There are many different foods that can be purchased in the stores here that are not easily available in the United States. The problem is that just eating the food alone might not be how the French desired the food to be eaten for the best experience.

DeAnna’s language partner asked her if she has eaten Ratatouille since living in France. She answered yes. Then the language partner asked her which recipe she used. Busted, the Ratatouille we had eaten came from a can and was not very appetizing. So she gave DeAnna her recipe and instructed her to go home and make it, it didn’t seem like something that would taste good looking at the ingredients (Tomatoes, onion, zucchini, eggplant and some spices). To our surprise it was amazing! Even our picky 5 year old eater said “Mom this is delicious!” not a frequently uttered complement he uses. She also learned that one of the smelliest/strongest cheeses in France must be combined with Fig Jelly to taste good.

The proper combination of food made me think about how Paul wrote about the different Spiritual gifts and that each one is important and they all need each other to work together.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NIV)

Lord, help me to remember that you have designed and created me to be used with others and it is only through these combinations that your glory and power with shine through and I will have the experience that you designed.