You have no idea how good this cranberry relish is! Well maybe you do! Oh I really really hope you do!

Hey you can’t blame me in my past for when I said I didn’t appreciate cranberries, I mean as a child not many people could explain to me WHY they were good to try. I saw canned icky looking attempts, but every once in a while I saw recipes and real explanations for walking the road of trying it yourself. No one jammed it down my throat and of course we would NOT want to do that. If we want anyone to try, we simply best ask and most importantly demonstrate our joy in it. We must put our munching where our mouth is. 

And funny thing, the cranberries to open need a little bit of water applied and a little bit of heating, not long but a miracle appears in that they come alive and open up and the fruit is ready to try… Sometimes in the relish you can have sweetness (orange juice and zest) and sometimes a sharpness (strong balsamic vinegar).  Life is like that too. Always you have to taste it to believe it!

But you can’t blame me for not trying to understand this before I did – and I can’t blame myself, but THANK GOODNESS I was awakened to the goodness… an opportunity to grow…

If you think I’m talking just about cranberry relish, I’m not.  When I speak of awakening and accepting, and all the above, I’m actually writing about FAITH IN JESUS. YES! 

There may be people at your table today and over the holidays who simply haven’t TASTED AND SEEN OF THE SWEETEST OF LOVE. Don’t jam it down their throat, you wouldn’t do that with a “new to them” food, DON’T criticize or exclude… just be GENTLE and be ready to let the Holy Spirit act upon the scene. 

It IS GOOD to be encouraging, and perhaps they might try a little on their plate after seeing your enthusiasm.  Maybe they never had YOUR RECIPE and no one presented faith in such a way that opens it up to them. You know that many simply haven’t heard the stories or been exposed to comprehending the connections between head and heart. There’s an OPPORTUNITY to open conversations but don’t “wow them” with biblical factoids, instead “wow them” with your Spiritual TRUST.

I was exposed to faith stories and connective faith as a child and grownup, actually knew people who TRUSTED the Lord to see them thru…. yet, I realize that there’s a whole generation who got canned varieties of packaged and never tasted the fresh berries… offer this now, don’t overprepare your messages. 

And there is no ONE recipe that works for everyone. Like each berry, the uniqueness is God-made. Faith is unlocked by the Holder of the key, God Himself. 

There’s a whole generation of catholics that had masses in Latin as children, if they even got to mass, and if there was no translation or presentation nor physical Bible given, how could they learn? Like the cranberry, not much water or warming heat was applied by people. There are berries that fell out of the pan.

Let us be that gatherer and preparer today. Let us ask for Living Water and Warm Love to permeate the party. The harvest is many but the workers few…

Gratefully the Lord Himself brings the blessings of our thankfulness in Him. The Holy Spirit moves and awakens ready and willing souls in God’s Time… Let’s make time to gather and hear… Let’s open our tables, hearts, mouths to PRAISE Him…  Let’s show our faith by showing THANKFULNESS… No one wants to hear or taste sour grapes… let’s add salty savory sweetness to our conversations today.

And try faith in every stressful situation too. Focus on servanthood over stalemates. They is pain often in those not gathering with others… bring them a plate prepared specially for them. God’s Word is STILL good tomorrow….

CranberryCraze – JesusJoy – ThankfulGiving…

Amen

May you have a blessed day. 

PS

This cranberry recipe:

Boil one bag cranberries with half cup water and half cup maple syrup and zest of one orange. Boil until they open, about 5 minutes, few minutes more and use gentle persuasion with a fork to open the resistant ones… Toast a cup of pecans dry in a skillet. Add the pecans and juice of one orange. Enjoy! Serve warm or cold. Refrigerate extra. YUM!

Like Jesus,  I couldn’t get enough.