The Prayer Spoon

Something about getting older and wiser makes me do strange things.  I'm more sentimental. I like things that have a memory attached to them.  I'm simplifying my life. It's become a goal of mine.  On the road to simplification (is that a word?) I'm becoming more attached to simple things and less attached to impressing someone or trying to be somone I'm not.  I like baking cakes in mama's old cake pan.  I like opening my closet door and touching my daddy's tattered red and black checkered housecoat.  He's been gone 19 years but if I hold it close enough, I can still smell him.  I love sitting on the floor and looking through a steamer trunk of old family photographs. 

So when a brand new wooden spoon arrived in the mail from my niece in Ohio, I held it close and thought of her.  She had sent a note saying, "When you use your wooden spoon, please pray for your family in Ohio."  That seemed like an odd request.  Of course, knowing her, it wasn't odd at all.  She said it and she meant it.  I proudly put it in the big glass cookie jar on my kitchen counter so everyone could see it.  The jar holds old wooden spoons of all shapes and sizes.  I even have one my sister bought for me when she visited our niece a couple of years ago.  It's called a right-handed tasting spoon.  I love using it when I'm stirring a sauce of some sort. 

Several days after the special spoon arrived, I decided to make my homemade spaghetti sauce.  When it came time to start stirring, I reached for a wooden spoon and there it was, the Prayer Spoon.  It was new and unstained and I almost thought of not using it so it would stay beautiful and clean.  But then I thought about what she had said in the note, "When you use your wooden spoon, please pray for your family in Ohio."  So I pulled it out and started stirring the fragrant red sauce.  It was smooth and it felt good in my hand.  That's a sure sign of a good wooden spoon. And then it happened.  I closed my eyes and I could see her and her sweet smile and I started praying while I stirred.  It was a very peaceful time for me, nothing that anyone looking would have even noticed.  I prayed and I thanked God for her.  For placing her in my life even though she's many miles away.  Unconditional love.  That's what I think when I think of her.  She's blessed with it.  I know so very few people that have it and she's full of it.

I've seen prayer quilts and been in a prayer circle and I've heard of prayer shawls but never have I heard or read about a Prayer Spoon.  Oh, I'm sure I could search the internet and there would be one out there in the world but none would be as special as this particular wooden spoon.  It's such a simple thing and, once again, it created something that I treasure,  something that holds a wonderful memory for me.  And I've used it many times since and each time I say a prayer for my family in Ohio.  God bless the simple things in my life like that wooden spoon.  I pray that He keeps me grounded and I know He had a part in sending that spoon my way as a reminder.