My usual routine finds our dog Gibbs sitting at my feet and a cup of Door County On the desk next to me. Today is "usual". The only thing that changes from day to day is my coffee flavor.This morning I filled my cup with Door County Highlander Grog Coffee. The wind is howling outside and I already have a pot of chicken soup simmering slowly in the kitchen. The fire place is spewing out light smoke from the chimney.
I usually write every day. Yesterday I missed writing out my thoughts. It wasn't that I didn't want to. I just had nothing to say. I took a day off to unscramble my head and have more quiet time alone. I apologize to you if I let you down.
Some of you know that I do 99% of all the cooking in our home. It's a chore of love and cooking is something that relaxes me. I find that I do some of my best thinking when I am in the kitchen. As life would have it, my wife Rene is a woman who never asks for much. I do however ask her each week if there is anything she would like for me to cook for our dinners and lunches. Her answer is always "whatever you make is fine with me". I know not to make anything too spicy for her and cabbage is not a favorite for her. But yesterday she looked at me from across a table and said "I think it is time for some chicken soup. It's going to be cold. The soup will taste good and it might just be what we need".
When I was chopping the carrots, chicken, onions and celery this morning I dropped a carrot on the floor by accident. Our personal floor cleaner Gibbs was there to make sure that carrot did not stay on the floor too long. I laughed out load. That dog would walk a tight rope for a carrot. As I placed the chicken soup ingredients into a kettle of water, I watched the carrots, land next to the celery, the celery sit on top of the chicken, and the onions floated to the top. The pepper seemed to look like a pile of dust. Friends, all those ingredients except for the pepper had been neatly arranged in their own respective groups on a large cutting board. The board loaded with chicken soup ingredients looked rather impressive. In one swoop of a butcher knife they were all mixed up and it really looked like an unorganized mess in the kettle.
We go through life and we have our neatly bound routines and then all of a sudden "whoosh" something changes and our lives are now different. The "whoosh" isn't planned and not always welcome. But it is there and we have to deal with it.
Friends I know that in a few hours my chicken soup will be complete and it will taste good. I have seen it before. I also know that I have spilled a pot or two when I transferred it to bowls. I didn't plan on that happening and the mess needed to be cleaned up and we were short on soup.
I also have faith in God, that when life's "whoosh zingers" come along I can go to Him for comfort. When there is fear and we have to go through something, He doesn't always make it go away as soon as we would like it to, but He gets right into it with us and walk us through it. I have seen this before and like the soup I use for comfort I go to Him for a hand of comfort. Just like a little boy holds dad's hand when crossing a busy street. That hand is a source of strength, comfort and assurance that we will make it across that street, even though we are afraid of the oncoming traffic.
Friends. I am not only writing this to you, I am following my own advice. It's the advice our Father gave to me.
Isaiah 41:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Marty
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