September 9, 2010
Lessons from Gumbo
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
Penny
So what does Gumbo mean to you? Okra? Sausage? Seafood? Spicy? Mild? Thick? Thin? Do you serve it over rice or perhaps if you’re a true Nawlins resident you serve it over potato salad.
I would imagine if I asked you how you like or how you cook your gumbo, I would get as many different recipes as the number of people asked.
It’s often been said that doing ministry in New Orleans, specifically our church, is much like Gumbo – you just never know what’s going to come up in a spoonful! Now, I’ve eaten Gumbo (Come on!… I may be from Texas, but I know how to enjoy good New Orleans cookin’!) and I don’t think I’ve ever had the same Gumbo twice. Each bowl brings a mystery and a story. You can learn a lot about a New Orleanian just by how they cook their Gumbo!
So I decided to do a little research. I polled many of the people that I know and asked them how they cook their Gumbo. I got some great recipes from many of my new friends. But the best advice about Gumbo came from my dear Aunt Sharon.
She sent me her recipe – much like all the others that I contacted, but then she made me make a promise – that I wouldn’t write it until I actually cooked it!
She said something that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. “We can all take direction, but like you know with serving the Lord, you have to do it and live it for it to be any good for anyone.”
So, I gathered my ingredients and got in the kitchen! Here are the spiritual lessons that I learned from cooking my own Gumbo:
Lesson #1 – The roux is the most important part of the Gumbo.
We are the roux! You can’t serve the Lord or others if you’re all burned up! You’ve got to watch and never leave the roux. We can never leave the Lord and serving Him starts with us!
Lesson #2 – The ingredients are good by themselves but better mixed together!
Once the roux is set, you can add just about anything and the Gumbo is going to be good. You don’t have to look like me for us to be able to worship together! In fact, our church our ministry, is going to be better when we mix up all our different and specific gifts – and let them simmer over heat!
Lesson #3 – It’s better when it cooks all day.
The longer it simmers, the more the flavors come out of each individual ingredient. We need to serve the Lord together! And the more we do so, the more opportunities the lost have to be saved!
Bottom line: God made us each unique. Just like no one’s Gumbo is going to taste exactly the same, no one’s walk with Christ is going to be just like yours! But when we know the roux has been made right, salvation in Christ alone, we can enjoy each and every spoonful together!
And like my Aunt Sharon advises – don’t just read about the Lord – Go on! … Get in the kitchen and actually cook with the Lord – live out His Word with all the other Gumbo-making servants out there!
So... just out of curiosity...
Do you see your walk with the Lord in what & how you cook?
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22 comments:
Great post, Penny! Yes, I'd say my walk with the LORD is a lot like the Pastichio I make...very basic ingredients that only taste good when steeped together. Happy Thursday! :)
Thanks Larri! Yes there are amazing lessons found in the "steeping" - I think God does some of His best work when He applies heat!
Have a great Thursday!
Wow, makes me hungry even at 7:a.m. for gumbo. You know I have had that good Aunt Sharon gumbo, but never tried to make it. She made it for me for my birthday. Oh, it was the best. I decided then and there that I had a true cajun for a Sis and a transplant cajun for a daughter and that I would just let them cook the gumbo. I only live 1 hour away from "Aunt Sharon" and I just know all I would have to do is call. To your question, yes, I make the best chicken and dumplings. I got. the receipt from Glen's grandmother(there's that legacy thing goin') and I have made them enough that the ingredients and the pot talk to me. I know just what they're saying and what to do next and just when it's "right". God's Word is like that. When you read it often enough, you know just what He's saying and what you need to do next. Ladies, it's doing the next thing that's important. The dish nor the life will turn out right if we fail to obey the next step.. Thanks Penny for once again taking us to Living Above in all things---even a heavenly pot of gumbo.
Well Penny, you've done it again! Another fantastic post and a great "real life" association with God's Word. I love the unique perspective you have on things!
Great post! I've never made Gumbo, but here in the Cincinnati area, we love our chili. And just like Gumbo, no two chilis are ever alike. Thanks for the reminder.
O...what is that recipe?
Great teaching and awesome cooking! I love my bride!!!
Love your analogy! I praise God that we aren't all the same. He makes us all unique. :)
great post - perfect for me to read while thinking about what to cook for lunch :) loving the simming analogy - goes right in line with my thoughts this week :)
I absolutely love it! You did an awesome job on this post.
Blessings
Honey
Thanks so much Honey!! It was a lot of fun... and tasty too!
Amen! Not sure I could stand another one of me!!! LOL!
I KNOW!!! Now the Gumbo is all gone and I'm wondering what's for lunch too!
You are too sweet Stephanie!!!
I'll send it to you... it's from my sweet Aunt Sharon - a family recipe!!!
Thanks Babe, for coming here and commenting!!! You rock!
Great post Pen. Just as we bloggers may have lots of things that are different (you are from the South, I am from the North, etc.) Christ is the common bond that threads us together. Just like all those wonderful flavors simmering together. Praise Him!
Amen my sweet sista! I would love to vacation in the North some time. Perhaps I should do that when it's like a 150 degrees down here!!! Has your Fall season arrived yet? That's all we really get here is Fall - no real winters to speak of!
Thanks for always being my friend! You rock girl!
Love this post! What a great recipe for walking with Christ!
Thanks! It really helps on those hard ministry days! My husband & I can just look at each other say - "it's Gumbo" and we laugh move forward. It's really helped with my perspective!
What an awesome post! Thanks for sharing that Penny!
Thanks Joy!!! have a great weekend!
Great post! I'm a California girl and the only time I have Gumbo is when I'm at Disneyland waiting for Fantasmic to start. New Orleans Square is so awesome! Its a great sight...sitting waiting, eating our Gumbo & listening to jazz music on the river.
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