Mama Panya and her son Adika set out to the market one day. Mama Panya has a few coins in her pocket and plans to make pancakes for dinner. Pancakes are Adika's favorite, and he asks Mama how much flour they will buy for the pancakes. "A little bit, and a little bit more," Mama responds. In his excitement, as Mama and Adika travel to and from the market, Adika invites many of their neighbors and friends to dinner, much to Mama Panya's chagrin.
As the story goes on, Mama Panya becomes more and more exasperated with Adika. "Ai yi!" she complains, "How much do you think I can stretch flour, my son?" Adika responds, "A little bit, and a little bit more."
Mama Panya is worried about the generosity of her son, but when the neighbors and friends begin to arrive for the dinner, they come bearing gifts: fish from the stream, spices from the spice stand, more flour from the flour sellers. Thus, like the loaves and fishes, a meager offering becomes a banquet for a village.
The beautiful drawings of the African countryside enhance this beautiful story, but the part I like best is this: Mama Panya teaches her son Adika that there will be plenty, and Adika believes Mama. When Mama begins to get worried about having enough, Adika continues to act in faith, and that faith rings true when their banquet is blessed by the gifts that all the guests bring.
Perhaps the reason I loved this story so much is because my own Mom - a Mama Panya - taught me that God will provide. And in Mama Panya's "Ai yi!" I could hear my own mom's distress and worry as she, at times, worried whether there would be enough. And yet there always was.
Pick up Mama Panya's pancakes for a lively story that reminds us that in sharing our blessings, we are blessed to feast together.
Many thanks to Sara Yotter, assistant to the bishop of the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin of the ELCA for introducing me to this book at her workshop, "Nurturing Generous Families" this weekend.
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