Hello Burn

I know I can't be the only person that gets tired of cooking and the same old menus every week. In an attempt to spur new ideas, I signed up for Hello Fresh. When I received my first box, it was quite a difference from my 5 ingredient crock pot meals to fresh ingredients that you have to prep. I was up for the challenge and excited to expand my cooking expertise and my taste buds. At the risk of being judged for my lack of knowledge about vegetables, I'll continue the story.

Fast forward to the veggie prep...wash and dice the onion, tomato, and poblano pepper. The tomato was easy enough and though I was tempted to leave this ingredient out, I decided to give it a shot. The onion was up next. Halfway through, I was thinking to myself....gosh this is really not making my eyes water as much as I thought. Then as soon as I had that thought, the burn hit my eyes. Through the sniffling, I finally pushed them to the side and moved on to the poblano pepper. On the ingredient page it seemed like a tiny pepper but I pulled it out of the bag and this sucker was a giant. I diced up the pepper and my eyes had finally settled down as I started to scrape the peppers and onions into the pan with some oil. Suddenly "the aroma" as the recipe indicated would start to fill the air, hit my eyeballs with a fury. By the way, the aroma BURNS. I was so taken aback that I raised my hand to wipe my eyes.

PSA: Do NOT wipe your eyes after handling onions and peppers.

I will spare you the next 15 minutes of the story but I am sure you can create a dozen endings. What made tonight's experience so interesting is that just a few days ago God reminded me of the onion which brings such flavor to so many dishes but the process to prepare the onion can be a painful experience. No one says, "I love dicing onions." I had already pondering writing about it, when God decided I needed more context.

John 15:1-2 says, "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He prunes, so that it will bear more fruit ."

In the spirit of being transparent, I feel like God has been trying to prune me and teach me something over the last few months. This verse and those surrounding it have been bubbling up in different sermons and devotions almost like God is waiting for me to "get it". This morning it finally did. As I considered the concept of being humble vs. self-righteous pride, it came to my mind that I complain a lot about doing so much as a single mom. In a way, I boast about it. But really, I am so blessed. There hasn't been a time that God hasn't provided for me. And all of my successes, they come from Him. I was taking credit for something that I didn't do or earn. Am I an awesome mom? Absolutely, because of God's grace in my life and presence in my life. Thankfully He is patient! I guess he has a sense of humor too in the way that he teaches me.

Verse 6 says, "I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

The verse I now pair with this is one, is one that many are familiar with.

Philippians: 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Apart from Him I can do nothing but WITH Him I can do all things.

The dish, by the way, was one of the most amazing soups I have ever had!