DATE WITH DESTINY

I was Twenty years old and it was Summer. I was driving my dune buggy on the two-mile road that led to my house from the main highway. I hadn't had my toy long but I was driving it like I had always had it. It had been raining and I wanted to get home before it started again. One of my friends was with me and he said something about slowing down. I was driving faster than I should have been on that curvy, wet road.

Then my friend asked me a good question. He said, “What would you do if you went over this hill going this fast and there was a car stopped in the road?” I said, “I’d do this,” and quickly bumped my brakes. When I did we started spinning on the wet pavement. As I desperately tried to regain control, we slid off the road into the ditch, but we didn’t stop or even slow down. That’s when I saw the light pole coming straight toward us. Just as we reached it, we quickly turned and missed the pole and started flying backward into a muddy field. As soon as we came to a complete stop, I shifted into first gear and stomped the gas to the floor, slinging mud everywhere. When we got back on the road, I drove quite a bit slower the rest of the way home. That was a scary experience but I was so thankful that God was watching over us.

I wish I had continued driving slower from then on, but I was young, but not quite as wise as I should have been at that age. You may think I’m exaggerating when I tell you this connected story, but I promise I’m not. Just a few months later it was winter and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I worked several miles from home and decided to try to make it to my house and back to work on my lunch break.

I was on that same road to my house where I had the dune buggy accident earlier in the Summer and once again, I was driving too fast. It had snowed earlier in the week and there had been ice on the roads for a couple of days, but the sun came out that morning and melted most of it. There were pine trees on the right side of the road casting a shadow on the pavement. Where the shade was, the road had not been exposed to the sun so the snow and ice had not melted there. 

Just as I was going over that same exact hill I saw the patch of ice. I hit my brakes in the same exact spot where I had on the dune buggy. The car began to spin out of control just like the dune buggy did. I tried to regain control just like before but I slid off the road into the same ditch at the same spot. Then I saw that same light pole coming straight toward me. Just like before, as I was just about to hit it, the car quickly turned and started rolling back into the same muddy field. It stopped almost in the same spot as the dune buggy. I’m not kidding. No exaggeration. It was eerie how similar those two incidents were, and I knew once again that God had been watching over me. That time, though, I had to walk to a neighbor’s house and get him to pull my car out with his tractor.

There was a famous philosopher and poet in the early twentieth century named George Santayana. He once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I hadn’t forgotten the incident the previous Summer, but it wasn’t fresh in my mind either. I hadn’t learned anything from it, that’s for sure. There are many variations of Mr. Santayana’s famous quote. The one I like is, “Those who don’t learn from their mistakes are destined to repeat them.” I believe that one can better be applied to this situation.

The Children of Israel went through similar situations where they would serve God for many years and be prosperous. Then they would turn and serve other gods. Then God would send them into captivity. Later they would repent and turn back to God and he would deliver them, but the cycle continued.

Today, many of God’s followers are in the same situation. When we turn away from him and return to our old ways, we get into trouble. Then we call on God for help. He helps us but then we seem to forget and go our own way again. When will we learn? God will not bless us when we turn away from him and do our own thing.

A good relationship with Jesus is very important. Serving the God of heaven is very important. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). He also said, “No one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). In John 14:6, he said he is the Way. No one can come to the Father except through Jesus. He is the door (John 10:9).

Let’s not forget who he is. Let’s not forget where he brought us from. If we do, we may find ourselves back there in the same situation we were in before. We don’t have to live in the past or focus on it to learn from it. Sometimes, we do have to look back at where we were, to appreciate where we are now. I want to learn from my mistakes and be determined not to repeat them. Who’s with me?

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3 GIRLS, 3 GUYS, AND A GREMLIN

I’ll never forget the year I turned nineteen. My cousin invited me to go to church with him, so I did. I loved that church and I loved the people. I still do. They were so kind and loving and fun to be around. They didn’t condemn me because I wasn’t a Christian. They just loved me, and showed me kindness, and made me feel like part of the family.

I was raised in church and was taught that the Bible is God’s word, but when I was sixteen, I left home and left all that behind, but now, I was going to church several nights each week, and reading the Bible again. My life was much better. I was headed in a positive direction and I actually felt good about it. As I read more about Jesus and got to know him, I grew to love him. Soon, I gave my life to him and was born again.  

Some of my cousins and friends started coming to church, and we made new friends. We had a prayer meeting night, a youth night, and a choir practice night each week. We would hang out in the little town some nights after services. We did a lot of fun stuff and had many adventures and I learned that I didn’t need drugs or alcohol to enjoy life.    

Things aren’t always perfect, though, just because we are serving God. I want to tell you about a few adventures we had that weren’t pleasant at all, but I know God was with us, and when I look back on them now, I sometimes laugh.

We were taking one of our friends home one night after church when I ran into a mud puddle on the edge of the road. The wheel quickly jerked and pulled the right two wheels into the shallow ditch. I had heard people say, “If that ever happens, turn your wheels back to the road and gas it, and you’ll come back up out of the ditch.” Well, I took their advice and floored it as I turned the wheel back toward the road. It might have worked except for one small detail. The ditch didn’t remain at a consistent depth. It quickly got deeper. Really deep, in fact. Before I knew it, the car was on its side and we were all piled up on each other on the passenger’s side of the car. We had to climb up to get out the driver’s side door, then we had to walk for a few miles to get some help. We finally got the car out, and we were on our way again. God protected us from getting hurt. The side of my car was all bent and scratched up, but we weren’t. Praise the Lord for that.

We were at McDonald’s one night and saw some of our friends there. They were in another car so we were sitting alongside each other facing opposite directions. When they started driving forward, I started backing up, staying beside them, and continuing to talk to them. I glanced back at the parking lot behind me and knew there were no other cars back there. It was all clear. Then, all of a sudden, my car came to an abrupt stop. I had hit a light pole with a concrete base. We were traveling pretty slow, so nobody was hurt and neither was the car. I never did that again without looking back.

Another time, we were headed to church in that little yellow Gremlin. There were three guys and three girls. There were two guys in the back seat and I was driving. The girls all wanted to sit in the front seat together. We were packed in like sardines and one girl was sitting on the other two girls’ laps. When we reached the main highway, I stopped. Then, as I drove out and turned to the right, the girls all fell over on me and grabbed the steering wheel. It felt like it locked. I couldn’t straighten the car up. We quickly headed for the steep embankment and would have gone over if I hadn’t slammed on the brakes just in time. God was with us that day, too, and gave me the wisdom to know just what to do.

As I look back on my early days as a Christian, I’m encouraged. I remember what my life was before Jesus became part of it, and I can imagine how much worse it might have become if I hadn’t started following him. He changed my life in so many ways, and I’m so thankful.

He knew exactly what I needed and he knew the exact time I needed it. He sent me to that little church where his servants would show me his love. They loved me just like I was, and they allowed God to change me in his own time. That’s the way it should be done. We’re fishers of men, but we have to allow God to clean them. We can plant the seeds, and even water them, but it’s God who causes the trees to produce fruit (1 Corinthians 3:6).

It’s amazing how God can turn a life around and give it meaning and purpose. That’s what he did for me that night he came into my heart in that little church. When we get discouraged, and the pressures of life get us down, we need to remember where God brought us from and how he changed our lives. Many times, looking back will give us the strength and courage to keep moving forward.

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THREE FRIENDS, THREE TREES, AND A CONFESSION

I was twelve years old and I lived about a quarter of a mile from my best friend. There were three homes, a church, and a patch of woods between us. There was a valley in the woods and some really tall trees. One day at school, my friend told me he had found a big vine in the woods and had been swinging on it. He wanted me to meet him there after school and have some fun swinging. So I did.

He brought his neighbor with him who went to another school and we all took turns swinging on the vine. At first, I was careful because I was a bit nervous. The hill where we were swinging was pretty steep and when we swung out we were very high off the ground. Then I got a little braver and was swinging further out and higher each time.

Then it happened. I swung too far. There were three trees side by side in a V shape. My shoulder hit one of them and spun me around and I slammed into another one with my back. It knocked the breath out of me and my hands just let go of the vine. I fell into the valley and hit the ground with a thud.

I got up as quickly as I could. It was all I could do to move. I could barely breathe and I was in pain. I just wanted to lay down and cry. All that kept me from doing just that was the fact that I was embarrassed. I didn’t want my friend and his friend to think I was weak so I acted as tough as I could. I did muster up the courage to tell them it hurt a little and I needed to go home.

I could have been hurt worse than I thought. I could have had internal bleeding. I hit that tree pretty hard and I fell a long distance. I hurt for several days, but I didn’t dare tell anyone what had happened, especially my grandmother. I was afraid she would never let me leave the house again.

Shame and embarrassment often prevent us from admitting that we’re not invincible. It also makes us try to hide things we’ve done that were wrong. Even though we know God sees everything we do, too often, we refuse to even admit to him that we’ve sinned, just like Adam and Eve, after they sinned in the garden of Eden. They actually tried to hide from God when he came to visit them.

Isaiah tells us that “sin separates us from God,” but John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (Isaiah 59:2; 1 John 1:9). Have you ever heard “Confession Is Good For The Soul?” Well, it really is. Forgiveness is an awesome gift from God, so the next time you sin, and you feel so ashamed that you want to run and hide from God, don’t. We don’t have to be afraid to come to him. We have his promise that he will forgive us.

We know he loves us, and we know he wants what’s best for us so why is it so hard sometimes to just turn to him and confess our sins and say “I’m sorry?” Sometimes it may be pride, but I think it’s usually just shame and embarrassment. We have to get past that and learn to admit when we sin and ask for forgiveness, immediately. The sooner we do, the sooner we can be forgiven and get back to the safety of his arms. It’s truly the best place to be.

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THE BASKETBALL CONNECTION

When I was in school, I loved basketball. My grandmother bought me a brand new ball to practice with at home. That’s the one I took to school and two older boys took from me and wouldn’t give it back. I’ll place a link at the end of this post so you can read that story if you haven’t already.*

I got another ball later and discovered that I was probably better off without one. We lived directly behind one of the neighborhood stores. The owner’s son was one of my friends. Sometimes he would get off the bus at the store and stay until it closed. Many times he would come and stay at my house until just before his dad locked up. One of those times, as he was leaving, he threw a rock in my direction. We had been playing with the basketball and I was about to take it into the house with me. As he threw another rock, I ran to where it was headed and let it bounce off the ball. He threw a few more and I intercepted each of them with the ball.

Then it happened. I missed, but the rock didn’t. It didn’t hit the basketball, it hit me; Right in the midsection. I dropped the ball and hobbled into the house crying so hard I could barely see. I crawled onto my grandmother’s bed and curled up in agony. I was in a lot of pain. I lay there for what seemed like forever, then I guess I finally went to sleep. When I woke up, I was better, but for a long time, I would have sporadic pains that would remind me of that day.

I believe that was the same basketball that I later used to damage myself again. I was squatted down, using a hammer for something and the basketball was nearby. For some dumb reason, I decided to hit the basketball with the hammer. When I did it bounced off the ball and the claws hit me right in the forehead. It was quick, and it was hard, and it really hurt. I still feel stupid for doing that even as I write this. Sometimes I can’t believe all the dumb stuff I did when I was young. As I look at some of the crazy things young people do today, I try to remember how dumb I was, before I condemn them.

That story reminds me of another incident that happened with one of my sisters when we were younger. It doesn’t involve a basketball, but it does have a hammer. The house we were living in belonged to my late great-uncle. It was old and drafty. At some point in the past, someone had put plastic over the windows on the outside and used roofing tacks with cardboard as washers to keep them from pulling through the plastic. The plastic was gone so I was using a claw hammer to pull the tacks out. I had to use some force, so I was swinging the hammer a bit and I wasn’t able to get the claws under the head of each nail the first time, every time.

My sister came out on the porch to brush her teeth. She bent over to spit just as I swung the hammer. It missed the tack head and hit her head. The claws made two deep holes in her skull. Here’s the funny part. She looked at me and said, “Did you hit me?” Believe it or not, we have had several laughs about it over the years.

Several years earlier, I had damaged my own head in the gym at school. The girls’ basketball team was practicing at one end of the court. Most of them were in a single line, and they were running some drills. The other end of the court was filled with kids playing whatever they wanted. The gym was full and I was being chased by a couple of girls. I ducked and dodged several people before running through the line of practicing girls. Just as I passed through the line I saw the wall, but not soon enough. I smashed into the corrugated tin which wasn’t all that solid. It was a just little too springy. I bounced off the wall quick and hard. I ended up on my back on the concrete floor. My head hit the floor so hard that it knocked me out for a few minutes. When I regained consciousness, my teacher was standing over me, calling my name and asking, “Are you alright?”

No, I wasn’t alright. There was a huge, hard knot on the back of my head and I was in a lot of pain. I remember sitting in the office as the teachers and the Principle discussed whether or not to send me home. They finally decided to contact my family and they came and took me to the doctor. They checked me out, and took some X-rays, then informed us that I had a concussion and a fractured skull. Thankfully, that’s the closest I have ever come to having a broken bone in my entire life. I went home and recovered in a few days, and soon I was back to my old self, and back in school.

I did learn some lessons from these experiences and I have applied them to my everyday life over the years. That has helped me to become more safety-minded and I’ve avoided many other accidents that could have possibly been fatal.

God wants us to apply the lessons we learn in our everyday lives to our spiritual life. Too often, we make quick decisions, without thinking like I did in these situations. Sometimes we have to make quick decisions, but usually, we have at least a few moments to think before we leap. That’s what God wants us to do. Many of my accidents could have been prevented if I had only thought about the variables. I’ve been accused of being pessimistic because I now think about what could go wrong before attempting certain new things. I don’t see it that way. I’m not expecting only bad outcomes, I’m just weighing the situation. I think it’s irresponsible to jump into anything without first thinking about it for at least a few minutes. That’s just common sense. The Bible has plenty to say about thinking before we speak, and there are many stories where people got into trouble by doing things without thinking first.

Most people would agree that we need to take time to consider our options before we make big decisions, but we need to do the same thing with everything we do. We need to stay in constant contact with God through prayer. We need a close personal relationship with Jesus, and when we have a decision to make, even a quick one, he will guide us through the Holy Spirit who lives in our minds. Life would be so much better, for all of us, if we were so close to God that we could hear him every time he tries to speak to us. That’s what I want. How about you?

*I Forgive You Mr. Richmond (Basketball Story)

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TWO OLD MEN, TWO OLD TRUCKS, AND A GRAVEYARD

I was probably around ten or eleven years old when I did my first odd Job. There was an old man in our neighborhood who wanted me to help him cut some firewood. Actually, he just wanted me to help him pick it up and put it in the back of his truck. He talked to my grandmother about it and she sent me to help. He had an old white Dodge that had seen better days. Well, I climbed up into his truck and we drove a few miles and he turned off the road and just drove off into the woods.

We got out, and he fired up that old chainsaw and started cutting. He cut the trees into small sections about a foot or two long, so they would fit into a heater. I don’t know if he was cutting it to sell, or for himself. That really didn’t matter to me anyway. I didn’t care what he was doing with it. I just wanted to get his truck loaded and get out of those woods. I helped him for what seemed like all day long, but I only remember loading the truck once, so it was probably only for a few hours.

A few years later, my cousin and I were walking by the house of an old man we had known for years. He had owned the store in that community up until a few years earlier. He called us over and asked if we wanted to make some money. We asked him what we would be doing. He said he needed a little dirt put on a few graves at the graveyard. He said, “It won’t take long, and I’ll give you both Ten dollars.” We said we would do it, and he told us to come back early the next morning when it was cool so we could finish before it got hot.

We arrived early the next morning and knocked on his door. He came out and took us to an old step-side pickup truck that had been sitting in that same spot for years. It was filled with trash that had been there just about as long. We had to clean all that mess out first. That probably took us thirty minutes. That truck was so old the start switch was on the floor, and it didn’t want to start. He had to get some gas and raise the hood to prime it, and all sorts of stuff. It took a while, but it finally started.

Then he drove the truck twenty or thirty feet to his old garden spot that was overgrown with Bermuda grass and handed each of us a shovel. The ground was hard and the grass was thick. It took about an hour to fill up that truck with dirt. I thought he wanted a “little” dirt on a “few” graves. We had enough dirt to completely fill up a couple of graves. We threw the shovels and a wheelbarrow on the truck, then we headed to the graveyard. It was a few miles away and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry. When we got there, it had already been about two hours since we got to his house, and it was getting hot.

We worked in that graveyard for two or three hours, filling up the wheelbarrow, pushing it around from grave to grave, and then back to the truck for more dirt. We were hot and sweaty and soooo tired. As we watched the dirt level drop in the truck we grew more and more anxious. We were ready to go. It wouldn’t be long now.

Finally, the truck bed was empty, and we were working with the last wheelbarrow full of dirt. Just as we finished spreading the last shovel full, the old man said, “I think we need some more dirt.” Ughhhhhhhhhhhh!!! That’s what was going on in my mind.

To make a long story short, we spent the whole day working, until it was almost sundown. When we finally got back to his house, we were ready to get our money and get out of there. We thought we might get paid more than Ten dollars each, since, what we thought would only take a few hours actually took all day, but it was right the opposite. The old man held out a ten-dollar bill and said, “Thank you, boys. Here’s your ten dollars. Y’all will have to get it changed at the store.” Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

All that work, all that heat, all that sweat, and the blisters, and the tired aching body. All, day, long, for five dollars each. When he said he would give us BOTH Ten dollars, he really meant ten dollars for BOTH of us. We said a few mean things about him to each other on the way home, and we both vowed to never work for him again, as long as we lived, and that was one vow we both kept.

Looking back, it really wasn’t that bad of an experience. Since I’ve been an adult, I’ve done harder work for nothing. We did get paid something, and we did get a “Thank You” to go along with it. I learned an important lesson that day and I told my children this on several occasions. To make good decisions, people need all the information available. So when negotiating, always make sure you have all the information available, and always give people all the information you have so they can make good decisions as well. This is very important when making any kind of deal, especially when it involves money and labor. Ask questions until you’re sure you understand what you’re agreeing to, and you won’t be surprised in the end.

The same principle applies to our relationship with God and his holy scriptures. I’ve talked with many Christians over the years who don’t read and study the Bible for themselves. They just get fed once or twice each week by the preacher, and he can only provide a small portion in the few minutes he has each time. These people don’t have all the available information, so it’s harder to make the right decisions for all the problems Satan’s forces throw at us every day.

It’s very important to know what God expects from us. His instructions are in his Holy Book. There are also many promises from God and many encouraging words from his servants to help us every day. We all need to read and study the Bible every day, and of course, we need to stay in constant communication with Jesus, through prayer. Life is tough, and we all have a lot going on, but a close, personal relationship with our Lord Jesus will make it bearable and will fill our hearts with joy.

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UNCLES AND AUNTS, TURKEYS AND PEACOCKS

When I was a little boy we would occasionally go visit relatives who lived a long distance from us. When I say a long distance, I mean farther than we could walk in an hour. My grandmother didn’t have a car, so we walked when we would go to the store, or to visit our aunt, or friends in the neighborhood, which was all within about a two or three-mile radius. To go any further than that we depended on our aunt or a taxi cab.

Aunt Lee had an old white Chevrolet car. I should say, it would be old now, but back then it was probably only a few years old. She had that car for as long as I could remember. Once in a while, we would get in that car and go visit those relatives who lived too far away to walk.

We had lots of aunts and uncles. My mom had two sisters, but her brother died when he was only eleven. My dad had two brothers and four sisters. Those were the younger uncles and aunts. We didn’t get to see them much until we were older. My grandmother’s brothers and sisters and their spouses were our great-uncles and aunts. They are the ones we visited the most.

When we would go to their homes, we would usually stay for hours, and many times all day long. Sometimes we would even stay all night. I usually loved going to visit them. They would always hug us, kiss us, and tell us how cute we were, and how much we had grown since the last time they saw us.

I remember going to visit Uncle Wilberth and Aunt Adelia over on Pine Mountain. I think they were actually our great-uncle and aunt. Uncle Howard and Aunt Lorene lived uptown in Corinth for many years. Then, when we were older, they moved up around the Tennessee state line. Uncle B.Y. and Aunt Rachel lived by the highway in Dead Man’s Curve for a while, then they moved a few miles east on the other side of the highway. Then they moved over to the Bethlehem area when we were older. They came to visit us pretty regularly. I think Uncle Marvin and Aunt Ludie lived somewhere on the other side of Lone Oak, and Kossuth. I’m not sure. They both died when we were pretty young, so I don’t know exactly where they lived. From what I can remember, their house was built like the house on the old TV show, “Little House On The Prairie.”

Uncle Elbert and Aunt Effie lived at the bottom of Bethlehem hill. On the hottest days of summer, that was the coolest place to be. They had lots of trees, and a big spring-fed creek running right through their yard. The spring had created a pond that was only a few feet deep with water so clear you could see the bottom, and it was full of Lilly pads. They had made an area where you could walk down to the edge of the creek and get some of the spring water to drink. It was cold and delicious.

I remember going to see Uncle Ervin and Aunt Bonnie. They had a yard full of guineas. They were funny-looking blue and gray colored birds, and they just walked around making the most annoying sound I had ever heard. I only remember seeing Uncle Ervin a few times. He died when I was young but we continued to visit Aunt Bonnie for many years. It happened about the same way with Uncle Willie and Aunt Luola, except I don’t remember him at all. He died before I could get to know him, but when Aunt Luola would talk about him, I knew that she really loved him, and missed him terribly. She had two peacocks running around in her yard and they were so beautiful. We could never get close enough to touch one of them, but every time we visited her, we would find a few peacock feathers in the yard to take home with us.

One morning, Aunt Lee put a wooden box in the car as we were getting ready to go visit Aunt Luola. She wanted to give us a cat. At the end of our visit, the cat was put into the wooden box and the box went back into the car. When we got home, Aunt Lee took the box out and set it on the ground. The second she opened the lid, that cat jumped out and ran across the yard like a scalded dog. It ran across the road and into the woods. We only saw it a time or two after that, and only for a minute or so then, and only from a distance. For months, though, we could hear it at the edge of the woods crying. We took food and left it there for it every day. A few months later, we moved and had to leave the cat behind.

Uncle Roy and Aunt Daisy were our great uncle and aunt. They lived in a beautiful valley called “Horseshoe Bend.” They had cows, mules, and chickens, but what I remember the most were the two big turkeys running free in their yard. The male was huge. He was almost as tall as me and he was mean. He would chase me and my sister sometimes. It would scare us to death. Uncle Roy had to kick the thing two or three times one day to make him leave me alone. Other than having to avoid that killer turkey, I really enjoyed our visits with them.

There’s nothing like childhood memories. I cherish them. They take me back to a much different time than what we live in today. A time when everything seemed simple to me and I had no worries, except for the occasional crazy animal attacking me. Those memories make me think of what the world might have been like before sin entered in and messed everything up. Then I’m reminded that someday, God will return the earth to its original state, and we will be able to see and experience all the beauty and peace that we have missed out on because of the curse of sin. It will be an awesome experience and I don’t want to miss it. I’m looking forward to that day. I hope to see you there.

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THE FLOOR, THE CAMERA, AND THE SANDWICH

I’ve already told you about my oldest memory, well I think this is my second oldest one. I remembered playing on the living room floor with a small toy car or truck in that little house my grandma was renting from the Richardsons in Theo, Mississippi. They also owned one of the little country stores that were there at the time.

I remember rolling a small ball around on the same floor. The floor wasn’t level so the ball would roll by itself. All I had to do was place it at the high point of the floor and let it go, then it would roll a couple of feet to hit the baseboard, and then come to a stop in the corner. I recall doing that over and over again. It never got old.

I also remember that part of the linoleum was torn back from the wall revealing another layer of older linoleum that was not torn as far from the wall as the top layer. The edges had been tacked down with those little black tacks. The raw wood floor was made of narrow boards, probably four or five inches wide.

Even though we moved from there when I was six or seven, I can still see much of the house in my mind. We have several pictures of the outside but I don’t think there were ever any taken on the inside. My grandmother had one of those old square shutter cameras without a flash. That’s the camera she used until she died. It had a viewfinder bubble, so you had to hold the camera down in front of you to see the image you wanted to take. Then you pushed a small handle down with your thumb to snap the picture. Then you had to manually turn a knob on the side to roll the film into position to take the next picture. They needed plenty of light to take a good picture so to get the best picture quality, outside on a sunny day was ideal.

The siding on the house was made of the same stuff roofing shingles are made from today but it was in big sheets. The roof was covered with corrugated sheets of rusty tin, and there was a small porch at the front of the house where my grandmother would often sit and watch us play in the front yard. We never got too far away from her. She was our protection and our lifeline and I guess we knew it even at such a young age.

In the backyard, we had a small garden in the summer. I remember almost stepping on a snake in that garden and being pulled back by my aunt just in time. When my grandmother first told me the story of Peter Rabbit, that was the garden I pictured in my mind. There was a clothesline strung between two trees at the end of the garden.

One day as she was hanging out clothes, I noticed a knot on a tree, about a foot up from the ground. I ran and jumped on the knot with one foot, then pushed myself off of it and landed back on the ground. I liked that, so I did it again. My grandmother said to me, “Stop before you get hurt.” I thought to myself, “Just one more time.” As I jumped up one last time, my foot slipped off the knot, and instead of bouncing off the tree, my chin slid down the tree, ripping the skin off in several strips. Owhhhhhhhh! I still remember the pain and embarrassment.

Closer to the house there was a spot where the wood for the heater was piled each winter. One winter we had a pile of slabs from the sawmill. I remember picking up boards about two feet long and throwing them higher onto the woodpile. That was also the spot where we would later tie our dog named Clete that we got from our uncle.

It was cold outside, but we were usually pretty warm in our little house, thanks to my grandmother, and our little wood heater, both provided by God, by the way. There was a pan to put the ashes into before carrying them out of the house when the heater would get too full. It always stayed in front of the heater to catch anything that might fall out while stoking the fire or putting more wood in.

I don’t remember where we had been that day, but we had just come home. My grandmother started a fire and put a couple of chairs in front of the heater so we could get warmed up while she fixed us something to eat. Soon, she brought me and my sister each a sandwich on a plate, and then went back into the kitchen.

Now, I never remember wasting food unless it tasted really bad, or unless I found a hair in it, but my little sister was a picky eater. If she didn’t want it, she got rid of it. She took one of her pieces of bread off her sandwich and threw it in the ash pan. Then she folded her other piece in half around her bologna slice.

When our grandmother came back from the kitchen, she saw that piece of bread in the ashpan. For some reason, she slapped me on the leg as she asked me, “Why did you throw that piece of bread in there?” I started crying. I think it was more because she accused me of something I didn’t do, more than the actual slap itself. When I explained what had actually happened, she apologized. After I stopped crying, I finished my sandwich and went on with my life.

I tell you that story because I remember it, not because I hold a grudge against my grandmother. She wasn’t perfect. She made mistakes, just like all parents do, but she loved us and she did the best she could. I don’t hold any grudges against my mom and dad for not raising us either. Too often, people can’t move on in life because they refuse to forgive their parents for the mistakes they made in raising them, but holding on to anger will eat you up inside and you’ll be a miserable person. It robs you of God’s blessings and his forgiveness.

Jesus said if we don’t forgive others, then God won’t forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15). If we’re not forgiven then we won’t make it to heaven, and that would be sad. So if you’re holding on to some hurt because of something someone has done to you, forgive them and be free from that burden Give it to Jesus and move on. Instead of dwelling on hurtful memories, choose to remember good times. The more time we spend with the good memories, the less time we’ll have to think about the bad ones. Try it. It really helps.

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THE LIZARD, THE SNAKE, AND THE SEA DRAGON

More memories from my early days at Gift school have resurfaced. I remember getting up in the mornings, getting ready for school, and getting on the bus in the winter while it was still dark. My first-grade teacher’s name was Miss Gay, and her mother, Mrs. Minnie V was my second, and third-grade teacher. Both the second and third-grade classes were in the same room together, so I don’t really remember which grade I was in the year I’m telling you about. I just know it was one of those two.

It was the first day of school and the bus stopped at a house where it had not stopped the year before. A small kid was waiting there at the end of the driveway. His dad was waiting there with him to see him off to school on his first day. He was just starting the first grade, and evidently, he was a little nervous about riding the bus. He started crying, and screaming, “I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go.” He became hysterical. His dad tried to calm him down and convince him to get on the bus, but it didn’t do any good. After a few minutes of chaos, he told the bus driver that he would bring the kid to school, and we moved on to the next stop.

Every morning when we arrived at the school, the bus would ease up to the driveway and stop in front of the school. It was a big red, brick building with wide concrete steps that went up to the second floor to a wider concrete porch with big columns. The doors opened into a big auditorium with a tongue-and-groove hardwood floor that creaked and squeaked when we walked on it. There was a stage on the opposite wall that faced the front door, and classrooms on each side. The Principle’s office, and the storage room, for the chairs and other miscellaneous stuff, shared the wall with the stage.

I can recall several events that were held in that auditorium. We had our Christmas plays there, and our song practicing for the plays. Parent’s night and graduations were held there. Then there was that Fall Festival with a King and Queen contest that my sister was crowned queen in. When it was raining or was too cold to be outside, the second through eighth-grade students could play and hang out in that big area.

One day we had two special guests in the auditorium that many of us were excited to see. A group of people brought a giant lizard and a giant snake to show off. I don’t remember exactly what kind either of them was, but they were both the same color, a dark shiny black, which I found pretty interesting. The lizard looked just like the snake, but without legs, and it was shorter.

They put a table in front of the stage and sat the lizard on it and let us come up and pet it. Then they took the snake and stretched it out to show us how long it was. From what I can remember, I would say it was probably ten to twelve feet long and about as big around as a basketball. It took three men to pick it up. It was huge.

I remembered hearing about a snake that was so big it swallowed a baby whole. I wondered if it could have been that snake. After I was older I realized that was not the only large snake in the world, and it was certainly not the biggest. I’ve since heard of snakes swallowing grown men and large animals, such as deer and cows.

When I was young, I always loved seeing the different creatures that God has created, especially the ones I had never seen before. I miss that feeling of seeing a creature for the first time, but once in a while, I get to see one I’ve never seen before. I recently saw the most amazing creature I have seen in many years. We went to the zoo for the blue-millionth time. I’ve seen all those old broken down animals and all the same kinds of creatures that they have had for the last twenty years, but it’s fun to watch our grandson as he sees them live for the first time.

He loves to fish, so we went into the aquarium building. We looked at the fish, of course. There are so many fish that are so beautiful and colorful that seeing them never gets old. Then we saw the water turtles and the water snakes and eels, and all the strange creatures that live in the water. But then, I saw something I don’t remember ever seeing in my whole life. It was a sea dragon. Its head reminded me a little of a seahorse. It was beautiful. I was so amazed. I couldn’t look away. Even more amazing, it was just sitting there in one spot without moving. As I examined it I saw little fins moving to keep it suspended in one spot. It was so awesome. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. When we got home I looked it up on the internet and found that there are several different kinds and many variations, both in shape and color. Very fascinating.

God has created some amazing creatures in this world, and there are so many. I know I haven’t seen them all, and I probably never will in my lifetime, but one day, after God wipes the curse of sin from the earth and recreates it, we will have eternity to enjoy all of his creations (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1; 2 Peter 3:13).

In 1 Corinthians 2:9, the Apostle Paul, quoting the Prophet Isaiah said, But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the minds of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him (Isaiah 64:4; 1 Cor. 2:9).

I have a very big imagination, and I can imagine some pretty amazing things, but God is telling us that nothing we could ever imagine could ever come close to the things that God has prepared for us. That’s an amazing thought just by itself, so think about it for a while.

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My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6