There You Have It!: Just Checking in Series 1

By Molly Stringer

One day, after my computer had been hacked and I had changed my e-mail address, I sent out a message simply saying, Just checking in, to see if my messages were received. The next day I sent out another Just checking in but I added an inspirational thought; thus the pattern for this book was born.

Every day I began to write a message to whomever in my contact list would read it. It was my devotional time shared. I began to have others ask to be added to my e-mail blog.

My thoughts began to expand. I often woke up in the midnight hours with thoughts and stories from my life and experiences others had shared with me. I am so excited to capture these thoughts and ideas that, many times, I get up in the wee hours of the morning to start my time with Him. My mind is constantly open to receive what God brings to me. My purpose and goal is to bring encouragement and life changing meaning to those who read my blogs. I read and reread these blogs several times.

I feel the emotion and conviction that God places in them. This has truly become a life-consuming ministry for me. I believe you could call me an "Accidental Author."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514477328

Molly Stringer

This author writes true stories of incidents that happen in her life and in the life of friends and family. It is an inspirational book that will bring a giggle, that will erupt into laughter. This book will bring your emotions to the realm of tears spilling down your cheeks as you identify with the burdens, heartache, and challenges that some are facing. There is always a silver lining of hope extended and words of encouragement expressed to lift your spirit. It is intended to bring a wellspring of joy to your day even in the darkest moments of despair. It reveals the source of all inspiration, our Loving Father who is ever by your side--in your joy and in your pain.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Molly Stringer.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2016904616

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-7734-2

      Softcover      978-1-5144-7733-5

      eBook      978-1-5144-7732-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version

(authorized version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic

Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by the Zondervan Corporation.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 04/04/2016

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1    Marveling, Take Time

Chapter 2    Difficult Times

Chapter 3    Helping and Serving

Chapter 4    Spread Sunshine

Chapter 5    God’s Plan of Love and Compassion

Chapter 6    Helpers of the Weak

Chapter 7    God’s Grace

Chapter 8    Heavenly Investment

Chapter 9    Friends / Family

Chapter 10    Growing Up in the Kingdom

Chapter 11    Blessings/Rejoicing

Chapter 12    God’s Power/Sin’s Enemy

Chapter 13    Responsibility/Purpose/Happiness

Chapter 14    Expectations

Chapter 15    Facing the Unknown

Chapter 16    Adjusting Your Attitude

Chapter 17    Encouragement

Chapter 18    Freedom

Chapter 19    Follow the Leader Footprints

Chapter 20    Divine Devotion

Chapter 21    Keep Investing

Chapter 22    Never Done

Chapter 23    Love above All!

Epilogue

Ending Up

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my family: my husband, Bill, who challenges me and keeps me on track, and to each of my three children and their spouses. I thank our son, Steve, who is funny and cheerful and brings joy into our lives through his good attitude and sweet spirit in the midst of his limited life. To Melody and Jim, I am thankful for their depth and integrity and their helpfulness and caring for me and our family. I thank Christy and Paul for the joy they have brought to me through their music and ministry throughout our world. And my sweet lovely Morgan, you have always inspired me and brought such a refreshing newness to me. I love being your grandmother! I thank my siblings and their spouses for the encouragement they continually give to me on a regular basis: Wes and Wynelle Earp, Jo and Jack Boggs (deceased), and James and Mary Earp. What a great family! I am so blessed!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

When I was lost after finishing a chapter and ministry in my life, my brother James challenged me to put my daily Just Checking In e-mail blogs into a book. I was already well on my way as I had written a blog almost every day for the past year.

He brought me Microsoft Word to install on my laptop. He then made a five-hour trip to Floydada and helped me install the program and move my blogs into a book form. He has been my strongest motivator.

My appreciation to Jan Willson, a retired English teacher and librarian, from Floydada High School, who edited each of my early blogs and managed to leave my touch to shine through—thank you, Jan. I owe you a red pencil!

I thank all my friends and family whose names and experiences are in these pages. It was through your encouragement that I wanted to share the stories and ideas of inspiration that you have brought to my life.

INTRODUCTION

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Miss Molly

One day, after my computer had been hacked and I had changed my e-mail address, I sent out a message simply saying, Just Checking In, to see if my messages were received. The next day I sent out another Just Checking In, but I added an inspirational thought; thus, the pattern for this book was born.

Every day I began to write a message to whoever in my contact list would read it. It was my devotional time shared. I began to have others ask to be added to my e-mail blog.

My thoughts began to expand. I often woke up in the midnight hours with thoughts and stories from my life and experiences others had shared with me. I am so excited to capture these thoughts and ideas that, many times, I get up in the wee hours of the morning to start my time with him. My mind is constantly open to receive what God brings to me. My purpose and goal is to bring encouragement and life-changing meaning to those who read my blogs. I read and reread these blogs several times.

I feel the emotion and conviction that God places in them. This has truly become a life-consuming ministry for me.

I write many happenings about my growing-up years with my siblings. My elder brother, Wes Earp, is a retired college professor from NTSU in Denton, where he lives with his wife Wynelle, who is a very talented artist. Wes is truly the patriarch of our family. My elder sister, Jo Boggs, who is the family prayer warrior, lives in Floydada. She seems to be working overtime making all our serious requests known to God. Jo was a pastor’s wife for many years and feels that I get way too many of my stories from her life. Her beloved husband, Jack, preached on Sunday morning and died that evening. His favorite saying when we were having fun—(didn’t have to be anything big) was "This is really living." Then younger brother, James, he’s the boss of us all. He and his lovely wife, Mary, live in Denton. They are like the energizer bunnies; they go and go and keep going. The First Baptist Church in Denton, Texas, might just fall off its axis if they failed to show up!

My granddaughter, Morgan, who is sixteen, especially likes the family stories. She would ask her mother if the Just Checking In had a story. If it did, she would read it. So I really worked my brain’s memory section overtime to do that for her.

We have faced many challenges in our life. My husband, Bill, and I have a lifetime assignment that became ours when our son Steve was two years old. Steve developed brain damage from seizures and required a lot of medical care. He had to begin all over again in his development of walking and talking. I shed many tears, begging God to make my son normal again. I have even been bitter at times when I saw young people waste their normal lives, while my son never had a chance to be all he could be due to limitations that were none of his fault. We did everything humanly possible to make that happen. We had routines of redeveloping coordination skills, which were so hard to maintain with a very young child. We sent him to private kindergarten for two years to help prepare him for school.

It was not in our power to bring him to a normal for age no matter how hard we tried. So this is our assignment. Not all of this is negative. This town of Floydada stepped up and helped us raise this child. They watch out for him; they give him a ride when they see him walking. Steve has a wonderful sweet spirit. He feels so good about himself. I remember that when he attended his twentieth high school reunion (Sad for us, his dad had to take him). He came home excited that his former classmates had voted him as most eligible bachelor. How’s that for love and compassion? He also shared, I didn’t get voted most handsome. I voted for myself, but I guess there were some who didn’t agree with me. Steve is in his late forties. He lives a block from us in his own apartment. We have to manage his life; he has never had a girlfriend or a close friend, which hurts me to the very core. He walks, or we take him everywhere he goes, but he seems happy.

Bill and I have two daughters, both married. The firstborn, Christy, and her husband, Paul Newberry, are music evangelists. They have spent the last thirty plus years traveling all over the world singing, playing, and sharing the gospel. When they are not on the road, they live in Arlington, Texas.

Our second daughter, Melody, is married to Jim Roberts, who is an anesthesiologist. Melody is a registered nurse, who has retired to take care of her family. Jim and Melody are the parents of our only grandchild, beloved Morgan, who is an aspiring singer and actress. She is in high school. They live in Burleson, Texas.

Bill, my husband of fifty-seven years, will patiently listen every morning as I read my thoughts to him, and then I ask, Was that okay?

Bill was a farmer in his other life. He also was an emergency medical technician (EMT) and worked on our emergency ambulance team, but he has most enjoyed being retired.

I spent twenty-five years working as a registered nurse. I worked in the hospital, emergency room, delivering babies, on floor duty, in surgery, teaching, and doing childbirth classes. I traveled to homes and did home health. I was a traveling IV therapy nurse in nursing homes. I have worked being on call for the ambulance service in our community. I was director of nursing in our hospital. My time in nursing was a good work but a greater ministry! I have seen life begin and life end, people suffer, people get well, people weep, people rejoice. You name it, I have been there—for the greater ministry.

Bill and I attend the First Baptist Church in Floydada, Texas.

Bill is a deacon, and we have ministries there teaching, singing, working with children and in various other ways that we hope promotes the Kingdom of God.

My love, appreciation, and special thanks go to my family and my friends. You have influenced my life and been part of these stories. If you find your name in these pages, I hope that you will be glad and know that you have had a positive impact on my life. I pray that those who read this book will receive the message that God loves them, and he is waiting to lift their burdens.

So now that you know a bit about me, I want to say that I am a daily living, involved child of the Most High God. The purpose of my life and writing this book is to encourage those who are searching through their loneliness and lost-ness for some purpose and meaning in their daily lives. Again I will say I want them to know that God loves them for who they are, where they are. I pray that my thoughts and experiences shed some light on your path as you journey home, for I believe that’s where we are all headed—to our eternal Home. Which road will you choose?—God’s place in glory or the road to eternal destruction?

CHAPTER 1

Marveling, Take Time

Do you have time to stop and smell the roses along your way?

I am convinced that all of us have time for that. I am often around people who are so busy that they hardly have time for a quick greeting, much less admiring the fragrance and beauty of a rose.

I found out a long time ago that if I was taken out of the equation, life would go on without so much as a small ripple. When I retired from nursing, the hospital stayed in business. Babies were still being born; people were still treated in the emergency room; medication was still given; IVs were still started; and charting was done. The little slot I filled was hardly recognized as being empty! I missed being there much more than I was missed.

That tells me, I was never so needed or busy that I did not have time to enjoy my coworkers and the people I cared for along my journey. Life is just a journey! We need to really see those around us and the beauty of God’s creation.

My friend Keith Green brought a message, one Sunday, that he called Marveling. He simply talked about beautiful places and things that we pass along our journey that we need to marvel at. We need to thank God for them as we gaze in wonder and awe.

1 Thessalonians 5:18: In everything, give thanks.

Psalm 118:24: This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad and marvel in it!

So there you have it. Don’t be in a hurry all day. Look around you and marvel in the beauty of God’s handiwork and the people you meet. Take a minute and enjoy!

Hugs

Sometimes I think it is too bad we have to grow up. The innocence of a child is so refreshing. They are not all bundled up in boundaries. They are free to be themselves, to laugh uncontrollably, to cry out loud, to run their fastest, to sleep wherever they become tired, and to hug with gusto.

I find myself stifling a giggle at times. I find myself silently weeping when I want to bawl really loud that I am hurting. I want to run like the wind, but I can’t. I love blessed sleep, but I want it to be in my own bed. But you know what? I can still hug with gusto!

I can remember times with my only grandchild, precious Morgan, when she sat in my lap and slept. I remember laughing with her as she enjoyed our time together. I remember silently crying with her when she was bawling loudly because she had fallen and broken her arm. I remember her sleeping with me, kicking me, pulling all the cover as she rolled up in it, putting her little legs across my body. And I remember gently patting her and whispering very softly, as she slept, You are my special girl. I remember her clinging to me with a death grip when she was afraid. She needed me and I needed her to need me.

Times change and we do not have that unadulterated closeness due to boundaries we put up. But do you know what? We can still hug with gusto! And I bet if she broke her arm now and was bawling loudly, I would be bawling loudly with her! Have I told you that I love that girl? She’s eighteen now and driving Paw Paw and me everywhere.

I think about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. He so desires to have time and fellowship with us. He wants us to be his child and lie in his lap and rest when we are tired. He wants to share the happiness we feel. We need to talk to him about the joy we have. He wants to share our pain and our hurts. Many times we may unintentionally kick him and leave him as we roll up in our own selves, but he is there gently patting us and saying, You are my special child and I love you! Oh man! It just doesn’t get any better than that!

Isaiah 54:10: Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, says the Lord, who has compassion on you!

So there you have it. Free yourself from the ties that bind; let yourself go. Hug someone. Tell them they are special!

Amazing!

The first time I saw Palo Dura Canyon, I was impressed with the high bluffs and the winding roads. I thought it was something to travel and see. I had lived on the flat plains of Texas all my life and did not know such things existed near me.

I first traveled to the Plains Baptist Assembly in Blanco Canyon, near Floydada, Texas, when I was nine years old. I attended a church camp there with my elder sis, Jo, and several friends. Pauline Wall packed us in her car and brought us from First Baptist Church in Wellman, Texas. What a great time we had under the stars, singing at the campfire, deep in the canyon’s bottom. We had evening services in the open-air tabernacle.

I had been to two great places very nearby that were inspiring. I did not have to get out of my own little area to see this beauty.

After Bill and I had raised our family, we decided to travel out west. We went to Arizona. Do you know what is in Arizona?—The Grand Canyon! It was so awesome. The vastness of it was breathtaking. What we had seen before was just baby stuff compared to the magnificent splendor of this heart-grabbing big gap in the earth.

We wanted to share our new discovery with our family. Our daughter, Melody, and her husband Jim, my brother, Wes, and his wife Wynelle joined us as we went back again to see the wonder and beauty there.

Mel and Bill rode the mules down, down, down, and Wes, Wynelle, Jim, and I hiked down, down, down. How our world had expanded. We could not get enough.

I can identify with Simon Peter, as Jesus came along, while Simon was fishing and invited him to follow him. Jesus had in mind something much bigger for Simon’s life than catching fish!

Luke 5:10: Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid, follow me and I will make you a fisher of men! Peter left everything and followed Jesus. There were bigger fish to catch.

We sometimes limit ourselves and miss the greater life that God has for us because we won’t get a few miles from home! We are satisfied with Blanco Canyon, when the Grand Canyon is within our reach. Do you get what I am saying? I want to reach the rim of the greatest canyon God ever made for my life!

God’s greater plan for us may not be to leave our occupation. But it is his plan that we use our time, resources, and careers to bring others into the Kingdom! The next person you meet may need to meet Christ!

So there you have it. Don’t be afraid to get out of your region, your area of safety, and look and see if God has something more awesome, deep, and wonderful than you imagined!

I Remember

The memory bank of my mind is filled with many good memories. I love to replay and enjoy the feeling of the day they happened. One such memory was prompted by a memoir from my sixty-seven-year-old brother on his birthday, this year, reflecting on his birthdays of the past.

I vividly remember the day he was born. It was a good day! It was nice to have a new baby brother, but the most fun thing that happened to me that day was that while mother was in labor and delivery, I got to stay with some of my favorite people in all the world, Clarence and Ima Lewis. Now, Clarence and Ima were the landlords of the farm our family lived on and farmed. They loved children. They had only one child, named Sandra Sue, who died when she was only six years old.

Ima had a special cabinet that she kept stocked with all kinds of candy, and when we went to her house, she would take a little bag, one for each of us, and fill it with all kinds of candy and give it to us. So I loved to go there!

That’s what happened on the day James Bradley was born! (Sorry, Bro, but second place isn’t bad.)

I know we all have special memories. Our salvation experience, that was a choice we made, belongs to us alone—our first date, our first kiss, our wedding, our first child, and on and on we could go.

The most significant memory we will ever have is the day we asked Jesus into our hearts! That memory will live with us throughout eternity! What a glorious day!

Romans 10:9: If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord, and believe …

I did, and it is still a great day, stored forever and ever and ever in my memory bank!

So there you have it. Accepting Christ; it just doesn’t get any better than that!

Commitment

I marvel at how people find that special one who will be their soul mate for life.

My family moved from a farm near the small town of Kress, Texas, to a farm about ten miles west of Floydada. About two miles from our new home, there was a wide spot in the road where two farm-to-market roads crossed, called Sandhill. There was a little country Baptist church there. Our family was a church-going people, so on our very first Sunday in our new home, we attended that church. There I met people who would impact my life for as long as I live.

The church had families with children and young people. The pastor was E.O. Adams. He became a friend as well as our mentor.

It was there that I would catch a glimpse of a shy, dark-headed, muscled guy that God had prepared for me.

The youth in the church invited me in to be part of the activities there. We would all spend Sundays together, boys and girls. Many times we went to Irene and Olen Baird’s house for lunch. Irene always seemed to be prepared. She had five children of her own. Three were in my age group, Ernest, Lawrence, and Pearl. Also friends Nancy Jenkins and Darrell Mayo were in this circle. It was during this time that I began a rocky relationship with my Bill! Bill was five years older than I was, so he was out of school and involved in farming and also attended Wayland College at nearby Plainview, Texas.

As our relationship blossomed, it took a lot of work on my part, for you see Bill was shy and to cover that shyness, he proclaimed himself a confirmed bachelor.

We dated off and on. I wore his high school senior ring, with tape around the back to make it fit. This meant we were going steady and did not date any others. We dated, we broke up, and we dated. In the late fall, when I was sixteen, Bill took one of my best friends, Pearl, home from church one Wednesday night. That was the first thing she told me the next morning at school. The old green-eyed monster raised its ugly head. And I knew that I wasn’t going to let this fish get away. So I really begin to work on the relationship.

We sometimes think that we can go our own way and that God will be waiting in the wings for us to come back. I have learned that God never gives up on us, but if we are indifferent, he will use someone else. He has a plan for each of us. He brings us to that plan. That’s what God did for me when Bill took Pearl home from prayer meeting that Wednesday night!

He will not force us to step in. We must choose that for ourselves. And I chose Bill!

A few weeks later, just before Thanksgiving, Bill asked me to marry him. According to him, he went to town to buy some new tires for his car and instead went to Solomon’s Jewelry and bought a lovely set of rings.

We were married a month later on December 22, 1956, in our beloved Sandhill Baptist Church.

Isn’t love wonderful? No matter how strong the earthly love we feel, it can never compare with the love our Heavenly Father has for us. God doesn’t play games with us. He does not want an off-and-on relationship. He wants a committed / married relationship with us!

Proverbs 19:21: Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

There you have it. Accept God’s plan, look for his purpose. Commitment!

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Molly and Bill—fifty-five years later!

Romancing the Stone

Riding on the bumpy school bus that Monday morning, following the Thanksgiving holiday, I looked down at the gorgeous diamond ring on the third finger of my left hand. I thought back on the journey that had brought me to this point.

I believe that the most wonderful place to meet good people is at church. Hopefully, the people you meet there will have standards to live by that match your own. That is where my siblings and I all met our future spouses. They were all good people with good values who made good mothers and fathers.

When I first saw my Bill, I saw a challenge. Who wouldn’t want to win the heart of a handsome, confirmed bachelor? How did I go about getting his attention? Well, in the 1950s girls did not ask boys for a date. We were sly about the way we cast our spells. First, you let a friend know that you thought he was cute. They would then tell someone they knew, and they would tell someone they knew who knew him, and the word got around. If he was interested, he might begin to say a personal Hi to you.

We picked every opportunity to be near the one we were pursuing. We wanted to be where they could see us. A visual was very good even before videos. Conversations might begin like this: A bunch of us are going to be at the Bairds, why don’t you come too? Can I give you a lift home from prayer meeting?

Then came the phone call, Hey, neighbor, would you like to go for a burger and a coke next Saturday? Hallelujah! Glory!

The dating had begun. Bill became a friend to my mother, even before he was the one. Sly dog! She was on his side from the day he called and asked her how to make cornbread!

Sunday afternoons were spent riding around with all our friends. We would go to Chatem’s dam, a remote area where a farmer had put up a small dam to hold some water in the white river draw that ran through our area. We all loved to go there, drive our vehicle across the scary narrow top and just roam around. We were trespassing, but no one seemed to care.

We hoed cotton in the summer. Bill would find excuses to drive by our farm on his little Ford tractor. He would stop and walk beside me as I was hoeing. It sure made the time to go faster. I must admit that I enjoyed seeing that little tractor coming down the road. He was some lovely sight to see with the sleeves cut out of his shirt and the shiny tanned biceps showing. It was almost sinful!

I rode the rough bumpy school bus in the mornings. But almost every afternoon my chariot, the green International pickup, was out in front of school waiting to take me home, with Bill as my chauffer.

I can’t remember that Bill ever showered me with gifts or took me to fancy places, but one time he did take me to Winn’s restaurant for a meal. I was really a cheap date. Most of our courtship was around friends and those we loved, and we still maintain those friendships today.

Simple—that’s the word for our courtship. Getting to know each other and just being in the presence of the one we loved!

Simple—that’s the kind of relationship Our Father, God, wants with us. He doesn’t desire rich offerings or extravagant rituals to bring us into his presence. He wants us to say, Hi Father; he wants us to move and stand close to him. He wants us to walk down the cotton rows in our daily lives talking with him and sharing our hearts. He wants us to get in his chariot and take a ride with him as we bask in his presence. How about you, do you know the joy of walking and talking with him on a daily basis?

Psalm 121:5–8: The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day or the moon by night.

(I love this)—He will watch over your coming and going, now and forever more!

Just as the diamond on my finger reminded me of my promise, to take Bill then, now and forever more, that’s God’s promise to me! Amen!

There you have it. Live on the sunny side of life with him in a simple way. Just walking and talking!

Claiming His Own

When people visit the mountains, a favorite pastime is going out in the late evening to watch for herds of elk. They will come back and say, We saw a herd with over a hundred elk. They will want to take some friends out the next evening so they can marvel at the vast herds. This is just beginning to happen in the Ruidoso, New Mexico. My cousin, Jean Edwards and her husband Neil, Bill, and I went out one evening. We drove all the way to Cloudcroft, forty miles away, and saw only one or two elk. This was disappointing.

Bill and I have seen many herds of elk in meadows near Estes Park, Colorado. There would be dozens of cars lined up on the roadside, watching the herds. They are interesting to watch, especially if two of the bulls get in conflict over their cows. If one of their cows strays off a bit, the bull will go round her up and chase her back to his herd. Sometimes there is a big fight between the bulls over a cow. They will lock antlers and paw and charge each other. They want to keep what is theirs and get some of the other’s herd if they can. This is very fascinating.

This reminds me of the battle that goes on between Almighty God and Satan. Sometimes we are that straying cow caught in the battle. God will not give up on us! We belong to him! Satan wants to steal all the souls from God’s Kingdom that he can. So the battle rages! There may be wounds and broken antlers before God gets us back where we need to be.

Job 34:21: His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step.

Psalm 138:7: Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life, with your right hand you save me!

There you have it. When we are in his herd, he will not let us go! He will fight for us! Amen!

What to Believe

All of my life, I have heard stories and sayings that are hard for me to really believe. Have you ever heard that if a turtle bites your big toe, it will not turn loose until it thunders? I heard this when I was very young, and it was scary to me because in West Texas we went a long time between thunders. And really I can’t remember having turtles there either; we had what mother called terrapins. I think they were dryland turtles. Well, anyway, when I saw one I always got far away or put on my shoes!

Most of us learned in history class that people used to believe the earth was flat and if you sailed too far out, you would just drop off into space. How scary is that? Well, we know that is not true. We have heard that if a black cat crosses your path, you will have bad luck. I don’t believe that, but something in me wants to turn around and go the other way. Ladders—remember not to walk under one, or you will have bad luck; well, the only bad luck I’ve had with ladders is falling off one. I have broken several mirrors, and I have never had seven years