And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another.” Hebrews 10:25a
It all started with a picture. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and perhaps it is also worth a thousand memories. The other day my sister Judy sent a picture out to her brother (AKA Precious) and her two sisters (AKA Precious Wanna-Be’s). Judy makes sour dough bread…the kind you start with a starter. I don’t know a thing about all of this besides she has to feed it so she can feed us. Oh, and if she doesn’t feed it—well, it is game over. So, she sent this picture out of a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. It looked magnificent.
The picture started a conversation in our text thread, and we were all ranting and raving about how good it looked and wondering how good it would taste. Then I wrote this, “Don’t know how…don’t know when but can you all imagine sitting on Kathy’s back porch eating Judy’s bread, drinking coffee and just visiting! Hmmm…just saying!” Well, the next thing I know we had a time and date and Precious and the Precious Wanna-Be’s were heading to Thomasville, Georgia. For the first time in a while, we were all going to be together and honestly, this was especially special because my sister Kathy has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We all knew this was a great opportunity to get together—so we did.
We met at Kathy’s house, on her back porch and had a lunch of pimento cheese (a Taylor classic). Then just a bit later we broke out the cinnamon raisin bread smothered in cream cheese icing…a precious idea from Precious. It was even more special because our oldest brother who went to heaven in January of 2023 would have loved it. So, we had coffee and cinnamon bread and told more stories than one would think possible. I relived how my two sisters, older than me but younger than the oldest sister, tormented me by pulling my ears and tickling me. I also learned how, on certain special occasions, my Daddy would secretly buy my sister a candy bar. I’m gonna have to ask Daddy about that when I get to heaven. Maybe she is Precious #2!
The bottom line is we had a wonderful day. We took plenty of pictures to make sure those memories live on and on and to top it off, each sibling got to take a whole loaf of cinnamon raisin bread with them. Thank you, Judy, for bread at the house and some for the road. I think the big truth for this story is what my oldest sister Agnes said when I texted the idea. Remember, I said, “I don’t know how, don’t know when…” Agnes, the wise ancient of days of the family, said, “I know how. Set a date and get in the car.” As always, she was right, and we are all so glad she was.
Is there something that you are putting off because life is too busy? Is there something that you need to do but can only think of all the reasons why you can’t? Maybe you should do what the Taylor tribe did…mash the pause button, set a date, and get in the car. I know if we hadn’t done what we did, we would have all regretted it but instead we have a boatload of precious (no pun intended) memories to love and share. Always remember, when something seems impossible, there is a Dearest Daddy who can make it happen within His will. Yup, He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 