Butterbees and Bumbleflies

I don’t get political.  I just don’t.  Perhaps it’s the negotiator personality I’ve been blessed with.  The “can’t we just all get along” attitude.  But when it comes to people and their political views, I’d be pretty opposite to the woman I’m about to defend, so please know that this post has nothing to do with the Lady’s political affiliation.  I don’t know what her religious beliefs are.  So this is not me racing to the defense of someone my same religion.  This is about doing the right thing.  The whole “do unto others as you would have done to you,” Golden Rule, general life lessons thing.

I don’t remember the first time I saw Paula Deen on tv.  But there was something about her that instantly drew me to her.  Maybe it was her smile, or her bright, happy eyes.  But I know for sure that one thing was her willingness to allow me in her kitchen, next to her, side by side to learn while I watched her on my tv, as if she was teaching ME.  Just ME.  Because she makes real food.  Recipes I actually try in my own kitchen.  Real, good, Southern food with lots of butter and lots of love.  Because really, that’s what it’s all about – cooking up love for your family.  That’s why I love to cook so much.  It’s not so much about the end product, but about how that labor of love makes my family feel at the end of a long, hard day.

Remember – everything I say here is my own opinion.  I don’t know anyone at Food Network (Man, I wish I did!), but this is my opinion about the whole situation.  While the world has put Paula on a pedestal, she’s a woman.  She’s human.  WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES.  And because she was honest about something that happened 20 YEARS AGO, YA’LL, she has lost her contract with Food Network.  Will this kill her financially?  No.  I’m sure not.  But will it kill her spirit?  I’m sure it already has.  To be a beloved face of a network for years and then have them TURN THEIR BACKS ON YOU because of a mistake you honestly admitted to 20 years previous?  I don’t think that’s right.  In any form.  Every single person living in the world today has done or said something in their lifetime that they regret.  Noone is perfect.  And yet, this network dumped her.  And then Smithfield decided to follow suite and drop her as their spokesperson.  These companies that she has represented so gracefully all these years.  Are they suggesting she should have LIED UNDER OATH and not admitted to saying the “N” word 20 years ago?

20 years ago I was 9 years old.  And I can guaran-darn-tee you that I did and said things I shouldn’t have.  I recall having to get my butt swatted, having to miss recess a few times, and I know I had times where I opened my mouth and said mean things to people about their appearance.  You might say that’s all irrelevant because I was so young.  That was 20 years ago.  “You’ve changed, you’ve matured, you’ve grown up.”  Hello.  Proves my point perfectly.  Every single person who has been ALIVE 20+ years has grown and changed and matured in that time.  And they will grow and change and mature even more in their next 20 years.  Life is about learning from your past mistakes.  Anyone who is worthy is totally given permission to throw the first stone at me for my actions 20 years ago.  But you see, God gives us grace, and since He’s the only one worthy, I’m free to go about my life and live it free of worry about being stoned today.  Apparently Paula isn’t so lucky.  Because apparently every single other person that works for, in, around, and represents Food Network AND Smithfield are perfect, and were born that way.  Which is pretty impressive, really.

I’m nobody.  I’m just the mom of a one-year-old who likes to write about life and what God is teaching me through my Bible studies.  But I hope that maybe, just maybe someone at either the Network or Smithfield will end up reading this blog post that will be convicted of their actions.  I’m not a boycott-er.  I won’t be quitting watching the Network (in ALL my spare time that I have to watch tv!  HA!!!  AS IF!!!), and I’ve honestly never bought a Smithfield product, but given the opportunity, I wouldn’t shun them.  Because, you see, this is a perfect example of the fact that we all make human mistakes.  We let our fears tell us what we should and shouldn’t do instead of stepping back and thinking about what is the right thing.  I’ll leave you with one last thought – of the movie Miracle on 34th Street.  When Cole’s stood behind their Santa Claus because they knew it was the right thing to do.  If only Food Network had been so brave.

I have no idea why that title came to my head this morning.  It really didn’t relate at all to what I was thinking about. Not at first anyway.  In my reading today I came across the passage where Mary (the sister of Martha and Lazarus) poured out a bottle of expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.  In my mind, the first thing I think of is Seriously, Mary?  A whole bottle?  Drama queen much?  It’s not enough to wash his feet, now you’ve got to cover them in this expensive, stinky stuff that’s gonna make it hard to breathe for everyone else in the room?  I mean, come on.  Way to draw attention to your actions!!

And then I read on.  And realized that I responded much the same way Judas did.  Wow.  Not great company there with those feelings.  Judas felt the money shouldn’t have been spent on the perfume, but rather given to the poor.  As I read Jesus’ response, my eyes were opened:

John 12:7-8: “‘Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. “‘It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.'”

So here, Jesus alludes to his death and basically says to let her come and worship how she sees fit, even though it’s not the purpose He would have used it for, He defends her actions. Mary and Martha were all about giving our Lord the best. Martha wanted to give Him the best food, the best service. Mary wanted to give Him the best of her time and the best of their finances. Both are admirable.

In relating it to my own life, I tried to think, what would I give Jesus if I could just sit in a room with Him? I don’t have any fancy perfumes (though He’d be welcome to my Bath and Body Works stuff!). So I imagine a coffee shop. My local Starbucks. If I walked in, and Jesus was sitting there, what would I give him? Is he an Americano guy? A Latte guy? A Frappuccino guy? And I decided the best thing I could give Jesus would be to order my drink for the day (probably a grande Cinnamon Dolce latte with no whip), and then when the barista shouted out “Grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte no Whip ready at the bar for Christy,” my next step would be to take it, and then hand it to Him. Because everything I have, and everything that I like is His already. So the barista might as well be saying that it’s “ready at the bar for Jesus.” Because it’s His. The money used to purchase it is His. The child on my hip is His.

Oh, to have walked the same dusty streets as Jesus. To have sat in a hot, stuffy living room filled with the nasty, choking smell of too much perfume. Oh, if only I could walk into my local Starbucks and buy a cup o joe for Jesus. But maybe I can. I can buy a cup o joe for the person behind me in the drive thru. Jesus told Judas that the poor will always be among us. I can buy clothes and school supplies for a child I don’t know. I can give to missionaries. I CAN buy Him a cup o joe. Because what I do “unto the least of these,” I am doing for Him. So, when you go to your coffee shop this week, what kind of joe will YOU buy for Jesus?

WOW. A Year. Already. Check out her info on the teaching blog:

Rebecca Joy – One Year

One year ago right now, I was exhausted, and the nurses were beginning to ask me if I wanted my epidural yet. I hung on until somewhere around 2am, and then I fell in love with a man that I can’t even remember his name… Ha! He said he gets that “I love you!” comment a lot. God bless that anesthesiologist!

Then, by noon, I was ready to start the delivery process! I began pushing a little after that, and by 1:41pm June 15, our beautiful little Rebecca Joy was born!

Our little 7 pound 10 ounce 20″ long baby girl has grown up so fast. This last year of my life has been a fabulous whirlwind that at times felt it would never end, and at other times has flown by so fast it’s left my head spinning.

Tonight I rocked her and read her two bedtime stories as she held her George monkey and sucked her finger. I sang Great is Thy Faithfulness, Amazing Grace, and by verse two of Silent Night, she was asleep in my arms. When I transferred her to the bed, she woke up a bit and grinned at me. She is such a sweet baby. But she’s turning into a toddler now. My baby girl is growing up.

I wonder what this next year will bring, and I pray she doesn’t blossom into the strong-willed but easily brokenhearted baby we dealt with tonight at dinner who cried when she was told not to throw her food in the floor but continued and continued until she had to get her hand “swatted” (more of a pat really, but to get her attention). Her tears broke my heart. I so hope we don’t have too many of these episodes coming up. And I pray that if we do, God equips us to deal with them.

I wonder too if this next year will bring more verbal skills and what will come out of our budding linguist’s mouth next. This week she started saying “uhoh” when something falls on the floor. A.dor.a.ble!!! I wonder what other words, phrases, and expressions she’ll start using.

This last year has gone fast, but I’ve really tried to enjoy every moment, and I plan to continue. Because I know I’ll blink and I’ll be writing a “one year ago” post that includes kindergarten, high school, and college graduations.

Happy Flag Day!

After celebrating our anniversary on Monday (a day early) by going out to dinner and then shopping for an entirely new set of bedding for our bed (and getting a new shower head!), yesterday was a much more relaxed version of our anniversary, which was very nice.  We took a picnic lunch and ate with Cody at work, Cody brought me home a dozen red roses, and after Becca went to bed, we watched The Bachelorette from Monday night off the dvr.  Super relaxed.  And very nice.

But the part of the evening that meant the most to me actually occurred while I was in our bedroom by myself putting away laundry.  Cody and Becca had the dogs out on the back porch.  I could see them through our French doors.  She was sitting on the chair between his legs with her little feet dangling down, kicking the rungs between the rocking chair legs.  Her blonde hair was blowing in the breeze, and Cody’s protective hand was hanging onto her little belly.  Cody was throwing the Frisbee for the dogs, and they were both laughing.  So loud I could hear them clearly inside.

Becca has this cute little giggle she gets when everyone else laughs at something someone has said – she knows something was funny, so she giggles – about two seconds too late.  It’s super cute.  Then she has this chuckle when she’s thought of something funny in her own little world, and none of us can understand.  It’s super cute too.  But she has a laugh that is reserved only for her puppies.  A laugh that comes from her heart, from her soul, from the very depths of her being.  A belly laugh that she can’t control, can’t stop, it’s just a sign of the true depth of her joy.  She could sit and watch Daisy and Boko catch the Frisbee longer than they could actually have the energy to catch it.  And the sound of that laugh fills my heart with a warmth I can’t explain, and honestly don’t really understand.

I can hold her and play with the dogs and get her to laugh, and I love it.  But it goes to a whole other level when Cody laughs with her.  The love that fills my heart is something I can’t even begin to describe.  It’s sort of the way your mouth feels when you take that first sip of your favorite hot latte.  There’s a ZING! as the heat touches your tongue and your taste buds explode.  There’s the soothing AHHH! of the flavor.  There’s the MMMM! as the warmth runs down your throat and settles in your belly.  And there’s the feeling of happiness and immediate rush of endorphins to your brain.  It’s sort of like that.  But on a much deeper, soul-warming level.

Really, THAT was the perfect anniversary present.  I loved the years when it was just us.  Our first anniversary, we traveled to Colorado and enjoyed a cabin in the mountains.  Our second anniversary, we went out to a fabulous dinner and put together the Lego carrousel.  Our third anniversary, we went to DFW and to the LEGOLAND Discovery Center and bought an amazing British ship to put together.  Our fourth anniversary, we traveled a couple weekends early to Corpus and spent the weekend at the aquarium and on the beach and just enjoying our last vacation just us.  But we have always wanted kids.  Always wanted to have a family.  And while it was a wonderful and beautiful thing to go to dinner and shopping Monday night and enjoy our time just us, THAT moment was the best gift ever.  Seeing the love Cody has for our baby girl is the most amazing gift I could have ever asked for.  Seeing her love of her puppies is just incredible.  Seeing the two of them so genuinely happy together and hearing the product of that happiness is a gift that no one can buy and wrap.  Noone can write that love into the sweetest, most thoughtful card.  And nope, not even a dozen of HEB’s most beautiful red roses ever will begin to be as great of a gift as seeing their love.

My heart is so full.  Someday we’ll have more family members.  But for now, it’s just the six of us: Becca, “Mahmah,” “Dada,” “Days,” “Bobo,” and “Toods.”  And I am content.  God has blessed us beyond measure.

Check out our anniversary video here: https://vimeo.com/68129949

My loves on a walk earlier this week.