Holy Casseroly ( Lisa )

I’ve been cooking up a storm of casseroles and baked goods for “the hungry people” lately. I don’t always know where each dish is going but I always find a home. They say it is better to give than to receive and I was selfishly hoping this was true. I needed a lift from my sad place. Unfortunately, for a long time, it didn’t feel like it was helping. I baked and cooked, gave and gave but I wasn’t moving out of my rut. Something was missing. It all felt a bit like a joyless effort until I realized that was the missing ingredient, JOY. Jesus is IN the JOY. Not only does Jesus want us to give, He wants us to do so with JOY in our hearts.

I needed to find the missing JOY. I missed my cooking buddy, my daughter Claire. We used to perform cooking shows in the kitchen together. I would push her, in her wheelchair, into the cold and bright open refrigerator and load her lap up with eggs, butter and cheese. She plopped and cracked, stirred and scraped all while we sang and danced to very loud music. Claire could not speak or even make a sound the last 6 years of her life but she loved to hear my voice.

So, I took Claire’s picture into the kitchen the other day and cranked up the music. We were making our famous sticky buns for all the surrounding neighbors. I spoke aloud each step as we baked, “Ok Claire, first we’ve got to pinch this dough into little pieces, O Man! This is so sticky!” It took me back, this one-way conversation. I felt her presence as we cooked together. It felt as if she were right beside me, because she was. I cried for how healing it felt to talk out loud to her again. I had not realized how much I missed my voice, the one I heard when Claire was alive. It felt so normal, so blessedly ordinary. It was JOYOUS. It felt like love and God was in it all. 

My prayer for you is to find JOY. Life has been hard for everyone lately. Whatever the reason for your sad, find your way to joy. Give to others with a JOYFUL heart. Speak the name of those you miss. Share aloud with them. Remember your voice when they were present. Do something blessedly ordinary with them. Make a Holy Casseroly and sign it, IN MEMORY OF…. Find JOY. Arm yourself with it. Wear it like a protective shield, like the breastplate St Patrick wore before going into battle, engraved with the prayer...Christ be with me. Christ within me. Christ behind me. Christ before me…Christ IS JOY. Wear Him and He will shield you from all harm. 

Giving to others is a great thing but doing so with a joyful heart bounces JOY back to you.