Tag: Food

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Indiana Living

Part of the reason I love living in Indiana is because of the four seasons and the taste each season brings. If you’ve never set out on your back porch or patio with a saltshaker and ate a tomato, I’m not sure you have really lived. There is nothing quite like eating a tomato like an apple, with the juices running everywhere. If you’re not a tomato fan, then grab a slab of watermelon and you can experience the same basic pleasure.  You can even put a dash of salt on it if it suits your fancy. Mary and I always anticipate summer, especially the end of July through September when we make it a weekly ritual to pick up a half dozen ears of corn from a farmer just east of town. They’re picked daily, along with tomatoes and cucumbers, and set on an old wagon. No better dinner than a slab of butter, a little salt and fresh corn on the cob, a few sliced tomatoes, some cucumbers in vinegar, and a little cottage cheese or a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

As good as summer is, fall may be even better. We’ve already had a few cool nights and Jake and Ris have got us started on one of our fall traditions, s’mores. I’m not the biggest fan, but the rest of the family can’t get enough of a gooey marshmallow and some melted chocolate, setting on a graham cracker. Again, I’d say you haven’t’ really lived if you haven’t licked some sticky, gooey, s’more off a finger or two. Fall brings incredible colors, and as the trees begin to turn, it’s a sure sign that it’s time for some fall favorites. Every year our church held a chili cookoff, it was the biggest event of the year. Nothing said fall like the Coffey Grounds, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, hot apple cider, hot chocolate, thirty or forty varieties of chili, and a hayride. For us it also meant the start of soup season, one of my favorites, and a sign that winter was on its way.

With winter it, means soon snow will fly, and again a chance to experience another unique Indiana food, snow cream. It was one of our kids’ favorites. When the BIG storm comes, the snow is deep and still fresh, it means snow cream. My tradition is, that no matter how cold the temperature or how deep the snow, I go out in the back yard with no coat, short sleeves, and bare feet to scoop up some fresh snow. My reward? A little vanilla, a little sugar, and snow means lots of laughter and some ice cream you’re likely never get to experience if you live down south. Of course, you eventually get weary of the cold and snow and by April you’re ready for some warm weather and spring.

Spring brings an array of colorful flowers, mulberries, and blueberries. If you’re a golfer and you’ve never played a few holes of golf without purple dye on your fingertips, you missed a real treat. A tad sweet, a little sour, they provide just what you need around the seventh or eighth hole, especially if the golf ball isn’t going so straight. By the end of spring strawberries are ready to be picked. We head to Spencer’s You Pick where they let you eat as you pick. I think they lose money on us. It’s the one day of the year when my entire day food choice is one thing, strawberries. After they’re picked you know what’s next, strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, or just strawberries and a little bit of chocolate and you are living in Indiana luxury.

I’m sure as some of you are reading this are saying, we’ll you haven’t tasted whatever it is in your neck of the woods, and you may be right, but you’ll be hard pressed to pull me away from Noblesville, Indiana and the four seasons of fine dining. I think I’ll grab the saltshaker and napkin, go outside on the patio, and enjoy a fresh picked tomato.

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Sample Saturday

Sample Saturday was one of the favorite days around the Hudson home when our kids were growing up. After a long week of work and activities we would take a Saturday morning and go to Sam’s Club to stock up on groceries. What it meant to our kids was running to every tasting stand to sample whatever was being served in the little cups. Whether it was crackers or cookies, fruit or energy drinks, chicken, hot dogs, or shrimp, we would hit nearly every stand, and some of them multiple times. Reflecting back, I smile at the simple ways we found to make everyday chores fun, but as I was reminiscing, I realized something else too, that Sample Saturday never satisfied us. We got just enough food to whet our appetites but not nearly enough to fill our stomachs. Often the end of Sample Saturday would mean grabbing fast food, even though we had eaten a ton of samples, we needed to find a place that served a full meal.
I reflect on this because over the past three months Mary and I have been on a sabbatical. While on it, we’ve done something we’ve always wanted to do, visit other churches, see their systems and structure, participate in their worship environments, and hear the Word from different perspectives. It’s been quite the journey. As we’ve sampled nearly a dozen churches, we’ve walked away with a greater appreciation for the way we did church at Life Connections, the church we pastored for 20 years. Here’s a few things we discovered on our Sample Sundays.
First, was the challenge of being a guest and simply navigating the entry. In nearly every lobby we got the feeling you get when you need to buy a new car but dread going to the car lot, or the feeling you get when trying to negotiate the vendor areas at a Flower and Patio Show. Overly smiley people, who wanted us to feel like they were our best friends, that wanted us to know that they were really cool, but too often made us feel like we were dealing with someone who was trying to sell us a fake Rolex. To every hospitality team, know three things. One, we want to come and find our seats unnoticed, discreetly, without feeling like we have to go through a receiving line at a wedding. Second, we really don’t need everyone in the building to know were “the guest” and we definitely don’t need everyone to clap for us, we’re really okay if you simply say, “if you’re a guest we’re honored that you’ve come to visit.” Finally, we don’t need parting gifts, i.e., your coffee mug, we have one from the other 11 churches we visited, and they are all going to the same place, Goodwill.
Second, unless the church was self-consumed and out of touch with the rest of society, nearly every worship service felt like we were living in Bill Murray’s Ground Hogs Day movie. Same show, different building. Every venue had three pre-planned songs, no more or less, that featured a mixture of the latest trendy hits sprinkled with one of the 14 songs you hear on K-Love. Every show featured vocally gifted people who were trendily dressed, and each place had studio quality sound and lighting, but there was not much depth in the worship experience. Worship teams. Please! Get away from your script, learn to lean in and follow the Spirit, call an audible in the middle of worship, have a goal of creating vertical worship and ushering us into the presence of God where we lose track of our cell phones and our life issues. Cause us to lose track of time and take us to a place where we are consumed by His presence. We will gladly trade your incredibly talented singers and musicians for an experience that takes us into a place where we can cry, feel unexplainable joy, and sense the overwhelming awe of God’s glory and presence.
Third, we were overwhelmed by the number of gifted pastors and their ability to share the gospel. There are some really amazing and talented pastors who are sincere and studied. We walked away from so many churches with incredible notes and relevant issues to work on in our lives. The one issue we struggled with was that there were too many series and messages that felt like we were setting through Ted Talks. Pastors. Make it personal. Be energetic, excited, and exuberant. Let us feel your passion. Let us sense your desperation and hunger. Let us experience God. Give us a fresh Word from Heaven instead of the latest trendy series, church growth program, or featured book.
Finally, churches, would it be too much to ask that you make room for God. Way too many places had church down to a formula, a science, or an unbreachable schedule. In most places there was no liberty for God to move or a time for people to experience His overwhelming presence. Please make room for God moments, call an audible, have a suddenly. Rarely, in any church was there a place for a response to the Word preached, for someone to pray with another person, for an opportunity to make a commitment after being impacted by the Word you just heard. We don’t want some kind of crazed demonstrative response, only room for the miraculous, for healing, for someone to engage with a person who had had their heart stirred, for tears to fall freely, for the Holy Spirit to have freedom, for the possibility of someone walking away impacted by the power of God. We grieved as we left so many services, longing for more than a sample, more than Jesus light, more than an hour and fifteen minute gathering before the next service or returning the next week. We left many places brokenhearted and wishing people had the opportunity to experience a service where they could be impacted by the life altering touch of God’s presence.
I am nobody, but if I could humbly offer a word to any pastor, lead or worship team, it would simply be this. Pray more. Be Spirit led. Be an original, not a copy. Focus on giving people more than a Sample Saturday experience on Sunday. Give them more than a little plastic cup of Jesus. To those looking for a church for your family I would say, find one that gives you a full five-course unforgettable feast. Find one that causes you to say, I came, I saw, I heard, I felt, I experienced, and I can’t wait to go back. Find a place that gives you more than a sample and a coffee cup, find one that causes you to leave saying, I encountered Jesus like I never have before.

Author’s Note: If you are a member of Life Connections, know that after visiting many amazing churches, Mary and I want you to appreciate how blessed you are to be a part of LC. What is happening through your new Lead Pastors, Philip and Annie Daigle is unique and special. If you are not a part of Life and you live in central Indiana, you should seriously consider planning a visit.

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It Was the Biscuits!

I’m not sure if I have a finicky palate or a limited palate, whatever it is, I’m extremely happy when my meal involves pizza or hamburgers. That said, Mary has broadened my palate substantially over the past 30 years. She’s gotten me to eat all kinds of vegetables, casseroles, and countless other dishes. I’ve often told her that her kitchen is my favorite restaurant, not because it saves me money, but because the way she prepares dishes is better than about any restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. To me, her ability to prepare about any dish with just the right seasonings is second to none. As we move into the Christmas season, people are anticipating her sugar cookies, and I guarantee you that there is no way you can eat “just one.” With all the bragging about her cooking, I must say she has had a struggle with one of my favorite breakfast dishes, wait for it . . . biscuits and gravy. For years she tried to get it down, but hers often turned out too salty, peppery, bland, but most often, too sweet. When I worked at Indiana Bible College, I would brag about the late Pat Liford’s biscuits and gravy. They were so good that I got her to set the weekly biscuit and gravy meal around my class schedule. This made the whole biscuits and gravy thing worse for Mary, to say she is competitive is an understatement, and this became a battle she was determined to win. She eventually went to Pat, asked for her recipe and the rest is history, sort of. I remember the first time she made Pat’s recipe; I tasted it while it was simmering in the pan and I remember saying, “that’s it, you’ve got it figured out.” I was so excited to sit down and enjoy Mary’s biscuits and gravy. I cracked open a couple of biscuits, layered a heavy covering of gravy, and dug in. To my surprise something had happened between the pan and the plate, the gravy had a sweet flavor, something that I, as an official connoisseur of biscuits and gravy, totally disliked. It was then we discovered the problem, not just for the moment, but probably for years. Mary’s struggle with biscuits and gravy wasn’t her gravy, it was the biscuits! She had been buying a sweet biscuit, while nearly everyone else used a southern or buttermilk biscuit. The gravy she had made may have been fine, but the biscuit was changing the taste. Like our biscuit and gravy problem, I wonder how many are struggling trying to fix problems, not realizing they are focused on the wrong issue. We try to fix ourselves when we need God’s help. We stay in frustrating relationships blaming ourselves when it is often others creating the problem. We get into difficult situations, trying to make them work, when it really isn’t supposed to be a part of our life. What are you dealing with? What has been a struggle for a long time? Maybe it’s not the gravy, but the biscuit.