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I thought after last week’s missive (an especially long letter) of a newsletter article, I’d change pace a bit here. I want to introduce you to a column that will in all likelihood be featured on cooking blogs everywhere: Craig’s Cooking Corner. This week, I’m going to teach you the art of making pizza pops.

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Step 1: buy pizza pops. Sorry, did you think we were making them from scratch? They’re $18 for 28 “pizza busters” at Superstore (that’s the no-name title for pizza pops). A steal of a deal. No need to get fancy here.

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Step 2: put pizza pops in microwave. I recommend three at a time. I find that’s the right number of pizza pops for my appetite. You might be a two. Maybe even a one. That’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own.

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Step 3: set the time on the microwave. You’ll need to account for the most difficult step of all: flipping the pizza pops half way through. I like to go with a roughly 65/35 split in terms of the time each side cooks for. My highly scientific theory is that it takes a bit of time for the first side to warm up, but by the time you flip it, the pop’s already cookin’! Also, add more time for more pops in the oven. With my 3 pop regime, I’m usually at 2 minutes on one side, then 1 and a half on the other. If I was a novice and only making one pizza pop, I might go with 1:15 one one side and 45 seconds on the other. The bottom line is that a good indicator the pizza pops are done is that you’ve got those gooey innards oozing out the ends. The pop has popped!

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Step 4: eat the pizza pops. Enjoy them. Don’t look at the nutritional facts. 

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Here’s the serious point: as you can tell, I do not have gifts in the kitchen. In fact, my abilities are so limited that even my help with meal prep is not always welcome. I get that and am not one bit offended! You might not be sure what it is that God has gifted you to do, but I think many people do have a good sense of what our gifts are and aren’t. Here's a question, and it's probably not the first time you've heard me ask something like this: if you’re honest, are you using your gifts to serve the Lord or yourself? If you’re a disciple of Jesus, your life is to be offered to the Lord as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:2). It’s all for Him. I’m not saying you’ve got to sign up for a thousand things to help out with at The Bridge, because your service will take different forms depending on God’s leading. It may be that He has placed you in a situation where your service doesn't intersect directly with church-led ministries. As a pastor, my hope and prayer for all of you is that whatever it looks like in your life, you are fully engaged in the mission of God, serving as He calls you to. If you’re wrestling with what that means, talk about it with someone- a friend, a leader here at The Bridge like myself, one of our staff, or one of our elders. We’d love to listen and pray with you about that!

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