...wants meat (PB&J daddy style)

In my childhood when my mom would leave us unchapparoned with our daddy, well, let's just say in those few times it was not a boring day. I don't ever remember daddy laying on the sofa when momma was away. It was almost like, "Hey, kids, mom's away let's do some stuff." Stuff could be anything from an 11 year-old learning to drive a standard, Ford Fiesta to attempting gymnastical feats only seen at the circus. But it is meal time that I want to write about today.

My sister and I's favorite sandwich was peanut butter and jelly. How hard is it to make a PB&J, right? With daddy, nothing was simple or done without great fanfare...afterall, we were a captive audience. So, daddy would sit us at the table, and he would begin pulling out all the necessary ingredients plus some and all the required equipment. Sometimes he would be humming a song as he did it, but of course, it wasn't the usual humming. Every note of whatever song he was humming or making up was emphasized with a "dee," so "Jingle Bells" would go something like, "de,de,deee,de,de,dee...de,de,de,de,dee." (Now that you've done that in your head, do it again in your goofiest Donald Duck voice, and you'd have daddy.)

He would lay out the napkins. Place the bread on the napkins, and then pull something out of the cabnet that didn't fit. Most of the time he made our PB&J using a coffee cup...yes, a coffee cup. He would put a glob of peanut butter and a glob of jelly in it and would whisk it until it looked like something you wouldn't want to eat. While Lori and I would be protesting that this is not the way it is done, after all momma's way is the way it was done...nice, neat and in order, daddy would be slicing bananas and putting on one of the slices of bread. Then starting another song to which he wouldn't know all the words but would teach Lori and I the few words he knew then make up the rest he would grab something else unusual to add to his concoction in the cup...sometimes honey, sometimes chocolate chip morsels. You get the idea. After adding it to the cup, he would begin to spread this nasty-looking stuff onto the other slice of bread and then put the two slices together. Then he would cut out funny shapes that most of the time we couldn't recognize or he would make some goofy mark on top of the bread before presenting it to us for consumption. We were always hesitant to eat his creations, but most of the time they were quite tasty. Mom could never really understand why we were so pumped up with energy when she would return home. Can we say sugar high?

Life with daddy could be quite entertaining to say the least. It's amazing I'm so "normal." (Ha!)

As Christians how often do we go to church to be entertained or to see the show/service? With all the fanfare and music, the presentation of the sermon, visiting with friends...what is it that makes for a good worship or a good Sunday morning experience for you? For me, it starts with how many fights I've had to referee, how many socks and shoes couldn't I find, how many reminders I've had to issue -- the fewer I have had to deal with, the better I can worship. Ladies, are you feeling me? Have you been there? Walked in my heels? Then we get to church, and I am suppose to get something out of small group time, out of worship, out of the sermon. When in truth, the events of Sunday morning may be only the chip of the iceberg of what is going on underneath.

Please pray with me about something God has put on my heart. We are considering opening my office at the church during Sunday school time for women who need to unload, be encouraged and be prayed for. I have asked a wise and godly lady to pray about being the one who stays in there to meet with these women. Because ladies, the Bible says we are not to eat Bread alone regardless of whether or not we have PB&J on it or not. We are suppose to be growing Christians and maturing to the meat of the matter, but sometimes we need that personal connection with someone wise to help us get out of the hole or mess we are in. Sometimes that personal connection (mentor) can give guidance and encouragement we need in order for us to clear our heads, give our problems over to God, so we can enter a time of worship, so we can go for the meat of the word and not just the PB&J.

It's not up to the pastors to provide us a good show. It's not up to them to grow us in our faith. We have to be responsible. It takes more than just showing up on Sunday morning. We have to be actively seeking Him and His will and be actively in the Word searching for every morsel of truth we can glean. SO, let me encourage you this week to prepare your heart and mind before going to church Sunday. Spend some time with your Heavenly Father. He'd love to hear from you.

His Daughter,

Kristy