hard work – Grits with Grace

Family, gratitude, life, Scripture, thankful

Family…Working Together

Posted on January 29, 2025January 23, 2025 by Dewayne Taylor

“How delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony!” Psalm 133:1

I’m not sure how it happened…but it did. I’ve said it several times, but growing up we were not the richest family on the block…at least if the measurement was money in the bank. I’m still amazed how my Daddy and Momma pulled off raising us and providing so richly for us. And I mean that. While we weren’t rich in terms of money, we were blessed with a good, solid, salt of the earth family. And we were blessed with two parents who were creative enough to make it all work. And that is the keystone word…work.

Daddy was the kind of Daddy who got up and went to work…every day. He would carpool out to Jacksonville Naval Air Station and put in a solid eight hours in a jet engine shop that didn’t have the luxury of air conditioning. Keep in mind this is in North Florida…home of humidity and sweat. After work, he would often come and work some more. Daddy was a worker. Momma was too. She kept the Taylor ship shipshape…washing clothes, cleaning the house, cooking, and doing about a thousand other jobs. While she was mainly a homemaker, she did occasionally take on outside work to help the budget. Sometimes that was a traditional job—and sometimes it wasn’t. This time it wasn’t.

I suppose she read it in the paper or heard it on the radio or saw it on television. However, it happened, I just remember, it did. The phone company was looking for people who would deliver phone books (remember them?) to all the people who had phones—and that was just about everyone. So, Momma signed us up—notice that us—and we soon found ourselves in the delivery business. You need to know that not only did everyone have a phone and therefore they needed a phone book…there were a WHOLE lot of someone’s. Oh, and when you have a big city with a lot of someone’s, you have a very fat, very heavy, phone book.

So, on day one of the big adventure, we went to the pick-up place and picked up a zillion phone books. Our vehicle at that time wasn’t a pickup truck or even a station wagon. Our car was six or seven year old Plymouth four-door sedan and we stuffed that poor car to the gills with phone books. The trunk was full, the back seat was full, the floorboard was full and even the front was full. To this day I can remember that Plymouth squatting down in the back till it almost dragged the road. So, with Momma at the wheel and us three little ones wedged in somewhere, we started delivering books. Momma would start down a street, and we would jump out (or maybe fall out) of the car, grab an arm full of books and start dropping them at people’s homes. Again, most people had a phone, but I am sure that some people who didn’t still got a book. We soon figured out the sooner the books were gone, the sooner we could go home. And sooner was definitely better than later.

It was crazy hard work and as best as I can remember the money went to help the family. It was family helping family and that was a good thing. It seems we did this more than one time but maybe not. But what I do know is I treasure that special memory that I have of Momma and us working together—adventuring together. I am sure we looked like Ma Kettle and her kids but who cared? I know we didn’t. Sadly, stories like this one are slow disappearing. Families working together and working it out together are giving way to lives too busy to be families. It has been said that the family that prays together, stays together. I also think it can be said that the family that works together, strains together, pulls together, “adventures” together…stays together too.

Way back in the book of Psalms, the Bible says, “How delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony!” I know that is speaking about people in general, but isn’t that what families are…ordinary people doing life together? I hope this encourages us in this busy world to be family and do life together…whether it is work or play…or worship. And speaking of worship, there’s no better place to be family than at church. And when you get there, listen carefully and you will hear His encouraging voice saying, “Don’t worry…I’ve got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, Scripture, thankful, travel, Trials

Grateful Grieving

Posted on November 21, 2023November 20, 2023 by Dewayne Taylor

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4

I guess I knew it…but I forgot. Cruising (like in a big ship) isn’t for everybody but after trying it, I discovered I was a fan. Oh, it has its drawbacks—like spending a week with 3,000 people you don’t know but it also has plenty of positives. One that surprised me was the lessons that you can learn…while eating dinner in the middle of the sea.

The dinner service on a cruise is amazing—as is the food. During our time on the ship, we had the same servers each night. We had two young men who served as our primary servers and another guy who was in charge of all the servers. The guy in charge was nice enough but I noticed that when he was at the table, he was always looking somewhere else. It seemed his mouth and eyes were sending different messages. The other two guys told a whole different tale. We became well acquainted, and we learned a bit about their lives. The number one thing I learned was that I am grateful I am not a server on a cruise ship. They were both from Indonesia and it turns out they work for seven months straight with no days off before going home for two months—but then without pay. They worked hard and they worked long…until they didn’t.

One evening we were chatting, and the topic somehow came to the COVID outbreak. I knew the cruise lines, along with the rest of the world, shut down. But that night I had a bigger, clearer perspective. The server guy said, they sent him home with no pay, no benefits, no anything—for TWO years. Imagine that. I asked what he did, and he said whatever he could find, including selling ice cream on the street. I was shocked that the cruise line didn’t at least attempt to care for those who were so loyal to them. I grieved for them and what they went through but something else happened—it made me grateful. I was grateful that I could work.

I was also grateful that I lived in America and even though it was a wacky time, I knew help of some sort was close by. I knew that my church would be there for me if needed and I knew God was there 24/7—ready and able to help me. I re-learned a valuable lesson—that hearing someone else’s story can often help us become more grateful. This week when we are focusing on being thankful, perhaps we should take the time to look and listen at the lives and stories of others. We might discover an opportunity to not only help—but to learn—learn to be thankful to a God who always says, “I’ve got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, Integrity, life, loving others, Military memories, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials

Mr. B

Posted on February 7, 2023February 6, 2023 by Dewayne Taylor

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8

It was a long, hard day. When my wife and I lived in Warrensburg, Missouri we were renting a home in a still developing subdivision called Valley View. We were just back from a three-year USAF stay in Germany, still newlyweds with only four years under our belt, and with a newly hatched dream. While we loved the house we were renting, we, like so many, dreamed of owning our own home. It was a crazy time economically as interest rates were running about 18 percent and inflation was at a record rate. And then a window opened.

The developer of our subdivision was a rough around the edges man named Mr. B. We bumped into him around the neighborhood as he was still building houses. He planted a thought in our minds and hearts. He said the government had a program that might allow us to build a house. They would pay half the interest. Well compared to eighteen percent, nine sounded pretty enticing. And before we knew, we were approved and a piece of land on Hilltop Drive had our name on it. He let us add a few things like a bay window and a fireplace in the basement. It added a bit to the bottom line, but they were worth it.

I’m still not sure if this was a wise financial decision for us. It ended ok, and that’s another story, but it did cause some financial tension. To help, he suggested I do some work equity and let me tell you…it was hard work. I ended up doing all the painting and staining inside and out. And for a guy who had never done anything like that—it was a challenge. That’s another story, too. There was also another opportunity to help with the financial tension.

Mr. B told me that he would be willing to let me work for him on Saturdays doing some basic labor. He then said he would pay me $15.00 per hour. Now that was good money back in 1983 so I agreed although I was way out of my comfort zone. To set the stage, I was in the Air Force, that was my day job, I was pastoring a small church for a whopping $50 a week, that was my Sunday job, and now I was going to work for Mr. B on Saturdays. Like I said…it was way out of my comfort zone. So, Saturday came.

The work site was just down from our rental house, so I just walked over. It was early in the morning and we were going to be putting up metal (as in heavy metal) forms to pour a basement for another house. We had to lift the forms in place and hammer pins in place to hold it all together. Well, besides dropping my hammer one time inside the forms, things went pretty well. We called it a day about 4:00 pm…just in time for me to get home and start trying to write a sermon for the next day. I was exhausted. I bet that was at least one short sermon!

So, the next week I bumped into Mr. B and he had a check for me. Finally, the fruit of my labor that Saturday was in my hands. Based on his comment about $15.00 per hour and eight hours of labor, I was expecting a check for around a hundred dollars. Instead, I found a check for forty dollars and some change. I was, uh, shocked. I said, “Mr. B is this right?” He assured me that it was, and I said, “I thought you were paying $15.00 an hour.” He chuckled and said, “Oh, I was only kidding about that. We pay laborers $5.00 an hour.” I wasn’t laughing. In fact, as much as I liked him, I felt betrayed, like I had been ripped off. From my view, one thing was promised, and another given. And that was my first and only Saturday working for Mr. B.

Betrayed and ripped off. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt that way about another person? Have you ever felt that way…about God? Because people are broken and imperfect, just like us, there is a measure of understanding. It doesn’t make it any less painful but at least it sometimes softens the blow. But what about God? What about when it seems God doesn’t keep His Word? That’s a tough one.

What I have learned over my years as a Jesus follower, and as a pastor, that when it seems we feel betrayed or ripped off by God it is because we have misread or misapplied His Word. You see, His Word is full of promises, but we need to make sure that the promises were made to us and for us. We can’t claim promises that were made to another person or group of people. God made promises to Abraham that just aren’t ours to claim.

Too often, unfortunately, preachers, teachers, and ordinary people make promises on God’s behalf that God never intended or said. And, when they don’t come true, well, we blame God and that is not right or fair. I’ve been a Jesus follower for 45 years now, and I can tell you one thing—He has never failed me or failed to keep His Word. He is a promise keeping God—when the promise is mine. No, I’ve not always liked how things turned out or His way of working something out, but I can say I’ve never felt betrayed or ripped off. He is a good God who is good at being God. You can trust Him.

Well, Mr. B’s little joke was a hard lesson for me to learn but it was a valuable one. His heart was good, but his sense of humor was not. I’m glad my Dearest Daddy, the God I can call Father, has a perfect heart and His will and plan for me is perfect. I know no matter what I will face, His plan is for my good and His glory—and that is good enough. I can face today knowing, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne