"N" is for Nurture . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

OK, so maybe not
good nurturing
here, but isn't
she a cutie?

"N" is for Nurture . . . that is to take care of something, or someone and help it/them to develop and/or grow and to help reach its full potential.

 

I see a lot of nurturing going on among Quakers . . . of ideas, Meetings – Monthly & Yearly, current & potential members, those who are sick &/or suffering, Friends of all ages & experiences and families - especially the children. And the nurturing that we do comes in different forms depending on what or whom we are nurturing.

 

That being said, sometimes I think we all could, individually and corporately, do a better job of nurturing. Sometimes we put too much time and energy into the wrong things OR in the wrong places. We don't take time to stop and think before we speak and/or act. And aren’t we all guilty of doing that?



This takes babysitting
to a whole new level!

Sometimes it seems like all I hear is talk about how 'we' should nurture this or that person or situation, but that's all it is . . . talk. No one seems to do anything about it. At times the talk is really LOUD! OK, I hear you, but if I'm supposed to do something here (and I mean do something really productive here), I (personally) need more details . . . and the details aren't given. And why aren’t those details given? Why they just might give away too much personal information, they might tell you ‘who’ and you’re not allowed to know that! Maybe that's why no one seems to do anything . . . because 'we' don't have enough information to know what needs to be done, or how to do it, or just how to help.



Always a helping hand

I want to turn my focus here to nurturing our children, our Young Friends, the future of our families, our Meetings AND the Religious Society of Friends. The scripture that comes to my mind here is Proverbs 22:6, which says: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” KJV. So, we need to train/teach our children what’s right and then when they are young adults and adults they will know right from wrong and will do what’s right.



At Mooresville Friends I see us trying to nurture, care for/help our children develop and grow . . . through our Sunday School, Children's Church and Kid's Club program. We work at teaching them about the Bible, God, Jesus, life lessons learned . . . through Bible stories, songs, games, snacks and crafts. But are we doing enough?
 

John Woolman said: "To watch the spirit of children, to nurture them in Gospel Love, and labour to help them against that which would mar the beauty of their minds, is a debt we owe them; and a faithful performance of our duty not only tends to their lasting benefit and our own peace, but also to render their company agreeable to us."

I love this quote! Can’t you just picture watching ‘the spirit of children’ in your head? And yes, it’s ‘a debt we owe them’ strange I suppose to think that we owe our children anything, but we do, just go back to the verse from Proverbs, we owe it to them to teach them right from wrong.



Nurturing begins early . . .

The responsibility to nurture our children doesn't totally fall on the Meeting, but also on the family and extended family . . . parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles all play a part in nurturing our children. We can do this by setting limits for our children and listening, really listening to them – hearing what they are saying and also hearing what they’re not saying to us.

 
Even during Meeting for Worship, during the silence, we find ways to nurture our children, nurturing them in their faith. Showing them how we are all equal, and I hadn’t thought about it until someone pointed it out to me recently – we call each other by our first names, we don’t use Mr. or Mrs., although most of the children in my Meeting do address our Pastor as ‘Pastor Sue’ (then again my Meetings got more than our fair share of Sue’s and Susan’s). I can sense my parents and grandparents rolling over in their graves!

As a Meeting, we nurture not only our children, but also their parents – the family as a whole unit, the other caregivers and the teachers that we/they come into contact with. In doing so, we also nurture our Meetings as a whole – shaping who we are. It’s a huge responsibility.

 

Some of my other kids!

During the school year, when I’m working – my paid job, I help to nurture not only the 3^rd & 4^th grade students that we have in our Weekday Religious Education classes, but the other students in their classrooms, in their schools and then there are the teachers & staff members as well and our WRE students families.

 
When I go up to Quaker Haven Camp and serve as a Counselor for a week during the summer, I nurture the girls in my cabin, the other campers, the CIT’s, the other Counselors, the Camp Staff and even the families that I come into contact with.

 
As a Scout Leader/Council Trainer/Unit Commissioner/Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner I help to nurture the Scouts their parents & siblings and other Scout Leaders that I come into contact with and members of the community . . . as I participate in Scouting programs, drive around, stop to eat and go shopping with one of my Scouting uniforms on.

Graduation . . .
all grown-up

Now here’s a thought - can’t we/don’t we nurture others by our example? Going about our daily lives? We can, and should, nurture everyone we come into contact with – through caring about them, showing them compassion and supporting them?
 

Just as Worship was coming to a close this last Sunday this thought came into my head, so I wrote it down, not standing up as the closing benediction was being said -"We need to nurture and care for each other – inclusive . . .  ALL, not just a chosen few, not just those who fit into one of our little group.”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Alright, a couple of recipes for you here. First Nashville House Fried Biscuits - Oh so yummy - eat them by the handfuls! Nashville House is located in beautiful Brown County, Indiana - about an hour drive south and slightly east of where I live. Brown County is the place to be in the fall, when the leaves turn and begin to fall . . . Camp Gallahue, one of my Girl Scout Councils' resident camps is located just a bit north of Nashville, in Brown County . . . Fall Camporees are amazing! Back in either 1972 or 1973, when my dad was the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in the State of Indiana (gotta use the whole official title hear . . . proud daughter moment) my mom host the 'Ladies Luncheon' (for the wives of the Grand Lodge Officers and wives of other dignitaries) at Nashville House. And somehow, my mother talked them into giving her the recipe for their Fried Biscuits! At the time, we lived up in South Bend, Indiana - about 4 1/2 hours straight north of Nashville. The second recipe is for No-Bake Persimmon Pudding - I don't know about other places, but persimmons are a big deal around Mooresville, Indiana. I don't recall my mom making this, but it was in her files, and she made note on the recipe card that she had gotten this one from the South Bend Tribune, so expect that she must have made it at some time - but I don't recall hearing about persimmons until I started attending Mooresville Friends Meeting back in July 1984.

Nashville House Fried Biscuits

(makes about 7 dozen biscuits) 

 
1 quart milk

½ cup shortening (white shortening, like Crisco)

¼ cup sugar

6 teaspoons salt

7-9 cups all-purpose flour

2 2/3 packages dry yeast (or 1/6 cup yeast)

Preheat fat to slightly hotter than 350˚F. If fat should be too hot, the biscuits will be soggy in the center.

Add yeast to warm water. Add other ingredients and let dough rise. Work into biscuits and drop into hot fat.

Biscuits can be frozen individually and stored in plastic bags. When you work them up, don’t let the biscuits rise too high.

Recipe from Nashville House, Nashville, Indiana.

No-Bake Persimmon Pudding

(makes 8-10 servings)

1 cup persimmon pulp

½-1 cup sugar

22 graham cracker squares, divided
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

16 large marshmallows, quartered (about 1 c miniature)               

Stir together persimmon pulp and sugar; set aside. Finely crush 16 graham crackers. Combine with persimmon mixture, marshmallows and nuts. Form into a 3-inch diameter roll. Crush remaining graham crackers; roll persimmon roll into crumbs to coat. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or several hours until firm. Cut into slices and serve.

Serve plain or with whipped cream.