Month: March 2023

Posted in Family, friends, gratitude, life, Scripture, thankful

Here to Help–Not Hurt

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”  John 14:15-16

Ok…just one more…I promise.  This week I have written two stories about this new adventure with a company that helps people reverse their diabetes.  If you haven’t read the first two, why not wander over to http://www.gritswithgrace.com and check them out.  You will find out there have already been some highs and lows.  A couple of times, within the first couple of minutes, I was ready to chuck the whole thing out the window. But then, when I had a few minutes to think about it, it began to make at least some sense.  The bottom line is the jury is still out for the long term but in the short term…well, I get it.

I wrote about all the cool gadgets that this company gave me to help monitor where I am in the journey.  I have access to the information but so do they…and they are watching.  So far…they must have liked what they’ve seen because they said I am doing very well. One of the reasons for that is this gadget called a Dextron G6.  It is a continuous glucose (or blood sugar) monitor.  Every five minutes it tells the wearer their sugar level.  When you eat, you can see in just a little while what that meal did to your blood sugar levels.

It is interesting to eat, wait, and watch for the results.  You eat some bad stuff (usually bad for your sugar level but good for your tongue) and before long your sugar level is up where it doesn’t belong.  You see it and so do the folks at this company.  When I see it, my response is, “Wow, I guess I shouldn’t have eaten that…or at least not so much of that.” Usually that leads to a second response that asks the question, “What is worth it?”  When my coach at the company sees it, she gently nudges me in a better direction.  The goal is to make a better decision next time…and that sounds fair to me.

Did you know we Jesus followers have something like this when it comes to doing life? Yup…we sure do.  You see, our monitor that tells us how we are doing is called the Word of God, or the Bible. This marvelous Book is not a book of rules but rather a guidebook, a roadmap for doing life.  And, if we are wise, we will read and then follow it.  It really helps (and this is just like the monitor thingy) to see the Bible as a friend and not an enemy—not just rules but helps. So, when we decide to go down a path that is not good for us, what we know and what we can know, will help us make better decisions.  It gets better.

You see not only do we have the Book, but we also have a Coach to help us and encourage us and He is called the Holy Spirit. One of His jobs is to help us see our sin as sin and point us in a better direction. And, by the way, we must not see Him as an enemy but rather a friend, a dear friend who never wants to hurt but always wants to help us.  Jesus described it like this, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”  What a great word…Helper. So, from where I sit, two of the best decisions we can make as Jesus’ people is to know, trust, and follow God’s Word and then listen, obey, and trust the Holy Spirit.

When we start to believe that God is for us and not against us, when we start to believe that God’s Word can be trusted, and when we start to believe that the Holy Spirit is here to help and not to hurt, well, I think life is just about to get better…a lot better.  I am seeing some pretty cool results from my diabetes wellness adventure, and it all began when I started watching and trusting the gadgets, they gave me and believing my coach is my friend.  It is true with them, and it is true with God. He is worthy of our trust, and He will be there for us…always.  Don’t you doubt it for a minute—He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, food, gratitude, life, prayer, Scripture, Southern born, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials

Corned Beef Hash

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?” Luke 11:11

We were close friends from the start.  Although I was too young to remember, I think it must be true.  I think my very first word must have been…wait for it…”food”.  Then I think my first sentence was, “I’m hungry.”  I’m trying to say that food and I go way back and now I’m an expert on all things food.  Well, wait, maybe not all things.  You see I was raised on good, common food.  Our menu included things like meatloaf and egg salad sandwiches (aka Easter egg salad sandwiches).  There were some things that Momma cooked up, that to a kid, were kinda hard to swallow…no pun intended.  One of those things was tripe (aka cow’s stomach). We called it the “eternal meat” because it was like chewing rubber.  Take one big bite and two weeks later you swallowed.  Definitely-not my favorite.

However, one of the best things that Mama cooked was something called corned beef hash. For that she would cook up some potatoes and then add some corned beef.  I’m not sure why they call it corned beef but I don’t think it has anything to do with corn.  At any rate…it was one of my favorites…well, sorta.  You see, there was a trick to this corned beef thing and Momma knew it and…I knew it.

In the world of Momma’s corned beef there were really two kinds—and they were worlds apart.  First there was fried corned beef hash and then there was boiled corned beef hash.  The fried hash was just as it sounds.  Momma would first fry up some home fried potatoes.  These, friend, are what potatoes were made for…crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.  And if they happened to be fried in lard—well, that was even better.  Then, she would add the corned beef and well, it was pretty much heaven.  I always liked mine smothered in ketchup.  But sometimes she would trick me.  I would ask what was for supper and she would say, “corned beef hash” and for me that had to mean fried because that was the only way it was supposed to be.   It’s kinda like grits—salt, pepper and butter are the only way grits can be grits.

But then, she had an ace up her sleeve.  Sometimes, she made boiled corned beef hash.  That involved boiling and (in my opinion) wasting a pot full of potatoes.  She boiled them till they were almost like mush.  Then she would add the corned beef to the pot and that was it and let me tell you all the ketchup in the world couldn’t redeem what water had done to what was meant to be fried.  I’m still not sure why she fried most of the time but still boiled others.  All I know I was always disappointed because when it comes to corned beef hash—fried always topped boiled.

With some things one way always tops another and that’s how it is with corned beef hash. And never is that truer than when it comes to God and religion.  People today get confused.  You see, God is God and religion is mankind’s frail attempt to reach God.  Try as you like, the only way to know God is by knowing His Son Jesus.  And that’s really cool because His way is a sure deal and man’s way is a sure failure.  Chances are you know someone who was or is totally disappointed in religion and I suppose some folks would speak of their disappointment in God.  But when we understand who He is and what He wants to do for us—that disappointment fades.

Like I said I was always disappointed when Momma boiled something that was clearly meant to be fried. And I’ve been around the church world long enough to know that religion always disappoints but God never does.  I’m learning to trust Him and then believe Him even when that means things didn’t turn out the way I wanted or hoped.  His way is the better way.  If I don’t see it now…I will later.

One time Jesus was talking about prayer and said that a father would never give a snake to his son who asked for a piece of fish.  Nope…not gonna happen.  With God the fried things are always fried and even when we get boiled hash…well, we can trust that at the time, that is the best thing for us.  I like that sacred assurance just like I know, I know, that no matter what, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, Grace, gratitude, life, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

I’m Not Believing It

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

In my opinion, it said more than it knew.  After my enrollment in the program to send me down the path to a medicine and diabetes free future, they sent me a box full of treasurers.  I wrote briefly about my treasure box in a previous blog titled, “Bread, Potatoes, and Pecan Pie.” If you missed that one, you might want to go to www.gritswithgrace.com  and check it out.  Anyway, the box was filled with gadgets that would monitor me, my body, and my health.  Most of them I found helpful and even engaging but there was one…there was one that I did not like.

I am an Apple guy…well, not necessarily the kind you eat but the kind you use for work and information.  I own an Apple computer, an Apple iPad, and an Apple Watch.  One of the things I like about owning the same brand in my work and life tools is that they talk to one another.  Well, when my box of treasures arrived, it included a Garmin activity tracker.  It kinda, sorta does the same thing my Apple Watch does but with a different platform.  It certainly is not an Apple Watch, but I figured I might as well give it a try.  Not willing to give up my Apple friend on my right wrist, I strapped the Garmin on my left wrist.

I know, I know, that sounds a little wonky and honestly it probably is but the Garmin looks and works very differently from my Apple Watch, so most people don’t think I am wearing two watches.  In fact, they probably don’t think anything about what’s on my wrist.  While the Garmin the device itself is not much to talk about—it is small, hard to use and blah—the app it talks to on my phone is very cool.  In fact, somehow it provides much of the same information as its big cousin.

One day I was going through the App, checking out the different screens and all the information it had gathered and analyzed.  I was impressed…until I wasn’t.  You see, there was a screen that listed about ten different areas and measurements—all about me and my body.  Most were fine, most were informative but one—one was downright offensive.  It is called, “VO2 Max.”  According to the app, the VO2 Max is a direct indictor of my level of fitness and apparently my “body age.” How this wimp, too big for its britches, something that doesn’t even know me (you can tell by now that I was personally offended by this useless chunk of plastic), I am out of shape and, get this, physically almost a decade older than I really am.

That’s right folks, according to the Garmin I am physically in the bottom 30% of men for my age and my body age is not 69 but 78.  Ok, I’m still mad and here’s why.  This out of shape, “ten years older than I am” guy, on the day after the assessment, took a brisk (as in pretty fast) two mile walk, walked 11,419 steps, burned 2,451 calories, and climbed eight flights of stairs. Now from where I sit that isn’t too bad…certainly I am no couch potato.  I mean what does this thing really know about me anyway?  And just for the record, my Apple Watch has another opinion about me…and so does my Dearest Daddy.

When I read those words, I knew I was faced with a choice.  I could believe what it said or believe what I know to be true.  I could believe what some formula, probably written by some guy in a faraway land, or believe what my reality says.  I am choosing the latter.  Now let’s be honest…I’ve got lots of room for improvement, but I am not some physical loser.  I just don’t believe it. The Garmin caused me to take a look, a close look, at where I am physically but it also caused me to take a look spiritually.  It caused me to ask, “So what do you believe about you—what others say or what God says?”

On the surface, it is a no brainer—I choose to believe my Dearest Daddy.  He calls me (and you) a masterpiece…no, really, He does.  In Ephesians 2:10, His Book, the Bible, says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Now, how about that?  Trust me on this one.  There are plenty of people and plenty of things that are just waiting to tell you what you are or are not.  But you remember this—there is only one opinion that matters and that comes from the One who made you.  So, I my wear the Garmin but I don’t own its opinion of me…I’ll leave that with the One who loves me more and perfectly.  He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne