For the Glory of God

Fifth Sunday

2012-01-30T00:32:00.000-06:00

Naomi and her parents at the end of a long Sunday.

This Sunday was the fifth Sunday of the month and Justin and Sarah came over to go to church with us Sunday night. Naomi is really sweet. She smiled for us and the people at church who were seeing her for the first time. We are so proud of her and her parents. We wish we could spend more time with her and that goes for all of our grandchildren.
The services at the church went really well. We had lots of visitors in our morning service. The night service was also well attended.
Our new truck has over 12,000 miles on it now and is just 4 months old. It needs an oil change and tires rotated and I hope to get that done tomorrow. God bless you.

Drill Jig

2012-01-28T18:50:00.000-06:00

Kregg Jig, I highly recommend it.

I have been, off and on (mostly off), working on a wood project in the garage. For Christmas I got a Kregg Jig which is a drill jig for making pre-drilled and counter sunk holes for wood screws. It works really good. The wood has to be cut square for this jig to work properly so I had to work on my table saw to get it to cut square. It was way off. The blade and the tee were both out of square. I cut a few test pieces and then drilled and assembled them and it looked good. I have now cut and drilled 20 parts and have them ready to assemble. There are still 7 parts to cut but that can come latter. It will be good to see the finished project. Stay tuned for pictures.

Janie working out at the gym

My mother had a bad day on Friday but then it got better. Thursday night she had threatened to kill herself again and so the nurse took everything out of her room that might harm her such as her picture frames that had glass in them. Mother broke down and cried without ceasing and so the nurse called the doctor. The doctor told her to give her back her things and just keep an eye on her. They did this and mother was happy again. My brother, Ralph, went over and spent some time playing cards with her and he said she was in a good mood.

The Jig

I had a migraine headache today and the best cure I have found is sleep. I have thus slept the day away and now that it is evening I feel fine. I think I will go out to the garage again and piddle with the project a little more. I need to clean up out there so the truck won't have to spend the night outdoors. God bless you.

MASH

2012-01-26T21:57:00.000-06:00

Naomi and her great-grandmother, Charlcye Taylor

I will be on vacation in just a little over a week. This of course means I have to do two weeks of work in one so I can take this vacation. I am looking forward to being with the grandkids. I don't have any specific plans as to what we will do together but I am sure we will do some cooking, cleaning, game playing, and hiking.
We got over 4 inches of rain the other day and that will go a long way to getting us out of this drought. It was good to see the streams and low lands full on our way to Henderson today. We had to make a quick trip over to take care of some business there for my mother. We needed to return to Hillsboro so we could be here for one of our church members who needed some help.
Our services Wednesday night were really good. My class had five and Janie had three students. One of the ladies of our church started a Facebook page for our church and I am glad that she volunteered to maintain it. In this age of electronic media it helps those who are so inclined to keep up with what's going on with our church.

Stacie at Karate class baby shower

My daughter, Stacie had a baby shower in her honor today. The Karate class they attend hosted it and they gave the baby a pink Karate outfit. I can't wait until number 12 gets here in May. I plan to spoil that one as much as I have her 11 predecessors. I just LOVE those grandkids!!
The old TV show MASH had a theme song with some rather dark and morbid words. The title of the song is "Suicide is Painless." This statement certainly is not true. Suicide is full of pain.

Janie's Wednesday night class

The visit with my mother did not go well today. She was very upset and not at all in her right mind. She has not taken her meds since she got out of the Hospital on Friday the 20th of January. That means six days with no meds and her mind is beginning to show the signs of it. She is very depressed. She threatened to commit suicide not only to Janie and me but also to the staff. The nurse talked her into taking her anxiety medicine but 45 minutes later she threw it up. They have taken her scissors away from her for her own safety.
The sermon for Sunday is almost ready. I have it typed up but it needs a little tweaking. I have not looked at the Sunday School lesson yet but that will have to wait for tomorrow. I have to be up at 5:00 in the morning to get ready to head over to the hospital. God bless you.

Package off to France

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

Some of Janie's students at the church

We sent Jason and Angie two boxes today. Their Christmas presents and other goodies are on their way and should arrive next Monday. I have spent the afternoon talking with Jason and Angie on Skype. They are doing well and the weather seems as nice there as it has been here. My part of the bulletin for Sunday is ready to go. It is getting late and I just finished preparing the lesson for the ladies Bible study which meets here in the morning.
Sunday our attendance was low but the services went well. I preached from the Song of Songs and thought the sermon went well. I was able to work in a nap Sunday afternoon and that was nice for a change.

A cartoon I created for our church bulletin

I spoke with both of my daughters today one by phone and the other by text message. I like days like that when I get to talk with all three of our children. They are good kids. (Even though they are all in their thirties now I still call them kids.)
My mother is doing well by last report. She still refuses her meds but is eating well. Her sister, Maxine, visited with her today as did my brother Steve. I will see her again on Thursday if the Lord be willing. God bless you.

WEE

2012-01-21T14:40:00.000-06:00

Janie's Mother posing with Janie's Triple doll

When your on a roller coaster and your having fun you say "WEE" and if you are not having fun you shout "Get me out of here." Mother is not saying "WEE." She is not having fun. Her first word was "amen" as we pulled away from the hospital. Thursday I picked up mother's things from the nursing home. They had already given her room to someone else. I went then to Gregg Home and signed the papers to admit her there and unloaded her things. Friday we decorated her room and then Ralph and I went to pick her up from the hospital.
She is at Gregg Home now and is not happy. She does not like it there and wants me to take her home. I expect this will be the case for some time and will just have to be as positive with her as I can be that she is in a good place where they can take the best care of her. She is refusing her medications but is eating. They did convince her to take a shower and are trying to be patient with her. We are going to head over there for a quick visit this afternoon on our way back to Hillsboro.
I have spent all morning working on the Song of Songs sermon for Sunday. I have it ready to go and the Sunday School lesson also. We missed the district ladies auxiliary meeting today due to having to deal with my mother. Janie is working away upstairs getting things ready for our upcoming vacation. We are going to take off the week of February 5th and spend the week at the cottage with Stacie's children. I expect that will be a lot of fun and I hope the weather will be nice. The grandkids and I will be saying "WEE" all week long. God bless you.

Stress

2012-01-16T11:03:00.000-06:00

Janie's husband and mother-in-law visiting at the hospital

Stress when used as a noun can be bad but when used as a verb it can be good. Stress the noun has been working hard on Janie's husband. It is taking its toll on his mind and his health. It is time for him to take a vacation from it and be revitalized. Admitting he is under the influence of stress is a big step for him. He wants to think he is tough and can handle it. Prayer and its being answered has kept him going but there comes a time when a getting away from stress to relax is needed. So Janie is trying to get her husband to plan a vacation and he is giving it some thought.

LED rope lights upstairs at the cottage

Janie's mother-in-law is doing very well. The nurse said today that she was complaining of back pain and so they gave her some pain medication and in a little while she was feeling great. She has been laughing and joking with the staff and seems to be actually enjoying the group sessions. Janie's husband and her brothers-in-law are planning to move their mother to a different nursing home. They started the ball to rolling on that process this morning having a representative from the new nursing home, Greg Home in Kilgore, to evaluate her case to see if they can help her. They come highly recommended and have a better rating than the nursing home she is in now.
This weekend Janie helped her husband put up some new lighting in the upstairs of the cottage. The old fixtures were only half working and needed to be replaced. The new rope lights are out of the way and use far less energy.

Naomi and her papa

Naomi and her parents came by for a visit at the cottage. She is 4 months old now and is doing very well. While Janie's husband was visiting with his brothers to discuss their mother's future Janie was visiting with Naomi. Naomi's papa got there in time to hold her too.
Vacation time will have to wait for today for there are deadlines to meet and work that must be done. God bless you.

The Report of my death was an exageration

2012-01-12T21:17:00.000-06:00

My grandson Elijah, I know how he feels

In May of 1897 Mark Twain wrote these words "...the report of my death was an exageration." I went on Facebook and left a comment that my mother's visitation was at 5:30 today. This caused much angst among my Facebook friends. They thought my mother had died and the visitation referred to one connected with her funeral. I quickly set the record strait but had a good laugh at the various comments about near heart failure.
Mother greeted us again with a big smile. She was feeling good. We talked for an hour and she shared an interesting story with us. It seems a woman about her age was trying to escape. Mother said she was talking about needing to get home to her mother and father. Mother asked her "How old is your father?" to which the woman replied "79." Mother then asked her "Is he still alive?" She answered "Yes." Mother then asked her "How old are you?" The woman replied "80." Mother said "That makes you older than your father." Mother said the woman calmed down and grew quiet. Mother said she felt sorry for the woman. She said "I hope I never get in that shape." If this story is true I am very proud of my mother for reasoning with the woman trying to help her out.
I worked all morning taking care of my duties as the clerk of the MBA of Texas. I got a lot of work done and then hit an obstacle. I have to get that problem dealt with soon because I am up against a deadline. I had intended to work on the Song of Songs but that will now be tomorrow's project. God bless you.

Its a Girl

2012-01-11T23:19:00.000-06:00

My plumbers license from Janie's scrapbook

We found out today that our 12th grandchild is a girl. She arrives in the month of May. I love grandchildren. Janie and I had a cold Monday. We went to the nursing home to preach the services there. There was a mix up and the services were not canceled after all. We were late missing the singing portion all except the last 2 verses of "Love Lifted Me." It rained all day and was 44 degrees with about a 20 mile per hour wind. The grave side service was very uncomfortable. More than one person was shivering from the cold. I kept the service short for the sake of those who had braved the weather to come to the service. Tuesday we did not have ladies Bible study. We did go down to Lorena and had a great visit and supper with our friends there. It was a really good time.

The fire feels good, suppose to get cold.

We left this morning to go to Kilgore to see my mother and talk with the staff. Mother greeted us with a smile. She was dehydrated and they were giving her IV fluids. Her demeanor was very good but she is still very confused. She is not eating much and drinking even less. They will be keeping her several more days. I plan to see her again tomorrow.
I missed my class tonight. I am sure it went well for I left it in very capable hands. I need to type up my sermon for Sunday and look forward to doing that tomorrow. God bless you.

A Smile

2012-01-08T22:47:00.000-06:00

Janie's new wall hanging.

On Friday my mother had a mental breakdown and had to be taken to the mental hospital in Kilgore. She refused to go at first and then consented to go but to a different hospital. She refused to let the aide pack her clothes. She got into the van and about halfway to the hospital, the one that she did not want to go to, she got out of her seat belt and tried to open the door of the van. The driver had to stop and get her calmed down and back into her seat belt. When she got to the hospital she refused to get off of the van. They got one of the nurses to come out and talk to her and the nurse was able to persuade her to get out and go into the hospital. Janie and I took her clothes to the hospital and left them with the nurses station. We did not try to see her at that time, thought it best to let her get settled in first.

Janie doing one of her favorite things

On Saturday morning I called the hospital and they told me she had a UTI and they were starting antibiotics to treat that. She called the charge nurse fat and told him to get out of her room. Later he said she patted him on the back and asked him how he was doing. He could tell she was already starting to feel better.
I called the hospital again Sunday morning and I was excited to here them say she is smiling. She is taking her meds and is cooperating with them. I plan to call again in the morning to see how she is doing.

I love winter in Texas!

We are planning to return to Henderson to see her on Wednesday. I would like to talk to her doctor and hope that I will be able to do so. My brother, Ralph, went by and cleaned up mother's room. He put her pictures back on the wall and took away her three pairs of scissors. It is my fear that she will, in about three months due to not drinking enough water, get another UTI and will start cutting her wander guard bracelet off again. If that happens we will have to relocate her to a nursing home that can handle such patients.

The moon on Thursday

The services at church were good today. The Song of Songs sermon went well. The father of one our deacons passed away Saturday morning and I have been asked to preach his graveside service. I have that sermon ready to go. I was suppose to preach at the nursing home in the morning but that service has been canceled.
We went by to see our granddaughter, Naomi, on Saturday. She is a sweet little girl and we just don't see enough of her. The same is true, really, of all our grandkids. It would be nice to have them all just a little bit closer. God bless you.

Autumn Leaves

2012-01-06T01:11:00.000-06:00

The name of the nursing home where my mother resides is "Autumn Leaves." Autumn leaves are colorful for a short time but then they turn brown and fall to the ground because Autumn leaves are near the end of their short lives. Autumn leaves bring beauty into our world bringing a glorious end to summer and a loud start to winter. When Autumn leaves winter sets in. You can not leave Autumn Leaves, if you are a resident there, without permission. Those that would do so must wear a bracelet that sounds an alarm whenever they get too close to leaving Autumn Leaves. My mother can not remember many things. She remembers well my running away from home at the age of 6 and her going to the end of the block to bring me back home. She does not remember cutting at least 2 and probably 3 bracelets off of her arm. Her calendar has X's, placed by her, on the days that have gone by and she has X-ed off through the 12th of January. To her 12 days have gone by this year and not 6. She confesses that she does not know most of the people in the pictures on her wall. She knows her children of course and daughters-in-law but the grandchildren and great-grandchildren she knows but a few.

Mother with her sons and daughters-in-law

Janie and I met with the nursing home department heads today to discuss the problem of mother not wearing the bracelet. That meeting went well but when we met with mother afterward that did not go so well. I left it up to Janie to reason with mother and though Janie was sweet and kind as she presented the problem to mother and much more diplomatic than I would have been she still got mad and upset. She let the nurse put the bracelet back on but under protest. When the nurse left mother refused to talk to us anymore. She sat on her bed, knitting and crying, refusing to even look at us. We left her to sulk. I hope tomorrow when I go by she will be feeling better about all of this. When we got back to the cottage I went out and with an ax chopped down several small Sweet gum trees. It felt good.
Tomorrow Janie will spend time with her mother and I will do some work on the Song of Songs and then go over to see my mother. God bless you.

New Years Day 2

2012-01-02T23:57:00.000-06:00

Janie's one student in her Sunday School Class. His name is Cole.

2012 arrived to find me in bed. I had no desire to stay up until midnight on a Saturday night. You can't go to bed that late and be at your best when you go to the house of the Lord to worship. Our crowd was small at church Sunday morning but we had a better than usual attendance Sunday night. We played a game Sunday night in our Auditorium pitting the kids against the adults in a Bible game. The kids won. Most everyone seemed to enjoy the game and it was nice to do something just a little different for a change.

Naomi at play

Today things were back to normal. Monday is nursing home day for Janie and I. I led the singing and preached a sermon from Psalms 85. The sermon went a little long but the congregation did not seem to mind. I love preaching there for the people are so eager to hear the Word of God preached. After visiting with 4 of the residents there we went to lunch then visited the other nursing home in town. It has been a long day. I went over to the church this evening and visited with the instructor of a class on child raising. She is teaching this class on Monday nights at our church and tonight she had no students so we visited a bit and then I returned to nursing home to check on one there who is near death. I have been helping Janie with some wall decorating this evening and now it is time to head for bed. She will still have to do her internet work but hopefully she won't have to be up long. God bless you.

Happy New Years Eve

2011-12-31T21:46:00.000-06:00

As I am writing this it is just a little over 3 hours to the New Year. I like the way the Bible measures the start and finish of a day. The new day should start at sunset. That being the case we are now about 3 hours into the New Year.
Janie and I went to Canton's First Monday Trades Day today. We bought a mirrored shelf thing for the wall in the breakfast nook. We hung it on the wall when we got home.

This house use to be Trenton's and was featured in my Tribman blog

2011 was a good year all in all though it saw the death of Janie's father and of her Uncle Trenton and also my mother having to go to the nursing home. We spent 2 weeks in France and enjoyed almost every minute of it (My 2nd hour on the ground in France found me losing my lunch). We toured Normandy France and the military cemetery there, which I will never forget. 2011 saw the birth of our 11th grandchild, Naomi, who is now able to turn over from her back to her stomach at will.
I had planned to preach from the Song of Songs in the morning services but have changed my mind. I will preach a New Years sermon instead and will save the Song of Songs message for next Sunday. Sunday night I want to do something special for the evening services. Have a Happy New Year and God bless you.

Chrstmas Tree is Down

2011-12-29T18:24:00.000-06:00

Janie picking up crumbs left by the grandkids while talking on the phone

I took down the Christmas tree and the outside lights. I forgot to get pictures of the outside lights. They consisted of 4 giant candy canes, 2 red and 2 green, which looked really good all lit up. The tree is one we bought 9 years ago and the cardboard box it came in is getting to be in bad shape but it will do for at least another year.
I just finished the sermon for Sunday. The text is the last 3 verses of the 1st chapter of the Song of Songs. I really enjoyed preparing the sermon and can't wait to preach it.

My mother-in-law with me and Janie

We are about to head back over to Henderson and I plan to get some more work done there on Friday while Janie takes her mother to Tyler. We want to go to Canton on Saturday and then back to Hillsboro for our services on Sunday. Monday I preach at the nursing home and that is always fun. I will preach the following Monday as well.

My oldest daughter and family with Charlcye Taylor

The New Year 2012 is upon us which means Tax time and that is always a job which requires the patients of Job. I have already begun to read the Bible through again this next year and that is not a job it is fun. I am resolved this New Year to exercise at the gym. I have not been in months but that will not be the case this next year. God bless you.


Ele, AKA Naomi AKA Bink in Branson MO

Ruth and her great-grandmother playing dress us with wooden dolls

38 Years

2011-12-27T12:37:00.000-06:00

Janie and I 38 years ago today

I met her at Calvary Baptist Church in Henderson, Texas on Wednesday July 11, 1973. I was sitting on the back pew on the far end away from the isle. She came in and sat on the pew in front of me on the end near the isle. She had long blonde hair and she was tall, thin, and lovely. The only thing I remember about the services was Bro. Hand leading the song "Look and Live." Out on the front porch of the church building I was introduced to her and I shook her dainty hand. She wore a blue dress which was very short in length. Her legs caught my eye and they too were lovely. We went over to my sister's house and I got to visit with her there. She was driving a yellow Opel GT which I thought was the coolest car I had ever seen. She asked me if I would like to drive it and I jumped at the chance. She asked me to be careful with it and I was, very careful. That was 10 days before our first date and it was our first date that sealed the deal for me.

She could still wear that dress, 38 years and 3 kids later

I had been praying to God to bring to me the right girl for me. I required that she be a saved and devout Christian and of the Baptist faith. That was all I asked of God and He gave me that and much much more. I said to God "if this is the one for me then let this be the sign that when we go swimming if she goes strait into the water and gets her hair wet right away I will know that she is the one." Well I put out that fleece and God soaked it through and through. I was hoping with my whole heart that Janie would be the one and then as we stepped out of the car on July 21, 1973 at Murvaul Lake and deposited our things on the beach she removed her the garment that was covering her swim suit revealing her amazing figure. I followed her, hoping against hope, as she went strait into the water and got her hair soaking wet. From that moment on I knew she was the one for me! 34 days after our first date I picked her up from work, she was a telephone operator, and I took her to Lake Forest Park in Henderson and we went for a walk. While we strolled I purposed to her and she said YES! I took her back to the car and gave her the ring. We then drove to her parent's house and broke the news to them. God had answered my prayer and to this day I thank God for my wonderful spouse that He created just for me!

4 of our grandkids helping to prepare supper

Today is our 38th wedding anniversary. I am letting Janie sleep as late as she wants to then I will cook her breakfast or take her out to eat if that is what she wants. There is nothing that I would not do for her if it was within my power. Janie I love you so!
God, I want to thank you again for this wonderful gift you have given me. I also want to thank Charlcye Taylor (my mother-in-law) and Jean Farrington (my oldest sister) for their part in getting us 2 together.
We had a great Christmas with our family. We are in Henderson at the cottage right now and whatever this day may bring Janie and I will enjoy it together. I am planning to work on the next sermon from the Song of Songs and the bulletin for next Sunday. I may have both of these done before Janie awakes we will see. God bless you.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T22:31:00.000-06:00

Justin, Sarah, and Naomi Christmas Eve 2011

Our Christmas Eve started with a wake up call from our son-in-law, Justin. He is an early riser and was up even before the grandkids. He woke Janie up first with a howl that sounded like a wolf. He was playing with Naomi as it turns out. He woke me next with Elvis Presley music which, to quote the narrator of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" started in low and then started to grow. We took the hint and rose so the kids could open their presents.

Naomi before Papa got a hold of her and got that rubber band off her head

It was fun to watch everyone opening presents and everyone seem to love what they got. I gave Janie an electric razor and she gave me a solar powered charger for my cell phone, a device that will come in handy when I am out hiking. When the gift unwrapping was over I made a pot of chili which really hit the spot on a cold and damp day. Justin and Sarah left after lunch and the grandkids played all afternoon. We went over to the church for the candle light service at 6:00. The service was well attended and was very enjoyable. We had leftovers for supper tonight and the kids who have been sleeping in the garage wanted to spend one more night there so we let them. It might seem bad to have your grandkids sleeping in the garage but they sure were excited about it. We set up a TV and a DVD player out there for them along with their cots and some chairs. They loved it.

The grandkids in the garage watching TV

We skyped with Jason and his family today. Each of the kids got to speak with their counter parts in France. Jason will be taking 2 of the boys with him in the morning to a church in Spain. They will be bringing a preacher and his family back with them to France. He has come for a visit and wanted to spend some time with Jason.
While Janie was taking a nap I skyped with her sister Patricia and her husband Steve. I always like visiting with Steve and I wish we did not live so far apart. They were doing very well.
It has been really good to have the grandkids here. I made some banana pudding for desert tonight leaving Scott a bowl with no bananas sense he is allergic to them.
We will attend church services tomorrow and then head out for Henderson tomorrow night. We hope to get to Athens in time to see the Christmas lights. If the weather is good when we get there we will let the kids ride in the bed of the pickup to see the lights and they will love that.

Opening Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, what a joyful mess.

Scott is going to teach the Sunday School lesson for me in the morning. I will be preaching from the book of Luke chapter 1 on the subject of "Ten Things Jesus Did Before He Was Born." God bless you.

Grandkids in the House

2011-12-22T00:58:00.002-06:00

The grandkids decorated our tree

The week has gone by fast. The grandkids arrived with their parents in tow on Tuesday night. Janie and I busied ourselves rearranging furniture preparing for their arrival. We had some last minute Christmas shopping to do as well. We had the ladies Bible study at one of the ladies house which was nice. The grandkids helped decorate the tree.

Jonathan and Elijah in Janie's class at church

Janie and I had to make a run down to Waco to the Verizon store where I picked up a MIFI for the owner of the Sullivan Supply. I had to set up his new Mac laptop before he left for the day.

Me and Elijah having fun with my Iphone

The services tonight were well attended and I enjoyed the group discussion. One of the ladies of our church framed the poem I wrote for the cantata. That was so sweet and thoughtful of her. I just love it and will hang it up on the wall tomorrow. The kids had fun in Janie's class. The kids love to color and do stickers and they did a lot of that in her class. She is so good with kids it amazes me.

Naomi is a sweetie

We went to our favorite restaurant here in Hillsboro after church. It is a big group when we go out to eat with Stacie's family. There are seven of them and 2 of us. The food was good and the kids are fun to be around.
After the kids went to bed us adults watched a Christmas movie and really enjoyed it. I am off to bed now but Janie still has to check on her orders.

Sarah texts me a picture

Tomorrow I am going to do a lot of cooking getting ready for the crowd as Sarah, Naomi, and Justin and come to join us. If Jason and his family could be here it would surely be a crowed but a joyful time. I expect that we will enjoy Skyping with them on Friday.

Naomi trying rice cereal

I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas. Ours has been a merry one thus far. God bless you.

Cantata Done

2011-12-18T22:53:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas cantata choir 2011

We had our cantata tonight at church and it was real good. All went well and the audience said they really enjoyed it. We had about 60 in attendance and a choir with about 24 singers. It was wonderful to have 5 bass singers in the choir this year. Everyone practiced hard and you could tell by the sound. Janie and I worked long and hard on our part this afternoon and that also paid off. Everyone seemed to enjoy the poem that I wrote for the cantata and so I will display it here on this blog. It may also be found on my Poem page on this blog. God bless you.

Nine Months Before Christmas

by Paul Clark (Christmas cantata 2011)

Nine Months Before Christmas and all throughout Heaven

The Angels were singing, seventy times seven.

God the Son, the creator, sat on His white throne

And up in heaven His saints add to the tone

There up in heaven all is glorious and bright

People of earth have never seen such a sight.

On this day nine months before the time of his birth

He readies himself to face the darkness of earth.

His Father had planned this long long ago

That His Son should be born God's love for to show.

Then He, amid the songs and the praises galore

Stood up from His throne and did silence the roar.

It is time for the lamb the Father did say

to go to the earth man's sin debt to pay.

Then the Son left the splendor and the glorious din

to live in the darkness caused by our sin.

First nine months with no light and then a bed made of straw.

He would live perfectly never breaking God's law.

A man of sorrows would be his fate

Spat on despised Him they would hate.

Giving His life He would hang on a tree

Shedding His blood for you and for me.

His story does not end on that old rugged cross

For His death is a victory and not a loss.

He rose from the dead but that is another cantata

He is now back in Heaven sitting where he oughta.

All of this happened long long ago

He is coming again and it will not be slow

With the sound of a trumpet and with a great shout

Jesus will call His children all to come out

And into the air the redeemed will all fly

Meeting our Lord in the clouds of the sky

For that wonderful day Oh how we do wait

but for now let us all His birth celebrate.

Mother's well

2011-12-16T23:58:00.000-06:00

A candid shot from my cell phone propped on my knee

Janie is back to normal as the title of my last post indicated. She spent half a day with her mother and I spent a couple of hours with mine. The picture is of my mother and a lady who stopped in for a visit while I was there. I took the picture without them knowing it with my Iphone on my knee. Mother greeted her with a hug and they seem to be so sweet to each other. Mother says she stops by every day.
Mother is adamant that she is not going to wear the bracelet that the nursing home put on her that sounds the alarm if she tries to leave the building. She cut it off an threw it away. I did not make an issue of it though Janie gave me a way to handle the situation next time. I wish she had been there with me this time her idea is brilliant. I just let her do whatever she wants which is not the way she ever treated me as kid. Janie thinks she looks mad in this picture but she was not at all. The whole time I was there she was happy. We talked about the Bible for 30 minutes after the lady left. I enjoyed the visit.
Janie and I will be heading back to Hillsboro Saturday morning. We need to be there in time for cantata dress rehearsal. Janie has just finished making cake balls to take and they are good. God bless you.

Janie's Well

2011-12-15T00:22:00.001-06:00

We had an outstanding adult class tonight at church. We discuss first our prayer requests and give updates on those for whom we have been praying. After our prayer I give time for any questions or topics they want to talk about and this time we had a good discussion about Jews and the Torah. I only covered the first 3 verses of Job 14. After church Janie and I packed up and headed to Henderson. We have a dentist appointment on Thursday morning at 10:00. We stopped in Athens to see the Christmas park lights. We have done this every year that we have been in Hillsboro. We most likely will take the grandkids to see them when they come over next week. It looks as though we will get to spend a lot of time with at least 5 of our grandkids and that will be fun. I am going to let them set up our Christmas tree. Well I had better head for bed. 7:30 will come early. God bless you.

Location:County Road 427D,Henderson,United States

Janie Sick

2011-12-13T23:11:00.001-06:00

Janie was sick today. She went to bed early running a temperature. She got up at 2:00 in the morning feeling really bad. I let her sleep late and after a small breakfast she was feeling better. I really don't like it when she is sick. After lunch she was feeling much better and so I took her to do some Christmas Shopping. When we got back home she was very tired and went to bed. She can sleep late in the morning while I get up early and get some much needed work done. I am really looking forward to the lesson Wednesday night from Job chapter 14.
I have started back in the book of Genesis reading through the Bible. I thought I might wait until January first but decided that there was no need to wait cause I can be through with the book of Genesis by then. Well I had better get to bed God bless you.

A Grandchild Dog

2011-12-12T00:23:00.000-06:00

Me Preaching Sunday morning, The Song of Songs

The sermon that I preached this evening at church was entitled "Lessons from Two Wet and Crazy Cows." I would challenge you to find the text I used. We had a great day today with really good services and an extra good choir practice. It was a long day with choir practice ending at 9:00 this evening.
We went by to see my mother on Saturday and she was doing very well. She loves the posters that my brother Ralph made for her. He collected pictures from all of her children and made a poster of each family. Saturday morning I preached the funeral for Janie's uncle Trenton who passed away on Thursday. He was 94 years old and had been sick for some time. He will be missed. It was Trenton who taught me the difference between a wet cow and a dry one. His was the 10th funeral I have preached this year.

My brother Ralph's handiwork, the posters in my mother's room

I was suppose to go hiking with my brothers on Friday but the funeral put a stop to that. I will try again to get in a hike with them maybe in January. I love to hike in the winter time. We plan to do a 60 mile hike in October out on the PCT in California. I received a Christmas present today which was a gift card to Cabela's. I have 2 outdoor sports now and Cabela's has both of those covered quite well. I have a lot of hiking gear already but not very much fishing gear.

Janie holding Naomi at the family gathering after the funeral

I have befriended my neighbor's dog. We had a lot of left overs after Thanksgiving which we had celebrated at the cottage. I took the scraps outside and called up my neighbor's dog. His name is Chief. Now each time we drive up to the cottage he comes running. If I have any scraps I give them to him. I sat on the porch and he stood by my side as I talked to him. He seemed content to hear me out. He is like a grandchild dog to me. I can send him home for someone else to take care of while I just get to enjoy his company when and where I please without any responsibility. God bless you.

Janie took this picture of me preaching at Uncle Trenton's funeral

My mother-in-law's sons-in-law

Janie's mother at the visitation, Trenton's signature hat and boots

My Song of Songs making me a sandwich at the cottage

On the Mend

2011-12-05T16:16:00.000-06:00

My mother last Friday making a quilt for her bed

My voice is on the mend. I was able to preach both sermons Sunday and teach the Sunday school lesson without any problems. The weather has turned to cold and wet and so inside feels reel good. I cooked some spare ribs yesterday and we have enjoyed them today. I want to make some more homemade soup and can it like we did a while back. We have not put up our Christmas tree yet due to a busy schedule. I am going to work on finishing up my MBA of Texas clerk work tonight and get that out of the way. I finished the bulletin for Sunday and went over to a friends house to help them with a computer problem. It was an easy fix and I was not there long. The lesson is ready for tomorrow's ladies Bible study and after my clerk work I will tackle the Wednesday night lesson. We plan to be back in Henderson on Friday where I hope to go hiking with my brothers. Whether or not they can join me I plan to hike anyway about 10 miles. I need the exercise.

Out for a walk on Thanksgiving Day

I got a phone call Sunday afternoon from Gallup the pollster company. They asked some funny questions. From 1 to 10 how do you rate the quality of your life as of today with 10 being perfect and 1 being the worst. I answered 6. They then asked me what I expected my quality of life to be like 5 years from now. I answered 7. Even though I get older and have more aches and pains I am going to fight to climb that latter not go down. It is easy to go down it takes effort to rise. I want to be healthy and strong so I can continue to preach how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that He was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. This message is the power of God unto Salvation. Those who will repent of their sins and go to Jesus Christ believing in Him and seeking His mercy and forgiveness He will save. God bless you.

No Voice

2011-12-01T23:45:00.001-06:00

Janie and I have had a good day today. We went to the trades day in Canton. The picture is of us there breaking for lunch. Yesterday I finished typing up my sermon for Sunday and I hope my voice will be back in time to preach it. It is a hard thing to keep silent. I have tried to take care of my voice and I want to think it is better. Tomorrow Janie will be with her mother and I will be with mine. God bless you.
- Posted using my IPhone

The Day after Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T21:54:00.000-06:00

Kids on the porch, don't know why Hannah has a coat.

Me rocking Naomi

It was warm today and I have been feeling much better. I still have the cough but not as bad as before. My voice is not 100% but I think it will be okay for Sunday. We spent Wednesday here in Henderson getting ready for Thanksgiving Day. Thursday we spent at my mother-in-law's house and by the time Janie and I helped get everything cleaned up after all the company it was 10:00 at night. We decided to have our daughter's and their families over to our house here in Henderson instead of Hillsboro. After such a tiring day we dreaded the drive back to Hillsboro. We were able to make room for everyone in the cottage and were comfortable enough. Janie and I cooked the turkey which I had killed and cleaned. We had all the trimmings including homemade rolls. The turkey was a bit dry and I hate it when that happens. It was good tasting and the pies and cake which Janie made were too good. The pie is calling me even now so when I finish this blog I will answer its beckoning call. We put the kids out on the porch to eat and the adults ate in side. It was a good day. The kids are all snug in their beds and Stacie and Scott have returned from their anniversary date. Justin and Sarah are back in Palestine. It is time to relax and enjoy a movie before heading for bed. I am so looking forward to being back to in the pulpit Sunday for I am ready to preach the next text in the Song of Songs. God bless you.

A Cold

2011-11-22T18:16:00.000-06:00

Naomi's picture finally on the wall

A cold came my way and has settled in for what most likely will be a two week stay. It caused me to run a fever the past two days and has threatened to take away my voice. It has caused me to cough a lot and to keep a roll of toilet tissue by my side which has turned my nose into one similar to that of Santa's leading rein deer. I would have enjoyed the grandkids more without this hindrance.
Sunday my voice was rough but I made it through two sermons and choir practice. I did not sing much and had no problem reaching the lowest notes. Joshua led the singing for me at the nursing home and did an outstanding job. The people could hear him just fine and he sings really well.
Monday found me in bed most of the day sick with a fever. I did not sleep well at all. I can not afford to be sick due to my work load. With a thesis to write, sermons to prepare, clerk work to get done, I don't need a day off sick. Even though I plan to take a few days off to relax I will be working at least some on my thesis.

Joshua led the singing for me at the nursing home on Sunday

I got up early this morning and took our truck to have its first oil change. The man at the car dealer could not believe that I had put over 6000 miles on the truck in such short time. I was able to type one page on my thesis with constant interruptions from the kids, the coughs, and the nose blowing.
It will feel good when I feel good and I am looking forward to that. God bless you.

Turkey Day or Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-19T12:08:00.000-06:00

Turkey Feet

A turkey sat on a barnyard fence singing a sad sad tune "Thanksgiving Day is coming gobble gobble gobble gobble and I know I'll be eaten soon." These are the words to a song I learned in my childhood. I use to watch my grandmother in Gary, Texas kill and dress chickens and then take them into the house and fry them for supper. It was amazing to watch the process by which chickens became supper. I killed and dressed the turkey, which we will have for Thanksgiving, yesterday. My three oldest grandchildren watched the whole process and were not traumatized at all. They did gag a time or two. Joshua plucked some of the feathers from the bird but I did most of it. Joshua began to play with the feet of the turkey which had been earlier extricated from the carcase. He ended up planting them in a mound of dirt as if the rest of the turkey had been buried beneath. It was tedious plucking the bird but gutting it was easy. The job of killing and cleaning a live turkey is not as hard or difficult as I had imagined. I would definitely consider doing this again next year.

Joshua plucking the turkey

I think everyone should have to spend a week on a farm from the 1930's. No electricity, hauling water, bathing in a number 3 wash tub, having to kill and clean your meat for supper, it would make one grateful for Wal-Mart and prosperity. When I went hiking for the first time sleeping on the ground and eating cold food for supper in a drizzling rain made me truly thankful for the luxuries that I take for granted every day. Ruffing it like they did in the 1930's turns "Turkey Day" into "Thanksgiving Day."

Nearly finished

We are enjoying the grandkids. Next week is Thanksgiving and I have much for which to be thankful. We are headed back to Hillsboro this afternoon. I plan to preach from Daniel chapter six on Sunday. Tomorrow will be my ninth anniversary at Walnut Street Baptist Church. God bless you.

MBA of TEXAS Mother's B-Day

2011-11-18T01:13:00.000-06:00

Janie and ladies of our church doing the skit Tuesday

The messengers of the churches of the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas met at our church. The meeting went real well though Janie and I are exhausted. During the meeting with some 375 people at our church the sewer backed up and we had to call my favorite plumber and have a truck come and pump out the septic tank. They had us fixed up in a couple of hours. It has been a big job taking care of things at the church with all the people there. The next time we host this meeting we will have some help.

Ralph and the poster picture of mother

We will be keeping three of our grandchildren for the next several days and I plan to enjoy that to the fullest. Afterward I am going to take a few days to do nothing but rest.
Today we celebrated my mother's 87th birthday. My youngest brother and his wife did a real good job hosting the party. Ralph printed a poster size picture of mother for her birthday. Mother was very happy and seemed to enjoy the party.
After we visited with her a while we drove over to Palestine to pick up the turkey. Sarah had it caught and caged by the time we got there. She is very good with farm animals. She knew it would be best to catch and cage the turkey alone without an audience of strangers which would just stir up the turkeys. We have him in the shed for the night and will dress him out tomorrow. The kids seem to be looking forward to that process. It is 38 degrees outside right now and I have heard that kind of temperature "hog killing weather." In our case it will be a turkey.

My mother and 2 of her siblings on her 87th B-day

We plan to return to Hillsboro with the grandkids in tow on Saturday. I am going to preach a Thanksgiving sermon on Sunday. Enjoy the pictures I have posted of our recent activities. God bless you.

Mother, her sons and daughters-in-law

Mother with B-day cake and hat


Thanksgiving's main course begins his journey to the table

Janie holding Naomi while the Turkey is loaded up

Elijah makes a face for the camera at lunch time today

Update

2011-11-12T20:54:00.000-06:00

Naomi trying her new chair

I have been way to busy to blog. Mother is doing fine and I had a good visit with her on Friday. I was sick all day Thursday and stayed in bed most of that day. Things have been really hectic this week. I am not going to preach from the Song of Songs in the morning due to lack of time and focus. I have had my mind on the MBA of Texas meeting and all that it takes to get ready for it. We spent a long day at the church today and had to make a quick trip to Waco to get some tables. We were in Waco for a surgery on Wednesday and went to Lorena for services there on Tuesday. I am considering taking a weeks vacation after this next week is over because I think I may need the rest. I am ready for things to slow down a bit. Pray for us... God bless you.

Busy Days

2011-11-07T22:44:00.000-06:00

Canned homemade soup 11/7/2011

I made some soup today and canned 8 pints of it. I made this soup very mild in flavor just like Janie likes it. We ate a bowl for lunch and I added some hot spices to mine and it was just right. It will really hit the spot on a cold winters night. I like to listen for the lids to pop. And just now I heard the last one pop.

Started a fire Friday without a match or a lighter

Today I have been real busy. I went to the bank, the church, Business Supply, the hospital, the nursing home, and Wal-Mart. I worked on the bulletin and the sermon for next Sunday. We got a real good rain today and we need every drop of it.
Yesterday was Sunday and I was able to get through the Song of Songs sermon unscathed. It was an easy text as far as its level of sensitive content. The sermon for next Sunday also lacks any cause for concern of embarrassment. After preaching from the Song of Solomon in the morning service I preached from Psalm 7:11 and enjoyed that text a lot. We had a good number of people attend both services.

Giving our Junior Choir a ride to the top of our auditorium

Saturday Janie and I worked around the house getting ready for the company we had on Sunday. The couple whose house we meet in down at Lorena on Tuesday nights came to our services Sunday and stayed to eat lunch with us. We had a gluten free meal that was very good. For the first time in almost 9 years I used the timer on the oven. I had the oven to come on at 11 and go off at 12 while we were at church. It worked like a charm.
Tomorrow we have our ladies Bible study in the morning and services in Lorena tomorrow night which will make for another busy day. God bless you.

Mother's happy day

2011-11-04T01:30:00.001-05:00

Mother was visiting with a fellow patient when I arrived for my visit with her. She seemed so very happy to see me. I got to visit with her for an hour. She seems completely back to normal. She told me about her day and repeated the stories to me an average of three times. She laughs and smiles and says she is so glad she came to the hospital. She told me with great excitement in her voice that she was going to be released Friday. The truth is that she will be released on Monday. I plan to see her again on Friday then head back to Hillsboro Saturday. Thank you all for your prayers. God bless you.

Road Rode Mowed

2011-11-02T17:14:00.000-05:00

Repairing Janie's Computer

Saturday last week we RODE from Henderson to Palestine to visit with Justin and Sarah. We had lunch with them and enjoyed Naomi though she slept through most of our visit. Saturday night I worked on Janie's old computer which had been taken out by a really bad virus. I removed everything off the hard drive and loaded a new operating system called Ubuntu. It works really well now and is much faster than before. I am going to have to get a wireless transmitter for it so we can get on the internet. I am going to put this computer at our cottage in Henderson. This will give me a computer to work on while Janie is using my laptop to do her orders. The Bible program on this computer is not as good as the one on my Mac but it will do.

Ladies practicing their skit this Sunday afternoon

On Sunday we had a fellowship lunch after services. The sermon on the Song of Songs went well though I did keep them over 10 minutes. We had very few to stay for the fellowship which caused us concern. We wondered why so few stayed and hoped there was not some sort of trouble brewing among our members. I think most just had other plans or had forgotten about it and since they had not brought food thought it not right to stay and eat. There was plenty of food for everyone and a lot of leftovers. The food was really good.

Waiting for choir practice to begin

On Monday I went over to Sullivan Supply to help them with some computer problems. I worked on the bulletin for Sunday and the sermon. One of the ladies who comes to the ladies Bible study told us she heard that they would be working on the ROAD and that they might not be able to get to the parsonage. We looked into it and sure enough the city had announced that they would be closing the ROAD which leads to our house. We called off the Bible study. I was able to get out and do some visitation so the ROAD was not a problem after all. We went down to Lorena for a visit and had supper with the couple in whose house we usually have services. We enjoyed a long visit with them. They are planning to visit with us this next Sunday and we are looking forward to that.

Naomi napping while we ate

Today I went over to the church for a while and then after lunch MOWED the yard. There were a lot of grass clippings and leaves on the driveway after I finished mowing. I went inside for a while and when I went back outside to blow the driveway off there was no need. The Lord had sent a strong wind and the driveway was clean.
Tonight we will have services at the church then its off to Henderson again. I have been very concerned about my mother. I called today and talked to her nurse. She said she was having a good day and had done good all week. Some days she is more confused than others. They are planning to return her to the nursing home on Tuesday next week. I plan to go by and see her on Thursday and Friday. God bless you.

Rain

2011-10-28T09:40:00.000-05:00

Fall colors

It rained yesterday here in Henderson. The over night temperature was 48. I took a walk in the rain which might seem foolish to some but after the long dry summer a cool walk in the rain was refreshing. I surveyed the property that we own and it is nothing short of a jungle. I sure would like to clear the land and make it look nice.
Janie and I went to see mother at 5:30 and she was a completely different person. She was happy and laughing. She told us several stories about what happened to her during the day and had us both laughing. She is glad that she came to the hospital saying she feels so much better. The nurses said they were amazed by her progress. They were impressed that she was so considerate and helpful with others. She has been going to the group sessions and has enjoyed them. When other patients would need some help mother would get up and go to their aide. She told us of a man sitting next to her at lunch who kept trying to get the food off of her plate and he would be trying to pick up food that was not there from off the table. She felt sorry for him. Mother says she sees the need to get out of her room and mingle with others and plans to do just that when she gets back to the nursing home. She says she is going to eat with the others and go each day to the common area to do her sewing. We were so excited to see her laugh. She did not have her bottom teeth in so I did not take a picture of her this time. I want to thank everyone for their prayers for her.

The fence I erected last week

Janie and I went back to the cottage and watched the Rangers loose the sixth game of the world series. We enjoyed watching the game, having just come from mother who seemed to be doing so well. Today I have to repair two linking faucets. One in the bathroom at my mother-in-law's house and the other in the kitchen here. If I can't repair them I will replace them. We plan to visit with mother again this evening at 5:30 and will head back to Hillsboro Saturday morning. God bless you.

Janie making Frito Pie on a cold autumn day at the cottage

Peaceful

2011-10-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

Me and my mother at the hospital in Kilgore

The crows are really in a talkative mood this mild autumn morning as are the blue jays. The wind is blowing and it sure looks like rain. I can understand why my parents were glad to move from their apartment in the city to this little house in the woods. It is so quiet and peaceful here. This house has had many names. Usually we call it by the name of the last person who lived in it. It was called Stacie and Scott's house then Jason and Angie's house now it is called Mamaw's house. Janie and I have taken to staying here when we come for our weekly visits to check on and help our mothers. I suppose it will come to be known as Janie and Paul's house now. That does not seem to fit since we consider Hillsboro our home so Janie and I have taken to calling it "The Cottage." Bethsalem would be Hebrew for house of peace and this morning that name seems appropriate.

Janie and her mother at County Line Church (38 years later)

Janie and I went to see mother yesterday at the hospital in Kilgore. The staff said she had been crying some but when we arrived she seemed fine. I could tell she was glad to see familiar faces. We embraced and then were taken to a conference room where we were given an update on her status. They had asked her a lot of questions about her family past and present. Some of the information she had given them was incorrect and so we set the record strait. She has an infection (UTI) and they are treating her with antibiotics. This alone can cause mental problems. They have taken her off some of her meds and put her on others. So far mother has not refused to take her meds but she has refused to participate in the group activities. She seems to be clear about where she is and why.

Naomi

The last thing mother said to me before we took her back to her room was that she wanted to move back to her "little house." Janie explained to her why that would not be a good thing for her and mother acknowledged that she was right. I asked mother if she remembered the time when I was six years old and I ran away from home. She smiled and said yes then began to tell me the story. I told her that she came and brought me back home because she new I could not take care of myself and I was not thinking clearly. It was right for her to do what was best for me. In the same way we are doing what is best for her. She seemed content and peaceful when we left her. I intend to return to see her again today and have been praying for her.
We took my mother-in-law to her church Wednesday night and enjoyed the services there. I missed being at our church and am really looking forward to being back in the pulpit Sunday. God bless you.

Cooperative

2011-10-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

Me and Jonathan

We already have more than 4000 miles on our new truck. It seems like we live on the road. Our services were good on Sunday. I preached from the first verse of the Song of Solomon. Doctor Roy Culley told me that he thought I had bit off more than I could chew when I chose this book for my doctoral thesis and I fully understand why he feels that way. It is a tough book.

Me and my son-in-law at his new farm

Monday we went to Palestine to see Naomi and have lunch with Sarah. We then headed down to Hardin to see our grandkids home school cooperative program. It was really good. Joshua acted in two skits that were really funny. Ruth played in a stomp band that was very impressive. Hannah played the part of the only adult survivor of the Alamo. It was a great night. Right before the program my mother called me saying she wanted me to come help her move back home. I told her I would talk to her about that on Thursday. We ended up driving to Henderson and spending the night there so I could go see my mother Tuesday morning. Steve and Teresa met me there and mother was in a bad mood. She had been refusing her medications and she seemed to think they were bringing her a pill to make her feel better. I went to check on it with my brother and they brought her pills to her and she took them under extreme protest. She threw the medicine cup at the nurse and told her to get out. After about an hour she was feeling better and seemed more like herself when her "happy pill" kicked in. They came that afternoon and took her to the hospital in Kilgore for a mental evaluation. She will be there for two weeks. I intend to go see her this afternoon. I spoke with the nurse last night and he said mother was doing fine and had been very cooperative.
I was texting with my youngest daughter just now. She had a big scratch on her arm from a turkey attack. I offered to buy one of her turkeys and she was agreeable. She said I could have one for free if they could watch me catch it. I think I'll just pay the going price and forgo the spectacle for I am sure the bird would not be cooperative. God bless you.

Wet

2011-10-22T21:44:00.000-05:00

Naomi in Papa's hands

Janie and I got very wet when I broke the PVC water pipe I was working on. She was watching me work when the pipe broke and the spray of water hit her in the side of her head and soaked my shirt hitting me square in the chest. I ran outside, while being hit square in the back by the stream of water, to shut it off. We got the mess cleaned up and the pipe repaired. This all happened at my mother's house on Thursday. I got to thinking the other day that my parents lived in this house for 9 years saving them $54,000 in rent based on what they were paying in rent for their apartment in Longview. This benefit was afforded them by the one child out of five whom they charged rent for living with them while he was working and saving for college. No complaint though for they charged $35.00 a month which included food and laundry services which was not a bad deal. Later my dad stopped charging me rent since I was planning to move back to Texas to attend college. A few years before he died my dad said he did not remember charging me rent. I can understand his not remembering for there are things that my kids remember growing up of which I have no memory. This is the reason I like blogging. It helps my short memory.

Justin and Sarah's new home

Friday we were called upon to babysit with Naomi and we jumped at the chance. We dropped what we had planned for the day and got right over to Palestine after our visit with mother and her doctor. Mother was in real bad shape mentally when we arrived for our appointment with her and the doctor. Steve was in the room when we arrived and mother was weeping. Mother would not be reasoned with and so Janie went to get the nurse to see if they could give her something to help her out. Janie returned with the doctor in tow. The doctor could not get anything out of mother so she asked to meet with us back at the nurses station. We had a good discussion with her about mother's condition and agreed to stop giving her the two medicines that treat her memory loss. She changed some of her other medicines and will evaluate her in a week to see if changes need to be made. Today mother is doing very well so maybe the change is starting to work.
We went to the district ladies auxiliary meeting today and had a really good time. Janie and I were the only ones who attended from our church but the total attendance was 35. The skit, sermon, and food were all real good. Tomorrow I will try again to preach the first actual sermon from the Song of Solomon. Janie and I are going to sing a special before the sermon. God bless you.

A First

2011-10-19T18:23:00.000-05:00

Me doing my clerk job at our local Baptist Assc. meeting

Sunday morning I experienced a first. I was about 5 minutes into the sermon when a lady in the congregation passed out. One of our members is an RN and she came to her aid. They laid her on the floor and our music director called 911. She had no pulse and was not breathing. After they got her on the floor she came to but her blood pressure was still very low. The sound man called the radio station and had them to take back control of the broadcast. The ambulance arrived and by the time they got her loaded up and taken out we only had about 10 minutes left in the service. We went ahead and dismissed.
It has been a busy week. Janie and I went down to Waco for a surgery on Monday and then again on Tuesday. Today we went to Dallas for a surgery there. Tonight we head for Henderson after our services and I have an appointment with my mother's doctor on Friday morning at 10:00 to review her medicines and overall health. I have several projects I want to try to get done while we are in Henderson. God bless you.

Work Day

2011-10-15T22:18:00.000-05:00

One of our deacons replacing water damaged Sheetrock

We had a work day today at the church and there was a good turnout. We got a lot of work done and it was work that really needed to be done. The windows got a face lift with replacement of rotted boards and fresh paint. They look really nice now. I started to replace some Sheetrock on the ceiling when one our newest deacons showed up and I turned it over to him. He did and outstanding job. I made two runs to the lumber yard for materials and then a run over to the Pizza place to feed at least some of the workers. We could all say without exception that we were tired by the end of the day.

Another deacon with his daughter

I visited my mother on Thursday after first stopping at the nurses station to get the scoop on mother's nausea and ordeal. Armed with the truth I went to mother's room to hear her story. She had a visitor in her room when I arrived and the wheel chair riding lady seemed to be causing mother to smile so I did not want to interrupt. The lady heard me approach and quickly excused herself to let me visit. Mother began to cry and was convinced that no one had been to see her when she had been so sick. She said that not even the staff and looked in on her or tired to help her. This was not the truth but since mother can not remember what happened more that 24 hours ago it keeps her upset. I proved to her that she had been checked on and that people had been to see her. Once she was convinced of the truth she was fine. We had a good visit and I left her laughing and feeling good. The problem with her condition is that tomorrow she will not remember my visit nor our conversation. I visited her 3 times on Thursday but today she does not remember it.
Friday I went fishing for 3 hours with my brother, Steve. We had a good time. He caught about 8 and I caught 1. The sunburn was worth it. God bless you.

Sweet and Sleepy

2011-10-12T09:53:00.002-05:00

Naomi, #11, mad according to mommy but sweet

Sarah took this picture and sent it to my cell phone. She said Naomi was mad but I sent her back a text saying she was sweet. We will try to go by and see her the end of this week. She is doing really well and Sarah got good report from her doctor yesterday.
Stacie went to the doctor yesterday and she is due to have her sixth child on May 24th. This will be our 12th grandchild. We are truly blessed. We will be going down to Hardin to visit with them on the 24th of this month.

Elijah, #9, to sleepy to eat

I began the series of sermons on the Song of Songs this past Sunday morning. I am looking forward to the series and am excited about the first 2 sermons. I fully expect to be just as excited about the rest of them. There should be about 30 sermons in all from The Song.
My mother has been having some problems and I am told she was sick yesterday. I got a phone call from the nursing home at 2:00 this morning saying they gave her a shot for her nausea and that she was now sleeping soundly. They believe that it was recent change in her medicine that caused this nausea so they are going to consult her doctor this morning. I am going to see her on Thursday. I have several items of business to take care of in Henderson while Janie is taking her mother to the doctor on Thursday and to the hairdresser on Friday.

Me waiting to preach my first sermon from "The Song"

It is raining this morning and we need every drop. The 4 inches we got last weekend was really good and it looks like we may be getting another inch or two right now. I praise God for the rain! Our new truck is really nice. I am going to make Janie a chifferobe and we went to Lowes and got the materials for it. It was nice to have a truck to haul things. The gas millage in the truck is about 19 mpg but the comfort is worth it. God bless you.

My Favorite Plumber

2011-10-06T21:43:00.000-05:00

Lunch with Naomi

On Wednesday we had lunch with Naomi and Sarah. She is a sweet baby and is doing very well. We enjoyed the hour or so we were there and after leaving them we made it home in time for our evening services. The attendance was low but we had a good service.

Parsonage Plumbing Problems

Today I helped Sullivan Supply with a computer problem and helped my favorite plumber fix a leak inside the wall of our guest bathroom. He had to cut an access hole in both of our closets. The pipe coming from the lavatory was in real bad shape and had to be replaced. He made quick work of it and this evening I patched the access holes. It was a big mess. I started the morning working on my thesis and the sermon for Sunday but that lasted only about an hour when I got the call from Sullivan Supply and from the plumber. My day has not gone as I had planned but then it rarely does.
I just watched the "180 Movie" (33 minutes long) and would recommend that everyone do so. It is outstanding. God bless you.

Channel Cats

2011-10-04T21:42:00.000-05:00

Number 2 catfish

It was a quarter of a mile walk from the truck to the fishing spot. Ten or fifteen casts of an artificial bait were all unproductive. The shadows were long being cast by objects standing before an amazing sunset. Over on the far shore a hawk swooped down to the water and rose majestically with a small perch in his grasp. Smelly catfish bait yields two small Channel catfish from the first pole while the second pole is armed with every other lure in the box with no result. Each of the two catfish had to wait for at least a few minutes before the cork they had pulled under was discovered missing by the angler. The sun being now fully set sends the fisherman packing. Three washings of the hands finally gets the smell of the catfish bait to fade.

Number 1 catfish

A woman visited our services on Sunday and seemed to enjoy the worship service. As she left she wanted to tell me that I was wrong about something I had said from the pulpit. I very quickly told her that I was not wrong and quoted the verse of scripture upon which my statement was based. She did not agree but did not stay to discuss the matter further. Janie rushed out into the parking lot to meet her not knowing what she has said to me. She came back in rather puzzled by the lady's doctrines. I think this woman goes from church to church like a drive by shooter spouting her doctrines but really not interested in the truth nor staying long enough to debate.

Balloon Bed

Monday morning we went to the nursing home as usual then we mailed off a box of goodies to Jason and his family in France. We discovered a leak in the drain under the sink in the guest bathroom at the parsonage Sunday and I called my plumber friend and arranged for him to come by and take a look on Thursday.
When we arrived Monday night at my mother-in-law's house she helped me to make my balloon bed. I will use this bed when hiking. It is made from an old sheet. It has 8 pouches 5 inches wide and 48 inches long in to which you slide 3 inch diameter by 48 inches long balloons. This takes up very little room in my back pack and is very light weight. It is very comfortable and I am looking forward to trying it out. I think Janie and her mother who both helped me with this project thought that they would pop when I laid down on it but they did not.
My brother Steve is having a water meter installed tomorrow. The well which I dug out has gone dry and so it is time to hook up to the public water system. I prefer well water but if there is not any then public water beats hauling water. I will go over in the morning and see if I can help him get the water line run to the house and tied in. I will keep the well house and pump in tact so the well can be monitored for future use if it is needed.
I am going to begin preaching from the Song of Solomon on Sunday morning. It is going to be a hard job to cover the subject matter in a discreet way. It would be easy to use big words, cryptic language and metaphors to hide the lessons so vividly taught in the book. I will be walking on egg shells with each sermon trying not to cross the line. My brother, Steve, told me that at least mother's house was empty now so that if the church fires me over the Song of Solomon I will have a place to move into. I do not expect that to be the case but there is a need to be cautious. Janie will be my sounding board and will help me know how to present the sermon to the people appropriately. God bless you.

Glad

2011-09-30T13:48:00.002-05:00

One of the pillowcases mother gave us today

I was glad when they said unto me "Let us go unto the house of the Lord." Our services were good Wednesday night missing just one of our regular attendees. Thursday Janie and I went to Henderson by way of Canton. It was 101 degrees there which seems unusual for Late September. We were glad we went even though it was hot. My son-in-law was there and bought three little pigs. He offered one of them to us volunteering to raise it for us if we would pay for the feed. We agreed and so we are looking forward to the spring when Justin will carry them to the butcher. This butcher makes the best sausage I have ever tasted. It makes us feel glad to have our freezer well stocked.

Janie shopping at Canton

Last night I had a long visit with my brother-in-law, Steve, sitting at our mother-in-law's kitchen table. We talked about the end time prophecies and then about fishing. He helped me cull out the lures that were useless so now I am not embarrassed to open my tackle box in public. Some of my lures made him laugh out loud so I am glad I got his advice. One lure I refused to throw away because I thought it was pretty and I told him I would send him a picture of the fish I caught with it. He is not going to hold his breath waiting for it. I wish he and I lived closer together so we could visit and fish often.
My mother was glad to see us this morning and we were glad to see her doing well and very happy. She has been working at embroidery and just loves it. She gave us a set of pillow cases she had done. Her eye sight must be very good for her work is very detailed. She needed some more Glucerna so I will take her some by as we head back to Hillsboro this afternoon.
This morning Janie got a sweet text message with a picture of Naomi which said "Naomi wanted to say good morning to Nana. I am glad we have unlimited texting.
So far I am glad we bought the truck. The past 1,280 miles have been much more comfortable than the last 146,000 miles. God bless you.

Loaded Down

2011-09-26T23:14:00.000-05:00

Grandkids trying out our new truck

We had really good services Sunday though our attendance was down a little. I preached at the nursing home Sunday afternoon. I love preaching there. The people seem hungry to hear God's word preached and I am always hungry to preach so it is the best of both worlds. I preached on the subject of the Holy City New Jerusalem. I almost lost my voice between preaching Sunday morning, afternoon, and night then closing the day out with an hour of choir practice.

Okay lets try out the inside of Papa's new truck

Today I got up early and worked on a couple of reports that I will have to give at the meeting on Saturday. With those done I went to town to take care of some other church related business. I cooked lunch and then Janie and I went to Waco to do some shopping. We returned from Waco with our new truck loaded down with cargo. We had a large item in cab with us and the bed of the truck was loaded down with some tables and a sheet of plywood. It sure is nice to have a truck again.

Naomi riding in Papa and Nana's new truck

Janie may be going over to Palestine tomorrow to help Sarah out a little bit. If she does not we will have a busy day here with Bible Study in the morning and getting some much needed work done here at the house. God bless you.

Crazy Good

2011-09-24T19:51:00.000-05:00

Mother and Naom

Wednesday we had an exceptional crowd at church. My class had twice as many as usual. I hope that trend continues. We had made a special trip to Palestine to take Naomi and Sarah some things they needed. We took them into town to take care of some business and Naomi broke the new truck in right with a diaper change in the back seat. We returned to Hillsboro for our evening services then headed over to Henderson to take care of our mothers.
Janie took her mother on Thursday to get a permanent while I spent the day with my mother. Mother was very happy and I took her for a ride in my new truck. We went to Wal-Mart and got her a few things she was needing. On Friday morning I took Janie to see my mother and while there I paid the $4,480.00/month bill at the nursing home. Before we arrived my mother called me on my cell phone crying saying she needed to talk to me. When we got there she was still crying and very upset. We got her calmed down and I took care of her concerns. She said she had not been given her medicines and Janie proved to her that she had and told her that she must have been sleepy when the came buy and just did not remember it. That seemed to satisfy her and she was okay from then on. She needed some more things from Wal-Mart and so Janie and I got some lunch and then got her things. We returned to the nursing home and mother was crying again. She said she was loosing her mind and could not remember anything. She said she did not know who she was or where she was. I calmed her down again and soon had her laughing. I talked to the nurse about upping her medicine and she said she would talk to the doctor. The doctor came to see her right after I left and that pleased mother that something was going to be done to help her.
Today we went by to see her and she was doing great. She was sewing and very happy. She got to see her newest great-grandchild, Naomi, and was excited about holding her. It was good to see her happy.
We are on our way now back to Hillsboro. Janie is driving and it is about dark. She does not like to drive after dark so I will close for now and take over driving. God bless you.

Look at that Truck

2011-09-20T23:23:00.000-05:00

She is very good looking, very nice, powerful, quiet, sophisticated, sleek, amazingly designed and really well built but enough about Janie... We really like our new truck. It got 20 mpg on our way down to Lorena tonight. That is a far cry from 42 mpg but we sure were comfortable and not bothered with road noise. We could listen to the CD player without having to turn the volume way up.
Right now the back seat of the truck is piled high with clothes for TBI which we will deliver Thursday. God bless you.

Truck

2011-09-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

Elijah and Jonathan

We traded our car in today for a new truck. We like the truck so far but we have only driven it 6 miles. It had 3 miles on it from the factory and we test drove it which brought it up to 6 miles and now it has 12. It fits in our garage with just 2 1/2 inches to spare. They tried to sell us an extended warranty that would cover it for 100,000 miles or 5 years but we said no. We will have 100,000 miles on it in 34 months. We put 35,000 miles a year on our car and our habits have not changed. We will still be making trips to Henderson almost every week and that is 400 miles a week right there.
I am amazed at technology. While we were signing papers the salesman synced my phone with the truck. I can push a button on the stirring column and tell it who to call and it makes the call with out me even taking the phone out of my pocket. If they could just make a truck that could get 100 mpg while towing 13,000 pounds we would be all set. I will post pictures of the truck later. I did not have time to take any today.
I took a long walk while Janie was at the ladies auxiliary meeting tonight. I walked a little over 4 miles. I am in training for a long hike I plan to take next year with my brothers on the PCT. I am looking forward to that.
I got an email today saying that our 40th class reunion would be held on October 8th. If it is in Massachusetts, and I assume it will be, I will not be able to go. I have not made any of them so my record will be in tact. I would like to go but this was just to short of a notice.
Tomorrow we have our usual Tuesday events and the same with Wednesday. Thursday I will visit with my mother and take her out for a ride if she feels up to it. Friday I need to get some work done for the MBA of Texas meeting and try to get back to my thesis. God bless you.

Choir

2011-09-19T09:31:00.000-05:00

Naomi Bachman, number 11

We have a record number of people in our choir this year for the Christmas cantata. We have 4 basses now and with that many you can finally hear the bass from the back row. It sounded really good and it is exciting to be a part of a bigger choir. The 2 basses on either side of me really know what they are doing and that sure helps me. The songs we will be singing are just outstanding! I can't wait until Christmas gets hear I feel almost like a child again.

Janie, Lilia,Caleb,Micah, Andrew,Jason, Arianna, Angie

Our business meeting last night was a long one. I had to explain some of the business in detail and that took a lot of time. At one point I realized I was preaching instead of moderating so I tried to tone it back a bit. I kind of felt bad about it afterward. It was a subject about which I have strong feelings but as moderator I am not suppose to vent my opinion just moderate.
We got a good rain last night. I have not checked my gauge but it was a real good rain. Having gone over 4 months without any rain it was good to hear that down pour last night.
Janie and I are going to trade our car in for a truck. We are going to head over to the car dealer here in about a 1/2 hour and see how it goes. I will miss the mileage of our car but I have missed not having a truck more.
Our new granddaughter is sweet and Janie looks very happy holding her. Our new truck will very soon know its way to Palestine. There is a restaurant there called "Little Mexico" which we like real well and I imagine it also will be seeing a lot of us.
We need to make a trip down to Hardin to see our grandkids there. I miss them a lot. I hope to see them this Saturday in Henderson. We will make plans for an over night trip to see them and go swimming with them.
We Skyped with Jason yesterday and caught him up on all the news. When we first hooked up with them as soon as Arianna saw us come up on their computer screen she began to wave. She is a sweetie and we miss her and the other kids in France a lot. They are planning to come to the States in June to stay for a couple of months and I intend to spend a lot of time with them. (The picture above was taken in Normandy, France.) I JUST LOVE GRANDKIDS!!!!
God bless you.

Break Down Table

2011-09-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

My drawing of the Breakdown Table

Mothers Day

2011-09-16T18:19:00.000-05:00

Me and my mother

I spent a good part of today with my mother while Janie spent it with her mother. My mother is very happy with here new home. She showed me around her room as if I had not seen it before. She takes walks regularly according to her and has enjoyed the food. I sat with her while she ate lunch which consisted of 3 small pieces of fried catfish, some French fries, and some pudding. She ate 2 pieces of fish and ate the pudding then drank most of a glass of milk. She was then ready to go back to her room. My oldest brother's pastor came by for a visit and stayed a good while. After he left mother and I went down to the office and I put some money into her trust account so she can get her hair fixed when ever she wants to. I took her into the beauty shop to meet the hairdresser and find out how things work. She just has to tell them she has a trust fund and they will take care of the rest. Mother was very upbeat and seemed very happy. She sees the day shift employees arrive in the morning because their parking area is just outside her window. A humming bird keeps visiting her bird feeder and she likes that. I told her that next Friday I would like to take her out for a ride and do some site seeing and she liked the sound of that. She is feeling really good. She was concerned about her money and I told her that I was taking care of everything and that she was doing fine in that regard. That put her mind at ease.

Janie holding Naomi last night

Janie's mother has been in a lot of pain. I do not know what is going to be done about that if anything. She had an angina attach and took some nitro which helped almost immediately. Her mind is still very sharp and right before her nap this afternoon she was on Facebook checking up on every thing on her social network. Janie is cleaning her house changing sheets and cleaning the bathrooms for her mother while I am blogging.
I went for a long walk around the lake this afternoon. The lake is not near as big as it once was. I have never seen it this dry before. A young couple were fishing but not catching anything. I have some work to do this evening and then we will head home by way Palestine to see Naomi. Naomi is borderline jaundice and will have to be tested to make sure that she is okay. I am looking forward to being back home tomorrow after this really busy week. God bless you.

Nick Names

2011-09-15T01:08:00.002-05:00

I like nicknames. I have given most of my grandkids their nicknames. Most earned them by spending time with me. Let's see there is Yayhoshuay, Rufus, Banana Girl, Joe-Nathan, Kolaijah, Leela, Kaleeb, Meekah, (Andrew has not earned one yet), R-E, and now L-E. 5 of the 11 have been born Again and I am praying for the rest of them. God bless you.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Birthday

2011-09-14T12:17:00.000-05:00

Sarah at midnight on Facebook

I do not know her name as yet but I expect today will be her birthday. I slept in the car for about 4 hours from 1 to 5 this morning. It was more comfortable than it sounds sleeping in a VW. The seat leans way back and I had my camping pillow and another pillow that we keep in the car. Janie did not sleep at all. I don't know how she does it. I took a nap this morning fro 10 to 11 and then took Janie out for some lunch. The labor is getting more intense now. The nurses keep saying it may be as late as 7:00 tonight and if that is so I will be leaving Janie here in Palestine while I return to Hillsboro for our evening services at the church. After the services I will return to Palestine and take Janie on to Henderson. You can expect to see pictures here on my blog of this new arrival on her birthday so stay tuned. God bless you.

Sunrise this morning out the window of the waiting room

Me and Janie and Sarah's mother-in-law waiting in the room

A New Member

2011-09-14T00:35:00.000-05:00

My mother's 3 daughter-in-laws

We had a young lady join our church Sunday. She has been attending our church for a couple of years now. We are currently at the hospital in Palestine, Texas waiting for the arrival of the newest member of our family. I put my son-in-law and his mother along with Janie and Sarah to work stuffing envelopes for the MBA of Texas. We stuffed and stamped 184 envelopes. I took them to the mailbox out in front of the hospital and sent them on their way. I had mailed 100 yesterday. I felt a little guilty having Sarah work while she is suppose to be in labor. She insisted that she did not mind. We will return to Hillsboro later today for our evening services then it will be off to Henderson to check on my mother and Janie's mother. We did not go to Lorena tonight due to Sarah being in the hospital. We probably could have gone and still made it here in time since Sarah's labor seems to be progressing slowly. I suppose I should try to get some sleep so I can drive back to Hillsboro. God bless you.

Autumn Leaves

2011-09-09T23:31:00.000-05:00

Mother arriving at her room with her two daughters

It is a unique day in your life when you move your mother to a nursing home. The nursing home is called Autumn Leaves. It is a nice facility. My mother's room is at the far end of a long hall (room 321). Yesterday me and my siblings went to take care of the paper work at the nursing home and left mother at the house alone. She was taking a nap when we returned and we woke her so she could eat lunch with us. She sat next to me at the table and asked me about my family. She could not remember the names of my three children. She could not remember taking her pills that morning and while she was alone she had gotten the locked box down which contained her medicines and could not get it open. I dread the day when I walk into her room and she does not know who I am. If the Lord is willing I will see her every Thursday and Friday each week. She seems to be fine with the move and I hope she settles in and adapts to life in her new room. I am keeping my promise to her that her things will stay in her house as long as she lives. If there is anything she should want from her house it will be right where she left it. This seemed to be a comfort to her. My sisters will stay the weekend and go back to Colorado on Monday.

Mother and the girls who decorated her room

On Monday this week I went to the nursing home in Hillsboro for the services there and enjoyed seeing everyone. I am very use to visiting in nursing homes and I love to visit people there. There are many residents who have no one to visit them. I do not want that to be the case for my mother. Tuesday we had a good Bible study in the morning but did not have services in Lorena. I worked on the sermon for Sunday and the Sunday School lesson. I also was able to get my Wednesday night lesson ready to go. Wednesday night we had our usual group. We have moved class rooms and now sit around a table and have prayer and Bible study. It was a really good service. I like this new format and hope that others will join us.

Mother with the boys and daughters-in-law

Tomorrow we will head back to Hillsboro by way of the nursing home to see my mother one more time and then through Palestine for a short visit with our daughter and Son-in-law. Our number 11 grandchild could come at anytime now. When that phone call comes we will drop everything and head that way. God bless you.

More Miles

2011-09-04T23:27:00.000-05:00

My mother with the triple doll

I have not blogged in several days and as usual it is because I have been busy. Janie and I went to Canton and had a good time there. We stayed only a few hours and it was very hot. Most of the booths were closed so there was not a lot to see. I did buy a couple of ammo cans that I am going to use to make a portable outdoor grill. I got the idea from Youtube. We met a couple of our church members there and visited with them for just a minutes.

Ralph and Mother

We got to Henderson Thursday afternoon to find that my mother-in-law had not been feeling well. She was having some problems so I thought it best that I should go with her and Janie to the beauty shop in Tyler on Friday. I was glad that I went. We went to see my mother Friday evening and Ralph was staying with her for the weekend. Ralph is really good with mother. He makes her laugh. One of the things I have always admired about my little brother is his humor. He is the life of any party. His wife is sweet and full of energy. They have taken good care of mother and that has been such a relief to my mind to know she is in good hands. My older brother, Steve, has been faithful to help mother with her med's and seeing after her. It has been good to have him and Teresa living next door to her.

Janie took this picture this morning during my sermon

Saturday morning Janie and I helped her mother can some jelly. With that project done we headed back to Hillsboro by way of Palestine to have supper with Justin and Sarah. We had to deliver some gifts to them and the triple doll.
Sunday has been a great day. We had a fellowship lunch after services and the food was really good. I preached from Leviticus 19:9-18 on the subject of loving your neighbor. Our attendance was down a bit Sunday morning but Sunday night it was up. We had the Lord's supper observance and that is always an emotional service for me. I preached from Isaiah 53 and then we had the supper. I am looking forward to this week. I love work and I have a lot of it to do. My sisters will be arriving on Wednesday and I plan to see them at mother's on Thursday. I am praying that all of that will go well. God bless you.

Triple Doll

2011-08-31T23:20:00.000-05:00

Sister Johnie and the triple doll

Tuesday was an outstanding day. We had a good ladies Bible study in the morning. We had two new comers to the study and I hope they will be able to continue. The church services at Lorena were really good. The lady who serves as the hostess of our Lorena meeting made my daughter, Sarah, a double doll. It is actually a triple doll. On one side it is Red Riding Hood and on the other it is Red's grandmother. When you invert the grandmother's bonnet it reveals the wolf's face. She made this from material she got from dresses which belonged to my mother and Janie's mother. It is very special. She also gave us a loaf of homemade bread and a jar of homemade jelly. She showed us a chair that she restored and her workmanship is amazing. This is one very talented lady.

Teaching the grandkids Petanque

We went for a hair cut first thing this morning. I ran some errands while Janie took a nap. I had to go by the bank to take care of some business there. Business supply was next to get some envelopes for mailing out some nearly 300 letters to the churches of the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas. I hope to have those in the mail next week. I also went by the church and by Wal-Mart. I bought some seat cushions for the chairs which we will be using on Wednesday nights in my adult class. The chairs are hard plastic and not comfortable to most. The cushions should help. I am excited about the new Wednesday night adult class format. It is going to be a very relaxed atmosphere and I think a very effective Bible learning one.

Janie and I at the Airport in France on our way home

Janie and I went to visit one of the ladies of our church this afternoon. We had a good long visit there and returned home in time to get ready for our evening services. Our attendance was up tonight and I am hopeful that will continue to be the trend.
Tomorrow we head back to Henderson to check on my mother and Janie's. We are going to stop by Canton on the way and look around a bit at the trades day there. God bless you.

A Return to Normalcy

2011-08-29T22:47:00.000-05:00

My Girls at the baby shower at TBI on Saturday

Warren Harding was a bit before my time but his political slogan "A return to normalcy" seems to best describe this day. We had a good weekend with a baby shower at TBI on Saturday and I got to play with my US grandchildren. I taught them the game of Petanque. We all went to the baby shower Saturday afternoon and it was a good time. Janie and I stopped in to visit with my mother before heading back to Hillsboro. She is doing well and I appreciate my brothers so much for taking good care of her.

Friday evening Janie and I went fishing

Our services on Sunday were really good and well attended. We had another baby shower for Sarah and Justin at our church Sunday afternoon. It also was a lot of fun and they got a lot of nice things. They stayed for our evening services and spent the night at our house. We really enjoyed their company.
Today Janie and I went to the nursing home for the services there and it was good to see all our friends again. We met a young lady at the church this afternoon and had a real good visit with her. She is wanting to join our church and wants to have a closer walk with God. We gave her some counsel and look forward to helping her on her journey as she grows spiritually.

Baby shower at WSBC Sunday afternoon

Tomorrow we have our ladies Bible study in the morning and services down at Lorena tomorrow night. It sure is good to be back to our normal routine. God bless you.

Catch Up

2011-08-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

Hannah learning from her grand and great grandmother

This picture is one of my favorites of this year. It was cold the day we laid Jim Taylor to rest. The camera caught Hannah watching very closely as Janie comforted her mother. There are not many moments in life like this one for not many are as profound. How we deal with death is something we learn from those who have done so before us. Janie likes hot weather better than cold but I prefer the cold and long for its return.

Me helping my mother make her bed

I have not blogged since I have needed to catch up on my work. I am the clerk for our local Baptist association. As such, I have to mail out letters to the churches of our association which includes a form for them to fill out and a letter telling them when and where the messenger meeting will be held and what they are to remember to do before coming to the meeting. I got that done and the letters are in the mail. My next major project is to mail out 300 letters to the churches of our State Baptist Association for I am the clerk of the State Association as well. This is a much bigger task. These letters must contain the current information we have on each individual church so that they can review the information and make changes if needed. This requires a computer program and the one I have been using does not work on my new Mac laptop. I am writing a new database program for the Mac which will allow me to print these form letters out. This program will also allow my two helpers at the meeting to log into the database by way of the internet and input the returned letters into the database. All this is complicated but I am making good progress getting it done. While Janie is gone with her mother this morning I am going to try to make some serious progress on this program cause I need to get those 300 letters mailed in the next few weeks.

Our grandsons playing their instruments and singing at camp

Yesterday I spent the entire morning working on the sermon for Sunday. I have mixed emotions about such texts as the one I will be preaching Sunday. Its one of those texts that I have taken for granted that it means one thing and have believed it to mean that all of my days. Upon close examination of the text and careful deliberate study I discover that I was wrong about the text. It is a joy to know the truth but it is depressing to think I was wrong and taught it wrongly for so many years. On this text many people have been mistaken and I will help at least some of them to see the light of truth. Sometimes technical details are boring and in the sermon I will lose some as their minds drift away but rightly dividing God's word is important.
I need to go and check on my mother. She needs to have round the clock assistance because her mind is just not right. She does not realize that she is not taking care of herself and is making bad choices. If we put her in a nursing home and that looks like the best choice at this point, I plan to visit her there as often and as lengthy as possible. My mother was a good mother to me. It is because of her and my father that I know Jesus Christ as my savior today. God bless you.

Donald Duck Ring

2011-08-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

My Mother on the left and her siblings, back in April 2011

Our services Sunday were good and I sure was glad to be back. We had a good business meeting Sunday night. Sunday afternoon Janie and I drove to Palestine for our daughter's baby shower. We could not stay long since it took almost 2 hours to get there. We made it back in time for our evening services. Sunday night after church we packed our bags and headed for Henderson. We got to bed about 1:00 Monday morning. I had to get up and meet my brother and mother at the bank at 8:30. We took care of the banking business and then I spent the day with my mother. It was good to see her again after not having seen her for the past 2 months. She is doing well. When the visiting nurse came by she was very happy to see mother smiling. All of mother's vital signs were good and she is still maintaining her weight at 110 pounds. Ralph had fixed her biscuits for breakfast and I took her out to eat for lunch. She is still not drinking enough water and I don't know what to do about that. She says drinking water makes her have to go to the bathroom to much. She did not eat much and she drank even less. After lunch I took her to my mother-in-law's house to visit with her and Janie. We stayed for an hour or so and then I took her to see dad's grave. On the way back home she began to cry a little. I engaged here in conversation recalling events from my childhood. I asked her if she remembered giving me a Donald Duck ring? She did not. I told her the story and that seemed to perk her up a bit.
Mother seems very accepting of the possibility of her going to a nursing home. It seemed to be a great relief to her when I told her that if that should happen I wanted her things to remain her things and for them to stay in her little house as long as she lives.
Tomorrow Janie and I plan to visit the number one choice of a nursing home for mother to ask questions. We then plan to visit with mother and take her out to eat for lunch. God bless you.

Good to be home

2011-08-20T16:07:00.000-05:00

In front of the church building in Carcassonne, France

Our journey home went very well. Our flight from France to England was only 1 1/2 hours long. There was a lady sitting with us that had been hiking in Spain. She is a school teacher in New York City. She was only a block or so from ground zero when the towers came down. She shared with us the pictures of her hike. She also gave me some recommendations for a couple of books to read that would help me with my thesis. We enjoyed her company.

Me preaching in France

The layover in London was only 2 hours and that went by very fast. On our flight to DFW we sat with a young man who was a youth minister returning from a mission trip to Africa. He was from Tyler, Texas. He was a really friendly and nice young man. He gave me a book that he had been reading and I read the first chapter while on the plane. It looks like it is going to be a good book and I am looking forward to finishing it. I slept very little on the flight back to Texas. The line for customs was very very long. It was good to see Justin and Sarah at the airport. Justin drove us home and we got to relax while he fought the traffic. When we arrived in Hillsboro we went strait to our favorite restaurant to eat. We went to bed very soon after getting home leaving Justin and Sarah up watching our TV. They were gone when we got up the next morning. Some very good friends of ours took us out to eat for supper on Friday. We enjoyed visiting with them and catching up on all that had gone on while we were away. Our fellowship hall flooded on Sunday and a handful of people helped clean up the mess Sunday afternoon. The water line out in front of our church broke and there was a crew working on it while our services were going on Sunday morning. I am so thankful to every one of our church members who take care of such things and keep things running smoothly while we are gone.

Part of the congregation during my sermon in France

Today I got up early and worked on the sermons for Sunday and the Sunday School lesson. After I finished my work I took a mile and a half long walk and read the Song of Solomon. Janie needed to do some shopping for a baby shower so I took her down to Waco today. She got what she needed and we returned home. The temperature was 109 today. Tonight we have a choir fellowship at our music director's home. He calls it Christmas in August. After we eat supper together we will listen to the Christmas music we will be presenting. It is going to be a good night.

Janie and Jason helping the kids slip and slide

We will be traveling many miles this week. Sunday afternoon we will drive to Palestine for a baby shower and then back to Hillsboro for our evening services. Right after the evening services we will drive to Henderson. After our business is over there we will return to Hillsboro for our mid week services and then it is back to Henderson for another baby shower on Saturday. We return to Hillsboro for our Sunday services. That adds up to 16 hours of driving we will do this week.
One of my favorite verses in the Song of Solomon is found in Chapter 5. "...This is my beloved and my friend..." Janie is my beloved and my very dear and closest friend. I love her so. God bless you.

Last day in France

2011-08-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

Me and Janie with Sophie and Thierry

It has been a great trip. We said goodbye to the kids when we put them to bed this evening. We will be leaving at 5:00 in the morning so the kids will still be asleep except for Lilia and maybe Caleb who will be going with us to the airport. It will be 2 years before we return to France again and we will miss it.

Lilia will be in "College" next year

I drove Janie and Lilia into town today to see where Lilia will be attending school. We went by the store and picked up a few things. It was the hottest since we have been here reaching the upper 90's. This will prepare us for the 107 degrees that they are predicting for tomorrow in Hillsboro, Texas. It will be good to be back home. We have Friday to get over jet lag and then Saturday we have a choir fellowship and getting ready for Sunday. Monday we will have to be in Henderson to help my brother and my mother with some business. Its back to Hillsboro for our midweek services and then a return to Henderson on the following Saturday for a baby shower. I have to get the associational letters mailed out for our Local Baptist association and the right after that I have to mail out about 300 letters for our State Association meeting. I will be busy busy. I will try to blog when I can. God bless you.

Caves

2011-08-15T08:27:00.000-05:00

A cave we toured in Southern France

Saturday Jason took us to tour two caves. The first cave was very nice and the guide was funny or Jason was funny as he translated what the man said. We drove to another cave site and this one was much larger. They say that the Eiffel Tower would fit inside its main room and I believe it. It was an amazing sight. Pictures just can not capture the beauty of a cave. It was very cool inside the caves. These caves were less than an hours ride from Jason's house.

Janie on Facebook and Jason on his new computer

I watched TV on this beautiful Monday morning with the grandkids while waiting for everyone to awake and start the day. We now have 2 1/2 days left of our vacation in France. We returned the rental car today. They are planning a joint birthday party for me and Arianna. While we were in town returning the car we went by a sporting goods store and looked around. I tried some hiking shoes on but they did not have my size. We got home and had lunch outside and the weather is really nice.
I checked my email and saw where my siblings are wanting another conference call to discuss my mother's condition. I will not be able to participate due to the time difference between here and there. Well I must get back to vacationing. God bless you.

Second Sunday in France

2011-08-14T13:11:00.001-05:00

The Wells family, Janie and me at the church in Carcassonne

We heard an outstanding sermon this morning at the church in Carcassonne, France. Jason translated it for us. I knew 2 of the songs that they sang and I sang in English as the rest of the congregation sang in French. We got to see the Wells family again. They are from Wales and are spending their "Holiday" in southern France. I just loved talking with their 2 children. They told me about "meat pies" and "Cornish Pasties." I had a blast talking with them. They were so BRITISH it was delightful. I invited them to come and visit with us in Texas and I hope they will one day.

Our view of the services at Walnut Street

We stopped and picked up some pizza on the way home after the services. Janie and I were tired so we took a 2 hour nap this afternoon. We got up in time to watch the services at Walnut Street via Skype. It made me miss home. I thought of one of the boys at church camp who was very home sick. I enjoy being here with Jason, Angie, and the kids and we are having a great time but a part of me longs for home. God bless you.

Petanque

2011-08-13T04:28:00.000-05:00

Playing Petanque in Jason's front yard

We had a relaxing day yesterday. Jason made us an outstanding supper featuring Tomatoes Farcies. It was basically tomatoes stuffed with meatloaf. We eat outside on the back porch and the view is wonderful and the weather perfect. We played a game called Petanque. It is a very popular game here in France. We each have 2 steel balls about the size of a baseball. You through a little wooden ball called the "Cochonnee" then you take turns throwing the steel balls at it and who ever gets the closest to the "Cochonnee" gets a point. The first player to reach 10 points wins. Jason is undefeated at this game.
Today we are going to see a cave north of here. They say that this cave is tall enough to hold the Eiffel Tower. That should be quite a sight. God bless you.

Relax

2011-08-12T06:10:00.000-05:00

Arianna trying to walk

Yesterday and today we are taking time to relax. The girls have gone to the market to shop and the boys are having what Jason calls "boy time." They are playing video games while Arianna plays in her walker and I blog. Our vacation to France has gone really well. We are having a really good time. Yesterday Janie and I walked with Jason to a neighbor's house to water their garden and to pick tomatoes and squash. There were a lot of ripe tomatoes and they taste really good. We had supper out on the back porch and the weather was perfect. It has been about 80 degrees each day and in the 60's each night.

Jason and family in a bomb crater Pointe du Hoc Normandy

My siblings, via email and Facebook, have been keeping me posted as to my mother's condition. I called and talked with her and she did not sound like herself at all. I am look forward to our return and to being able to see her the week after next. God bless you.

Normandy

2011-08-11T07:45:00.000-05:00

Normandy, France and D-day makes me proud to be an American.

Janie in a field of graves at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France


Army Rangers scaled the cliffs to capture Pointe du Hoc. Bomb craters everywhere!

Pointe du Hoc, Normandy France: Bomb craters everywhere.

Janie and Paul on Utah Beach Normandy, France

Janie at the Utah Beach war museum


Para trooper St. Mere Eglise Normandy, France near the 101st Airborne museum

Jason and family at the Utah Beach museum

Me and the boys at the Utah Beach war museum

The Boys at Utah Beach

On Omaha Beach, Normandy France

The Boys on Utah Beach

Janie and me on the causeway leading to Mont Saint-Michel

It was a long drive across France to get to Normandy. The journey took 12 hours and we saw some really nice scenery. I drove Jason's car and he drove the rental. When we arrived at the hotel I went to bed right off and got a good night sleep. The hotel room was a bit strange. The shower stall and sink were in the same room as the bed, only the "WC" was in a separate room. I thought this to be a bit strange. Otherwise the room was very nice. We got up early the next morning and went to Utah beach. I had a friend that had landed on this beach and survived the war. He was a boiler fireman at St. John's Hospital in Lowell, Mass. and had told me stories of the war. It was quite a feeling to be standing on that beach where so many had been killed. We toured the museum there and then went to St. Mere Eglise where there is a replica of a para trooper hanging from the steeple of the church. The 101st Airborne museum was there and we stayed just for a short time. Next we went to Pointe du Hoc. This also was an amazing place. The Army Rangers had to scale the cliffs to take this strategic point. 225 Rangers landed and only 90 survived the attack. The spot was bombarded before the attack and the craters are everywhere. We walked into the bunkers that were built by the Germans. I would not have wanted to be on that point on D-day. We made our way next, to Omaha beach. This was, to my understanding, the worst place to be on D-day. The most moving place was the American Cemetery. I was amazed at the huge crowd of visitors that were there. We had to park far away. Over 9000 American soldiers are buried there. They died in the liberation of Normandy. We watched 2 videos at the museum there. They were both very good. I think they should be shown to everyone.
While walking through the cemetery my grandson, Caleb, kept asking me questions. He wanted to know why these men had joined the military. I had a hard time explaining the selective service and draft to him. He wanted to know what would happen if you did not go when you were drafted. I told him you would go to jail. He asked wouldn't that have been better than dieing? I said no it would not. He could not understand it. It was difficult to explain to an 8 year old that duty and honor come before self. It was a precious moment that I will not soon forget. This 8 year old hit the nail on the head! This place was all about duty and honor.
The Normandy visit is a once in a lifetime event. I as so glad we went. The next day we headed back to southern France by way of Mont St. Michel. This is an island with a cathedral/abbey atop its peak. There was a lot of buildings on this little island. The streets were very narrow and crowded. I was amazed at the number of people that were there. We parked about a 1/2 a mile from the Island. On our way out we saw miles and miles of bumper to bumper traffic headed toward Mont St. Michel. We got back to Magrie about 11:00 pm. It was a really good trip. God bless you.

Sunday in France

2011-08-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

Janie and Arianna trying to stay warm by the sea

We went to the beach on Saturday and the traffic was really heavy. It normally takes 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the Mediterranean Sea from Limoux but it took over 2 hours. The beach was not crowded and it was not hot. Janie sat on the beach with Arianna and they both had chill bumps. Chill bumps are not possible back home for it has been over 100 degrees each day we have been gone from there. I drove one of the cars back to Limoux and it took just over an hour. Driving here in France is not bad at all for it is much like the States.

Playing in the Sand on the Mediterranean Sea

Today we got up and went to church in Carcassonne. Jason brought the morning Bible reading and children's devotional. He also led the singing. I preached the sermon and the pastor translated my words into French. The church house was full with over 40 people in attendance. I preached from Zephaniah chapter 3 verses 1-2 on the subject of "The Journey from Wonderful to Woe." I really enjoyed preaching! Afterward they set up tables for a covered dish meal. There were at least 2 families in attendance who were from England. They were on vacation staying in the area. One family stayed for lunch and they have 2 children a boy 11 and a girl about 13 years old. Their names were Joel and Lois. I loved visiting with them as we ate together at the same table. They laughed and laughed as they tried to explain to me the game of Cricket. It was a lot of fun!!!! They gave me a riddle and I could not get it. They said I would feel foolish when I found out the answer and sure enough I did. It is a play on words so telling the riddle here would give it away. Their parents were real sweet people. Jason, Lilia, Micah and I remained after the meal to help set up the building for a 3 week long Bible exposition. We also helped the pastor load a small refrigerator into his car and then followed him home to help unload it.

That is me preaching this morning with Bro. Tony translating

Before supper we watched the church services of Walnut Street Baptist Church. We sang along and enjoyed Bro. Slocomb's sermon. I missed being there. Jason fried some chicken strips for supper. The meal at the church and the supper tonight were both outstanding. We sure are eating good!
Well it is off to bed and an early start in the morning. We are going to try to leave by 7:00 in the morning for the 12 hour drive to Normandy. It is the trip of a lifetime. I have longed to see the D-day invasion sites and the American Cemetery there. We will spend 2 days and 2 nights there before heading back to Limoux. I plan to take my laptop along so I can blog. God bless you.

Marché

2011-08-05T14:55:00.000-05:00

Got up early and went with Jason to the Limoux Marché. It is basically a market day in the town square. Jason set up his booth and I stayed with him while Angie went back to the house to get the others. We will not all fit in the same car at the same time so we had to make 2 trips. When they arrived we left Jason to man his booth while we shopped. We bought Janie a basket/purse thing that was nice. She will be able to take it as a carry on bag on the plane. It was a fun time and the weather was perfect. I don't think it got out of the 70's here today. It rained while we were trying to fix bicycle tires for the kids. It is raining even now. We returned home for lunch and after the home schooling lessons were over we repaired bicycles. Jason took me to a home improvement store in Limoux to just look around. We stopped at another store that is similar to Wal-Mart. I bought 2 baguettes and some chocolate covered waffles. These are some of my favorite French foods. If they let me loose in town I will always come back with baguettes. We have been eating fresh veggies from one of their neighbor's garden. The tomatoes are really good. After supper we went to the theater to see a puppet show. The theater was in the boys room where they had set up a stage and seats for the audience. It was a cute show and we gave them a standing ovation. After a snack and some short videos the kids headed for bed. It was another outstanding day in France. God bless you.

Home school lesson time

Janie and the kids at the Marché in Limoux

Arianna playing with her b-day present from Nana and Papa

Supper on the "Terrace" at Jason's house in Magrie

Caleb, Jason and me at the Marché in Limoux, France

Boys will be boys and had to climb a tree while hiking

Janie and Lilia headed out for a hike

Out standing Hike

2011-08-04T16:58:00.000-05:00

Me helping Caleb with his homework

It has been another great day here in France. We helped the kids with their home schooling. They have to be taught to read and write English since the public school is all in French. After lunch we watched the kids play in the pool then we went for a hike. The boys went one way and the girls another. Our hike was much farther and steeper than the one the girls took. It was a beautiful view from on top of the mountain ridge. The boys had far more energy than I though near the end Micah asked me for a piggy back ride. I declined his request since my soon to be 58 year old body was doing all it could to carry its own weight. It was a real good trail and the weather was perfect.
We are about to eat supper and tonight is the night they have their weekly Bible Study in their home. We are hopeful that some will attend though this is vacation time and their regulars are gone out of town. I will post some pictures below of our day. God bless you.


The boys standing on a round boulder that caught their eyes.

Angie took this picture of us on the trail from her back porch.

The boys playing on a pile of rocks at the top of the mountain

Jason and the boys on the trail at the top

I am alive

2011-08-03T16:48:00.000-05:00

On our way to Camp

It has been too long since my last blog. I am still alive and well, just been busy. We had a good time at the camp in Laneville, Texas. We had 1 saved from our group and 17 total out of all the campers. There were only 206 campers so the chow line was really short. The big yellow church bus ran real good there and back getting 6.8 miles per gallon. We had 29 kids and 2 sponsors on board the bus. There was no A/C and on our way to camp it was cloudy and much cooler than I had expected. On the way home it was hot but we managed okay. The last kids to be picked up were at the church with us for an hour waiting after the others were gone.
The services Sunday were good and a young couple came forward to join at the close of the service. It is always good to get new members. Justin and Sarah arrived Sunday afternoon and stayed over night to take us to the airport. We enjoyed their visit and it was nice to have someone to see us off.

Janie trying to get some sleep at London's Heathrow Airport

Janie slept a little on the plane ride to London but I did not. It was a 10 hour flight and was mid morning when we arrived. We were very tired and had to wait 5 hours for our next flight. The chairs were not comfortable. Janie did manage to get about 20 minutes of sleep during that 5 hour wait. I dozed a little in a chair. We ate a ham sandwich for lunch and our flight left on time. I began to get a migraine headache while on the plane to Toulouse. Jason, Lilia, Caleb, and Andrew were there to pick us up. I slept a little in the car at first. As we got closer to Magrie I became more nauseated and just a mile or so from Jason's house I asked him to pull over so I could leave my lunch on the side of the road. I went to bed immediately upon arrival and got up 30 minutes later to try and eat some supper.

The Kids have changed a lot in a years time.

Angie had made a really good meal and after just a few bites I went back to bed and tried to get some sleep. When Janie came to bed I got up and took some medicine for my headache and it seemed to do the trick. I slept well and have felt well all day today. I did take a short nap this afternoon. I am now ready to hit the hay again and spend a busy day with the grandkids tomorrow. God bless you.

Wow Its Been a Long Time

2011-07-23T23:17:00.000-05:00

Lets go swimming

I have been far to busy to blog thus the long time since my last one. We really enjoyed the grandkids. I took them camping and swimming over in Henderson on Tuesday and Wednesday. I preached a revival service Wednesday night. We headed back to Hillsboro after the services and got the kids to bed about 2:00 Thursday morning. Stacie and Scott returned from Thailand safely. I picked them up at the airport at 5:00 in the morning on Friday and they left our house to return home on Saturday at 5:00 pm. When they were gone I took Janie out to eat here in Hillsboro and a complete stranger sitting a couple of tables over from us paid for our meal. When it came time for our check the waitress said that our bill had been paid by someone else. I asked the owner if he knew who it was and he did not. He described the man and Janie remembered him being there when we arrived and leaving just before we did. I wish I could have known who to thank.

The kids setting up their picnic table at the camp site

On Monday we left the church at 5:30 in the morning and went to Bogg Springs Camp near Wickes Arkansas. Camp went well. The music was loud and the teens liked it. The preaching was outstanding and the comedian that was there was really, really funny. The magician that preformed was also amazing and funny. There were 14 kids saved and about 500 campers in attendance. It was very very hot each day. One of our kids got covered in seed ticks and another was bitten by a spider on his face and ended up in the emergency room. He is doing fine and the swelling on his face was going down as we were heading home. I enjoyed the camp all things considered. While at camp my mother had some problems. I got several phone calls about her though I rarely had any phone signal. I am very thankful that my brother, Ralph, was able to take off work and help her out. She is staying at his house this weekend through Wednesday next week. I will not be seeing her again until I return from France.

Setting up the cots in the tent

We got right to work when we got home on Friday getting ready for the weekend and next week. I took Janie out to eat for supper (and paid for it this time). We did manage to take a nap today and that was good. The District Ladies Auxiliary meeting at our church was today and I preached from the text I plan to use in France. The meal was really good. I am all packed for next weeks camp. The big yellow bus will head out at 6:00 Monday morning with 39 campers aboard. It is going to be really hot at camp next week. I hope our 18 days in France will be cooler. Sarah and Justin are going to take us to the airport Monday after next. We need to see if we can find someone to pick us up when we get back on the 18th of August then our travel plans will be all set.
I am going to head for bed now. I won't get much sleep next week at camp so I need to get in as much as I can now. God bless you.

Breakfast time, eggs and pancakes

Grandkids Day 10

2011-07-08T03:47:00.001-05:00

Kids playing while I worked on the van

It was a good day today. It started with a phone call from my mother telling me she was going to the doctor because her hip was hurting really bad. I spoke with her and her doctor afterward and it looks like it is just arthritis. This afternoon the shot the doctor gave her started to work and she was feeling better. My sister-in-law is staying with her tonight and I am thankful for that. Mother was worried that she might have to have surgery and was relieved to find out it was not that serious.

Kids at lake Whitney

I worked half of the day on my daughter and son-in-law's van. It has been over heating and I found out that the problem was a bad relay. The relay that operates the radiator fans had gone out and without the fans sucking air through the radiator there was no cooling. It was quite a chore for this old man with bi-focals to find and replace that relay. I had to remove the air filter housing to get to it. I removed the thermostat and drained the water out replacing it with fresh anti-freeze. I took it for a test run this afternoon with the outside temperature being 102. It kept a constant temperature right where it should be on the gauge. We took a road trip after supper over to the lake and the car ran fine. The kids enjoyed wading in the lake. I plan to take the kids to the church tomorrow and let them play while I study. This will give Janie some rest and upon my return I will take a nap while she watches the kids. Tag teaming them helps us keep going. God bless you.

Over Heated

2011-07-05T22:33:00.000-05:00

Janie whelmed with grandkids

I took the grandkids out to eat for breakfast at Braums then over to Lake Whitney state park this morning. I have an annual state park pass and wanted to try it out. The park was not impressive. While we were there the van over heated. I let the kids sit under the shade of a tree while the van cooled off. We returned home post haste. The van was hot again by the time we arrived. The outside temperature reached 102 today. I am going to see if I can get at least that problem with the van fixed before Stacie and Scott return for Thailand.

Painting the table, I am so proud of our grandkids

In spite of the temperature the kids completed the breakdown table. They had fun painting it. They took a break after painting the first side of the pieces to cool off and get a drink. After supper it was dry and Joshua and I assembled it. It looks really good. I am thinking about cooking breakfast in the backyard in the morning and letting the kids eat on the new table. Grits, eggs, bacon and trail bread will all taste better some how when cooked outdoors. God bless you.

Grandkids Day 7

2011-07-04T23:47:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a week with the grandkids and Janie and I are surviving. It has not been as tiring as I had expected. I have kept the kids busy and tried to give Janie as much help has I can with them. I preached at the nursing home today and we took the kids to see the fireworks in Itasca. Elijah did not like the fireworks at all.
I made a breakdown picnic table with the help of the kids. I put them to sanding it today and tomorrow we will try to get it painted. Enjoy the pictures and God bless you.

The kids enjoying the fireworks on the 4th of July

Jonathan and Hannah sanding on part of the picnic table

Joshua and Ruth did most of the sanding

Trying out the breakdown picnic table

Holds 4 adults or six grandkids made from one sheet of plywood

At church

2011-07-02T00:41:00.002-05:00

Took the kids to my office at the church today. God bless You.

Waiting for Papa to take them back to his house

Grandkids day 3

2011-07-01T01:14:00.000-05:00

Breakfast at McDonald's again

Breakfast at McDonald's with the grandkids is a good way to start the day. We went shopping then returned home to Skype with their parents. The kids watched some movies today but they did get the garage cleaned out. It looks really nice. We made homemade ice cream this afternoon and I am sure they ate too much of it. They enjoyed the whole process of ice cream making.
The two older kids and I put together a robot kit which featured an aluminum can with a motor and three legs and 2 wings. It did not seem to impress Hannah for when it began to walk in circles she said "Is that all it does?" The older kids took all the trash bags that we had filled with junk from the garage down to the curb. I don't know how many there were but it was lot. I was glad to have their help.

Shopping at Wal-Mart again

This evening I had a conference call with my siblings to talk about our mother's status. I thought it went well though I was called away before the conference was over. I had to run over to the church for a meeting with the mission team that just returned from Alabama. They had had a problem and thought I should be there to hear about it. I was glad they called me and it looks like everything turned out okay. The trip was a big success.
Well I better wrap this up and get to sleep. Enjoy the video below of the Soda Can Robot in action and a few other pictures I took today. God bless you.

Assembling a Robot

Grandkids Day 2

2011-07-01T00:39:00.000-05:00

Breakfast with the grandkids

We cleaned out 3/4 of the garage today. I don't like to push the grandkids the way my father pushed me when I was their age. My father had us working on the church building in Ayer Mass when I was Joshua's age and it was long hard days of work. I will never forget those days. I want the work to be fun and not exhausting for them. We took ice cream breaks and breaks to play in the water. It reached 101 this afternoon. Blogger went down this evening so this post will have to wait until tomorrow. I will try to upload it then and then write the blog about day 3. God bless you.

Grandkids Day 1

2011-06-28T23:40:00.000-05:00

Texas Mission Builders working at our church

We had a good weekend with our attendance up on Sunday. Stacie and Scott arrived at our house about 4:00 Monday morning. I spent half of the day Monday at the church with the Texas Mission Builders. They got right to work and got a lot done on their first day. I ate lunch with them and when they returned to work I helped Tom, Loretta, and Linda clean up the kitchen. Linda cooked the meal and it was really good. She made a brisket that was very tender.

Shopping at Wal-Mart with the kids

When I returned home I helped Stacie and Scott pack for their trip. They had two suitcases full of deflated basket balls. They were not deflated enough to fit so we had to deflate them some more. They were going to transport them in foot lockers but duffel bags were lighter and the additional deflation allowed them to eliminate on checked suitcase. We loaded up the car and headed for the airport about 6:30. I made a wrong turn and went to the north entrance of the Airport instead of the south. There was a lot of construction and we had trouble getting into the airport. I let them out by the door so they could get on inside while I parked the car. They got checked in and through security without any problems. Their seats were not together and it was going to cost $58.00 so that they could sit together. It seemed worth it to me so with a wand of a piece of plastic they were together. With them safely on their way I headed back home. Janie had the kids in bed by the time I got home.

We had fresh strawberries with our lunch, kids loved them.

Day one of keeping the grandkids went well. I took them to McDonald's for breakfast and some play time. It was over to Wal-Mart next where I bought all five of them a change of clothes and picked up a few groceries. They were excited about their new clothes and wanted to change into them right away. We would not allow that however. The kids behave themselves very well. A woman, who was also shopping, which I had passed several times walked up to me as I was checking out and said "Sir, I want to complement you on your grandkids. They are so well behaved!" I thanked her and counted my blessings that I do indeed have good grandchildren. The lady who took our order at McDonald's has five children. She too was impressed and thought it special that I was spending time with my grandkids. I must admit that the thought entered my mind that I must look old since it was automatically assumed these were my grandchildren.

It was a long day for two little boys

The hot afternoon was spent indoors playing and cooking. I made some bread and we had spaghetti for supper. This being the first day I wanted to take it easy with the kids. I let Janie sleep in since she went to bed about 3:00 in the morning. After the kids all had their baths we gave them a snack and sent them to bed. The two youngest fell asleep while waiting for their older siblings to get ready for bed. They played hard and were really tired.
Tomorrow is day 2 and I plan to work them tomorrow. We are going to clean out the garage and finish making the picnic table that I had started at my mother-in-law's house. The water guns that I bought them at Canton will, no doubt, be the high point of the kids day tomorrow.
I have not heard from Stacie and Scott but assume that they made it to Thailand without any problems. Well I better head for bed myself those kids get up early early. God bless you.

Loading Up

2011-06-25T22:44:00.000-05:00

Most of our church's Disaster Relief Crew

We went over to the church this morning to take some pictures of our youth loading up the trailer which they will take with them on the disaster relief trip they are making to Alabama. They had a whole bunch of relief supplies that were donated by people all over town. They will be leaving Monday morning at 5:30 and will return toward the end of the week. It is going to be a good trip for them and a lot of hard work helping to clear debris. In spite of the hard work that faces them they still seem very excited about the trip.

Loading the disaster relief supplies

We loaned our church van to one of our sister churches today. They had more kids going to camp than they had room to transport them. The pastor and youth director arrived after the youth finished loading up and visited with us for a bit before loading up themselves. Janie and I then went and loaded up on Mexican food. It was really good.
The new manager of Hampton Inn here in town left a message for me to call him. I returned his call and he wanted to talk to me about the MBA of Texas messenger meeting which our church will be hosting in November. I suggested we meet face to face and he agreed. Janie went with me for the meeting and it went very well. He is a Christian man, deeply religious. He offered us a 60 room block for a really good price and so now we have an official host hotel for the meeting and come November I hope we can load it up.

Texas Mission Builders are ready for work come Monday

Tomorrow is my last day alone with Janie for the next 19 days. We shall load up on undivided attention enough to last us through. God bless you.

We are Home

2011-06-24T20:30:00.000-05:00

Janie and Sarah at the Baptist Book Store in Texarkana

It is good to be back home. We spent Thursday night in Little Rock and on Friday we made a brief stop in Texarkana to visit the Baptist Book Store on our way home. We grabbed a bite of lunch there then drove to Palestine where we dropped off our daughter and son-in-law. We made it home about 6:00 PM. We now have to get ready for Sunday and for the arrival of our grandkids. They will be here Monday Morning early and Monday evening I will take their parents to the airport. They will be gone for 17 days and with the Texas Mission Builders being at our church three days each of those weeks I will have my hands full. I have posted some of the pictures that were taken on our trip to St. Louis. I hope you enjoy them. God bless you.

We took the stairs each time to our 7th floor room, she said she was glad it was not 8.

Janie and I being Chauffeured on the 1650.3 mile trip. Thanks, Justin.

Janie in front of the Arch

This shot from the base of the Arch made me dizzy.

Janie and I standing by the base of the Arch

On our way to Steak and Shake for some supper

Me on the observation deck atop the Arch

ABA Day 4

2011-06-23T23:29:00.000-05:00

Helicopter arriving to drop some marines on a barge

We rose early and went down for breakfast in the Hotel. We took our luggage to the car and then went to the Thursday morning session. We did not stay long. We took a walk back to the Arch and watched the Marines put on a demonstration. It was amazing to watch. They had a fighter jet fly by and then some other aircraft. They dropped marines from a helicopter onto a barge in the river. Later the helicopter returned and the men hooked up to a rope and were taken up and I mean way up into the air hanging from the rope. It was an amazing site. I would not want to be an enemy of the USA and have to face such a well trained, well equipped force.
We left St. Louis and headed home. We made it as far as Little Rock, Arkansas where we have stopped for the night. We should be home sometime tomorrow. God bless you.

ABA Day 3

2011-06-22T23:01:00.001-05:00

Me and the St Louis Arch

The morning session went well but ended behind schedule. Janie and I ate lunch and then walked over to see the Arch. It is an amazing sight! We road the elevator to the top. A small boy in our tiny car held tight to both his mom's arm with one hand and to Janie's with the other. The observation deck was crowded. We stayed there just a few minutes and then took the tram back down. Outside of the Arch, as we stood at the base, I felt strange and kind of dizzy when I looked up at the top. It was worth the price and the museum beneath the arch was interesting.
Janie stayed in the room and worked while I attended the afternoon session. The missionary report was approved and the meeting got back on schedule. The camp report was good and everyone seemed happy with the new Pine Springs camp director. We finished the meeting only slightly behind schedule. I manned the booth from 4 to 6. We went out to eat though the parking is a big problem and a long story. We are now in the evening services. After the meeting tonight we will take the booth down. We plan to leave in the morning. It has been a good meeting and trip. God bless you.

ABA Day 2

2011-06-21T23:38:00.000-05:00

The missionary committee meeting went very smoothly today. There are a total of 175 missionaries being considered for support. None of these were seriously opposed. The ladies meeting got out early for lunch and Janie and I ate lunch with a family with six kids. The father of our lunch companions is a missionary. We enjoyed the fellowship with them. I took a short nap while Janie worked during our lunch break. The afternoon session was good and we got a bite to eat before manning the booth from 4:00 to 6:20. We were late getting to the night session so missed the opening ceremonies of the presentation of the flags and the welcome by the host city. The moderator's address was good and the sermon was outstanding. We manned the booth again until 10:00 and now have called it a day. A lot of people stopped by the booth interested in how things were going in France. We even had one to write us a check for $420. This was not a surprise for we had been told by Jason to expect it. We were suppose to give someone else 100 prayer cards but they have not come by the booth yet. Well tomorrow will be another long day so I had better get some rest. God bless you.

ABA day 1

2011-06-21T10:24:00.002-05:00

The Arch in St Louis

We have arrived in St Louis by way of Palestine where we picked up our daughter and her husband. It was so nice to have them with us and to be able to relax and let someone else do the driving. We spent the night in Texarkana and arrived in St Louis about 4:30. There was a long wait to check in. We got settled in and went out to eat. God bless you.

Chauffeured

2011-06-19T22:22:00.001-05:00

Cooking Breakfast at Martin Creek Lake State Park

The camp out with the grandkids was really good. The two older kids cooked breakfast for us and they did a great job. We went swimming and it was very windy. Since they had cooked breakfast I cooked our lunch. After consuming all the hot dogs they could they retired to the play ground while Scott and I visited. We were all tired and hot so we called it a day and headed for the house. After supper at my mother-in-law's Janie and I headed back to Hillsboro.
When we got back to the house Friday night as we pulled into the garage the shaft on the motor of the garage door opener broke causing the door to fall down onto the hood of our car. It put 2 small dents in the hood. I replaced the motor Saturday morning while it was a cool 90 degrees in the garage. I took Janie to get a hot dog for lunch at the fund raiser that our church's teens were having at the old Wal-mart parking lot. The wind was blowing really hard.
I enjoyed taking Janie shopping Saturday afternoon. We both got some new cloths and while we were in Waco we picked up some supplies for the Church at Sam's. Back home we watched a movie and then went to packing for our trip.
My father's day started with a phone call from my daughter Sarah wishing me a happy father's day. This was followed by Jason's call for the same purpose. We had good services at church.
Just as we were about to head out for the ABA meeting this afternoon we got a call from Sarah offering to go with us to the meeting. We worked out the details and are even now being chauffeured by our son-in-law. We are so glad to have them along. I plan to blog daily about the meeting so stay tuned. I just heard from my daughter Stacie and now my Father's day must come to an end. God bless you.

Camping

2011-06-17T00:15:00.002-05:00

Ruth about to dig in to those pancakes

Sweating while blogging is not my favorite way to blog. Scott and the kids arrived after dark and set up their three tents by flashlight. (that was not a bug crawling on my leg just now as I had thought, it was sweat running down as I lay here in my tent.) We ate junk food and Scott made several trips in the car to the rest room with first one and then another. We are all on our tents now and between my bad hearing and the symphony of insects and tree frogs on this full moon night I can not hear any sound from the other tents. Despite the heat it is fun to camp out. Ruth fell and skinned her knee. I supplied the first aid kit and she doctored her wound. I was proud of her. I am going to enjoy watching them make breakfast in the morning.
This afternoon after we had lunch with my mother we bought flowers for Janie's dad's grave in honor of father's day. We took my mother-in-law with us to the cemetery. It is our first father's day without him.
Well I better try to get some sleep. Those kids will be up early in the morning. God bless you.

Talking To Life

2011-06-13T22:21:00.000-05:00


A Lizard outside our house in Hillsboro

I have taken to talking to plants and animals recently. I talked with a couple of dogs that walked up while I was working on a wood project at my mother-in-law's house. I talked to our house plants on Sunday they were looking thirsty. I talked with a lizard that was perched on the front of our house here this morning. Each of these conversations was one sided of course had they not been I would not be blogging right now. Janie would have had me committed. If Eve talked with the serpent it might be she also talked to other animals and maybe plants. Perhaps in the eternal ages we will talk with God's creatures and understand their needs better than we do now.

Texas Mission Builders equipment arriving

It sure feels like summer time. Even though the actual date for the start of summer is June 21st it sure is hot. I am planning to camp out and do a little fishing on my day off. I may be joined on my outing by my daughter and her family it seems they have Friday off and want to do some camping as well.
The Texas Mission Builders have begun to deliver some of their equipment to our church. They are going to get started with the repairs to the outside of our building the week after next. The materials have been delivered and next week they will be setting up their camping trailers getting ready to go to work.

Materials for our churches remodeling project

We are excited about the work and anxious to see our building get a much needed face lift. By the time the state messenger meeting comes to our church in November we will have remodeled restrooms and a nice exterior to greet our guests. It is going to look great. God bless you.

Camping Table

2011-06-10T17:35:00.000-05:00

Shade tree carpenter, woodworking outdoors

The pieces all cut out of 1 sheet of plywood

I took the day off today and worked on a project out in the yard under a shade tree at my mother-in-law's house. I am building a fold up picnic table which has 8 pieces. It will seat four adults and is made out of 1 sheet of plywood. I got the plans for it on the internet. I have the pieces cut out but they need to be notched then sanded and painted. I put them in the trunk of our car and will finish the project later back home. God bless you.

Walking, Wading, Waving, Winning

2011-06-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

Wading with the grandkids

Peter started out walking on the water. Peter became distracted and began to wade in the water. Peter became worried and began to ride the waves sinking deeper and deeper. Peter cried out "Lord save me!" Jesus reached out and grabbed Peter and defeated doubts battle with Peter. My day is often such a journey. At times I start out in faith walking with full confidence in God. Doubt comes my way and a battle in my mind ensues. I weaken and begin to wade instead of walk. Doubt intensifies its attack and my mind forgets from where its strength and help comes. I then begin to tread water my faith is in peril. Then I cry unto the LORD!!!! He grabs me every time. I look into His face and say, "I know, I know...Why did I doubt?" I wish everyone would know the LORD. Once you know Him you will wonder why you ever tried to live without Him. He is the best.
We had a good Bible study this morning and are looking forward to good services tonight down in Lorena. I took a nap this afternoon and will work well into the night. It is a day filled with walking not waving. God bless you.

Reflection

2011-06-05T22:48:00.000-05:00

In the foyer of the church this morning

The reflection of the stain glass window was made more prominent by the hot sunshine on the front of the church house. The building is always quiet when we first arrive at church. We make the rounds turning on the lights and unlocking the doors. As I unlocked the front door I saw the shell of a 17 year cicada. I would later pluck it from its resting place and give it to one of the ladies of our church to give to her son. In her wisdom she deemed it best to keep it from him knowing he would probably try to eat it. He is under 2 years old.
The temperature hit 101 today which is not the best weather for wearing a suit. Janie and I survived walking around in the heat at Canton on Saturday. We had frozen some bottles of water and we kept sipping on those to keep cool. We also, as is our custom, had some homemade ice cream and that always hits the spot when it is hot at Canton. It was a good time in spite of the heat.

The return of the 17 year cicada at Walnut St. Baptist

It will hit 100 most every day this week. We went to the funeral home after lunch to help a family make arrangements for a funeral. The funeral service, which will be on Thursday, is going to be a hot one. In spite of the heat this graveside service will be, by necessity, fairly long. Janie and I are to sing a duet at the graveside and I will preach a Gospel message to the crowd gathered there. When reflecting on the life of a departed one what is most important is that person's relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I know too many people who just don't understand that fact. We had to leave the funeral home to head for the nursing home and the service at the nursing home was good.

Little Cole sitting between the ushers on the front pew

Our attendance has been good lately but with the summer now here I expect vacations will cause a drop in our attendance. Vacation will take Janie and me away for two Sundays in a row in August even though we plan to watch the services via Skype.
The Lord's Supper observance was tonight and that is to me a very special time. I brought a sermon from Hebrews chapter 9 on the shedding of blood for remission. It was a good service.
Janie and I watched a movie while we ate supper this evening. She is now working and after I blog I will be heading for bed. God bless you.

Hot Walk

2011-06-03T23:46:00.000-05:00

My mother sewing

Two of the officers of Texas Camp #4, Pine Springs Baptist Camp, met for lunch today. The senior of the two was the registrar and the younger was the assistant director. They had a good meeting talking about camp and catching up on things. The camp registrar went to his mother's house after lunch and enjoyed a good visit with her while the assistant director went back to his job. Mother was sewing when I arrived, making new curtains for her kitchen. It was hot at her house, 101 degrees in the shade. Her one window unit A/C was having trouble keeping up. While we were visiting my older brother's two grandchildren came by for a visit. They were cute and sweet and I enjoyed talking with them as did mother. They did not stay long leaving when I left.

Janie coming down a steep hill on our walk

I waved to my lovely wife and my sweet mother-in-law who were sitting in a van eating lunch by the side of the road. I was on my way to the hardware store to get what I needed to move a light switch for my mother-in-law. I met them back at the house and got that switch moved posthaste. Janie and I took a three mile walk enjoying each others company. It was fun but hot. I drank up all the water I had brought along and she drank most of hers. It has been a good day. We will head back to Hillsboro in the morning. God bless you.

Sawmill Gravy

2011-06-01T23:59:00.000-05:00

My book on the Lord's Supper

The services at Walnut Street Missionary Baptist Church this evening were outstanding. The three songs that the congregation sang were full of praise and were sung with such joy that it was thrilling to be there. The text which was expounded was Habakkuk chapter two. It was and is an exciting passage which thrills the heart of the believer especially verse four!
The smell of pork chops slow cooking in a frying pan filled the house this evening after church. The first batch of sawmill gravy ever made in the Clark house came out perfect. The pork chops were tender and oh so good.
This day found me singing as loud as I could sing on two different occasions. The first time was on my way to the bank. I was singing in the car as loud as I could sing. "My Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine. For the all the follies of sin I resign. My gracious redeemer my savior art thou. If ever I loved thee my Jesus tis now!" I heard a car with its radio turned way up high as if the occupant were either deaf or was really proud of the music to which he was listening. I thought I am not ashamed of the music which I sing and so as loud as I could sing I sang. The second time was while I led the singing at church. Enthusiasm is contagious and the congregation tonight was completely infected! Wow, God is good!
The books I had printed by an Online publishing company arrived today. I placed one in the church library and gave one away today. I will keep one in my office at the church and one here at the house. I want to give a copy to our son-in-laws and our son. These first ones I will give away and when I run out I will reorder. The next batch I will sell for what it cost me to have them printed.
Tomorrow will find us on our way to Henderson by way of Canton, Texas. God bless you.

Sunflowers

2011-06-01T00:54:00.001-05:00

Sunflowers near Vaughn, Texas south of Hillsboro

Monday was an easy day of visitation and mowing. It is very hot and dry in Hillsboro. The temperature reached 100 degrees on the car thermometer. The Ladies Bible Study was good and the services down at Lorena were outstanding. There was some work I needed to get done and so now that it is done, I can head for bed.
Janie and I saw a field of Sunflowers and it was quite a sight. The hot dry weather does not seem to have stunted their growth. The farmers are saying that the corn crop will fail this year but the wheat has done okay. Tomorrow is going to be another hot one. I plan to work indoors all day tomorrow where it is nice and cool.
Churches are beginning to register for camp which is coming up fast. In just 3 weeks we will be at the ABA messenger meeting in St. Louis, then there is 3 weeks of grandkids at our house, then 2 weeks of camp, then 2 1/2 weeks in France. Just thinking about it makes me want to go take a nap. God bless you.

Running to God

2011-05-29T23:35:00.000-05:00

The teenagers singing a special at church today

What a wonderful day it has been. There were at least 13 visitors in the services at Walnut Street Baptist Church this morning making the attendance be way more than normal. The message from God was taken from Jonah chapter 2 on the subject of "Running To God." It was an exciting text. The teenagers sang a special before the sermon and the song they sang went along very well with the message.
This afternoon was uneventful allowing time for a short nap. A Skype session with Jason and Angie was enjoyed very much this afternoon. It is good to hear that all is well there. The evening services went well with a message from the book of Proverbs Chapter 8 verse 22 through the end of the chapter on the subject of "Wisdom's Credentials." There was a special deacon's meeting after church that brought joy to the pastor. The teenagers had a pizza party in the fellowship hall after church and it looked like they were having a good time.
The question was asked by many, one of another, concerning plans for Memorial Day. Most have the day off and will be doing special things on that day. Except for a deliberate pause to remember those who died for their country Monday will be business as usual at this house. Mow the yard, visit the nursing home, work on sermons, work on bulletins, and a visit to the gym will consume Memorial Day. God bless you.

Cabelas

2011-05-28T23:25:00.000-05:00

Sarah, Justin and me at Cabelas

Sarah and Justin spent the night with us last night and this morning Justin drove us up to Cabelas north of Fort Worth. We had a really good time. We ate breakfast at McDonald's and Lunch at Cabelas. It was fun to watch the fish being fed and to walk around looking at all the gear. We returned home having bought nothing except lunch there. After supper here at the house they headed home and we went to pick up a few things at Wal-Mart. Janie exercised while I watched then I exercised for about 2 minutes on the same device. I had to repair her exercise device after I broke it twice. My repair made it better than new.

The road in front of where my mother was raised

I got 100 feet of para cord the other day and this evening I braided it so that now it is just 20 feet long. 20 feet braided does not tangle near as bad as 100 feet unbraided. Using this method and knowing braiding will reduce the length by a factor of 4 allows one to make useful lengths up and have them available in a backpack. If you need 20 feet of cord choose the braid that is 5 feet long. If you need just 10 feet of cord choose from your pack the braid that is 2 1/2 feet long. I think I will place 3 lengths of braided cord in my pack a 10, 5, and 2 that should suffice.
Church tomorrow and that is my favorite day of the week. It is Memorial Day weekend and I hope we will have a big crowd at church. God bless you.

Boy Scout

2011-05-26T22:48:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law took this picture today with my cell phone

It has been a busy week as you may be able to tell being my last blog was Sunday and this is Thursday. We spent Monday visiting at the nursing home and getting caught up on work at the house. Tuesday we had the Ladies Bible study but did not go down to Lorena for services there. I had a headache that lasted three days. It is gone today and I am glad. Headaches don't usually hang on that long for me. Wednesday was usual and this morning we left for Henderson stopping to eat lunch in Corsicana. When we arrived we took my mother-in-law to the cell phone store to get her account straitened out. That took a while and afterward we took her out to eat.

New Vargo wood stove

When I was a child I wanted to be in the boy scouts. My mother and father said no and I am sure at the time they had good reason. Camping out is fun. I love the outdoors and especially hiking. I have purchased a new hiking stove. My older brother put me onto it a year or so ago. I watched some youtube videos of it in use and liked what I saw. Janie allowed me to purchase the thing and it arrived yesterday. It is a Vargo Titanium Hex Stove. It weighs just a little over 4 ounces. This evening just before sunset I went outside here at my mother-in-law's house and gave it a try.

My day hiking back pack

I have a small day pack that I have put together which contains some survival/camping/hiking gear. I keep it in the car and take it whenever I go for a day hike. It has a 2 quart water bladder. I have a first aide kit, knife, snacks, a freeze dried meal for 2, flashlight, cook stove, a pot, fire starter, and a handful of other things that would help if I got lost in the woods. Getting lost should not be a factor due to the fact I keep my GPS in the pack as well with fresh batteries. The Boy Scout motto is "Always be prepared" and I think that is a good idea. This pack weighs 9 pounds with its current contents including water.

Breaking up some twigs, it only took a handful

I took my stove out of the pack along with my pot and set it up to boil 2 cups of water. It only took a handful of twigs according to the youtube videos I had seen and sure enough that is all it took. I placed three cotton balls in the bottom of the stove and then piled some small twigs on top. I used a fire steel to light the cotton balls but the fire burned only a minute then went out. I added another cotton ball and put a little alcohol on it and this time it caught on and burned real good. I placed the pot on top and started the stop watch on my cell phone.

8 minutes to boil 2 cups of water with twigs

It took right at 8 minutes to bring the water to a rolling boil. I was amazed at how little wood it took. you can see the little pile of twigs next to my foot and I did not use all of them. I left the little door open most of the time for it seemed to burn better that way. The problem with using wood for fuel is the soot. It blackened the pot and the stove. I used soap, water, and elbow grease to clean them both up. The carrying case for the Vargo will be needed to put the stove in so that it does not soil everything it touches. When hiking and primitive camping water is usually a precious commodity so you don't want to waste it cleaning a stove or the exterior of a pot.
I like this new stove it is definitely a keeper. I plan to cook with it when I take my grandkids hiking and camping during the three weeks we keep them this summer.

Vargo stove setup and ready to go

Tomorrow morning I will be taking my mother to a doctor in Longview. It is time for them to check her pacemaker. I plan to take her to a fabric store and then over to Gary, Texas for some reminiscing. I will take some pictures of our outing and post them here. God bless you.

Ready for the pot

A Smile

2011-05-22T23:43:00.000-05:00

A smile, it costs you nothing
For your face tis good.
For when you are a smiling,
doing as you should,
Encouraging another
Bringing joy and cheer.
And with each smile my brother,
And my sister dear,
You a ray of sunshine bring
On ones cloudy day,
For Jesus wants us to sing
Share His joy for aye.

Janie and I out for a walk, she took lots of pictures.

The next 5 church bulletins are composed leaving 8 more to get done before Janie and I leave for the ABA messenger meeting in June. The poem above is one I wrote for next Sunday's bulletin. This work, the 8 bulletins, along with preparing 33 sermons must be finished in the next 3 weeks. The Devil will have no workshop here. The reason for the deadline is due to the fact that we will be keeping 5 grandkids for 3 weeks. This will require all hands on deck and leave little time for other work.

Our attendance was up and we had good services. There was a lot of people interested in the summer mission trip to help the people in the tornado ravaged region of Alabama. Our church is collecting supplies and a group from our church will go to deliver them and to help with the clean up. I am so pleased as pastor to have people so willing to volunteer to help others in need. God bless you.