I thought I would take this post and talk application. Over the last several weeks we have been discussing the theory of pursuing your purpose. Personally, I’m not a fan of theory because theory only exists on paper. The best plans in the world are useless if they are never executed, you know! One of the things I have been working on this year is making a deliberate effort to spend focused, quality time with my wife. It has been a crazy busy start to 2015 which makes this time with my bride extremely important. So here it comes…application in the form of cooking!

Last night I decided to join my wife in the kitchen! Earlier in the day I made my intentions known and I could tell that she was very surprised. I knew she was encouraged because she immediately asked me what I wanted to prepare. A few weeks ago we were traveling together and went to a very unique restaurant in Birmingham, AL. On the menu, I found an age old classic with a modern spin…RAMEN. Yes, that’s right RAMEN! After indulging in the most delicious dish so far this year I responded to my wife’s inquiry with yep, you guessed it…RAMEN! I wanted to try to recreate a dish that I had eaten weeks before.

Now, before I go any further let me state for the record that before I met my wife, I barely had the ability to put a bowl of cereal together! Cooking is something that I very much enjoy but I absolutely stink at it! I was willing however because my wife is a superstar chef and I knew she needed some quality time. I arrived home early to make sure I could be available. Our kitchen is fairly small, and my wife is now 6 months pregnant with twins so to say that space was limited is a gross understatement! We were having a blast, cutting vegetables, boiling broth and washing dishes as we went. I can honestly say that I was having a blast and my comfort zone had been thrown to the wind!

I am happy to say that the dish was a success. If nothing else, I managed to avoid burning anything and the broth was perfectly seasoned. In total, the meal took about 45 minutes to prepare. The best part was that my wife was smiling as big as I have ever seen her smile! So, the point of this post is that progress is a test. In this case, my progress toward spending more quality time with my wife passed the test. I know this because we both were sincerely having fun. Progress is not perfect, nor is it final but it does need to be tested to ensure that you are moving in the direction that you actually desire to go.

Here is a photo of our beautifully constructed meal!

Black sesame Monkfish with green onion, broccoli and ginger Ramen