Safari Time!!!!

A friend of mine from the Caribbean is in town for a couple of days. His son graduated from college in Tennessee earlier in the month. He has extended his stay to allow him to make contact with churches that have supported him in his ministry over the past 30 years.

Tomorrow I will take him to a small town in the Hill Country of Texas. He will speak there on Sunday. I am going to take my two grandsons along for the trip. We will stay overnight, then get up on Friday and allow them to shoot the BB guns at the turtles in the catfish pond on our host’s place.

They are excited, this is the first time I have let them shoot the BB gun. I bet they wake up early Saturday in order to get out to the pond. I wonder if the turtles are in any danger.

A Day At Dad’s

Dad called early this week to let me know that he had just finished digging the ‘taters in his back yard garden. He harvested 167 pounds of new potatoes. I had to get down to his place, about sixty miles away, before all my siblings and dad’s neighbors had taken them all. So we went today.

Dad loves to dig in the dirt and his yard is a showplace almost all year round. He still has poinsettias as tall as the eaves of his house, which have been blooming since November. The amaryllis, the Confederate roses, the larkspur, the hidden ginger lilies, the esperanza and the gladiolas all are in bloom. But the real jaw dropping beauty is in his day lilies. Dad has over 300 different varieties of day lily. He colors are amazing. People in the community often stop to take pictures. My secretary goes through the town where Dad lives when she is on the way to visit her mother. She loves to take a three block detour to see what is going on in Dad’s garden.

To add to the joy of the day, my grandsons took their ball gloves so they could play while we visited. As we loaded up, I threw in a couple of gloves as well. As I suspected, the boys asked Dad if he would play catch with them. He said he did not have a glove anymore. I told him I had a couple in the car, if he was up to playing. We went out and threw the ball around for a half an hour. Before long Dad was telling the guys how to turn their gloves and to use two hands, and to get right in front of the ball. It sure brought back memories of the thousands of days he said those things to me when I was the age my grandsons are now!

Back to the Library

When my girls were at home we all had library cards to the local public library. It was one of the favorite places for our family to go. The girls loved to read and always joined in the summer reading club that was offered every year.

For some sad reason, when the girls grew up and moved away from home, neither my wife nor I went to the library often. When we moved to a new town neither of us obtained a library card.

But now we are raising two of our grandsons because of health issues our youngest daughter is battling. The boys love for us to read to them. We all have signed up for a library card and have a regular schedule for a trip to check out new books every other Friday! It is once again a big part of our life to go to the library!

More Than Conquerors

In going through Mom’s things after her death, Dad found a little thought jotted on a piece of yellowing paper tucked away in her Bible. It said, “Do the most. Say the best. Leave the rest.” No doubt she had heard that in a sermon or a Bible class lesson ad thought it worth preserving. Not only that, but I think she must have thought it worth living.

My mother was like anyone else, human, with her weaknesses, but her faith was strong in difficulty. And she seemed to have a handle on her eternal destination. It occurs to me that she was on God’s side. Some people try to get God on their side through their actions. Their worship, their offerings and their prayers are aimed at securing Divine approval. But that will not work.

On the other hand, a man on God’s side can’t lose. He may have some failures or be overcome in the battle with disease or other struggles, but each o these contribute to the ultimate success and sweetness of the final victory.

Satan appeared to have won at Calvary. But then the resurrection came and God resoundingly turned Satan’s worst to a glorious triumph for both himself and man. Redemption was made possible for those who would align themselves the plumb line of the Testament of Christ. That’s what Mom did and she taught some very vivid lessons of faith and courage in her fight with cancer. I hope they are truly learned.

Thank goodness that, “in all thins we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

(originally written in November, 1983)

Finding Old Memories

I am in the midst of moving from my old office to the one I am to occupy in our new wing. Among the things I found stored was a cache of old bulletin articles I had written in 1980.  I had kept them with some vague idea that I might compile them into a volume to submit for publication sometime in the future. Well, it is the future, and I am not sure I am up to a compilation or receiving rejection letters.  I decided to put some on my blog.  Here is the one from December 11 of that year.

My dad and I were together for an afternoon and evening a couple of weeks ago. We went to see a high school football playoff game at the Astrodome. We used to do such things often when I lived in Lake Jackson, but it  was the first time in a good while that we have done it. We both enjoyed it. I hope we don’t wait so long to get together for another such outing again.

While driving to the Dome we began reminiscing about his mother and some of her philosophies. This lady was one of those truly great Christians. She lived her faith every day, her good deeds were a positive force on everyone who lived in her small farming community. She believed in doing her best at whatever she was involved in,  whether the task was a pleasant one or not. She complained very seldom and expected to do her share.  She slept soundly every night, she said, because she did not have a guilty conscience. Now her rest is eternally secured.

Her philosophy is not one that is widely spread in our society today. All too often we only want to do enough to get by. We look for ease and comfort. Frequently we expect to have things given to us. We would rather be “done for” than “do for” someone else. This attitude is prevalent in our work, our family life, our religious life, everywhere. At the appearance of a stumbling block, we give up.

We need to be ready to fight for the victory. Without combat, no victory is reached. Without labor, we cannot arrive at rest. My Christian brothers, be the best you can be. Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might. (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Expressions of Gratitude

There are so many things for which I am truly and deeply grateful that it almost seems impossible to do justice by naming a few on a blog. But as an exercise similar to my prayer life, I am going to enter this post as a feeble attempt to let my appreciation be known.

I am grateful for a curious and active mind that leads me to ask questions and seek answers.

I am grateful for a wife that is a strong and capable person who can make up her own mind and stand her ground, without whining, and yet has made me the focal point of her life. We are about to celebrate 41 years together.

I am grateful for health, both for myself and for my wife and grandkids who live in my house.

I am grateful for our home. We have a nice house, but a wonderful home.

I am grateful for books! I love to read and seldom find something that I cannot finish. Reading has been among my greatest delights.

I am grateful for the privilege of serving a congregation of Christians that is seeking the will of God and tries to practice it.

I am grateful for the ability to express a thought and motivation to share ideas with others.

I am grateful for a heritage of honesty and dependability from my parents and grandparents.

I am grateful for my three girls and four grandkids, whom I hope will receive the same heritage.

I am grateful for the avenue of expression, and the challenge to creativity that I find in blogging.

I am grateful that you took the time to read these thoughts!

Memorial To Grandma

My grandmother passed away a few months ago. She left all of us grandkids a bit of inheritance. I have been trying to think of the right thing to do with the money to make it a lasting memorial of her life. One of the things I have considered, and will do if I can afford it, is to buy a piece of real estate somewhere out in the  country, so that my grandsons can go out and shoot air rifles and fish and play in the woods.

Mom’s Sconces

One day my mom received a painting from her favorite aunt. It was a round canvas, with a diameter of 24 inches. It was a still life of flowers in a nice vase. My Mom wanted it framed professionally. When she brought it home from the framer, she had also bought a sconce to place on each side of the painting when it was hung on the wall.

She was so proud of it, but we all made fun of the sconces. We used to tease Mom, telling her that all we wanted to inherit from her when she died was those sconces. She took it well enough, but never understood why we laughed.

It quit being a joke when Mom passed away. Each of us would have been happy to have the painting and the sconces. They found their next display site at my sister’s house.

Grandpa’s Game Cocks

My paternal grandfather lived in a very small community in northeastern Arkansas. He farmed, raised beagle hounds and game cocks. His roosters were very aggressive, I was afraid when I fed them. Once in a while he would put little “boxing gloves” (he called them duffs) on the spurs of the roosters and would let them fight. It was very intense and fascinating to watch. He never took his roosters to cock fights, but sometimes some guys from Memphis would come over and buy one of Grandpa’s prize birds for big bucks.

My Friend’s Grandson

My friend’s grandson is a relief pitcher. He plays the outfield some, but he was not in the line up last night when my wife and I went to see the Bay Area Toros play. The team got beat 8-4, but it was a pleasant night, not too hot, and it reminded me of days gone by when I watched a lot of local baseball. We had a good time.