The Best

    My book is the Kindle number one book in dog training for the second day running. This makes me laugh as while my dog is no longer vicious, she still barks like a demon when people come to the door, and the other dog still ignores us when he doesn't feel like being a good dog...which is most of the time.
     Additionally, my book is the Kindle Number 3 book in family relations. This also makes me laugh, as this may be the subject I am  second least qualified to speak upon, after dog training, as most people might note upon observing my family. If it ends up in the number two spot for Cooking, that may well make a trifecta of Irony. (PS- for those of you that don't follow horse racing, trifecta is when you bet on the first, second, and third place winners correctly.This will probably not be on the SAT college exam, but it is a good word to have in your arsenal, nonetheless.)
     I am sure my number one status will soon be upended. But for now, I am basking in the glory of being the best at something. I have rarely, if ever been the best at something. On the other hand, I have often been the worst at many things. I suppose maybe I have been the best at being the worst.
     However, speaking of being the worst, I have to come up with five days of dinners for my lovely family, all gathered here for the holidays. Since I am number three expert in family relations now, I think I need to take this duty perhaps more seriously than I have in the past. So I told hubby Arvo to go buy a brisket, as I knew everyone would like that, and had made it once before successfully.
     "Get one large enough to feed everyone," I requested, "I have had a lot of trouble finding brisket. I only found a small 2 pound hunk."
     He returned with a 20 pound brisket. I wasn't sure it would fit in the oven. I went on line and found a recipe for 'beer braised brisket". The alliteration alone was enough to convince me this should be meal #1 for the family mothered by the #3 author in family relations.

(I thought your book was about a dog. Why are you rated in the family relations category?
This is a good question, and one we should direct to Kindle while I continue to reign supreme.)

     Anyway, the recipe called for the brisket to bake for 6 hours, and every hour, I was to sacrifice a bottle of beer to the pan. None of us are beer drinkers, but Arvo keeps some on hand just in case a beer drinker ever walks in the house. We had an odd assortment of beer, including one called Chocolate Beer. Mmmmm, now that sounds good, doesn't it? We decided the chocolate beer would be just the thing for brisket.
     Since it was Hanukkah, I also made a triple recipe of latkes. For my non Jewish friends, latkes are potato and onion pancakes dripping with thousands of calories of deep fried grease. They are delicious, but if you have them more than once a year, you are considered a flammable substance and should never leave home without a fire extinguisher.
     Dinner was delicious- the brisket a hit. As well it better be, as I have 17 pounds of brisket left.
"Do you all mind if we have brisket again tomorrow?" If they minded, they didn't tell me, probably because they knew one should never cross the number 3 expert in family relations.

Vicky,we have come to really respect and desire your interpretation of your daily events to God's messages. It just sounds like all you have done is brag here. What did God tell you through your brisket and book experience?

This is again, a good question, and one that Kindle is probably unprepared to answer. I thought about being the best. I always try to be the best, but as I pointed out, in most cases, I do not succeed. For one glorious day going on two, I did. However, I don't think God is impressed with my #1 Book status. I do think, however, He desires that we offer our best to Him. Sometimes it will lead to accolades and maybe even riches (I hope, I hope....) but many times, it won't. However, it will always lead to blessing. I am not a good cook, I am not a perfect mother, and I am not an authority on dog training by any stretch of the imagination. But I do desire to be the best I can be before God. Unfortunately, oftentimes I don't live up to my desires. It is the miracle of the baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas that we have the Best lifting us up with Him. And His Book is the number 1 best selling book of all time, offered like mine for a limited time, for free.


Numbers 18: 29
²⁹ You must present as the LORD’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’