“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:13-14
I have mint growing in three places around my house, two containers and (in a poor split second decision before leaving for a vacation) one area in the ground. Near my rosebushes. Now overtaking my rose bushes. Mint grows well here, it is a weed and I grow weeds very well.
My weeds are highly specified, the two containers of mint are actually a variety of chocolate mint and the mint in the ground is spearmint. The chocolate mint is a bit finicky and takes tending but the spearmint will take over everything if I don’t keep it cut back. I guess even weeds have personalities.
My life is filled with personalities, from the loud, talkative, boisterous to the shy, quiet, timid. Just as each person in my world has a unique physical appearance, we all have a unique disposition, a persona all our own, regardless of how much we might resemble family members.
I observed this last week at the beach with my seven grandchildren. They all obviously belong to the same extended family tree, but like my mint there are distinctive qualities that break them down into smaller family groups and ultimately prove them to be individuals fearfully and wonderfully made, no one exactly like the other.
At bedtime several of them crawled into bed without a complaint while others moaned and still others bartered for more time. At mealtimes some ate anything and others almost nothing. This one liked the beach, this one the pool, this one playing games, this one only wanted to win, this one wanted to be with everyone all the time, this one only wanted to be alone. Multiple personalities, thankfully in multiple bodies, all living and loving the way God designed them.
It was a fantastic time at the beach; it was an exhausting time at the beach! The tendency in a group is to force all personalities into one big agreeable body, and of course everybody thinks the best personality is their own. “If they could only be like me . . .” we think, although we never admit that’s what we think. We say things like, “if only they were older, quieter, more decisive, quicker, less emotional, more emotional, able to take a joke, neater, and on and on. In essence, if only they were more like what I can get along with. If only they were more like me.
But God intentionally created each of us with a unique personality. We are not AI, we are I. We each have our own level of intelligence, creativity, musical talent, sports ability, empathy, humor, common sense, energy, drive. We have commonalities, but none of us are common. We are imbued with the image of God and given a life time to be what God created us to be.
Like my family at the beach sometimes it is easier when we can pull everyone into conformity. Ask 16 people what they want for dinner and you may get 16 different answers. But also like my family at the beach, it is richer when we are not necessarily in unison but in harmony. The depth of tone and fullness of chords is heard when the scared grandchild is comforted by the confident cousin; the timid swimmer is encouraged by the fearless one. If we were all exactly the same we would only go so far; sometimes too far and sometimes not far enough.
I share these things because I think we all struggle, at times, to be ourselves and to allow others to be themselves. Our need for love and affirmation causes us to bow to pressure and do and say things that are not true to who we are. Media says we should believe this, parents insist on that, friends urge us to try this or that. Peer pressure does not begin and end in adolescents. Top that with a world that has discarded God’s truth and you have a recipe for multiple and pervasive personality disorders.
So how do we live well in the mint family, knowing there are various kinds of mint? The band For King and Country, of recent “Unsung Hero” fame, released a song a decade ago called “O God Forgive Us”. There are multiple versions of this song available on YouTube, but I will embed a link to one in particular, just an audio link. At the end of this recording, Joel Smallbone offers a prayer that includes the following line, “finding the truest version of yourself by knowing the one who knows you even better than you know yourself.”
The only way we can thrive and help others thrive is to know and live by God’s best intentions for us. God offers us life. Life abundant and not heavy and burdensome. Life filled with freedom and not fear as we, together, live and love in a way that brings honor to God and to those He created. As we care for one another, delight in our differences, and trust that God’s truth truly is perfect, we can let go of our puny demands to have things our own way. What would the world be like if everyone was exactly like me? or you? What would the world be like if everyone followed God’s best intentions for His children?
The recipe I’m going to share with you today for Mint Ice-Cream with Chocolate Flakes is an easy one if you grow mint and have an electric ice-cream maker. My amazing sister gifted me the ice-cream maker several years ago and it is worth its weight in gold, or at least ice-cream. You can find them on Amazon starting at $39.99. I’m sure the recipe will work with an old time ice-cream maker, as well, it’s just super simple with the electric.
This is the mintiest ice-cream I’ve ever tasted due to the variety of mint called for. You can buy mint in the produce section of most grocery stores, but using multiple varieties of mint is what makes this ice-cream taste amazing. I purchased my chocolate mint from Lowe’s years ago. It grows really well in containers. You will need 2 1/2 cups of packed mint leaves so be sure to procure enough, whether you grow it or buy it.
Mint Ice-Cream with Chocolate Flakes
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 1/2 cups packed mint leaves, 2/3 chocolate mint & 1/3 spearmint
- 3/4 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- Chocolate bar, I use dark chocolate but milk chocolate works well
- green food coloring
Collect mint, wash and dry. Strip the leaves from the stalk and press down until you have a solid 2 1/2 cups of mint leaves. Bring milk just to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, add mint leaves, pushing them down into the milk. Cover and allow to steep for 20-30 minutes.
Remove mint from milk, squeezing all the essence from the leaves. Add sugar and salt to steeped milk, whisk to dissolve sugar granules. Stir in heavy cream, vanilla and food coloring. Place in a container suitable for refrigerator and freezer with a cover. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
When ready, pour the chilled milk mixture into the frozen bowl of your electric ice-cream maker and turn machine on. Allow to churn for 20-25 minutes. While the ice-cream is churning, use a potato peeler to create chocolate flakes from your chocolate bar. Slicing or flaking the chocolate this way adds a light flavor to your ice-cream without creating frozen bites of chocolate. I usually add about 2 oz of flaked chocolate, but it’s up to you how much you put in.
When ice-cream has churned for 20 minutes add chocolate flakes and churn for another 5-10 minutes, watching to see when it achieves a soft ice-cream status. Spoon ice-cream into freezer container and freeze for several hours before serving.
