March 2022 – Page 3 – Grits with Grace

Family, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, Military memories, priorities, Scripture, thankful, Trials

It’s A New…

Posted on March 3, 2022March 2, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.” 1 Timothy 6:6-7

It was a dumb decision. When it comes to cars…I just seem to be inherently dumb. Naw…that’s probably too strong. I think I am just unwise. My first new car was a 1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle. I was so proud of that car. It was bright orange with a black racing stripe, and I had even jazzed it up some. I added exhaust headers, dual point ignition, a two-barrel carburetor, and an under-dash AM-FM radio, cassette player. Shoot that thing…it was so cool. And then…I got bored. Here’s a warning. When you get bored with your car, do not under any circumstances go to a car lot. Well, I did and even when the credit union said no, the nice man at the dealership said yes. My payments went from $83.00 per month to $135.00 per month which doesn’t sound bad till you realize I was in the Air Force and only making about $400 a month.

I think that whole deal turned out pretty good. When I met my wife Judy, I think she was impressed with my 5-speed Toyota Corona SE and later when we got orders for Germany, we were able to sell it and just about break even. I wish I could tell you I learned my lesson but sometimes, and especially when it comes to cars, I am just a slow learner. And when the car bug bites—Katie bar the door. The year was 2001. We were just beginning our ministry at a new church and getting settled into a new house and a new town. On September 11th of that year the terrorists knocked down the twin towers in New York and our country was stunned. To boost the economy President Bush encouraged the carmakers to get America back on the road again. He also encouraged people to go out and buy a new car. So, I did. Twice.

I asked Judy what she thought about buying a car and not surprisingly she was totally against it. However, we had money in the bank from selling our previous home, and so I went to the dealership and came home with a new car. It was brand-new Pontiac Grand Am and I got it with 2% financing. “Yay” I said…for a while. After owning the car for about six months or so, I noticed there was whine when the air conditioning was on. They checked it out and said it was normal. Well, I knew it wasn’t normal, so I went back…several times. Finally, the guy who sold me the car in the first place told me to come and he would “work something out.” This isn’t going to end well, is it?

I went in and I just assumed he was going to give me full credit for the car since in my eyes it was “defective.” Well, he didn’t and by this time I was up to my eyeballs with “I.Want.It-itis.” Yup, I traded my new car in, took a big loss, and bought another new car…one that was a little bigger and, of course, a little more expensive. It was a bad deal from start to finish. I felt so bad about it, and the fact I was in debt, that I depleted a chunk of our savings to go ahead and pay it off. I thought it would make me feel better. It didn’t. I told you I was a slow learner.

The really, sad, sad part of this story is that about a year later I wrecked the car and because of depreciation I could only replace it with an older used car. But…there is light at the end of this tunnel. You see, that was almost twenty years ago and while I have bought and sold cars several times…I never again made the mistake of buying a new car. I discovered that you could buy a four- or five-year-old car for about half the price of a new one. How about that? I also relearned the important principle of BBQ grills. A long time ago, I heard a guy teaching and he said, “Don’t look for a new BBQ grill unless you are ready to buy a new grill.” That’s good advice, and it applies to many areas of life.

There’s a lot to be said for contentment. The Bible says, “True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.” I was speaking at my church recently and reached this conclusion. I said, “We need to learn two things. First, Jesus is enough. Second, the world is never enough.” That alone is worth your time in reading this story.

The truth is the things that really bring satisfaction can’t be bought in a store…they are free. And at the top of that list is a relationship with Creator God. That will cost you nothing because Jesus paid that price a long time ago. If you seek satisfaction anywhere else, it will cost you and it just won’t satisfy. Someone said there is a God shaped hole in the life of every man, woman, and child. We can try and stuff other things in that hole, but it will always fall short.

So, I hope my car misadventures will help you learn and avoid the hard way. And I hope you will give God a try. Remember, don’t confuse church and religion with a relationship with God. One of the things that makes my life worth living is that He is my Dearest Father, and He loves me 100%—100% of the time. He will never leave me…even when I make those less than wise decisions. And when I fail and fall…He is always there with the assurance that “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Family, fear, friends, Grace, life, Scripture, Southern born, thankful, travel, Trials

They Drove Us Batty

Posted on March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19

It was years ago but trust me…it is still fresh in my memory. We had made one of our journeys to the land of grits and collards to see family. We enjoyed some good southern cooking, some great times of fellowship and revisited several places from Judy’s childhood and our days together before God and the Air Force sent us on the next chapter of great adventures. There’s no place like home, Dorothy said it and I agree.

We decided to do something different so rather than stay with the relatives, we rented a nice Victorian home in Valdosta at a very reasonable rate. It was wonderfully decorated, and we had the whole house to ourselves. The location was great, the hot tub in the backyard was great, everything was just great…and then I looked in the sink. Something was moving.

After we arrived, we were still checking out the place and my wife Judy and I went into the kitchen and happened to look in the sink and there were some rotten banana peels lying there. Well, that wasn’t too cool. Who would leave rotten banana peels in the kitchen sink of a nice rental house anyway? The answer—no one. You see, about that time one of the banana peels moved! Yikes—they weren’t banana peels after all—they were—BATS—five of them.

Well, I mustered my courage and threw a towel over them, scooped them up and tossed them out the door. There—gross but end of the story—nothing could be worse than that—right? Wrong. That evening we were watching some TV and I stepped out of the room to hear Judy holler “Dewayne, here’s another one!” Sure enough, one was walking across the floor, so out he went. Then I looked and one was hanging on the fireplace screen—out he went too. Well, surely it can’t….don’t bet on it. We went to bed that night and I dozed off pretty quickly…Judy didn’t. Soon, I heard, “Dewayne, there’s one flying around in the room!” Well, she was wrong…there wasn’t one–there were two. The batman (that’s me) knocked ‘em down and hauled them out and called the owner.

The next day a bat removal guy came. He told us he had been there the previous Saturday and had patched a couple of entrances he assumed the bats were using. I guess he missed one…or two. Well, he searched the house and came up with seven more bats. Can you believe this? He patched and sealed some more entrances and we thought that was the end of problem—finally! Well, that is we thought. Long story short—by the end of the week we had removed 25 bats from the house. He caught and released them somewhere. It turns out they were endangered…more so than they knew.

This is one reason I said, “There’s no place like home.” The only bat at 217 W. Poplar is a ball bat! So, by now you are wondering, “Why didn’t you guys leave?” Well, the landlord did offer us a partial refund and there was a bed and breakfast down the road, but the bottom line was twofold. First, we really, really liked having the whole house to ourselves and in such a good location. Second, I didn’t know on day one that there were 25 bats in the house—I always thought the last one was the last one. I was wrong.

I wonder if my reluctance to leave explains why some people continue in a bad habit or a sin even though everything in the world is telling them to get out. It becomes obvious that we like the habit or the sin. Sin can be pleasurable but mark it down—it not only offends God, but it is also expensive (on a couple of different levels) and it can wreak havoc in your life (or your vacation). Secondly, sin will take you further than you want to go and make you stay longer than you want to stay. I kept thinking the last bat was the last bat but there was always one more. Finally, the week was gone and if nothing else I became an expert at bat removal.

So, if you need a house to stay at in Valdosta and you don’t mind bats let me know. I can promise you it will be an interesting visit to say the least. Personally, it just about drove me batty…pun definitely intended. Oh, and if you need someone to help you remove some of the “bats” from your life, I know just the One. He is my Dearest Daddy, and He would love to help you out. He will cast those pesky “sin bats” to the bottom of the sea. You can trust Him…He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, Integrity, life, love, loving others, Scripture, Southern born, thankful, Trials

Patrol Boy

Posted on March 1, 2022February 28, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

It was a dream come true. Growing up when I did was a blast. I was born in 1954 (and yes, that was a long time ago) and things were just different. Life was slower, people mattered more, things mattered less, and respect was a big deal. I was raised to call people older than me, sir and ma’am. It’s kinda humorous, but now I am the senior adult and I still call everybody and their brother, “sir.” It was just ingrained in me from my earliest memories.

Back in those days, when you were in the sixth grade you were the king of the mountain. You see in Florida in the early sixties elementary school went from first thru sixth grade. There was no kindergarten. Part of being the king of the mountain was the prospect of being selected to be a “patrol boy.” Now, the first thing you need to know is the term “patrol boy” was a term of respect. Today I think they still have crossing guards but back then…patrol boys were the state police of the day. They had a belt that went around their waist and over their shoulder and of course, the flag. It was a two-piece design that was about five foot long when put together. Oh, I almost forgot. They had a safety helmet too. They definitely looked the part.

At the end of each school day, these brave traffic warriors would be dismissed from class a little early to go and man their assigned post. They would put on their belt and helmet, grab their flag, and head out for duty. Now this was the real deal. A teacher or aide didn’t accompany them. The lives of their peers were in their hands—and they were granted authority to stop traffic. Again, it was an honor and a dream to get that belt, helmet, and flag. The selection process was done at the end of the school year of our fifth grade. I’m not sure what the criteria was, but I do know not everyone got selected.

Ok, let’s be honest. I wanted…I really wanted to be a patrol boy. It was like I was born for it. It was my destiny. I could tell you that I wanted to help save lives. I could tell you that the safety of every kid who crossed at my post was what drove me but that wouldn’t be true. No, I’m afraid it wasn’t quite that noble. I’m afraid it had nothing to do with safety…it had to do with…the belt, the helmet, and the flag. Now don’t laugh, it was a big deal. The uniform has led a lot of guys to sign up for the Marines. I was no different. I wanted people to look at me and say, “There goes a patrol boy. Leader of peers and a hero to boot.”

Well, it happened. I was selected and honestly, it was just about everything I thought it was going to be—at least through my eyes. No one ever called me a hero, nor did I outright save anyone’s life, but there was something about the way it made me…feel. Looking back, I think there is a word for it…pride. You know there is a good pride…the kind that lets you know you did your best. There is also the kind that says, “I’’m a patrol boy and you’re not.” It’s closely related to the kind that says, “I have power and you don’t. You have to listen to me…obey me.” Bummer.

As far as I know, at least from the outside, I did a pretty good job. I received and proudly wore my little pin, which I got to keep at the end of the year that marked my service. No one got ran over on my watch and I think I only got in trouble once. That happened when one of my fellow patrol boys, a friend no less, made me mad and I whacked him with my flag. It certainly wasn’t very hero like and trust me it wasn’t as pretty. Something on the inside—that should have stayed on the inside—oozed out. I realize now that all of us have a tendency to play that game—pretty good on the outside and pretty dingy on the inside. Someone once said you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.

There should be another saying that says, “You can’t fool God any of the time.” You see, God’s got this “vision thing” that allows Him to see right past the skin and right into our heart. He sees our real thoughts, our real motives, our real selves. It’s been kind of a “go to” verse for me recently but here’s what it says, “The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at Eliab’s appearance or stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” Wow…that is one scary thought. God sees what matters. We need to remember that.

Well, I enjoyed my year as a patrol boy. The next year I went to junior high and went from the top of the heap to the bottom. In fact, now that I think about there were a couple of guys who did their best to make junior high hard for me. Today we call it bullying. I wonder if it was payback for some misused authority. Hmmmm. What goes around…comes around. Anyway, I’m glad I don’t have just a “patrol boy” watching over me. Nope, I have the King of Kings and that’s pretty awesome! I don’t have a thing to worry about because “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne