Sometimes I Am Not Very Thankful

Today I had to go to the bank for work and then I decided to go to the grocery store right next to it and get my lunch and a few things for our Mexican Thanksgiving tomorrow. Of course the car in front of me must have been waiting for their money to be wired from Switzerland because they took forever and a day. I finally finish with the bank and go to the store. I grab this grab that, oh excuse me, this and that, move it lady, shut up kid, you know all the things that always happen, but are heightened because of my lack of time. I get to my salad bar that I always get at the grocery store. I love it. Cheap, healthy, quick. Not today, instead of beautiful sliced colorful peppers and an array of assorted lettuce, there were pre-packaged fruit and veggie trays. Not one piece of cut lettuce to be found. I looked at the hot bar, no gracias. I looked at the ready made sandwiches and chose turkey and swiss, not what I wanted, but it would have to do. I finished the rest of my running around like a headless chicken routine, paid and said a not too heartfelt Happy Thanksgiving to the cashier and the bell ringer, got back here and complained that the salad bar was not out today. I said that I should be "thankful" (sad to say, I actually did the air quote thing) because that is the reason for this season. I sat down to eat it and thought, no dumb head, you should be thankful because it is there. You have a meal, how many people in this world don't? Did I have to pick the bugs off of it? Did I have to cut off the moldy part off any one of the components to the sandwich? Did I have to buy it? Was I guaranteed the money to be able to buy it in the first place? Not the best start to the Holiday season, but I hope it has kicked me in the rear enough to realize what is important, and to find that in everything I should give thanks.

There's Always A Catch 97

I heard the funniest thing yesterday. My grandmother told me she saw two ten dollar coupons for a store in the paper. They were good for anything ten dollars or more. She is a coupon junkie, so naturally, she went. And though she has gotten money back from coupons at times she was hoping to come out pretty even. She told me of her struggle to find something that was over ten without being too much over, but she found slippers that were 10.97. When she got to the cashier she was told that she could not use the coupon. In the fine print it said it was not good on anything ending in a 97. I had to take a minute and let that sink in. I started laughing. Probably harder than she thought was warrented, but it just struck me so funny how we like to pull everyone in with a free ten dollars and then say, oh, sorry, there is a catch. You can't use it on your birthday, if you had cereal for breakfast, your last name starts with a Y, you are an only child, know an only child, have ever eaten a chili dog, or if you can sit throught the entire song of K.C. and The Sunshine Band's, "Shake Your Booty". Seriously, if something is given, shouldn't it be given. I know some who are not Christians may look at the Christian life this way. You are "free" but you can't do this, this, and this. I'm just so glad that it really isn't like that. Because unlike the coupon in the paper. The headline the world wants you to read is the list of things we should not do. The fine print however is so wonderful. It says, no you shouldn't do them because now you are free. Now you are no longer a slave to sin, but a servant to righteousness. I have the ability to do all the things I should not. The key is to live my life as much a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for the free gift of salvation, with no fine print, that I don't want to do any of those things. But the most wonderful thing is that there is always grace. Grace that when I do mess up, I am loved as much that day as I was when He thought of me as He gave himself for me. No catch anything there!

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles

Last night I was able to accomplish something I had not been able to do in all my 30 years on this planet. I was able to visit my Nana without eating ice cream. I know those of you who do not know my Nana are thinking, really, that is a big wonder, some fantastic miracle? And those of you who know my Nana or have her as your Nana will be calling me for my secret. Nana, Nana. Just thought I'd write it a few more times. But to sum it up best, I just never gave up hope. She is the funniest woman in the world. Not that she is telling jokes and wanting to make you laugh, she just is funny. As long as I can remember, there has always been ice cream in her freezer. You go and visit, you may get away with it for a while, but eventually, she will say, "How about some ice cream." To which, you could reply any number of things, but the result will be you eating more than you had planned. I remember talking to my friend at work and telling her that I cannot say "no" to my Nana. She said, "You are an adult, that is rediculous!" To which I responded, you just don't know my Nana. She just wants to make sure you have had enough to eat. When I call and ask to come and visit, she says sure, and the next thing out of her mouth is what she can offer me for dinner. And if it would happen to be soup, or grilled cheese, or cereal, well she apologizes and says it will hold you until you eat right. Which when my grandfather said it, was a joke, but she is being serious. Saturday I had been there and brought her a small loaf of banana bread my mother had made for her. She saved some of it for yesterday. If you have had my mother's banana bread you know the discipline not to eat it all in one sitting let alone save it for a possible guest four days later. She offered it to me which I could not say no to because she had saved it for me. You see, she is thoughtful to the point that it makes you feel guilty if you refuse it. And so while her ice cream just sat in the freezer, the banana bread was a different story. She told me that when I left Saturday she felt badly that she did not offer me the banana bread that night. I said Nana it is for you, don't worry, I never leave here hungry. Full and a little queezy sometimes, but never hungry. She said I always think of what else I could have offered, I just don't think of it at the time and then I feel badly. And that is when it hit me. The devil is a big freakin' jerk. Here is my Nana, she is going to be 87 next month. She has raised three children, helped nuture ten grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren, tirelessly cared for her ailing husband, and still she has insecurities about not doing or giving enough. She does too much really. One time I was over and she offered me a peach, I started to peel it and she was so upset she didn't do it for me. I said, I can do it, it is no problem. Well, you who know her, know she peeled it. The woman has arthritis, she has a shoulder out of socket, and has osteoporosis, but she does everything she possibly can. But Satan knows our weaknesses and he digs in deep. I know I have conversations with myself after parties or discussions or small group wondering if that was taken the wrong way, "I hope they didn't think I meant that!" Or my mom who is fantastic at menus and baking and getting things together for pot lucks and banguets. She is mulling over menus for weeks, trying things out, then once the occasion is here she hopes the people enjoy it and wants to know if everyone liked it. The answer is always yes. Still we wonder, we worry, we become second guessers. I think maybe too we worry about what people think of us too much.

Oprah speaks of hyperbole

I watched a clip of Oprah being interviewed last Tuesday as the nation voted in our 44th president. The results were not even in yet and the interviewer posed the question. What does this night mean for you. Oprah said there are not even words to talk about what the night means for her. She said that the word historic keeps being said, but that there has never been a night like this on the planet earth. Nothing can compare to this. I understand her sentiment and get the reference to the first black president of the United States. In no way am I diminishing the acheivement of overcoming racism to reach the highest office in the nation. I do find it a rediculous statement to say there has never been a night like this in the history of the earth. The reason being it places so much importance on ourselves. We become the qualifying ingredient for the greatness of the moment. Would the moment be any less great if she were not there? Or if she were white? It isn't about Oprah bashing, it is about how we have all become egocentric. So we could all agree that the earth is not the center of the universe, but we've begun to think even smaller than that, we now think we are.