The First Pancake Rule

Things are happening.

I found out last week that my new website may be finished soon. I’m excited, but nervous. 

I’ve been waiting to get my new speaking/writing ministry Extreme Joy Ministries up and running, but there’s something about gazing at the starting line and anticipating the sound of the gun going off to begin. Yes, I’m excited—and nervous—about placing my foot on the line and preparing to move forward.

A couple of weeks I was listening to a podcast by Ann Kroeker who is a Writing Coach and she was talking about the First Pancake Rule.

The First Pancake Rule.

Ann Kroeker said that when you begin making pancakes the first few usually don’t look very good. After pouring the batter they may end up shaped funny, too thick or too thin, and over or under cooked. But you keep pouring the batter and making pancakes.

After awhile you begin to get the hang of it. The batter has settled into the right consistency, you have figured out just how much batter to use and how long to leave it on the griddle before you flip it over. After awhile things begin to fall into place and you are making yummy round pancakes. (All right, she didn’t use the word yummy, but yummy works for me when it comes to hot

pancakes covered with hot maple syrup. But I digress.)

 Ann says it’s the same way when you start or re-start something. You have to just start and expect the first few things (or times you do it, whatever it is) to not be perfect. Start, keep pouring, and you will get better. 

That’s where I am at the moment. I’m beginning to pour the batter: 

• My new website will be up and running so I will be blogging and sending out a newsletter. 
• I'm continuing to be the guest Bible Study teacher at a church in my area.
• The first week of December I’m scheduled to speak at a Women's Conference in Charleston, SC.
• I’m submitting proposals to teach workshops on speaking and speaking tips to a few Writers’ Conferences.
• A Writers' Spiritual Retreat is in the planning stages.
• I’m working on presentations, book ideas, and blog ideas.

My pancakes may not come out perfect, but I’m going to mix the batter and start pouring.

What about you? Is there something you are waiting to start? What about something you want to re-start? Have you set goals but are fearful to step up to the starting line and begin?

Start.

 

Give yourself permission to make a few ugly pancakes.

The more you keep pouring, the better you will get.

And where can you find me? I’ll be standing over the griddle pouring . . . 

 " . . . being confident of this very thing, 

that He who has begun a good work in you will complete 

it until the day of Jesus Christ;" (Eph. 1:6 NKJV).

Scripture from New King James Version of the Bible

Pictures courtesy of www.pixabay.com

Pepsi, Birthdays and Me

Pepsi isn’t turning 60 this year, but I am.

My world collided with the world of Pepsi when I turned 6 years old. 

Just 6. 

6 without the 0 after it . . . a long time ago.

What started out as a drink called “Brad’s Drink” and was invented by a pharmacist in 1893 to offer to his customers at his soda fountain ended up being the catalyst of my excitement to turn 6 years old. Caleb Bradham’s dark caramel colored (Caramel E105d to name the exact color) carbonated drink has been renamed twice and by 1961 was known and consumed by millions all over the world. And they had a special truck named after it. The Pepsi Party Truck.

For every child turning six, Pepsi offered a free cake, ice cream and Pepsi drinks up to a

certain number for their birthday party. I remember the box, the small round cups of ice cream with the small wooden spoons and the Pepsi. I’m sure my party guest were bouncing off the walls for hours once they returned home with all the sugar, but it was a great time. Recently one of my granddaughters turned six and she got to enjoy the same Pepsi Party truck experience. (Even though now I believe you pick up your Party box from the bottling company, not a party truck.)

Now I’m adding the 0 to the number six and I’m not excited about the Pepsi Party Truck, but about what the next stage of life will bring. I don’t think I will morph into a multi-million company and touch lives for generations all around the world for years, but maybe I will . . . well, maybe not the multi-million dollar company part. But just maybe I will do something to touch lives for generations all around the world for years, through writing.

I don’t remember the actual gifts I received at the six-year party, but I am well aware of the gifts that my Heavenly Father has given me. What a disappointment to my parents if they gave me a gift and I opened it but never used it and enjoyed it. Same with my Father. How disappointed He would be to give me a gift and I never used it or enjoyed it.

So, as I embark on this new decade, one in which there is a 0 after the 6, I’m going to take the gifts He so graciously put in my care and use them. My prayer is that the words that will be written and spoken will touch lives for generations to come and through the amazing Internet, all around the world.

I don’t know how old you are, but I do know that the Lord has graciously given you gifts and has put them in your care. Are you using them? Did you at one time, but for whatever reason put them down or in a place for another time?

There is no time like the present. The One who bestowed these gifts also encourages us with His word for:

• “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

• “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10

• “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them:. . ." Romans 12:6    

It may not be your birthday but I would love for you to join me in celebrating not only our

salvation and the freedom we have in being God’s child through believing in His Son Jesus Christ, but also the gifts He has given each one of us. And as we celebrate, let’s not put the gifts aside, but use them as they were intended by the most loving gift-giver of all.

And as far as my 60th Birthday . . . 
a Big Happy 60th Birthday to me!!!

Scripture from English Standard Version (ESV) Bible

photos of 60th balloons and Beth by Beth Fortune

remaning photos courtesty of www.pixabay.com

Be Still . . . The Lord Will Fight For You.

"I don't know what to do."

"I can't seem to find my way through this maze I've created."

"I am so worried I can't eat or sleep."

"What's going to happen next?"

"I don't know which way to turn."

"Lord, can you hear me?"

I'm sure at one time or another we have all screamed these words while in the middle of a desperate situation. This is life, we are in the middle of it, and things happen. Some things we create and some things are out of our control, but either way we find ourselves stuck in the middle.

As they followed Moses out of Egypt, the Israelites also found themselves in a desperate situation. With the waters of the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh's armies fast approaching behind them, they were stuck with no options in sight.

Have you been there? Stuck with no options in sight? I have. Maybe the choice before me wasn't to drown in a sea or be killed by an army who was pursuing me in fast chariots, but nevertheless I have felt stuck with nowhere to turn.

God saw what was happening to His children and He had a plan.

First Moses told the people "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord . . . the Lord will fight for you" (Ex. 14:13, 14 NASB).

And He did!

God told the people to stop crying out to him and move towards the waters. At that point God performed a miracle. As Moses lifted up his rod, God caused the sea to go back with a strong east wind dividing the sea. Throughout the night the people were able to walk to the other side on dry land.

And what about the army that was chasing them? That morning God looked down on the army and caused their wheels to fall off their chariots and when they tried to turn back He caused the sea to return to its full depth drowning all the men.

Yes, the Lord fought for them.

                And He will do the same for us. 

                            He sees what is happening to us, His children, and He has a plan.

But we need to learn to, "Be still and know that (He is) God," (Psa. 46:10). He wants to fight for us but we need to let Him. 

What are you in the middle of today? What situation seems impossible? What's closing in on you from both sides?

God sees. 

God knows. 

God hears our cries. 

But we need to be still, 

know that God is God, 

and let Him fight for us! 

He wants to do a miracle in our lives,

 but we need to be still and let Him do it.

It's Coming . . .

It's coming . . . only a few days and it will be here.

A new year.

Like turning to a blank page in my composition book called "Life," I will turn to the beginning of a new year.

Already I'm thinking about things I want to:

• do differenlty
• improve upon
• change
• be more intentional about

People I want to:

• spend more time with
• help more
• get to know better
• be there for

But there's one thing that wants to hold me back . . .

The past . . . for I've tried before but haven't always had success.

So what will be different about this year?

"I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies BEHIND me and REACHING FORWARD to what lies ahead," (Phil 3:13 NASB).

What lies behind you that keeps you from reaching forward? 

Let's begin this year pressing "on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus," (Phil 3:14 NASB). As we press in towards Jesus, He will be the One who helps us accomplish the things we want to accomplish in the new year and help us move beyond the regrets of the past.

And as we reach towards Him,

He will be faithful to take our hand!

Photos courtesy of morguefile, caprisco and Penywise.

Gift of Love

Birthdays.

One a year.

When one is over, we look forward to the next one.

We don’t even entertain the idea that we won’t have another birthday because they always come, one after another.

My heart was full after receiving a visit from a special lady in my life. She had her son drive her to my office to bring me a gift, one she'd taken great care to pick out for me. 

As I leaned into the car window to give her a hug of thanks, I had to hold back the tears that wanted to puddle in my eyes like the mist began to puddle on the window sill of her son’s car.  

Below the stocking cap on her head, her eyes were dancing as she talked about the lunch plans she and her son had made. After another quick hug through the car window I held my gift to my chest and walked back into my office as they drove off towards the restaurant. 

I pulled the tissue out of the top of the festive bag until the buried gift was exposed. Cards . . . two boxes. One box contained Thinking of You cards and one box contained Praying for You cards. 

Why cards? Because for months I have been sending cards to her to encourage her as she again endures chemo and radiation treatments for the cancer that's returned to cause havoc to her body.

The tears welled up in my eyes again and this time, in the privacy of my office, I could let them fall down my cheeks as my heart asked "What does she think about birthdays?"

Birthdays.

One a year.

When one is over, we look forward to the next one.

We don’t even entertain the idea that we won’t have another birthday because they always come, one after another . . .

But wait, it seems some would have every reason to entertain the idea of whether or not another birthday would follow next year.

As I think back on the special moments I've had celebrating my recent birthday, my thoughts go back to my friend. Her sweet gesture speaks volumes to me as I focus not on the days ahead of me, but on today and what I can do for someone else. She uses each day, not to dwell on the time she may or may not have left, the birthdays she may or may not celebrate in the future, but what she can do that day to love and encourage someone else.

I John 4:12 says "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us (ESV)." 


I haven't see God but I have seen His love--it was His perfect love, being shown in an imperfect broken body of this dear one. A love that was as beautiful as she.

Birthdays.

One a year.

When one is over, we look forward to the next one . . . well maybe not. 

From now on I want to look at each day, one day after the other, and ask God to give me ways to show His love to another person. . . someone who needs to see HIM. 

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love 

one another: just as I have loved you, 

you also are to love one another" 

(John 13:34 ESV).

photos courtesy of morguefile.com