Opinion

Approximately 61% to 68% of Americans typically plan to grill, cook out, or attend a barbecue on the Fourth of July. This makes Independence Day the most popular holiday of the year for outdoor cooking in the United States. If you will be among that group of Americans, just remember, as the meat sizzles, don’t let your food safety practices fizzle. By handling and preparing food safely, you are helping ensure you, your friends, and your family avoid unwelcomed foodborne illnesses. When preparing food, always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Hand sanitizer is not as effective as handwashing, but it’s better than nothing. So, if you don’t have access to running water, use hand sanitizer. Another risk we often take when grilling is crosscontamination. Any utensils and cutting boards that contacted raw meat must be cleaned. Use separate plates for taking raw meat to the grill and then pulling cooked meat off the grill. The USDA recommends using separate cutting boards; one for meat, and another for fruits and vegetables.

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Welcome to election year. I know, if you live in Georgia, this is old news. Y’all have been to the polls more often than some folks take a shower. I can never keep track if it’s a primary election, a general election, a jungle primary, a jungle gym, a primary runoff, a water runoff, an election to fill an unexpired term, a SPLOST, an E-SPLOST, or a SPLISH-SPLASH.

In the South, we use the term “grace” in many different contexts. We say grace at supper time, we give grace to our neighbors, and we show grace through our actions. The term grace according to the dictionary is defined as simple elegance or refinement of movement.

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It is summertime and so many of you have probably planned a vacation- are you counting down the days? As our family prepares for ours it got me thinking about what a difference the view will be for only just a week. Hay bales and pastures will be traded for palm trees and blue seas, rolling hills and vegetable gardens will be traded for mountains and lush forest – there are so many changes that come when you shift geological locations. I often think back to the day that I shifted my spiritual views and fully surrendered this journey through life to the Lord. I did not know what would be ahead, the roads or scenery, but I committed to following the directional signs and began to envision the beauty that lied before me. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”