God Knots

Blessed as I am, I'm not gonna lie.  It's been a bit of a struggle to look forward to the holidays, this year.

Due to all of our crazy schedules, we voted for an early Thanksgiving.  At the last minute, I invited my Cooper brothers (and their precious Cooper spouses) to crash our Haney Happy Thanksgiving Dinner. You wanna know why?  All you have to do is ask Wise King Solomon.  He knows almost everything.

In Ecclesiastes, he talks of a cord that is not easily broken.  You know the verse.  You've heard it quoted many times at weddings in reference to the relationship between husband and wife in unity with God.  Though I absolutely love the symbolism and have staked my own marriage on the message... in truth, ol' Solomon's words have been taken out of context.  Instead of matrimony, he was con-templating the futility of "meaningless things", such as having no one to share life's blessings and toils.  He specifically wrote of a man who was all alone, who had no children or brothers.  Solomon tells us that although "two are better than one", it's the cord of three strands that is the strongest.

I agree with Solomon.  God doesn't mean for any of us to do life alone. From the cradle to the grave - all along the way - He has gifted us with family and friends and co-workers and support groups.  He brings us together and ties us into unbreakable knots.

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Yesterday, my house was filled with many cords in my Heavenly Knot.  But it was the presence of my brothers that gave me strength.  No one else has shared the sounds of my Mother's heartbeat from the inside.  No one else knows exactly how much I miss her, feels the bipolar juxtaposition of being both blessed and heartbroken in this world without her and our Daddy.

Nobody else knew why my baby brother's eyes got a little shiny when he saw the celery stuffed with pimento cheese (Mom's fav) or noticed that my big brother and I ate most of the pecan pie (sugar gets us through the tough times, man).  

But at the end of the meal, when our waistbands had been stretched beyond all reasonable bounds and our ears were ringing with laughter, seriously... what chum could possibly stay glum?  Certainly not me nor my chums.

Mandie Lee got the wishbone (surprise!) and won the break against her G-Dude (surprise!).  She didn't tell me what she wished for, but I'll tell you mine...

I wish for everyone to have a Happy Thanksgiving and be grateful for their heavenly chords and God-tied knots.  I wish that if your Knots have come untied, that you will let God re-tie them and be thankful.  And if you're not in a Knot, get your butt out there and find one... and be blessed.