Year: 2014

If there is any one thing that I have trouble doing, it is making my bed every day. I don’t know why it is such a struggle to accomplish. If you timed it, bedmaking takes less than five minutes.

I am no amateur at housekeeping either. I learned how to make “hospital corners” with the sheets when I worked at a nursing home back in the 60s. Experts say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. I guess I am  going to have to get some gold foil stars and put one on a calendar for every day I make my bed, like we did as children for brushing our teeth.

Routines and habits. We talk about someone doing something  religiously or habitually and it sounds like that is a bad thing, but we human beings are creatures of habit.

The 60s, when I was a teen, was the era of the free spirit. Do what feels good. Free love. Living together unmarried. Back to nature, living in the woods. No one was going to tell us what to do. Boys rebelled  against their clean-shaven, crew-cut fathers and grew long beards and long hair. We girls rebelled against our aproned mothers and just barely kept house, preferring to let life happen however it would.

However, over the years, I have found that habits aren’t all bad. Brushing your teeth morning and night sure helps you avoid some nasty problems, not to mention it keeps people still speaking to you. Taking a bath, getting a hair cut, holding down a job are not all bad.

Here is another good habit. Hebrews 10:24-25 NKJV says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,  but exhorting one another..”

Going to church every Sunday is a very good habit to get into.

After I moved back to Vinita, Ok. in 1977, my little son and I would go to Grand Lake fishing with Mom and Dad sometimes.

Daddy would say, “Let’s go fishing,” then head outside to mess around with his fishing poles and tackle. Mom packed crackers and cheese, apples, cookies, napkins in a paper grocery sack. She poured the boiled coffee in the thermos. A jacket in case it turned cool on the water, a book for me to read in case the fish weren’t biting. Just the necessary stuff. Oh, and the flashlight. Don’t forget the metal Ever-ready flashlight.

Then we’d pile into the old ’57 Ford with the non-functioning stick shift on the column and a 4-in-the-floor that shifted backwards and stuck through an open hole cut in the floorboard. Roll the windows down for air conditioning.

Along the way we had to stop at Simpson’s bait shop to buy worms and minnows, Snicker bars and bottles of pop. Daddy always said was, “Why do you women have to turn every thing into a picnic?” He was going to catch fish. We were going to relax, enjoy life, read a book, visit a little after a hectic week.

It is the woman’s way–providing nutrition for her family. Birthday? Cake and ice cream. The family together after church on Sunday? Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. Anniversary? Going out to eat. Friday night date? Movies, popcorn and soda pop. Thanksgiving or Christmas? Turkey dinner for the family. Baby shower? Cake and punch, with party-mix nuts.

Paul talked about food in Romans 14:17KJV. “For the kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” 

There is nothing wrong with eating to celebrate, as long as you remember, that what you eat or don’t eat does not bring you righteousness, peace, and joy. It might be true that we are what we eat, but my value as a child of God doesn’t come from natural things.

I am not defined by what I eat but by who I am in Christ..

I sat this afternoon at the dining table, gazing out the window,  lost in thought. When I came to myself, I saw 3 squirrels chasing each other around the yard, up and down the crabapple tree. Suddenly all three went up  the tree and out of sight. A very large blue jay sat on the fence, while  several robins and sparrows pecked at the ground. I watched the shadows on the lawn and felt the tensions of the day drop away.

I’ve never been an outdoors person, although I have gardened for many years. I only went outside when I had to work in the garden or to get  in the car and go somewhere. Our previous home didn’t draw a person outside. Although I made a few feeble attempts to make the backyard more inviting, it  meant work, not pleasure.

Now I am drawn out into the yard. In this home, the patio seems like an extension of the living room and it is just natural to wander out  and look around. Before I know it, I have pulled a few weeds, smelled the roses, entwined a vine through the trellis, and got some fresh air and exercise without even trying. The birds and squirrels roam around keeping me company. Outdoor living is more enjoyable every day.

Jesus said, “Are not 2 sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very  hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31 NKJV

He knows my name, He knows where I am, and the very hairs on my head are numbered. Before I ever called on Him for salvation, He knew me and was just waiting for that moment.

Watching the robins and sparrows, I realize how much God values and loves me.

The proudest day of my life, up to the time I was 12 years old, was when my older sister had her first baby. She is 6 years older than I and when she had that baby, I thought he was my baby too. We spent many hours together, with us younger kids loving that baby boy, feeding and diapering him, playing with him, just like he was our doll. That’s where I got my favorite name for a baby, “my little doll.” My sister had 3 babies in 4 years, more babies for me to play with.

It was many years later before I had my own 2 children, but because I was an aunt, I was so sure  I knew everything there was to know about raising babies, since I had been with my sister so much while she was raising hers.

Then my younger sister had her first son before I had any kids, then her twins just a few weeks before I had my own first child a son. Her twin boys and my son were so close in age, our mother dressed them in identical clothes and called them her “triplets.” We raised our kids around each other, so that they were more like brothers and sisters than cousins.

What joy it is to see our adult children at our family reunions, laughing and talking like the old days and to see our grandchildren playing with their little second cousins, like brothers and sisters.

Our family is close because of our mother. She always treated us alike, so there was no real jealousy between us. We were raised to share and share alike, to work together, to kiss and make up, to love each other, even if we might not always like each other.

One thing our mother always taught us besides loving each other, was that our family was a Christian family. Mother made a choice years ago that she would raise her children to serve the Lord.

“Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve, . . .As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 NKJV.

His name is Healing. I touched a feverish brow and spoke His name. By morning the fever was gone. We spoke His name over a 2-year-old girl with leukemia and she has now been in remission many years, a teenager now.

His name is Salvation. Billions have spoken that name and become residents of a new country, Heaven. Just like aliens who stand in a courtroom and pledge allegiance to the United States of America and forever change their homeland, so we stand in the courtroom of God Almighty, swear allegiance to
Jesus Christ, and we are forever changed.

His name is Deliverance. Just the mention of His name brings demons to their knees. A woman tormented by depression and thoughts of suicide now leads a Christian women’s group, set free forever from those powers of darkness by the name of Jesus.

His name is Peace. A person facing surgery speaks the name of Jesus in prayer and calmly lies down without any dread.

His name is Comfort. Standing over the grave of a dear loved one, we speak the name of Jesus and comfort floods our soul. He said He would never leave us or forsake us, that He would go with us to the end of the world.

His name is Abundance. As we break our bread in Jesus’ name and serve it to the hungry world, we know that it will never run out. We give our love-gift to the Lord with cheerfulness, knowing that what is left over will always be enough to meet all our needs. We give to the poor, knowing that from the Lord we will receive our reward. We open our hearts and our purses to the needs of the people knowing that Jesus also opens His windows of heaven to pour out a blessing on us that we cannot contain. He is the Lord of plenty, who always supplies our needs according to His riches in glory, not according to the economy of this world.

His name is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.

His name is Jesus Christ.