I'm not cooking the Sam's final or the Jack....

There are a couple of weekends a year that rip the hearts out of cooks on the Pro BBQ Circuit. We are a family of people who come to know each other by traveling around the country and meeting up in obscure locations to camp for a weekend and cook our hearts out, hoping for "the calls" and ultimately the "GC". It's a sport where we are in competition with ourselves more than anything else, working to perfect the art of BBQ, meat on heat and all of the decisions to get to that "perfect" product to be judged.

At the end of the day, the cruel world of Pro BBQ doesn't give out a trophy for participation, NOPE, in our world there are winners and losers..... for that day. In some cases, Winners advance to very select competitions including the Sam's Finals and the Jack Daniels Invitational. On those weekends, our facebook feeds are flooded with the joy of being there, all of the activities and good times ahead of the competition. It's a post, by post, by post, reminder that we're not there :) And...it SUCKS...

At the same time, because we are a close family, we have friends who ARE there, who are enjoying the experience of VIP BBQ Pros and the accolades for their accomplishments. We're proud of what they have done and accomplished like we would be for any other family achievement. We wish them all the best and hope for great results in the end.

So, for many of us, we sit at home, reading about our friends and lamenting that decision to pull our chicken 10 minutes early, going with a sauce we shouldn't have, taking butter out of that one step in the process, meat up as opposed to meat down, changing the rub protocol, not buying the meat we should have, selling that pit that we won on before, changing from low and slow to hot and fast....etc...etc... :)

So, for all my friends out there that are cooking in these great contests, CONGRATULATIONS! You know I LOVE you and you know I'd also love to be there with YOU! Have a great day and when you give your whole heart to Jesus, where you finish in BBQ doesn't matter, but where you finish in life does. Give it to God!

Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me." [Isa 6:8 NLT] 

God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. [Mat 5:4-8 NLT]