Biscuits

The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Titus 2:3-5

Biscuits are amazing. You can put just about anything on a biscuit, and it will be delicious. There are even restaurants whose entire menus revolve around biscuits. Some of the favorite biscuit accompaniments in our house are gravy, tomatoes, apple butter, butter, sausage, ham, bacon, chocolate gravy, cheese, chicken, jam, honey…you get the idea! And even with all the options, sometimes we just enjoy the beauty of a plain biscuit (that’s Little Bit’s favorite way to eat them).

Despite my love of biscuits, I’ve only recently been able to make good ones. In nineteen years of marriage, I’ve tried countless biscuit recipes and watched many of the great biscuit makers in my life, studying their techniques. And for most of those years, my attempts were frustrating and my biscuits were just barely passable. But in the last few months, I guess everything finally clicked, and baking biscuits is now a joyful and tasty experience!

Side note: If you want to hear a fun biscuit song, look up “49 Biscuits” by Doc Watson.

Of course, there is more to this story than being super excited to have somewhat mastered an old-fashioned mama skill! So, I’ll share my rambling reflections on my prolonged and problematic biscuit-making journey.

My biscuit making skills were not just learned from one source. I’ve watched my mama, my grandma, and my mother-in-law shape biscuits through the years, picked up pointers from other family and friends, and studied and tried many recipes from cookbooks and online. All the recipes had the same basic types of ingredients, were assembled in a similar manner, and produced biscuits of some sort. This made me think of all the God-fearing women in my life who have shown me how to follow Jesus. Each has been blessed with her own personality and spiritual gifts, but they all followed the same basic recipe from God’s Word, and I am beyond thankful for each one of them.

I want my little girl to be able to make delicious biscuits one day. And not just her, but other young ladies and girls in my life. I don’t want the biscuit making art to die. But more importantly, I have the desire and responsibility to pass along my love for Jesus and what knowledge I have of how to live for Him. Biscuits are optional, but there is no acceptable alternative to knowing Jesus.

Did I mention that it took me a very long time to understand the craft of making mouth-watering biscuits?! My poor husband suffered through a lot of biscuit fails, and it just struck me how patiently he suffered through all of them. There are a lot of things I am trying to teach Little Bit to do and not to do. A lot of them she picks up on very quickly, but others I wonder if she’ll every grasp. I know I need to be more patient and remember that she will get there someday. And I know the Lord is very patient with me, and I am grateful for His longsuffering.

I think the main reason I didn’t produce good biscuits earlier in life is that I didn’t practice enough. I would try once in a while, get discouraged, and wait a long time before I tried again. By the time I gave it another go, I had already forgotten what was learned in the previous attempt. But when I got serious and started trying on a regular basis, there was success. Being a Christian is the same way. First of all, it takes Jesus to make us a new creature! After that, we can’t expect to grow in our faith if we don’t put effort into serving the Lord and learning His ways every single day. If we only think of spiritual things sporadically, we can’t expect to get anywhere.

As I mentioned earlier, biscuits are yummy and versatile. Being a child of God is so rewarding and the possibilities of what God can accomplish in our lives is endless. My mind cannot comprehend the gifts and abilities He has in store for those who seek His will and love His ways.