In the final blog in our Love God, Love Others series World Racer, Sabrina Wegner shares about her time learning to cook in Nicaragua from a humble, joyful woman. Sabrina shares how this woman made her feel wanted and accepted in way that Jesus does and inspired her to strive to love others this way herself.
After traveling all day yesterday and the day before, we are now officially in San Jose, Costa Rica! We’re debriefing for the first few days about how our first month was before we jump into month two ministry, so there’s a small window in which I can relax and get my blogs from Nicaragua posted. Soon enough, you’ll be reading about Costa Rica! BUT please please please love these stories from Nicaragua because I loved my time there so much.
Ok, let me tell you a little bit more about the lady who cooks our food. Let me tell you a little bit about the blessing of a new experience of serving the community in the kitchen. That’s what I did yesterday.
I know that if you know me, you’re laughing. You know I don’t cook. It is not something I have experience with at all. Basics is all I got for you.
But, first off, you can be impressed because on Sunday night we had to fend for ourselves without the lovely lady who cooks our food and Erica said she couldn’t even tell that I didn’t know how to cook. I made some wonderful, plain rice, thank you very much.
But having to cook and be creative with these dishes (we had chicken flautas and rice for dinner on Sunday, made by Erica and me) makes me that much more grateful for the lady who cooks our food. But, I have to say she’s more than an amazing cook. She’s an amazing teacher in the kitchen. She is so patient and so kind and will always let you mess up.
And I found myself wondering how on earth she maintains such cool with one of us newbies in the kitchen. Even the best cooks in our group really don’t know what to do in a Nicaraguan kitchen, I’m pretty sure.
But I could see her joy. I could see her desire to build a relationship with me as she helped me peel and chop vegetables and fry meatball/steak finger thingies that we ate with gallo pinto.
She wasn’t just patient and putting up with me: She wanted me there.
She wanted to teach me. She wanted to welcome me into her space and show me her love for cooking.
And y’all I can’t tell you how incredible it felt to be wanted in that kitchen and to know I was sharing in joy with her.
And, y’all, she did it all while being a mother of a rambunctious 3-year-old too. We love that 3-year-old, but man she has more energy than I know what to do with and her mother is such a good mother with her as she’s learning to be independent and dress herself and can really talk off anybody’s ear. And she loved sharing her daughter with us too and letting us play with her and love her.
Really, just so many good things!
I hope I can be like the lady in the kitchen. I hope that I can take the things I am good at and the things that bring me joy and openly share them with others. That may be why I came on this trip, but y’all I don’t think I’m that great at sharing like that yet. It’s another one of those things I’ve gotta learn. But the lady in the kitchen is one of those role models to me. She brings and shares joy. She teaches with patience and kindness.
I think she looks a lot like Jesus. I think her patience is the kind of patience Jesus had. Her welcoming spirit is the kind of spirit Jesus had. Her love is the kind of love Jesus showed.
Personally, I want to be more like her.
Personally, I want that for you too.
I think we can learn a lot from her.
