Z is for Zebu and other Celebratory Markers

I don't know if there are markers, things in your life that serve as a reminder to you.  Reminders in your life that cause you to react, or respond.  For example, water reminds me to pray for people I know in Hawaii.  A candle reminds me that I am not alone in my walk with Christ.  A brick causes me to remember I need to be diligent to take down the walls in my life.  And a zebu reminds me to give thanks with all of my heart.


The zebu is a type of cattle found mostly in South Asia, but they can be found in many different countries where they have been cross bred to create a cattle that produces a better meat and are better suited to work in hot climates.  They are used as oxen, as dairy and beef cattle, and for their hide.  I learned of the zebu, not in a biology class, or a zoology class, but rather, I learned about the zebu, more commonly referred to as cebu, by watching Veggie Tales.
When our children were preschool age, our home was filled with Veggie Tale video tapes. The kids loved them and we found them quite humorous ourselves, so we enjoyed them too.  The songs were catchy, the humor was simple - but there were also underlying jokes that adults could enjoy too.  And the messages were always good.  When our youngest was three, and we would ask her what video she would like to watch, she would sing the entire Veggie Tales theme song before naming the video she wanted to watch.  It was cute.  The first time.


The Veggie Tales videos would have Silly Songs with Larry, in addition to their main story.  Larry would sing songs about his hair brush, his cheeseburger, and his pet cebu,  (also known as a zebu), just to mention a few of his silly songs.  So, when thinking about the letter Z, one word I could not get out of my head, was zebu.  (mostly because once I thought of that word, Larry's silly song has been running through my brain nonstop ever since), and zebu (obviously) made me think of Veggie Tales, and thinking about Veggie Tales reminds me of a very stressful time in our family.  A time when I was so exhausted, I could barely get through the day. For an entire month, my husband and I had additional responsibilities that we needed to tend to that took us 6 hours each day to complete - in addition to our jobs, in addition to 'normal' outside activities, and in addition to raising our three young children.   The circumstances that lead to our family obtaining additional obligations are not mine to tell - but the stress was our children's too.  During this wearying month letting the girls watch veggie tales - every night, every single night, for an entire month helped with them.  So Z is for Zebu which reminds me of Veggie Tales, which reminds me of a difficult time which brings me to the celebratory portion.
During this month of stress, I found myself angry.  Angry with God, angry with the situation, and our home was no longer a place of peace, or joy, or a place anyone wanted to be.  I was reading Psalms at the time, and this verse jumped out at me "I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever" and I told God, "No, I can't do that.  Not now.  I cannot be thankful now."  But the verse wouldn't let me go.  So I gave in.  One night, I fixed a simple dinner - but I put out our best china, a table cloth and candles.  I bought some Martinellis and told my family we were going to celebrate and give thanks.  They thought I was crazy. 
"What," they said, "just what are we celebrating?" 
"Our circumstances."  They just stared at me. 


But we did it.  We had a candlelight dinner.  We used the good dishes.  We opened up the sparkling fruit juice - and we started to give thanks.  Soon, we were laughing, sharing stories and our home became a place of joy again - all because we gave thanks with all of our hearts in the middle of some trying days.  The kids were quite little then - and they don't remember the night.  But I do.  I remember that in stressful times I am to still give thanks with all of my heart. And because that time in our life was closely associated with Veggie Tales, those videos, and a water buffalo cattle called a zebu, will always serve as markers to me to remind me to give thanks to God with all of my heart.