“Grandma makes the best pancakes” the granddaughter announced.  “I can make good pancakes”, the aunt said.  “Don’t even go there”, the aunt’s sister advised, “I have tried and tried- it’s just the oil she uses.”  “No it’s not!” the granddaughter insisted, “Grandma just has…the magic!”  I just smile and cook.

 

I remember as a child I was just the opposite.  My grandmother was disgusted that all of us would only eat our mother’s food when having a family gathering!  Mom was an amazing cook and grew everything from beans to rhubarb.  She even made her own ketchup!

 

I find it interesting that we are so focused on food and strongly opinionated as to what is best- who makes it best- and the cooking channel is watched as much as sports!  For years I’ve had my own opinions and vowed never to become one of the up and coming “only natural” gurus in our generation.  I love the saying “life is short- eat dessert first”.

 

My journey however took a turn where health issues were glaring and here I am today someone I do not recognize or know at all- someone who made an organic thanksgiving meal leaving out all organic sugar products.  I can’t afford it- the food is more expensive.  But I can’t afford not to because for me it is working.  I decided I wanted my life to be long!

 

Thanksgiving eve my daughter made four beautiful traditional buttermilk pies with everything “normal”.  She gave one away that night.  Most of the family added a small slice to my traditional breakfast (I ate organic oatmeal and yogurt).  After breakfast she gave her brother half a pie and her sister a whole pie to take home.   The rest was consumed by family and friends throughout the day and gone by the next morning!  It reminded me of my favorite Aunt- Aunt Betty.  She and I would sit at the dessert table at my grandmother’s house the Sunday before thanksgiving most every year.  We stayed until we had tasted all of the desserts and there were never less than 15 different ones to try.

 

Everyone really enjoyed my dinner and my niece even made her green bean casserole all natural in honor of the new tradition (inspired and insisted upon by the daughter who baked the pies!)  I was very happy and satisfied without even a taste of those pies- like I said- I don’t know this new me inhabiting my body.  I do know that miracles are still possible though and I thank God for this miracle He has given me- I can still work the “magic” and not lick my fingers!  (My thanksgiving miracle for 2012)  Who knows what the future holds - it matters not!  Contentment for today is a satisfying wonder………

Has personal quiet time become a luxury no one can afford?  If there is one constant cry heard daily across the land it is that life is just too much to handle and we want a break!   From the wife who is caring for her ill husband to the chief of police in the city the cry is the same.  Here are a few examples I see daily in this dilemma:

• Parents:  When the beautiful infant sleeps Mom sleeps or rushes to get caught up on the daily cleaning, cooking, washing her hair and on and on the list goes.  Being alone and quiet feels forever lost. This rings true for the growing number of Dads who stay at home.  The working parents have tripled the challenge!
• Students working, studying and often a parent too:  Juggling from wake up until sleep overtakes them there is a belief that life will never again include personal quiet time to just be.
• Professionals in Police, Fire, and the Medical community who carry responsibility for the lives of others:  There is a murder in our city almost daily.  Disaster situations are more and more prevalent.  The call to save, protect, and rebuild takes every fiber of human ability and often requires sacrifice of personal needs like sleep along with anything “normal” in life.
• Teachers of any age student:  Demands from government and administration are so heavy that the work of dealing with teaching the students and encouraging families to participate is horrifically compromised!  A job that in times past brought such fulfillment is now in the list of impossible jobs- they simply cannot meet all the demands and still reach out to individual students!
• You:  I daresay anyone reading this will say the life I live is on this list.  I didn’t leave you out.  Personally I do not know any person who has the luxury of consistent quiet times that are not challenged by issues of life that pull on them disrupting the quiet time immediately when it appears.

Add to all of the above the distractions of technology and I wonder if we have forgotten who we are and have become whatever it seems life dictates us to be any moment.  I found a reminder of who I am today while meditating this thought.  It also clarified why we have so much trouble being who we are:

1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it - we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to. 2 But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him - and in seeing him, become like him.  3 John 1-2  Message Bible                                                                                                     

There is no time in God.  Now there is something to hold onto- a timeless journey meant to be fully experienced- always time for everything He holds………………