When I was old enough to cook, one of my favorite things to make was Fresh Toast. My mom let me use a “Fire King” glass bowl that had a metallic gold edge for mixing the eggs, milk and salt. One day my mom told me a story about that bowl that made it very special to me.
I was born in early December in northern Minnesota. My parents planned to have me baptized over the New Year’s weekend, a time when my aunt and uncle would be visiting. It turned out they had to start their drive home before the Sunday service, so my mom asked the pastor if I could be baptized on Saturday instead. He reluctantly agreed, as long as it was at the church.
Well, that morning it was 20 below zero! My mom wasn’t going to take a newborn out in that cold weather, so the baptism was moved to our home. Mom went to the cupboard and produced a “Fire King” glass bowl that had a metallic gold edge. The bowl was filled with water and placed on the top of the closed hi-fi in the living room, and my parents and my aunt and uncle stood around that bowl and witnessed by baptism. I have that bowl now, and I still use it.
Kris Brugamyer is currently serving her second term on the churchwide executive board of Women of the ELCA.