When I married in 1962, my parents gave me a Dormeyer mixer. It was top-of-the-line. My dad believed that investing in quality and paying a little more served well in the long run. That was 62 years ago and my Dormeyer is still operating fine.
I was excited about the stainless-steel mixer. It even had a grinder attachment! It was given a place of honor on my very first kitchen counter.
Cooking and baking were in my genes. I began baking when I was 15. Like my mother and grandmother, everything was made from “scratch.” I took pride in that. I still do.
My mother and grandmother were masters in the kitchen. They had big gardens, nut and fruit trees, and berry bushes, and they preserved their bounty by canning, freezing, and drying. They put the best food on the table. I wanted to uphold the tradition and having this mixer would be a huge assist. It was certainly something my mother and grandmother didn’t have when they were new brides.
I could not begin to guess how many spins my Dormeyer mixer has made in six decades. It has been serviced only once; it was repaired by my brother when he was in trade school forty years ago. Daddy ordered extra beaters to have while they could still be gotten. Manufacturers do have a way of cutting quality and replacing the exceptional with satisfactory.
So, what does this have to do with a prayerful pondering?
- Investing well always pays off. Invest in your relationship with God, with family, with friends, in your work.
- If any of those relationships suffer, repair them if you can, and keep moving forward. (The one relationship always repairable is your one with God.)
- Be grateful for the gifts you are given, and use them to serve others.
- Honor your heritage.
- Treasure your memories.
- Value what you’ve been given by treating it well.