What I have learned from The Pioneer Woman, Pt deux...

No, I am not The Pioneer Woman. She cooks. She CAN cook. I bet everything she cooks is wonderful. I bet everything she cooks LOOKS wonderful. I bet every time her kids walk into her house after working on the ranch all day they smell what she's cooking for dinner and actually jump for joy.

 I am not she...

OK, so I do cook, occasionally, much less than my family would like. I don't like it. No, that's a lie. I DO like to cook. What I don't like is the less than unanimous feeling about what I cook. No, that's a lie, too. What I don't like is the less than unanimous, bowing down and worshiping at my feet because I am such an amazing cook reaction that I get when I do cook for 3 teenage boys and an 8 year old girl. The Gman doesn't have to do those things because he never complains - E.V.E.R.

This is the Pioneer Woman,
Unfortunately, I am not
The Pioneer Woman

I should still cook more. I really should. It's hard to do things that you know you should do even when you know you won't get the reaction that you'd like. Even when you know you won't get the reaction you deserve.

Everything in life is like that. Why we let a select few dictate our direction, our joys, our desires, our endeavors; it's beyond me. There's really only ONE that should dictate those things. He's the one who created us to want after things. Not things we hold in our hands, things we strive after. Adventures, ambitions, occupations, dreams... Only HE should be the one to discourage our pursuits. He's not a discourager. For those who KNOW Him well know what pleases Him and therefore know the directions we are supposed to go.

I really don't think that He tells us right away though. I think he allows us to stew on things. I wonder if He serves a lot of Stew in  Heaven because I find myself having to stew on things, chew on things, pick things apart - move around the carrots, separate the potatoes and the tomatoes - to find the really excellent piece of meat; and it's the meat that I want so much.

I found myself stewing for about two years after reading this. He let me stew. It was good for me. I tossed potatoes and carrots but hung on to the tomatoes. I never found the meat until I went here on Saturday and met Amy Lancaster. For the first time in my life I met someone who could actually see people with Jesus' eyes. I knew that through the power of the Holy Spirit it was possible but I never thought I'd see it in this part of the world. I didn't think it was something an American could actually possess. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met and I've met more than a few amazing women. If I could have coffee (well, I'd drink tea) with her once a week I'd sit and listen and never speak - never - not one moment I was with her. I'd be afraid I'd miss some amazing truth about Christ because she knows Him in a way that I wasn't sure was possible.

He spoke to me through her on Saturday. He not only revealed meat to me, He revealed a whole pile of it that was hiding under the tomatoes I'd kept in the bowl. I tossed those tomatoes because there was so much meat, I'd gotten full and couldn't eat a bite more.  And although there was more meat there I didn't partake. A stomach can only hold so much. It's gotta digest and when it has, I will go back because there's a banquet waiting for me. Right in downtown Jackson. In the roughest part of the city. A banquet available any day of the week, any time of the day. Open for anyone who is willing to show up and say "I need...." And they never have to tell her what they need because she knows, that in reality, they  we, all need the same thing... Jesus. And she's got a stew pot that never empties full of Jesus.

The Lord used Amy to speak clearly to me. He clarified some thoughts I had about ambitions, adventures, occupations, and dreams. After all, He created me. He knows what He wants me to do and He made me to do just that.                                                                                                                                                              

I have decided that being a foot model isn't in my future. After all. He created all of me - my feet included.

My feet

They are fat feet, not pretty, not long and lovely. He did create me to "go and do". These feet, although not lovely will take me where I need to go to please Him. So I will digest the meat He's given me and watch for the growth that comes from feeding my soul.

I bet the Pioneer Woman has pretty feet. She may live on a ranch but I bet she gets mani-pedis once a week. But it doesn't matter that I don't have pretty feet. They still do the job they were created to do. And besides, my feet will be pretty in Heaven and I will live there a whole lot longer than I will live here.

Do you think they carry OPI polish in Heaven cuz I am sure we don't wear shoes there.