Clucking Today, On the Dinner Plate Tomorrow!



The beet salad was delicious!!!



Do you remember one of my biggest fears before visiting Haiti?  The food was a huge concern on mine --  most especially the thought of eating chicken feet which is considered a delicacy in Haiti!!! 

The first 24 hours there I was determined not to eat anything that was Haitian cooked.  I brought lots and lots of tuna packs and crackers with me, and I even "practiced" eating my own version of my Haitian diet for three weeks prior to boarding the plane for Haiti.  I got to the point of really liking the tuna, especially when a little bit of hot sauce from Taco Bell was added to it.

However, something strange happened to me on the second day of the trip.  When entering the dining hall (which was a small, hot,  humid concrete block room swarming with flies), I saw food laid out on the table for the blanc (white) visitors which happened to include me.  I also saw the women who had been standing up all day preparing the special meal for us.  They, too, were hot, humid, and being swarmed by flies.  They were exhausted from being up since the rooster let out his first cock-a-doodle-doo, and, in spite of the heat, exhaustion, and scarcity of food,  they had worked for hours preparing a feast just for us. 

Something in my heart changed.  I felt so humbled by the grace and love of these women that the food somehow looked different.  It looked delicious.  "Why not?  Why not at least try eating the food?" And, so I did! 

On my plate, I spooned a rice dish with creole sauce (yum!), another scoop of something that looked like fried bananas, and a portion of chicken breast.  Truly, a meal fit for a queen!  And, let's not forget my all-time favorite -- the beet salad!  It absolutely, positively was to die for, and I'm still waiting for someone to send me the recipe so that I can prepare it for my family here in the states.

As the saying goes, "You've come a long way, baby!"  In the morning, I heard the squawking of the chickens followed by feathers flying.  And, in the evening of that same day, I bowed my head in humble thanks for the meal that was so lovingly prepared for Team Squirt!

Talk about some God changes!!!  Just one more opportunity for me to say that God does indeed change our hearts (and our taste buds) when we allow Him!

Love and happy eating,
Clara
PS  In case you're wondering, God didn't perform a miracle on me--not just yet, anyway.  No chicken feet entered this mouth of mine!  He isn't finished with me yet!