Walk the Talk

All of my five kids are brilliant cooks. At least that’s what I think. After all, they cook like their dad!

They are not merely recipe followers; they are creative and intuitive in their cooking style. For instance, they can develop their recipes on the go, and even whip up something exciting with almost nothing.

How did they become so skilful? I never enrolled them into a cooking school, never gathered them around the kitchen table for cooking class, and never once read a cooking book to them!

Here’s the secret! When they were somewhere around  2 to 5 years old, I would let them sit in the kitchen with me while I did my cooking! Instead of making them sit in front of the TV for hours or sending them to their room, I let them be with me in the kitchen, but only one of them at a time (That’s part of the secret!).

I would make this little guy or girl sit on the left side of my working space, between the sink and the stove, right in the middle of where everything was happening. They watched me cut the onions and tomatoes, wash the lettuce, fry the mushrooms, the eggs and the meat, cook the pasta and the rice, peel the potatoes, and a thousand other things.

While doing all this, I would be giving a live commentary, describing what I did, how I did it and sometimes even why. I also gave them a little taster from time to time. When everything was done, we would eat it together with the rest of the family.

I must admit that I didn’t really have the intention to turn them into great cooks. I never had a curriculum or any specific goal. I just did what was practical and fun.

Today, more than 20 years later, I can see the results. My son Jonas, for example, is managing the kitchen all by himself, with the joy of feeding his own family with two kids, guests included. And he does it with such precision, speed, joy and excellence!

Isn’t that very much what disciple making is like?

You join lives together. Side by side you do what is necessary and useful in the Kingdom and reflect it together. And you’re having a good time!

There is no need for specific programs. You just do your natural life of a disciple, and let someone else join in. And while you are doing it, you describe the what, the how and the why.

You indeed walk the talk and talk the walk.