Ode to Big Daddy

Let me paint you a picture....It's early dawn and the sun has begun to rise. From the inside of my very warm and cozy home the bright sun is setting a cruel facade because outside it is unbelievably cold! The temperature is in the low 20's, but the windchill (what matters) is in the single digits. I am dressed and prepared to run about 5 miles. I would rather stick pins in my eyes and then go shopping at Wal-mart on Christmas Eve.....with the pins in my eyes. I am not an athlete and I don't have that, "O, how I just need to run" feeling in my bones. I run because I really like oatmeal pies, cake icing, and gravy......I really like gravy. I don't eat it that much, but as a side note (in order to impress you) I once ran about 18 miles and then I came home and made a whole can of Pillsbury biscuits & my very own skillet of gravy and then I sat right down and I ate all of it. By myself. Impressed?.... As well you should be.

Anyway, when I left this morning Big Daddy had a house full of kids and a sleepover guest. He was making pancakes for the crew and holding down the fort. (see the fire blazing, kids in pj's clamoring around the living room, smell the coffee brewing, pretty much blissful joy- all the way around)

Now switch to me....I was running on pavement that had little pockets of ice that were taunting me to take a spill. Usually after a mile or so, I remove my gloves and warm up. Today, I never (meaning not ever) got feeling in my toes. For the whole 45-50 minutes I could have been running on the nubby balls of my feet for all I knew. It couldn't have been over quick enough, but I can claim survival, inhale and say thank you Jesus that It. Is. Over.

When I got home the house smelled like a Bed & Breakfast and Big Daddy had fed all the children and was whippin' up the famous *Peanut Butter Pancakes*. I took a hot shower and came down for what I think will definitely be part of my death-bed dinner request (if there is such a thing).

Warm and getting warmer by the minute (all the way to the tips of my toes) and sitting down to something hot, savory, and sweet that was made especially for you, feels.... ummm......... like downright perfection.

Big Daddy- your pancake breakfasts are a special tradition that I look forward to. The fact that you love Jesus is enough to fill my heart with unspeakable joy, but loading the dishwasher and making me those peanut butter pancakes.....well......I am unworthy and very grateful.

Thanks for making me feel so loved.





















"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." Ephesians 5:25-27