Turnip Greens and Cornbread

No buffet at lunchtime in South Georgia is complete without turnip greens and cornbread. They are Southern staples. They are Southern delicacies. In this area, a meal can hardly be prepared without them. Furthermore, you just can’t eat one without the other!

I can’t deny it; I’m just a good ‘ole Southern gal! I love turnip greens and cornbread, fried chicken, grits, fried catfish, and homemade banana pudding (not all at the same time, however).

Yet, I must admit one thing; I haven’t always embraced my Southern heritage with such open arms. I used to do payroll for a local branch of a large corporation. Often, I had to speak to employees of the company’s home office, which happened to be in Ohio. I was so embarrassed to talk to them on the phone.

I was afraid that my southern accent made me sound, well, dumb. In the South, we are often labeled “rednecks”. No offense intended, but unfortunately, that stereotype doesn’t always implicate that a person is very bright or witty.

When I first started to feel that God was calling me to be a speaker, the first argument I had with God was about my thick southern drawl. I said, “God what are people going to think of me when they hear the way I talk?”

Soon, God spoke to me and let me know that our unique qualities are what make us special. Rather than reject what makes me unique, I had to embrace it. God placed me at the exact place in this world that he wanted me, South Georgia. He has a plan for me right here, that could not have been accomplished if I had been born somewhere else. I have to do what he has called me to do, where he has called me to do it.

I love what the Psalmist wrote in Psalms 139:13, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” I chose to use the NIV version here, because it uses the words, “knit me together”. God personally put each of us together before we were even born. We can be confident in ourselves, knowing that God created us just the way He wanted us to be.

Furthermore, God did not just form us; He formed us in His image. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him.” If God created us in his image, we have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of! n n Just like a local buffet is not complete without turnip greens and cornbread, a southerner is not complete without a thick southern drawl, and believe me, you just can’t fake a southern accent! And don’t think that after someone moves here from another part of the country that they will “develop” a southern accent, it just ain’t gonna happen!
Therefore, I will embrace my uniqueness and the special way God created me. I love turnip greens and cornbread, and I love the South. I love God and I will continue to strive to use my talents and abilities to glorify Him, accent and all!