Rumination on Roux

Last night the people I work with were talking about food, and since by coincidence, we all happen to work together again tonight, we decided to each make a dish and have a spontaneous potluck tonight.

So today I made my mac and cheese, with it's own strange ingredient--spicy brown mustard. (Don't knock it until you've tried it, because it's pretty awesome.)

Anyway, I have been somewhat introspective of late, and following that trend, my time at the stove today seemed like an object lesson.

The key to this mac and cheese, and probably most mac and cheese dishes, is the roux. Classically, roux is the mixture of butter (or other fats) and flour which becomes a thickening agent for sauces. In this particular mac and cheese, the roux also has the mustard. At first when you  butter and flour stir, adding milk a little at a time, it doesn't seem like it should work. It doesn't appear to mix very well. It looks lumpy.and you have to constantly stir, to keep it from staying lumpy. It's not one of those things where you can throw the ingredients in a pot and walk away.

Then there is this magical moment when the right temperature is reached, the butter is melted, the flour incorporated, the mustard combines, and the mixture suddenly changes from separate ingredients spinning around together in the pot, to one cohesive roux. It is almost unexpected, you start to see the change, and then, voila! It's suddenly roux! Smooth, and consistent and ready for the cheese.

In my contempative state, I though of roux as metaphor for the patience I've been praying for. All the ingredients can spin together in the right spot. But it takes two things for everything to come together. I have to keep stirring--in this case that will be my metaphor for praying and seeking things out. I can't just throw it all in the pot and wait for it to work out. There is an element of work that I have to put in. Praying, seeking God, following His direction, trying doors of opportunity as I find them.  


BUT....It's not all up to me, either. There is a bit of having to wait on God, for the moment to be the right moment. When all the components have reached the right conditions, it will suddenly fall into place. If it all depended on me and my abilities and resources, then first of all, it would all be a big mess, because unlike God, I can't see the beginning from the end. Plus, there's that whole human fallibility thing, we humans tend to screw things up when we rely on ourselves instead of Him. But because the situations I am waiting on need God's miracles, then when it does all come together, He will get the glory for it, and because He is all wisdom, it will be far better than anything I could come up with, anyway. I know I will look back on all of it and say, "Of course! It had to happen this way!" Maybe all the mess looks a little lumpy and impossible to me right now. But when conditions are right, voila! It will all fall into place. 


I don't know. Maybe this is reaching. Maybe these lessons are a lot to draw from two cups of roux. But, I'm feeling encouraged today, and I'll take that where I can get it. If you found this post to be a bit cheesy for your taste, just wait until you try the mac and cheese.

Our Potluck Dinner At Work

PS... Friends on Facebook frequently post scriptures throughout the day... These where the ones posted today. Timely and encouraging, and part of what inspired today's post.

Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD. http://bible.us/Ps27.14.NLT Read the whole Psalm. It's awesome.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jer 29:13

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:10-11 MSG

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Ps 42:11