USA today shared a survey that asked how Americans rate their BBQ skills. 50% said excellent. 41% rated themselves as good, 6% said hit or miss and 3% said not great. Almost everyone I know who lights a grill insists that their special technique or recipe makes whatever they cook a culinary masterpiece. One friend places an ice cube on burgers so the burgers cook slowly and stay juicy. Another uses a syringe to inject sauce into Boston butts. I use an old pie pan to keep vegetables from falling through.
I thought about that survey as the storms rolled through on July 4th. My family gathered at my dad’s, and we kept on grilling, and I hope that most people adapted to the rain and managed to have a great meal and a good time anyway. Sometimes, things don’t work out quite the way we had planned, but that does not mean you have to let go of the whole idea. After we had moved the tables and chairs around, someone remarked that it had rained on July 4, 1976 as well. We laughed, and remembered eating chicken bog under a barn shelter that year. We talked about the bicentennial celebration of that year, and the children stared at us in awe of our great age.
I believe we have to tell our stories to new generations so that they will know what is important and valuable. I learned this from God. In Joshua 4, Joshua followed God’s instructions and had the people to take stones from the Jordan and set them up in the camp and Joshua himself set up 12 stones in the river to mark where the ark of the covenant was carried over. Deuteronomy 6 admonishes the people to teach the children God’s ways. Teach the children who we are and what is important.
We have to remember, so we can grow towards the people we are meant to be, as a nation and as a people of God.
I hope you will come and share some stories and fun this afternoon, as we enjoy a Taste of Summer celebration from 5 to 7. The children will share the fruits and veggies they have grown in their garden and we will have ice cream! In the fellowship and fun, we will declare who we are and what is important to another generation.
Faithfully,
Pastor Scarlett