Monday, June 30, 2008

Writing from Amarillo, Texas...

Grandsons Steven and Brendan joined Ted and myself as we drove to Amarillo on Wednesday. We picked Brendan up at the Houston airport and began our adventure stopping in Huntsville, Texas, to spend the first night. Swam for a while in the motel pool, ate a good meal, and hit the road again on Thursday, arriving here around 6 p.m.

We are having great fun and it is wonderful to see things through the eyes of the children. Have been touring the local spots, including a trip or two down the old Route 66, which runs through Amarillo. The old shops and storefronts are interesting and harbor many vintage items from the past. Everything is so "flat" here compared to Georgia and even our area of Texas.

We are heading to the Palo Duro Canyon for our big experience there on Monday, July 7. Will post new pictures from that leg of the trip.

Today we toured a great Mexican tortilla factory, saw the workers busily making the product, and ate some wonderful food. Have also taken the boys to enroll at the local city library, which is very good in this city, and checked out books and movies and signed them up for the summer programs there. Each is sporting a brand new library card of his own. We have played the Wi game and bowling is our favorite. The boys are into a heated checker game now and we play Rummy and other board games. Both boys are very good at Scrabble and we've been shopping, too. Can everyone with teens or pre-teens say "GameStop?"

Went to a wonderful smaller church in the neighborhood on Sunday, which we all enjoyed. And, we've visited with Ted's son, daughter in law and grandchildren, David and Rebecca.

Until the next page turns,
Brenda

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Fuel for the Fire June 24 - 30, 2008

June 24 – “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.” (Acts 1:7)

June 25 – “But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

June 26 – “As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool.” (Proverbs 26:1)

June 27 – “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” (Proverbs 26:4)

June 28 – “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.” (Proverbs 26:12)

June 29 – “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful (lazy) upon his bed.” (Proverbs 26:14)

June 30 – “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.” (Proverbs 26:20)

Monday, June 23, 2008

On the road again...making music with my friends (and having fun)


We've had fun creating a brand new blog spot for the Clarkston High School Class of 1960 where every member of the class can post their thoughts, ideas, suggestions, helpful hints and photographs — lot of photographs, old, new and in-between.

Have heard from several member of the class over the weekend and we are beginning to gear up for the planning of our 50th class graduation in 2010. The two Millies, along with Marie, and Ginger, have formulated some good ideas and we are looking forward to some input (not to mention hard work) from others in the class.

If you'd like to visit our class blog spot, it is chsclassof1960.blogspot.com. Blogging is fun and easy and oh, so helpful. Saves writing hundreds of emails to individuals when you can post one message and all can read. Classmates, please get in the habit of checking our site every few days to see what's new or who has written.

Also, we're trusting that some updated email addresses will be sent to us so that we can include everyone in the class. Check the list we sent out to see who is not on there that should be, please.

Just in case you have forgotten, here's what Ginger Bragg Doster and I looked like in 1959 at Pine Lake where we lived and hung out most of the time.

Ted and I are traveling again. On our way to Amarillo to take Steven and Brendan to visit the area and especially Palo Duro Canyon, but I have my trusty MacBook computer with me.

Until the next page turns,
Brenda

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Every once in a while a real treasure falls into your hands...


It is no secret that I love old book stores and shops and that usually in every city my husband and I visit, I try to make the time to get into at least one or two. People who have a profound love for books share a kindred spirit in that they’re always willing to help point you to their favorite bookshop or to tell you about the last great book they’ve read. Many of these shops are obscure little places tucked away in busy shopping centers and off the main highways and byways of our nation.

I have friends in several cities now, such as Coyce V. Wilkinson, a kind, gentle man who owns and runs Books & More in Amarillo. He is a true book lover and always has several open behind his counter in his shop. He helped me to complete my collection of Hemingway novels and to acquire the latest in the James Patterson series. It is also no great secret that books are expensive and that any way you can find to purchase them at reduced prices is worth checking out in earnest. I’ve found estate sales, Goodwill stores, The Salvation Army stores and sometimes individual garage sales are good places to scoop up good literature. The Internet shopping services are also good ways of obtaining particular books as long as you know the title and author you want. I long ago got over being proud when it comes to book shopping, and the better the deal, the happier I find myself.

I also have friends who share their used books with me, and I likewise, return the favor. There’s always a bag of books somewhere in our home waiting to be delivered to a friend’s house or taken to one of the shops to be exchanged for new reading material.

While shopping in a little bookstore recently, I chanced to come upon a small book, “Simple Wisdom for Rich Living,” the life story of a Hattiesburg, Miss. woman, Oseola McCarty. Miss McCarty was an African-American washerwoman who lived a simple, but profound life in the old south, and left a legacy in education for which she will be long remembered by many. The first thing I noticed about the book was that it was an original printing signed copy by Miss McCarty and I found it had enjoyed several printings by Longstreet Press in Marietta, Ga. since that time. I read it in one sitting and found it to be inspiring and exciting. After reading the book, I began a one-woman campaign to verify its contents and to find out whatever I could about this amazing woman.

The more I read and discovered, the more enamored with Oseola McCarty I became. Her selfless story is a remarkable one that bears witness of what one person can do in a lifetime. The words bear mute testimony to a lifetime spent washing and ironing other people’s clothes so that the simple woman could donate $150,000 in education scholarships to The University of Southern Mississippi, a place in her hometown she had never visited, but had heard about in the news.

When Miss McCarty decided to make her gift to the university, her neighbors and those that thought they knew her well were astounded. Customers who had brought washing and ironing to her modest frame home for more than 75 years read like the social register of Hattiesburg. She has done laundry for three generations of some of the families. In the beginning days, she said she charged $1.50 to $2 for a bundle, but with inflation, the prices increased some over the years.

“When I started making real money — $10 a bundle, I commenced to save money,” said the articulate speaker. “I put it in savings at the local bank. I never would take any of it out. I just put it in consistently and it just accumulated over the years.”

Miss McCarty was born in Wayne County, Miss., on March 7, 1908 and was reared by her mother, Lucy, grandmother and aunt who moved to Hattiesburg when Oseola was very young. Even as a young child of eight, Miss McCarty worked after school helping the women of her family wash and iron. “I’ve always loved to work,” said Miss McCarty. “Good honest work keeps a mind and hands busy.” When Oseola was in the sixth grade, her childless aunt had to go into the hospital and when she was released, she needed someone to care for her. Oseola left school to take on that responsibility and never got to return to her classes.

Her grandmother died in 1944, her mother in 1964 and her aunt that she took care of in 1967. “I’ve been having it by myself since then,” said the kindly lady. In 1947 her uncle gave her the home in which she frugally lived and worked.

During the latter years of her life, bank personnel, realizing that Miss McCarty was accumulating sizable savings, advised her to put her money into CD’s, conservative mutual funds and other accounts where it would work for her, including a trust for her care should she need it. In the meantime, Miss McCarty continued to do the laundry of her customers until arthritis forced her to retire in December 1994 at the age of 86.

Paul Laughlin, assistant vice president and trust officer of the local bank, along with an attorney for whom the laundress had worked, explained to Miss McCarty what she had accumulated by using dimes and slips of paper. She divided her savings between her church, three living cousins and the University of Southern Mississippi so that other young people could obtain the education she never received. “She placed one dime on the slip of paper marked for her church, one dime each for three living cousins and six dimes for the university gift,” said Laughlin. “It was totally her idea and her choice of the distribution.”

At age 87, Miss McCarty donated $150,000 saved from her 75 years of doing laundry to the University of Southern Mississippi out of her total savings of some $280,000 and continued to live her quiet, unassuming life until word got out of her sacrificial gift. Stephanie Bullock, an 18-year-old African-American Hattiesburg High School honor graduate, became the first Oseola McCarty Scholarship recipient.

She then had offers to appear on ABC, CNN, NBC, BET and MTV, which she did with quiet aplomb. Miss McCarty was also a big read in Newsweek, The New York Times, People, Life, Ebony, Essence and Jet. Her numerous national and international awards include the Presidential Citizens Medal presented to her at the White House by President Bill Clinton, the second highest civilian honor in our nation, the Wallenberg Humanitarian Award and the famed Avicenna Medal from UNESCO. She was also featured as one of Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People in 1995 and was the recipient of an honorary doctorate of letters from Harvard University.

The sudden fame did not change this humble, hard-working, thrifty woman. She continued to live in her modest home, tend her flowers, cook her own meals and walk everywhere she went other than in latter years when transportation was provided to her. One interviewer noted that Miss McCarty’s old, worn Bible was held together by strips of Scotch tape. The entire Book of Corinthians was taped into the worn leather cover. Miss McCarty’s death was mourned by thousands on Sept. 26, 1999 when she died of cancer of the liver. Her principles and exemplary life inspire others and leave a rich legacy that has spread far from Hattiesburg.

I have included some of the quotes from Miss McCarty’s book in The Examiner’s Fuel for the Fire in coming weeks.

Fun things to do with kids during summer months


I shared last week’s column with some of my friends to get their feedback and I was pleasantly surprised at what I learned. Adults really must work at having fun and educational things planned to do with their children and some families really are getting good at improvising.

It amazes me that the very people we love the most often get our least attention, resources and time. With rising gasoline costs and expensive airline tickets, many of our family members and friends are finding themselves staying home for the balance of the summer and making do with cost efficiency entertainment and outings. Along with the four ideas I listed last week, here are six others that might give families ideas for summer adventures and wonderful memories.

I mentioned turning off the TV for an entire evening, and even though that will strike some as a novel idea, it is a good one. It is frightening how important the television and video games have become in some families. Every room has its own TV and every child has one or more game machines to play day and night. Sitting and watching TV is entertaining, and sometimes educational, but it doesn’t foster quality together time and interaction. I know of at least five families who have planned what they term “family night” once each week when there are usually no guests or outsiders in the home. The concept is growing. Some families choose to play board games, others cook together and share the meal with each member leading the team for one night. The leader chooses the menu, helps to buy the groceries, sets the table and cooks what can be done practically.

Other families choose somewhere in the local community to go together. A friend’s family went to the local water park last week and took a planned picnic dinner to share after the kids tired of playing in the various fountains and water toys. Every member of the family went on this adventure and enjoyed themselves, including the pre-teens and teens.

Here’s an idea that all may not have the opportunity of participating in because of where you live. Two years ago I covered the story in Beaumont of an inner city group growing a simple fruit and vegetable garden on a small plot of land on a busy street. The kids decided to share the bounty with senior citizens who lived in the neighborhood. According to the sponsor of the project, the kids had such fun and the adults who received the fruit and vegetables were thrilled to be included. The kids took real pride in their work and kept the entire area free of weeds, watered and harvested as needed. I went over and took several photographs of the kids with their cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, onions, beans, squash and a watermelon or two.

While they worked to grow the garden, they learned a lot about life. The kids also shared team building skills, responsibility and the beauty of sharing.

If you’ve never taken the time to take your daughter or your son fishing, now is the time to do it. Purchase an inexpensive rod and reel, some bait and pack a cooler with chilled drinks and head to the nearest stream, lake, bayou or the Gulf shore to have the fun of a lifetime. It is not about the number or kind of fish you catch. It is not even about keeping the ones you catch. It is about the wonderful excitement of fishing together. It is an adventure pitting the fisherman against the fish, not to mention the crabs, eels and other unusual things you will land in the Gulf waters. Here at our house, we practice the “kiss and release” rule for most fish, but there are a few that make for good eating if you have someone willing to clean and fillet them for the table.

My husband, Ted, and I took Callie Grace, my nine-year-old granddaughter who lives in Groves, and Steven, who lives in Orlinda, Tenn. fishing in our boat on the Intracoastal Canal last Saturday. We had such fun with our picnic and cold drinks from the cooler on board. Callie wanted to catch fish, but she did not have an extreme amount of patience at first. She thought that as soon as you dropped the line in the water, a fish should bite the bait and let you catch it.

When she did catch her first fish, it was a fighting gafttop that did not want to be caught. It fought, twisted and turned all the way to the side of the boat. Callie was doing the best she could to contain her excitement, but she finally said, “PaPa Ted, hurry and take this fish off my line. He is walking all over the water.” We all had a good laugh at Callie’s description of the fish’s behavior. She was proud of her fishing skills and couldn’t wait to tell everyone at church what she’d done.

The kids will never forget the summer adventures and neither will the adults involved.

One thing that is more difficult for families to accomplish in the busy summer months is simply eating meals together. How many homes use the dining room or kitchen table to store everything from incoming mail, catalogs, hats and sports equipment, raincoats and umbrellas, flower pots to books and tapes? One family I happened to visit recently said that they had not eaten a meal together as a family sitting at the kitchen table in months. I thought that was a sad fact.

Mealtimes are good times to share the day’s activities, who’s doing what and when, things learned and dreams to reach. I fondly recall meals around my grandmother’s kitchen table when everyone took the time to catch up on each other’s lives. Big decisions were made around those pieces of wood and great investments were made in the lives of those gathered around for a meal. Take time to cook and eat together, even if it is only one meal a day.

As much as quality group family time is needed in the day and age in which we live, special one-on-one time is also needed with each person. Plan those valuable moments to share with one child at a time when at all possible. If you are having several grandchildren visit during the summer, try to plan the visits so that each child has a day or two of alone time with the grandparents. You learn secrets, fears, goals and dreams of each child and can have a very special time to store for your own memories.

Make those summer investments very carefully for good long-term results.

Beating the "I'm bored" and "What's To Do?" summer questions...


School days have been over long enough now for the kids around the house to be using the age-old “I’m bored” and “I have nothing to do” or “What can we do today?” conversations. I’ve always taught that busy kids are better kids and that boys and girls with nothing constructive to do get into more trouble than kids whose families plan fun things to do.

Same thought pattern is true with church and school environments. If teachers are prepared and have enough lined up for the kids to do to keep their interest, chances are that the classrooms on Sunday and through the week will be active, fun, learning places instead of places where bad behavior flourishes. For several years, our staff had more than 3,000 kids in our children’s church in Atlanta and we used the concept of “team-teaching,” where one adult would quickly take over from another to provide visual, musical, interactive concepts to keep the kids on their toes. What did it cost? The answer includes a lot of work and a lot of prayer, but not necessarily a lot of money. We always operated on a tight budget in the work of the church.

We demanded the top in musicians and teaching personnel. Our pianist and organist were among the very best the large church had to offer. No one, including the adults, came into that large auditorium to play. No one worked in Super Church because they simply wanted to avoid going to the regular services of the growing church. The volunteers came to work, to provide interesting teaching and a fun-filled day long to be remembered by the church kids who came to the services with their parents and the bus kids who rode in on one of the 53 bus routes all over the Atlanta area. We saw remarkable results with the lives of children being changed, which automatically saw the lives of the moms and dads become different. The child was the ticket into the home to deal with the parent who did not have an interest in spiritual matters.

The same is true in our homes, and believe me, I am writing this column from experience today. I have reared three children of my own and have some seven precious grandchildren whom I keep just as often as I can arrange to do so. And, that’s not counting my years of working in Forrest Hills Baptist Church and in a national ministry where we put our practice into teaching other church workers how to motivate and train children.

Steven, my eldest grandson is now visiting from Tennessee and Brendan will be arriving in the next few days from Georgia. Callie Grace, a local Groves resident, was here last week for three days of fishing, swimming and playing on the beach. I do admit I have a huge resource by living on the Gulf of Mexico, which provides hours of playtime with little money involved other than food and cold drinks to share. The packing of the picnic basket and cooler each day is only one of the happy chores we share before leaving for the beach.

Even if you don’t live on the beach, spending a day in its relaxing atmosphere can change not only the lives of the children in your family, but the lives of the adults as well. Everyone needs a break from the office or plant and from the work of the home. Don’t forget towels and sunscreen and come and share our fun. The biggest expense you’ll likely encounter is gas for the car and food for the stomachs. But, oh, what memories you’ll be making for a lifetime. Don’t forget to include the camera to record your adventures and a pail or bucket for all the things you’ll catch in the surf. Steven and Callie caught a collection of crabs of all sizes before they released them at the end of the day.

What are some things you can do with your kids, neighbor kids or relatives during the summer hours especially? Have you thought of gathering them around you and telling them a story? Younger children especially loved stories and older family members really do have a yearning to learn about their family history. Throw in a few photographs and a few collected artifacts and you’re set to go for a good couple of hours. Every adult has the potential to be a really good storyteller if they only practice their craft. You can also take advantage of free story times at the local libraries. Choose a visual to really cap off the time together. No cost involved here with this fun-time treat.

Plan a simple picnic. We have to eat anyway, so why not make it something special? The food choices do not have to be elaborate. Make a few sandwiches or a good salad, some cookies and plenty to drink and head out to a local park, the side of a stream. Half the fun is packing the picnic basket and cooler, spreading the colorful cloth and simply being together. If you find you’re in a really big hurry, stop by a fast food restaurant and pick up the treats to share.

Here’s an idea I caught in a television program the other morning. Plan a fun “stay-cation” for your family. With the high cost of gasoline, much of our travel will be eliminated for this summer. Rather than “vacate,” your home or lawn, plan to stay there and enjoy a special event. Decorate one room or a patio or porch with a theme, make some food to go along with the idea and gather the family for an outing without leaving home. I have in mind a summer luau on the back deck with leis for each neck, some fruit from the islands, music from our stereo and decorations I have on hand from another event. Take pictures and make a photo album together to ensure the kids don’t forget the stay-cation together.

This idea might not go over so well at first, but after you’ve tried it once, the family will likely come around to your way of thinking. Turn off the TV for one night and do something together as a family. Play a board game, a round of cards or listen to music. Choose questions from a prepared stack and let each family member or guest answer the one they pick. Play an old fashioned game of charades. Use a theme to make it more interesting. For instance, I made a group of nursery rhyme characters to use in charades and each family member and guest has to act out one or more the choices. What fun we had playing charades and no cost was involved at all since I used the backside of cards I already had.

Plan quality time to spend with your children. It is far better to build boys than to mend men. Works for girls, too.

Happy Birthday, America - We thank God for all who've given to make it free...


“When the nation was in need, he inspired them to give us hope.” – Dr. James Farmer Jr. writing of Melvin Tolson, his English professor and debate team coach

As we get a little older we realize so many different people fought for and won the freedom that so many of us take for granted every day. We think first of our military to whom we say a huge and sincere thank you for their service. The families of the men and women serving in the United States Armed Services should also be up there on the list of those we owe appreciation and gratitude. These family members give more than most will ever know and they give it every day of the year, and in many cases, forever, when their loved ones are killed in active duty or by friendly fire.

When thinking of the military contributions, we should also add the medical personnel who often fight on the front lines or near the most active of hot spots taking care of the injured and treating the wounded. These men and women who train hard and long to get the necessary medical knowledge are often overlooked as are the nurses and doctors who staff our local hospitals and emergency rooms in our towns and cities. They, too, pay a price for education and service.

We also think of the great responsibility our elected officials bear on their shoulders. With all of the unpleasant, unkind, frightening news stories we hear each day and with every public servant who messes up in life, there are hundreds of them who don’t. These men and women pay a price to serve their communities, cities, states and nation and many do it with the proper motive and in earnest sincerity. They honestly want to contribute to the good of society. Could we take time to send a note or an email to one of these public servants who is trying to help?

Our police officers and fire fighters are heroes in the lives of the citizens whom they risk their lives to help on a daily basis. Every time an officer or member of a fire fighting team puts on his uniform to go to work, he is laying his life on the line. When was the last time we said “thank you” to one of these local people?

I’ve named some of the more public figures that come to mind on this particularly American holiday, but there are also local individuals in every community who have stepped up to the plate, put forth time, energy and effort and made a lasting difference for not only themselves, but for others as well. Some particularly bright innovators are in the field of education. It is encouraging to find out about them as we go about our daily lives and to remind folks that every individual does have the opportunity and the right to be different and to make change that counts for something.

One group of young people who helped encourage freedom for all that I’ve enjoyed learning about recently was from a small Methodist college in Marshall, Texas. The debate team there in the early 1930s certainly made change an operative word as they did what no other African American group had done before them. I first heard and saw their story in the movie, “The Great Debaters,” produced and directed by Denzel Washington. The powerful movie, inspired by a true story, chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson (played wonderfully by Washington), a brilliant, but volatile, debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from small African-American Wiley College in the deep south into a historically elite debate team. A controversial figure, Professor Tolson challenged the social mores of the time and was under constant fire for his unconventional and ferocious teaching methods as well as his radical political views.

Some critics faulted the movie for its historical inaccuracies, but for the most part, the movie won rave reviews and several of the actors and actresses, including Washington, were name as outstanding in their roles.

Tolson accepted a position as instructor of English in 1924 at the small religious-based school in Marshall. While at Wiley, he taught, wrote poetry and novels, coached football and directed plays. In 1929, Tolson coached the Wiley debate teams, which established a ten-year winning streak beating the larger black schools of its day like Tuskegee, Fisk and Howard. After a visit to Texas, Langston Hughes wrote, “Melvin Tolson is the most famous Negro professor in the Southwest. Students all over that part of the world speak of him, revere him, remember him and love him.”

According to James Farmer Jr., a famed black civil rights activist who was in reality one of the debate team members, Tolson’s desire to win, to eliminate risk, meant that his debaters were actors more than spontaneous thinkers. “Tolson wrote all the speeches and the debate team memorized them. He drilled them on every gesture and every pause. Tolson was so skilled at the art of debating that he also figured out the arguments that opponents would make and wrote rebuttals for them before the actual debate,” said Farmer.

It is interesting to note that Farmer went on after his years at Wiley to become one of the “Big 6” leaders of the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He also founded the Committee of Racial Equality, later known as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). His father in the movie, Dr. James Farmer Sr., was the first African American in Texas to earn a PHD and was played brilliantly by Forest Whitaker.

In 1930, Tolson pursued a master’s degree in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and began to write the “Cabbages and Caviar” column for The Washington Tribune. He also helped to organize sharecroppers in South Texas and to urge the citizens to strive for equality in all walks of life.

In 1935, Tolson led the Wiley Debate Team to the national championship to defeat the University of Southern California before an audience of eleven hundred people. In the movie version, the team from the small school in Texas went on to defeat the prestigious debate team of Harvard University, but historians say that never happened. The big win was against Southern California. However, Harvard did allow the movie to be filmed partly on its campus, the first to be done there since 1979.

Other interesting anecdotes from the movie include the fact that the diploma hanging in Dr. James Farmer’s study is an authentic copy provided by the art department of Boston University.

Jurnee Smollett played the role of the first female to serve on the debate team of Wiley College convincingly. The Samantha Booke character was based on the life of Henrietta Bell Wells, who currently is 95 years old living in the Houston area. After seeing the movie for the first time, Wells said that it was accurate and insightful.

Wiley College continues to educate students today and is located in Harrison County on 63 acres of land west of Marshall between Dallas to the west and Shreveport to the east. The college is currently affiliated with the United Methodist Church. On December 19, 2007, actor Washington announced a $1 million dollar donation to Wiley College so they could re-establish their debate team.

Fuel for the Fire

June 13 – “It is not the fish we catch that counts, for they can be had for mere silver. It is the break of the waves, the joyous rush of the brook, and the contemplation of the eternal rush of the stream.” - Herbert Hoover

June 14 – “Find the journey’s end in every step.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

June 15 – “Your headiest success as a true angler begins when you start caring more about fishing than the fish.” - Arnold Gingrich

June 16 – “Why do I fish? The easiest answer is that my father and all my ancestors did it before me.” - Former President Jimmy Carter

June 17 – “Experience usually is what you get when you don’t get what you want, but if there were no such thing as optimism, there wouldn’t be any such thing as fishing.” -Michael McIntosh

June 18 – “They are able who think they are able.” - Virgil

June 19 – “The music of angling is more compelling to me than anything contrived in the greatest symphony hall.” - A. J. McClane

June 20 – “In its deepest self, fishing is the most solitary sport, for at its best it is all between you and the fish.” -Arnold Gingrich

June 21 – “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

June 22 – “Never cut what you can untie.” - Joseph Joubert

June 23 – “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.” (Acts 1:14 – Five times in the first five chapters of the Book of Acts we are told the disciples of Jesus were ‘of one accord.”)

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Fuel for the Fire for June 8 - 12, 2008

June 8 – “Try to put the uncommon touch on even the most common task.”

June 9 – “We may never have the opportunity to do great things in a great way, but we all have the chance to do small things in a great way.”

June 10 – “There’s truly no limit to what you can achieve if you don’t mind who gets the credit.”

June 11 – “Reach for the stars. You might not get them, but you won’t win up with a handful of mud either.”

June 12 – “To get more out of life, give more of yourself.”

Callie Grace's Big Fish


PaPa Ted and I took Callie Grace and Steven Alan fishing on the Intracoastal near our house because the Gulf winds were still blowing too high for us to go out safely in the deeper water.

They had a blast - riding in the boat and catching fish and crabs. PaPa Ted surprised everyone by catching another of those awful salt water eels. The girls were ruling with five fish caught, but the boys went ahead and ultimately won the day's contest. Steven landed five big ocean cats and Callie was the champion crab catcher of the day.

Here she caught a big ocean cat and was a little apprehensive of the fighting fish getting into the boat with us. She said, "PaPa Ted, please hurry up and take this fish off my line. He's 'walking' all over the water and I can't hold him much longer."

What fun we had and what memories we made for a lifetime...

Friday, June 6, 2008

Fuel for the Fire


For a number of years now, I've tried to put some advice in effect each day given to me by Mrs. John R. Rice of the Sword of the Lord and my dear and treasured friend. Her husband, Dr. John R. Rice, was often on the road preaching and speaking in meetings far and wide and traveled much of the world during his long and blessed career. She was a wonderful wife, mother of six girls, a tireless worker in ministry, especially to women, kept a warm and hospitable house open to all and was perhaps the best example of a true Christian I've ever met.

I had the joy of working for Dr. Rice for some 15 years in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and was pleased to be in their happy home on the Texas styled ranch in Murfreesboro on many occasions. Both of the Rices were big on having the Sword team over for games, food and fellowship, along with Dr. Fairy Shappard, Advertising Director for The Sword and long-time personal assistant to Dr. Rice, who taught me the ropes of professional Christian ministry and Dr. Viola Walden, who was a brilliant scholar and dutiful assistant to Dr. Rice for many years. Dr. and Mrs. Rice had horses for guests to ride and my children especially loved to mount Dr. Rice's favorite, General Douglas MacArthur and ride throughout the acreage.

Lloys Rice was not made of the same cloth as many of today's modern preacher's wives. She never thought she was "special" because she was Mrs. John R. Rice, nor did she desire to be treated any differently than any other women in the church or whatever group she was working with at the moment. She was revered by many, but never really seemed to know it, and was respected by all she met. One of her beautiful gifts was that she deemed each person she met as a special creation of God and found a way to determine the good in that person. I suspect when we get to Heaven, we will find that Mrs. John R. Rice has a great reward for her role in building the Kingdom of God.

Mrs. Rice said that when she got up in the morning and looked at her day and its many duties, she needed something to help get her going. She kept many books, most open to a favorite passage or quote, by her chair in the den, on her dining room table and by her bed. She made it a practice to read one thought, one Scripture verse or one quote each morning before leaving the solitude of her room. She said she needed a little "fuel for the fire" before facing the day. I've gathered up various quotes, sayings, Scriptures and thoughts that have helped me during my life journey and I share them in a personal column I write for The Examiner published in Beaumont, Texas, much as I did during my days at The Sword of the Lord. I trust they will be a blessing to you and that you will turn to the blog each day for a thought for the day.

Here is Fuel for the Fire for the last two weeks of June 2008. I've included a number of fishing quotes in honor of Father's Day. If this becomes a feature of the blog site of interest, I will continue including the quotes and bits of character-building advice, which I've learned to love and depend on over the years.

June 13 – “It is not the fish we catch that counts, for they can be had for mere silver. It is the break of the waves, the joyous rush of the brook, and the contemplation of the eternal rush of the stream.” - Herbert Hoover

June 14 – “Find the journey’s end in every step.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

June 15 – “Your headiest success as a true angler begins when you start caring more about fishing than the fish.” - Arnold Gingrich

June 16 – “Why do I fish? The easiest answer is that my father and all my ancestors did it before me.” - Former President Jimmy Carter

June 17 – “Experience usually is what you get when you don’t get what you want, but if there were no such thing as optimism, there wouldn’t be any such thing as fishing.” -Michael McIntosh

June 18 – “They are able who think they are able.” - Virgil

June 19 – “The music of angling is more compelling to me than anything contrived in the greatest symphony hall.” - A. J. McClane

June 20 – “In its deepest self, fishing is the most solitary sport, for at its best it is all between you and the fish.” -Arnold Gingrich

June 21 – “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

June 22 – “Never cut what you can untie.” - Joseph Joubert

June 23 – “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.” (Acts 1:14 – Five times in the first five chapters of the Book of Acts we are told the disciples of Jesus were ‘of one accord.”)

June 24 – “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.” (Acts 1:7)

June 25 – “But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

June 26 – “As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool.” (Proverbs 26:1)

June 27 – “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” (Proverbs 26:4)

June 28 – “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.” (Proverbs 26:12)

June 29 – “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful (lazy) upon his bed.” (Proverbs 26:14)

June 30 – “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.” (Proverbs 26:20)

If you have a favorite quote or verse you'd like me to include, please send it to me at brendacannonhenley@yahoo.com.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Let's hear it for the stepfathers this Father's Day...




In older Bible days, it was customary for a brother of a deceased man to take on the support and care of the family he left behind. The eldest brother would first be asked if he could take on the responsibility of an additional wife and children, and if, for some reason, he could not, then the duty would pass to the next oldest and so forth until a suitable situation was reached. The widow or her children really did not have much to say about the matter. It was tradition and in some cases, the law of the land, as well as Bible teaching. The uncle would automatically become the stepfather and rear the children to adulthood. His pay was that he was fulfilling what the customs taught to be right and he inherited the land and goods, as well as the animals of his dead brother.

We see this truth carried out in the life of Ruth who has a book of the Bible named for her. It is the eighth book of the Old Testament and it tells the lovely story of how Ruth and Orpah married the sons of Naomi and Elimelech in the land of Moab. Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion all died and left the three women widows. Naomi announced that she would return to the land of her birth, Bethlehem, and Ruth, her daughter in law, vowed to go with her.

It is from this book of the Bible that we get the romantic passages often used in weddings. “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whether thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.”

Many people assume that these words were spoken between two people getting married or pledging their love in a ceremony, but in reality, they were said by a daughter in law who sincerely loved her mother in law and vowed her undying love and allegiance. When Ruth and Naomi settled in Bethlehem, things were difficult. They had no male member of the family to care for them and there was little for them to eat. Ruth went out into the fields and worked gathering the gleanings of the wheat after the workers cut and harvested the crop.

Ruth met Boaz, a distant relative, who is referred to as a “kinsman redeemer” in the story. Ruth’s husband had no other brothers who could care for her, so Boaz stepped in as the male member of the family who would care for the lovely Ruth. The story has a happy ending and Ruth and Boaz were married and went on to live a happy and prosperous life. The couple’s names appear in the lineage of Christ.

It is much different today in the age in which we live. Our customs do not dictate that uncles marry widows, but nevertheless, we have many men who find themselves in the role of stepfather, grandfather or uncle who help to care for our boys and girls today. Many of these good men who work hard every day to make a good living for their family are treated unfairly. The boys and girls whom they parent resent their involvement in their lives. They are ungrateful for the good that these men do and for the many ways in which their lives are made better because of their involvement.

Stepfathers especially face significant challenges as they move into a situation where they are often unwanted and unappreciated. Perhaps their biggest crime is that they chose to marry the child’s mother. Psychologists tell us that within the secret places of the hearts of many boys and girls whose homes are broken up by divorce, thoughts and wishes are harbored that the original family will somehow get back together. They really would like for their lives to be as it once was and these children often forget the bad things or the hurt and pain that caused the breakup.

It takes special skills and attitudes to be a successful stepfather. In thinking about this column today three outstanding examples of very good stepfathers come to my mind. I won’t name these good men for fear of embarrassment, but it is likely that they will know who they are. I admire the fact that they have welcomed the children of the wife’s first marriage into their home and that no difference is shown between the stepchild and the natural children born of the union.

I also appreciate the fact that they have learned how to administer discipline when called for, companionship when needed most, a good example in business and professional skills and a sincere desire to see these children do well in education and in life. The homes are places of refuge for successful blended families whose children will go on to be productive, contributing members of society.

This weekend as we take time to celebrate Father’s Day with gifts, cookouts, trips to the beach or simple visits in the home, let’s be certain we take time to honor the stepfathers, uncles and grandfathers who help to make our lives happy and resourceful. They need to hear “I love you,” and “I appreciate your contributions to my life,” too.

Happy Father's Day to all my guy friends on their special day! Ladies, don't forget the important men in your life.