My momma used to get up early
every Sunday morning,
a big old pot of big red beans
been soaking overnight.
She’d set those beans to cooking,
chop her up some onions,
green peppers, and some garlic,
She’d fry ‘em up just right.
I’d head down to the kitchen,
my stomach start to growling.
Just smelling all that food,
I’d worked up quite an appetite.
I’d say, “Momma, ain’t it ready yet?”
She’d say, “Hon, how quickly you forget.
You gotta take your time to do it right.”
As she’d set the rice to boiling, she’d say,
“Good things can’t be hurried.
Just look outside the window
at that tree, so big and fine.
If it had sprung up overnight,
it wouldn’t be so big and strong.
But God knows how to do things right,
and God, She takes her time.”
She’d laugh, and then she’d hug me. She’d say,
“Honey, just remember
that good things come to those who wait.
So, Baby, just sit tight.
Whether cooking up red beans and rice
or raising kids to grow up nice,
you gotta take your time to do it right.”
Now many years have passed
since those early Sunday mornings.
I grew up and married,
have a family of my own.
The world’s so fast a place today,
it almost takes your breath away.
Before you know it, your hair’s turned gray
and all your kids are grown.
But we’d take the time to listen,
take the time to smell the flowers,
‘cause Momma’s words stayed with me
like a bright and shining light.
In life and love and beans and rice,
I take my momma’s good advice,
“You gotta take your time to do it right.”
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