Last week I was making Mac and Cheese for Alyssa, my four-year-old, and she wanted to help. Not wanting to dash her passion for “cooking” I said, “Of course you can help!” Well, the problem with that is there’s really not a whole lot to do besides boiling the water, putting in the noodles, draining, and adding the cheese and milk. And, the majority of these steps involve standing over a hot pan and stove. So, naturally, I wanted to be extremely careful as she “helped” me pour in the noodles, stir them up so they didn’t stick, and so on. I mean, learning to work around a hot stove is important but it’s not really one of those skills you want your pre-schooler to acquire by making mistakes and winding up with a severe burn! Admittedly, I’m a little overly cautious in these situations.
Finally we had successfully boiled the water and the noodles, drained the water, deposited the noodles back into the pan and all we had to do was pour in the milk and the cheese…we were SO close to being done. I told Alyssa I could finish up while she sat at the table but she was determined to see the lunch mission through to the end. Again, not wanting to thwart a chef in the making, I said, “OK, get back up on your stool, CAREFULLY, don’t touch anything, Mommy will help you pour the milk into the pot.” She followed directions precisely. But, Mommy’s arm got in the way. Somehow between trying to help her climb back up on her perch, trying to protect her from the hot stove, and trying to hold the ¼ cup of milk up and out of the way I misjudged something. I didn’t realize I was holding my arm too low over her head and when my sweet girl stood all the way up on the stool she had no way of knowing that she would bump – ever so slightly – into the arm holding the milk. And that’s all it took. It was just one quarter of a cup of milk…and my daughter had just barely bumped my arm…it was really more of a gentle nudge…just a small amount of liquid came out of a very small container…and yet – it seemed to go EVERYWHERE!
Milk splashed onto the hot stove top, immediately scalding. Drops of milk hit the counters, the floor, the sink, the utensils that sit next to the stove. I stood there in disbelief for a brief moment; shocked at how far reaching the damage appeared to be. Of course Alyssa thought it was her fault and I had to assure her that although Mommy needed her to go in the other room for a few minutes so the mess could be cleaned up, it wasn't a mess that she had caused. Then I went to work mopping up. A good 5-10 minutes later, I was finally done and still in amazement. The measuring cup sitting innocently on the counter was still practically full and my mind still couldn't grasp how so little milk could have splattered so far and wide! How could such a small bump on the arm cause this incredibly small amount of liquid to cover so much territory?
That's when the AHA moment finally hit me. (At least if I had to clean up burnt milk from my stove top I could actually get something out of it, right?) Just then I realized that's exactly what happens in life. I thought of the place in the Bible when Jesus says, "Out of the abundance of the heart (the) mouth speaks!" And I thought of all the times I'd listened to men and women talking on this passage about how whatever a container is filled with is exactly what will pour out if it spills over. The reminders that what you fill your heart with is what will spill out any time you hit even a little bump in the road. But on this day I learned something more. I knew that when we hit bumps in life whatever's inside of us - good or bad; positive or negative; fair or foul - is exactly what will come out...BUT the AHA came when I realized that even if it's a teeny tiny amount of what's inside of us that does spill out...it can still go EVERYWHERE! Even one kind or unkind word can go a long way and make a big difference in someone else's day or in their overall impression of who we are and what we're made of. Or, more importantly, one word can sometimes rescue or destroy a person who has come to a critical point in life. In Proverbs we read that a harsh word (A Harsh Word - even just one) stirs up anger while a gentle answer can diffuse a situation. We can never really know how big an impact even the smallest frown or snippy reply can make. Or, on the other hand, how much joy a quick smile or short kind word can bring. And, we can never know how many people can be impacted by such a seemingly insignificant act. A small splash can hit a lot of spots! And, sometimes the spots can't all be wiped clean!
