Hometown Ramblings 

Bobbie's monthly column in the Murray Ledger & Times newspaper shares the culture and heritage of her family farm in Calloway County. To read previous columns, click on the following links:



2023 July The Marrying Chestnut Tree Part 1

2023 July The Marrying Chestnut Tree Part 2


2023 June Life Lessons from Calloway County

2023 April Days of Summer Fun

2022 November: A Thanksgiving Memory

2022 August Our Ways

2022 June: Me and My Piano

2022 January: Queen of Our Hearts

2021 December The Live Nativity

2021 Oct/Nov  The Cooking Lesson

2021 September Remembering First Grade

2021 August The Plumber

2021 July Summer in Pine Mountain

2021 June Summer in the Black Patch

2021 May Gracie: A Mother's Day Tribute

2021 April The Playhouse

2021 March Time for Basketball

2021 February, Winter Castle

2021 January, Our Neighbors
Cooking the Kentucky Way
The award-winning Jackson Purchase Journal features several articles by Bobbie shown below. Read about the culture of Bobbie's Kentucky home in western Kentucky. 
Telling Our Stories Through Quilts
Bobbie shares what she learned about quilting from researching her family tree in this article featured in the 2020 Shelby County Historical Society Journal

Without Words


The Upper Room

2020 March-April


A powerful dream is the basis of a story shared by Calloway County native, Bobbie Smith Bryant in the 2020 March – April issue of The Upper Room. The publication is a global ministry of the United Methodist Church.

 

Bryant’s personal story emerged while she was recovering from hip surgery and God revealed the power of prayer through a dream.

 

Through listening in prayer and in volunteering for the Wesley Foundation, God has moved her to write about her faith. She also serves as an instructor and speaker on numerous topics for both faith-based and secular organizations.

Kentucky Monthly

February 2020


Featured in the “Penned,” the annual writers’ showcase, Bobbie’s submittal titled, The Plumber, was one of two non-fiction essays selected for publication.

2019 Shelby County Historical Society


"Pathways to the Future"

 

Now on sale for $5 at the Shelby County Historical Society history museum, Salute to the Past: The Shaping of Shelby County Kentucky, brings Shelby County History to your fingertips.  Bobbie writes about the first recorded celebrations of Memorial Day in Shelbyville.

The Journal 

 Jackson Purchase Historical Society

2019


Bobbie reviews a new publication, “Heroes of Peace – A History of the Third Kentucky Infantry in the Spanish-American War, written by Colonel Greg Eanes, USAF (Retired).
Bobbie's Story Featured 
on the 
Upper Room Blog!

Bobbie's Story Featured 
on the 
Upper Room Blog!

Bobbie Smith Bryant was honored in 2019 to have one of her devotionals published by the Upper Room, an international magazine published by the United Methodist Church on a bimonthly basis. The title of her devotional is God’s Plan, and it is found in the 2019 January-February edition on Thursday, February 28, 2019.


No one was more surprised than she, when at the age of 53, a career professional, wife and stepmom with kids grown and out on their own, to find herself involved with a campus ministry at the University of Louisville. It was a God thing that continues to bless her life.

 

She served five crazy-busy years as president of the Louisville Wesley Foundation, also known on campus as The Gathering Campus Ministry. Their greatest challenge was raising funds to keep operations afloat. The board should never have worried; God was (and remains) truly in control as Bobbie's February 28th devotional reveals. 

 

Now that she's no longer on the board, she continues to raise awareness for the ministry and the young influential lives it touches. 



Bobbie said, "I'm so grateful God opened my heart and moved me towards this ministry. He knew how best to use my gifts. I wrote this essay, The Melody of Life, three years into my term of service on the board of directors. It seems appropriate for this add-on to the devotional. It is with pleasure that I share my story of campus ministry and shine a light on those who volunteer to lead, serve and finance this type of ministry."

 

 
Following God's Lead

A fundraiser gone awry is the basis of a story shared by Kentuckian Bobbie Smith Bryant in the 2019 January-February issue of The Upper Room. The publication is a global ministry of the United Methodist Church.


Bryant’s personal story comes from serving as president of the Board of Directors of the Wesley Foundation on the campus of the University of Louisville.


Through listening in prayer and in volunteering for the Wesley Foundation, God has moved her to write about her faith.  


The Upper Room is translated into more than 30 languages and can be found in over 100 countries. To obtain a copy of The Upper Room, pick up a free copy at a United Methodist Church near you.



 

Shouts and Whispers From the Past

Now on sale for $5 at the Shelby County Historical Society history museum Shouts and Whispers a Patchwork of Memories brings Shelby County History to your fingertips.  


Bobbie writes about Kate Redding Fazier Nash, one of Shelbyville's popular young ladies of the 19th Century. 

 


2018 The Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society Book Review


Bobbie reviews a recent publication titled, The Historic Reelfoot Lake Region: An Early History of the People and Places of Western Obion and Present Day Lake County, written by Judge David G. Hayes 

Bobbie shares a story of how antique treasures led her to find unique stories about former jewelers and their shops in downtown Shelbyville. 

The 2017 Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society features "Does Quilting Matter," written by Bobbie Smith Bryant. Learn about the impact quilts have made in American history as Bobbie shares an overview of the quilting heritage many in western Kentucky enjoy. 


2017 Kentucky Monthly "Quilted With Love"


Bobbie meets up with the busy ladies at the Contented Hearts Quilt Guild in Monticello, Kentucky.