I was able to invite people to my home this week to celebrate the accomplishments of my Costa Rican daughter. She has worked hard and achieved her master's degree and will be heading home to be with her family for a while after three years living with us and seven years total in America working on her degrees. We are so proud of her! We wanted everyone we know to have a time to congratulate her and have a chance to say goodbye. We had a great time! But there were many obstacles and it seemed like it was a party not meant to be.
Time was quickly getting away from us as the semester came to an end and Catalina would be leaving very soon, so it didn't matter what stood in the way or how many things might go wrong, this party had to happen. Quickly. I worked for days in the flower beds getting them ready for summer and for company. It's the most physical labor I have done for over a year, and it quickly wore me out. I was not to be outdone. Sure, I was exhausted, but I wanted this to be a grand night for Catalina. I ordered part of the food and cooked part of the food. I wanted to make some delicious desserts...and that's where the trouble began.
I made my chocolate cake on Sunday, and all went well for that. Later Sunday I mixed up the cake I was looking forward to the most --- the strawberry pound cake. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water! As I was multi-tasking and planting some flowers in pots while the cake cooked, I went inside to check the cake and found the start of trouble. The top element of my oven had come back on and stayed that way. The top of the cake was black and burned. I turned the oven off and grabbed the cake to take it outside. There was smoke filling the house. It was bad enough, but it could have been much worse.
On Monday morning I got ready to make the banana pudding. I grabbed the vanilla wafers, which someone had been eating, and barely had enough to make the dessert. I sliced the bananas and got them ready. I poured the pudding mix into the pan and measured the milk. I turned on the stove and turned to put the measuring cup in the sink. I picked up my whisk and began to stir a pot of quickly thickening pudding. How could it be so thick so quick? The pan wasn't even warm yet. Ugh. Double ugh. Instant pudding. You just don't use instant pudding for banana pudding. You just don't. But I had no choice.
I had to take my mother to the doctor that afternoon so that meant a few hours away from the house. It wasn't a big deal, I had plenty of time. We got back in time for me to bake another strawberry pound cake. I turned the oven on to preheat and started measuring and mixing. After pouring the batter into the pan, I realized that even though the preheat light had gone off, the top element had not. Being that I have the BEST neighbors in the world, I called and asked them to turn the oven on because I had a cake that needed to be baked. They called an hour later to tell me to come get it. Finally, I had my strawberry cake! In my rush to get the party going, I put the glaze on the hot cake and it melted into it. Apparently that made it better, or so everyone said. They ate it all, but it wasn't the perfect cake with beautiful pink glaze that I had envisioned.
And, I couldn't put meringue on the make-shift banana pudding because my oven was totally uncooperative. All of that could get a girl down! I wanted things to be perfect and they just were not going to be. Later I would realize that the beans had burned in the crock pot. How did that happen? I've cooked these beans in that crock pot many, many times with no problems. C'est la vie. That's life.
People started arriving. It was time for the party to begin! My back yard filled with people. Friends and family coming to wish Catalina well and send her off with much love. I stood on the porch overlooking the yard and relished all the smiles, chatter, and laughter that filled the air. Yes. It was a good party. Even though some things didn't go the way I wanted them to, it was a good party.
As the sun set and evening settled over the earth, our friends and family began to leave. We were tired, but it was the best kind of tired there is. Satisfaction that you were able to provide people a good time. Pleasure that Catalina's accomplishments were celebrated with people who loved her. Gratification that we had a relaxed and very pleasant evening with people we love.
I was reading Psalm 150 and couldn't help but think about how much effort I put into celebrating God. Shouldn't it be a celebration every time I spend time with Him? A special time. A special place. Or maybe it's the only time you have today. Maybe the place is ordinary, filled with people, nothing spectacular. What is important is that you take time to talk, listen, laugh, and maybe even cry. Just like we had an evening to celebrate a master's degree, I need to be deliberately aware and celebrate what God has done. He created this beautiful world. It's May and the world is blooming. The days are warmer (hot today, actually); the nights are deliciously cool. Everywhere you look right now there are beautiful white blooms on the blackberry bushes. The trees are green. Reds. Oranges. Yellows. Pinks. Purples. It's a wonderful world, indeed.
More than that, I want to daily, very intentionally, very purposefully, with eyes wide open, celebrate Jesus. Now, that's a party! Psalm 150 says this:
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
So, as Lynyrd Skynyrd says, "Turn it up!" Turn up the music and sing praises to the Lord your God! You don't need to wait for a party. You don't have to spend time making lists and more lists. You don't have to spend time preparing food and setting up tables and chairs. You don't have to invite anyone. And you definitely don't need special decorations. Just praise the Lord! Have a few minutes at home alone? Turn the praise music up on the radio and dance around the house. Throw your arms up in the air with abandon. Give yourself totally over to the joy of celebrating your new life in Jesus. Rejoice over him. Exult, revel, celebrate, delight, enjoy, glory, triumph, be overjoyed, be glad, feel happy, jump for joy...all because of Jesus! If you don't get happy over Jesus, I don't know what else you can get happy about! So come on, let's party!
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