Here at Stay Positive News, we often get the question: “Who is Ms. Mabel?”

We hear comments like:

• “I read her columns with her voice in my head, even though I’ve never heard her speak.”
• “When she says ‘I’ll be praying for you,’ I feel like she’s talking to me.”

But truth be told, none of us knew a whole lot about her. So the SPN writers sat down with Ms. Mabel to get to the bottom of who our sassy, tell-it-like-it-is, eldest contributor really is.

Nick: What’s been your proudest achievement?

Mabel: Oh now, I’ve had a few of those for sure. Times I’ve let go of my fears and done what I knew to be right are nice to look back on. Times I’ve gotten recognized for my talents felt pretty good in the moment too.

But the thing that sticks with me the most are the moments when I realized my young adult children were good people. It was like I could finally take a deep breath. All those years I’d spent worrying if I was doing the right things—and praying I wasn’t screwing up left and right—had finally culminated into a sense of peace.

I’d done the best I could, and it was now on them to follow the advice I’d been harping on their whole life. For the most part, they’ve done pretty good. Their bosses appreciate them, they have good friends they can count on, and most of all, they proclaim Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I can’t think of anything greater than adding more good people to the world. There’s no amount of money or plaque on the wall that equals the feeling of knowing you raised a version of yourself you always wanted to be.

Niki: How do you handle taking your own advice?

Mabel: Well honey darlin, angel, sugar pie—how do you think I learned the right ways to handle all these situations I speak on? I’ve made almost every wrong decision you can think of and lived to tell the tale.

My Daddy used to say I had to make all the wrong choices before I could figure out the right one. I know none of you want to imagine me doing all the wild stuff I did in my youth, so I’ll spare you the details. Just know that Ms. Mabel has done some dumb things… still does dumb things… and will likely continue to do dumb things until I pass on.

That’s probably not what you wanted to hear, but…

Sarah: Do you feel wise? If so, how old were you when that feeling kicked in? Please say 45 years old.

Mabel: That’s a tricky question. It’s easy to look back on different stages of my life and think about how I should have gone about it. So in some ways, yes, I guess I do feel like I’ve gained some wisdom.

However, I’m still figuring out how to be my current age with my current set of circumstances. In that regard, no, I have no idea what I’m doing.

Now, I’m not saying you’ll wake up on your 45th birthday and feel like you have it all figured out. But somewhere in middle age you’ll start getting comfortable with the fact that life rarely goes as planned—and no amount of worrying will ever change anything.

Jordan: What piece of advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

Mabel: Stay in the moment. Good or bad—even if it hurts, even when it’s hard—that pain is trying to teach you something.

Listen to your body. Don’t be afraid to rest when you need to or feel sad if you’re overcome. We were created with a whole bunch of emotions and each one is equally important.

The only reason I know for sure that God exists is because I’ve seen a taste of the evil in this world. If I can recognize evil when I see it, then I must know instinctively what good is. The only way to truly appreciate all the good surrounding me was going through hell on the way. Looking back, it was all worth it.

Jessica: What’s one thing you wish your readers knew about you?

Mabel: (laughing) Probably that I’m a big chicken.

Oh, I’m real brave to tell it like it is in my column—making the truth be told, if you will. But if you caught me out in the real world, I likely wouldn’t have much advice to throw around.

I can string together some great sentences while smashing buttons on my keyboard, but I’d never be able to get that stuff out in person.

Jessica: What year were you born?

Mabel: Five years after the war.

Jessica: Which war?

Mabel: (stares in her best Southern Momma-glare) That’s really none of your business.

Check out more Ms. Mabel here.

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