Mamaw

I am so fortunate & blessed to be surrounded by good people. And when I say good, I mean Godly folks. I come from a family full of Christians. My church family is wonderful, as well. It is such a great feeling to know my blood kin are related to me through Christ, too. My Sunday School teacher made such a terrific point Sunday about our relationship with Jesus. He posed the question,

“Ain’t it wonderful to be blood kin to Christ?”

He went on to say that we are made “kin” to Jesus through His blood that He shed on the cross. We come into contact with that blood through baptism. I always knew that, but it was a nice warm fuzzy reminder that Christ is my blood kin.

Matthew 26:28 (NKJV)For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Acts 2:38 (NKJV) “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost“

Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

In the South, we take kinfolk pretty seriously. We take care of our own. We love our own. We are proud of our own. We are loyal to our own. It doesn’t matter if one of our relatives is a little off or strange. We just shake our heads & say bless their heart.

I remember very well the Sundays growing up. My Daddy was the preacher. So, we got up & went to church every Sunday. We worshipped with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins. We ate Sunday dinner, that my Mamaw fixed, every Sunday. She cooked fried chicken every Sunday. Her table was full of peas, potatoes, slaw, casseroles, deviled eggs, homemade pickles, cornbread & whatever else this sweet lady came up with. She always made a cake, a cobbler, or some sort of delicious dessert type dish. It did not matter what you had going on. If you weren’t there for Sunday dinner, well, let’s just say she did NOT understand. Also, she made such a big dinner so that if a visitor showed up at church, she could invite them over. My Mamaw was just awesome like that.

Blood kin means a lot to me. That’s where I feel safe & secure. My Mamaw’s brother, my great uncle would hug us kids up, every Sunday. He would say,

“Ya’ll my kinfolks.”

As I get older, I love knowing about my ancestors & where I came from. I have pictures of my great grandparents hanging in my house. I look into their eyes & there I see who I am. It’s an interesting thing to know what you are made of. From a religious standpoint, I am made up of my blood kin- Jesus. I love that! I just want others to see less of me, in me, & more of Jesus. That’s the kind of resemblance I want to have.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. Thank ya’ll for always listening to me & what I think. The weather has turned back off H-O-T. It rained & stormed some this weekend. Since then, it’s been so muggy. I think we are making up for the nice weather we got in July. Ne’er a summer passes in Mississippi without hot, humid, can’t let the kids out outside to play kind of weather. Before I go, Miss Neenee came home & asked could she be in the chess club at school. Since she does not actively play chess, I asked the crazy question,

“What made you interested in the chess club?”

She matter of factly replied, “Well, that’s the only club they have for us.”

Oh well, then. Looks like we will be learning to play chess. Until then, I will be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits:writtenreality.com, pinterest

More stuff that I think:

Back last year, we had a student from Freed Hardeman University come to preach to us. He mentioned in his lesson, that he was learning Latin. He said it had given him a new meaning to how he understood the word of God. After services, I told him if he could explain to me what the apostle Paul was talking about in Romans 7, then & only then would I be impressed. We laughed, because at that time, Romans 7 was a mystery to me. Since then, I have done more study & have read different people’s views & have formed a conclusion about it. One of the verses has actually made more sense to me as of late.

Romans 7: 19 says For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil, that I do not want.

Everybody has a struggle. Whether it’s something that comes along from time to time or a problem we carry around every day. It’s there. Sometimes we try to tell ourselves, no one will ever know. Or it won’t hurt just this one time. Or it’s not hurting anybody but me. One of my favorites, that I tell myself,

“At least it’s not as bad as, insert some other sin here.”

But you know what? It’s still sin, so really put whatever you want there. God doesn’t like it.

It’s just so hard, though. I don’t wake up every day & say, “Well, let’s get to the sinnin’.” But, I am human. There are times I have to really focus & pray about not letting myself fall into a trap of gossiping, judging, being negative, saying hurtful things, keeping my nose in my own business and other various & asundry personality traits that my Mamaw warned me against practicing. My Mamaw was a wonderful Christian woman. She cautioned us about being ugly. She always said of someone who was behaving vicariously without regard of consequences-

Actual picture of chickens roosting for those who don’t know, bless your heart.

“Their chickens will come home to roost.”

Meaning what comes around goes around. You reap what you sow. Mamaw wanted us reaping good, not bad. So she would caution us about puttin’ on the dog. She didn’t want us trying to get above our raisings. She did not want us doing things we ought not. But if we did, she didn’t want us acting like we didn’t do it. She was all about everybody owning up to what they did. She spoke quite frequently to me about how it’s important to have pretty ways.

You know what? Even though I know I shouldn’t do something, whether my Mamaw’s direction is on my mind or the voice inside me saying, “This is not right,” it just happens. All my good efforts fizzle into a pile of well-intentioned intentions. I begin to feel like the apostle Paul- just sort of in a frenzy. I don’t want to act in a way that’s unacceptable to the Lord. But if there’s anybody out there to cut their nose off to spite their face, it’s me. I just have a way, of sometimes, you know, not shuttin’ up. Thank goodness I have a Lord that forgives pitiful people, like me. He’s just awesome like that. I know if I confess my sins, He is faithful & just to forgive my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) Every. Day.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. It doesn’t matter what struggle you have. Take it to Jesus. He will help you. I promise! Your sins will never be too bad for him to forgive. I hope your week is starting out good. It was a sunny day in Mississippi & that’s always a plus! You take care & I will see you again soon. For now, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Photo credit: turbokitty.wordpress.com