Faith, Folklore, and Friends

At last, we are back on Central Standard Time. I'm always happy when Daylight Saving time is over. I love that it is light when I get up. Yes, it gets dark earlier, but that's okay with me. My youngest son has a job that requires him to get up very early, so he has to go to bed very early. Now, he can stay up until dark! My Grandma Gean refused to set her clock up in the summer, thinking it was a sin. So all summer, we were in a state of confusion about what time something was going to happen....was we supposed to pick her up at nine or ten? Old time or new time? She fought a losing battle, but she was diligent until the end. It takes several weeks for me to get all the clocks changed. So if I'm early, that's why. We may need to rethink this whole thing.

Today is a special day in our family. We are celebrating the birth of the youngest member of our family, who turns twelve today. She arrived several days before she was expected; her mom was at school, teaching high school students, when Amanda let her know that it was time to go to the hospital. She and her sister are the best things I could hope for. Happy Birthday, Amanda.

No one has to tell a child not to eat unripe persimmons twice. Once a child takes a bite of a green one, the memory stays with him forever. It's that bad. I speak from experience. We hunted them, however, because we wanted to see what was inside the seed. The seed, when opened, could reveal a knife, fork, or spoon. We spent hours opening persimmon seed. My sister's husband was from Maine, and when he first came to the South, he thought this search for persimmon cutlery was the weirdest thing we did. Astringent persimmons are common in the eastern United States. Back in the day, people who hunted opossums for food or sport or just because they were mad at them for getting in the chicken pen, looked for persimmon trees. Opossums loved the fruit and could often be found hiding in the trees. This could be used as a measure of their intelligence, since the trees were completely bare of leaves by the time the persimmons were ripe.* There were some families who cooked opossu...

In the past few weeks, there has been some controversy in Lauderdale County, Alabama, (where I live) concerning prayer before football games in the public school system. Some saw this as school-sanctioned prayer, because it was broadcast over a PA system that belonged to the school, and a violation of First Amendment rights of the 8% of the crowd that didn't like it. The superintendent, possibly in order to avoid a lawsuit for his already financially stressed department, stopped the prayer. At one of the county schools last Thursday night, minutes before kickoff, three timid six-grade girls stood up and began to recite the Lord's prayer. Immediately, they were joined by almost every person sitting in the bleachers on the home side. When the guests of the opposing team saw what was going on, they stood and recited the prayer, too. At another county school the same night, fans from both sides walked onto the field together and prayed. It caused the kickoff to be a few minutes lat...

She was the picture of humility, a sweet, gentle woman. Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come? She was the first person I knew that was so close to God that she would burst into spontaneous prayer and praise no matter where she was or who she was with. She lived in the best neighborhood in town. Some envied her. They said they might be different if their lives had been easy like hers. Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home, She lived with an alcoholic, abusive husband for thirty years. A proud man, he never inflicted any scars that would show. His cuts ran deeper. When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He: So proud, that even as he was dying from the effects of his beloved alcohol, he refused to believe that he couldn't save himself. So arrogant that he thought the financial gains he had made here would somehow erase his rejection of Jesus Christ and all that was holy. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. She prayed...

A few days ago, a friend asked about recipes I make for the holidays. Some things, I have made for many years, and it wouldn't be Thanksgiving or Christmas without them. Sorry, I don't have step-by-step photos of these; these are things so good and fattening that I just make them on special days. Sweet Potato Casserole 4 cups sweet potatoes, cubed 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash. You can use canned sweet potatoes if you don't have fresh ones. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. In medium...

Every human being is “formed to be a spectator of the created world – and given eyes that he might be led to its Author by contemplating so beautiful a representation.” ~ John Calvin, Commentary on Romans 1:19