it's mardi gras! laissez les bon temps rouler! in honor of fat tuesday, i've decided to make some good old gumbo. the more i sit here and wait (somewhat patiently) for this pot to finish (one hour to go...and it's already been going for one hour), the more i realize that our love is like gumbo.
can't rush it. it takes time. but when it's finished...it's perfection and sooooooooooo GOOD!
a little bit of this...a little bit of that.
gumbo is a slow labor of love that REALLY takes time to develop. first you start with your roux. a roux is a thickening agent comprised of two simple ingredients: oil and flour. seems simple, right? heat the flour and the oil to thicken it. WRONG. in order to get that dark color gumbo, you've got to make sure you continually stir the roux for 30-45 minutes, making sure not to let any of the flour burn or stick to the bottom of the pan. once it burns, it's absolutely over and you have to start again from scratch. the roux is the foundation of the gumbo. without the roux, the gumbo really isn't gumbo...it's just soup. there's nothing extraordinarily special about it at all. but the roux takes patience....the roux is the first step in the labor of love that is gumbo.
in my pot right now are at least 10 different spices, chicken stock, chopped onions (green and yellow), a bell pepper, corn, okra, celery, and garlic, one pound of spicy andouille sausage, corn, turkey necks, and shrimp. a random assortment of really fresh and really good ingredients. all good separately...but even greater when combined and simmered over time.
turkey necks...the refuse...usually the thrown away part of the turkey...the neglected bits. funny how when combined with something like fresh andouille sausage (fancy, huh) the turkey necks become one of the best parts of the gumbo.
our love is like gumbo. patiently stirring the roux until it's finished. oil and flour calmly combine until it's just right. allowing God to stir us until he's finished. He knows exactly when to take us off...makes sure we don't burn (literally)...won't leave us or neglect us at the stove...but watches over us carefully and decides when we're done. then add the ingredients...corn, sausage, okra...the Word, the fellowship, the encouragement, sometimes the chastisement, the still steady voice of the Holy Spirit. but the gumbo's not done yet...needs a while to REALLY get it to where it needs to be. yes...it's going to take time, but if you rushed it...it wouldn't be finger licking good. sure, it would be OK...but the turkey necks wouldn't be tender...flavors wouldn't be combined just right.
so God hovers over the pot we call love and adds a bit of this...a bit of that....to make it just right. He can take anything and make it good. he put us together and seasoned us just right. took our refuse....made it delicious. took the parts of us we could not accept and used them anyway.
i'm thankful for our God.
i'm thankful for this gumbo love.
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