by Greg | Aug 9, 2011 | Blog Posts
Not so long ago Amy, the boys and I headed “home” to visit my family. Due to a rather demanding summer I had not been home to visit my daddy since last May. Keep in mind that they are only just over an hour’s drive away. A visit was long overdue and greatly welcomed. At supper we sat down to the usual bowls and dishes that we each contributed to feed the masses. One platter stood out – okra, fresh from the garden and fried to perfection. It was my brother Scott’s offering. I did not know he even knew how to cook. There are several good restaurants where you can eat fried okra and most of them do a commendable job. Nothing, however, compares to homegrown okra fried the old-fashion way. It tasted like home. I thought about this a few days later when I was kneading dough in preparation for cinnamon rolls I would bake on the first day of school. The dough recipe I use is the one my grandmother shared with me when I left for seminary. Her sour dough bread was a parting gift to me when I would head back to college. In seminary I learned to bake it so that no matter how far away I lived, I could always have something that tasted like home. Perhaps one day my boys will have families of their own and share with them cinnamon rolls or Amy’s sweet potato biscuits and their taste buds will remind them of what home is like. What is it that tugs at your heart and calls you back...
by Greg | Aug 1, 2011 | Blog Posts
For owners of the MINI Cooper there is a unique culture. It is a quirky English car that has been around since 1959 and so most references to the MINI are couched in English colloquialisms. The “bonnet” is the hood; the “boot” is the trunk (yes, it has a trunk), and driving one is described as “happy motoring.” Well, after more than eight years I am out of the MINI, having traded it for a more grown-up car that can better transport my kayaks and navigate Forest Service Roads, and, quite frankly, it is easier to get in and out of without making those groaning noises. When I bought my first MINI in early 2003 it was a novelty car. For the first couple of years people would stop and ask me about the car – “What kind is it? (MINI Cooper) Who makes it? (John Cooper Motorworks) Where do you keep the clowns? (Underneath the hood, they power the motor)” Over time church members have taken great delight in gifting me with toy MINI cars not much smaller than the original. In my study at the church I counted 15 toy MINIs along my book shelves that have been given to me and there are several more similar toy cars at home. What do I do with them now? About a year after I purchased my MINI I was in a pretty bad wreck on the interstate that totaled four cars, including my own. It did such a good job protecting Amy and I in the wreck that I went straight to the dealership and ordered another and...
by Greg | Jul 6, 2011 | Blog Posts
The line is well known among Jimmy Buffett fans and the era of sun tan oils (as opposed to blocks, lotions and creams). Here along the Gulf Coast, however, it calls to mind other kinds of oil that we would rather not see. Happily, no oil is in site around St. George Island and the DeLoaches are enjoying spending some time with good friends along the beautiful beach. Mornings are spent planning what we are going to eat for breakfast. Near noon we are scrounging for lunch and most of the afternoon is dedicated to planning for supper. In between meal planning we are kayaking, sunning, catching up and slowing down. We probably are not the only ones taking a little time off this summer. July is one of the busiest months for summer travel. Many in the church are “missing in action” during this month attempting to squeeze out the rest of summer since school will be starting back in just a few weeks. I am heartened that in spite of wide-spread travel among our membership we are seeing a surge in church involvement. Choir mission trips, Vacation Bible School and Youth Camp have been some of the best ever. In a week many of our high school students will be leaving for a mission trip to Jamaica. Wonderful Wednesdays and “One-derful” Wednesdays have kept our mid week calendar full. I state all of the above to say that I am quite encouraged by the positive spirit flowing throughout this community of faith. There is much that the recession cannot touch, including our sense of being the church...
by Greg | May 18, 2011 | Blog Posts
…Or is it right? I am sure someone will clarify this tradition for me before the week is out. I am not graduating from anything, mind you, but I am proud to have a son to complete this phase of his life. I am trying hard to not sound cliché when I write that it seems like yesterday when we were taking this nine pound infant home from the hospital and immediately our lives were forevermore changed, BUT it does seem like yesterday. Like those nesting eagles I wrote about a few weeks ago, soon he will be launched from our home and into the waiting world (we do plan on changing the locks). Many of you parents are going through this too. It is a good feeling, but one that comes mixed with a little nostalgia for the past as well as some understandable regrets – there is much I would do differently if given the chance to “do-over.” Do you remember your first graduation? For most of us it was High School, as it was in my case. The dignified ceremony for Putnam County High School was held in the auditorium of Rock Eagle. I was part of an august class of 109 students. I remember next to nothing except for lumbering up and receiving my diploma and feeling as though I had just been handed a ticket to the world. That was 27 years ago and I have not seen most of my classmates since. A few have died. Many never left the dairy capitol of Georgia. Some, so I am told, moved to far parts...
by Greg | Apr 26, 2011 | Blog Posts
A couple of weeks ago a thoughtful church member shared with me the following link to an internet site: http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles. This link is to a webcam that provides live 24 hour coverage of a pair of bald eagles and their three young eaglets that hatched earlier this month. The nest is 80 feet in the air, atop a research center in far away Iowa. For the last two weeks in between writing, emails, naps and phone calls I have watched this nest of eagles feed on rabbit, survive a blanket of snow, houseclean their nest and stare icily at the hidden camera. It is a reality show like none you have ever seen on television. While the eagles laid their eggs back in late February, thirteen years ago insects all throughout the Deep South were doing the same thing. I am certain not a one of us noticed this event in our yards but now we can hear the results. Cicadas! Specifically, “Periodical Cicadas” and they are called so because they come out every thirteen years. The males give off a steady “buzz” during the day that at times sound like a pulsating hum. Their empty shells can be found clinging tenaciously to leaves, stems and bark. Eagles and cicadas and spring time in general remind us that the earth is alive and new life abounds. God is not just about doing new things in nature, but I believe is working for newness in each and every life. That is one of the lessons that we are reminded of in the Easter season. Like the cicadas that are leaving...
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