Apple Nut Pancakes with Cider Syrup and Bacon

Fluffy cinnamon spiced apple pancakes stacked high with pecans, bacon, and sweet cider syrup.

I know things have been a little quiet around here this week. I didn’t really plan on disappearing from the interwebs for five days, but sometimes life happens. Or, more accurately, sometimes life slaps you in the face, sets your butt on the sidelines, and tells you it’s time to take a break already.

And you know what? Being away was good for my soul.

It’s good for me to realize that this great big world keeps spinning even when I’m not hyper connected to it. (I’m as shocked as you are)

It’s good for me to release my grip, relinquish control, and give myself grace to take care of myself when I need to.

It’s good for me to cook for no other reason than the pleasure of a sizzling skillet and a good meal.

As much as I love this blogging gig, it can be all-consuming. It’s a whirwind of tweets and comments and stat-checking and Facebook posting. And that doesn’t even include all the cooking, photo taking, editing, and writing that makes this little place go round.

It’s easy to wrap my identity up in this space–to get my sense of worth and success from that day’s blog statistics.

But that’s a dangerous road to travel, friends. Because this blog is going to have good and bad days. And I will most certainly fail at being the perfect blogger.

And on those days when a picture isn’t as pretty as I’d like it to be or the stats look abysmal, I need to be reminded I am more than my blog. More than the food I cook, the words I write, the pictures I take.

You and me? We’re both more than anything we do or don’t do.

You are more than a promotion.
You are more than a pink slip.
You are more than your children’s grade cards or success (or lack thereof) at potty training.
You are more than your weight.
You are more than the stacks of laundry.
You are more than the cleanliness of your home.
You are more than your clothes, your car, the number of friends you have .
You are more than a wife, a mom, a father, a friend, a dress size, a job, a hilarious personality.

You and me? We are beloved children of God. That’s our identity, and nothing we do can ever change it. We can fail, grieve, suffer, succeed, win or lose. And at the end of the day? We’ll still be loved. No matter what.

Let’s rest in that knowledge today, friends. Let’s give ourselves grace to make mistakes, take risks, and take breaks. Let’s gather at the table and laugh our heads off or cry our eyes out.

We’ll have cinnamon and apple pancakes stacked as high as they’ll go, till the tower almost teeters over our plates. We’ll top them with more apples and pecans and savory, crunchy bacon then drown the whole thing in cider syrup.

It doesn’t matter that we’ll never be able to eat it all. We’ll stack them high anyway. Because it’s beautiful and extravagant and this is what the table is about.

It’s about grace–so big and glorious and overflowing and abundant we don’t know what to do with it all.

So we’ll just accept it, share it, bask in the delicious wonder of the whole thing. We’ll linger till noon, drink coffee, and tell stories. We’ll soak in this grace and take the time to marvel over apples and bacon and the fluffiest cinnamon pancakes you’ll ever eat.

So, what do you say? Will you join me?