more – Grits with Grace

Family, food, Grace, gratitude, life, Scripture, Southern born

The Best Part

Posted on August 11, 2025August 8, 2025 by Dewayne Taylor

“Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Second Corinthians 12:9a

I like it straight black—plus nothing, minus nothing. Coffee has long been a part of my life. It all started when I was growing up. The name Taylor and the word coffee have gone together for a long, long time. I can remember every day my Daddy would get home from work about 4:00 in the afternoon. He carpooled with three other men and just like clockwork they would pull up and he would get out. It was a certainty. The other certainty was the coffee. Momma would have a fresh pot percolating on the stove and perfectly timed to be ready when he got home. She would meet him in the yard, and they would share the day and have a cup of coffee.

He didn’t just drink coffee then either. It was not unusual for him to say, “Dewayne, go get me a cup of coffee.” The please was implied and it seemed there was always a pot on the stove. One time there wasn’t so I improvised. I didn’t understand the ins and outs of coffee making, so I just spooned in some coffee grounds in the cup and added some lukewarm water. That day I learned how not to make coffee! As I remember it, Daddy liked his coffee with sugar and cream and always drank it from one of those thick Victor coffee cups made after World War II. It didn’t hold much but it was a good cup to drink from.

I can’t even remember not drinking coffee though I can remember Momma telling me about coffee stunting my growth. Since I ended up on the shorter side, she must have been telling the truth. And, like my Daddy, I drank mine with sugar and cream—lots of sugar and lots of cream. Eventually I switched to a powered creamer called Cremora along with a hefty dose of artificial sweetener. Somewhere along the road they said that Cremora was bad for you, so after much consternation I went to having my coffee with just the sweetener—three packs please. It was so sweet it would make you pucker.

Well, you know how it goes. They (whoever they are) then determined that the sweetener was bad for you, too. I talked it over with the guys at work and one of them said, “If you will drink coffee black for three weeks, you’ll never drink it any other way.” Well, I did, and he was right. Ever since then, I drink my coffee strong and straight black. And the amazing part is for the first time I began to taste the coffee and not the stuff I added to it. It was just about then I began to understand the Folger’s commercial that said, “The best part of waking up is Folger’s in your cup.” I take one exception to that though—it is always best to wake up—breathing.

I think if I learned anything from my coffee journey it was that sometimes more is just more. It seems most of us are tempted to add something to whatever we are doing at the time. Have a great recipe—we are tempted to add this or that. Have a truck pretty tricked out? Well, hey, why not add one more thing? I know my office is stuffed to the gills with stuff from all over the world but sometimes, well, more is just more. Instead of seeing things, you start seeing a wall full of stuff. I had a box on the floor in my church office. It is full of things that I’ve decided can go home…the problem is it has been there for, uh, several months.

Now one thing we must be careful not to mess with is God’s grace. It is fine just the way it is. When you start messing with grace you end up with something that is not very “gracey and when something is not very “gracey” it loses it “graciness” and that is never a good thing. I love the fact that God got it right from the start. There has never been a grace 2.0 because version 1 was just exactly right.

When it comes to God stuff, it seems we want to make it harder and more complex than it really is. Grace is enough. That’s why I like the first part of Second Corinthians 12:9 that says, “Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Boom…perfection.

Well, I think I’ll have a cup of straight black coffee a little later on and I think I’ll rewrite that Folger’s jingle to say, “The best part of waking up is Jesus in your cup.” It doesn’t get any better than that. Just knowing Him makes it worthwhile…because always, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Family, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, missions, prayer, Scripture, sovereignty of God, spiritual battles, thankful, travel, Trials

Choose to be Content

Posted on September 23, 2024September 22, 2024 by Dewayne Taylor

“I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” Philippians 4:12-13

I was content…almost. Contentment is one of the most allusive things. One minute you are fat and happy and the next minute you are just fat. Some small, insignificant thing happens that seems to change everything. It probably has a lot to do with most of us living in the best country in the world—the United States. We have more than we need and that is a problem, and that is the problem. Andy Stanley, a pastor in Atlanta, talks about the fact that most of us have houses with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms and get ready, there is even a house for our car attached to the deal. Amazing.

We once went on a mission trip to the Philippines. We were there to repair some damage caused by an earthquake. Two things amazed me—how beautiful it was and how kind and polite the people were. On a couple of levels, it did indeed seem like paradise. You see the island we were on was a vacation destination for many. It was simply beautiful. The only problem was we didn’t get to see it. There simply wasn’t time for a lot of sightseeing because there was a mission to accomplish–a job to finish.

Now I know that probably sounds noble–maybe even spiritual, but the truth is even on the mission field it is hard not to think about–ME. The “resort” we stayed at really was quite nice–particularly when compared to let’s say sleeping in the sand in Mali, West Africa or on the ground in Uganda, East Africa. I guess I should have been content–and I was–almost.

When we arrived at the resort, we were given our room assignment. Judy and I were assigned a single unit. I must admit I did have the best roommate. We went to our room, and it was nice–small–but nice. There wasn’t a lot of room to walk and have the luggage on the floor, but it was nice. We pushed the twin beds together and it was just like home–just smaller–a lot smaller. Then we went to check out the other room assignments.

Well, their rooms were also quite nice. Each person had two twins pushed together to make a double bed and the room was bigger–a lot bigger. There was even room for their suitcases to be on the floor and still walk around the bed. Suddenly, my room (well, our room) felt even smaller. Suddenly, it didn’t seem quite right.

Now I was content until I saw how the rest fared. I was content until I saw what big was like and then I wasn’t. Just like that I went from contentment to discontentment. I went from feeling blessed to feeling cheated—all in about two seconds flat. Isn’t it amazing how one minute you can be satisfied and the next you’re not? There’s a word for that and I think it is close to sin. And the crazy part is it doesn’t just happen on a mission trip to the Philippines–it happens to a lot of folks on any given day. We are content until we see how the other half lives. I think it is something like the grass is always greener somewhere else.

Paul said something quite amazing in Philippians 4:12 “I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Oh, and by the way, when Paul wrote those words, he was sitting in a dark, dank, stinking Roman prison. Ouch.

I think all of us need to learn Paul’s secret to joy–just be content! The truth is most of us have it a lot better than 90% of the world! The truth is if we look around, we will find that our Heavenly Father has filled our world with “love notes” that simply yet profoundly say, “Just to say, I love you.”

Whether our world has a healthy dose of bumps or if the sun shines consistently, if it is corona crazy or as smooth as a lake at sunset, we have so many reasons to be thankful…to be content. Why not take the time today to look around and be thankful for what you have rather than rattled about what you don’t? After all, hasn’t the Giver proven Himself over and again? Hasn’t He “shown off” time and again in His lavish grace and love. Sure, He has. So, settle back and take a rest. After all, He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Family, gratitude, life, priorities, Scripture, thankful

Time to Prune?

Posted on October 26, 2021October 25, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

What do you mean food doesn’t fix everything? Well, I don’t know if it is because I am from the South or because I am a Baptist, but I just know food makes everything better. There is nothing like a healthy (uh, perhaps unhealthy) dose of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, well-seasoned (hog jowl or some other appropriate grease source) green beans and a large portion of bread) to make everything better. And, of course, don’t forget dessert.

The other evening, I came home from a rather difficult meeting. I walked in the door and my wife Judy, who can read me like a book, instantly said, “do you need to self-medicate?” I love her…she knows. Off to the Dairy Bar we went and in just a few minutes I was feeling better thanks to a salted-caramel concrete. Yup, the saying used to be “take two aspirins and call me in the morning.” Now it is, “eat two chocolate cookies with a glass of cold milk and call me in the morning.” Oh, the joy.

So, we have this rose bush in our incredibly beautiful yard—which by the way is also due to Judy and her green thumb. This rose bush is on an arbor by our back door which used to be a great spot. It bloomed and as you walked through the arbor you were immersed in their sweet, lush smell. It was good. But over time the bush has become not as healthy and doesn’t bloom near as much.

Judy and I were sitting in the yard one morning and she made the comment that the rose bush had a single bloom. So, I casually mentioned that maybe she should feed it. Remember, that fixes everything. A good shot of rose bush food and bam here come the blooms. But she told me I was wrong. The problem wasn’t that the rose bush was starving for food—it was starving for light. Here’s what has happened.

Just to the east of the rose bush where the morning sun comes in, two trees have grown—a dogwood and a redbud. Both are great trees, and they seem to be real happy. But in the process of growing, they have shut off a lot of the morning sunshine from the rose bush and that is why it is suffering. Judy said that the rose bush can survive the way it is but without enough sunlight it won’t and can’t bloom. What we end up with is a rose bush that is just getting by and that will never really be what it was intended to be—a source of beauty with the sweet aroma of a new day.

So, somewhere in the future there is a good chance that the rose bush will probably have to be moved to a place where it can thrive and that means more sun. It will be a dramatic change and it might even be difficult but unless we do something the rose will never be and do what it was meant to be and do. Hmmmm.

I wonder if that is the problem with me—with you? I wonder if we are growing in a place where the soil might be right but there just isn’t enough light? I wonder if we need more Son-shine? You see, we might believe that if our lives just had more stuff, more toys, more of this or more of that, we would be happy. But the truth of the matter—we just need more of Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” Wow. First, He affirms He is the light we are looking for. It might seem easier, even logical to just put a light bulb out by the rose bush, but that light would be insufficient and could never replace the light of the sun. And trust me, the light we need in our lives can never come from religion, denomination or some other “self-medication.” We need the true light that can only come from Him.

But He says something else. He declares that if we walk with Him two things will happen. We won’t have to just survive in the darkness or starve for light and in fact we will have the light that brings life. Bam…just what we need…just what the doctor ordered. And if that isn’t enough, since we walk with Him there will never be the need for a transplant because we walk with the Light—we move with the Light. Because of that, no circumstances will ever be able to hurt us.

Well, it’s just a matter of time but we will have to move our friend to a sunnier place in our yard. And I will feel sorry for the bush as we dig him up and prune him back, but it will be for his good. After the initial pain he will bloom again and that will make it worthwhile. So, what do you need to do in your life to once again walk with the Son? What things need to be pruned back or what needs to be given up so you will be free to walk with Him again? Yup it might be painful but just imagine your life as you are blooming once again. Imagine the fragrant smell of life with Him. Make that decision today. Go ahead and rest in Him. He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Family, food, forgiveness, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, Scripture, Southern born, thankful, wisdom

The Best Part

Posted on May 4, 2021May 3, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

I like it straight black—plus nothing, minus nothing. Coffee has long been a part of my life. It all started when I was growing up. The name Taylor and the word coffee have gone together for a long, long time. I can remember every day my Daddy would get home from work about 4:00 in the afternoon. He carpooled with three other men and just like clock work they would pull up and he would get out. It was a certainty. The other certainty was the coffee. Mama would have a fresh pot percolating on the stove and perfectly timed to be ready when he got home. She would meet him in the yard, and they would share the day and have a cup of coffee.

He didn’t just drink coffee then either. It was not unusual for him to say, “Dewayne, go get me a cup of coffee.” The please was implied and it seemed there was always a pot on the stove. One time there wasn’t so I improvised. I didn’t understand the in and outs of coffee making, so I just spooned in some coffee grounds in the cup and added some lukewarm water. That day I learned how not to make coffee! As I remember it, Daddy liked his coffee with sugar and cream and always drank it from one of those thick Victor coffee cups made after World War II. It didn’t hold much but it was a good cup to drink from.

I can’t even remember not drinking coffee though I can remember Mama telling me about coffee stunting my growth. Since I ended up on the shorter side, she must have been telling the truth. And, like my Daddy, I drank mine with sugar and cream—lots of sugar and lots of cream. Eventually I switched to a powered creamer called Cremora along with a hefty dose of artificial sweetener. Somewhere along the road they said that Cremora was bad for you, so after much consternation I went to having my coffee with just the sweetener—three packs please. It was so sweet it would make you pucker.

Well, you know how it goes. They (whoever they are) then determined that the sweetener was bad for you, too. I talked it over with the guys at work and one of them said, “If you will drink coffee black for three weeks, you’ll never drink it any other way.” Well, I did and he was right. Ever since then, I drink my coffee strong and straight black. And the amazing part is for the first time I began to taste the coffee and not the stuff I added to it. It was just about then I began to understand the Folger’s commercial that said, “The best part of waking up is Folger’s in your cup.” I take one exception to that though—it is always best to wake up—breathing.

I think if I learned anything from my coffee journey it was that sometimes more is just more. It seems most of us are tempted to add something to whatever we are doing at the time. Have a great recipe—we are tempted to add this or that. Have a truck pretty tricked out? Well, hey, why not add one more thing? I know my office is stuffed to the gills with stuff from all over the world but sometimes, well, more is just more. Instead of seeing things, you start seeing a wall full of stuff. I have a box on the floor in my church office. It is full of things that I’ve decided can go home…the problem is it has been there for, uh, several weeks.

Now one thing we must be careful not to mess with is God’s grace. It is fine just the way it is. When you start messing with grace you end up with something that is not very “gracy and when something is not very “gracy” it loses it “graciness” and that is never a good thing. I love the fact that God got it right from the start. There has never been a grace 2.0 because version 1 was just exactly right.

When it comes to God stuff, it seems we want to make it harder and more complex than it really is. That’s why I like John 3:16 that says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” Boom…perfection.