merry christmas...have a watermelon!

my roommate and i just went to the farmer's market yesterday and got the best deals on vegetables ever.  a couple people had told us that it closes at 12 noon on saturdays but then the internet in all its bountiful wisdom said 5 pm.  so we went around 2, hoping at least for a cultural experience if not anything good to eat.  there were about 5 vendors still there, but it was entertaining nonetheless.  we were about to buy some zucchini  for bread (about the only thing they're good for) when the vendor, a very jovial farmer, told us they were really cucumbers, offered us other samples of his vegetables and told us each of them could be made into various alcoholic beverages.  my favorite part was when he stopped and then asked if we were even old enough to drink.  this might explain why also related his reluctance to date because so many women are addicted to Xanax.  feed them some homemade squash wine and if they don't pass out, i guess they're clean ;)  it was a very entertaining conversation, let me tell you!    but he gave us a great price on some squash , and i found one more farmer about to leave who gave me a pile of sweet potatoes, tomatoes and a watermelon for $5.  i looked at the roomie, winked and said, "this is what is known as a 'steal.' " it was awesome.  and took about 20 minutes, too.  yes, we are that incredible :)

so while i sit here with a big ole' watermelon in the fridge waiting to be sliced with my marvelously sharp knife i'm also listening to christmas music.  a couple people at church are trying to get me to join practices for the Living Christmas Tree come december.  rehearsals actually started a couple weeks ago, but i cautiously asked for the music CD today, making sure to not commit. once the director hears my voice he may very well regret handing me the music and open invitation, but i know he'd be incredibly nice about either way ;)  it's weird to hear "Sleigh Ride" when it's 90 degrees outside.  it'd be weird anyway, because this is tennessee and we probably won't get any snow until february. 

though weird, it's exciting.  there's something timeless about the Christmas story for me. because it's a (monumental, but) smaller part of a huge story that is even still happening now.  one birth set in motion the biggest thing ever, and the climax is coming.  the anticipation of Him coming again is… yeah, a bit more than the feeling you used to get on Christmas Eve, wanting to shake that present there  and secretly, desperately hoping it was that #1 on your list.  by the time Jesus finally showed up on the scene, He was exactly the opposite of what those religious folks were looking for, not exactly what they asked for, and (as it turned out) alot more than they bargained for.  they'd been waiting centuries and maybe have slacked off a little on their eager impatience for a savior.  they knew what they thought they needed, what size, color and quantity and exactly what shaped box it 'should' arrive in.  they couldn't wait for the Big Day....and then they totally missed it, and majorly missed out on such a pivotal point in earth's history that it should rock your brain (literally). 

i hope you're  ready.  because  He's coming again, and may not wait 'til Christmas.  

i hope you're not slacking off. even if He waits another 400 years and you're a pile of dust then, it might be 4 hours and i want to badly to be caught telling someone "hey- a Better-Than-Christmas has come" instead of assuming that it won't ever come, or worse- that it's not what we want.

i hope you're as excited during these summer months as you are when it's cold out, and that you are ready for all your expectations to be blown away because there is no way they could be as incredible as what's comin'!!!