I am a competent cook. I can follow a recipe and create a meal my family truly enjoys. In fact, I can create meals that people outside my family enjoy as well. At least, that’s what I’m told.
Then there’s my husband. For him, a recipe is only an idea. He glances at recipes to understand typical cooking times and ratios, and then he takes off on his own. And let me tell you, my husband can cook! Wow!
My husband and I see food preparation very differently. We can think of the exact same menu, but the preparation and presentation of said menu will vary greatly depending on which of us is cooking. For example, last night for supper Doug made us peanut butter and banana toast. Now, I enjoy PNB and banana. But when I make it, it looks like this:
Pop a piece of bread in the toaster. When it is nicely toasted, spread peanut butter on top. Slice a banana and press the slices into the peanut butter. Enjoy.
When Doug made it last night, it was mouth-wateringly different! He pan-grilled two pieces of bread. Then he plated the bread and spooned some peanut butter into the warm skillet. Once that had softened nicely, he stirred in very thinly sliced pieces of banana and warmed them ever so slightly. He spooned this mixture onto the pieces of bread, and then topped the whole thing with a room temperature honey-sweetened peanut butter mixture.
That’s just one simple example of the differences between our cooking. Needless to say, I love it when he cooks. I don’t enjoy cooking all that much anyway. It’s just a chore to me. But he thoroughly enjoys the experience of creating in the kitchen.
Of course, I have my own passions. For example, we’re both writers. And he’s a fantastic writer! But, he enjoys writing because it provides him an outlet for sharing his thoughts. I, on the other hand, truly love words. I love how they fit together. I enjoy the relaxed feeling of just writing whatever comes to my mind for this blog, but I also crave the challenge of making words and grammar work beautifully together for my editing job. There’s something thrilling about learning the rules and then discovering ways to break them.
My husband and I both have similar skills. The difference lies in our vision. We see the implementation of our skills differently. I see cooking as a practical necessity for keeping my family filled. He sees it as an outlet for his creativity and a way to unwind and relax. He sees writing as a way to communicate thoughts that come to his mind but don’t fit anywhere in his role as pastor. I am fueled and energized by writing and working with words.
There are always things we need to accomplish for practical reasons. But how many of us truly stop and let God show us the things He created us to enjoy? I think we are perhaps afraid that we’re being poor stewards of our time if we pursue things we actually enjoy. That’s supposed to be only for vacation or weekends, right? We can’t possibly indulge in such frivolity on a regular basis!
Oh yes, we can! And we should! God Himself created us with those passions. He built them into the core of our beings for the purpose of accomplishing His will. When we ignore those passions, we wear ourselves out with work that brings no joy. When we let Him work through those passions, we are energized to face every aspect of this walk of life. Oh what delight!
What can God do through your passions today?
Not Quite Ordinary 