Once Upon A Pancake

This morning we celebrated the birth of Jesus - with road rage, mini cows and donkeys, and of course, pancakes...

We’ve all seen ‘those’ people…

You know the kind - when there’s a long line of taillights and traffic waiting to turn a half-mile ahead of all us, they get out of line and drive around all the waiting cars, then at the very last second, whip-in in front of all the other cars - with horns honking and choice words being yelled from nearby drivers?

I’m not normally that kind of person. But this morning I was.

Let me explain…

Rebecca has been out of town for the last couple of days. She and a couple of her homesteading friends - four Mom’s from all from different states - met up for a couple days of time without husbands, or children. Nothing on their agenda except to talk and laugh and be together and encourage each other.

And so it’s been just Indy and I here at the farm enjoying a little time together by ourselves.

We used to be like this all the time. That’s how it was for the first seven or eight years or so after Joey was gone. But now, that season when it was just Indiana and I, feels almost like a lifetime ago.

We had no big plans while Mama was gone, other than just being together. Indy still has a bit of a runny nose and cough from the winter cold that keeps lingering, so we’ve had lots of couch-cuddling time near the fireplace. And from under a throw blanket, we spent the last 2 evenings watching the Youth Christmas concert online, that was this past weekend. Indy knows a lot of the children there and we so enjoyed hearing the music and seeing many of our friends celebrating this beautiful season in songs and stories back in Texas.

But today, we had something to do. We need to be out of the house by 7, so I had to wake my baby (and her baby) up a bit earlier than normal.

Then we, along with my nephew, jumped in my truck and made our way on to I-65, headed north. It was about a 45 min drive to the address I’d been given, so I gave myself plenty of time in case there might be traffic… or at least I thought I did.

I had been asked to read my book ‘Once Upon the Very First Christmas’ as part of a Holiday pre-school Christmas program at Oak Hill school in Nashville. I didn’t know the school, or anyone there, but the man that had been emailing me about it was so nice, I couldn’t say no.

I was supposed to get there by 8 he’d said, the program begins promptly at 8:15.

When I punched in our destination, our GPS said we’d be there a few minutes before eight, so I was good to go. But 20 minutes in to the drive, we started seeing taillights ahead.

Before long, we were at a standstill.

By ten minutes ‘til, it said we’d be there at 8:20, a minute later it said 8:30…

My stomach began to turn. I began to imagine a room full of unhappy toddlers and disgruntled parents and teachers, all frowning at their watches.

And that’s when I became ‘that person’.

I casually eased out of line and made my way up to the congested intersection, and gently, kindly (?), eased in front of the the person on the left who’d been waiting Lord-knows-how-long for his turn to turn, and as the light turned red again, I gunned it across traffic and was suddenly free from the mess of entangled cars and trucks.

Yes, there was some honking and I may have heard someone yell something that wasn’t “Merry Christmas”, but it turned out to be worth it.

We pulled into the school at 8:20 and I was ushered through the halls and onto a stage, where dozens of antsy toddlers in the cutest little costumes were standing there, patiently waiting for me…while hundreds of parents were sitting in the audience doing the same thing.

Someone said, “here’s your chair” and they handed me a microphone… and next thing you know I was reading the story of Jesus’ birth.

‘Once upon the very first Christmas, a long, long time ago..’

And in between pages, and stanzas, the kiddos sang their hearts out - some of them near me dressed up as little cows, and donkeys and sheep.

It was just precious.

A bit on stressful side (there were a lot of people there).

But still… it was really beautiful.

When it the program was over, Indy and I got to meet and visit with a number of the folks there at the school. It’s a beautiful campus and it was fun to see all that they are doing there.

Before we left, I could tell that Indy wanted to go look closer something on the stage. So we made our way over to a spot near the bleachers.

And there in a manger, Indiana laid her baby… Eliza Mae.

It had been quite a morning.

As we drove away, I felt so blessed to get to do and be part of moments like this.

And I remembered a place not far from there that I’d been to once, years ago with my older girls, and since we’d not had breakfast yet, we made one more stop before heading home.

It’s a little cafe where they have griddles built right into your table, so you - or even more fun, the kids - can make your own pancakes right in front of you.

With full bellies and hearts, we made our way in my truck back to the farm. Careful to stay under the speed limit and not to cut anybody off as I drove.

It had been a wonderful morning. And a fun Christmas story, about the very first Christmas story.

And so, if you were on Concord Road this morning around 8:10 am, and some jerk in a silver Ford F250 truck whipped in front of you (and everyone else) and made the turn that should’ve been yours? I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I was in a really, really big hurry…

The birth of the baby Jesus was about to happen.

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PS: if you’d like to learn more about, or purchase an autographed copy of my Once Upon the Very First Christmas children’s book that was released last year, just click the link below …