It is absolutely undeniable to me that God is still in the business of performing miracles. We have witnessed several recently that are a true testament that God is alive and active. They may not be the kind of miracles many think of; nevertheless, they were definitely impactful to our family in a most positive way. One that I want to share today is a complete 180 degree change to me personally. It is an amazing feat that only the Lord could have orchestrated.
I have become quite a chef. Okay, so I may not be a 5 star chef, or whatever rating system is used now, but I am becoming quite accomplished. However, the miracle was not that I became a better cook. My husband will tell you that I have always had the ability to cook well. The complete change and awesome miracle is that I have developed a deep desire to cook for my family...not just a desire, but a true love and pure joy in spending time in the kitchen. Sometimes I begin to think: who is this woman? and where did they lock up the old Callie?
You see, even though my job description as the Co-Owner/Co-Founder of The Haas Family (as stated on my facebook info) includes the inherent responsibility to cook for my family, I was quite a failure at this. I did not enjoy it. In fact, I could probably admit that I hated it. There were many a day that it would come down to 5:30pm or later, and I would say, "Okay, what's for dinner? Where do you want to go tonight?" This was part convenience, part laziness because I did not want a mess, and part lack of groceries. As a family living on one income, we definitely have a budget to strictly adhere to. I had become quite crafty because I have an impressive list of options that we as a family of 5 (# 6 does not count yet) could go eat for $15 to $20 and sometimes even less. I justified this in our budget and justified it in my heart. We could spend more time as a family instead of me being holed up, slaving away in the kitchen. I could not have been more wrong.
Why did this miracle occur you ask? Well, I came to the realization that the eating out was still a budget buster. I had to face the cold, hard truth that if I cooked at home we could save even more money. I realized that we have even more meaningful family time by staying home. I prayed that I could at least learn to not hate and dread the task.
Is so happens that most of the time our family is all in and around the kitchen during the preparation and clean-up. This has given me a better opportunity to train the kids in many more things from chores to cooking. The kids are responsible for unloading the dishwasher. Each older child gets to pick a shelf to unload. All of us, except the baby, help to set the table, cook, fix drinks, set out the picnic blanket, clean off each of their own dishes and put them in the dishwasher, put things back into the refrigerator, take out the trash and clean the table. Even Kevin is in there with us cooking up a storm. Funny thing is, we have all come to enjoy this time together and none of us view it as a chore. We have begun to have so many meaningful conversations in the kitchen. I have been told that it is the center and life of the home, and it has truly become this in our home. I use to justify a lot of this on lack of time; however, our time is used more efficiently by eating at home. I have realized that the time it took to go to and from restaurants, ordering, waiting for food, and paying for it all was greater than just eating at home. I also quickly learned that the family conversations are much better at home probably because there are less distractions. Eating out has now become a treat.
I have discovered several things that help in keeping us successful.
* Planning ahead and grocery shopping takes away a lot of the excuses. It is hard to cook if you have not been to the grocery store recently. However, when this happens we get amusement out of digging through the pantry to "create" a meal. This is not exciting for every meal, but it is every now and then.
* I plan out our meals before I shop. I usually have an idea what each night's meal will be; however, I do not set definite nights for each meal because things can change. I always include several quick meals for when things come up because they always do. These are not usually the healthiest of meals, but a few of these will not hurt. I have a list posted on the frig of choices for the week. The kids get to help choose out of the choices, and they love getting to have a say in the decision. We cross them off as we use them.
* I allow for creativity in the kitchen. We don't always stick to recipes. Most of the time we add to them or change them up and it makes for much more fun in the kitchen. We are creating quite a list of our own recipes that we all love as a family! I think I will make a Haas Family cookbook. The kids will probably LOVE this when they go off on their own.
* A clean kitchen makes it much more enjoyable to cook in. Every night the dishes are loaded and the dishwasher is run. The sink is empty and clean when I go to bed. There have been a few times when I was too tired or run out of time with our busy schedules that this may go undone. I try to keep that to a minimum because it is much harder to come back and tackle the next meal when there is work to be done before you even start. It kind of takes away the fun of it all.
* Great conversation or jamming to music can add to the entertainment of preparing a meal!
* We try to do different things to spice up the enjoyment of eating at home. Previously, I mentioned the picnic blanket. There is a designated large blanket that is the picnic blanket. There are certain meals that allow this set-up. We set it out in the middle of the living room floor to eat picnic style and watch a family show while we chow down. The kids love this! We have also been known to eat outside on the trampoline! When we have dinner at the table we usually play the Hi-Lo game. We take turns sharing our highs and lows for the day. We share the low first so that we can end it on a high note. You can learn a lot of things about your children by doing this simple activity.
* This is also the time we learn and review our current Bible memory verse or have short devotionals.
* There are so many other great and fun things to make this daily endeavor successful and enjoyable. We are by no means perfect, but we are learning and making a lot of memories in the process.
Not many in my family would have thought this 180 degree change possible, but remember nothing is impossible with God. And He can do so much more than we can even dream or know to ask for. As I reflect on this post it all seems so silly. Like I said before, this is not a miracle most would think of. Some will find it humorous, others may find it offensive (I hope not), but this miracle truly has changed our family forever.
(A comical side note: I use to think the food network or cooking shows were incredibly boring and could not really understand why people could waste their time watching it (Cake Boss the lone exception). Post-miracle: I love them! Now I'm telling you that is absolutely crazy!)
Only By God's Grace I am no longer slaving away in the kitchen!
With Much Love,
Callie Ann
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