Preach it Papa

Today I had the greatest blessing of spending the day at one of my very favorite places in the world and with 2 of my very favorite people. . . . my Grandmama and Papa. Yes, this is the one I have asked for much, much prayer for. I will take another post to do an update . . . but for this post. . . I wanted to blog about some of my favorite things this wonderful man says.

If you are ever around him for more than 5 minutes, you'll fall crazy in love with him. . . you just can't help it . . . he's one of those kind of people. He's got some things that he says that are just buried way down deep in my soul. I have shared his advice, encouragement and wisdom with complete strangers, in heart-to-heart talks with my girlfriends, and even in a room full of people at a real estate closing. So . . . I wanted to share some of them with you all.

• "Shuuuggaaahh (in his best Southern, yet quick and peppy voice) God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth because you need to do twice as much listenin' as you do talkin' " . . . I'm still wondering he says this one to me just about every time I see him . . . any ideas why?
• "As long as there is breath in the body, there is hope. "(He mainly says this when referring to my Dad's salvation).
• "If you are surrounded by people that love you, then your bed in an old house sleeps just as good as it does in a new one."
• "As long as I'm breathin' I'm goin' to live" (and he ain't kiddin'. . . . even though he is on oxygen and at home most of the time he does more livin' than most people I know . . . it's because his attitude is right).
• "Isn't she as pretty as a picture?" (talking about my Grandmama). I agree with my Papa. He's not too bad lookin' himself though.
• "I could have gone all over the place and have found other women, but none of them would have been as good as your Grandmama."
• "Shhuggahhh, either you're movin' forward with the Lord or movin' backwards, but you cain't be standin' still."
• "Whhheewww, Praise the Lord."
• "Honey, you're going to be tired at the end of the day whether you sat around all day and did nothing or whether you got out and worked hard. I'd rather just work hard and feel like I did somethin'."

As I drank my last cup of coffee with my Aunt Sharon, Grandmama, and Papa today I didn't want to leave. I almost told Jon he was just going to have to pick me up and put me in "Noah's Ark." Oh . . . their house still is such a safehaven for me. I have so many precious memories there, and everytime I walk in that house it is such a place of peace. . . . something I needed very much as a child.

My Grandparents are extremely frugal . . . not because they have to be but because they WANT to be, which I just love!!! They leave their air conditioning on 86 degrees in the summer and wait for it to come on. I always warn my kids when we go to their house in the summer to dress extra cool because it's going to be hot. We just all sweat it out until it gets 86 degrees. When Melissa and I were little we'd be so stinkin' hot that we'd go and lay on the tiled bathroom floors. We'd fight over whose turn it was, and if one of us had been there longer than the other you'd think we were having WWIII. We joke around and say for old times sake one day we're going to go and lay our face on that floor.

My Grandparents have taught me so very many things, but one of the ones that is most important to me is the importance of hard work. Yes, I am one of those hard workin', driven women. I've struggled with this at times in my life. I think maybe because my Dad is a workaholic, and I fear becoming one of those. I also have wondered if I'd be a better mother/wife/sister/daughter/friend if I'd quit my job and just focus on the relationships in my life. But making money has always been very important to my family.

But, I reached a place in my life not too long ago that hard work is so good for you and the Lord sends me reminders of that often. I have found my Papa's advice to be very true. . . you're tired at the end of the day whether you sit around all day and do nothing or whether you put in a good day's work.

Please do not think I don't think women who are stay at home moms don't work hard. I actually think many of them work much HARDER. . . they're homes are much cleaner than mine, their laundry is much more up-to-date than mine, their bathrooms are tidier than mine, and their kitchen sink probably never has a pile as high as mine, and they are probably a lot more patient with their children than I am,and yet they don't get a paycheck. Yes, giving up a paycheck for me would be difficult b/c so much importance has always been placed on that throughout my life. I just struggled for many, many years that it was something I didn't want to do without, but have come to be at peace with it. Jon would expect much, much more out of me in the housecleaning department and the patience department if I didn't work from home. I just never, ever, ever want to hurt anyone's feelings or offend anyone, and I don't want to be misunderstood. I just wanted to write about some personal struggles of mine. A strong emphasis of working hard and making money has always been very important to my Dad's side of the family, so it is just something that is woven into me that I personally have struggled with . . . yet, at the same time my heart is here at home nurturing and raising up my children, and in the past I've thought I'd probably do a better job of it if I would quit my job and give up that paycheck.

I learned something new about my Grandparents today. When they got married almost 60 years ago (coming up May 15, 2009) my Papa started working for the water company and made $37 a week and my Grandmama made $38 a week. Yes, Grandmama was the breadwinner. You know else I just love about my Papa. . . he retired from the water company, the first job he got when he got out of the Navy. Those things are almost unheard of these days. People changes jobs and careers almost as quick as they change their underwear. I think it says so much about a person who is so content doing the same job for their whole lives.

Y'all know because I hate the grocery store because I spend way too much money that I had to ask my Grandmama how much did she spend in groceries a week . . . . wanna know? $8 to $10. I can't even take my family to Krystal for that amount. Papa said a Krystal hamburger cost $0.05. Can you believe that?

Their first date was to the fair. They dated 8 months before they got married. They always took family vacations, 2 a year, 1 to the beach and 1 to the mountains. Everyone but Grandmama always voted on the beach, so they went to the mountains in the Fall.

I love history. . . it is my favorite subject. . . . I got a good history lesson today . . . a history lesson on the lives of 2 people that are so near and dear to my heart!