Pimento Cheese Memories

By Hally Franz –

My 92-year-old grandmother went on to her eternal home two days ago. Grandma had been healthy and active most of her life, enduring only a couple years of declining energy and mobility. She was blessed. I, along with all of her family and friends, have a ton of wonderful memories. We were also blessed.

In preparation for the funeral services of Erma Rhea Tucker, we family members have gathered together to recall and document some of our most notable memories of my grandmother. Some are heart-warming, others not necessarily family-friendly, most funny.

My earthly father, who greeted Grandma sometime during the early morning hours on September 5, told me a story about pimento cheese, and the tough, enduring character of his mother. Dad told me about a time when he was a child of perhaps 8 or 10. He, along with his younger brother, rode alongside my grandmother in an old truck as they drove home from the dentist in Louisiana, MO. Grandma drove with one hand while she used her other to roll toilet paper in wads that she shoved into her bleeding mouth. She’d been to the dentist and gotten sixteen teeth pulled. I only recently learned the exact number, because when dad told the story he simply said “every tooth in her head.”

When Grandma and her young sons arrived home, she immediately went to the kitchen and began grinding pounds of pimento cheese for dinner or perhaps some upcoming event. This was how my dad viewed his mother, a resilient and gritty woman. The story has always been a favorite of mine.

Cinnamon rolls, college sports, needlework, old hymns, little league ball, a school cafeteria, Frank Sinatra – those images congregate in my mind when I think of Grandma Tucker. Pimento cheese lingers the longest.

One of the greatest gifts Heavenly Father gives us is the people in our lives. Their influence and inspiration, their love and legacy are among the greatest things about life here on earth, and among the many things to look forward to in Heaven.

PRAYER: Merciful Father, thank You for the loved ones in our lives. What a gift they are to us. Help us to appreciate and remember good times spent with them, and give us the strength to smile when they begin their eternal lives with You.

“Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.” (Jeremiah 31:13).

Visit to NASA

By Judy Davis –

During a visit to the Kennedy Space Center, the awesome accomplishments of space travel amazed me. Rockets from Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions stand as monuments to the scientific achievements of mankind.

I visited the Space Center several times when I attended the Christian Writer’s Conference held each year in Florida. However, I have never seen a rocket blast off into space. I came so close to seeing this happen several years ago. I was staying with some friends and we got up in the middle of the night to go and see this spectacular event. We stood for hours it seemed in an open field near the rocket site. As we were waiting patiently, and so excited, the final countdown finally arrived. 3…2…1…and then suddenly an announcement over the loudspeaker: “this mission has been aborted due to technical problems.” Needless to say it was disappointing. Later, we laughed as we thought of how we waited and waited….and then missed it!

Even though I’ve watched many launches on television, it’s hard to comprehend that a rocket weighing hundreds of tons can be blasted into space. When Neil Armstrong took his first historical step on the moon, some people doubted whether he really did. Though I don’t understand how, I believe astronauts have orbited the earth and landed on the moon. I believe because eyewitnesses who were at the space center reported what they saw, whether by television, radio, newspapers or magazines.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, it’s hard to comprehend that the son of God actually walked on this planet over 2000 years ago. But just as I believe man can defy gravity, I believe in Jesus’ divinity and humanity. Jesus came to earth on a mission from God. He walked on the earth because many eyewitnesses saw Him. They didn’t have the technology of today to photograph Him, but they wrote plenty about what they saw. If there were a monument to the mission of Christ, it would be the cross He died upon.

Whether you and I understand it or not, God sent Jesus on the greatest mission ever. “For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17).

Babysitters and Body Guards

By Lori Freeland –

What do the following positions have in common?

Babysitter.
Body Guard.
Manager.
Safety Net.
Advisor.

If you’re a parent, you’ve held them all or you will by the time your children dive from the nest. One day they will pay for their own phone lines and car insurance, schedule their own dentist appointments, drive through and pay for their own take-out, and do laundry in their own dorm rooms or apartments.

Independence.

That’s what we strive for from the moment we hold those babies in our arms. Our number one job is to teach our kids how to be strong and kind and ethical and everything they need to be to survive in our world as adults.

When each of our children arrived, they were absolutely dependent on us as their parents to care for them. It wasn’t as if Kyle could walk to the bathroom and help himself. And without any sort of hand-eye coordination to move spoon to mouth, Alek would have starved in days if we hadn’t fed him. Unable to comfort herself, Maddy just screamed 24/7, unless we held her over our shoulders.

We were their babysitters. Only the babies did the sitting, in our arms, while we met their needs.

The toddler years weren’t much easier because my kids thought they could actually do things like pour milk, and walk down narrow stairs without hanging on to the railing, and climb on the big potty in the public restroom on a toilet seat designed for a 500-pound trucker.

We were their bodyguards. Literally, guarding their tiny bodies from harm.

Elementary school and middle school years ushered in personhood. Suddenly, they brought wants, ideas, and opinions to the family dinner table. Only they lacked any kind of experience to discern things like ratings on video games and movies. They didn’t realize that watching something scary for an hour could bring nightmares that lasted for months. Or that staying up all night, three nights in a row, could make them physically ill and unable to perform on that test, or in that recital or play. We knew of course.

That’s why we were their managers. The people who nixed the fun ideas because we were able to look down the road at the not-so-fun consequences.

High School. The character-forming years. Filled with mistakes and sketchy choices. All those ideas we managed when they were younger? Now they had the ability, the vehicles, and the cash to attempt to carry them out behind our backs. And sometimes they did.

We were their safety nets. Waiting to catch them when they fell—minor goof-ups to major crisis.

Next came leaving home and making decisions for their futures. Life plans, budgets, friendships, career choices, and marriage partners. Sometimes a seemingly minor mistake led to a life we never wanted them to live. Other times, taking a chance opened doorways to an amazing future we never foresaw.

We were their advisors, doling out the wisdom of our bad choices so they could make different decisions. And mess up somewhere else instead.

I span the range from Babysitter to Advisor this year and it’s a weird place to be. I often have to remind myself that at eleven, Maddy should be making her own grilled cheese. But only under close supervision. And at fifteen, Alek isn’t old enough to decide if he can buy an M game for the X-Box but at eighteen, Kyle doesn’t need me to cut his steak when he visits on the weekends.

Where are you in your quickly shifting roles as parent?

The Blame Game

By Carin LeRoy –

I like to play the blame game in my marriage. My husband tells me I always find a way to fault him for something.

“Are you coming? We’re going to be late,” he’ll say.

“I’m coming, but since you didn’t show me how to work the alarm clock, I got up late” (not that I should have read the directions).

“When can you sew the button on my pants?”

“I can’t find the button, where did you put it?” (even though he gave it to me when he asked me to sew it).

After over 30 years of marriage it’s now become a joke between us. I can always find a way to blame him for something—as ridiculous as it may be. With a roll of his eyes he’ll say, “Well I knew it had to be my fault.”

Well, if I’m full of blame, then he’s full of excuses. He can find an excuse for anything.

“Is there a reason you threw the paper and wrappings all over the garage floor instead of just putting it in the garbage right here,” I’ll ask.

“The lawn mower was in front of the trash can. (Really? Why not push the mower over?)

“How come you didn’t ask if I wanted a little rice pudding, too?”

“Well, you looked pretty content.” (But why not ask?)

I think our little traits go way back to the Garden of Eden when we read God’s questions to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.

“Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat?”

Excuse from the man: “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” (Where was your responsibility in putting your own mouth around that fruit?)

Then the Lord said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

Fault-finding from the woman: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Excuse me, but didn’t you pick the fruit and disobey what God said?)
It’s an age-old problem – laying blame and giving excuses. It started the day man and woman chose to sin. We see how mankind has been affected by those beginning days in the garden. In part, my husband and I joke about it in our marriage. But in serious situations, assigning blame or making excuses can have grave consequences. Learning to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand by admitting our mistakes and wrong behavior will bring healing and peace in our relationships. God will be pleased, too.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to take responsibility for my actions. Excusing my sin or blaming others is not pleasing to You. Give me humility and help me to recognize and admit my mistakes in order to create harmony and peace in my relationships.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NIV).

Delayed Gratification

By Cheri Cowell –

Over the last few years America has undergone a shift, and I think it is a good one. We’ve learned to live on less, to embrace delayed gratification, and to count the cost before jumping in. I wish my mother-in-law could see us now (she’s living with Jesus) because the excesses of the 80’s and 90’s bothered her a lot.

She grew up during the depression and understood that all the “stuff” was false security. She practiced delayed gratification and counting the cost. She tought those lessons to her son, my husband. And although we didn’t always heed those lessons, they formed a solid foundation for our thinking so that when Jesus used this same principle in the parable below, we got it. I hope you do, too.

Prior to this passage, Jesus has warned and rebuked the leadership for not walking the talk. However, they still wanted to know, what does following Jesus really require? This parable makes it clear that disciples should count the cost of following Jesus, because success will not come easily. We will suffer, life will be hard, and we’ll need to learn to live on less while delaying our gratification. If we sit down and carefully count these costs, when the bill comes due we won’t be blindsided.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for counting the cost and then willingly paying that cost for my salvation. Help me not only to count the cost but be willing to delay gratification so the cost will be worth it in the end.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish’ (Luke 14:28-30 NIV).

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