As a wife and mom of three sons, I’ve spent hundreds of hours cooking for my guys. Although I didn’t dislike all of that cooking, I can’t exactly say that I enjoyed every minute of it either. So imagine my surprise when I recently found myself giddy as I cooked and baked an entire day away. I haven’t felt that happy doing day-long kitchen duty in years! Naturally, I attributed my euphoria to a sugar high from the ooey-gooey icing on this Mississippi Mud Cake.

My marathon cook-off was in honor of Father’s Day. Here in Houston, we celebrate two wonderful fathers: 1) Bill, my husband and the father of our three sons, and 2) David, our oldest son and the father of our two grandchildren. This year, Stephanie (David’s wife who is a terrific cook) and I planned the menu and divided the cooking (which I attributed as another possible reason for my joy and giddiness).  

Since we celebrate Father’s Day on Saturday, I began cooking early that morning. Later, we loaded everything in the car, headed to David and Stephanie’s, she and I cooked the remaining dishes, and we all  proceeded to PIG OUT. It was a spectacular Father’s Day feast!

On the way home, I thought about how much I had enjoyed spending the day cooking and how surprisingly fun it had been. That’s when my hyper-analytical, melancholy personality went into overdrive. You see, one of the downsides of being a melancholy is that when we’re happy, we can’t just enjoy it. Noooo. When we’re happy, we must analyze, diagnose, and identify the root cause of said happiness (thereby effectively wringing much of the joy out of the entire happy experience . . . which is actually sad . . . a separate issue I’m probably pondering right now as you’re reading these words). Note: You’ve just experienced a few brutal but, hopefully, insightful seconds inside the mind of a melancholy. We will now return to my original analysis.

So, was the joy I experienced in my kitchen that day the supernatural fruit of the Spirit? Or was it, perhaps, because I was cooking for Bill and David – two of God’s greatest blessings in my life? Or could it have possibly been the side effect of way too many spoonfuls of chocolate icing? Then, the answer came to me (and if you’re a mom who spends major chunks time in the kitchen, this next paragraph for you).

I think the primary reason I enjoyed being in the kitchen all day was because it’s not where I spend major chunks of my time anymore. Yes, I still cook, but not nearly as often as I used to. Spending hours and hours in the kitchen preparing a multi-course meal is rare for me. And because it’s so rare, it is a precious – yea, even a joyous – task for me. So to those of you who feel like you’re chained to your kitchens constantly churning out one meal after another for your hungry hubbies and kids, do not despair. Instead, keep reminding yourself that all of the cooking (and cleaning, grocery shopping and laundry) you’re doing is good (Proverbs 31:18). And don’t forget: one day it will also be rare. And rare is good. Very good, indeed.

Note: This concludes the Titus 2 portion of my talking points today. For those of you who feel motivated to make a Mississippi Mud Cake, arise and go forth to your kitchens to bake with joy! For those of you who are pretty sure that it will take a very special, once-a-year occasion (such as Father’s Day) to motivate you to make anything even resembling a Mississippi Mud Cake, sit tight, feel no shame, and prepare to meet some of your very cool California sisters in Christ. 

Back in May, I had the privilege of being with the women of Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, California for one of the most unique and God-blessed events that I’ve ever been a part of. A group of their ladies did the Beauty by The Book Bible study that I wrote, and the Lord inspired some of their leaders to create a one-night event called New Beauty as an outreach to women of all ages in their church and community.

His Banqueting Table
by Debbie Todd, Director of Support & Stewardship

Dining alone isn’t very fun, is it? Wouldn’t you rather go out to dinner with a group of your closest friends instead?  When you share a meal with a friend, you end up laughing harder, talking faster, and making so many more memories than if you’d eaten alone. Not to mention, you just have more fun!

Well that’s how we feel about our Priority Partners! If God called us to do His work alone we’d still do it, just like we’d still eat alone if we got hungry. But it’s just so much more rewarding to share the experience of ministry with our friends!

Right now, we have a need for more Partners to sit around His Banqueting Table and share in the blessings of ministering to women and encouraging them to give God priority in their lives.  Can’t you just picture the banqueting table? A beautiful, long, mahogany dining table perfectly set for a glorious seven-course meal? When we picture such a table, two things come to mind. The first is YOU! You’re there and you’re enjoying with us an amazing feast of souls prepared for us by our Father! And the second thing we imagine is that the table is set with these glorious dishes that have God’s Word written all over them!

That’s why we’ve set aside these beautiful Scripture dinnerware gifts exclusively for our special Priority Partners. Wouldn’t you love to eat off these every day? If you’re not yet a Priority Partner, you can become a Partner today with your monthly gift of any amount!  There is plenty of room around the table and you’ll absolutely love the dishes!

Click here to email Debbie

Priority Ministries is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization. All gifts received are tax-deductible as a charitable contribution.

The Vegas Syndrome
by Emily Ryan, Executive Editor 

Several years ago, I went with a group of friends to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a wedding. Being the good Southern Baptists girls that we are, we didn’t care for the casinos or “night life” that is typical of the city, but there were several other aspects of the town we couldn’t wait to explore -- the lights, the shows, the food, the hotels…the lack of humidity! We wanted to experience it all!

We had a great time walking down the streets of Vegas, with perfect hair and six cameras between the four of us, and spent the days going from one hotel to another gawking at all of the sights. Where else can you experience New York City, the pyramids of Egypt, Caesar's Palace, and Paris, France, all in one day?

However, it was while we were in Paris (that is the Paris Las Vegas Resort) that I had an epiphany. We were standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower attempting to read all the signs that were written en Français, when we noticed a sign that beckoned us to pay $15 to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Why not? we thought. We’d already had our French baguettes and a little café au lait and besides, when would we ever get such an opportunity? We were in line and poised with our money and cameras when it hit me.

"You know," I said to my friends, "we're not really in Paris." They paused. "And this isn't the real Eiffel Tower." They realized it too. We had become so caught up in the fanfare and excitement of the city that we forgot that it wasn’t the real thing. We may have visited the New York, New York Hotel that day, but we were never really in New York City. And we may have walked through the Excalibur Hotel, but not once were we really in a medieval castle. We had fallen victim to the Vegas Syndrome.

The Vegas Syndrome is one of Satan’s greatest tricks, and it is amazing how often we fall for it. He uses anything he can think of – busy calendars, work obligations, family relationships, money challenges – to distract us from the Real Thing (Jesus!) and lure us into a world in which we forget that silly things like granite countertops, leather seats, or the perfect centerpiece for a brunch really don’t matter into Eternity. We forget that we have a heavenly home and that everything in this world is a small-scale, fleeting illusion of what is to come.

What about you?  Are you constantly thinking about things that will not matter into Eternity? Are you so distracted by the right here, right now that you’ve forgotten about the forever and ever? If you want to determine if you’ve fallen victim to the Vegas Syndrome, just look at two simple things: 1) your calendar, and 2) your checkbook.  If your heart and mind are truly on heavenly things and not on earthly things, then it will show in how you spend your time and your treasure.

I’ve yet to make it to the real Eiffel Tower in Paris, but I’ve heard that the view is amazing. And I’ve yet to make it to my heavenly home, but from what I’ve read, it will be a place beyond words! “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Philippians 3:20-21

Don’t forget, this world – the right here, right now – is Satan's world! It’s the cheap, Vegas knockoff, if you will. Our home is in heaven, and to fall short of such a viewpoint is to settle for second best. Let us not spend our lives striving to get to the top of a fake Eiffel Tower!

Click here to email Emily

Priority Prayer Points
by Nancy Campbell, Prayer Director

1. Pray that Laurie would be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading as she reviews evaluations from the pilot of Beauty by the Book for Teens and determines how to implement them into the final workbook.
   
   
2. Join us in thanking God for the donations we have received so far for the production of Beauty by the Book for Teens. And pray for those considering investing into the lives of young women through the study, that they would follow God’s prompting and give generously.
   
   
3. In mid-June we mailed postcards advertising Priority Bible Studies to over 3,500 Women’s Ministry leaders across the country. Please pray that God would take that simple marketing tool and turn it into many, many orders for Priority resources, and that God would take those resources and encourage and equip women to give Him priority in their lives!

We have a whole group of Priority Prayer Partners who would love to pray for you too! Email Nancy Campbell, Priority’s Prayer Director, and know that your request will be lifted up immediately!

Email your request to Nancy

Here's where Laurie will be going and glo-ing soon.  Please pray.  Thanks!

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Gotta Glo

Thanks for joining us for another issue of You Glo Girl! We hope you enjoyed a wonderful July 4th weekend celebrating our country’s independence, and we can’t wait to see you back here next month! 

Gotta glo for now!

Your Priority sisters,

Laurie Cole, Pam Henderson, Shanda Stiles, Jan Hart,
Debbie Todd, Stephanie Cole, Nancy Campbell, and Emily Ryan
Priority Ministries Staff