Tater Salad

Growing up in Australia my family continued the tradition of Christmas dinner but not Thanksgiving. The Australians do not have a Thanksgiving Day so Christmas was the one day a year where we had the traditional turkey dinner. There was one huge difference though at Christmas time in Australia and that is it is in the dead heat of summer. So because of the intense heat my mother had added to the traditional turkey, stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes a rather odd dish to cool it down…….potato salad.

Of course growing up this was not weird to me because it was our tradition. I thought that every American family had potato salad with Christmas dinner. Only after I got married to an American and for the first time had a real American traditional Christmas meal did I realize that potato salad was not on the menu. I felt like it was not complete without the potato salad and when I brought up the missing potato salad at the table I was confronted with looks of are you crazy? I was shocked that not every American was eating potato salad on Christmas day.

When we got back home the very next day I went out and bought all of the ingredients to make a traditional Christmas meal. I bought a turkey, stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes. I also bought all the ingredients for potato salad and I made it just the way my mother made it all those years in Australia. I had to have a Christmas dinner the way that I was used to and not until I had ALL the side dishes did it feel like Christmas.

Potato salad was not just made for Christmas when I was growing up it also accompanied any meal that was a celebration of a special event in the lives of someone in the family. Whether it was some ones birthday party or an anniversary or anything that someone deemed worthy of celebrating we would get together as a family with at least thirty family members and sit down to eat the main meal that always included the original recipe, my mothers recipe, of potato salad.

This potato salad became a star in our community and my mother was asked to make it for church functions or get togethers and it was always the first dish to be consumed. People were always asking for the recipe which my mother kept top secret. She did pass it onto her daughter and daughter-in-laws with the strict instruction that the recipe never be revealed to the public. That was twenty years ago and no one has given the secret recipe to anyone outside of the family to this day. Sorry, I cannot reveal it here either on orders of the queen or I will be beheaded!

Church is a Community

Church is a community and millions of people from all walks of life and from diverse backgrounds congregate to worship their God and express their religious beliefs. There are people from different social classes and economic backgrounds, different cultures and countries of origin. They come together to show their individual and group beliefs and to support and encourage each other in their success of following those beliefs. These beliefs that the members of the church share binds them together as a strong community. They want to embrace and love those who love them and they want to be accepted into the community that they identify with.

The church community is unique in that the members are usually very passionate in their beliefs and want to defend their views to the world. They share something that is very significant to the meaning of life and there is a moral compass that directs their life. It is not like some communities where the members may only have a couple of ideas that they share and relate too. Within a church community the needs of individual members are taken care of by the group and it is a give and take relationship. Service is rendered and received and helps to build the bonds of the members. There are prayers that unite the people and spiritual experiences that connect them and bond them together.

There are members who are not in the church or community for the same reasons as the majority of the people. This can be a division in the people if there are members who go against the values and beliefs that they are suppose to share. If there are people who are not in the group for the benefit of the community but are there for selfish reasons they can also cause a rift in the group. If there are members of the church that are there for the social standing instead of a sense of belonging they can also cause a breakdown in the strength of the church community. If there is a difference in the view of doctrines there can be a division of the community when some people identify with one set of values over another.

I personally belong to a church that has a strong sense of community and the infinite worth of every member. I share the same values of the church community such as the importance of the family unit, the need for modest dress for high self esteem and the importance of loving your neighbor. I feel that we are connected in a spiritual and eternal way and that bond is strong. I want to belong to this community as it is one that I identify with and feel comfortable with in sharing values and doctrines. I also want to belong to this community to give my children a community of their own to belong to and to grow in. There is a sense of tradition as well and a link to our ancestors who made our lives possible by the sacrifices they made for this same community.

Who Am I?

If you were to look in my purse today you would find the basic objects that you will find in every ones purse. A driver’s license (with a photo I actually like). A debit/credit card, insurance cards, department store cards, clothes store club cards and grocery club cards can be found in the side pocket, so am I a shopaholic? You would also find a make up bag with the necessities of foundation, eyeliner, mascara, lip liner, and lip gloss. Do you think now that I am high maintenance obsessed with my appearance? You would find my keys with my athletic club membership attached. Are you thinking that I must be struggling with my weight? Now I am curious to think of what you would think of me finding the following items:- Children’s Benadryl, Ranitidine, Allegra, and Allerclear, and Infant Tylenol. Do you think that I use medication regularly?

Now all of these assumptions are actually not true at all. I am not a shopaholic and I am not obsessed with my appearance. I am not struggling with my weight (well not today) and I most definitely do not use medication regularly.

So what information do you get from these items? Maybe a glimpse of who I am but certainly not the whole package.

I like to have discount cards or club cards to save money. So I am actually a saver not a spender. I keep my make up in my purse because I am usually running late and have to put my make up on a more convenient part of the day. I go to the gym regularly but am pretty comfortable with my body. As for all the medication...... I have had some close encounters with severe allergic reactions that made a huge impact on me. I do not go anywhere without it as it can be a life saver when you least expect it.

I also have pictures of my kids, the kind that you carry for emergency purposes. I carry a couple of diapers and a Ziploc bag of wipes. I also carry extra kiddies snacks. From these objects you can assume that I have kids and little ones at that and you would be correct. (By the third child you are past the cute diaper bags and want to look normal instead of like a camel packing for the long haul).

If all people had to go on is the content of my purse they would not know that I am married, that I have three hysterically funny kids, that I go to church, that I go to school full-time, that I love to laugh out loud, and most of all love to have fun with my family.

Regards
Carrie

Hello and welcome to Carrie's Writing Space.