Sorgum Mill

 

I remember my mother’s Uncle Ralph on her father’s side.  Uncle Ralph was a hard man who had a hard life in a hard place.  But Uncle Ralph was always kind to me.  As a little boy, I watched him and my Papaw (Uncle Ralph’s brother) make Sorghum molasses in West Virginia.  Uncle Ralph had a sorghum field that produced sweet sorghum stalks.  His sorghum mill was a huge set of gears that was turned by his mule, Old Jack.  Papaw fed the stalks into the gears and ducked his head when the overhead pole came around pulled by Old Jack.  Old Jack never got in a hurry, but he never stopped either - until he was told to.  He was just a steady mule.  As the stalks were drawn into the gears, clear sweet sap was squeezed out.  The sorghum juice ran down all around the gears and into a metal pan below where the ladies would scoop it out.  They had to watch out for Old Jack and his pole too.  Then over to the side was a huge, shallow cooking pan about four feet across and two inches deep.  A slow fire underneath kept the sorghum sap bubbling and thickening.  Granny would skim off the bubbling foam with a wooden paddle and dip it into a cooling pan nearby.  When it was cooled and hardened, my two cousins and I, would eat the sweet, candy-like left-overs.  After the sorghum thickened, it was poured into glass canning jars and sealed for the winter.  There’s nothing better on a winter morning than a stack of pancakes with warm sorghum molasses poured all over!  Hey, David said that the words of the good Lord were sweet to him.  David said in Psalm 119:103, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”  Hey, are the words of God sweet to you?  Are they as sweet as sweet sorghum syrup on a stack of pancakes?  I hope so.  God loves you so much and has His sweet words written just for you.  Why not read them this morning?  They’ll do you a lot of good.

Happy Mother's Day

 

Today is a bittersweet day.  I miss my dear wife, Kathy, and remember her faithful attention to our children.  I miss my mother, Gay Whitely, who was so important in my upbringing.  I am grateful for the mothers of my grandchildren (Rebekah, Beth, and Laura) and the mother of my great grand baby, Titus (Mary Kate).  Motherhood is a 24/7 job with unending watchfulness.  Thank you, mothers, for your quiet patience and consistent teaching. Proverbs 31:28, “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”

Available

We drove to Lattimer, NC yesterday to celebrate Drew Sinclair's college graduation.  (Congratulations,  Mr. Drew.) I forgot my blowdryer that I use to fluff and dry my beard with.  Bummer. So I combed my beard and let it airdry. Later this afternoon,  I discovered a blow dryer in the airb&b bathroom drawer. I just didn't investigate soon enough. Hey, the dear Lord has provided so much good stuff for His little children that we just never appropriate. Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

Rest

 

In the summer of 1966, I worked for Barberry Sod Company in Darlington, Maryland.  We worked out in the country picking up sod from farmers’ fields, loading the sod on pallets, and shipping it to new apartment buildings in Baltimore.  One afternoon, a repaired sod cutter was delivered to the field and David and Ed started to unload it.  Being the “strong” high school junior that I was, I jumped up into the back of the pick-up truck and got the nose end of the sod cutter.  I soon learned that the front end was the heavy end because the engine was mounted on the nose.  As the two men slid the cutter out of the truck, the full weight of the machine came to bear on me.  And down it went … right onto my fingers.  As it slid off, my longest finger became my flattest finger.  Five stitches were needed to sew the tip back to somewhat normal.  I still have a scar there to remind me of that heavy sod cutter and my poor judgement.  Hey, have you found something to be heavier than you thought it would be?  I don’t mean a heavy weight; I mean heavy as in weighing down upon your soul.  Have you been up late at night worrying?  Has financial pressure weighed you down?  Have poor decisions that you have made in the past pressed down upon your shoulders?  Does worry over wayward children or ageing parents constantly creep into your thoughts?  Hey, Jesus can take your burden and make it His burden.  He said in Matthew Mat 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Hey, Jesus can carry the heavy burdens that you are struggling with.  And He has promised to give you rest.  Doesn’t the word, “rest” sound great?  Rest.  And the cross that Jesus gives you to bear in exchange is no problem at all.  It’s nothing compared to your sleepless nights of worry.  Hey, why not roll your burdens onto the strong shoulders of Jesus.  He can carry them all.  And then, enjoy His rest.