EGGS AND TOAST, THE FROG, AND THE GUN

It was morning and the air was filled with the smell of scrambled eggs and toast. The lights were big and bright, and there were so many of them. The long, bright hallway seemed to go on forever, and there was a strange, not so bad, smell I had never smelled before. It was the first day of head start, and my sister and I were excited about it. We were going to have so much fun.

After breakfast was over, we went to our classroom to learn a few things and have some of that fun we were anticipating. I don’t remember many books but I remember the awesome multicolored, multi-shaped block set we got to play with, and the multicolored sticks and wheel set. I loved those toys.

At recess, we went to the playground. There we saw several things that we had never seen before. There were big tractor tires to play in, seesaws to seesaw on, swings to swing in, and a big set of monkey bars to climb on. We were a little apprehensive at first because we didn’t know what to do and we were a little afraid because, like I said, we had never seen anything like that before.

We didn’t have a TV at home, and we didn’t really get out that much because we didn’t have a car, so our experiences were limited. Plus, I was only five years old, and she was four. We finally got up the nerve to play. I don’t remember what I played on first, but I remember making my way over to those monkey bars. I wasn’t a good climber, but I did my best and finally made it to the top. That didn’t last long at all, though. Before I knew what was happening, I fell to the ground with a thud. Ohhhhhhh!!!! It hurt. I think I may have even cried. I soon recovered, and we went back inside for more learning and playing.

Another day, we were playing outside, and I saw a red frog. That’s another thing I had never seen before. I yelled out, “Hey, I found a red frog.” Only one kid seemed interested, and he came running as fast as he could. He ran right up to me, and pulled his toy cowboy gun out of the holster and smashed the frog with the handle. He said, “My momma said red frogs are poison.” I didn’t care what his momma said, he had just brutally killed an innocent frog. How could he just murder one of God’s creatures without even blinking an eye or thinking twice? That was just plain mean. It made me mad, so I hit him in the midsection, and made him cry. I don’t know why, but that was the first thing that came to my young mind. Naturally, I got in trouble, and rightfully so, but I felt justified because I thought he deserved to be punished in some way.

Each day before lunch, we would line up in the hall by the kitchen and have prayer to thank God for the food we were about to receive. One day we were in line and the teacher was praying. When she finished, one little boy said, “Teacher, Robbie had his eyes open during prayer.” The teacher said, “you had your eyes open during prayer, too, if you saw his eyes opened.” The kid just dropped his head and looked down at the floor. Then we got our food and sat down and ate.

I have a lot of memories from my childhood, and most of them are good, and even though we didn’t have a lot of things, we had lots of love. We always had food and a roof over our heads. We even had some toys. We didn’t know we were poor because we always had everything we thought we needed and at that time, we didn’t have anyone else to compare ourselves to. If you don’t know what you’re missing, you don’t miss it.

That’s why it’s so important to tell others about the love of Jesus, and a saving relationship with him. There are many people in the world who don’t believe there is a God, but there are many who do believe he exists, but they don’t know him. They’ve never met him or experienced the amazing feeling of forgiveness. I’ve known about Jesus all my life, and I was baptized when I was 12 years old, but I never knew what I was missing until I was born again years later. I dare say there are many others out there in that same situation. They need to know. Everyone needs to know and understand the love of God, and how much he wants to be with us. Whatever your passion is, whatever you love to do in life, find a way to use that to help others, and to introduce them to Jesus. We don’t have much longer. He’s coming back soon. The world needs to know.

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WHEN DADDY CAME TO VISIT

I was somewhere between three, and five years old, and it was early Autumn. It was cloudy, and dreary outside, so my sister and I were playing inside when we heard a knock on the door. As we wondered who it could be, our grandmother went to see. When she opened the door, there stood our dad. He came in and we ran over to greet him. We asked him where our mother was, and he said, “She’s at home. She don’t know I’m here.” He said, “Get ready, and we’ll go surprise her.” He told my grandmother to get ready, and we would all go to his house for a few days. She quickly gathered everything she thought we would need, and we were ready to go. We all crammed into his black, 1953 Dodge truck, and we were on our way.

When we arrived, my sister and I got out as quickly as we could and ran inside to see our mother and our little sister. Our mom was happy to see us and was glad to hear we were staying a few days. We asked her if she was surprised, and she said yes, and that it was a great surprise.

My dad and uncle went hunting, and we spent some time with our little sister, while our mom and grandmother spent some time together, cooking and talking. Later that evening, after dark, the hunters returned with a dead raccoon. They skinned it and made some sausages. I remember seeing my uncle wearing a Coonskin Cap that night. He probably had it already, but for years, I thought he made the cap that night from that raccoon. That would have been pretty nasty, I’m sure.

In my parent’s house, breakfast always consisted of mackerels, boiled in a bit of water, and biscuits to sop up the soup. It was pretty good. Then there was the “Thickened Gravy” made with chicken-flavored bullion cubes. It was always good, too. Mom and dad would take turns making the Chocolate Gravy, but, no matter which one made it, it was always delicious.

For lunch that day, we got to try the sausages. They tasted pretty good, but I don’t recommend it, since raccoons are scavengers. They’ll eat anything.

My mom always made T-Cakes when we would visit. She would mix it all up, and get it ready to make into cakes, then she would give us a little to eat before she cooked them. It was pretty good, but nothing compared to how good they were after twenty minutes in the oven at three hundred and fifty degrees. She was a pretty good cook, and she made the best iced-tea in the world.

That night, a torrential downpour came. It rained for the longest time. The roof was covered with tin, and we could hear every drop that fell on it. I remember Daddy coming in, soaking wet. As he took off his coat, he said there were small fish falling from the sky. I had no reason to disbelieve him at the time, but when I was older and got to know him better, I thought he might have been joking, when I would think about that night. I never thought to ask him if it really happened, but I do know there have been recorded reports of “Raining Fish” as far back as the 1600s, so I guess it’s possible.

Well, soon the time came to go back home. We were sad we had to leave, but our home was with our grandmother. She was a pretty awesome cook herself. We went back home to our quaint, little house, and resumed life as usual.

I’ve always been thankful for those few days, and for all the other times we got to spend with our parents. Those memories will always be dear to my heart, but I’m so grateful to my grandmother for raising us and taking such good care of us. Our mom and dad were not yet Christians at the time, but our grandmother was. I’m so thankful for the values she taught us, and for introducing us to Jesus. I’m looking forward to the day when Jesus comes and gathers the dead and the living believers, and we can all be together as a family once again. Until then I have my memories.

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© 2016 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
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