The Whole Frog, and Nothin' but!

Some years back, our family was in Guangzhou, China, visiting friends of ours there.  We went to a restaurant that was well-known for its jaouzi (which can be found as "gyoza" in Japan or "mandu" in Korea or "potstickers" here in the US). The jaouzi were truly amazing. The "skin" was perfectly thin and wonderfully crispy, and the filling was tender, juicy and garlicky - just the way it should be!  There was even a delicious rabbit dish that I kept reaching for.  But my story doesn't follow either of those dishes....it's the soup that was given at the end of the meal that was most interesting by far. 

At our large round table, there were five children, about six to eight men and two ladies.  Towards the end of the meal, the soup pot was rolled over to the table, and steaming, fragrant bowls were passed around to each of us.  It did smell good, and judging by what we had just eaten, I was looking forward to the delicious broth. The waiter put my bowl on my plate and smiled like I had been given a prize.... ... ...there...on top of my soup... sat a perfect and whole frog.  It was a little larger than a golf ball, just smaller than a tennis ball.  I looked around the table to see if everyone had been given this treasure and discovered that only myself and the other lady present had been given the succulent beasts.  What should I do?  Everything I had learned about missions began to scroll through my head as I weighed my options:  Eat the thing and please the natives; Despise the thing and offend everyone in the country.  The other lady, being Chinese, would know what to do so I determined in my heart that I would follow her lead.  I said a little prayer and cast my glance sideways.... To my amazement, she put the frog - in its entirety - in her mouth.  She didn't drop a single word in her conversation but continued telling us something or another while she gracefully used her chopsticks to remove tiny bone by tiny bone.  There was a perfectly clean little skull...a sparkling tiny femur (do frogs have those?)...and on and on until a little altar of bones was piled on the side of her plate.  I said a prayer and reached for the critter.  Unlike the pro, I was unable to clean my bones so thoroughly (and did I really want to?).  The thing was disgustingly slimy and rather difficult to manage.  The bones I extracted from my mouth were laden with stringy flesh.  In short, it was revolting. And, if the truth be known, I doubt a soul in the restaurant even noticed my dilemma.  But I did it.  It was, perhaps, my proudest moment in missions.

I guess for me the whole episode really started when I was about 15 or so and was on a trip with a group of teenagers to Thailand.  We walked through a huge market in Bangkok and saw all the colors and heard all the sounds and experienced all the odors.  I say experienced because it was much more than smells.  The pungent aromas burned our eyes and our very bodies revolted at the gagging nature of the things we were inhaling.  All of the other teenagers on the trip began to act disgusted, contorting their faces and loudly exclaming how horrible it was.  They carried on like (sorry guys) idiots.  It was at that moment that I purposed in my heart not to offend but to honor the cultures that I would visit.  I realized that so many people in the market were watching us, and I refused to act for one second like the things that they valued were an abomination to me.

We are ambassadors, you know.  We can never expect to be heard and respected if we do not treat others with respect.  You may not ever visit Thai markets and their odors...you may not walk the streets of Taiwan late in the evenings and smell "stinky tofu" (their name, not mine)... but you will most likely be around family members, co-workers, spouses of friends who are different from you - people who value things that you don't.  I encourage you to consider yourself an ambassador.  I am amazed that the people whose life practices I may secretly revile or whose personalities may strongly clash with my own have very often sought me out in difficult moments.  Why? Because I do try to value people.  I know I'm not perfect, and the Lord is working this out in me daily, but I do see the fruit of a life trying to honor God by being respectful to the people whom He has placed around me.

Go ahead.  Eat the frog. It won't kill you. But it will make you stand a little taller inside!

My favorite kitchen gadget today: My Le Creuset dutch oven. It's ancient (60 years or more) and thoroughly seasoned.  I got it from my sister's husband's aunt.  It makes the best soups ever!!!