Thankful Thursday and a Look Back...

Happy Thursday Morning! I think this is also known as "Thankful Thursday", where we list some things we are thankful for.  I will get to that in a moment. But first, this was on my mind...

Do you ever stop and look around at things in your house and realize that had it not been for the love and sacrifices of others in your life that you wouldn't have these things, or be where you are now?

You may look at this iron skillet on the stove with a lid on it and say why is she using that old thing?

Well, let me tell you...this old iron skillet and this very old enameled lid belonged to my husband's grandmother.  They could be 100 years old for all I know.

I like to think about "Nanny Martin" cooking with this old iron skillet, way back when her own four daughters were little.  Yes, I can imagine she cooked a lot of squash like this over the years...this is how my MIL taught me to cook it with onions and butter right there in the skillet.  But can you imagine how many eggs she fried in this skillet...or ham, or bacon, or chicken...just think about it...

I know she and her hubby,  Granddaddy Martin, both worked hard to make a living and take care of their family.  He was a carpenter for a large estate in the area, and they lived right there on the property in a little cracker style house with a screened in front porch, which my MIL called a "sleeping porch" because she and one of her sisters had to sleep out there in the warmer months.  Nanny Martin not only kept house and a garden, but she worked in the citrus plant packing oranges during the packing season, and she sewed quilts and sold them to earn extra money to put my MIL through beauty school.

She cooked their meals on a wood stove in the kitchen in winter, and they had a little summer kitchen with a propane stove (I think) on the back porch for the summer time. Remember, this is Florida, and they didn't have AC way back then. Anyway, she used these iron skillets to cook just about everything.

I think about that when I use it. And I thank the Lord for the heritage my husband has from his grandparents. They were God fearing, hard working, and down to earth humble good people.

My husband remembers his granddaddy sitting at this little desk and paying the bills.  Those are his glasses in that case, and that is his picture up on the right. Nanny Martin is on the far left  (when she was quite young), and those are her parents in the picture in the middle.  We inherited or purchased many items from their estate, so we practically have a family museum in our house, filled with many sweet memories of dear ones who had a profound impact on my husband's life, and in turn, on my life and our children's lives as well.

This sign (the top one) used to hang in their dining room. My husband vividly remembers it because Granddaddy kept a peach tree branch above it to give him a whipping when he needed it. My husband used to spend a LOT of time with his grandparents when he was a little boy, and so they also provided discipline as needed.  If you notice the water stain in the lower right corner of this picture, that was one of the times he needed the peach tree branch applied.  The story goes like this:

Granddaddy had a favorite parakeet named "Billy Bird".  Billy Bird spent a lot of time on Granddaddy's shoulder, taking little treats from his mouth.  Granddaddy really loved Billy Bird a lot. Well, my hubby, being a very young, probably about five year old boy, got a new water pistol.  One day he found himself alone in Nanny and Granddaddy's house. (they lived next door).  He saw Billy Bird in his cage,  and decided to let him out of the cage so he could play a little game with him.  He thought it would be great fun to squirt the water pistol at Billy Bird and watch him fly from place to place. What he didn't notice was that every time he squirted his water pistol, water was hitting the walls, and pictures on the walls, and everything in the room. He was concentrating on trying to squirt Billy Bird, and didn't notice anything else, until suddenly Granddaddy appeared in the room, bigger than life. My hubby, doing what most little boys would do if caught in a rather precarious position, hid the water gun behind his back. When Granddaddy asked him where was the water pistol, he replied like most little boys caught in the middle of a naughty act, "I don't have a water pistol, Granddaddy."  Well, of course, one look around that room, dripping from top to bottom with water, and poor Billy Bird hiding behind the picture frame above, made it quite clear that someone wasn't telling the truth.  Granddaddy reached around behind my now contrite but very scared hubby and snatched that water pistol out of his hand and stomped it on the ground with his work boot. Then he, with the other hand, grabbed that peach stick and wailed the tar out of poor little naughty Johnny.  With that, "Johnny" ran out the door and told his granddaddy that he was going to tell his Mama on him.  Granddaddy quickly retorted, "And you can tell your Mama that if she has anything to say about it I'll whip her behind too!"  

Well, that's how that water stain got on that picture above. And sadly, Billy Bird died of pneumonia not too long after.  Not a happy ending, but certainly a difficult lesson learned the hard way.

And even more sadly, Granddaddy Martin died a year or so later from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. My hubby was about six years old at the time, and to this day it is hard for him to talk about it. He loved his granddaddy very much, even with the firm discipline...maybe even because of it. My husband grew up to be a very strong person spiritually and in many other ways. He attributes a lot of his early training to the examples set by his grandparents. Never underestimate the influence that you may be having on your young grandchildren.

I hadn't intended to write all this today. And here it is almost 7:30 p.m....12 hours after I started. But we've been busy in between with life in general stuff.

As I was saying before I got off on tangents...when I use these things that belonged to Nanny and Granddaddy Martin, I think about their sacrifices and the ways they provided for their family.  This little platter was one of her dishes. I got it out the other evening to serve our meat loaf.  She had a whole set of these dishes at one time, and they were given to my MIL. (mother in law). She enjoyed using them too, but then her former daughter in law (no longer a part of the family) decided that these dishes probably had lead paint, and therefore they were not safe to use, so she threw them out and bought my MIL some new modern dishes (made in China...LOL. Talk about the possibility of lead paint...) Well, anyway, my MIL was incensed and broken hearted at the same time. She managed to hide this one and a couple of other dishes. When I think about how many years those dishes were used by her family...and they all lived to be in their late 80's or 90's....well...I don't think the "lead paint" (if there was any) did any harm to anyone. They were all in pretty good health, even for old people. LOL.  Frankly, I'll take the old stuff over the new stuff any day.

As a matter of fact, here's one of her other old dishes with my breakfast on it! LOL.

Okay, where was I going with all of this? This is supposed to be Thankful Thursday. And I am thankful for our heritage...my husband's family as well as my own. I've talked about them quite a bit already in previous posts.  

Oh, another thankful note:

Yesterday morning as my hubby and I were leaving the local grocery store and loading our groceries into our car, we saw one of the grocery store clerks running across the parking lot and hollering, "someone call 911!"  She was chasing after a woman who had a full grocery cart.  The lady with the cart was hollering back at her, "it's mine, it's mine..."  And she attempted to unload the stuff into a waiting car, who, when he saw people running after them sped off, leaving the woman with the cart chasing after him and the grocery clerk running after her.  Anyway, I called 911 and told them what was going on. Meanwhile, the woman with the cart abandoned the cart and ran and caught up with the car and they sped away. The grocery clerk got the cart and discovered that the woman was attempting to steal several cases of BEER. No groceries...just beer!  Meanwhile someone else ran out yelling that he got their tag number...and  so hopefully the police were able to track them down. I don't know. We left since the grocery store people had things under control at that point and didn't need us anymore.

But, I had to stop and thank the Lord that no one was hurt. No guns were fired. The people didn't get away with much,  but they will find out that little excursion may well have cost them much more than that beer was worth.  

It certainly had my adrenaline pumping, but very thankful no one was hurt.

I am also thankful that God has provided all our needs in so many ways, and we don't need to stoop to stealing to try to either make a few fast bucks, or to feed our family. 

Crime never pays, regardless of the reason.

Well, I need to wind this up.  It's almost bedtime.

I hope you have enjoyed these little stories from the past and even the more recent times.

Here's some thoughts about discipline:

The Discipline of God

(Hebrews 12:3-11)

"3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,

Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,

And scourges every son whom He receives.”

7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

Okay, that's all folks. Gotta say goodnight and God bless you all!! Tomorrow is another day to be blessed and to be a blessing!!