Lessons on Faith - Cooking a Turkey

"Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare.  They are consumed in twelve minutes.  Half-times take twelve minutes.  This is not a coincidence." - Erma Bombeck

For me, the year 2017 has been a transitional year encompassing a season of “firsts.”  For the first time, I dropped off my oldest child at college 12-hours away from Colleyville, Texas and returned home without her.  For the first time, I experienced the “travel trauma” that ensues when the same daughter must navigate through security lines, baggage claim and new shuttle directions in a different state without the help of her parents. Finally, for the first time, after eating the past 23 Thanksgiving meals alongside my husband and family, I made the brave decision to be the official “cooker of the turkey.”  With nine special guests dining at our table this year, I decided this would be the perfect time for me to check off “cooking a turkey” from my bucket list.  As I made this special announcement to Landon while walking through the grocery store and picking out the “perfect bird,” he looked at me with wide-opened eyes and simply asked, “Mom, don’t you think we need a backup plan?” Landon had no idea the turkey cooker had the exact same question running through her mind.  

As I reflect back on the “turkey cooking experience” I remain fascinated by the small facts that my Grandmas never shared with me regarding the preparation and cooking of the bird.

1.     There is a very specific way to defrost a turkey, and this process begins well in advance of placing the turkey in the oven.

2.     Cooking a turkey demands a plethora of utensils, pans, racks and gadgets that one might not have readily available in his/her kitchen. Everything from the depth of the pan to the type of handles on the pan suddenly matter.

3.     The words “advanced planning” become very important as one must know when to start the turkey, when to check the turkey, and when to let the turkey “rest.”  It still seems logical to me that the cook, not the turkey is really the one who needs rest! Small deviations in advanced planning could mean that the nine people gathered at one’s table have delicious vegetables and no turkey.

4.     As one moves through the turkey roasting experience, he/she must sacrifice moments of time.  There may be 2,000,000 things that one would rather be doing, or could be doing.  However, tending to this turkey is what one WILL be doing, and good “turkey tending” takes time.

5.     One must have patience with him/herself and those gathered around the turkey during the final minutes of preparation.  Patience, during turkey carving, will be most difficult as everyone is most hungry.

Perhaps there are many lessons on faith one can gather as he/she spends time in the kitchen during the holiday season.  God provides us with many different tools along our spiritual journey.  The Bible, the gift of prayer, the closeness of a church community and the opportunity to serve others need to be woven into the tapestry of our everyday lives.  Are these tools near you during this season?  If not, what can you do to make sure they are readily available?  We need to be very intentional about the time we spend in God’s presence.  Amidst the worldly noise of the holiday season, we need to leave space for Him to occupy our heads and our hearts.  Have you reserved time in your schedule for God?  If not, when will you have the opportunity to sit down and plan in advance for His light and hope to infiltrate your soul?  Most importantly, we need to allow His grace and His will to be cornerstones of our beautiful journey through this crazy thing we call “life.”  Be patient with yourself as you allow God to lead you down a new path, a different path or a road in which you did not expect to travel.  Be patient with those around you.  Our greatest reward after all our preparations and purpose-filled work on this temporal earth will be the beautiful moment when we stand in the presence of Our Heavenly Father.  May you and yours truly celebrate God’s blessings this holiday season.