I was back home in Tahoe right before Christmas to show the girls what Christmas is like in a ton of snow, with the snow-covered skyscraper pines, and the roofs with snow piled high, and the lake…..ohhhhhh the lake! There’s just no blue like Tahoe blue! If you’ve never been, let me say that I don’t know if I’ve seen a place more beautiful. My two favorite places are so close together: Tahoe and Sonoma. Every time we would get to the top of the chairlift and look out, it was as if God had been working all night long to make this incredible view just for us.
On top of all the amazing beauty, we had some incredible meals. We ate at Pianeta in downtown Truckee, which is outrageous! We ate at Gar Woods on the lake, incredible food and view! But one of my favorite meals was in the Northstar Village. And it wasn’t really about the food, as much as it was about the show…or show down depending on how you look at it. You see, there were a lot of families there, but one stood out. It was a dad, his maybe eight-year-old son, and his maybe six-year-old daughter. He had just bought all of them a French Hot Dog (Ohhhh, it was good. I know, it was a hot dog.) and for the kiddos a little waffle….thingy, that was a dessert. It was a good dad taking care of his babies.
At some point the dad realized that he actually didn’t buy a waffle thingy for himself. So he reached down, picked up his daughter’s, and took a bite. The precious gift of Heaven then said, “that’s too big…that’s too big…THAT’S TOO BIG OF A BITE!!!!!! YOU TOOK TOO BIG OF A BITE!!!!” This is where I could hear the dad in my head saying, “Why you little ungrateful child! Do you not know that I bought you that waffle thingy?! Do you not know that I brought you to a winter wonderland so you could play all day on a ski hill?! Do you not realize that I supply every need that you have in your entire six-year-old life?! If it wasn’t for me, you’d be in the child welfare line eating government cheese!!!” Ok, maybe that last one was a bit much. But seriously, does she not realize that at any minute He could call it all off and she would have nothing?
Oh wait, did I capitalize that H? Hmmm…that’s wrong….right? Or do you think that maybe sometimes that’s exactly the way God feels about us? Do you think God’s ever up there saying, “Chris, you little…” I’ll actually put money down that He’s said that a time or five hundred about me. But seriously, how many times do we not recognize the waffle thingy God has blessed us with? How many times do we look at what’s in front of us and think that we should have more? How many times do we not realize that God is in control of supplying our every need. Maybe the next time you notice the incredible things in your life, no matter how big or small, you should let Him know how much you appreciate the fact that you have them. Just a thought.
