Measuring Spoons

"You are the salt of the earth. BUT IF THE SALT LOSES ITS SALTINESS how can it be made salty again?" Matthew 5:13

Saturday, February 20 was a red-letter day for me. It was a day I knew would come; I just didn’t know when. I had invited David and Kelly over for supper. I was in the mood to cook and they were in the mood to eat. Of course, Bella tagged along… :). I was in the process of making Refrigerator Potatoes which I found out later I would never make again -- that it had been a mistake. I should have just stuck with the simple old mashed potatoes I’ve made for a hundred years. Anyway, as I was making the potatoes, Bella, who loves to do this, looked at me and said, “Wash dishes, Mammie!” and I knew what was to come. We took her top off, she got the stool and I proceeded to fill the sink with water, squirting lots of Dawn in to make bubbles…big bubbles. Since most of the dishes surrounding the sink were glass measuring cups, I got the plastic containers I have stored in my big bin in the garage that have no lids, etc. so she wouldn’t hurt herself. As I was measuring the salt and measuring the pepper, her interest was piqued in the measuring spoons -- Just plastic measuring spoons which I have in several different colors; these just happened to be orange.

As she “washed dishes,” played with the bubbles, splashing the water, getting it everywhere (Mammie laughing) God gave me the opportunity I had been waiting for since Bella was born, that made this my red-letter day. “What’s this, Mammie?” she asked as I was struggling to work around her. “It’s a set of measuring spoons, Bella. This one says, T for tablespoon. This one says 1t for teaspoon and these say ½ and ¼ for ½ and ¼ a teaspoon – just a fraction. When I said fraction I thought, “Why did I say that? She can’t understand fraction and I can’t explain it to her anyway.” Yes, I realized this moment meant absolutely nothing to anyone else and that I’d look like a fool if I started to cry, so I swallowed my tears until later when I told Laura, David and Kelly what I did. To say the least it was a priceless moment. (Yes, I have tears streaming down my face as I write – for real.) (See the video of Bella playing in the sink blowing bubbles under VIDEOS here on Titus 2.)

What I had known for a loooooooooong time I could now pass on to Bella. It was nothing difficult and she may never remember when and where she learned what a tablespoon, teaspoon, ¼ and ½ a teaspoon are but it’s something she’ll need to know if she’s ever going to cook someday. And I taught her because someone, probably Ma or my mother taught me.

That’s what the salt of the earth do. We pass on what we know about Jesus to someone who doesn’t, who hopefully passes it along to someone again someday. We are to others the aroma of Christ who flavor the world with our salt. Christ, through us, changes their lives. We are fit to tell others, by the measure we are equipped -- a teaspoon, a tablespoon, a fraction according to the measure given us. We make the gospel fit for consumption by the life we’ve lived, by how much we’ve allowed ourselves to be close to THE ROCK. We flavor the world by our seasoning; we season our speech with salt. And the world becomes a better place.

God gave me a priceless moment I knew someday would come and I was anxious to act on it when it came. If you lose your seasoning how will others be taught? Our salt will lose its flavor and because of that no one else will be able to taste and see that the Lord is good. “Since living Christianity is the only “salt of the earth,” if men lose that, what else can supply its place?” http://bible.cc/matthew/5-13.htm.

“But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”