Life is like kneading dumplings

I can still remember the first time I had to knead dumplings.

My mom had left for work and having kneaded the flour, she left it for my sister and I to make and cook. After almost 7 hours in a pot sweating, the dough was too soft to manipulate and our dumplings came out so misshapen not even I wanted to eat them.

Over the years, I’ve found life and the numerous experiences faced to be very much like that first dumpling-kneading experience. Whether it’s because I added too much water, or I left the dough to sweat, or I just didn’t know how to shape it, the dumplings just didn’t come out right. Similarly, sometimes we put in too much or too little effort, or we waited too long and missed our chance or we didn’t heed the voice of God or our elders and our experiences and lives just end up totally wrong.

I’ll give you an example. A few years back I asked God about something my heart was set on. I wanted it badly! In order to show His disagreement with what I wanted, I used a technique that I like to call the Gideon maneuver. I said “God if you don’t agree, let it rain in all three places I’m going today.” Believe it or not, the rain fell with a frenzy in all three places. You would think after seeing that I would listen. Nope, not this girl! I went and did my own thing. Is it any wonder my life became a mess? God speaks to all of us. Whether we want to call it intuition or whatever, if we listen and heed, we cannot go wrong.

I’ve been kneading dumplings for years now and here is one more thing I’ve realized. Even the most experienced dumpling-kneader can spoil the dough if you are not careful. Don’t get cocky and arrogant because you have experience. Any number of factors can drop in which can easily spoil your dough. It is said that an old dog cannot learn new tricks but sometimes that old dog won’t survive without the old and some new tricks.

The long and short of my rambling? Be careful with your dough.