Basketti

Basketti, that's what my kids called it. Spaghetti is what most people call it. One of my favorite meals. My mom made the best spaghetti in the entire world. I have never, ever eaten any better. I learned to make it like her. 

I remember watching her when I was little. She always used a cast iron skillet to cook her sauce. She always used Mueller's Spaghetti #8 noodles. 

Ah, the skinny, straight, rigid noodles that snapped so easily. She would take them from the box, hold them in one hand and slowly, with a swirling motion, lower them into the boiling water. They would soften enough at first that as she swirled and lowered the whole noodle would immerse into the boiling water. Then she would give them a stir so they wouldn't stick together into a clump. 

She watched them because if they boiled too much, the starchy foam would boil up and over the pot. 

They need to boil for a while before the noodles are just right.

When the noodles came out, after being boiled, they were much different than when they went in. They were a little bigger, and much softer. And they no longer had any snap to them.

Putting spaghetti into the hot water makes it softer and stronger.

Have you ever felt like life is hot water and you're in it up to your neck;  Swirling, rolling, bubbling, ever changing?

Trials and tests, struggles and fears are not easy, nor fun. But they can change you. They can soften what is hard in you. They can make you less likely to snap. They allow you bend instead of break. 

It takes some time, getting there is a gradual process. Each trial we face and overcome builds us and strengthens us. We get stronger and stronger.

Be thankful for the afflictions that you go through and overcome. Consider it joy to be found stronger and more sure of God. 

Hear:  Romans 10:17

Believe: Hebrews 11:6

Repent: Acts 17:30

Confess: Matthew 16:16

Be baptized: Acts 2:38

Be a faithful servant: 1 Corinthians 15:58