Week 16: A Special Blending
Intentionality with a little kale mixed in…
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.
Ifinally became a true millennial. When I had my first kale smoothie, I crossed the threshold into a special group. I guess I have my wife to thank for that. It was Father’s Day. On top of that, it was the beginning of what was about to be a breakneck pace of a week.
Sarah wanted to make sure that we had a healthy breakfast each day. I thought we might just get up earlier and make eggs. But she had another plan in mind…something we’d have to prep the night before.
Her Aunt Rosemary had told her about a recipe for kale smoothies that wasn’t disgusting (sorry to any kale fans). I had never tried a kale smoothie before. I thought it would make me puke on the spot. But then Sarah went on to tell me about the other ingredients — bananas, strawberries, oats and peanut butter. It couldn’t be all that bad…right?
We prepped the smoothies on Saturday night. You can read about the process in Sarah’s recipe. I was struck by the fact that we were preparing for the next day the night before. Many times my evenings are spent relaxing and decompressing from a day’s work. It felt refreshing to take our evening and intentionally use it to prepare for the next day. It was a small task — mixing oats, flaxseed and almond milk in a container and placing it in the refrigerator. But it made the next morning much easier.
We woke up early on Sunday with a busy day ahead of us. We had church and then a full day of celebrating Sarah’s dad and my dad. We pulled our concoctions out of the fridge and mixed in the kale and the peanut butter with the frozen fruit. And then came the moment of truth.
I’m not kidding you — these smoothies are great! We tried it with cocoa powder mixed in as well. Either way, I’ll have these smoothies for breakfast any day. And I must give credit where credit is due. It was all Sarah’s idea.
Chalk up another reason why I love marriage. My wife invites me to move outside the status quo and try new things. Then we try it together. We help each other prepare and we encourage each other in the middle of it. Yes it was just a little smoothie, but I saw the same thing in action later that week.
Sports Camp
Part of the reason Sarah wanted to make these smoothies was the fact that she was thinking ahead. The week that stretched out before us was as busy as any we had seen in our married life. I had to be up earlier than usual because of a weeklong work event. Then, we’d both be going straight from work to our church’s evening sports camp that just so happened to be the same week.
Only it didn’t “just so happen.” God was trying to help us grow. And grow we did.
The amazing example my wife set at the beginning of the week was a foundation for what would occur over the next five days. When one of us was tired, we picked each other up. Sarah made me dinner each day so I would have something to eat after work and before camp started. She even woke up earlier than normal to help me get me smoothie ready in the morning. Yeah, I know — God was doing his best work when He created my wife.
Each morning we had our smoothies. It was a great breakfast. It was a great week.
It’s a great life.
