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| My casserole was not happy like this one. Mine was mean spirited and angry. |
I am hopeless at making French toast casserole.
Having lived comfortably in denial for years now, I
feel it is time to set myself free and confess because it’s been weighing on
my heart for a good 3 hours now. I don’t
want to get personal too quickly, but it is vexing for someone who is a
competent cook. Not having anything
against French toast personally, I find it hard to figure out what goes wrong
when I make it. According to food
bloggers French toast casserole will simplify my life and give me new found
self-respect as I mix eggy custard with bread chunks. The mixing of these basic ingredients with a
metric ton of sugar will bring harmony to my morning and set my family up for a
symphony of happiness.
But it never works.
To start, I am always scraping the bottom of the
refrigerator when I decide to make it.
When all of the tasty food leaves my fridge and I’m starting at 6 eggs,
3 sticks of wilted celery and a whole bunch of nothing, I think, “Oh, I’ll try
French toast casserole that will save me.”
But it never does. I expect it has something to do with my reluctance to
add sugar to an egg dish. In my mind,
the two don’t go together. However, using
bread as a food medium means that you need to flavor the doughy mass somehow
and this is the second place I miss the mark.
Can we talk about cinnamon for a moment?
Cinnamon is a great spice when it isn’t being used by a
heavy handed, mean spirited cook with nasal congestion. There is little
moderation where cinnamon is concerned, especially in commercial baked
goods. In terms of flavor words like
subtle and nuanced are swept aside and replaced by cloying and noxious. I suspect my lack of opinion on the matter
has something to do with my reluctance to use the requisite amount of spice. There
are other ways to enhance the casserole, most of which involve adding butter or
cream cheese and I can’t do that without feeling like I am raising the
cholesterol level of the entire neighborhood. Sticking to poached eggs and dry
toast would be a better idea. So this
morning after forcing my children to eat left over casserole, I decided maybe I
should try following the recipe directions or stop trying to make it all
together.
Have you got anything like that in your life my
friend? Something you don’t do particularly
well, but won’t take instruction to fix because you have your own opinions
about how things should work? It can be a casserole, a relationship, a
financial habit, a problem that could be fixed but you battle an unwillingness
to exert the effort to do things correctly.
Or maybe like me, you don’t even battle anymore; you are okay with
substandard and have given up hope of anything better.
One of the most awesome things about the Lord is his commitment
to redemption. No place is he unwilling
to concern himself with if approached by a willing heart. One of the first things to consider though is
if I am doing what I’m supposed to be doing in the first place. I can’t expect a relationship to improve if I’m
unwilling to speak the truth much like I can’t expect my casserole to taste respectable
when using only half the ingredients. I suspect a good number of Christians are
waiting for spiritual direction on matters without doing the last thing they
were instructed to do. People are fallen like that, kind of like me and my flat
casserole.
This week I’m spending some time thinking about the
things I’m doing that are daft, pointless and frustrating. I’m praying for you if you find yourself in
the same boat, wanting to change but lacking the agency. Hoping you will find
the reserves to approach the Lord yet again, to ask for a change of heart. To ask him for a taste for something new and
life giving, which is more than a breakfast casserole can ever be.
xoxKaren
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