“Why are they pulling off the road?” I wondered aloud as we were following behind our son and his family out to Kaw Lake. We stopped behind them, and I saw our daughter-in-law and grandson get out and stand beside the car. Must have needed some fresh air, I concluded. They seemed to be watching something, though, and as my eyes followed their gaze, it dawned on me. Prairie dogs! They had said there was a colony out here, and there they were!
Little heads were popping out of holes, and furry little bodies stood upright to hold the pieces of bread the kids tossed to them. How cute! The land rose slightly behind them, and I could see the openings of dozens of burrows. The tiny creatures appeared as if by magic then disappeared just as quickly beneath the surface.
I forfeited my air conditioned view through the window to get out and see them and toss some bread myself. In all the years we lived in Oklahoma, which was up until 1962, I had never seen prairie dogs. They must have migrated into the area in the many years we lived away. I told my son in Houston about it on the phone later, and his reaction was, “You mean they have prairie dogs outside of zoos?” That would have been my reaction, too. “We’ll have to take the kids to see that the next time we come up!” he exclaimed. I’m sure my little granddaughters, 2 and 4, would be fascinated.
We had stopped by Greg’s and Joanna’s house shortly before that, having visited an estate sale just to have something to do, and now the whole Saturday afternoon loomed empty before us. Greg said they had been to the lake that morning for an SPCA fishing tournament that Joanna had volunteered to help with. “I had never been to that part of the lake,” Greg told us. “Would you like to go see it?”
We were agreeable, then suggested they first go with us to check out a fishing camp at Lake Ponca that we had been invited to use. It was very rustic, but a fantastic place to fish from the floating docks, swim, or while away an after noon on the redwood deck shaded by a gnarled old tree. The water was beautiful up this close.
And now here was a fishing dock at Kaw Lake that we hadn’t known about!(I decided I’d better not ever take a cruise, after getting slightly dizzy on the swaying docks.) On the way out of the area, we stopped for cokes and candy bars at an all-purpose filling station/convenience store that proved a wellspring of information from the friendly owner on everything from the eagle nesting grounds to deer, wildlife and fishing. The yellowed newspaper clippings on the walls with pictures of record-setting catches of gar, paddlefish, and all sorts of trophy-worthy angling bore witness to the sportsman appeal of the area.
We headed home munching our treats with a sigh of contentment. Our spirits were lifted by being out in nature and enjoying God’s creation. Who said it was going to be a boring day? All that was necessary was that we get out and open our eyes to the wonderment all around us!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Before Honor is Humility, Proverbs 15:33
“Look, there’s our Sunday School teacher’s name,” Howard pointed out to me when we visited a community wellness center recently. Sure enough, there was a familiar name engraved on a bronze plaque as vice-president of the organization that included facilities like the lovely pool where I’d gone for some water therapy for my knee.
Our teacher, a native American, whom we had come to know slightly when we started attending this church recently, was a mixture of the stern and affable, a man of quiet demeanor who came alive when he was teaching. Yesterday we ended up at the same lunch table eating out after church. Another friend who was present said, “Not only is his name on a plaque at the bank, and several other places around town, it’s also on a plaque at the Smithsonian!”
Well, I knew he was prominent, I just didn’t realize how much so. He quietly explained that a vote had been taken among the Kaw leaders, and he had been selected as one among several others to represent their council at the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian. Wow! Quite a distinction! Turns out his name is also on a plaque in the church foyer as National Sunday School Teacher of the Year!
Our phone had rung yesterday with the plaintive voice of a young girl from church that I had been befriending, giving us a tearful prayer request. The church she used to attend was closing, and she was heartbroken. When they received prayer requests last night, I asked her if she was going to give her request. She shook her head and said she was going to wait until they called people up for special prayer. Hearts were touched as this ingenuous child stood at the altar, along with another young teenager whose father was gravely ill.
I could see I was not the only one she had her disarming effect on, when at the conclusion of the service, I saw a visitor turn to my young friend, and taking a pretty locket from her own neck, she gave it to the young girl, gently putting it around her neck. “I want you to have this,” she said, speaking some other words I couldn’t hear.
True humility is rare, though not as rare in children as in adults. Jesus said, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” I had seen an example in both young and old that day.
Our teacher, a native American, whom we had come to know slightly when we started attending this church recently, was a mixture of the stern and affable, a man of quiet demeanor who came alive when he was teaching. Yesterday we ended up at the same lunch table eating out after church. Another friend who was present said, “Not only is his name on a plaque at the bank, and several other places around town, it’s also on a plaque at the Smithsonian!”
Well, I knew he was prominent, I just didn’t realize how much so. He quietly explained that a vote had been taken among the Kaw leaders, and he had been selected as one among several others to represent their council at the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian. Wow! Quite a distinction! Turns out his name is also on a plaque in the church foyer as National Sunday School Teacher of the Year!
Our phone had rung yesterday with the plaintive voice of a young girl from church that I had been befriending, giving us a tearful prayer request. The church she used to attend was closing, and she was heartbroken. When they received prayer requests last night, I asked her if she was going to give her request. She shook her head and said she was going to wait until they called people up for special prayer. Hearts were touched as this ingenuous child stood at the altar, along with another young teenager whose father was gravely ill.
I could see I was not the only one she had her disarming effect on, when at the conclusion of the service, I saw a visitor turn to my young friend, and taking a pretty locket from her own neck, she gave it to the young girl, gently putting it around her neck. “I want you to have this,” she said, speaking some other words I couldn’t hear.
True humility is rare, though not as rare in children as in adults. Jesus said, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” I had seen an example in both young and old that day.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Proof Positive
“Dad, they said that this is not the original car title, but a copy,” Greg told his father as he came in from the DMV. He was getting a car from us for Adam to drive to school and he was taking care of the paper work. Howard got up to go check his files for the original, but Greg interrupted him. “They said if I got a sample of your signature, and it matched the one you put on here, they would accept that, since I already had this notarized.”
“Don’t sprawl it out like John Hancock,” I chimed in as Howard took pen in hand. “You want it to match.” Sometimes my husband signs his distinctive signature in a scrawly flourish, but apparently it matched for Greg’s purposes.
One’s own name written in one’s own hand. The power of a simple signature. Almost as reliable as a fingerprint, although it can be forged. Kings used to use signet rings as their signature. When pressed into a seal of wax, it put the power of the king behind whatever document it was upon.
Jesus’ signature to us was the nail scars in his hands. His handwritten promise written in red that we could be saved from sin if we put our trust in Him. His obedience in bearing the weight of the sins of the world put all the weight of Heaven behind His Signature. When our King pressed his signet ring into the wax of the Holy Spirit, we were sealed unto the day of redemption, Ephesians 4:30.
Car titles are proof of ownership. There is an old song, I Hold a Clear Title to a Mansion, referring to our home in heaven. Jesus said in John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Whether that means rooms, as some say, or dwelling places, the important thing is that Jesus will be there and there is room for all. In the next verse, He promises, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” That sounds like the Signature on a Title to me!
“Don’t sprawl it out like John Hancock,” I chimed in as Howard took pen in hand. “You want it to match.” Sometimes my husband signs his distinctive signature in a scrawly flourish, but apparently it matched for Greg’s purposes.
One’s own name written in one’s own hand. The power of a simple signature. Almost as reliable as a fingerprint, although it can be forged. Kings used to use signet rings as their signature. When pressed into a seal of wax, it put the power of the king behind whatever document it was upon.
Jesus’ signature to us was the nail scars in his hands. His handwritten promise written in red that we could be saved from sin if we put our trust in Him. His obedience in bearing the weight of the sins of the world put all the weight of Heaven behind His Signature. When our King pressed his signet ring into the wax of the Holy Spirit, we were sealed unto the day of redemption, Ephesians 4:30.
Car titles are proof of ownership. There is an old song, I Hold a Clear Title to a Mansion, referring to our home in heaven. Jesus said in John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Whether that means rooms, as some say, or dwelling places, the important thing is that Jesus will be there and there is room for all. In the next verse, He promises, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” That sounds like the Signature on a Title to me!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Fear Not
I woke up kind of bummed because I knew I had a doctor’s appointment this morning. I was afraid he would say there wasn’t much improvement in my knee and think up some other scenario for me to do. He had already suggested physical therapy, but gave me the option to wear the splint 3 more weeks and get water exercise. I did that, but not too diligently, I’m afraid. I thought about just cancelling and not going back. But I’m so glad I did!
“Your knee looks much better!” he pleased me by saying. He could bend it farther and press in more spots than before without pain. “Is this the only place it hurts?” he asked as I winced in one particular spot. Then he said he was going to give me some cortisone and let me go! At last! (There had been too much swelling before.) I’d heard those shots really hurt, but with the numbing agent which only stung briefly, there was no pain. The medication will last about three weeks, after which I should be fine!
My spirits lifted immediately. This had turned out to be a good week! Monday I got my computer back, so I felt like I was again in the land of the living. Tuesday, the shipment of my new book, Seasons of the Heart, came in! Thursday I got some mailed off, and today the news from the doctor. Oh yes, my eye has healed, too! “Daily He loads me with benefits”!
Why is it so easy to expect the negative? That is having faith in the wrong thing, and we are to have faith in our God who provides good things! Nine times out of ten, our worries are futile, anyway, with most things we fret about never happening. I know my granddaughters were worried and apprehensive about school starting, one in high school for the first time, but from their Facebook posts, they had a wonderful first few days of school!
My husband is re-reading a wonderful book by a Mississippi minister friend of ours, Rev. Kenneth Worley, who saw dozens of miraculous answers to prayer and God’s intervening in seemingly hopeless situations. “They sure saw a lot of miracles!“ Howard exclaimed, looking up from the book, Eye Witness to the Miraculous, to which I replied, “We probably would, too, if we stepped out in faith like they did!”
James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” In other words, God is good all the time!
“Your knee looks much better!” he pleased me by saying. He could bend it farther and press in more spots than before without pain. “Is this the only place it hurts?” he asked as I winced in one particular spot. Then he said he was going to give me some cortisone and let me go! At last! (There had been too much swelling before.) I’d heard those shots really hurt, but with the numbing agent which only stung briefly, there was no pain. The medication will last about three weeks, after which I should be fine!
My spirits lifted immediately. This had turned out to be a good week! Monday I got my computer back, so I felt like I was again in the land of the living. Tuesday, the shipment of my new book, Seasons of the Heart, came in! Thursday I got some mailed off, and today the news from the doctor. Oh yes, my eye has healed, too! “Daily He loads me with benefits”!
Why is it so easy to expect the negative? That is having faith in the wrong thing, and we are to have faith in our God who provides good things! Nine times out of ten, our worries are futile, anyway, with most things we fret about never happening. I know my granddaughters were worried and apprehensive about school starting, one in high school for the first time, but from their Facebook posts, they had a wonderful first few days of school!
My husband is re-reading a wonderful book by a Mississippi minister friend of ours, Rev. Kenneth Worley, who saw dozens of miraculous answers to prayer and God’s intervening in seemingly hopeless situations. “They sure saw a lot of miracles!“ Howard exclaimed, looking up from the book, Eye Witness to the Miraculous, to which I replied, “We probably would, too, if we stepped out in faith like they did!”
James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” In other words, God is good all the time!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The Golden Years
“It’s so nice to have a man to do that!” a woman who was returning her shopping cart for the 25 cent deposit said as she noticed Howard pulling the car up to collect me and our groceries. I smiled in agreement. I was getting in the car and he was loading the groceries when she walked past again on the way to her car. “That’s a good guy!” she called back to me.
Well, of course, I know that, and probably even take for granted that he will do all the “man” things. (But the shopper likely didn’t notice the leg splint I had on, mostly hidden by the loose Capri pants I was wearing.) It’s easy to forget that there are many single moms out there who struggle with daily chores, not to mention older widows or those who live alone. And there are just lots of women with spouses who have to, or like to, do things on their own.
My husband used to work six days a week, not getting home until seven or eight o’clock at night, for most of the years our children were growing up. Then it fell to me to do everything without him--school events, shopping, picking up kids, doctor appointments and on and on. His only time was Sunday, which was church in the morning, lawn mowing and/or nap in the afternoon, and church at night.
I admit I have gotten a little spoiled now that he is home so much and we do almost everything together. But he has always been the consummate gentleman, polite and considerate even at home, and naturally assuming heavy chores or difficult tasks. I am a truly blessed woman in having a faithful, loving husband who has been such a godly example for our children.
The great passage on marriage in Ephesians 5:22-33 says in verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.” I can’t think of any other person that fulfills that command any more than my husband. There is a saying that goes, “The best thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother.” It must be true, because 53 years of marriage says a lot, as do the successful marriages of our six children!
Well, of course, I know that, and probably even take for granted that he will do all the “man” things. (But the shopper likely didn’t notice the leg splint I had on, mostly hidden by the loose Capri pants I was wearing.) It’s easy to forget that there are many single moms out there who struggle with daily chores, not to mention older widows or those who live alone. And there are just lots of women with spouses who have to, or like to, do things on their own.
My husband used to work six days a week, not getting home until seven or eight o’clock at night, for most of the years our children were growing up. Then it fell to me to do everything without him--school events, shopping, picking up kids, doctor appointments and on and on. His only time was Sunday, which was church in the morning, lawn mowing and/or nap in the afternoon, and church at night.
I admit I have gotten a little spoiled now that he is home so much and we do almost everything together. But he has always been the consummate gentleman, polite and considerate even at home, and naturally assuming heavy chores or difficult tasks. I am a truly blessed woman in having a faithful, loving husband who has been such a godly example for our children.
The great passage on marriage in Ephesians 5:22-33 says in verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.” I can’t think of any other person that fulfills that command any more than my husband. There is a saying that goes, “The best thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother.” It must be true, because 53 years of marriage says a lot, as do the successful marriages of our six children!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
In His Name
“I haven’t ate,” the young girl sitting beside me at church said tonight. She had been wriggling in her seat and frowning, getting tired as I was at the long sermon by the guest speaker, I had thought.
When I at last could speak to her, I said, “You mean you haven’t had supper?” It was past 8 o’clock already. She shook her head wistfully. “Your mom didn’t cook supper before you came to church?” I asked her.
“She couldn’t. She didn’t have anything. We lost our food stamps,” she explained. “We have some Ramen noodles,” she finished. I didn’t know what to say, but after church the child looked up at me and said, “Could you give us a ride home?” She had come with her brother, sister, and a young friend. I asked who brought her, and she told me, but said, “She only has three seats. There isn’t room for all of us.
Well, we had a small car, too, but surely we could work something out. “My mother can come and get me,” her friend said.
I asked my husband if we could give them a ride home. “I wish there was somewhere we could get you something to eat,” I ventured, to which the preteen said, “There’s Sonic.”
We managed to get the three kids in our back seat, although there were only two seat belts back there. “My mom doesn’t have any money,” the 7-year-old boy volunteered. “But she has a good job,” he went on. I asked where she worked, and he said “At the casino up by Ark City. But she just started.”
“My dad works with my grandpa, but my grandpa only made $10,” he went on. They told us their grandfather was a master carpenter, and their dad worked for him, as well as in a computer business he ran. The whole situation seemed strange, but the least we could do was get them drinks and hamburgers all around before we took them home.
I expected the children to eat in the car, but they wanted to take the food home with them. I will have to find out more about their circumstances, but it was a joy to befriend the sweet, polite children. Then I realized we’d just heard a message in church about the sheep and goat nations and the time of judgment predicted in the Bible, Matthew 25:32. Verse 35 says, “For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” Then verse 40 says, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Thank God for the opportunity to minister to the “least of these.”
When I at last could speak to her, I said, “You mean you haven’t had supper?” It was past 8 o’clock already. She shook her head wistfully. “Your mom didn’t cook supper before you came to church?” I asked her.
“She couldn’t. She didn’t have anything. We lost our food stamps,” she explained. “We have some Ramen noodles,” she finished. I didn’t know what to say, but after church the child looked up at me and said, “Could you give us a ride home?” She had come with her brother, sister, and a young friend. I asked who brought her, and she told me, but said, “She only has three seats. There isn’t room for all of us.
Well, we had a small car, too, but surely we could work something out. “My mother can come and get me,” her friend said.
I asked my husband if we could give them a ride home. “I wish there was somewhere we could get you something to eat,” I ventured, to which the preteen said, “There’s Sonic.”
We managed to get the three kids in our back seat, although there were only two seat belts back there. “My mom doesn’t have any money,” the 7-year-old boy volunteered. “But she has a good job,” he went on. I asked where she worked, and he said “At the casino up by Ark City. But she just started.”
“My dad works with my grandpa, but my grandpa only made $10,” he went on. They told us their grandfather was a master carpenter, and their dad worked for him, as well as in a computer business he ran. The whole situation seemed strange, but the least we could do was get them drinks and hamburgers all around before we took them home.
I expected the children to eat in the car, but they wanted to take the food home with them. I will have to find out more about their circumstances, but it was a joy to befriend the sweet, polite children. Then I realized we’d just heard a message in church about the sheep and goat nations and the time of judgment predicted in the Bible, Matthew 25:32. Verse 35 says, “For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” Then verse 40 says, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Thank God for the opportunity to minister to the “least of these.”
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Words, Webster and Witticisms
“I’m reading the best book!” I exclaimed to my husband as he came into the room with an inquiring look on his face. “And you haven’t even cracked it open!” I chided him, holding up a copy of my new book, “Seasons of the Heart”.
“But I know the author!” he defended himself, to which I shot back, “That’s like saying you know God, but don’t read the Bible!”
Well, not a good comparison, but it popped into my mind. Of course, I had read most of it to him as I wrote it, but I couldn’t resist needling him. Anyway, I did find it interesting! Especially since time had passed since I’d recorded the events and happenings that were the inspirations for my thoughts.
A face book friend wrote that she was amazed that people were surprised when they found her witty and funny, even though she admitted to some blonde moments. I can be witty (mostly after the moment has passed), but I love to read the funny things kids say in their unconscious witticisms that reveal their transparent hearts.
Such as when another fb friend related a conversation between her and her young son as she showed him a romantic picture of an earlier version of his parents eating at a favorite Italian restaurant. Ignoring the wistful scene and dreamy-eyed young folks, his question was, “Did you eat all your food?”
It reminded me of when I showed a picture of my daughter as homecoming queen to a little girl I was babysitting. After solemnly contemplating the picture, the five-year-old asked, “Did she win because she could stand the stillest?”
My four-year-old granddaughter keeps us in smiles as we hear her spin on things like the other day when they were here visiting from Texas. In their hotel room that night, Anne-Marie said, “I miss Hooston! It’s the greatest planet on earth!”
I thought I’d heard it all though, until my daughter called me the other day and told me she was going to try a recipe called a “grunt”. “It’s the same thing you used to make with blackberries that you called a cobbler,” she explained. Since my computer was in the shop, I couldn't Google it, and it wasn't in the dictionary where I found only, "grunt: to make the sound of a hog." (Well, we did pig out over it!) However, in my “Joy of Cooking” recipe book I found it is indeed a steamed fruit dessert cooked on top of the stove and topped with biscuit dough. One recipe said its name comes from the sounds of satisfaction people make when they eat it, but the cookbook said when steamed in a bowl inside a pan of boiling water, the sound it makes when turned upside down and coming out of the bowl sounds like a grunt.
See, one can learn new things when reading my books, and I’m putting that in my next one!
“But I know the author!” he defended himself, to which I shot back, “That’s like saying you know God, but don’t read the Bible!”
Well, not a good comparison, but it popped into my mind. Of course, I had read most of it to him as I wrote it, but I couldn’t resist needling him. Anyway, I did find it interesting! Especially since time had passed since I’d recorded the events and happenings that were the inspirations for my thoughts.
A face book friend wrote that she was amazed that people were surprised when they found her witty and funny, even though she admitted to some blonde moments. I can be witty (mostly after the moment has passed), but I love to read the funny things kids say in their unconscious witticisms that reveal their transparent hearts.
Such as when another fb friend related a conversation between her and her young son as she showed him a romantic picture of an earlier version of his parents eating at a favorite Italian restaurant. Ignoring the wistful scene and dreamy-eyed young folks, his question was, “Did you eat all your food?”
It reminded me of when I showed a picture of my daughter as homecoming queen to a little girl I was babysitting. After solemnly contemplating the picture, the five-year-old asked, “Did she win because she could stand the stillest?”
My four-year-old granddaughter keeps us in smiles as we hear her spin on things like the other day when they were here visiting from Texas. In their hotel room that night, Anne-Marie said, “I miss Hooston! It’s the greatest planet on earth!”
I thought I’d heard it all though, until my daughter called me the other day and told me she was going to try a recipe called a “grunt”. “It’s the same thing you used to make with blackberries that you called a cobbler,” she explained. Since my computer was in the shop, I couldn't Google it, and it wasn't in the dictionary where I found only, "grunt: to make the sound of a hog." (Well, we did pig out over it!) However, in my “Joy of Cooking” recipe book I found it is indeed a steamed fruit dessert cooked on top of the stove and topped with biscuit dough. One recipe said its name comes from the sounds of satisfaction people make when they eat it, but the cookbook said when steamed in a bowl inside a pan of boiling water, the sound it makes when turned upside down and coming out of the bowl sounds like a grunt.
See, one can learn new things when reading my books, and I’m putting that in my next one!
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