Growing Up Strong!

My five-year-old granddaughter Maddie has promoted herself from the nursery/kindergarten department at church to the youth group! "I go to Youth now," she announces after accompanying her dad to one of his services with the teenagers. "It is cray-cray!" she exults, picking up a teen phrase for "crazy."

She also knowledgeably chimed in with a comment during a class her mother was teaching for older kids. Her mom says, "Life doesn't happen to Maddie, Maddie happens to life!" A pretty good description of this little bundle of enthusiasm. She has been turned on to God early in her life. His seed is in her.

I was reminded of something I heard recently. The other day I was looking at a watermelon at a roadside stand. "Are these melons good?" I asked. "I liked one that a friend got here last week." The melon she had served at their house was delicious!

"Yes!" he replied. "Now, they are seeded," he told me. "Watermelons with seeds taste better than seedless." I bought one, partly because it was a small, round melon, and not too big for our family. It was good!

I read a recipe for chicken and noodles in a magazine a few days ago. I was surprised that it recommended using bone-in chicken pieces, served that way. "These are the most flavorful," the author commented. I usually stew the whole chicken, or just use white meat, but this was a quicker method, browning drumsticks and thighs before stewing to develop flavor. "And don't skim the fat," he went on, "flavor is in fat." I will have to try it!

I find bone-in roasts taste better, too. And pork chops with the bone are much better than boneless ones. My husband grew up in a meat market, and he always told me the bone adds flavor.

Maddie may be small, but her zippy personality is full of flavor, sweet and pungent, like the melon! And she is being taught the word of God. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick,(alive)and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Our life blood is formed in the marrow of the bones. Scripture teaches that life is in the blood. Thank God for the blood Jesus shed for our salvation, including the salvation of our children and grandchildren. May they always have the backbone to stand up for Jesus! I believe Maddie will!