The Making of a Woman

The counter in my kitchen is never so beautiful to me as it is when it's a big mess. It looks lovely with an antique cloth and a cheery vase of flowers. And I do enjoy Monday morning Windex shine to celebrate my cleaning day. But today it was at peak beauty because I taught Kaelyn to make her first scones. I love the mess involved in teaching a little woman to cook.

Dots of butter smears, splashes of sour cream, carelessly tossed measuring spoons and cups, wayward blueberries smooshed about and whatever a writer should call "flour mixed with cooking spray and sugar muck", my counter never shined so brightly.

During Kaelyn's eight years of growing up she has tasted nearly every type of scone I have ever made. We have had countless tea parties, both real and pretend, fancy and common. We have served at our tea parties everything from the pink frosted Mini-Wheats that I convinced her were tea cookies when she was little to the most fancy of my sandwiches and scones. We have had china and lace tea parties in grown up settings and we have had paper cups and grubby tea parties while covered with garden dirt.

As she finished cutting the triangles (I get to use THIS big knife? Whoa!) she grinned up at me and said, "I made scones."

Kaelyn may forget who taught her to make scones. None of us understand why some memories of our childhood remain and others are forgotten. What really matters to me is that Kaelyn learned just a little bit more about trying something that looks hard to do. She became a little bit better at homemaking skills and going the extra mile to bless others with something she made. She learned all the valuable lessons that she soaks up just by being loved and loving me in return.

As she grows older, God will be teaching Kaelyn lessons, too. She may not remember just how it was she learned the big lessons, or even always remember it was God who taught her. He's pretty good at wiping away the messes left behind. What really matters to Him is that she becomes a stronger person, a better person.

He will smile and say, "I made a woman."

As Kaelyn danced off to play with Nathanael and I washed the dishes while waiting for the scones to bake, I found tears running down my cheeks. Not because of the mess required in the making of a scone, but because of the precious mess required in the making of a woman.