Growing up, did you have a special meal that only your mama could cook? The one where you could walk by a restaurant, smell that certain meal cooking and know that no one could cook it like your mama does? The one your girlfriend or wife cooks, and even they know they don’t quite make it like your mama does?
I can see my mama in the kitchen boiling water and adding different ingredients without measuring them as she went along. I never saw her use a measuring cup to determine how much of this or how much of that, or whether an amount was too much or not enough. She would just walk around and grab the bottles, boxes or cans and keep adding to the pot. The only thing I know she measured was the time she had to serve the meal.
The wife of a man in her church passed away this past week. Mama called him to see what she could do for him. She thought about giving him a card or flowers, or going by and visiting him for a little while. His one request was that she make him some chicken ’n dumplings for his family. He said no one could come close to making them like mama does.
I asked mama how she learned to whip up this meal without measuring all the different ingredients. She told me she had a special recipe that was given to her by her mother. She had it written down in a special little book that she kept in the kitchen. Over and over again through the years, my mother watched her mother prepare this special meal for her family and guests. She saw her mother measure all the ingredients with different cups and spoons, and boil the chicken too long at too high a temperature.
As my mama easily prepares this special meal she is known for, she realizes that someone who loved her once measured all the ingredients, including time and mistakes learned. She knows that, at some point in life, you must measure what is important to you and your family.
She measured the value of an education for herself and the future of her four children. My mama went to Armstrong State and Georgia Southern to complete her bachelor’s degree in three years and added several more education degrees. She would sit in the car at night with the heat on because it was the only quite place to study. Mama went on to become a principal at several local schools in Savannah, Georgia. Money was tight. My dad worked all the overtime he could to keep his two older kids in college.
As a mom and dad, when are you going to start measuring the most important things in your life, and your children’s lives?
Live inspired,
Jimmy
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