Dalmation Pancakes

A great man once occupied the chair that I am presently sitting in. The brightly colored blanket covering it always meant that this was Grandpa's chair, as opposed to the more neutrally toned blanket covering the chair it sat next to. I am in Bend, OR right now and memories always fly back when I am in this place. Not necessarily Bend, but the place where my Grandma Ruth resides. Whether our property in the North Cascades, the TTN campsites, Coarsegold or here, I always feel like I am in the same place. The eagle in the window, the giant stuffed chipmunk, the dishes and the warmth always make this place feel like home. I awoke to see Grandma sitting in her chair, waiting for me to wake up and eat breakfast with her. "What would you like for breakfast?" she asks. She knows she doesn't need to ask...Norwegian pancakes it is.

When one of the pancakes was put onto my plate, I looked at it and felt like a kid again. It was a pancake that had lots of spots on it that are just a bit more cooked than the rest of the pancake; I always called them dalmation pancakes because they reminded me of my favorite movie, 101 Dalmations. I took a bite of the pancake and I was back in the trailer, watching the birds outside as CNN played in the background. I miss that time of life when cares were few and days were long. Now I am here because I am going to a conference about social justice and the church, trying to figure out what the next step is for my life. I'm not here for arts and crafts time with Grandma, but I am so glad I am with her. When life becomes full at school, it is really nice to be able to run away from Seattle for a few days and relax. I am now realizing that this is one of the quietest places I've been in a long time.

I understand why Grandpa liked to watch the birds. They're beautiful, they're quiet and they are mesmerizing. I watch them fly and land on the tree and then watch them fly away over and over again and my heart feels so much peace. It's the same thing that happens when I look at the stars. When I stare out at the sky in the middle of the night, my heart is at peace. I look at the creation and I think of our Creator and how all of these things-the birds, the stars, the world-are part of a brilliant plan. Day by day, we fly around and land on different branches: different circumstances, different decisions, different plans. At the end of the day, we rest and we stare at the infinite expanse beyond.

Right now, I am staring at the vast expanse in front of me. There is not much to see and many plans have yet to be made, but I am at peace. I know that each day God will dot my sky with yet another star so that eventually I will be looking at a brilliant sky. For now, I go about living each day with the certainty in my heart that there is indeed a plan, I'm just not sure what it is yet. And that's half the adventure, isn't it?