'OLE JACK'

When I was small a cousin decided to give my Dad an old hound dog, Ole Jack. He was big, ugly, a good for nothing, with a terrible self-esteem and Mom detested him, yet ‘Ole Jack” adored her.

When our cousin brought Ole Jack to our house, Ole Jack was dressed in a pair of shorts and t-shirt. Ole Jack's had a suitcase filled with a change of clothes, an ole bone, hair brush, razor, tooth brush, and a doggie magazine. From a 6 year olds point of view he was one really hip dog.

Ole Jack needed more than the normal attention given to a family pet. He needed constant love and attention. If you spoke kind to him or gave him a little attention he would jump all over you, cover you with smelly kisses and would try to sit in your lap. Sometime in life he had gotten the impression he was a lapdog.

Ole Jack came with all the usual qualities of a hound dog with bad manners. He barked at everything, was the local flea hotel in our small town and spent most of the time with his tail tucked between his legs.

Our neighbors had a large cocker spaniel type dog that was constantly bullying Melinda and me. This dog added Ole Jack to his hit list too. When this dog showed up, Melinda and I would run in the house and Ole Jack would tuck tail and slink away.

One day the bully dog showed up and started his usual bully tactics; this time Ole Jack fought back. With Melinda and me screaming and crying, Ole Jack latched onto this dog’s throat and refused to let go. Dad finally pulled the two apart, got bit in the process and had to have stitches.

Ole Jack was a hero! No longer did the bully dog come to our house and terrorize Melinda and me. Ole Jack seemed to slink less, seemed to stand taller, and seemed to find a little dignity. But Ole Jack would continue to be a lapdog in his own mind.


Matthew 25:43-45 “I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.'

A Cord of Three Strands.....

When Daryl and I met, he was working in the bus program at the Green Lawn church of Christ. As we dated through the remainder of the school year at Lubbock Christian we attended Green Lawn and worked in the bus program and puppet ministry. Several times over the next several months, Daryl mentioned becoming a youth minister.

Over the next 9 years of marriage, Daryl had gotten in the habit of going to church on Sunday morning only and usually missing class. Things began to get stressful around the house, as I would load up the kids to take them to church Sundays and Wednesdays and Daryl would stay home.

Pressure began to build so that I had to begin to read my Bible and work on my prayer list while he was at work. One Wednesday evening when he came in from work early he poked at me about my fear of ‘going to hell’ if I missed any Church services. I would often ponder, ‘where was the Christian I had married?’

One afternoon after putting in a long hard day at work, Daryl came in and asked, “What would you say if we went to Sunset School of Preaching and I became a preacher?” I’m sure I had a look of shock on my face as I said, “You do know you will have to go to church 3 times a week don’t you?”

In 1992 we attended Sunset School of Preaching. Daryl is currently preaching at the Jal Church of Christ. He has the heart of Andrew gentle, compassionate and very loving.

IPeter 3:1-2 “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the Word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”

OUTSIDE THE BOX

From the start of my life I have always thought outside of the box. Sometimes I get amazing results from this ability, but at other times it has gotten me into quite a bit of trouble.

As a small child we lived in the little town of Mobeetie Texas, located in the Texas panhandle. It was a time when people didn’t lock their doors unless they were going to be gone for a week or two.

On one sultry day while playing outside, I ran into the house to retrieve the jar of cold water kept in the refrigerator by Momma. As I tugged the door of the refrigerator open I was met by a cold blast of air. It was a wonderful respite to the hot summer day. As I downed my glass of water I began to worry about our mamma kitty, Sugar. I had seen her lying under the lilac bush and she had looked miserable; after all she was wearing a fur coat. I wondered how she was holding up in the heat.

Lying on the couch with legs draped over the end while the swamp cooler blew across my body seemed the only answer to the heat. I laid there and pondered the problem of Sugar and the heat. Momma would never allow Sugar to come in and lay on the couch with me. I felt a little twinge of guilt as I enjoyed the cool.

And then thoughts began to arise from deep within the recesses of my mind…..I knew the answer to Sugar’s blistering hot day. I jumped off the couch, flung open the front door and headed to the lilac bush where Sugar was sleeping. I grabbed her up much to her surprise and ran in the house and deposited her in the refrigerator. I again took up my position on the couch, this time swinging my legs to and fro with a self-satisfied feeling all about me.

After a while Momma announced, “Come on girls, we’re headed out to pick apricots.” We loaded in the car with Melinda and I doing our usual giggling thing as we fought over who would set where.

We arrived home several hours later and were met at the door of our house by some friends who had come in from out of town to visit. As I ran to play with Melinda, Momma called out, “Monalea, could you come here please?” I pivoted on my toe and ran back into the living room. “Yes Momma,” I said with wide eyed innocence. “Monalea, when Sonny came in today he opened the refrigerator looking for something to eat and out jumped the cat right into his arms. Do you know why the cat was in there?” “Oh yes Momma,” I said with a hit of brilliance in my voice, “Sugar was so hot, so I put her in there to cool her off.” I would spend the next several years wondering how she had known to ask me about the cat and not Melinda.

Matthew 18:3 “And He said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

THE GREAT ESCAPE - Part 2

Pine Springs Camp http://www.pinespringscamp.com/ was beautiful! The smell of mountains was everywhere, humming birds and bluebirds were a familiar sight and I sat and listened to a wolf howl on our first night there, Wow!

There were 57 women who attended the retreat. We sang together, nothing is as beautiful as women’s voices praising God together. We played silly games, decorated folders, snacked, participated in a ‘talent show,’ visited and ate wonderful food cooked by Ronnie and her husband Tim who run the camp.

‘Where Do I Fit In?’ was the topic for the weekend and Acts 17:28 'For in HIM we live and move and have our being' was our scripture.
We had a fantastic time growing together in God. We are looking forward to next years retreat at Pine Springs http://www.pinespringscamp.com/ the first weekend after the Labor Day Weekend

Acts 17:28 "For in HIM we live and move and have our being."

THE GREAT ESCAPE!

Today, I'm headed to the mountains at Pine Springs Christian Camp near Cloudcroft New Mexico for a ladies retreat! We are going to relax, enjoy time with God and fellowship with ladies. I have heard we are also having an excellent speaker. I can't wait to hear her. Have a great weekend!

Monalea

I Kings 19:11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a Gentle Whisper.

Dyslexia is something that not only runs in our family I believe it ‘lopes.” We have learned to embrace dyslexia and accept it as part of our family. Instead of seeing it as a learning problem, we see it as a blessing; it is a way of looking and learning outside the box.

One Christmas as be begun to decorate the house for the holidays, Rachel grabbed up the small wooden train that spelled out ‘Noel’ and placed it on the special shelf where it sat each year. There was Christmas music playing in the background and everyone was filled with excitement as we placed our special ornaments on the tree.

As we finished up the decorating and began to pack away the boxes I looked up at the shelf where the 'Noel' train sat and saw that Rachel had placed the train so that is spelled out 'leoN'. I carefully took her and showed her how it was supposed to be placed so that is spelled out 'Noel'. She nodded and smiled her sweet precious smile in understanding.

The following year as we decorated for the holidays, Rachel again placed the 'Noel' train on the shelf. Several days passed before I saw 'leoN' spelled out with the train. Again I showed her the way it was to be placed so that it read 'Noel'. “I got it now, Momma” she said.

That year seemed to go by quickly and we turned around twice and we were decorating again. That evening as we were surveying the house with it Christmassy looks and smells Rachel grabbed my hand and pulled me over the shelf. “I did it, I did it” she stated excitedly. As I looked at our 'Noel' train it spelled out 'leoN'. “Ya know” I said, “I think it is time we start a new tradition. This 'Noel' train will no longer spell out 'Noel', but from this Christmas forward it shall say ‘leoN.'” We laughed together and Rachel’s eye twinkled.

Each Christmas thereafter the wooden ‘leoN’ train got its special place on the shelf. We even added other traditions to our family. One year the girls put Christmas lights on the outside of the house. The trees, bushes and eaves glimmered with lights. Last they climbed on the house and worked on the roof with the lights. As evening approached, the girls came in the house laughing, their faces and fingers were cold and they were out of breath. “Mom, hurry you have to see this.” They grabbed my hands and drugged me out the front door. The pushing, shoving and laughter was infectious.

We marched out the door, down the sidewalk and into the street. “Ok Mom, turn around and look.” The sun had long set and the night was chilly as I feasted my eyes around the yard. It was magical, and then my eyes went to the roof, something was written there. “Mom, don’t you get it?” “It spells leoN.” And sure enough, spelled out on the roof in Christmas lights was ‘leoN', bold and shining for the entire world to see. We knew that if a dyslexic pilot flew over our house, he would know immediately that the lights on our roof spelled out ‘Noel.”

Ephesians 4:11-15 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ;”

Diary of Christmas Lights

1990 – While we lived in Houston I decided to tackle the job of putting Christmas lights on the house with the help of the kids. We had never put lights up before so this was to be a mementos occasion.

The night before the kids had trouble sleeping with the anticipation of putting up the lights. The next morning the kids ran to the garage, got out the ladder and extension cords while I retrieved the strings of lights from the house. We all met in the front yard with great excitement.

I moved the ladder to the front of the house and as I ascended the ladder with stapler in hand, the kids were on the ground plugging the lights end to end. As I began to staple the sting of lights to the house everything was going exceptionally well. When I finished stapling the last few feet of lights to the eaves of the house I stepped off the ladder to survey our job. The kids and I were pleased and Morgan ran to plug in the lights…..the string of lights were 3 feet short of reaching the outlet.

1991 – This year was going to be different. The kids and I had 1 year experience under our belts and we were ready to tackle the ‘Christmas lights on the house’ project.

Once again excitement began to mount as we pulled the ladder, extension cords and lights out of the garage. This time we plugged the lights into the outlet before we started putting up the lights. We were on our toes!

Things were going great except for an occasional shock I received when a staple would go into the wire instead of on the outside of the wire. The lights looked great!

1992 – This year Daryl decided to put in his two cents. He informed me that I had been doing it wrong for the past 2 years, duh! Once again the kids and I drug the ladder, extension cords and lights out of the garage. This time we had a bucket and a new staple gun in hand, the old stapler didn’t withstand the ‘shock’ of last Christmas.

The kids and I sat of the ground and began to remove each bulb from its socket and gently place them in the bucket, thanks to Daryl’s two cents. He had informed me that hanging lights from the eaves of the house with the access lights streaming down and hitting on the driveway was a sure fire way to break a few the bulbs.

Once again I climbed the ladder and the kids and I hung the string of lights minus the bulbs. When we finished we pulled the ladder around to the front of the house and this time when I ascended the ladder, I had a bucket full of bulbs in hand.

I would choose a different color bulb and carefully place it in the socket and screw it in. Things were going great, even if it did take us an extra 2 hours this year to put up the lights. As I reached for another bulb, my hand caught the bucket and it fell 7 feet to the driveway, glass splattered everywhere. I was afraid to look at the kids faces as I stood on the ladder with mouth gaping. As I slowly looked around I noticed a crowd of neighbors had gathered on the lawn. Several rushed forward to help clean up the mess, when someone piped up, “We love to watch you; you do such exciting things.”

1993 – This year we decided to forgo Christmas lights.

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”