Week 13: The Healing & Sustaining Power of Love
With chicken noodle soup as a metaphor…
Each Sunday, my wife and I prepare, cook and eat a meal together — intentionally. Every Friday, I’ll be sharing our experience here in this space. I want to see the growth that will come in our marriage because of this. I hope you enjoy our story. You can find last week’s post here.
My eyes slowly opened to the shock of the morning light peeking through the shades that cover our bedroom window. Instantly, the rest of my body fought with me to close my eyes once more. My head throbbed to the beat of overbearing techno music. The only notes I could muster, however, were a few groggy ughs.
My wife awoke in a similar condition. It was about 8:45 a.m. Neither one of us felt like moving from the bed. So we didn’t. Until one of us, and I honestly cannot remember who, said…
“What are we going to make for Cooking With Sarah today?”
A valid question since it was Sunday. Usually our Sunday mornings consist of going to church. But neither one of us were in good enough shape. We decided to stay home. But we still had to eat. So, we thought about the types of food that might help a sick couple the most. Instantly, one meal in particular came to mind.
Chicken noodle soup.
We both agreed, but that meant that a trip to the store was in need. We laid back down hoping that we would magically feel better before we had to make the trek to the store. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
On the bright side, the nearest grocery store is practically inside our apartment complex. We both went to the store. We supported each other while we were down. Shortly, we were in and out and ready to start cooking.
Healing
We started by mixing the vegetables, then we added the noodles and the chicken. I’ll leave the rest of the particulars for my wife’s recipe, but let me just say that there are few things as therapeutic as the steam of a cooking stew when you’re feeling sick.
It didn’t take long to cook, but it felt like hours. Ok, full disclosure, I taste tested it a little early. It was sooooo good! When it was finally time to dig in, I could feel my fatigue drifting away amid the steam.
We started eating the soup, and our eyes popped out! The combinating of spices and tastes was spectacular. I downed my bowl of soup with much more vigor than I had displayed earlier in the day.
The soup itself was sooting, sure. But it was the teamwork and togetherness it took to make it that truly was a salve to my soul.
Sustaining
The next day, I was sitting in my office at work. It was 11:30, and I was about to heat up my lunch. I was really excited for lunch today, because I was having leftovers of the soup.
I soon found out that it had become more of a casserole than a soup, but it was still delicious. I had that soup for lunch the next couple days at work. It powered me through my work week and reminded me of my sweet wife back home.
And that always brings a smile to my face. :)
