Cooking

Lights Will Go Out

ponderingmissylouLeave a comment

I love the Christmas season, whether it is a white Christmas or not. The hustle and bustle of it all is fun, and watching the people around me be happier or some not so much either by being rushed or depression.

Since I host the holidays, my hustle is getting it all together. No time to enjoy. Christmas is the hardest. At times, I want to pass on the hostess position so I can take time to see the lights, visit more, go and do. Instead it is do this or that. Then, almost immediately after Christmas, the lights are turned off, Christmas music ends and back to normal. The decorations are removed and everything is darker and blah.

It hits me that I did not really enjoy any of it. Depression does not hit me but a sadness dwells until I adapt to the new winter normal. Soon, spring and Easter season will awaken the senses of a new beginning.

Life is like that. The ups and downs of seasons. Just hang on and know that the dark turns to light, just like each day we live. There is hope for the tomorrows and we move forward. Don’t give up! Ever!

So as Christmas Day is here and I ponder what my day will hold and onto what happens, I know there is brighter days ahead even without the Christmas lights and glimmer from decorations.

Today, I will enjoy the family, my children and to be present.

I hold onto joy within knowing that the Lord is with me in whatever season. He is with you, too!

Be Blessed – Merry Christmas

Beans & Cornbread

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It is funny how the titles come to me that take me back to years ago. The good ole beans and cornbread, probably quite the dinner bowl in the southern parts of the states. I was raised with them but now rarely make them, although I do enjoy when I do make or eat them.

Back when I was dating my husband, I was questioning everything and the pros and the cons. Should I marry him? There was a hesitancy, but he truly treated me well, unlike other guys I dated. Of course, that surely had to be a sign from God. Right? Little things added up and some things did not but taking a step in marriage is a BIG STEP.

Since my mom always made beans and cornbread through the years to feed all the mouths in our family and company, I mentioned to her one evening that this man I was dating, now for years, loves beans and cornbread. Her advice was that if I can find a man who loves beans and cornbread, he is a winner. Well, I married him.

Then I realized that I made beans and cornbread quite often, to the point I hated them, which is one reason today that I do not make them. It has been years. I can make a good pot of beans, or I used to. Cornbread was not bad either, especially fried. At one point in my small family, I cooked and baked quite a bit. Now things look different in my home, with the boys on their own and my husband living with his mother, caring for her. So, the beans and cornbread, never simmer or are enjoyed but they have been on my mind, which is why I am writing. Maybe for old-time sake, I should make a pot. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not.

Let me know if you have had or enjoy beans and cornbread. Country cooking at its finest.