Monday, May 19, 2008

I'm a smoker

Sunday after church Dana wanted to have the band and their families over for a meal. We just got a new grill, so she asked if I would smoke some meat for the occasion. Of course I was more than happy to do it, anything I can do for the band, (the backbone of the church) I am happy to do it. Well I ended up smoking 3 Boston Butts because we needed 2 for the band luncheon, and my mom wanted to smoke an extra one so we could eat on it for the next week. Well, through all of this I have discovered that I like smoking stuff rather than just grilling it. Smoking takes a lot longer. I have to start the night before, and then I also have to get up in the middle of the night to tend to the fire and the meat. Maybe that's why I like it better. When you smoke something it's a longer more drawn out process that you have to plan for a little. Grilling you just get out there and do it, and it only takes about an hour. It seems that with grilling everything is rushed, and you are trying to get the fire right, and then you have to get the meat and put it on, and then you are having to do other stuff, and people are coming up and bugging you, and your wife wants something, and then the kids need you for something, or in my case, the kid. It's just a blur of stuff going on, and among all of that you are expected to fix the meat to the perfect temperature for everyone, "I want mine medium, I want mine well, I want mine medium rare". You see, I'm not that smart, and my brain can't handle all of that stuff at one time. Well at least not handle it and enjoy the experience at the same time. I can really enjoy smoking stuff on the grill. I can do one step at a time, and most of the time no one else is around when I'm doing it, so I can just relax and enjoy the process. I'm not a morning person. In fact, some of my most hated memories of childhood was when my Dad used to wake me up singing some lame "It's time to get up" song. It wasn't that I had to get up that bugged me so much, it was that he was so happy about it that really ticked me off. Being that as it may, I don't hate getting up at 4 in the morning to tend to the grill. Yes I'm a little sleepy, but there's no one else up, and I can spend about 30 or 45 minutes doing my thing and then go back to sleep. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like smoking on the grill. I just wish more stuff in life were like that. Where there was not a lot of other stuff going on, and I could just enjoy one experience at a time. Even the tough things are not so bad when you can just slow down and really work on it and get it just right. I love when the meat is smoked just right and is nice and juicy and tender. In the same way, I love when I preach and the message is just right. When the whole thing flows from the beginning to the end. When you are really able to get your point across. I love the process of writing a good sermon to. When I can get alone, without any interruptions, and craft it just right. When no one else is talking to me and asking me stuff. When the TV isn't on, and the radio isn't playing, and I can read and study and pray, and hear from God. I really need to make more times like that in my life.

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