Favorite: The Purple Onion
It’s funny how one quirky moment of our lives can become our legacy.
Like how most all I know about my great-grandma is how she sat outside with a pop-gun to run off the squirrels. Oh, and that she stuffed kleenex up her shirtsleeves.
Like how poor Thomas, forever known as “doubting Thomas,” just because of one sentence that flew out of his mouth in a moment of distress.
Like how we drove through a skunky-patch in Texas when I was a kid, and my family will never let me forget that I blurted out, “Mmmm! That smells like a good burger!” I was hungry (I’m sure)! What can I say?
On that note. Every good burger needs lettuce, “tuh-may-tah” as Grandma would say, mayo, cheese and onion sliced real thin. Just writing that takes me back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house—the smells, tastes, and sound of giggles. That’s part of their legacy.
Likewise, my mom left a legacy in each of us the day she sliced a purple onion.
Inside the center of its flesh was the most beautiful, perfect purple heart. She payed attention. When God sent her this love note, reminding her of His Love, she noticed. She received it. And she shared it with each of us as though He’d given it to us too. It was pretty marvelous.
Here’s what she could’ve done… She could’ve rushed in a busy hurry to get supper on and missed it entirely. Or, she could’ve said, Ha! Look at that! And moved on with dinner, ignoring the One who created that onion for her and for us. And she could’ve noticed, but not spent the time to show it to each of us in the house and we’d have missed out on the testimony.
But she didn’t.
Mom was just cutting purple onions. A mundane job that nobody really loves doing in order to serve her family. But that moment is now part of her legacy. It’s an example of all the times she taught us to have attentive ears for God’s voice and His whispers of love. In that moment, she taught us to listen, to receive, to give God glory for beautiful things, and to take time to share that with others. Thank you, mom. I love you.
In fact, that lesson is exactly what I hope you will develop in your own life by reading this blog. The ability to find the hearts, treasures, and nuggets that God has hidden in your everyday day-to-day. And then to share them with others.
As I wrote this, I marvel even more at God’s quiet attention to detail. He did not pick a white onion or Vidalia onion for this moment. It was purple. A purple heart. Like the kind we give to honor those who were wounded in battle. Like the one awarded to Christ, reminding me that “by his wounds, we are healed.”
He unravels the gospel to us in so many hidden, beautiful ways!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Now, go cut up some onions and give God the glory.
Love, Danita Jenae
Join me in Prayer:
Holy Spirit, tend my heart. Stir up in me a holy passion for you. Let me come to know and believe the deep, deep love that you have for me. And give me eyes to see eternal. Set my heart and mind on things above where Christ is seated in heavenly places, even as I am doing my daily life and working with the things on earth. Set my heart and mind on things above even as I’m doing laundry and dishes and preparing dinner. Surprise me by moments of your romance. You are my God and King. And I’m so grateful that you call me your Beloved. I’m so grateful for Jesus and His precious blood. In the totality and authority of who Jesus is, I pray. Amen.