I’ve been thinking.

I made a pie today. Apple pie, with caramel crumble topping, and a shortbread crust.

Thinking about the one month anniversary of leaving didn’t inspire me to make the pie, but after making it I was inspired to write about it because of the pie. Food is powerful people.

Pie. Apple pie. I like to think I’m a genius in the kitchen and can do no wrong, therefore I mix what I think will give me what I want, and go from there. As the first piece is cut and carried away by Mom, and I carve out the second for myself, it hit me.

We have apple pies of lives. I want a big piece because it tastes good, all of the slices from different apples, blending the tart with the sweet. There might be the perfect apple slice in the next piece of the pie, but I can’t keep eating until the whole pie is gone, I have to share some or I’ll make myself sick.

A chunk of the yummy crumble topping rolls over onto the next piece as I scoop mine out and I miss that savory piece, the option remains to steal it away from the person who might receive the next piece, or leave it there for them to be surprised by what flavor it will bring.

Everyone has different adventures. Some are shared, some are to be had alone, some sweet, some tart. But we all have pie. We do. No matter how big or small our piece, the flavor of the filling or the style of the topping. You may think that now that I have lived abroad for a few months that I want to talk for hours and hours about how wonderful it was or how beautiful everything was, or maybe how different and awkward and awful some things were, but I won’t.

You can ask me questions and I’ll share bits and pieces of what the flavor of study-abroad is like, but I can’t share a piece of pie I already ate. In fact, it was more like a couple of pies. It was a diet that changed my life and became a part of who I am. I shared my Spanish pies with my Spanish families and friends and the American students I met along the way. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and the pie He makes for us all around the world is awesome! (however cliché that may sound, I stand by it.)

So we go on, making more pies. And the recipes change and develop as we grow and meet new people and experience new places, as do the flavors! Today I chose apple because I had apples. Tomorrow I might make chocolate, or blueberry, or strawberry rhubarb. And why does it have to be pie? It could be a cheesecake of an adventure or even a barrel-deep kale salad! Why must life be boring when there is food to help us build and discover and compare adventures?