This past week my author friend Kimberly Duffy asked a question on Instagram, “Did you get anything [for Christmas] you didn’t know you wanted but has proven to be the best thing?” I received one such gift that I thought fit Kim’s description.
At first it was a surprise. My daughter, Meredith, told me to keep Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 22nd free. Hmmm, I thought maybe we were going somewhere, or someone was coming to our house. Maybe a facial? A massage?
A few days before, I asked Meredith how I needed to dress for this “gift?” She said, “nothing special but matching aprons would be nice. Did she invite friends over to bake cookies, or was it some new recipe Meredith had found for us to prepare together? I found two red aprons at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Tuesday morning, Meredith told me we were going to be part of a Zoom cooking class. We went to the store to buy all the ingredients and then set up our kitchen as instructed. We measured out ingredients and took out all the cookware and utensils we needed for the class. What we would be cooking and with whom was still a surprise.
At 3pm, Gio and Sacha, chefs from Sorrento, Italy invited us into their kitchen to prepare homemade gnocchi with pesto, and tiramisu for dessert. The next two hours flew by with lots of learning, laughs, and love in preparing the meal for that evening. It was SO much fun and dinner was amazing with my husband, John and Meredith’s twin brother, Christian joining us for the delicious feast. John said it was the best Tiramisu he ever had.
I think Kimberly will agree that this gift may have been one ‘I didn’t know I wanted but proved to be the best thing.’ That got me thinking. Isn’t that exactly what Ephesians 3:20 tells us about understanding the depths of God’s love for us. Let’s not confine Him in our prayers and petitions, because God has blessings for us that we don’t even know we want, and which prove to be the best thing for us.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Eph. 3:20 (NLT)
Thank you, Meredith, for a wonderful gift, thank you Gio and Sacha for sharing your skills, and thank you Kimberly for the inspiration for this blog. Buon Appetito!
