But it does involve my kitchen,
food, and the infamous crock pot!
Growing up we used to make a skillet hamburger/potato casserolewe called, "Hamburger Harvest." (I think it might've come
from my parents' friend who traveled the mid west/western
states with their gianormus combine machines!)
Today we had that same SKILLET recipe BUT in the crock pot!
(and it was better than ever!... Chilly's opinion, too!)
As I get more & more comfortable with my slow cooker,
I am more willing to step out. Try something that I don't
have an actual recipe for and see if it'll work.
Today it did! (Honestly, you can hardly go wrong!)
My life is like my crock pot experiences....
not slow moving... it's actually speeding by quite quickly.
But more like this:
Jesus has developed areas of my life & ministry over the years
and they're working pretty well. I'm good with it! Comfortable.
Then He busts out the crock pot!
He takes those skills & ministry tools and starts asking me
to use them in different ways.
And shock of shocks......... It WORKS!
Better than EVER!
(duh, it's God, Netta!)
For example, years of youth ministry that included:
listening,
laughing,
loving,
really caring,
praying,
gently leading,
planning memory-making moments,
sharing others' joys
carrying others' burdens
etc....
Then Jesus plops us in the city (NOT the suburbs!)
and puts adults... GROWN UPS... in my path.
And so, for 4 1/2 yrs. I've been using the same ministry recipe
in a whole new kinda way. Same basic principles apply.
Yes, the setting is different, the ingredients are slightly varied,
but the bottom line is that PEOPLE ARE BEING SERVED!
Jesus doesn't just throw us from what's comfortable into
something completely new! If we stop to think about it,
there's probably many things He's expecting us to continue
doing, just in a slightly new way (even if it's in an entirely
different setting!)
Relax. When God asks us to do something completely new,
we've already been prepared for it.
Take a deep breath
and do what we know how to do,
and He'll teach us the new stuff we need to know
and give us courage to plug in the crock pot.
7 comments:
This was really awesome Netta! Thanks for sharing.
Slow cooking in ministry!
TJ
hey netta, i love this analogy! thanks!
love,
Jess
Such a great perspective from such a great lady (and wife)!
XOXOX ...from your slow-cooked man!
That is awesome! It's so easy to look at the surroundings and faces, and become overwhelmed with the apparent "culture shock"! But when sticking with what my dad would refer to as the "fundamentals", then no matter what the situation or location, it's still God reaching out to people with love! Thanks for provoking my thoughts and challenging my perspectives!!!
Steve
Great insight. God speaks to me in metaphors and similes all the time. I would've been right into the parables if I lived in Bible times :)
seriously what a great post! i love youth ministry, I think that God loves teenagers most :) Everything you need to know in ministry, you can learn in youth ministry :)
Isn't amazing how God can use the slow-cooker to teach us lessons... in my life I'm that cheap cut of roast that He's simmering to make tender!
Awesome! I'll be thinking about this one while I go spend some time in the kitchen. Love you!
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