I was getting ready to go to work at the library this morning and looking at myself in the mirror I thought "Oh my, you'll soon be 79 years old". What have you done with all those years? Sometimes when you look back on your life, you can see so many mistakes you've made. Could I have done a better job with my life?
I'm sure I could have. I didn't always listen to what my Dad and Mother taught me and I'd have done better if I had. It's easy to see mistakes when you're looking back but it's not so easy to see them at the time. I grew up when there wasn't so many pitfalls to fall into as there seems to be today. What would my life have been like if I had not had christian parents? If I had not been taught right from wrong how many worse mistakes would I have made. I can't help but think, what will some people today think when they are old and
look back at their life.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
A Child's Birth
Our Sunday school lesson Sunday was on the birth of Jesus as we are studying now the book of Luke.
It was on the time when the angel visited Mary to tell her that she would have a child. It made me think
of the birth of our first child. I did not see her in the delivery room as I had had a hard delivery and did
not wake up until I was in a hospital room. I remember the first time they brought her to me. It was not
the first time I had taken care of children. I had taken care of my younger brothers and sisters and had
also taken care of my youngest sister-in-law as her mother had had a stroke about a month after Bill
and I had married. The other sisters still at home were still in school so the job to take care of his mother
and baby sister fell to me.
I felt very different about this baby. I laid her in the bed beside me. I was overwhelmed with the responsibility I felt. I thought, this is a awesome responsibilitty and I don't know if I'm up to it. This child depends on Bill and I. Raising her and teaching her is our responsibility. I can remember how awe-struck
I was that morning the first time I saw my first child. She is now a beautiful lady and has raised a family
of her own. God blessed us even though we made many mistakes.
It was on the time when the angel visited Mary to tell her that she would have a child. It made me think
of the birth of our first child. I did not see her in the delivery room as I had had a hard delivery and did
not wake up until I was in a hospital room. I remember the first time they brought her to me. It was not
the first time I had taken care of children. I had taken care of my younger brothers and sisters and had
also taken care of my youngest sister-in-law as her mother had had a stroke about a month after Bill
and I had married. The other sisters still at home were still in school so the job to take care of his mother
and baby sister fell to me.
I felt very different about this baby. I laid her in the bed beside me. I was overwhelmed with the responsibility I felt. I thought, this is a awesome responsibilitty and I don't know if I'm up to it. This child depends on Bill and I. Raising her and teaching her is our responsibility. I can remember how awe-struck
I was that morning the first time I saw my first child. She is now a beautiful lady and has raised a family
of her own. God blessed us even though we made many mistakes.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Family Reunion
I had been reading on facebook about several people giving up something for lent. I had never thought about doing that before. I thought only catholics did that but after I thought about it, I thought, maybe that's a good thing. I thought I should give up listening to country music. I thought, maybe I don't have to give up music all together. I should be able to listen to gospel music during lent. So this morning I put in a cd I hadn't listened to for a while. A song played titled Family Reunion. It starts out "Each year we have a family reunion" and it goes on to say that each year faces are missing. It made me think of last summer's family reunion when I
looked around and saw so many faces I didn't even know and all the faces that weren't there. I turned around to my brother and said "Are we at the right reunion?" That brother will be missing at this year's reunion. Several family members that we have lost this year and won't be at the family reunions here again.
The song is really about the family reunion we'll have in heaven and what a reunion that will be because of
what Jesus did on calvary. I'm so looking forward to that reunion to see all the ones that we don't see at our reunions here anymore.
looked around and saw so many faces I didn't even know and all the faces that weren't there. I turned around to my brother and said "Are we at the right reunion?" That brother will be missing at this year's reunion. Several family members that we have lost this year and won't be at the family reunions here again.
The song is really about the family reunion we'll have in heaven and what a reunion that will be because of
what Jesus did on calvary. I'm so looking forward to that reunion to see all the ones that we don't see at our reunions here anymore.
School Days
I've been watching this TV show called "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader". It has made me try to remember what I learned in first, second, third, fourth, and fifth grade. I definitely didn't learn some of
the things they question you about on that show. Some of those things I didn't even learn in high school.
They must be teaching a lot of things today they did't teach in the fortys. Of course back then we didn't have pre-school or kindergarden. I think the main aim of first grade was to teach you the alphabet and the numbers. We started out reading in a primer and I can't remember if we went farther than that in first grade.
We didn't learn any geography or history until seventh and eighth grades.
I really think the main aim in grade school back then was "reading, writing, and arithmetic", and sometimes it was taught by the tune of a hicory stick as the old ryme goes. The grade school I went to had two rooms,
although most schools back then were one room. They were called the little room and the big room because the little kids were in the little room and the big kids were in the big room. When I was in eighth grade our teacher had a large stick, he called a friend. It was on the wall on top of a picture and sometimes he used it
but not for discipline. If you missed over so many problems in arithmetic or so many words in spelling there were so many wacks with that friend. In this day and age that would not be allowed but it definitely made the kids study harder.
I enjoy watching the TV show and it's very seldom an adult can answer all the questions. Just two questions for each grade on different subjects, but some of them are definitely not subjects taught in those grades when I was in grade school. I think maybe I prefer the generation I was born into.
the things they question you about on that show. Some of those things I didn't even learn in high school.
They must be teaching a lot of things today they did't teach in the fortys. Of course back then we didn't have pre-school or kindergarden. I think the main aim of first grade was to teach you the alphabet and the numbers. We started out reading in a primer and I can't remember if we went farther than that in first grade.
We didn't learn any geography or history until seventh and eighth grades.
I really think the main aim in grade school back then was "reading, writing, and arithmetic", and sometimes it was taught by the tune of a hicory stick as the old ryme goes. The grade school I went to had two rooms,
although most schools back then were one room. They were called the little room and the big room because the little kids were in the little room and the big kids were in the big room. When I was in eighth grade our teacher had a large stick, he called a friend. It was on the wall on top of a picture and sometimes he used it
but not for discipline. If you missed over so many problems in arithmetic or so many words in spelling there were so many wacks with that friend. In this day and age that would not be allowed but it definitely made the kids study harder.
I enjoy watching the TV show and it's very seldom an adult can answer all the questions. Just two questions for each grade on different subjects, but some of them are definitely not subjects taught in those grades when I was in grade school. I think maybe I prefer the generation I was born into.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
A Poem Speaks
I watched the movie "Spender In The Grass" and there was part of a poem there that I wanted to read.
When I found it, it was not a poem, it was an ode. I usually don't try to interpret poetry. I just want to
enjoy it but for some reason I want to understand this ode. The second verse is"
The rainbow comes and goes and lovely is the rose
The moon doth with delight look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth; but yet I know where'er I go
That there has past away a glory form the earth.
Did he write this when he was an old man and had lost many people he had loved?
He says again later in the poem: Whither is fled the visionary gleam
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?
And the title of the movie was taken from this part:
What though the radiance which was once so bright, be now forever taken from my sight
Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower
We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.
He talks later on in the ode of the faith that looks through death
Perhaps if I was still young, this poem would not speak to me the way it does today.
So I believe William Wordsworth was an older man when he wrote this ode.
The best part of the movie was finding this ode.
When I found it, it was not a poem, it was an ode. I usually don't try to interpret poetry. I just want to
enjoy it but for some reason I want to understand this ode. The second verse is"
The rainbow comes and goes and lovely is the rose
The moon doth with delight look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth; but yet I know where'er I go
That there has past away a glory form the earth.
Did he write this when he was an old man and had lost many people he had loved?
He says again later in the poem: Whither is fled the visionary gleam
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?
And the title of the movie was taken from this part:
What though the radiance which was once so bright, be now forever taken from my sight
Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower
We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.
He talks later on in the ode of the faith that looks through death
Perhaps if I was still young, this poem would not speak to me the way it does today.
So I believe William Wordsworth was an older man when he wrote this ode.
The best part of the movie was finding this ode.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Wisdom
I've always heard that wisdom comes with age but I'm not sure that's always true.
When I think of wisdom, I always think of Solomon. When he became king, he ask God for wisdom and
God gave him wisdom. But as Solomon became older, did he remain wise? God had clearly instructed His people not to marry foreign women that they would turn their hearts away from the one true God. I Kings says Solomon loved many foreign women. He married many of them. In his old age they turned his heart away from God ,just as God said they would. So was Solomon wiser as he got older? I don't think so.
So have I grew smarter through tthe years? I don't think so. I still make as many mistakes as I always
have. But I'm never going to make the mistake of turning away from God.
When I think of wisdom, I always think of Solomon. When he became king, he ask God for wisdom and
God gave him wisdom. But as Solomon became older, did he remain wise? God had clearly instructed His people not to marry foreign women that they would turn their hearts away from the one true God. I Kings says Solomon loved many foreign women. He married many of them. In his old age they turned his heart away from God ,just as God said they would. So was Solomon wiser as he got older? I don't think so.
So have I grew smarter through tthe years? I don't think so. I still make as many mistakes as I always
have. But I'm never going to make the mistake of turning away from God.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Christmas Long Ago
I think there's a song by the name "Christmas Long Ago". At this time of year, I always think of Christmases in the past. There was no tree with sparkling lights. We didn't even have electricity until I was in high-school. I can remember going across the fields with my brother looking for a nice size cedar tree to cut and take home. Us children decorated it with strings of popcorn, crepe paper rope and silver tinsel icles. Daddy always brought home Christmas candy and a coconut. At school we exchanged names and we got a bag of treats thatt was always an orange, an apple and Christmas candy. We had a Christmas program at school that we practiced on for sometime before Christmas. There was always a play where someone played Mary and Joseph and a doll was baby Jesus. We could do that back then. That was the meaning of Christmas and should be today. There was no Black Friday and all the hustle and bustle of shopping then like it is today. But Christmas carols filled the air and peace on earth, good will toward men and the birth of the Christ Child was the main theme of Christmas long ago.
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