Smells like home!

9/5/12 The smell that wafted (in BIG wafts) from the toaster oven was all too familiar. At least there was no smoke this time! I’m famous for burning toast. This morning it was my muffin.

Chatting with JoLynn recently, we discussed looking for life lessons from the Lord in the middle of all our circumstances. I wondered. Are there life lessons in burnt toast? If there are, I’m a slow learner---one with an acquired taste for burnt toast. 

20+ years ago, son Buddy’s (a freshman in college) suitcase held a sign for our kitchen. “Dinner will be ready when the smoke alarm goes off!” Molly and Josh became schooled in waving a dishtowel in front of that blaring smoke alarm. 

Various remedies have been tried through the years, including a brief stint with no smoke alarm in the kitchen. New toasters. Low settings, only. No toasters. But toast, even if well scraped toast, is a staple at our house. Now, most recent acquisition, an above the counter toaster oven, has begun to turn on me. 

Life lessons: palate adaptation, shared jokes---those only family members truly “get” are important, (I bet my kids are smiling if they are reading this.)

I think Ecclesiastes 3:4 has my spiritual life lesson. No more weeping over spilt milk or burnt toast, acceptance and laughter can go hand in hand. No mourning over insignificant happenings---let them go and just DANCE!

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Grandson, Owen, told his mommy that she smelled delicious. Daddy said, “She does always smell good, doesn’t she?” Owen said, “Yep, she smells like, “turkey and pancakes.” Mmm- mmm, I could eat her up.

As for me, I smell like burnt toast.

Ah-h-h the smells of home.