Out of the Mouth of Babes Part II
II Corinthians 5:20
Back to the hotel, luggage back in storage, and another two days until the next plane to Africa. Due to illness and jet lag, we had not seen any of Paris our first two days. Unfortunately, we still could not tour Paris because our plan did not include another two day stay with all that entailed. Add to that lack of accurate information for regulations and fees on excess baggage, we needed a few of those cattle that God owns on His thousand hills!
Dale had to return to the airport to arrange shipping for all our foot lockers. As we discussed our options, or lack thereof, for this expensive endeavor, 4 1/2 year old Justin piped up and said, "Maybe the people will help you if you tell them your are a missionary and act like one." Nothing like your child reminding you of your responsibility as a missionary!
Another lesson to learn! We are God's ambassadors -- representing our King. An ambassador is one who is an accredited diplomat sent as an official representative to a foreign land. We received our "accreditation" when we accepted Christ as our Savior. Our "diplomatic" mission is to share God's plan of salvation and represent our Lord, keeping in mind that we are foreigners here on earth. Do we represent Him with Christ-like character? At all times? No matter the circumstances? Our lives are fairly ordinary, mundane, and repetitive most days. We need to remember that we are not ordinary people -- we are a part of God's royal family. As such, we need to stand tall, unashamed of our God, exemplifying His godly character in words and actions.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Out of the Mouth of Babes Part I
Devotional time again! I must say, writing these really is a challenge for the brain cells! But I do love sharing things the Lord has impressed on my heart.
Out of the Mouth of Babes Part I
II Corinthians 5:20
Any traveling with our family requires patience, a sense of humor, and a touch of insanity! Our first term as missionaries to Africa with four children was a huge undertaking as we began our trip -- our own personal luggage plus many foot lockers accompanied the six of us.
Excitement (and terror on my part - I had to be confined in a metal tube for 15 hours 30,000 feet above the ground!) was palatable as we settled in our seats. Our plan was to spend two days sightseeing in Paris. However, we only saw the inside of our hotel room in Paris, watching crazy British game shows on TV at 3 a.m.! The time came to pack up for the ride to the airport and complete this chapter of our adventure!
Arriving in a taxi, we all climbed out, grabbed a suitcase, turned around, and Dale had disappeared! We had stored the foot lockers at the airport so I assumed that was where he had gone. The kids and I found our way to the gate and patiently waited for Dale to return. I knew he couldn't depart without us because I had all the tickets! We watched with baited breath and frustration as the minutes ticked by. We missed our plane due to a missing husband!
Brand new missionaries in a foreign country with four children and little money had now missed a flight! All body and mind stressors were vying to lead the pack! God's Word ministered to our hearts; relieving us of anxiety...He is faithful! When He has a task for us, He provides everything to accomplish that task. Now God's plan will prevail! How will He extricate us from this bumbling, crazy mess we find ourselves in?
Out of the Mouth of Babes Part I
II Corinthians 5:20
Any traveling with our family requires patience, a sense of humor, and a touch of insanity! Our first term as missionaries to Africa with four children was a huge undertaking as we began our trip -- our own personal luggage plus many foot lockers accompanied the six of us.
Excitement (and terror on my part - I had to be confined in a metal tube for 15 hours 30,000 feet above the ground!) was palatable as we settled in our seats. Our plan was to spend two days sightseeing in Paris. However, we only saw the inside of our hotel room in Paris, watching crazy British game shows on TV at 3 a.m.! The time came to pack up for the ride to the airport and complete this chapter of our adventure!
Arriving in a taxi, we all climbed out, grabbed a suitcase, turned around, and Dale had disappeared! We had stored the foot lockers at the airport so I assumed that was where he had gone. The kids and I found our way to the gate and patiently waited for Dale to return. I knew he couldn't depart without us because I had all the tickets! We watched with baited breath and frustration as the minutes ticked by. We missed our plane due to a missing husband!
Brand new missionaries in a foreign country with four children and little money had now missed a flight! All body and mind stressors were vying to lead the pack! God's Word ministered to our hearts; relieving us of anxiety...He is faithful! When He has a task for us, He provides everything to accomplish that task. Now God's plan will prevail! How will He extricate us from this bumbling, crazy mess we find ourselves in?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Serendipity Summer
When school ended after 5th grade, another move was imminent. Fortunately for Brian and I, we were able to spend some of our summer with Granny and Gramps. What fun we had digging a hole, scrounging up some boards to put a roof on our cave. Playing football with the neighbor boys...I liked to "hike" the ball! There was a little neighborhood store on the street corner where we made some new friends. Their parents owned the store. Joan and Bud were our age so we did many things together. Granny would drop us off at the city pool for the afternoon and then pick us up 3 hours later. Great fun but I still remember how my lungs ached when I took a deep breath after swimming in the chlorinated water and breathing in the smog. Quite a potent combination.
Another favorite place to be "dumped" for hours...the roller skating rink. Round and round we would skate for 3 or 4 hours!
Then there was all the delicious food that Granny fixed. I remember being able to eat real butter - all Iwanted! My great grandfather lived with my grandparents. Great Granddad always loved his pinto beans, raw onions and cornbread! And he had not teeth! Television was also a very special treat for us at Granny & Gramps. Does that ever date me?? Mickey Mouse Club, Fred Astaire/Ginger Roger, Shirley Temple movies...those were the days!
Granny and Gramps loved to camp and go fishing. It was a great adventure to take the boat to the ocean and fish. Worms, anyone?? Sure, I love to put them on the hook! That is...I like doing it, not my brother, Brian!!! It was a wonderful time in the sun, relaxing on the boat and hoping to catch something. I believe I did catch a fish but I probably should check that out with Brian! He no doubt has a different memory of what I caught or didn't catch!!!
The most important lasting impression from all our summers with Granny wash ow much she loved the Lord and the close relationship she had with Him. Every night, I would fall asleep with her kneeling by our bed (actually, an old fashioned hide a bed) praying diligently for everyone. At age 7, I had attended church with Granny...she taught a children's class. It was in her class that I accepted Christ as my Savior and she began telling me that maybe some day I would be a missionary in Africa!!! I always shouted "NO!" in my head. What mysterious ways the Lord works in our lives!
Another favorite place to be "dumped" for hours...the roller skating rink. Round and round we would skate for 3 or 4 hours!
Then there was all the delicious food that Granny fixed. I remember being able to eat real butter - all Iwanted! My great grandfather lived with my grandparents. Great Granddad always loved his pinto beans, raw onions and cornbread! And he had not teeth! Television was also a very special treat for us at Granny & Gramps. Does that ever date me?? Mickey Mouse Club, Fred Astaire/Ginger Roger, Shirley Temple movies...those were the days!
Granny and Gramps loved to camp and go fishing. It was a great adventure to take the boat to the ocean and fish. Worms, anyone?? Sure, I love to put them on the hook! That is...I like doing it, not my brother, Brian!!! It was a wonderful time in the sun, relaxing on the boat and hoping to catch something. I believe I did catch a fish but I probably should check that out with Brian! He no doubt has a different memory of what I caught or didn't catch!!!
The most important lasting impression from all our summers with Granny wash ow much she loved the Lord and the close relationship she had with Him. Every night, I would fall asleep with her kneeling by our bed (actually, an old fashioned hide a bed) praying diligently for everyone. At age 7, I had attended church with Granny...she taught a children's class. It was in her class that I accepted Christ as my Savior and she began telling me that maybe some day I would be a missionary in Africa!!! I always shouted "NO!" in my head. What mysterious ways the Lord works in our lives!
Baby Kim
Being the first grand children, Brian and I were spoiled whenever we visited my mother's parents. Not necessarily in material things but in the special things we were able to participate in.
After our very brief stay in Nevada, our next move took us next door to these grandparents. I remember how convenient it was to have a gate from our backyard to theirs. I don't think we ever played in our own yard! Baby brother, Kim, was just 6 months old and I was allowed to babysit him. I am sure that was because Granny was right next door!
My favorite stories about little Kim are the number of times he would mess his diaper while he was supposed to be taking a nap. When I checked on him, he had taken off his diaper and "painted" himself and the crib with the deposit he had made in said diaper!!! Now, most kids would be throwing the baby out the window and burning the bed, sheets and clothes! Well, what clothes were left on him! But I thought it was fun to plop him in the bathroom sink and scrub him from head to toe! He smelled so clean and sweet afterwards! And I loved combing his hair and dressing him up!!! Looking back, as a mother, I would never have left my almost 10 year old alone with a baby knowing that this 10 year old would have to do this! Even if Granny was close by! For some reason, this did not ever change my mind about how many babies I wanted later in life!
Now enters Kim into the life of a student. School now was part of his daily routine. His imagination worked over time apparently all during the day as he was stimulated by everything in the world around him. This caused him to have nightmares. What better place to run when you awake with these dreaded dreams? Big sister's bed!!! One recall on the nightmare odyssey occurred when I was in 9th grade. We lived in a ranch house in Hemet (California) and it was the house that Jack built...it had continually been added on to. My bedroom actually had an outside door as well as the regular bedroom door. One night I was awakened by a thump on that outside door. Talk about adrenaline rush!! I screamed and bolted straight up in bed, ready for flight. False alarm! It was just little brother needing refuge from a nightmare!!! There was an incident a few years later in another house, another location. Only at that time, my little sister and I were sharing a double bed. Coming out of a deep sleep, I realized I was sleeping on the very edge of the bed and felt so crowded. Heather must have really kicked and moved during the night. I look over and no wonder! Kim had joined us during the night!!! This active imagination has never left him but I don't think he is having nightmares any more!
Another new school for 5th grade. The only things I remember from this school...earthquake drills (get under your desk!)...writing in class many, many times..."I will not talk in class when someone else is talking." It was usually 50 times a pop! I went through a lot of paper!!! For our physical education...square dancing in the classroom. I loved it!
This was February of 5th grade. I was a flower girl in my mother's cousin's wedding. It was a Catholic wedding and took forever it seemed to a little girl!!
After our very brief stay in Nevada, our next move took us next door to these grandparents. I remember how convenient it was to have a gate from our backyard to theirs. I don't think we ever played in our own yard! Baby brother, Kim, was just 6 months old and I was allowed to babysit him. I am sure that was because Granny was right next door!
My favorite stories about little Kim are the number of times he would mess his diaper while he was supposed to be taking a nap. When I checked on him, he had taken off his diaper and "painted" himself and the crib with the deposit he had made in said diaper!!! Now, most kids would be throwing the baby out the window and burning the bed, sheets and clothes! Well, what clothes were left on him! But I thought it was fun to plop him in the bathroom sink and scrub him from head to toe! He smelled so clean and sweet afterwards! And I loved combing his hair and dressing him up!!! Looking back, as a mother, I would never have left my almost 10 year old alone with a baby knowing that this 10 year old would have to do this! Even if Granny was close by! For some reason, this did not ever change my mind about how many babies I wanted later in life!
Now enters Kim into the life of a student. School now was part of his daily routine. His imagination worked over time apparently all during the day as he was stimulated by everything in the world around him. This caused him to have nightmares. What better place to run when you awake with these dreaded dreams? Big sister's bed!!! One recall on the nightmare odyssey occurred when I was in 9th grade. We lived in a ranch house in Hemet (California) and it was the house that Jack built...it had continually been added on to. My bedroom actually had an outside door as well as the regular bedroom door. One night I was awakened by a thump on that outside door. Talk about adrenaline rush!! I screamed and bolted straight up in bed, ready for flight. False alarm! It was just little brother needing refuge from a nightmare!!! There was an incident a few years later in another house, another location. Only at that time, my little sister and I were sharing a double bed. Coming out of a deep sleep, I realized I was sleeping on the very edge of the bed and felt so crowded. Heather must have really kicked and moved during the night. I look over and no wonder! Kim had joined us during the night!!! This active imagination has never left him but I don't think he is having nightmares any more!
Another new school for 5th grade. The only things I remember from this school...earthquake drills (get under your desk!)...writing in class many, many times..."I will not talk in class when someone else is talking." It was usually 50 times a pop! I went through a lot of paper!!! For our physical education...square dancing in the classroom. I loved it!
This was February of 5th grade. I was a flower girl in my mother's cousin's wedding. It was a Catholic wedding and took forever it seemed to a little girl!!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Life Continues....
How is it that when you don't work outside the home and there are no longer children to care for, you have more things to do and time really, really flies by??? Yes, this is what I have been experiencing!
Today I am going to try to get back to posting again -- hopefully there will not be any major interruptions!!!
Memories of the 4 1/2 years spent in a small desert community (First Grade through Fourth Grade school years) are a little vague, yet highlighted with certain experiences still remembered.
The Mojave Desert, in particular Lucerne Valley, will forever be present in my DNA make-up! To this day, I can literally smell the desert and feel the dry heat bake my skin as I played and grew during these 4 1/2 years.
The kaleidoscope of memories circles through my memory...
...sleeping outside in the open air at my best friend's house...a new experience both being away from home and sleeping outside without any shelter...in the spring, going to school barefoot...my first crush on Bobby Dilperdang...winning 3rd place in an art contest...the excitement of my first circus...banished to the house with chickenpox...getting a malt at the local Malt Shop...Sugar Daddy candy suckers that would last all day...Bazooka Bubble gum...black licorice...all my favorite special treats given sparingly...everybody knew who you were in our small little town...our own "Mayberry"!!
When I began 4th grade here in Lucerne Valley, we were in a new school which had just been completed except for the fencing. One day while the teacher was teaching English, I was watching my father out in the yard digging post holes for the fence. The teacher called on me, knowing I was not paying attention! His words, "Lynda, I bet I could get that man you are watching to come into the classroom and answer this grammar question!" I knew I should have been listening to the teacher but...I had to stifle a laugh because I knew that was my Daddy and there was no way he could answer the grammar question! He did not like English and it was not his best subject!!! Math was my Daddy's field of expertise!!!
I remember Daddy trying to teach me how to do long division. He had made big blackboards for my brother and I that were in our bedrooms. I could not get the concept with long division, even with it all written on the board. Which meant, Daddy would go back to the end of time and start teaching me that 1 + 1 = 2!!!! These lessons were long and painful for me!!!! Daddy's patience was long too and I finally got it in my head and moved on to other difficult things.
Fourth Grade came to an end and we began to pack to move to Fallon, Nevada to another ranch. Fifth Grade would begin in a whole new environment with new friends, new teachers, new bus route, new home and a new baby brother who had been born 5 months before we moved.
I only remember one day of school, riding horses one afternoon with the ranch owner's daughter, one ride on the school bus ( I was so scared I would get on the wrong bus!) and then we packed up and moved again!!!! Such is the life with the Elmore Gypsies!!!! (Below: Yours truly in 4th grade)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)