Love in the Kitchen

Jesus Christ calls us to love one another as he loves us.  This love can be shown in many ways:  smiling and saying hello to a stranger, lending a hand to a friend who needs help, taking the time to listen to someone who is hurting, giving someone a hug, and the list could go on forever.  This morning, I experienced Christ's love through a cooking lesson with two of the other volunteers and our site coordinator's wife, Elaine. 

The first week that we were in Belfast, we were going through orientation and had the pleasure of sharing our lunches and dinners with Doug and Elaine.  Elaine was so gracious to cook delicious meals for all of us.  As we raved about how good her cooking was, she offered to give us some cooking lessons.  This morning, we had our first cooking lesson in Karl's and my kitchen.  Elaine taught us to cook lentil stew and scones.  I was so excited to get to bake my first scones in Northern Ireland, and they turned out delicious! 

I do not think Elaine realised how great of an impact she made on me, and the other girls learning the recipes, this morning. The recipes weren't that difficult and complex, and it only took us an hour and a half to cook. But, that time that she took preparing the recipes and ingredients, and the time she spent with us in the kitchen meant a whole lot to me. Cooking is a favorite past time for me, and I have not had much time to cook since starting my work at Whitehouse. That being said, the time I got to spend in the kitchen this morning, in the company of other ladies was wonderful...a bit therapeutic you could say.