Boots McBlog

one of my favorite songs

I come from a long line of fabulous cooks.   I’d like to think I inherited that culinary gene.  One thing I did inherit is my palate for  darn good food.  Whether it is from a hole-in-the-wall dive, a five star restaurant or my momma’s kitchen,  if it’s darn good,  I’ll find it.   Of course,  the detriment to all this yummy fare is the havoc it wreaks on my waistline.   This is the best explanation of why “Chubby”  became a staple character skit I started performing for my friends and family at the age of 10.  If I couldn’t beat it,  I might as well laugh at it.    My mom attempted to tell me that pretty girls shouldn’t make such ugly faces.  I didn’t listen.   In fact, every child I grew up babysitting, all of my friends’ children and my nieces and nephews have been subjected to being my “chubby” understudies/ partners in crime over the years.   Their parents love (?)  me for it….until they’ve heard it for the one millionth time.  (sorry, y’all).

I’m still a kid at heart because this silliness never gets old to me. Now, each Christmas the nieces and I perform a  few snippets of “Chubby’s  Many Adventures”

After a month on gorging on holiday fare, you  may relate to Chubby, too.    ( and I can’t believe I’m actually posting this.  Last year’s video never made it off my phone)    Without further adieu….

Meet Chubby

I hope your Christmas filled your bellies and hearts to the brim and I pray 2011 will be happy and healthy for us all.

Cheers,

boots

xxoo

Today – the winter solstice – we’ll spend more hours in the dark than in the light.  It will be the deepest darkness of winter. Once the sun sets we will wait and wait and wait hours to see the sun again. I don’t really like the dark.  But like everyone else in the northern hemisphere,  I’ll have to wait there until the dawn at 6:45 am tomorrow.

That’s where I’ve found myself in the last year – waiting.  I’m not a good wait-er.   I fidget.  I’ve taken up photography, blogging, co-leading a bible study,  volunteering and launching a ministry.    For most folks,  that’s not waiting.   But for me,  it is.  I have this deep yearning in my soul to do more.   But God still is telling me to wait.   It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done – to sit here with thoughts and ideas and energy and encouragement and creativity waiting for God to allow me to spill out somewhere.  Until he gives me the green light to make a big splash,  I wait.   I’m so thankful,  in my waiting he is a patient parent who allows fidgeting.  I’m thankful for the opportunities above to let my heart’s desires slosh out and make droplets of impact where they can.

I wonder if that is a smidge of how God felt when he was sending his Son to earth?

All those many years before that stable in Bethlehem, did he look upon this darkness – this fallen world and yearn for his ultimate light to be known.   I’ve honestly been thinking alot about  that lately -  how in Him, God had the fullness of thought, idea, energy, encouragement and creativity waiting to be unleashed in the perfect gift of his son, but even he had  – to wait – until the perfect time.

In his waiting,  did God fidget?   Maybe that’s how we got the rainbow or the parting waters of the Red Sea or Solomon’s temple.   All of these miraculous things of beauty and hope and wonder,  were they merely sloshes from his full cup of living water – a taste of what was to come.    Then – when God finally made his big splash, when he unleashed his ultimate creation of light and love –  it was on a quiet night, in a dirty barn.  The world didn’t even see it.  But Mary did.

If I were to rewind the story -  not all of the centuries God waited, but to the few months before that starry night in the barn – there was girl.   Her name was Mary.   Stories and songs and whole prayers have been dedicated to her.   My favorite one is a simple song written by Sara Grove’s called “it’s true”     It’s not a particularly moving song, however,  I weep every time I hear it.   Every. single. time.

I’ve searched the internet for the words her young son reads at the beginning and end of the song.  I couldn’t find them.  In my fidgeting ways, I took it upon myself to decode them word by word as I pushed play, then pause, then rewind over and over again.    I’ve meant to do this for awhile now.   Today was the day.  I woke from a restless night,  my spirit feeling even more wandering than usual.  The waiting game,  while I’ve made peace with it off/on on this year, is getting to me.

That’s when I deciphered these words:

“so mary trusted God more than what her eyes could see”

wow.  This young girl with amazing faith.  Her whole life changed at that instant Gabriel appeared to her.  Her life wasn’t anything like she had planned for herself, yet she reacted with a yielded spirit and an exclamation of joy.   What did God with do with this yielded spirit?   God made  this young girl  - the one willing to trust more than what her eyes could see …  the first one to see the beautiful infant face of God  – with us  –   Emmanuel .

The past couple of weeks, I’ve written about a Gracious Holiday and the GRACE of this season – Gifts, Recipes, Around the house, and Charities.  We wouldn’t even have a reason to celebrate without the “e”  – Emmanuel.    This holiday, I pray we will all strive to be more like Mary, that we will be able to trust God more than what our eyes can see.  I pray especially for those of us waiting.  I pray we can exclaim joy for this season of life and most of all that  we will see his face – Emmanuel  – God with us.

May you all have a very merry, gracious Christmas.

boots

xxoo