What do Jesus & Malcolm Butler have in common & O how I love Mississippi

superbowl image

So, did anybody see what happened on t.v. last night?  As in football?  As in Super Bowl Football?  Well, I may or may not have skipped some of the game.  I did try to watch some of the half time show.  But ya’ll, Katy Perry.  I just can’t.  I can’t get past the kissed the girl & I liked it song.  I did pull my 11 year old out from in front of the t.v. when Ms. Perry started belting that one out.  I would say in the least, she probably has hundreds of songs in her arsenal to sing.  But she chose the kissing the girl song to sing last night.  Sorry (not sorry).  It just aggravates me.  If she were here, my Mama Boyce would say, “She needs them legs striped.”  Meaning in northeast MS language she needs taken out behind the woodshed.  Which means, oh well, she just needs to stop it.

Malcolm Butler - New England Patriots  Super Bowl 2015

Malcolm Butler – New England Patriots Super Bowl 2015

Anyway, let’s talk about Malcolm Butler.  Did you see him make the winning play?  Malcolm. Butler. Won. The. Super. Bowl.  Now, let’s talk about where ol’ Malcolm is from.  West Alabama?  No, that’s where he went to college.  New England?  No, that’s who he plays for.

Did I hear someone faintly say, MISSISSIPPI??

As in Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Really? Mississippi?  My Mississippi?  The one that has the lowest education rating in the nation?  The one that has the highest obesity rate in the country? The one that you never hear anything nice about.  Yea, that Mississippi.  The one that gave birth to Elvis Presley.  Well, not really.  His mama did, but you know what I mean.  The one where the famous author John Grisham is from.  The one where other great authors like Eudora Welty, William Faulkner & Tennessee Williams lived & worked.  The same Mississippi, in which I have been asked, if we have indoor toliets & running water.  ms appliances

The one where Eli & Peyton Manning came from.  The one that is home to the John Stennis Space Center (NASA’s Center of Excellence for rocket propulsion testing isn’t in Houston, or even Florida. It’s Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi.)

I’m not trying to chase a rabbit here. I am just trying to make the point that even though Mississippi gets a bad rap, somehow, somewhere we have done some things really right. So for all you skeptics out there, the guy that won the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots was from the wonderful, fantastic, beautiful, & marvelous state of Mississippi. (I must apologize to all of my English teachers for that really long sentence there. When I get excited, I forget that periods are free & I can use them anytime.) You may be saying how could that be that he’s from Mississippi? Well, it just can. (That’s my best explanation right now.)

Nazareth from the South

Nazareth from the South

 

There was a time when someone questioned the place where Jesus was from.  He was from Nazareth.  According to www.bible-history.com, in Jesus’s time Nazareth had an evil reputation .It has generally been attributed to the Galileans’ lack of culture and rude dialect. There was a man named Nathanael, who asked a question about Jesus.

“Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” John 1:46

Nathanael was himself a Galilean. He may have said that because Nazareth was such a common term of contempt among the more “righteous” Jews in Judea. Thank goodness one of the disciples, Philip, was there to say,

“Come see.”

come & see

I am happy to say Christ’s being from Nazareth has not had too bad of an effect on His message. I would think He put Nazareth on the map. There may have been some questionable things going on in Nazareth, however, evidently, obviously, there were some really right things going on too. Am I comparing Malcolm Butler to Jesus? Well, maybe sorta. Sometimes it’s as easy as looking for the good instead of the bad. The cream always rises to the top. So did Jesus & so did Malcolm. Before you stereo-type me or Malcolm from being from Mississippi, remember, everybody has to come from somewhere. By the grace of God, we were born & raised in one of the best places on earth.

MS poem

 

Thank you for stopping by to visit with me today. You are most welcome to come by any time. As for me, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

 

If you want to read more about how Mississippi is awesome sauce & the cat’s pajama’s, you can go here.

To read more lovely poetry about our wonderful state by the talented Patricia Neely-Dorsey click here.

 

Photo credits:

Yahoo! Sports, http://www.patricianeelydorsey.com, http://www.prayfit.com, http://www.mississippibelieveit.com, blacksportsonline

 

 

 

Super Bowl Snacks

Superbowl eggsThe Super Bowl is this Sunday.  As in this Sunday.  Wasn’t Christmas just yesterday, or something?  I don’t know about you, but time is not waiting around.  We normally do our couch-gate thing.  It usually goes something like lots of chips, dips, finger food kinds of things.  And I just found out who was going to play.  It really doesn’t matter.  Any reason to eat is just fine with me.   I have been looking around to see what will be on the menu for this year.  Here are some yummy things I may try:

superWell, this looks a little complex.  I may not try this, this year.  But I thought it was totes adorbs or totally rad or awesome sauce or whatever it is that you say now a days when something is to your liking.

superbowl cream cheesHow cute is this cookies & cream cheese football from http://www.getcreativejuice.com?

superbowl strawberriesChocolate covered strawberry footballs.  Where do they get this stuff??

superbowl nacho barNow, that’s my kinda couchgating food.

superbowl snack stadium

Who doesn’t want a snack stadium at their Superbowl Party??

superbowl snacks

Whether you are a Patriots fan or a Seahawks fan, hopefully, you can find something on this post to make your Superbowl Party, well, super.  I hope you have had a great week.  Things have been busy around the house.  Getting ready for some company this weekend.  Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: http://www.closetcooking.com, http://www.skinnymom.com, http://www.getcreativejuice.com,www.babble.com, http://www.buzzfeed.com,www.mymommystyle.com

 

Online envy & Football food

superbowl

Isn’t there some kind of game this weekend?  Oh yeah, the SUPER BOWL!  Football is probably my favorite sport to watch.  The Blind Side is one of my favorite all time movies.  The Manning boys are from the great state of Mississippi, so I kinda have a responsibility to like football.  Saying that, I have been thinking about things to cook for our “Couchgate” as Miss Neenee likes to call it.  You know where you sit on the couch, eat, watch the game, yell at the t.v. & eat.

But first I want to share with you an article I read in our Hope Health Letter, at work.  It’s an article called Keeping up with the e-Joneses.  I found it interesting, because, well, I guess I am little guilty of this.  The article is talking about how wonderful it is that social networks allow us to stay in touch with friends & family-however, constantly checking the status of others might have a negative consequence.  It’s called online envy.  Here is what to watch for:

When you log on to a social network & see what others have posted, do you:

Feel sorry for yourself?

Make a purchase or take similar action based on something you’ve seen someone share?

Wish there was a “dislike” button?

Say to yourself, “It must be nice to…(have that much money, time, etc.)?”

Wow!  Can you believe there are lots of people who are having the same negative thoughts because of other’s online statuses?  I know haters are gonna hate, but this has to do with our emotional health.

My Mawmaw used to say: “You better be glad for what you’ve got.  Because the Lord can take it away, just like He gave it.”

The apostle Paul had one fix for being envious

Colossians 3:15

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
If you spend your time counting your blessings, you won’t have time to be too concerned with what is going on with others.
The Lord takes being envious pretty serious.  Here is another scripture that includes envy with some other extreme sins:
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Another way to put a stop to online envy is to quit checking social networks so much.  You will drive your self crazy!  Someone is always going to be getting a new car, winning 1st place, moving to a gorgeous house, getting a beautiful new haircut, having kids with perfect grades,  going on trips to terrificly entertaining places & all kinds of AWESOME things that may not ever happen to you.  That’s ok.  You have to take inventory of what wonderful things you have going on in your life.  You have all kinds of positive things in your life.
Be grateful for them.
Now, to my Super Bowl Football Food.  I got this recipe, a long time ago, from a co-worker.  It is always a crowd pleaser.  Any recipe that starts with, “You will need a pack of bacon”, is bound to be one I am most interested in.
2 packages hotdogs
1 pack of bacon
1 cup brown sugar
toothpicks
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Cut each individual hotdog into 3 pieces.  Take a 1/2 piece of bacon & wrap around the hotdog.  Secure with a toothpick.  Place hotdogs on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle generously with brown sugar.   Cook for 40 minutes or until sugar is bubbly.  These can be put in a crock pot on the low setting to keep warm.
When they get cooked up, they will look like thishotdogsThis is not my picture.  It came from the Just Best Recipes website.  However, they will look just like this.
I have a few other things on my mind to make.  If I get time, I will post those, as well.  I’m so glad you came by to visit with me today.  I hope you have a great time watching the Super Bowl.  All I have to say is, “Go Seahawks!!”  Now, that I got that out, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Super Bowl photo credit: sitclose.com

Super Bowl ponderings- Has anybody thought about the Harbaugh boys’ Mama?

Unless you live under a rock, somewhere without any media influence, or are just so unplugged & unconcerned that you have nary a clue….you know that Sunday is the Super Bowl. All the excitement is filling the air. Commercials are on t.v. People are talking about it on the radio. The internet is a buzz with the anticipation of the most important football game of the year. Even people, like me, who really don’t give a hoot who wins- gets in the camaraderie of things. (We are doing our 1st official Super Bowl couch gating this time! Soooo looking forward to the food!) I will be making some tasty dishes from Christy at http://www. southernplate.com.  Football fans everywhere are asking themselves, will I root for the Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers? And to top it off, the coaches of each respected team, are BROTHERS.

Super Bowl coaches are brothers!

Super Bowl coaches are brothers!

I was thinking about the wonderful time the Super Bowl is for folks, & I realized, we should be ashamed of ourselves. In the scheme of things there’s happiness & anticipation. However, did anybody consider how the Harbaugh’s Mama was going to be feeling about all of this? Bless her heart. She must be in the worst of predicaments, as a mother. Being from the South, it’s just natural to love & hold our mamas in high regard. So, when I first heard the coaches were brothers, well a plethora of questions came to mind: Who will she cheer for? Will she wear 49’er or Raven colors? When one team leads another, will she be excited? Does she have a favorite son? How does she pray for her son’s team to win, when she has a son on each playing team? Will this not make things a smidge awkward the next time they get together for dinner? I mean, she wants to be happy for one son, but can’t really show it or it will make the other one jealous, thus creating a hostile home environment for the Harbaugh’s at the least? I wonder if the Harbaugh boys ever considered what this might do to their mama?

Haubaugh parents- with sons & other family member

Harbaugh parents- with sons & other family member

All of this going around in my head made me do a little research, to see what Mama Harbaugh thought. I do not personally know Mrs. Harbaugh, so I did what anyone would have done- looked it up on the internet. Because the internet only reports the truth, right? From the USA Today article, I read, it seems like the Harbaugh’s have it all dealt with. Jack & Jackie Harbaugh, parents of Jim & John Harbaugh, gave a press conference regarding their 2 boys. (That was thoughtful of them.)
Parents Jack and Jackie, both in their 70s, live in the Milwaukee area. They won’t be wearing 49ers red or Ravens purple. You win some, you lose some – in bowling terms, they’re guaranteed a split. They got a taste of it in 2011 when the Ravens beat the 49ers in the regular season.
“That thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and on Sunday night we’re going to experience both of those great emotions,” says Jack.
“We’re going to hug both of them,” Jackie says.

Are those two not the Cat’s meow? That is truly a wonderful way to look at all of this. Precious.

So how do you get 2 sons in such an incredible place in life? This is what Jim Harbaugh said of his Dad:
“When we were growing up, my dad would play catch with us, he would take us to games, and most of all he believed in us. We grew up just like him,” Jim says.

This reminds me of what Proverbs 22:6 says: Train up a child in the way he should go & when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Daddy Harbaugh seems to know what it takes to make winners. Making his boys feel important to him.
You know, I was worried about Mrs. Harbaugh & what this Super Bowl was going to do about the relationships in her family. But, I think the Harbaugh parents have it all figured out. I am so happy. All of that competition could be a real mess for them. One more thing to think about, Jay, which is Jim’s son is an intern for his Uncle John. His own flesh & blood rooting for the opposing team. There’s another double edged sword to consider!
I hope you all have a terrific time watching the Super Bowl. I have to be going now, because I should be washing clothes.