wrinkled sheets

I am having company this weekend.  So, as usual I am running around a few hours before they get here trying to make sure the house is clean and presentable.  I began to make up our bed and realized that I was a little more than unhappy about the way those sheets looked.  I folded the covers back and stood at the edge looking at the wrinkles.  I just couldn't be happy with the way it looked. 

I noticed that I started to get a little negative about everything I did after that.  I began to think:  There were clothes in the hamper- I can never stay caught up on laundry.... there were a few stray dishes in the sink...why cant anyone ever take out the garbage.... I will never get caught up on my work stuff...  All thoughts that were going through my head.  Those dang wrinkled sheets were going to ruin my excitement over my family coming.  It was at that moment that I had an epiphany!! 

I think that sometimes we let our frustrations and negativity about something small ruin our perception of how great something really is.  For example:  Women fret over a few little pounds when they look in the mirror and cant see how beautiful they really are.  Children get mad and pout over something that they cant have and cant see how much they already have.  Men think if I could just get to that 6 figure income then I will be successful.  We, as today's society, just want more and more.  Nothing is ever good enough. 

Here's an another example:  A happily married couple living in a nice home in a nice neighborhood.  Their friends get a bigger, newer home... The happy couple start to dislike their home.  So they start to pick the house apart. The windows are a little drafty, the floors creak, the yards a little small...etc.etc.  They pick it apart so much that they cant even enjoy living in it for thinking about all the negative things about the house.  Finally, they sell the house and move to a bigger newer house.  Guess what?  There are negatives about that house too.  The cycle continues...They were too close minded to see the bigger picture of what they had in their nice home in their nice neighborhood. They had 3 loving children, good jobs, health, dependable transportation, and most of all they had each other.  They couldnt appreciate the rainbow because they couldn't get past the fact that they had to deal with a little rain. 

I know that I am as guilty as anyone.  Just like today, I couldn't see past those wrinkled sheets.  Here is a picture of what my negative self saw when I looked at those sheets.

But when I took a step back and looked at the situation as a whole it looked like this: 

If you notice in the picture you cant even really see those wrinkled sheets! 

So, my lesson for today:  Don't let a little "wrinkle" in our lives blur our vision so much that we cant see the beauty in what we do have.  Lets not worry about what we don't have... and learn to love the life we have and the people in it-- that's what matters the most. 

*SIDE NOTE*  I do not claim to be a writer.  My grammar is incorrect..and I am not even sure that this makes any sense to anyone. However, I am looking at the picture as a whole.  I hope that someone can read this and it makes them want to go and hug their family and be happy about what they do have.  Instead of being unhappy about what they don't have. 

Still small Voice

Some of you have heard me tell this story already.  However, I felt the need to share it with everyone.  

A few weeks ago, I was in Ozark catering a rehearsal dinner for my cousin. I had worked half a day and then went to finish buying food and flowers.  It just seemed like nothing had went the way it was supposed to.  And if you know anything about our family...nothing is ever simple.   I got aggravated, tired, and hungry. The family and I decided to go to Rodeo's for lunch.    By the time I arrived at Rodeo's I was just about on the verge of an anxiety attack.  My week was catching up with me, I was missing Bryan, and then we had to decorate AND cook the next day.   I was eating dinner and felt a tap on my arm and it was Stella Sanders Jones and then a few minutes later Daphne Hughes Johnston came to the table. We began to talk for a minute or two. Out of no where it seems, appeared this sweet angel face with long blond hair.  She was wearing the cutest little matchey match outfit and the most adorable rain boots!  You gotta love a girl that's prepared for a little rain!  :)  She didn't miss a minute  and ran right up to me like she had known me forever.  She gave me a little hug and runs away. Cutest thing ever. I think Daphne asked me, Do you know her? I told her no, I don't think so! Stella laughed, and told me that was Mallory Grace.   We said our goodbyes and I turned around to finish my meal. A minute or two passed and the next thing I know I hear the pitter patter of little feet.  Mallory Grace came right back up to me and stood on her tippy toes and gave me the sweetest hug and kiss on the cheek!   I could have just melted. I cant tell you how small I felt after that!   

Sometimes God speaks to us in still small voices.  To tune into God's voice we must turn off all the noise and distraction from our world.  God sent me Mallory Grace as that reminder to turn off all the noise and chaos of the day and just listen. 

You never know when your words or actions could make or break some one's day.  That's why we as adults should try to be more like Mallory Grace.  So, go out of your way to speak kind words to a stranger, or make an effort to smile at someone....you never know what that might mean to someone on the receiving end. 

Scuplin Wine

It seems like just yesterday that I was 12 years old. I would spend my summers at my granny and granddaddy Downs' house. It was a small wood frame home with an inviting porch across the front, complete with a porch swing. The house was nestled between Oak and Pecan trees. The Pecan trees provided ingredients for baking during the fall. The oak trees provided entertainment by giving us "ammunition" to shoot at each other. Who knew that a small piece of PVC pipe could be bent to make an "acorn" gun? And believe me when I tell you that if you could sling that pipe just right, when those acorns hit your bare legs, it would make you want to surrender!

My cousin Krysten and I spent many a warm summer day under those oak trees in that yard. We entertained ourselves by playing "Ann Varnum". For those of you reading this who are not from the Wiregrass area, Ann Varnum was a local television reporter. She had a morning talk show that included cooking segments. So, krysten and I would pretend that we were on her morning show and we were cooking for the camera. There was ALOT of times that we got in trouble for "picking" flowers to use in our recipes or swiping a spoon or two from the kitchen to dig in the dirt with.

The summers were always packed full of activities that we were required to help with. Begrudgingly of course! Canning, freezing, preserving all modes of food storage were used during the summer. I remember many early morning trips to Slocomb to pick tomatoes. We would leave their house before the sun came up. Grandaddy would stop by Hardees to get us a jelly biscuit and we were on our way. We would get to the field before the dew had dried. There is absolutely nothing like the smell of thousands of wet tomato plants. Many five gallon buckets full were picked over those years. They canned everything they could with tomatoes. Plain crushed tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, salsa, etc.

I can't remember everything that they canned and preserved. However, if it grew on a vine or plant and it was edible..they would process it and put it away to use another season.

One of the many things that stick out in my mind about summer and granny and granddaddy's house was the large Scuplin vine in their back yard. At one point it was almost half the size of their house!

For those of you that don't know what Scuplin's are, I will elaborate. Scuplins are also known as Scuppernongs or Muscadines and are a relative of the grape. They are native to the southeastern region of the U.S. The smell and taste of these grapes are so distinctive. I can still hear the screen door slamming behind me as I step out onto the steps and take a deep breath of Scuplin seasoned air. It was such a comforting smell. The only downside to that smell was that it always signaled school was about to start back.

Granny would send us out into the yard to pick Scuplin's. It's funny because it was always much more fun to pick them when we weren't supposed to. granny also had a regular grape vine in the yard. She made us kids some wonderful grape juice and grape jelly. Along with grape juice, she also made some juice out of Scuplin's that was more of an adult version. Although she didn't really tell us kids at the time what it was, Granny made Scuplin wine.

In my many years with them, I never saw her drink that Scuplin wine. I still believe she was an angel and it was just to use for her Christmas fruitcakes.

A few years ago, two girls that worked for me and myself set out on a beach trip. Low and behold as we exited off the interstate there was a winery. I had always wanted to go to a winery for a tasting. So we stopped by and checked it out. I took one sniff of that wine and knew immediately what it was... Scuplin wine. Honestly, I didn't really care for it all that much but I bought a case of it. I was even able to share a bottle of it with my Granny. I think she really liked it. She always tried to bring so much joy into my life, it was so rewarding to try and do that for her as I got older.

The other night, Bryan and I had some friends over for dinner. We broke out the wine that we had accumulated at several different wineries along the way. 80% of the wine we drank that evening was from Scuplin's. The wine is not necessarily on my top 10 favorites list. However, it's worth every penny when I pop the cork and the sweet smell of scuplins hits me. In that small fleeting moment I am 12 years old again underneath those oak trees and any minute Granny is going to call for me from the back porch.

7/3/2011

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