On my way to church to make ten gallons of chili for a cookoff, Markolee asked to stop at this little library.
He didn’t find anything he wanted but I found The Inner Voice of Love by Henri J.M. Nouwen. In one of the spiritual imperatives – Give Gratuitously – he wrote,
“Often love is offered to you, but you do not recognize it. You discard it because you are fixed on receiving it from the same person to whom you gave it.”
As I think about the results of the Chili cookoff today, I can’t help but think that sometimes our hearts are fixed on results and not the process. We are constructed to want the win, and when we don’t get it, we feel the sting of it. How quickly we forget that we are doing this to raise funds for a local charity, whose mission is to take care of those in need? If the reward was to win, I would have surely lost. My winning took place yesterday when volunteers helped me in the kitchen. People showed up to pat the meat, cut up herbs, measure ingredients, fry bacon, saute onions, brew coffee, and wash pots. Volunteers showed up this morning to set up the tent, and serve those who came out to support Ecumenical Ministries of Baldwin County.
Love and give anyway
Let go of the results.
♥
Kadine
