Building Futures- A Recipe for Success
The man had shown up early to the potluck. It happened to be the very first time he had attended the church and therefore he hadn’t been prepared for the gathering and was a little more than hesitant to attend because he had brought nothing to contribute.
Be that is it may, a kindly, older gentleman had convinced him to stay. So, following the closing hymn and prayer, he made his way down to the basement and sat in a padded, folding chair against the wall.
A procession of ladies began to emerge for a connecting room, carrying food. Some carried crockpots, some baking dishes covered in foil that disguised the contents. Some carried plates with plastic wrap. Within minutes, the once bare length of tables was covered in a large variety of food.
The pleasant mixture of smells that emanated from the culinary menagerie were making his mouth water and he looked at his watch impatiently; silently hoping it was nearing time to eat as a slow procession of mostly men and children made their way into the room.
Being new, he had taken the opportunity of being early to make note of who placed the different dishes on the table, hoping he could gain some early rapport with some of the good cooks within the group with a well-placed compliment or two.
It was not long until a prayer of thanks was given, and people began swarming the table of food from every direction. He made his way to the table with plates and utensils and selected a large paper plate with higher sides and a sturdier construction. He was hungry indeed. As he moved around the table in clockwise fashion, he noted the dishes all seemed to have been placed in a logical fashion, with rolls and breads, as well as snacks preceding the main dishes, which were then followed by desserts of various kinds.
He thought it wise, considering his plans, to take just a little of as much variety as he could fit on his plate. A couple of snacks, a spoon full of this and that from the main dish selection and a new plate for the dessert options. His plates full, he went back to his seat against the wall and began his meal.
He started with the appetizers and decided that his favorite was the jerky. For jerky, it was somewhat moist; albeit chewy, but it had a decent texture, and he really liked the smokey flavor. He wondered what type of wood was used or if it was that new stuff. What was it called? Liquid smoke?
He looked across the room and mentally marked the woman in the red sweater that he had watched place the plate of jerky on the table.
He finished his meal and put his plan into action, walking around the room and complimenting everyone he could; and was rewarded by looks of gratitude and surprise that he actually knew they had made the food. He stopped in front of the woman in the red sweater. She looked up at him and smiled, seemingly anticipating a similar comment. He told her that he absolutely loved her jerky and was curious as to what she used to give it the smokey flavor.
If he was expecting the same reaction he had been getting, he was sorely disappointed. The smile left her face, and she abruptly stood and stomped off to parts unknown. The man was stunned. What had just happened? A woman sitting just to the right of where the woman in the red sweater had sat, solved that mystery. Through tears and laughter, she told him the following: “That wasn’t jerky young man, it was a roast. She always burns her roasts and most of us who have been here a while know better that to eat anything she brings…”
Now obviously, I made up this little story. At least I hope I did. And I hope it made you smile. But I also told you this story to make a very important point.
Life is full of recipes. Recipes for a healthy and happy family. Recipes for a good marriage. Recipes for a successful career. And of course, recipes for a good roast.
But like the roast in this story, it is clear that it is very important for the cook to follow the recipe. After all, a good recipe that is not followed has a real chance at becoming a bad recipe. A recipe for disaster if you will.
All of this leads us to the most important recipe. The one that is required to make all other recipes what they were intended to be. A recipe for success. The umbrella recipe.
This is a recipe with many variables and only a handful of constants. The variables are things learned on the way through trial and error and are not the same in every case, being dependent upon the goals.
For us, here are Orphan’s Lifeline International, there were many trial-and-error derived ingredients added and discarded in virtually equal proportion until we came up with the right recipe. A lot of what was changed was subtle, yet ultimately very important differences. Ultimately the best recipes come from knowing what doesn’t work as much as what does.
The evolution of our recipe for success has evolved over the course of 23 years, and our goal of course, was to take impoverished fatherless children and children at risk and nurture them to become successful adults that were grateful for their blessings, loved those who helped them, believed in God and Jesus and who would break the cycle by caring for their own family and teaching them what they had learned.
Although this goal sounds straight forward, it is only simple in principle. In practice, as we have discovered, there are critical nuances that make it all work to achieve the desired results and impacts. And there are many forces out there, trying hard to burn our roast.
Which, I guess, makes us the cook. But we are not the chef and there is a distinct difference between the two. The chef can be found in Philippians 1:6 – “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” And we know that this is a good work because in James 1:27, God calls it “perfect religion.”
Yes, God is the chef, simply because it’s His recipe, His chosen ingredients that we use to have success in this mission. We use the right combination of shelter, nutrition, nurturing, education, God’s Word and spiritual instruction, administered in a way that reflects His love for them as well as our own. That being said, when you boil all the ingredients down to the secret sauce, the end result is that you have a single thing we like to call “good.” And that is significant because God is not just the source of all good. He is the good.
And we know from Philippians as well as many other scriptures that we were indeed created for this purpose. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.
We all end up doing many different things in this life to care for our families and in doing so, use our talents that God gave us to do that specific good work. But it is only in working together that we can achieve good works outside of our family role. Whether it is in support of our local church or the sick and hungry in our own communities, it requires collaboration and a collective effort to accomplish those larger goals.
Which brings me to the point of this whole thing.
God is the chef behind this good work. We have established that. Those of us here at O.L.I. are the line cooks that are putting all of His ingredients together and trying very hard not to burn the roast. But all of the ingredients in this recipe are dependent on one ingredient that makes it all work. This ingredient activates all of the other ingredients, like yeast causes dough to rise. Like starch thickens gravy.
Just like that, the key ingredient in God’s recipe for this good work…is you. Without you, we would be simply stirring an empty pot. Because God literally made you to be the main ingredient in this and all good works. You are His will in action. An extension of His love and compassion. His grace and mercy. And being those things, you are indeed the key ingredient to a recipe for success. Thank you and God bless you for being what God created you to be.