situation. I know that we are not alone as long as we are open to the idea, belief, possibility of the Love God has for each of us. I also Know with out a shadow of a doubt that some of the lessons we learn stem from love, joy, and gratefulness. I know because the biggest lesson I learned was how to love completely when I first held each of my sons. It was a sudden unexpected gift that calmed my anxious soul. I can love and deserve to be loved.

If you know me at all you know that some of my beliefs, or ideas can be a bit of a stretch. I hope that I do not but limits on my children. I believe that God does not want us to be boxed in to one idea because God is all ideas. No one religion is different from another God is there. He/She is the idea behind every religion and there may seem to be many but we can not all fit into the same idea and God made it easier to find him by giving us choice. Some people need to feel confined by the written word in the various books of the lord, others hope only for guidance. He enlisted the help of human men to write his word, and since he gave man the gift of free will we each interpret his words differently. The bible for instance has been rewritten to make it easier for people to read and understand. It is different from the original text but most of the meaning stays the same. It is a guidebook for lost travelers. We are all lost travelers trying to return home.

What moves me the most is the fact that Jesus came for the lost gentiles, me and people like me. I am a sinner unworthy of his love. Yet he came to earth for my sin, to forgive me, to set me free. This applies to you as well. We are not alone. One of the reasons that my family is choosing to become Catholic is because it is not about solidarity, meaning all about me, we pray together for each other. I do not know the faith completely so I can not comment on the whole picture, when I only have a small piece. I have a feeling some of the beliefs I have are not the same as the church such as birth control, and gay marriage and I am sure a few other things. I am unwilling to change my opinion that it is a human right to be married regardless of sexual orientation, I believe God made them and that makes them the same as me even where they are different. Love is love. I believe in birth control. I believe that God loves me for who I am regardless of my own ideas.

I am thankful for the life I lead and the life my husband and I are making for our children. I will continue to ask for guidance, and forgiveness. I hope that we are building a solid foundation for our children to become men on, that they will grow into strong, healthy, kind, good heart men. I trust the Lord will lead us.

I have to admit when I am cooking I don't always actively think about God, but it is a good time to bring him to our family. When I set the table with the meal it is filled with my love always. I was once told when I was a young girl that it will always turn out just right when you make it with love. So to me cooking is love. When or if you ever get the chance let me cook for you. I am happy to feed you and your family. So here it is if you are worried about your cooking abilities just remember that you are cooking for someone you love and loves you back. Regardless of how the meal turns out it will be perfect.

I hope that your day is filled with laughter, love, and a comforting meal with your loved ones.