The Stranger at Walmart

I just thought it would be another day in the Walmart checkout line when the guy behind me noticed a pair of girls' water shoes.

"Well somebody is about to have fun."
"They are for my niece.  My brother was having a hard time finding her these shoes in Japan."
His eyes immediately widened and quickly asked, "Is everybody okay?"

I have to say that I was kind of shocked at his quick response and concern.  I told him that my brother was stationed over there and that they were safe but that he had some members in his Air Force family that were affected by the earthquakes.  He told me to be sure to tell my brother "Thanks for serving" and that he would pray for him and his friends in Japan.  I thanked him for his prayers and went on about my business.

A simple conversation turned into a reminder to me that there are good people in the world.  It was refreshingly comforting when this stranger spoke a few words of encouragement.  In that moment the world stopped for just a second and two hearts & minds focused on others across the ocean.  I thought about the encounter for the rest of the day.  Maybe God put that man in my life to remind me that it's not all about me but about glorifying Him and serving others so that they may see Him in me.  How many times do I just stand in line wishing the checker would go a little faster so I can go about my business?  How many times do I start a conversation with the checker to see how I can brighten their day?  Maybe that scowl on their face or their negative attitude stems from a need in their life.  Maybe God put me in their line to share a word of encouragement to them.

And to think all this started over a conversation about little girls' water shoes.

Can I get an Amen?

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner.  I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy chocolate with it instead of dinner?" "No, I had to stop eating chocolate years ago", the homeless woman told me.

"Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?" I asked.  "No, I don't waste time shopping," the homeless woman said. "I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive."


"Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?" I asked.  "Are you NUTS!" replied the homeless woman. "I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!"

Well, I said, "I'm not going to give you the money.. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight."  The homeless Woman was shocked. "Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting."

I said, "That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and chocolate."

AMEN, SISTER...AMEN!

Got Beans?

As mentioned before, my goal this year is to cook a dish I've never done every other week.  My first choice was to make red beans and rice from scratch.  In college, Tate and I ate many a box of Tony Chachere's red beans.  SURELY, I can do this.  I wanted to have enough for us and my dad.  We went to the store to get the ingredients.  We found the beans and I asked, "Do you think 1 lb will be enough for all of us?" Tate didn't know so he threw a 2 lb bag of beans in. (This is where everyone's eyes that I've told this story to get huge as moon pies.) I rinse them that night. They only covered the bottom of my stock pot. Next morning I remove the lid and they have filled half of the stock pot up.  I'm thinking, "When I see Tate, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died of natural causes."  When Tate came over I showed him the pot full of beans. He says to me, "We're gonna need some more meat." "Ya think?  WHATEVAH would cause you to think that?" (said in my best southern belle drawl)

Tate had emailed me 5 or 6 recipes from his mom's collection.  Tate forgot to bring over the hard copy he had printed out.  I went to print them out and found out that I ran out of ink.  So there I was running back and forth from the kitchen to my computer trying to make sure I was doing everything right. (Yes, I realize that I could have made it easier on myself and written it down but that would have made sense. Plus I thought that Tate was going to be right back with a copy of the recipes.)  Instead of making just one batch of red beans, I had the privilege of making two.  I had to stop in the middle of cooking them to go out to celebrate Tate's birthday.  When I got back, I let them cook for another hour and a half.  When I tasted them, they were bland, which made me really mad.

At church the next day, I am picking all the ladies' brains on how I can fix these beans.  I tell them my goal and what I did.  God bless each one of them because none of them laughed at me.  Now their eyes got huge and they nodded their heads as I told them what I did but they never laughed.  They even tried to encourage me by saying things like "you live and learn", "honey, don't worry about it because you can freeze it", and "well, at least you tried."  I went home, doused each pot with lots of black pepper and Emeril essence and let it cook for another 20 minutes.  I tasted each pot because Grandma Smith told me that a good cook has to taste their food while its cooking to know what it needs.  (I don't remember her cussin' while doing it though.)  FINALLY I have red beans with some taste.  I smash some beans to thicken it up and let it cook some more.  After 2 days worth of fretting over these beans, they are done.  Funny thing is...after smelling them for 2 days...I have no desire to eat them.  So into freezer boxes they go.

Moral of the story boys and girls...

Only use 1 lb of beans OR just use a box of Tony Chachere's stuff because

Two pounds of these plus all the fixins'.....

Equals two of these, full to the brim...

Which equates to all of this...

Now that may not look like a lot but it's way more than I wanted.  The good news is that I can check this dish of my "never cooked before" list.  Plus, if I eat them now, I won't be so cold.  I would like to take this opportunity to let all the chefs on the Food Network know that their jobs are still safe because I do not see a cooking show in my future any time soon...EVER!

Til the next episode of "Misadventures in the Kitchen with HAT"...

Take care and God Bless!

Recipe Challenge 2011

Can't believe it's the new year already! Where did 2010 go? Not that I want it to return or anything.  I have a new goal for this year.

I want to try a new recipe every other week.  So if you have any recipes that your family absolutely loves and you don't mind sharing, please send them to me.  If it comes out good, I did it. If it comes out bad, then Tate or Josh did it. LOL!

Happy New Year!

Tearing the Roof Off!

During my quiet time today, God led me to the story of the paralytic that was lowered from the roof by his friends to Jesus for healing. This guy's friends were so determined to get him to Jesus that they ripped the roof off! They were so committed that they didn't quit until the job was done.  They didn't care about what others said while they were doing it.  They didn't listen to anybody's taunts or doubts.  I'm sure they had other things to do but they were willing to put themselves last so that their friend could have a moment with the Master.  


What an example of how to put yourself "out there" so that others can see God.  It challenges me to be more determined and committed to show Jesus to others.  It also reminded me of all the people that have prayed to the Father on my behalf through the years.  Some I knew about and others I didn't.  They didn't do it to get a pat on the back. They did it out of their love for me.  


I just hope my friends realize that when I say, "I'm praying for you", it means I'm tearing off the roof to get you to the Master.

Are my ears deceiving me?!

I was sitting at Cracker Barrel enjoying my supper when I heard the first few notes of a song.  I stop eating and raise my head.  Why in the world would Cracker Barrel be playing this song?  And what artist in their right mind would put a country/blue grass twist on this song?  What song you ask? "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals.  Who covered it with a country twist? Dolly Parton

I found both songs on YouTube so you could compare. Which do you think is better?

Fine Young Cannibals Version

Dolly Parton's Version

Another God story...

Here I am sitting at my computer needing to finish another paper but I have to stop and share how God takes care of the details.  So far I've been able to sell all my textbooks once I'm done with them.  Well all except one...Management of Information Security.  Sure sounds like an interesting read, doesn't it?  You're right...it's good for curing insomniacs.  Last night I was working on this paper and needed proper definitions for the types of backups there are.  I knew I had read about them somewhere, but where? Then I remembered that I had the powerpoint slides from my first CIS class two quarters ago.  I start searching and BINGO, I hit the jackpot.  I find the needed definitions but now I need to be able to cite them.  What book is it from? Oh yeah, the book that I haven't been able to sell.  Thank you God for looking out for me and helping me finish another one of these lovely gems.  Only two more and I'm done....FOR LIFE!