Still Cookin'

Some of the men in my family can be easily categorized.  One of the married-in guys, (name withheld to protect the guilty), observed that many of the males ask each other the same question - What’cha runnin’?  I had to laugh, because it’s so very true.  The preacher types ask it, and so do the huntin’ truckin’ types.  If the preachers ask it, they are wondering how many people attend your church.  If the truck driving ones ask, they want to know how much horsepower your vehicle has.  The poor guy that made this remark, didn’t fit in either class.  I guess he could take up joggin’ for a way to blend, then they could ask the same question to find out how far he could run!

I realize I have also done a bit of categorizing, as I have explained for years why I married a preacher type.  My mother was a teacher, my father became a preacher, and the majority of my family on my Mom’s side do one or the other.  When someone new remarks about me being a Preacher’s wife, I tell them, “in my family you either teach or preach or you marry someone that does.“  There is one other way to fit in…learn to play Pinochle!  I grew up watching my uncles, aunts, cousins and parents play hand after hand of this card game.  Running in and out of the house, enjoying being a kid, I heard a strange dialect involving bidder bunching, double marriages, and the age old question, “what’s trump?“ I didn’t understand any of this ritual and didn’t care to.  It wasn’t until I was married with my own family, that I gave way to their brainwashing.  I now play a pretty mean hand of Pinochle myself, but still can’t figure out how to keep score, or remember what trump is most games.

Most of my “preacher’s wife” stage of life, I have felt categorized, classified, and stigmatized.  Even though I was married for almost 10 years before my husband became a preacher, it seems as though we were never anything else.  Now don’t get me wrong - I have enjoyed being in ministry with Dale and being a part of the “watcha runnin” types.  It is however, not all that I am or all that I will ever be.  I am me, a woman who was once a child, now a wife, mom, grandma, aunt, sister, niece, cousin, daughter, and most importantly, child of God!  I always love, but don’t always show it right.  I don’t always say the right thing or have the right attitude, but I sure do try to.  I am also a woman with chronic health issues, who deals with pain every moment of her life, but really hates when people put me in a box because of it.  I love to speak and write, but I also love to play video games, crochet, take pictures and go kayaking!  What category would that all fit in?  I think the best one to place me in, would be the Mary category…just being who God created me to be.

In the movie, “The Last Holiday,” there is a scene in the kitchen of a grand hotel.  The chef is explaining about the baby turnips he is going to cook.

• “Poor baby turnips - nobody likes them.  Of course life is easy if you are a truffle or shitake mushroom.  But the turnip is to be loved because she is a self-made woman of the vegetables.  All the others you can only destroy with cooking…but the turnip, she gets better.”  It’s not how you start, but how you finish.”

I love that last line!  “It’s not how you start, but how you finish!”  I thank God that He doesn’t put us in a box or a category and leave us there.  If we leave ourselves open to a bit of ‘cooking, we can only get better!  How exciting!  I appreciate all that I have been, but look forward to what I will become.  Watch out - God isn’t done with me yet!

Philippians 3:14  “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”