Chris' Think Tank

The Ultimate Snowplow

Greetings,

We finally experienced our first heavy snow of the year. I am guessing 6-8 inches at my home. It was a very peaceful storm that, little by little, over the course of 12 hours, kept adding layer and layer of thick snow. All afternoon and into the evening the cars were driving very slowly. The next morning, as I headed into the bakery, I found the road to be very messy. It was covered with snow. Some of the snow was hardened into ice making the road very bumpy. The cars were still driving very slowly even though it was sunny and not snowing. The road was very narrow as well. I thought to myself that the snow plows must not have went at all last night and will be starting this morning. Just then, I noticed a snowplow coming my way. I had to pull way over into deep snow to let him by. I thought to myself 'now the road will be cleared' but after he went by the road didn't look much different. In fact, most of the morning as I paid attention to the roads, they didn't get much better. It took lots of salt, plenty of warm sunshine, several scrapes by snow plows, lots of traffic and no more snow for the road to get back to normal.

As I thought about this, it made me think about my life. When I was born my road was clean and smooth. But as I grew, the circumstances around me, the choices that I made, the things I have done, all had the potential to be snow falling on the road of my life, over the course of time, I have found areas of my life to be covered, bumpy, icy and narrow...sometimes difficult to navigate. I would find myself wanting to find the quick fix. I would throw a little salt here and shovel just a little there or look for a snowplow to clear it all out. I found my dilemma to be two-fold. First, I kept letting the snow fall. There is no way to get ahead of snow removal if it just keeps falling. As long as I kept doing the things that heaped the snow on the road of my life. it was never going to be easier traveling. Second, I realized that there is no amount of shoveling or salt throwing that I can do to get rid of the slush on my road. There is no magic snowplow in this world that will take it away. That is, until I realized that only God could remove my slushy mess with his ultimate snowplow Jesus. Only then could my road be cleared. I still may have a road that is marred and scratched and have a few potholes, but someday it will be paved with gold! Can you say road trip! Awesome!

Blessings,
Chris

Birky Events

Valentine's Dinner Theater - South County Love Your Neighborhood is sponsoring a Night of Love & Laughter dinner theatre on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. The dinner that evening will be provided by Birky Family Farms Country Gourmet and will consist of Boneless America's cut pork loin, baked potato with the fixings, chicken noodle soup, strawberry spinach salad, homemade dinner rolls, punch, crackers and cheese spreads, and your choice of homemade pie or cheesecake. The entertainment, provided by Cornball Productions, will feature Kevin Birky, pastor and comedian, and the goofy Birky gang. The event will be held at the Porter County Expo center. Doors open at 6 pm and the show/dinner begin at 6:30 pm. The event will benefit HealthLinc (formerly Hilltop) of Valparaiso and NW Indiana. Proceeds will be used to provide free breast cancer screening and exams for women that cannot afford it. Tickets are $30 each and are are available at Birky's Country Market (219) 462-4150, Birky's Bakery & Coffee Shop (219) 766-3851 and at the Porter County Expo Center (219) 464-0133. Save $1/ticket by purchasing a full table of 8. Come have a great time, with great food and great laughs for a great cause!

Birky's Bakery & Coffee Shop Grand Opening - Stop by 205 South Main Street, Kouts, IN 46347, Friday, February 17 or Saturday, February 18, for free coffee, yummy samples, great sales and even new products. Hours for the Bakery are Mon-Saturday 5 am - 2 pm. Breakfast and lunch entrées are available everyday along with fresh baked breads, doughnuts and pastries and awesome Equal Exchange gourmet coffee! You never know...you might just see Sweet "B" the pig!

March ? - Keep on the lookout for the first Birky's Piggies & Cream at the Point in North Judson!

April 14 - Springfest at Birky's Country Market - Mark your calendars for grilled brats and vintage sodas for only a buck each. Huge Spring kickoff with sales and samples and more! 10 am - 3 pm.

April 21 - St. Mary's Catholic Church Spring Pork Chop dinner. 5 pm. Tickets soon available at Birky's Market and Birky's Bakery.

April 27 - South County Love Your Neighborhood will sponsor an Easter Spring Time dinner theatre at the Porter County Expo Center. The evening will begin 6pm with dinner at 6:30. More info to come.

Birky News

New Products- There is a new basil vinaigrette that will be in the store this week. It is fantastic.

The bakery staff continues to amaze me with all the new creations they bake up. Yummy just can't describe them well enough! Don't forget they serve breakfast and lunch as well at the new bakery.

Hours - Bakery Mon- Sat 5am - 2pm, Market Tu-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-3

Hams - The Easter hams will start coming in toward the end of the month.