As a child, I so enjoyed an ice cold bottle of coke.  I was fond of spiking my cokes with a handful of salted peanuts.  It was a tip from my Grandfather.  To clarify for all of my friends that didn’t grow up in the South, we typically say coke when referring to a pop, soda or soft drink.  No matter if you call them pops, sodas or cokes, they’re iconic symbols of our culture.   I remember Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola vending machines prominently situated in barber shops, gas stations and many other local establishments in the small town that I grew up in.  It was a classic Pepsi vending machine that captured my attention and became woven into the fabric of my childhood.

My Grandfather had a Pepsi vending machine inside of his rustic, yet thriving, place of business called Worth Milling Company.  It was a vintage blue vending machine with a small door featuring circular windows that displayed the selection of soft drinks.  Drinks were 35 cents, unless you happened to be a grandson of the larger than life proprietor who possessed a key to the priceless cache.  I always enjoyed a Pepsi, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere at The Mill.  Just imagine a little boy seated atop mounds of feed bags, clasping a vintage Pepsi Cola and chatting with local farmers about the weather.  As far as I could tell, The Mill was the best place on earth for a little boy to learn the ropes.

In the early eighties, Pepsi launched a bottle cap campaign that was linked with their Pepsi Challenge campaign.  You might recall the Take the Pepsi Challenge TV commercials.  The objective of this bottle cap campaign was to acquire caps that spelled out C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E.  The bottle caps had this gray liner underneath them that one peeled out to reveal a letter.  The kicker was that the letter “A” was super rare.  I amassed several caps that contained all of the other letters, but the “A” always alluded me.

On the front of the classic Pepsi vending machine was a built-in bottle opener with a compartment designed to capture the popped bottle caps.  My Grandfather would empty out the compartment and save them for me.  The farmers who did business with my Grandfather would sometimes flip me a bottle cap because they had heard of my bottle cap pursuit.  Many of these farmers had colorful personalities, so the bottle caps sometimes came with free advice, or perhaps a fishing story.

I have so many great memories of those days spent taking in the richness of life that unfolded around The Mill.  I still reflect on the life lessons that were illustrated and reinforced for me there.   The Pepsi bottle caps that I collected back then remind me how my Grandfather, and the hard working people that passed through those doors, always had time to pause and chat with a friend, even a small boy.  Those bottle caps represent laughter, community and family to me.  Those bottle caps challenge me to be a hard-working man of substance who always has time to pause and share a coke with a friend.

My Family at Worth Milling Company January 2011

One day in 1981, my Grandparents stopped by my house on their way out-of-town to a business convention.  Before departing, my Grandfather felt compelled to deliver to me a paper sack that was full to the brim with bottle caps.  That was the last time I saw him.  He passed away in his hotel room on that trip.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was a blonde-headed kid less than a month from turning 9 years old and my Grandfather handed me a sack of bottle caps with a hidden CHALLENGE.  A challenge to be a simple man that always cultivates grace in the hearts of those closest to me.

What’s a nostalgic item from your childhood that has a memorable life lesson connected with it?

I love grits.  I’m talking about legitimate grits that Grandma simmers to perfection and lovingly seasons with butter, salt and cheese. Grits go best with bacon, eggs, fresh fruit and steaming hot coffee.  Grits are certainly a substantial dish.  It’s no mistake that the term grit interchangeably defines fine granules and determination. For years, my Grandma Jeffords has recycled leftover grits into tasty fried grit cakes.  Grandma chills the grits in the fridge then dices them into bite size chunks and fries them in an iron skillet.  Fried grits convert a hearty dish into bite-size portions.  For me, fried grits represent the incremental, hearty investments that Grandma consistently made into my life.

Like Grandma says; “grits stick to your ribs.”  For as long as I can remember, Grandma has been relentless about feeding her family, and feeding them well.  While I was in college, I would often call Grandma on Sunday afternoons to catch up.  One of the questions that she would inevitably ask me is, “are you drinking enough milk”?  The question always made me smile, but it turned out that this was actually a brilliant question.  She didn’t badger me about what my major was or how my grades were, but because of her relentless sincerity, I didn’t want to disappoint her.  She was influencing me to do my best.  Like always, she was steadily reflecting Jesus and cultivating  grace in my heart.

Throughout my life, I’ve observed a remarkable capacity within my Grandmother to renew her mind and maintain her focus on the important things.  The substantive stuff that sticks to your ribs and establishes character.  Through the ups and downs within the lives of children, grandchildren and great grand children, she has always been a steadfast presence. Her home is like an anchor that renews your mind and challenges you to be a man or woman of substance.  It takes some life experience to truly appreciate that.

Achieving our goals has everything to do with establishing the right foundation through a consistent, prioritized focus each week.  I sometimes have a tendency to overwhelm an individual week with more than I can actually get done and that’s a recipe for neglecting the important stuff for the sake of the “urgent” stuff.  Think about it.  If we don’t have work goals and relationship goals each week then our weeks take on a life of their own and begin to dictate our schedule.  Setting bite-size weekly goals are about aspiring to do significant work and having the grit to take charge of our weekly schedules.  We must realize that though we may end a week feeling that we didn’t get it all done, we can’t let that spill over into working too much and stealing time from our key relationships.  Don’t miss the simple, yet important, things that happen every week in the lives of those closest to us.  I speak from some experience.

Something amazing happens when we become focused and not frenzied.  The richness of the simple things in life start shining through.  Wise people like my Grandma understand this.  There’s immediate returns on resolving ourselves to be priority-driven, but the long range returns are priceless.  The long term results craft our legacy.  Legacy is birthed within the hearts of those that our lives touch.  The principle of Fried Grits is this; A life well led is life that cultivates grace within the hearts those closest to it. Hearty investments made over time leave a mark.  We just need to eat our grits one bite at a time.

What’s your favorite way to prepare grits?  If you don’t like grits, don’t tell me.  I might unfairly and harshly judge you;-)