You can't mess up what's meant to be

I make really good pancakes.

Not just a little bit good, like really, really good. My nephew, Joe, has officially declared them to be “the best pancakes in the whole wide world.”

I figure that some of my fellow carb-lovers out there might like the recipe so here it is:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of milk
• 5 Tbsp of vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 Tbsp of sugar
• 2 cups of self-rising flour

Mix ingredients together, cook on an electric skillet at 400 degrees or on a stove-top skillet at medium high.

I can’t take credit for the recipe – it comes from my mama. When I got married, she put together a huge binder of all the family recipes — the dishes that I grew up loving, the food that make me think of home.

However, the interesting thing about the pancake recipe is that it’s actually the result of a mistake.

When my mom transferred over the recipe, she accidentally left off a key ingredient — baking soda — which is the ingredient that makes bread rise.

The result is pure magic. Omitting the baking soda keeps the pancakes thinner, lighter, almost crepe-like.

They are glorious. Just ask my nephew.

I made them this past weekend and one thought kept coming to my mind, “this recipe is a result of a mistake, but it’s better than it was intended to be.”

One of Motivo’s board members, Tim, recently said to me, “You can’t mess up what is meant to be.”

He wasn’t talking about pancakes. Rather, he telling me that even though life doesn’t always go exactly as you anticipate, it doesn’t mean that the outcome is wrong – in fact, sometimes, it can be better.

This made me think of so many experiences in my life – relationships I thought were “the one,” jobs that I thought I’d stay at forever, endings that didn’t feel like a beginning.

To me, one of the beauties and mysteries of life is that, often, things have a way of working out for the better.  Sometimes what’s better comes along quickly, and other times it appears more slowly, when the time is right.

I believe Tim’s words to be true – that in most situations you can’t mess up what is meant to be – and that, eventually the right path finds you.

How does this land with you today? If you have any thoughts or reflections you’d like to share, I’d love to hear them.