The Story Table

Hey y’all! I had so much fun visiting with KLFC Radio out of Branson, Missouri about the message of Finding Deep and Wide that I decided to share that interview with y’all. I hope you enjoy! !Hugs, Shellie

 

Hi, I’m Shellie. Everything reminds me of a story, and I believe life is better when you’re laughing. Hit subscribe and stick around. We need to chat…

I stand amazed at the ever-increasing list of things offending my fellow Americans. Every day reveals a new trigger, defined as anything that reminds someone of a previous trauma and causes them to have an intense emotional or physical reaction. At the risk of sounding insensitive, we all have triggers, a.k.a. painful memories. Some are worse than others, but no one gets by in this life injury free. The challenge is learning to deal with past experiences instead of expecting the world to tiptoe around us, lest we explode. We’re not teaching anyone how to manage their triggers by simply avoiding them and giving in to the culture of offense only exacerbates our personal and collective issues.

Take the Harvard law students who didn’t want professors to use the word “violate” because some classmates may have had experiences that could cause them to be triggered by that word, and hence suffer undue stress. I’m still trying to figure out how one teaches law or practices law without talking about what does and doesn’t violate it? I’ll pause while thinking people roll their eyes.

One of the more recent examples of this off-the-charts sensitivity has to be the Michigan students who voted to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance at student government meetings because it can be discriminatory and offensive to international students. Never mind that whole “liberty and justice for all” part, right? That’s so yesterday. Just joking. I’ve done a lot of joking about all this triggering. It’s been my way of trying to lower the national tension. As I’ve said before, it you want to be offended, you can always find an opportunity. But, I’m here with a confession. Something has come to my attention that has me trying not to feel a little triggered myself!

 

 

The environmental extremists are coming after Thanksgiving, y’all. You heard right. And this is not about that movement I tried to start two years ago called PHAT, People Huffy About Thanksgiving. That was me protesting the way people skip right through the beautiful season of gratitude to get to Christmas, and I pulled my bestie in on that one. It’s worse than that. This is personal. Brace yourselves, people.

They’re claiming the over-production of turkeys and all the holiday travel for family get-togethers is leaving a huge carbon footprint, resulting in, I’m quoting now, “a problematic food holiday.”

Again, I’m trying not to be triggered or set off any trigger happy people, so I’m choosing my words carefully…But I have a big old cast iron skillet that says, “If you come after my Thanksgiving holiday, you better bring back-up.”

Hugs,

Shellie

Hey y’all, It feels good to sit a second, and catch up with all of you regulars, and to send out a hello to the new subscribers. I hope you’ll enjoy it here. Please feel free to hit reply and talk back to me. I love knowing more about you, and how I can bring value to your life. It may be a day or three before you hear from me, but I respond. (Right, old friends?

So, my speaking season has commenced and that means I’ve stacked up some travel stories for y’all.  The first one isn’t mine, but I have permission to tell it. Miss Jane, not her real name, was flying alone cross-country for a family event. The trip had been planned for months, and Miss Jane had spared no amount of worry over flying for the first time in many decades. She was understandably anxious about navigating busy terminals and connecting flights.

When her big trip finally arrived, Miss Jane’s daughter on this side of the adventure drove her to the airport, a day early. Miss Jane’s flight was scheduled for early morning, and she was nervous about her new-fangled digital ticket. What if her phone died? And her iPad? Miss Jane had made something similar to Custer’s last stand. She insisted she wouldn’t sleep a wink the night before without paper confirmation in hand. You know the saying right? If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Ruling given. Daughter complied. They secured Miss Jane’s paper tickets, prepaid her checked bag, discussed the workings of security and baggage claim, and settled into a nearby hotel room for a good night’s sleep.)

Check-in went without incident the next morning. Of course, Miss Jane had to go through security and make it to her gate alone, but her daughter had gone over and over what she could expect, and Miss Jane was supposed to text one last goodbye once she had boarded. They said their farewells.

All was going according to plan until her daughter heard an announcement over the airport’s intercom system. Someone had left their carry-on, iPad,  and cell phone at security. You guessed it. So did Miss Jane, and her daughter for that matter.

The daughter spent the next half-hour trying to figure out if her mother had been able to recover her belongings and make her flight. She was as anxious as Miss Jane had been when she finally received communication from her mom, via the recovered ipad.

“I made it through security,” Miss Jane typed, “but it shook me up, so a nice gentleman that wasn’t even flying walked with me to my gate. That’s when I realized I had left my carry-on and cell. They even called it over the speaker, but I already knew it was mine. I practically had to run to get it, but a nice lady with a training dog went ahead of me to be sure the plane waited.  Thankfully, a sweet girl at the counter helped me on the plane. Oh, and I’ve got a nice gentleman sitting beside me. But would you believer, on top of everything, the captain just came on and said we’re running a little late! I hope he doesn’t make me miss my next connection!”

So, here’s the thing. Miss Jane made that connection, but far as we know, she never did make the one between the drama of her lost items and the captain’s FYI.

Aside from how amusing this story is, I love sharing it because of the courage Miss Jane showed in the face of her fear about traveling alone. Today’s seniors have seen many changes over the course of their lifetime. Let’s remember to be as encouraging as possible while they navigate a world that must often feel more foreign that familiar.

Hugs,

Shellie

Hey folks! The audio link to this week’s podcast with special guest Jonathan Gibson, author of The Moon is Always Round can be found below. Of course, you can also find it on iTunes and your other podcast listening sites.

I’m Shellie, a laughter loving story stacking farmer’s wife, country cook, mom, and Keggie to five adorable grands with one on the way—HOORAY! I snuck that one in on y’all, but that’s okay. The kids snuck this one in on us, too. Everyone thought they were through. Including the shocked but excited parents. I’m also a speaker, author, and Bible teacher known as the Belle of All Things Southern.  Everything reminds me of a story, and I believe life is better when you’re laughing. Hit subscribe and stick around. We need to chat…

This week in the SRC file, also known as Straight Running Crazy News: A trans-feminist group called for hens to be separated from roosters on poultry farms — so they couldn’t be assaulted by the roosters without their consent.

And my eyes may now be officially stuck in the back of my head. Mama said it could happen.

The group insists their protest was not a joke; they’re serious.

So. Am. I. #havemercy

If there is anyone left out there still asking what’s next, please stop. Pls and thank you.

Here’s another version of breaking news—but it’s the happy dance kind. My next book will be releasing Jan.28th, 2020! I’ve put my heart and soul into this one, y’all. It’s called Finding Deep and Wide, Stop settling for the life you have and live the one Jesus died to give you!

Isn’t the cover just beautiful? My brilliant web and graphic designer, Jessica Maher, of Bellegreydesigns.com get’s photo credit– but that’s a whole other story and I so appreciate my publisher letting me work outside the lines to get it just right. And my publisher and I want to give you the first chapter—free!

That’s right! Free! Download here.

Hey’ y’all, let’s chat…Late last night, the beloved farmer and I watched an area weatherman announce positively giddy like that our humidity would be substantially lower today, which is why my weather app now says, “It’s 99 degrees but it feels like 102.”⁣

Only 102. Oh, joy. Perhaps I can explain the weatherman’s perspective with a cautionary tale about what Louisiana weather is like in August. ⁣

After a delicious combine lunch (sandwich on the go) with my darling yesterday, I headed home. Only, a story had come to mind (don’t they always), so I stopped to take a picture of what corn looks like when it’s ready to harvest— and a sweet reader who didn’t quite understand this life. The dear lady had driven through our area on vacation and wrote me the sweetest letter about her concern for all of our brown crops. She just knew the farmers were heartbroken.

Bless her. What the dear woman lacked in agricultural knowledge, she more than made up for in compassion and zeal.  I’ve lost touch with that woman over the years, but her story is retold around here most every harvest.

⁣I was driving off, having paused to take a few images, when my man called from the combine. “Get out and check under your car! We’ve had a grass fire.” And indeed, a glance in the rear view showed a plummet of gray smoke. The men had it under control, but Phil was concerned that it had originated under my vehicle. All was well. It had not. Seeing as how I had stayed on the turnroad the entire time, we’re thinking it was a spark from the combine. We remain grateful for what didn’t happen. We’ve seen what fire can do to a ready harvest and it’s not good. ⁣

⁣All that to say, these are our conditions, and it’s why weathermen around here celebrate humidity that would make my northern friends gasp. ⁣

⁣

 

Stay hydrated, folks! ⁣And seek the shade.  “The Lord watches over you, He is the shade at your right hand.” Psalm 121.5

And now, on to this week’s podcast episode. We’re on the third part of a series on Finding Margin for the Devotional Life. We’ve talked about finding margin in our days and we’ve discussed where to begin if you’re new to Bible Study– or, if you find yourself where I once was. You’ve tried to read the Bible but you just don’t enjoy it, and you wish you did. If you missed those episodes, I hope you’ll back up and catch them, but today we’ll be talking about How to Develop a Prayer Life from Scratch.

Honestly, it’s hard to know where to begin, but not for the reason you might think. I have plenty I can say on the subject! Prayer has become such a valuable way of life to me that I could easily go on and on—but therein lies the challenge. I don’t want to ramble. I want to be clear and concise so I can be of help to you instead of just one more voice in a world of non-stop noise.

In so many ways, I wish I could wrap up my prayer life and hand it to anyone who desires to walk with God. Hear me, I don’t believe it had to be as hard as it was or take as long as it did for me to learn how to enjoy prayer. But the fact remains, it was hard, and it didn’t happen overnight. And so, I pause to consider that journey, hoping to identify the obstacles that held me back, with the humble goal that I might make your road easier!

That said, I suddenly know just where to start! I just lowered my eyes and asked Holy Spirit to give me wisdom and help me get this right. And then, I almost giggled because this the most obvious prayer suggestion I could ever give you and yet, it’s a necessary step I was slow to recognize in my own prayer life, and one I could have forgotten to share. I’m so glad He nudged me to tell you. My first suggestion, when you go to prayer, is simply that.

Hey friends,  we’re in the second episode of a three-part series and I’m excited to dive back into it. If you didn’t listen to “Playing Catch-up and Part I of Finding Margin for the Devotional Life”, I hope you’ll take some time to circle back there. The comments from that episode lead me to believe it hit the mark with so many listeners, and I couldn’t be happier about that.

Today, we’ll be talking about where and how to begin if you’re new to Bible Study.  The first thing I like to do whenever I’m speaking on this topic is to pause and reflect on what it was like before Bible study was my delight. It’s not hard to remember the days when I wanted to love the Bible, but I just flat out didn’t and trying to read it made me sleepy. So, let’s start there.

If you’re new to the Bible, or even if you’re not that new to it, but you’ve never developed a hunger for digging into it on your own, my first suggestion is for you to take your current experience with the Bible, whatever that looks like, and approach God with it in prayer. Ask Him to help you develop a desire for His Word and to teach you through it, and then, ask Him again tomorrow. I still pray this way on an ongoing basis. I thank God that His Word has become as much bread to me as the physical food I eat. I acknowledge that He has done this marvelous thing, not me, and I ask Him to help me love His Word more than I did yesterday.  He is faithful.

My second suggestion is one you’ll find in a lot of places that address this question. That’s because it is solid good advice and why reinvent the wheel, right? Find a translation that you can understand. A few of my favorites are the New American Standard Bible, the English Standard Version, the New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, the Amplified and the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Okay, that was more than a few, but you get the idea.  If you can’t buy a Bible just now, type a verse in on a search engine and you’ll find websites where you can read a slew of different translations as quickly as your Internet can load the page, all free. Take every advantage of that. Reading the same verse in various translations will often open our eyes to something we didn’t see in the initial reading.

To recap, begin by asking God to help you love His Word, and two, find a translation you can understand. The third suggestion brings us right down to the meat of this week’s podcast. I’m often asked where to begin reading and how much to read? For me, both of those questions require me to assume an uncomfortable level of authority, but I’m game to answer if you will take my thoughts as just that, my thoughts. There are as many answers as there are Bible teachers.

That said, I like to direct new Bible students to John’s gospel. That’s the fourth book of the New Testament. The gospel of John is beautiful, profound reading. This is going to be a real over simplification, but where the first three gospel writers major on the humanity of Jesus and the timeline of his earthly ministry, John’s first words take us all the way back to the beginning, “In the beginning was God and the Word was with God”. John opens with the divinity of Jesus as the living Word of God who first spoke the world into existence, and then he devotes his efforts to establishing this same Jesus as the Son of God and long-awaited long-promised Savior, stepping into time to redeem it. John’s gospel is my favorite because He stresses the importance of the Lordship of Jesus and our need to believe and keep believing. That speaks to this remedial learner who totally gets the words of the anxious daddy in the gospel accounts who once said, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” Approach the book of John in bites, not to conquer the reading, but to hear the words.

Hey y’all, let’s chat…There’s been a lot of living since the last podcast dropped, but it did include some really good beignets. We traveled to the Big Easy last month where we enjoyed the best of ‘em at the original Café Du Monde.

We were in New Orleans for the Farm Bureau Convention where my son and daughter-in-law were in the running for Louisiana Farm and Ranch Couple of the Year. Another fine family took that title this year, but we remain super proud of Phillip and Carey for being in the top three.

While in New Orleans, the beloved farmer and I took in the experience that is the WWII Museum. Y’all. Words fail. If you can get thyself there, do it. But, carve out some time to stay. We were there three plus hours and we didn’t see it all.

June also gave us Vacation Bible School where yours truly volunteered to take the Stampede Sports Station outdoors. That week coincided with having the Lake Providence Grands while their parents were on a business trip to California and that was just a preface for the summer’s really big deal. The Third Annual Pops and Keggie Kamp kicked off June 30th .

That’s our #noadultsallowed extravaganza where we host the grands without their parents. It’s full of swimming, tubing, tennis, crafts, flower picking at our neighbors, Gene and Jo, and their marvelous zinnia and sunflower patch, sight-seeing on the farm, and visits to the great grandparents.

Hey y’all, have a seat, and let’s chat…

I hope your summer has gotten off to a great start. It hasn’t taken long for things to heat up here in the northeast corner of Louisiana. Ironically, yet true to the life of the farmer, we were super late getting our crops planted because of all the rain—and now, we’re laying poly pipe and watering. So are the days of our lives… I dated myself with that tagline, right? Extra brownie points for anyone who can identify its origin.

In other news, the beloved farmer got a new digital camera for my birthday/Mother’s Day. Far as I can see, the only thing it doesn’t do is turn on and start snapping pics by itself. But, then again, there are so many buttons on it, the smart-alecky thing may do that if I turn my back long enough. If I sound a bit touchy it’s because I’m trying to get up to speed on this thing and it’s rather intimidating. If anyone owns a Sony A73 and you’d like to give me a tutorial, I’m wide open. One of the coolest features to me is its ability to send photos and videos to my smartphone and laptop, wirelessly, so look for more activity on my social accounts, including Youtube as I figure it out. I have high hopes of getting to be best buds with it before the summers over and my speaking season heats back up again.

Speaking of, I’m super excited about one of the first events on the calendar next Fall. This Sept 20-21, 2019, in Monroe, Louisiana, Dr. Joneal Kirby will present Faith + Sexuality + Culture, a Heartfelt Ministries conference. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this one. I’m going to have Dr. Kirby on with us soon to talk about it, but until then, here’s a summary from the conference website—“Encouraging and empowering women of God to love others as themselves with integrity inspired by the grace-filled love of Jesus and the grounding of Biblical truth.” This is a discussion we need to be having, and Dr. Kirby is bringing in some powerful speakers to guide us in it. Will Graham, Shannon Ethridge, and Preston Sprinkle will be with us, along with a host of other inspirational and anointed speakers. Oh, and yours truly will also be emceeing. Go to HeartfeltMinsitries.Org for more information and to grab your tickets. I’ll be looking for you to join us here in northeast Louisiana this coming September!

Here’s some more advance news. My next book will be releasing Jan.28th, 2020! I’ve put my heart and soul into this one, y’all. Stay close for more details.

Let’s see…as y’all may have figure out by now, this is a potluck type of podcast. I’m not scheduling author interviews throughout the summer, but I plan to drop in occasionally with this conversational style. It occurs to me that it’s also a great time to do some Q & A, so drop me a note at the website allthingssouthern.com or by emailing me at [email protected]. Topics? Well, that’s up to you! I’ll take questions on faith, family, writing, publishing, or balancing it all, to name a few off the top of my head! Regular readers and listeners know I’m pretty much an open book, so just keep it clean, and we’ll address as many as we can. Hang tight and I’ll be right back with a Beaux and Hank story!

The All Things Southern podcast is brought to you by Providence Church in Lake Providence, LA., where they want you to know that YOU ARE LOVED!

Now, about that story I promised y’all. If you’re new around these parts, Hank and Beaux are my two canine terrorists. Joking. Kinda. They’re actually totally harmless two-year-old yellow labs, brothers, with hearts of gold.  By harmless, I mean their intentions are good, but did I mention they are horse size huge, with more energy than any dogs I’ve ever known in my life? No joke. Not only was the entire neighborhood thrilled when we installed an underground fence,

I’m Shellie, a laughter loving story stacking farmer’s wife, country cook, mom, and Keggie to five adorable grands. I’m also a speaker, author, and Bible teacher.  Everything reminds me of a story, and I believe life is better when you’re laughing. Hit subscribe and stick around. We need to chat…

Meet our guest today, Becky Kopitsky, author of the Cranky Mom.

She’ll be on later with solid tips on avoiding the irritable mom monster that can hide in us all. It seems a perfect time to hear from Becky with school letting out and the house filling up, when the best laid plans for the perfect summer with the littles can melt like Blue Bell ice cream on the sidewalk. Yes? That Blue Bell plug was for Papa. He still thinks they should sponsor us…

But, speaking of summer. I’ve been trying to tell myself I need to get my beach body ready for swimsuits, shorts, tank tops, etc…but my stretchy clothes, oversized shirts, hoodie body won’t quit laughing long enough to listen. She irritates me. I say we ignore her.

So, tell me. Did y’all here about the social media challenge KISS A COW? Not lying. It’s a big social media challenge in Austria and Germany, aiming to raise money for charity. Although saner minds are warning people not to participate because they could get trampled by the startled cows. Aw, you think?! I remain amazed by the things people need to be told that should be obvious, but what with outdoor activities ramping up, and the possibility of tourists wandering through our southern states, yours truly feels duty bound to offer a PSA. No matter what you see on social media, it’s also a very bad idea to Goose a Gator.

You’re welcome.

Today’s Guest

Becky Kopitsky author of The Cranky Mom visits ATS. You can hear this interview on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or by clicking the audio link here. 

 

 

From the All Things Southern Kitchen

“The Beloved Farmer’s Vidalia Onions”

I snapped this pic of the beloved farmer on one of my recent lunch deliveries. I’ll post an onion pic later, but seriously. You know what an onion looks like, right? Phil’s expression? He’s saying, “You don’t need another picture of me!” I beg to differ.

This is the hubby’s recipe. Share it with yours. It’s delicious served with a nice steak. Now, the money is the Vidalia onions. They’ll do everything but fire up the grill for you. But, please, show your appreciation and brag on him a bit. Mama taught me that trick. He’ll want to do twice as much to please you next time. Just think, at least you don’t have to clean up the kitchen!

Ingredients:

4 large Vidalia onions

1 Tablespoon butter

Dash of salt

Dash of pepper

Dash of Heinz 57

Core onions; fill the hollows with salt, pepper, and butter. Drizzle with Heinz 57 and wrap in foil. Grill for about an hour or until tender. We like to allow one onion per serving.

 

Southern Comfort

Let’s open the word together before we go. Jesus is talking in John 14.21, and He says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

I say amen to that!  Do you want to hear God clearer, friends?  Yield quicker. Obedience is a hearing aid.

That’s it for now. That’s it for this week folks. If you’re enjoying the podcast, would you be so kind as to give it a review and share it with your friends and family? Many THX! Remember, you can also subscribe to my newsletter at the website, that’s belleofallthingssouthern.com! Until next time, may the Good Lord bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you, and give you peace.