11/9/2010

I've spent a good deal of the morning thinking about my Grandma Durling. I think it's because I am making roast beef for dinner, and roast beef always makes me think of my Grandma!

Grandma has taught me so many things. The best roast beef, for instance, is cheap, cooked low and long, and made on the stove top. The best bread takes hours, a touch of sugar, and scalded milk, but is totally worth the effort! Time spent picking strawberries is not time wasted. Fresh corn can be cut off the cob and frozen and will retain it's amazing crunch and sweetness when reheated.

But, not all the lessons Grandma taught were culinary. Grandma taught us that to serve others is to love them well. Hard work is our privilege. Clothes smell better when they've been line-dried. No picnic is complete without damp washcloths in a Ziploc. Faithfulness even when inconvenient is genuine faithfulness. Learning is important. God makes folks from the most unlikely backgrounds His children.

Grandma isn't a depressed person, but she isn't much of a smiler. I guess she is more prone to seriousness than lightheartedness. But in recent years, more and more, we have enjoyed the privilege of her smile. She laughs as she recalls Grandpa knocking over the Christmas tree. She laughed when an Aunt accidentally put trick candles on her birthday cake. ("Who would do that to Grandma?") She smiles to see my children, her great-grandchildren, when they get the chance to spend time together.

These have been some of my thoughts this morning. Because roast beef takes me back to Grandma's kitchen and, seriously, there is almost no place on earth I enjoy more than that kitchen!