Burned Biscuits
A woman arrived home one night from a hard day at work. Although, she was very tired and wanted to rest for a bit, she knew she had to fix supper for her son and husband. Because she was extremely tired, she wasn't able to give her full attention to her cooking. Along with the sausage and eggs, she served a plate of burned biscuits.
The son looked at the biscuits then glanced at his dad to see what reaction he would make. His dad reached for the biscuits, smiled at the boy and asked, "How was your day, son?"
The son began to wonder if his dad even noticed how badly burned the biscuits were. He was amazed at the way his dad nonchalantly reached for a biscuit, spread butter and jelly on it, then ate every bite without showing any unsatisfied facial expression.
The woman apologized to the man for burning the biscuits and the man told her, "Honey, I love burned biscuits."
Later, when the man went to tuck his son into bed for the night, just before he left the room the son asked, "Daddy, do you really like burned biscuits?"
The dad replied, "Your momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides, a burned biscuit never hurt anyone."
MORAL: Accept that nobody is perfect and be understanding about the mistakes made by others.
Time to Testify
This story brings to mind an incident that I encountered about a month ago. I went to my sister's house around noon just to visit with her for awhile. My nephew, Robby, had just gotten off work and he was very hungry so she offered to make him a grilled cheese sandwich. Then she offered to make one for me also and I accepted.
My career has always been in restaurants as a cook and sometimes I tend to be very meticulous about how my food is cooked. My sister cooked Robby's grilled cheese perfectly but as she began cooking mine, I noticed she seemed to be trying to listen to me talk and a bit flustered about something. The more I notice her, she is beginning to rush from getting Robby a can of soda from the refrigerator and to the stove to tend to my sandwich.
And then it happened. I smelled something burning. I thought to myself, I sure hope that isn't my sandwich. After smelling Robby's and watching him savor his, I was hungry.
"I burned your sandwich a little bit." Susie told me, "this darn stove. I just can't get use to cooking on electric stoves." She puts my sandwich on a plate, slices it in half and places it in front of me on the table as if NOTHING is wrong as she continues darting around the kitchen getting a drink for myself and tending to whatever Robby was needing.
I couldn't believe it. I looked at the sandwich on my plate and saw the burned side facing me. In the restaurant business, plate presentation was a big must. People eat with their eyes. So sometimes, if we overcooked something, we would place the "better" looking side up.
So now I'm staring at this sandwich with the obvious burned side and I begin wondering, "Well, I don't want to hurt her feelings. I don't know if she'll be hurt if I scraped some of the burn off or ask her to." I finally resolved to just take my time eating it and DON'T make any facial expression.
I took a bite and begin chatting with her hoping I don't taste the burned bread or make a disgusting face. Then I took another bite and another. I ate the whole sandwich and NEVER tasted anything burned. Then I confessed my worries to her about it being burned, yet she acted as if it made no difference to her if I ate it or not. She wasn't upset and I actually had a good "burned" sandwich.
I learned to humble myself and eat something that someone took the time to cook --- even if it is burned. After all, I sure wasn't going to go home and fix myself a grilled cheese sandwich.
INSIGHT: Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I've burned food before in my lifetime also. What's important is learning to accept each others faults and understand their differences. This is the key to creating a lasting and healthy relationship.
May we all learn to take the good, the bad and the ugly parts of of our life and lay them down at the feet of God. In the end --- He's the only One who will be able to give us a relationship where a burned biscuit isn't the deal breaker.
Understanding is the basis of any relationship --- be it husband/wife, brother/sister, parent/child, boss/employee.
Learn to appreciate
the people in your life!!!
They are God's gift to You.