TODAY THE WORD is WATERMELON. With the summer in full bloom, kids out of school, vacations in progress, summer vegetables being canned or frozen and mostly eaten, and the heat rising, what better subject than the coolness and refreshment which comes from watermelons. I love watermelon and look forward to the new crop every year. I like the seedless but I would never turn down a watermelon with seeds. I hadn’t tasted a yellow watermelon in years until a few weeks ago; it was good but there is something about the brilliant red bordered by the white and surrounded by a deep striped green rind. I have a special fondness for watermelon stemming from a childhood memory. My Mother’s Daddy, Granddaddy Holt, was a head guard at a prison work camp. That’s right the prisoners actually worked while incarcerated on farms. Granddaddy Holt loved to have his grandchildren come visit him and there were times when I and one of my cousins would stay for a few days. Granddaddy Holt was a big man, to the prisoners a strong one, but he was so good to us, spoiling us rotten while we visited and he taught me how to mix my eggs, bacon, and grits together and to this day, when I mix them, I still smile at the memory of Granddaddy showing us how to do it.
Each afternoon, if we wanted and we always wanted, he would send trustees with the truck with a couple of watermelons to his house from the prison fields. They would cut the watermelons open and we could eat “the heart” and more until we were about to burst. Oh, we loved Granddaddy and his melons. He was of the old school and for Christmas would roll fruit to the children. We didn’t care that it rolled on the floor, we loved the thought of love. So watermelons and fruit were gifts of love and they were so sweet. The deeper thought….When we stop and cherish sweet moments of our life, we find the things that may not have cost a lot mean the most to us. The important thought about the watermelons was Granddaddy took the time to care and spend time with his grandchildren. He loved sharing both his food and his valuable time. He didn’t take us to town all of the time; he didn’t try to buy our love; he gave his love! Watermelon is so good; Granddaddy’s love was so much sweeter!
DAILY FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
(c) copyright 2013 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.
