We Are All Special, Unique

 

Greg and I recently visited a unique store a few miles from our home in Southwest Virginia...

and we were impressed.

It was a Mennonite store where things were a little different. 

There's an area in the store where you can place an order for soup, made-to-order sandwiches, and salads. While waiting, you can look around and perhaps pick up some potato salad or small fruit pie to go with your order.

Also, you might want to check out their jellies, breads, desserts, Amish snacks, etc., ice cream, and bulk candies of all types. They also have kitchen items, home decor, toys, religious items, fresh vegetables, as well as many other things.

Greg and I enjoyed our sandwiches, and we took a couple of their desserts home with us-

An Apple Turnover

Banana Pudding

Yum!

FYI

The Dutch Pantry, 6891 W. Lee Highway, Rural Retreat, VA 24368

All of this made me think of how special and unique this experience was. Mennonites have a different way of life, and they express who they are in their own unique way. In this store, they are just living their lives, and they are sharing with the world who they are and what they do, and those that go there benefit from what they have to offer.

In the same way, each of us has something special to offer just by positively expressing our God-given talents, whatever those happen to be.

~ Don't "hide your light under a bushel." means not to hide your talents or abilities. This is from the Sermon on the Mount.

~ "Being different means you have something unique to offer to offer the world." -Unknown

We are all different expressions of God. We are all very special.

Positive thought: From a sign in The Dutch Pantry-

Also important- 

Thanks for visiting! Until Tuesday, February 14, 2023, Becky

"National Banana Pudding Festival"

Welcome!

Greg and I recently enjoyed a wonderful event in Centerville, Tennessee, the 5th annual "National Banana Pudding Festival" which has been selected as one of the "Top 20 Events" in the Southeastern United States.  The festival is near Grinder's Switch Rail Station, the inspiration for comedian Minnie Pearl's fictional hometown, Grinder's Switch.  (She actually did live in an area near Centerville, however.)

The "National Banana Pudding Festival" has a banana pudding cook-off  where contestants hope that their banana pudding is the best.  Then, there's a banana pudding auction where those puddings are auctioned off.

There's even a "Puddin' Eatin' Contest."  (That sounded tempting, but Greg and I were just not up to that one!)

(I always have been fond of banana pudding, and I'm sure that's what attracted me to this festival.  It's the ultimate Southern (U. S.) comfort food.  When I was growing up, both my mother and our housekeeper would often make our family some really delicious banana pudding which was probably our favorite dessert at that time.)

"Some foods are so comforting...that to eat them is to be home again after a long journey."-Eli Brown

(I was really pleased to see a cookie ad in the festival brochure that was advertised as "The perfect cookie for banana pudding..." that was Non-GMO certified, etc., etc.!  People are waking up to the truth!  The word is getting out!  Fantastic!)

Then there was the "Puddin' Path" that for $5.00 you can try ten different banana puddings made by ten different nonprofit organizations.  You vote for your favorite, and the winner gets the title of "Best Banana Puddin'."

Some of the names for these puddings were-"Moon Pie Banana Puddin,'" "Cinnamon Roll Banana Puddin,'" and "The Elvis."

There were also several other things at the festival besides banana pudding:

Lots of Arts and Crafts (I even found a nice Christmas gift!)

Entertainment

Good Food Besides Banana Pudding

Interesting People-

Beauty Queens

A Mini Minnie Pearl

Unusual Characters

If you missed this year's festival, don't despair, you can just mark your 2015 calendar for the first weekend in October!

F.Y.I.
"National Banana Pudding Festival"
www.bananapuddingfest.org

"Grinder's Switch is a state of mind-a place where there is no illness, no war, no unhappiness-where all you worry about is what you're going to wear to the church social, and if your feller is going to kiss you in the moonlight on the way home.  I wish all of you a Grinder's Switch."-Minnie Pearl

You can view Greg's and my photographs on iStock  (Just click the next line.):
http://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/rebecca-arnott#10f6e9a3


Positive thought:  "Let's make these the good old days."
Thanks for visiting!  Until next Sunday, Becky