Just a few short years ago, we humans believed that the solar system revolved around our own ‘blue marble’. Imagine our humbling surprise that not only was the earth not the center of the Milky Way, but our planet makes it’s orbit around the sun. Isn’t that just like us? We become so self-absorbed that we erroneously decide that everything revolves around us. But that’s not really the purpose of this post.

Last night my sister, Lisa & I went to a concert/worship event at a church here in Birmingham. If you have never heard of Glory Revealed, you can check it out here http://www.gloryrevealed.com/ Two years ago, David Nasser (evangelist) and Mac Powell (lead singer of Third Day) felt the Lord leading them to write songs that were pure Scripture. David’s vision was that people would learn the Word of God by singing those songs. Fast forward 2+ years and Shades Mtn Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL is hosting the final stop of the Glory Revealed II tour. David Nasser, Mac Powell, Laura Story, Aaron Shust… The list goes on and on. It was AMAZING!!

Just a few songs in and my arms were raised in worship. I felt the Presence of our Almighty God. If you’ve never experienced that, don’t wait! Beg, steal, borrow whatever it takes to find yourself a Bible based, God filled, worshipful church. Give your heart to Christ. Take what He did on the cross just for yourself and make Him Lord of your life. Make Him the center of your own solar system.

Even those of us who’ve followed Him for years find ourselves orbiting things other than the ‘Son’. What do you find yourselves focusing on? Am I the only one who focuses on something so much that I loose my Center? What distracts you? Family issues? Workplace stress? The everyday business of life? Things you ought to do but don’t? Things you shouldn’t be doing? It’s an endless list, isn’t it? But there is nothing as freeing as releasing those ‘orbits’ and getting back on the track that we were made for. A continuous orbit around the Son. The problems and stresses didn’t go anywhere. They aren’t any smaller than they were yesterday. They have just taken their proper place and are so much smaller than the Center of my universe.

Shut Down

When I get overwhelmed, when I get hurt, when I get stressed, when my heart is broken, the same thing always happens. I take a step back, breathe deep... And shut down. Real mature and healthy, I know. That is the true reason behind the lapses in posting any original pieces. Yep, that's me, mature and healthy! So what changed? Definitely not my circumstances. No, last night I went to the movies. I can hear those of you who know me laughing right now. Where else would Lara go to have a WAKE UP moment than to the movies?

Well, it wasn't just the movie, which I'm sure you are just now figuring out was Julie & Julia. It was the combination of the story with Panera's amazing strawberry/poppy seed salad w/chicken along with Godly fellowship with good & wise friends (who give great counsel, btw!).

So, what has changed? I watched the story of a New York woman who followed a path that shouldn't have worked. And it changed her life. What was it? A blog. Do I think this blog will change my life? I don't know. Do I think it can change your life? Again, I don't know. But I do know this... Shutting down changes nothing and no one. Unless the change we're discussing is rust and decay. So, again, what did I learn from Julie Powell & Julia Child? These two women didn't shut down. They didn't settle for rust or decay. And neither am I.

No, even though I adore cooking, I will not be cooking my way through Julia Child's book for the next 365 days. What I will be doing, however, is staying open. Writing through the stresses of life instead of surfing the web to avoid doing what He has called me to do. Write. I'll be posting soon.

My South

I'm sorry. I know I haven't been keeping up with posting to this blog. When we have alot on our plates & our hearts are tender, this is when we need to touch those tender places and bring them to light, so that we can heal. Evidently, I haven't been doing this, but a friend e-mailed this to me & I wanted to share that with you.

This was written by Robert St. John, executive chef and owner of the Purple Parrot Cafe, Crescent City Grill and Mahogany Bar of Hattiesburg , MS.

My South
Thirty years ago I visited my first cousin in Virginia. While hanging out with his friend, the discussion turned to popular movies of the day. When I offered my two-cents on the authenticity and social relevance of the movie Billy Jack, one of the boys asked, in all seriousness; “Do you guys have movie theaters down there?” To which I replied, “Yep. We wear shoes too.”

Just three years ago, my wife and I were attending a food and wine seminar in Aspen, Colo. We were seated with two couples from Las Vegas. One of the Glitter Gulch gals was amused and downright rude when I described our restaurant as a fine-dining restaurant... “Mississippi doesn't have fine-dining restaurants!” she insisted and nudged her companion. I fought back the strong desire to mention that she lived in the land that invented the 99-cent breakfast buffet. I wanted badly to defend my state, my region, and my restaurant with a 15-minute soliloquy and public relations rant that would surely change her mind. It was at that precise moment that I was hit with a blinding jolt of enlightenment, and in a moment of complete and absolute clarity it dawned on me -- my South is the best-kept secret in the country. Why would I try to win this woman over? She might move down here.

I am always amused by Hollywood 's interpretation of the South. We are still, on occasion, depicted as a collective group of sweaty, stupid, backwards-minded, racist rednecks. The South of movies and TV, the Hollywood South, is not my South.

This is my South: My South is full of honest, hardworking people.

My South is the birthplace of blues and jazz, and rock n' roll. It has banjo pickers and fiddle players, but it also has BB King, Muddy Waters, the Allman Brothers, Emmylou Harris and Elvis.

My South is hot. My South smells of newly mowed grass. My South was kick the can, creek swimming, cane-pole fishing and bird hunting.

In my South, football is king, and the Southeastern Conference is the kingdom.

My South is home to the most beautiful women on the planet.

In my South, soul food and country cooking are the same thing.

My South is full of fig preserves, cornbread, butter beans, fried chicken, grits and catfish.

In my South, our transistor radios introduced us to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at the same time they were introduced to the rest of the country.

In my South, grandmothers cook a big lunch every Sunday, so big that we call it dinner (supper comes later).

In my South, family matters, deeply. My South is boiled shrimp, blackberry cobbler, peach ice cream, banana pudding and cream pies.

In my South people put peanuts in bottles of Coca-Cola and hot sauce on almost everything.

In my South the tea is iced and almost as sweet as the women.
My South has air-conditioning.

My South is camellias, azaleas, wisteria and hydrangeas.

In my South, the only person that has to sit on the back of the bus is the last person that got on the bus.

In my South, people still say 'Yes, ma'am,' 'No ma'am,' 'Please' and 'Thank you.'

In my South, we all wear shoes....most of the time..

My South is the best-kept secret in the country. Please continue to keep the secret....it keeps the idiots away.

Not doing a great job at keeping it secret. Oh, well...