So, I know I haven't written anything in a LONG TIME. Let's just say that I'm using all my words up in real life and don't have the time or mental capacity to blog anything, let alone write a thank you note (all overdue) or share anything( forget the pressure of saying something PROFOUND)...I can't do that. I spend my time "applying" for jobs, pretending I'm Cinderella, running carpools, and googling how to do 6th grade math (confirmation that I was a Music Therapy major). But so many people have asked about Cookie Tuesday, I decided to sit down for an hour and explain it- as best as I can remember...
It all started
with the hate of ballet tights. Might seem to be strange statement as I explain
Cookie Tuesday, but that IS how it all began.
It
was 2008 (I think?) and my oldest had started taking ballet classes with a
friend. They would come home from school, put on the most precious pink tights
and leotard, tiny ballet shoes, get their hair in a bun (or ponytail). The
first few weeks it was nothing but excitement. But then came the “tight
resistance”. It was the new weekly meltdown that came with the “let’s get
on your tights”. Sitting down on the floor, gathering up the tights to first
slip them over the feet, gradually pulling up the legs, and then the ultimate
‘pull them up’, often lifting her off the ground to get them ON. It only took
about a month and a half of this madness to see that something would have to be
done to make this whole experience more tolerable.
Enter
Mr. Jim, our neighbor from down the street. Hands down the nicest man you’ll
ever meet. And every Tuesday afternoon, he would bring our trashcan up from the
street...and then, he smelled cookies. Needless to say, Jim became a regular for
cookies. He became, in fact, the cookie accountability authority. He made sure
that cookies would be made and was usually the first person to try them each
week. If for some reason we had an off week, Jim would tease me mercilessly,
until I started keeping a few bags in the freezer for the off weeks.
But
I still had all these cookies...So we started sending some to school each week
to my kid’s teachers, and taking plates to the neighbors close by. And
after a few weeks I decided just taking cookies wasn’t really very neighborly
or communal, so I started inviting them to pop in for some with milk after
school. Soon the kid’s friends realized there were cookies being made on
Tuesdays, and a few would stop by. Some would have their mom’s bring them,
and then the moms and I would visit while they ate cookies and ran around the
backyard.
I
think it was about then I had my first “ah ha moment” and realized the blessing
and beauty of this opportunity for community. Kids playing, moms talking and
connecting, neighbors dropping in. And I didn’t MAKE it happen, it just
happened. There wasn’t stress of “entertaining”, to have my house clean, to
make some official event. People came to BE together, to visit, process through
and laugh at life, take a break from the madness...and eat cookies. I
just made cookies that I was craving (still my breakfast for the next day) and had
milk. And people came. It was, I realized, a beautiful picture of life as it
can/should be.
My
husband changed position in his job, placing him back into the realm of “youth
culture”. We had lived this before, and LOVED it (for me, maybe a little too
much). It was his hope we would once again unite in ministering to middle
school and high school students. The only difference now was I was finally
aware of “my own people” aka MY children that needed my primary time, attention
and emotional investment. Thus, my logical solution was to open up Cookie
Tuesday to the teenagers as well- Like having your cookie and eating it too, right?
Ha! I went from making my recipe x4 (we were far past the doubling amount) to
making the recipe x8! THAT is a lot of butter, and lots of milk to drink with
those cookies. But the organized chaos continued to be a blessing, as the “big
kids” would play with the “little kids”, meaningful conversations were
happening, relationships made/strengthened and most of all, IT WAS SO FUN!
There were all shapes, sizes, ages, stages of people from school, church, the
neighborhood all together and it was lovely. Even as I think back to it now, I
see snapshots of kids running, teenagers clumping, mama’s sitting, and even
hear some music being played over it like a scene in a movie. Did I mention, it
was chaos? Because it was that too. Toys were scattered everywhere in the house
and outside, milk was spilled, cookie ground into the carpet, things got
broken, kids needed refereeing at times, but even that was worth it. We are all
a glorious mess, and this was a glimpse of the mess redeemed.
Turn
the page. In a rather quick transition, including selling our house and living
with my best friend for 5 months, we found ourselves in Franklin, Tennessee
just outside of Nashville- new house, new neighborhood, new church, new school,
new everything. And yet the first question asked as school was about to start
from my kids: would we still have Cookie Tuesday, even here? It was then I
realized it had become a connecting point, an opportunity for hospitality, and
a way to “love on people” for the kids. It wasn’t just a tradition anymore, it
was now a calling. They saw the value in having time to talk, to share the
joys, sorrows and challenges, do homework together, to run around and play, and
of course eat cookies as a means of “loving people, places and things to life”.
And
so, we made cookies. The first few weeks, it was just us, and the cookie recipe
was just doubled. But slowly, kids started knocking at the door, people would
pop in for “just a minute”, mom’s started coming with their toddlers to be able
to have a conversation with an adult and have a cup of coffee. And so it begins
again. Sometimes, there are only a handful come, other weeks, we are pulling
out all the secret cookie plate reserves. My house still isn’t too clean, there
is still milk spilled, cookies ground into the floor, and all sorts of bugs in
the house from the doors being left open as kids run in and out. But there are
also kids doing Math at the dining room table, the trampoline has (too many)
laughing kids on it, toy trucks are being driven and airplanes are flying,
musical instruments are being played, and it is the most beautiful sound of
love and life imaginable. I don't know how long it will last, months, years... it's yet to be seen. As long as people are coming, there will be cookies to eat. Making cookies is a privilege, a small way to reflect and share the Goodness and Greatness in life to anyone that wants to join in. Come on by, or grab one to go most Tuesdays from 3-5pm. The flavor of the day is always posted on my facebook/instagram. We'll just be glad you came!
And all because my daughter hated wearing tights.
