I lost another pot of bone broth this week.
The last time it happened, it was because the predecessor of the swanky new stove died in the middle of the night and my huge, magical broth cauldron was cold when I woke up. This is not a good thing with bone broth.
This time, there’s what was a lovely pot of broth sitting in the bottom of my fridge which is, blessedly, working just fine. I created this pot of magic with some help from my InstantPot, as I haven’t quite figured out the gas stove/ broth thing yet. (It has to do with timing.)
Anyway, gorgeous pork hocks in the InstantPot with onions, garlic, bay leaves, etc. Then, the place where things fell apart.
While said broth was still very hot, my hip decided to do some random, painful, twisty thing while I was minding my own business, walking down the hall, and it’s been both painful and untrustworthy ever since.
All of which means that the Legendary Husband has been busy doing more of the daily living stuff around here than usual. Somehow, we figured that we’d put the broth in the bottom of the fridge and weed all the chunks out in a day or so.
Yep. You guessed it!
It’s now about 10 days later and, well, that’s too many. So, I am now the sad possessor of a pot of difficult to dispose of garbage and I really wish I had soup.
Now, I wouldn’t blame you if you were wondering why I’m telling you all this and/or whether I’ve taken up writing about appliances as a new mission.
No, on the appliances, though they do, in some cases, become useful metaphors.
You see, the next thing you need to know is that I was chatting recently with a very bright young woman who was doing some pondering on the things that “good Christians” do — or don’t.
The last thing on her list, which she’d obviously learned really well, was try to avoid mistakes.
That thought kept bugging me, rather like a case of poison ivy, at which I am, unfortunately, something of an expert. You know you’re not supposed to scratch it but it itches!
Then, early this morning I figured it out.
I have been trying, not quite successfully, not to feel guilty about that pot of broth-turned-garbage in our fridge. I used really good food to make it. Food that’s not always easy to come by. And I could have used it to feed others. And, at the moment, my hip hurts and I have no soup and I want some.
And, just between us, there was a voice inside me wondering if, just perhaps, this was the sort of thing good Christians don’t do.
Thankfully, there are some other voices inside me as well.
One of them is from the guy I think of as the Prophet, Steve Glenn. Steve is the Developing Capable People creator who said, There’s no such thing as failure. Only experience to be learned from.
And another is a voice that is, essentially, mine. At least the part of me that’s been learning new things again. Many of them from Shiloh Sophia McCloud and the Intentional Creativity® gang.
It’s even written on an index card, as most of the really important things around here are:
Intentional Creativity is what helps the struggles become art… and new possibilities!
Thus, the painting with which we began. It wasn’t “doing” what I wanted it to, so I followed the inspiration to pray. In dots. Teal colored dots, which the Feng shui folks I hang out with would say are for clarity. A couple of hours worth of prayers for guidance, with the canvas turned so I could sit!
Now, here’s the tricky part. All the layers under those dots weren’t mistakes to be avoided. They were learning along the way that brought me to a place where I realized guidance was what I needed in the moment. Which seems, at least to me, like the sort of thing Jesus/Yeshua would have been in favor of. And totally what I want my girls to learn.
Next, big scary glaze! And throwing out the stuff in my InstantPot so there’s room for actual soup.
Blessings on your journey!