Seasoning

      When I got married, one of my good friend's mom gave me a large cast iron skillet. She told me that if I was going to be a Williams, I would need one. I had little to no experience with cast iron, but she was right, a Williams' household is not complete without at least one good cast iron pan. And that skillet has turned out to be one of the most used items in my kitchen. I use it just about every single day.
       The thing about cast iron however, is that it needs to be seasoned. Unseasoned cast iron is no good, it sticks. So, whenever we have gotten a new cast iron pan, Luke rubs it down really well with oil and sticks it in the oven to really bake the oil in. Then from there, the more you use it the better the seasoning gets.
      A few years ago, my Grandpa gave us another cast iron skillet. This one however, was not brand new. I don't know if he found it at some second hand store or if it was from his own kitchen, but wherever it came from that baby is well seasoned. It has years of oils pressed into it's porous surface and it is a perfect example of a good skillet.
     As I was doing the dishes last night and cleaning up that very first skillet of ours, I began to think about how we as Christians are like cast iron. When we first begin our walk of faith we are unseasoned. We have begun a new journey and it is a good one(the best one), but we don't yet have much for seasoning. We don't know it all yet and we are bound to make some pretty good mistakes on the way. In order to begin the process of seasoning our new faith we need to absorb God's word, pray, spend time with wise and godly men and women who have been on the journey longer than we have. As we start the process, the seasoning begins. We begin to grow into a better version of ourselves. But we must remember that this is not going to be an instant process. Just like that skillet from my Grandpa probably had years of use and seasoning to make it such a great pan, so too we will take years of seasoning.
     I was talking with my Grandpa this weekend. I have always know this, but it struck me what a wise and godly man he is. Actually, both my Grandpas are. They are godly, men who seek the One who breathes life into our souls. But they didn't just get there overnight. They have been seasoning their faith for many many years.
    I am still a young skillet. I've done some seasoning but I still find myself sticking. I mess up and feel like a failure. But the point is, you don't give up. Scrape it up, oil it down and keep moving. Trust that the One who started you on your journey will keep the process of seasoning going. Allow your faith to grow. Happy New Year!

Philippians 1:6
"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.”  ~Andy Rooney