Even though my daily summer duties of caring for our grand daughters is done I am still helping sometimes with picking the girls up from school. Yesterday the 7 year old was here for about an hour and a half before time to go home. She loves to cook so I had her help me in the kitchen. As we mixed up a meatloaf she practiced her measuring skills with spoons and cups and she learned it is kind of hard to get everything mixed in the meat. We chatted about her day as we worked together (she never stops talking!). We also made a pie and THAT was an experience! When whisking eggs there was a little more on the counter than normal and as we rolled dough the flour kind of exploded everywhere! We did have a little cinnamon sugar pie crust treat with the left over though, yum.
Things may not turn out exactly as I want when my sous chef is a 7 year old, but seeing and hearing the excitement in her is worth every minute. As she washed dishes after, I knew I would need to to go back and make sure they were clean, but her sense of accomplishment makes it worth the extra steps I take later. I would show her "Chloe, you missed this spot" and she would gladly rewash. When she turned around and said "Grammy, I got them all clean!" my heart just swelled with joy. Hopefully some day she will think back to cooking with Grammy and smile.
I have been reflecting on my day yesterday. I was excited to go to the grocery store alone, after a summer spent wrangling children. I had my list made, meals planned for the week and was ready to just fill my cart. I was sure that a Monday morning in the grocery store would be a quick trip. Not yesterday! It seemed that every retired couple in town was also shopping yesterday. Now, I'm not one that likes to shop with my husband. Things that don't need to be in our cart often appear. Also, he may choose brands that I'm not as fond of, so I just prefer to shop alone. Well, even though I wasn't able to move as quickly through the aisles and had to wait a long time in line at checkout I have since asked God to forgive my impatience and I spent time praying for those lovely couples in the store yesterday. That may have been their only outing for the week, they were enjoying talking and picking out items to place in their cart. I helped one couple get an item on the top shelf that they couldn't quite reach anymore with their arthritic joints. In another aisle there was a lady looking at an item, with a coupon in her hand, trying to find the correct product to go with the coupon. She didn't even realize that I was waiting and couldn't get around her. I think back now and am ashamed at my impatience, when I should have asked her if I could help. Instead I just turned around and went back out the other end of the aisle.
From starting my day with impatience because I wasn't able to finish as quickly as I liked, to ending it with extra patience as I cooked with my grand daughter, I realized that as I get older it won't be long until I am that lady looking at the coupon in the store. I will be the one taking my time in the store because it is something to do. Hopefully there won't be an impatient person near me (like me yesterday) and some kind words will be spoken to me. I will now be more aware of those around me, looking beyond what inconveniences me and help. We have no way of knowing what is going on with the people around us, so a little patience and understanding are good things. It didn't matter that I had to go rewash a few dishes and spend extra time cleaning up spilled eggs and flour - what is more important is that I spent time with my grand daughter. What I wouldn't give for just one more time of cooking with my Dad.
May your day have moments to bless others - watch for them, and you will be blessed in the process.
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