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EULA MAE TARKINGTON  

Who’s Eula Mae Tarkington? She’s a warm, wise, and gently humorous Southern grandmother who feels like someone you’ve known all your life (even if she’s fictional). She’s the kind of woman who speaks from her rocking chair on a creaky front porch, barefoot or in house shoes, snapping beans or shelling peas while she talks. Her voice is slow and deliberate, laced with a thick Alabama drawl, old-fashioned sayings, and a quiet but unshakable faith. She never preaches at you; instead, she tells stories about neighbors, childhood memories, garden mishaps, or something that happened at the Piggly Wiggly, and somehow every tale circles back to the way God keeps pursuing His children with the same patient love she shows a stubborn tomato plant or a prodigal grandson. She’s practical, tender-hearted, and a little sassy when the occasion calls for it. There’s mischief in her eyes and laugh lines etched deep from decades of joy and sorrow. She calls everybody “sugar” or “hon,” remembers your people even if she’s never met you, and believes the best cure for most troubles is a glass of sweet tea, a slice of pound cake, and remembering whose you are. In short, Eula Mae is the spiritual, storytelling heart of a small Southern town (the grandmother you wish you’d had, or the one you’re grateful you do), wrapped in a floral housecoat and armed with a Mason jar and a Bible that’s falling apart from use.

Eula Mae Tarkington – Back Home 

In our Eula Mae series, each ten video shorts (which run less than 3 minutes each) are compiled to create a 20 – 30 minute thematic block as would be seen in a 30-minute television series episode.  The video shorts are listed below and available for individual viewing as they are released on YouTube, ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Rumble and other outlets.  Once the 10-video shorts are released, we will compile and release the next thematic block. It is with that said, we are joyful in sharing with you:
Eula Mae Tarkington – Back Home

 

1.) EPISODE 21: GIBBERISH, Miss Eula is asked about her age, and about time. Eula shares her thoughts on the passing of time and what we do with it.
2.) EPISODE 22: SELF-AWARE, Miss Eula thinks back on her being a young woman, helping her daddy work the oil rigs on the Tarkington farm. Being and staying aware of things - spiritual and mundane are important.
3.) EPISODE 23: 'BOUT MY THINKIN', Miss Eula tells a little about her town, economic realities, and then how she thinks about followin' Jesus, that is, her theology.
4.) EPISODE 24: THINKIN' FEDERATED, Judy recommends on a campin' and fishing trip to the Tombigbee maybe Miss Eula should support the creation of a Federated Church to meet the needs of the three dyin' churches.
5.) EPISODE 25: BY THE TOMBIGBEE, Miss Eula Mae and Judy talk more about what Miss Eula's thinking about a Federated Church.
6.) EPISODE 26: WHOSE AGENDA? Miss Eula has a restless night thinking about what was going on with what people thought about her and what Ronnie was telling her about her website.
7.) EPISODE 27: SERIOUS? Becoming a serious consideration Miss Eula and Judy talk about what it would take to bring three different denominations together, though in a light hearted manner.
8.) EPISODE 28: VISITIN' BECCA, Miss Eula arrives home, calls Becca a couple of times, but Becca doesn't answer.
9.) EPISODE 29: WOMACK HILL, Miss Eula attends Becca's funeral, and confronts her pastor.
10.) EPISODE 30: FAMILY PLOT, Miss Eula rides her horse to the family plot on the property to have a little confab with her Lord.

 

WHAT DID GROK HAVE TO SAY?

Back Home

Literary Arc: Episodes 21–30
This third block marks a pivotal turning inward and outward simultaneously—Eula Mae finally reveals her personal context (wealth, county influence, “rockin’ chair theologian” nickname) while the narrative pivots from family memoir to the emerging crisis of rural church decline. Barbour masterfully balances revelation, reflection, and rising tension, using the Tombigbee camping retreat as the structural and emotional center.

 

  • Episodes 21–23: Self-revelation and theological grounding. Eula discloses her age (75), Choctaw County roots, family wealth (cotton/oil), and local reputation. Time’s passage, self-awareness, and practical, livable theology are explored—setting her apart from abstract systematizers.
  • Episodes 24–26: The federated-church seed planted. Three dying denominations (Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian) seek her financial help; she refuses money but retreats with Judy to the Tombigbee for three days of prayerful seeking. Judy writes “Federated Church,” igniting hope.
  • Episodes 27–28 (implied continuity at the river): Sleepless wrestling over agendas—human vs. divine—amid a suspicious, fearful world.
  • Episodes 28–30: Return to tragedy and confrontation. Becca’s sudden death (heart attack while Eula is away); funeral confrontation with the pastor over neglected visitation; cemetery ride where Eula processes grief, generational legacy, and the deeper meaning of federation under Christ’s blood.
Literarily, the pace accelerates from contemplative monologue to relational drama. Settings shift from porch/stable to riverbank tent to Becca’s house to Womack Hill funeral to family plot—each a station of the cross-like journey. Motifs deepen: blood (family, Christ’s), fishing (now purposeful seeking), agendas (hidden vs. God’s), and death (infants, Carl, Toby, now Becca). The block ends on raw vulnerability—Eula questioning whether her writing is “nothin’ but a personal journal”—inviting viewers into her grief-stricken discernment.
 
Theological Arc: Episodes 21–30 The block centers on ecclesiology in crisis—what church is, why it’s dying, and whether human or divine initiative can revive it—filtered through wealth, influence, grief, and surrender.
 
Key threads:
  • Wealth, Influence, & Stewardship (21–24): Money amplifies voice (“whatever opinion they have—it’s holy writ”) but Eula refuses to buy church survival, insisting revival isn’t for sale.
  • Practical Over Speculative Theology (23): Eula’s “rockin’ chair” approach—only what can be lived daily. No squabbling over once-in-a-lifetime issues (baptism mode); focus on daily communion and love as the unmistakable gift.
  • Federated Church Vision (24–26): Born in retreat, not strategy. Denominational survival-through-merger (historical precedent up north) offered as potential obedience, yet held suspiciously—whose agenda?
  • Human vs. Divine Agenda (26–29): Suspicion, fear, and neglect plague even Christians. Pastor’s indifference to Becca exposes pastoral failure—contrasting true shepherding with agenda-driven ministry.
  • Christ’s Blood as True Federation (30): Family name binds biologically, but Christ’s blood should bind thicker here and now. Churches’ pretty white-fenced graves symbolize self-dug holes—needing transfusion, confession, revival before evangelism.
The arc moves from personal context → refusal of easy solutions → retreat for divine direction → return to fresh grief → raw plea for resurrection. Eula embodies James 1:5 wisdom-seeking and Moses-like intercession, grappling with whether to act on the federated vision or wait for a clearer burning bush.
Overall Movement
 
Episodes 21–30 transition the series from backstory and family portrait to active conflict: rural church death is no longer abstract—it’s personal (Becca’s neglected end, pastor’s avoidance). Eula’s wealth and influence make her a potential catalyst, yet she rejects manipulation, retreating to seek God’s agenda alone.By the cemetery close, the stakes are clear: federation isn’t organizational tinkering—it’s begging for transfusion by Christ’s blood amid self-dug graves. Grief over Becca becomes the catalyst that hardens Eula’s resolve while softening her to divine timing.This block is the emotional and theological fulcrum—quietly setting up the preacher’s exit, cross-denominational encounters, and ultimate surrender still to come. The journal feels anything but private now; we’re mourning with Eula, waiting by the Tombigbee for whatever the Lord will do next.Heart-wrenching and hope-stirring, Mr. Barbour. The river is flowing stronger than ever.