Salt

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. ~Colossians 4: 5-6

MOPS starts next week. In the words of my daughter "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!!" Alright, I can breathe, but I'm admittedly getting pretty anxious. Yesterday we had our final planning meeting, it's all gotta be set now, sink or swim time. I talked yesterday about a verse I came across that I just can't seem to get off my mind. Which in all honesty is a good thing. I thought of posting something on our MOPS blog but figured this qualified as a life lesson for my trio so I opted here instead...

Last week I made pancakes for the kids, a fairly normal occurrence around here. Not the open package, add water till you get right consistency variety but the actual labor intensive flour, egg, milk one. Please note the level of sarcasm in the 'labor intensive' line. As I stood sentinel at the griddle the kids proceeded to slather on butter and pour the yes, homemade, syrup on their golden disks. First bites ensued as did the groans of discontent.

"These are bad"
"I don't like these"
"What kind of pancakes are these? I like the other ones..."

Ugh. Seriously? They're pancakes. Irritated, I grab a fork and proceed to show them there is nothing wrong with their breakfast. Hmmmmmm. Blech. They're right. Flat, bland, lifeless...I forgot the salt. 1/8 teaspoon, just a speck, but it made all the difference. We add salt to make the other flavors shine. We put it in savory dishes and in sweet. If you've ever experienced a caramel sprinkled with salt you would know what I'm talking about. You would also know what I'm talking about if you've ever added too much. There is no fixing a heavy hand. A potato may be added to soak up some but on a steak? or in a batter? It's ruined.

In Colossians, Paul is calling us to be authentic in our faith. Over-the-top and it's just that, too much. None at all and we're bland, lifeless. Being true to who we are so others can't put a finger on why they are drawn in, but they are none-the-less. Remembering that we're not trying to please everyone, only The One.

Homemade Pancake Syrup: 3/4 cup packed brown sugar ,1/4 cup sugar ,3/4 cup water ,1/2 cup light corn syrup ,1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring ,1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, dash salt.
In a saucepan, combine the sugars, water and corn syrup; bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 7 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in maple flavoring and vanilla. Cool for 15 minutes. Serve over pancakes, waffles or French toast. ~All Recipes.com