S Q U E E Z E

When I was 8 years old I got to make an unexpected trip to Amarillo with my Mom and Dad. My Dad had cancer and was going for a treatment. On the trip up, there was laughing and visiting. On the trip home, there was much silence. Dad lay in the back seat and was sick. I too sat in the back seat and tried to care for him as well as any 8 year old could. Sometime during the trip he reached over and took my small hand in his and squeezed it 3 times and said, “Each squeeze represents a word.” And with each squeezed he said, “I love you!” I in turn squeezed back, “I love you.” But this time he answered my 3 squeezes with 4. I cut my eyes down at him with a questioning look on my face and he said, “That was ‘I love you too’.” So during the remainder of the trip we spoke deep and profound things without saying a word. The following year he lost his battle with cancer.

This past Sunday, my grandson Daniel sat beside me and took my hand and squeezed it 3 times, I in turn squeezed his 4 times. As we cut our eyes around at each other we knew that our silent words were speaking loudly for all to hear, “I love you!”

With God All Things Are Possible

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 got into the habit of going to church on some Sunday mornings but skipping class. Things began to get stressful around the house, as I would load up the kids to take them to church Sundays and Wednesdays while Daryl would stay home.

Pressure began to build so that I had to begin to read my Bible and pray 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 man 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?” There was a look of shock on my face as I said, “You do know you 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.”

CAMP

Our cabin at camp held 17 little girls, ages 9-11 and 5 counselors. We got settled in and noticed our bathroom of 3 showers stalls and 3 bathroom stalls began to flood. I drug in the commercial mop and bucket on wheels and began to soak up the water. Our bathroom flooded all week and I could be found at 6 am, 3 pm, and 1 am mopping up water. I became one with the mop bucket. What did I get in return for mopping up water at these unnatural hours of the night and day??? I got my very first muscle. Since I've been home I have been flexing it for everyone.

The food at camp was ... 'camp food.' Mainly carbs with a little meat scattered randomly about a few campers plates. On Thursday an armadillo wandered into camp and my mouth actually began to water. I looked around and saw several other counselors wiping drool from their mouths also.

Thursday night was cabin skit night. Our little girl's skit was an Ugly Beauty Contest. They donned scary makeup, hair styles, and clothing and paraded around stage to be judged by the chosen counselors. That afternoon we asked the little girls to choose what counselors they thought were cute that could be chosen as judges, they replied, "All of the counselors are old." We laughed, because the counselors ranged from 19 - 50.

On Wednesday evening I asked my campers if they were going to participate in the Sadie Hawkins's chase and supper. All raised their hands excitedly as I looked confused from one face to another. Here stood the same little girls excited about chasing boys, when previously they had snarled their lips at the mere mention of the opposite sex. I quickly blurted out, "When you catch the boys you cannot beat them up." As their hands began to drop to their sides I heard a whisper go through the cabin, "O man."

Each morning we cleaned our cabin and when we were in Bible classes the chosen inspectors would come and judge the cleanest boy and girl cabin. We finally won on Wednesday because of extra credit posters we placed around the room stating, 'Flash Flood Warning,' Life Jackets Must Be Worn in This Area,' Weather Advisory: 99% chance of Flooding.' We got to go first at all the meal times and carry the 'sacred stuffed monkey'. It wasn't until after lunch that we learned that the 'sacred stuffed monkey' could be stolen by other cabins. When our monkey was stolen 3 little girls jumped on the perpetrators and began to kick, hit and bite, managing to draw blood from a boy, as the other little girls stood around crying because their 'monkey' had been stolen. Needless to say, we got our 'monkey' back and no one else tried to steal it while we were in possession of it.

On Thursday morning I let my little girls sleep in an extra hour, unbeknown to the 2 directors and most of the other staff. We also chose not to clean our cabin that morning. When the inspectors came to check the cabin, one of the counselors hid under a blanket on the top bunk and as the the inspectors entered the room, she threw the covers off and shouted, "BAM!" That day we had extra KP duty and I was actually threatened with a Kangaroo Court and the possibility of being drug through the mud.

There are still good times to be had at camp :)

"For we KNOW that in all things God works for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28