That’s where I am. The coolest/only coffee shop in this area of town. A cord connects my computer and my ears, guaranteeing that I do not have to speak to anyone. For teacher Annie to have a couple of hours of daylight where I don’t have to speak to anyone or answer any questions is a precious and rare commodity.
I just finished a meeting here regarding a retreat I’m helping lead in February. I’m super pumped about it and plan to share much about it in the near future. It’s a work in progress, and it is a glorious progress.
Now I’m trying to turn out a few articles. [Writing at home seems mildly impossible today because my house is a wreck and the amount of laundry to be done is daunting, to say the least.] I’m loving what I’m getting to write. It’s exciting to know that there is someone on the other end of an email attachment that WANTS my writing. The trick is writing decent content while trying to use words and phrases that are entertaining, thought provoking, and God-glorifying. It awakens something deep inside of me that almost makes me giggle. I don’t know…. that feels vulnerable to say and like too much info. But I’m not deleting it for some reason.
I feel today like who I hope future Annie is. Meeting about retreats, writing for publication, wearing jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt and flip-flops, my all time favorite outfit. (Thank you, 66 degrees in December.)
Today feels like a glimpse of the pearl that the sands of my life are going to become.
One of my favorite blogs, BooMama, is having a little meeting of the blog minds over soup. And recipes. So I thought I’d put my favorite out here.
My friends ate this about 14 times last winter- whenever a group came over, I was chopping ham. The Publix deli guy was convinced I had a crush on him. No such luck, bald old guy.
This is my godmother Earlene’s recipe. She’s good, y’all. Like this soup. And I have no idea who Hoppin’ John is (or was), so you could really call it Hoppin’ Annie soup if you so desire. As a matter of fact….
Earlene’s Easy Hoppin’ John [or ANNIE] Soup
I medium onion, chopped 1 TBS. Garlic, chopped 4 to 6 Oz. Black Forest (or other deli) Ham), chopped 2 TBS. Flour 1 can Rotel tomatoes ( I use original; you may want to use mild) [she knows me well] 2 cans Black-eyed Peas (Bush’s) 1 can chicken broth
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil.
Stir in flour when sauteed.
Coat onion and garlic with the flour.
Add Rotel tomatoes and about ½ of can of chicken broth.
Add ham. Stir and reduce heat.
Process one can of peas in blender or food processor until creamy. Add to mixture. Add remaining can of whole peas.
Stir and simmer about 20 minutes.
Add remaining chicken broth as needed for desired soup thickness.
The soup does NOT seem to need salt added. [though I tend to like a little salt with my salt, so I sometimes add it]
Serve over a scoop of cooked rice. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and chopped green onions. Seems to me that a good slice or stick of corn bread would go well with this.
How right you are, Earlene. Cornbread is delicious.
Try the recipe and let me know what y’all think. And you can click over to BooMama and see 100+ other soup recipes. So whatever you were going to do tonight, cancel it. There is soup to be had.
I want to understand the word “recap”. To cap again? When did we cap the first time?
While we’re on it, I want to know what it means to “jump the shark”. Because I don’t ever want to do it. I’m scared of the ocean.
Blog 2 Face is an interesting idea. In fact, if it was up to Sean, it would become a national phenomenon. And rightly it should be. Some friends at school mocked the fact that I was dining last night with all fellow bloggers, but I just gave them a swift kick to the knee cap and let it go. Because there is nothing uncool about blogging. I do a LOT of other things that are WAY less cool than blogging.
That does not make me sound cool. It didn’t come out right.
Anyways, we gathered at a local Italian eatery that will probably not be around for B2F4. Maybe B2F3, but maybe not. Weird location for a fancy place. Prices that are ridiculous. Pizza cut in little squares like a mini-Little Caesars, congrats Bill. And the waiter forgot Caroline‘s meal.
By the way, Brad says he can make a lasagna at home for $0.87. I say, prove it.
Here are some things I learned:
a. For every ounce of honesty people type out, they offer twice the honesty face to face. Which is the opposite of what you would expect.
b. Apparently I learned that we act opposite my expectations.
c. Planting churches and leading churches and being in a church is hard if you care.
d. Sometimes you have to care about things because God put a button in you that He won’t stop pushing until you care.
e. Sometimes the serenity prayer makes more sense than I want it to.
f. Long blog does not equal good blog. And people will tell you that. Or at least tell other bloggers that about your posts.
g. I’m a strong believer that awkward pauses can be prevented if you fill every dead second with your own voice. And I did.
h. Veal Parmesan is supposed to be crispy.
i. Even when the internet dies, I will still know these people. And that’s what makes us cooler than your average blog community.
I missed B2F1 due to a little tonsil situation, but I’m really glad I was a part of B2F2. I learned stuff (see a-i), I cringed more than once, I laughed hysterically, I hurt on the inside for others, my thoughts were challenged, some current brain processes were questioned and prodded about, I was intrusive and well as intruded. It was real. It was a little messy.
And I like that. B2F3 at CBed’s. Home cooked bloggin’. That’s what’s up.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About things. About people. About God.
And laughing. Laughing because something new is in the air. Something light has found it’s way to my heart and is settling in. The old has gone and the new has come. And I had nothing to do with it.
Actually, funny enough, just writing this, I realized what happened to cause this shift. But it fits in that category, a very small category I will confess, of things that I don’t blog about. And no, it has nothing to do with a boy.
It has to do with forgiveness. healing. confession. humbleness. acceptance. renewal. understanding. honesty. contentment. dependence. love.
This song bizarrely came on my iPod today in the car – I haven’t listened to it in years – and I laughed. For all those reasons. This is the chorus:
I am holding on to promises. I’m counting on the truth. And on these knees, I’m faltering, I’m calling out to You. In Your love, I find my resting place. In Your love, I find my shelter. When I lay down all that I’ve been holding to The beauty I found in You is sweeter than all I’ve known. In Your love.
It’s called “In Your Love” by Nichole Nordeman. The entire thing is fantastic, but I’ll spare you every lyric.
But that’s where I am. Realizing a lot lately. About things. About people. About God. About what contentment really is and how it has nothing to do with me or my circumstances. Honestly, it’s about remembering that God is always good.
That He really is sweeter than all I’ve ever known.
I hate it. I think I hate my new camera. Here’s why.
For starters, on the setting dial, there is no running man. Know what I mean? That symbol that looks like a, well … a man running. It’s a great setting for capturing moving people with no blur.
This new camera is trying to tell me that “kids and pets” setting will do the same job. Tell that to Matt Stafford- “by the way, my camera says I can photograph you throwing a touchdown pass using the same setting as when I photograph a kitty cat rubbing up against a couch.”
I would never photograph a kitty cat rubbing up against a couch.
Oh, ok Canon company, it works just the same. Ok. Great.Not.
Barnes wasn’t moving that much. To give you a reference point, he was somewhere between a snake and a mongoose…and a panther. (that’s for you Office fans out there) But really, he was probably faster than the average kitty rubbing a couch; but definitely slower than the shafted Georgia Bulldogs’ quarterback. Obviously movement that was in the range of Kids and Pets.
Not to mention, the good ole running man was my partner in crime- I use that setting all the time. Kids and pets? Who do you think I am, Canon? Someone to be toyed with?
Secondly, my camera has the LONGEST delay time in the free world between photograph and being ready to take another picture. Seriously, nine seconds. NINE! Trust me, these people timed it at the concert.These two yo-yos, Davis and Ashley, would take a picture then set the timer on Davis’s watch to see how long until the flash was reset. I appreciated their scientific approach, but I was mad as a wet hen at my brand-spankin new camera …. that I had researched and compared and shopped around for …. then had to wait in line for at FedEx (because they only deliver during school hours) while I was exposed to many diseases and weird people in rubber gloves …. only to have the flash need a nap between each picture. Did I buy my camera from the 1976 store? Geez.
Proof of my anger, you say? Besides the previous rant?
Davis says, “Annie, make a face that tells us how you feel about your new camera.” And I didn’t even have to work at it. It was there. Ashley couldn’t even look. Katie B, on my other side, hid her face from mine. She knows.Please. Look at my face. If you actually know me, which some of you do, but some of you don’t, then you know I don’t frown like that all too often. And those are, in fact, my mad frog eyes. That, my bloggites, is a P-Oed Annie.
[I just looked back at my camera on my bedside table and thought, "I feel kinda bad for saying all of this." As if my camera has feelings. I am four shades of crazy.]
Anyways, I’m not jumping the gun yet. I have the number to use to return it. But I’m trying to be smart and read the owner’s manual first. I’m thinking this camera may have enough bells and whistles and things I will love eventually that I will overlook these faults, huge as they are.
I mean, it takes good pictures. It is light. It has some cool stuff. So maybe I don’t “hate it” exactly.
I wish I had a video of Dave Barnes doing the “Chattanooga”. I think it is a version of the “Charleston” with a little “Old Folks Home” mixed in. And maybe a splash of Tourettes.
As promised early in November, I finished the month the best way I knew how- Dave Barnes Matt Wertz Take 2. On Friday night. In Chattanooga. And it was oh so good.
Now, I know in the past, I have been one to sing the praises of Dave Barnes. Hilarious. Great writer. Smart. Etc. Tonight, it shall be Matt Wertz on which I bestow the blog honor [blonor? honog?].
Quite a shirt. In a Ron Burgundy voice- “It’s a deep V.” (As in “deep burn”. Come on. Who doesn’t love a little Anchorman spice thrown in there for flavor? Can you talk about God after an Anchorman quote? Not sure. Something in the cosmos may combust. Let’s see.)
This is the song, “Red Meets Blue”, that stuck out to me. Tatum has heard Wertz talk about this song before, how he wrote it on the road, about God. Not a girl. And that is one of my FAVORITE thing about the genre of song writers (i.e.- Bebo Norman) – the poetry that comes from the mystery of their love relationship with God.
You’re distracting me with that beauty Leaving me wanting more Reminding me of my duty To lock these eyes to yours
I’ve never known a love so true I want to see all of you When green meets red and red meets blue I want to see all of you
Sunlight dances with the distance In her squinty eyed shoes And I’m chasing down horizon In hopes of being danced with too
Daylight sings all that morning air brings And I’m lost I’m lost inside you Good, huh? Well done, sir. Well done.
They decided to go sans microphones/plugs for this song- it was a perfect venue- small, stadium seating, apparently good acoustics or something. I don’t know. Ask Mikey B. But it was awesome.
During the song, some college girl cat-called in their direction and I wanted to holler at her. Something like this: “It’s not about seeing someone naked! It’s about seeking out the presence of God!” But I didn’t yell that for fear of ruining the moment. I guess we all live with regrets. Cause it would have been a GREAT story.
At the end of the song, as it fades out, Dave and Matt sang this over and over:
Never known a Love so true. Never known a Love so true. Wanna see all of You. Wanna see all of You.
And when they sang that, something in the room shifted. To me, at least. They stopped performing for four hundred in order to perform for One. Their faces changed. Their stances changed. I couldn’t even move my camera to capture it. It drew me in. Completely. I felt my heart lifting to God, saying “That’s it! Because of how true Your LOVE is, I want to see all of YOU.”
Obviously, I’m not in their heads, I don’t know exactly what they were thinking about, but in my “knower”, I felt the Holy Spirit wash through. And I’m telling you, things felt different. I think I experienced the aroma of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:13 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
I want to be the kind of Christian that changes rooms without even having to say the name of Jesus. I want to worship Him and people feel different. I want, for lack of a better term, to smell like Jesus.
I love that God is always at work, showing up in the coolest places, tweaking my plans, slowly altering my course, revealing something new for me to grab on to. Using things like a concert, a conversation, a blog, a lyric, a songwriter, whatever He can, to show me His love and His best plans. It just blows my mind that I got to go to a concert that I thoroughly enjoyed AND got a new experience with the living God, all at the same time. Two Birds/One Stone. Ha. That’s so right.
Conclusion: It was a good night. Rich and good. As if the high quality lyrics weren’t enough, these guys were hilarious. Intimidatingly hilarious. A direct quote (though I won’t reveal the source)- “I mean, Annie, you are funny, but even you couldn’t think up something as funny as them.” Touche. Probably true. Though I’d try.
On a completely different note, I think I hate my new camera. We’ll talk about that tomorrow.
