This past weekend, Cavin and I along with our son Preston and his girlfriend Joy decided to make the trek to Joe Patti’s Seafood Market located on Pensacola Bay… And a trek it was!
It’s Getting Hot!
We started out in the Ford Excursion, but on this particularly HOT Summer day, the AC wasn’t working as it should and our crew was starting to sweat. We rolled down the windows and continued on our way. We were on a mission for shrimp, so we couldn’t let a little Southern heat slow us down.
After a steamy drive, we arrived at Joe Patti’s with sweat rolling down our backs and our jeans sticking to our legs. But, hey… we made it! Our goal was in sight. All we had to do was get the shrimp and make it back to Brewton in time for supper!
We parked the tank and entered the crowded market. They have all kinds of fish and shrimp and everything else to make a seafood meal complete. It’s like a grocery store dedicated to the needs of seafood lovers.
My perception of Joe Patti’s Seafood Market is organized chaos. Anytime we go, the place is packed full of seafood connoisseurs ready to prepare their next gourmet – or not so gourmet – seafood feast! Seafood can be fancy or it can be served at our house – which is about as casual as you can get!
Inside Joe Patti’s, we took a number to await our turn to approach the seafood counter. It’s amazing how well this system works with so many customers. On this particular day, we bought large shrimp and sourdough bread, and we were on our way back to Brew-town in a matter of a short few minutes.
It’s Getting Hotter!
The Excursion was getting hotter without the AC, and we were not excited about riding home in the hot oven. As we crossed the Escambia Bay Bridge on I-10, Cavin had a concerned look on his face. He announced that smoke was coming from the rear of the vehicle. The heat was ramping up even more and things weren’t going so well for our Ford Excursion. We pulled over to take a look. Preston jumped out and yelled, “It’s on fire!” as we all quickly evacuated into the parking lot of Big Lots! Thankfully, the fire went out quickly, but we knew the Excursion would not be making it home to Brew-town on this June day.
Cavin called the tow truck and then used his “phone a friend” lifeline to call our friend Marc to pick us up. Our adventure was not going the way we had envisioned. We waited for our student minister turned Uber driver to rescue us. When he arrived, we eagerly piled into his Ford Escape. On this Sampling the South day, it was the Escape over the Excursion for the win. We were definitely ready to escape, and the best thing about it was the AC was working great!
There would be no shrimp boil for us on this hot night. No, that would have to wait! Instead of a shrimp boil, we headed to Chick-Fil-A and that always makes things better!
Sometimes Things Don’t Go as Planned
Sometimes things don’t go as planned. We envisioned a fun day hanging out, getting shrimp, and then having a shrimp boil to close out the day. I have to admit, I was disappointed with the day. I read the fourth chapter of Philippians three or four times to get my attitude in check. It reminded me of a lot of things I needed to hear on this less-than-perfect day. I was reminded to “rejoice in the Lord always.” Surely an exception to the word “always” would be when your vehicle breaks down and you are stranded at Big Lots. But as I read, “again I say rejoice”, I knew that even days like this were included.
I continued to read and saw something else in the fourth chapter of Philippians that again got my attention. I read, “do not be anxious about anything…” again, my situation must be the exception to this verse…. “but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Really, Lord? Pray about this? Don’t be anxious? “and the peace of God…” well, I could use some peace right now…. ”the peace of God which transcends all understanding”…. well it would have to because this is no time for peace.
Ok… I’m starting to get it. Life is hard…. sometimes things don’t go as planned, but we can have peace. No, it doesn’t make sense, and I’m not a very willing student when it comes to learning the lessons the Lord is teaching me. So, now that He had my attention, I continued to read the passage… “whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Ok, so I realized I needed to think about something else other than our broken-down Ford Excursion. No, there’s just no way…. but wait, what does verse 13 say?… “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” Well… I could use some strength right about now…. and as if the Lord could hear me questioning how all of this would really work out, I was reminded in verse 19 that “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Jesus Christ.”
Ok, Lord…. I get it! I’m not enjoying the lesson, but I’m learning to trust and depend on You each day. The day had not gone as we had planned, but what we discovered was a friend who came to our rescue with just a simple phone call. And I was reminded of how our needs had been met just as I had read in the fourth chapter of Philippians.
I was glad to see my bed that night when we finally made it home. No, it had not been our best Sampling the South trek, but tomorrow would be a new day.
We had our shrimp boil the next day after church. I seasoned the water with Zatarain’s Crab Boil and brought it to a boil just like my father had taught me years ago. The secret is to season the water just right, add the shrimp, and bring it to a rolling boil for a full five minutes – but no more. Then let the shrimp soak as long as you like so that the seasoning penetrates the shells of the shrimp.
I learned that lesson about cooking the best boiled shrimp from my father a very long time ago. He taught me a lot of things in life that I’m still using today. And I thought about the lessons I’m learning from my heavenly Father. Sometimes it feels like we are the shrimp in that hot boiling water. But if we are patient and allow it to penetrate through our hard shells, it won’t last that long and we will be well seasoned to those we come in contact with us.
Please excuse me while I go read the fourth chapter of Philippians again. I want to make sure I learn this lesson quickly!
Sampling the South….sometimes our days come with lessons. I hope we learn our lessons quickly and make them count for tomorrow so that we are well seasoned for those we come in contact with.