Ms. Edna, the world's best cook

 

The picture above was saved off of a college friend's facebook page. Obviously, the friend is the beautiful bride in the picture, Ashley. The elderly lady with her is a woman who has made an impact on untold hundreds of students' lives at the University of South Alabama. Her name is Ms. Edna and she was the cook at the Baptist Campus Ministries center on campus at USA. I learned from another college friend, that she passed away recently. She was such a godly lady. I have decided to share 6 things Ms. Edna taught me about life and love.
1. Home is wherever good cooking can be found. She made the BCM home to me with various lunches and dinners every week. That place ALWAYS smelled of Ms. Edna's good cookin'. My freshman year, my parents were 10 hours away. Ms. Edna helped keep me busy and keep "my belly full" to keep my mind off of my homesickness.

2. Friendships made in the kitchen are vital to a persons development into a mature adult. I got to know her while washing dishes, sweeping and mopping, and sometimes helping to fix a meal. She shared a lot about God and her life and the counsel she received from her mother and grandmother.

3. A true servant's heart never stops desiring to serve God. Her husband died my freshman year of college. He was the love of her life and I didn't think she would return after that. However, the next week, she was back making chicken noodle soup and sandwiches for us. She knew that just because her husband died, she was still called to minister to us college students.

4. A grandma's love is unfailing. She wasn't even my blood-relative but she loved me and countless others.

5. The man a girl is supposed to marry is the one who will stand beside them in the kitchen and help prepare meals. She told me this as a reminder that the woman isn't the one who is supposed to do all the cooking. Her husband was always at hte BCM helping her with meals. She felt that a husband and wife should share as much duties as possible. Thanks, Travis, for cooking with me.

6. A good recipe is hard to find and once acquired, difficult to try. She made 2 meals that have been the most phenomenal meals I have ever put in my mouth- chicken spaghetti and her chicken pot pie. Before I graduated, she gave me those two recipes as a "graduation gift." I have yet to try them. I look at the cards (posted on our fridge) and remember all of my fond memories of Ms. Edna and think about trying to make the meals. However, I am scared to because I KNOW what they are supposed to taste like and if they don't taste just right I will probably be close to devastated.

I love Ms. Edna and miss her but I guess God was needing the world's best cook so He called her home. I bet she and her husband are up there now cooking away together, side-by-side. (Ok, theologically, I know that is not true but it is a fun happy thought to keep me from crying.)