That’S How It Seems: Just Checking in Series 3

By Molly Stringer

This book is filled with stories about ordinary everyday life. One story is Does Butter Grow on Trees? It just seemed to me that most of our younger generation might just think that. I ended the story with being thankful that we are blessed with butter in the store without us having to do anything but pay for it, so maybe it does grow on trees! You just need to read that story, it will take you back to churns, cream, and milking cows.

Some of the stories are funny. Some are sad; they brought tears to my eyes as I wrote them. A sad story shares the pain and sorrow that my good friend endured as she lost her young daughter to cancer. It moves from just surviving to being comforted; this is a must read. I get most of my funny stories from life with my sweet Bill. Just this week, I remember him getting up early. I asked why, and he said he couldnt sleep. He continued to be quiet and seemed sad. I asked why, and he replied that the hairdresser cut his hair too short. And if that wasnt bad enough, he did not know how we were going to get our riding lawn mower loaded to take it to the shopall really big stuff. Well, did I ever have some words of wisdom for him. That will one day be a story. His hair will grow, and we did get the mower loaded! And there are people right around us that really have problems!

This book will not be boring. It moves from sad to glad; it moves from heartbreak to hope. I will take you on trips of understanding and bring you back smarter than when you left. Its a good book full of truth that will reflect Gods love right into your very soul!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524503062

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

Chapter 1

A Time of recovering and growing

For Such a Time

Special things sometimes happen in our lives at a very opportune time. I have already written in another of my books a story with this same title, but the content is much different.

I have been reading a book authored by Robert Baldwin. Robert has been known to me since he and his family moved into the small community of Wellman, Texas. In fact He is not only known to me, but he is the brother of my sister-in-law, Wynelle and my friend Godfrey who was a classmate for several years—so you might say we have relatives who are our kinfolk.

Robert has had a very diverse and interesting life. His journey through life has been to the palace, negotiating and dining with royalty through his job with Bell telephone and then telecommunications internationally and is now retired back to Texas. He has been through choppy waters of seeing his beloved wife Shirley, fight and lose a long battle with the aggressive disease of System lupus erythematosus, and of himself facing cancer and finding himself alone. He, at seventy five years old, decided to share his experiences with others. His book is My Life From Cotton Patches on the South Plains of Texas to Negotiation Tables in China and North Korea.

The part in Robert’s book that gripped me was that although he was raised the son of a Southern Baptist Minister, and attended church at least three times each week, and in His words—My belief in the existence of God and my faith in His omnipotence could not have been firmer unless it was embedded in my DNA. But Robert saw the movie, Ordinary People, about a troubled teenage male who did not believe in God—He proclaimed that there was no middle ground, either you did or you didn’t. Robert begin to question his belief in God. His faith begin to unravel. By his own testimony He became a nonbeliever.

Many years later, after the death of his wife Shirley, Robert was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He had surgery at M.D. Anderson in Houston.

As he was recovering new truths entered his life. He knew his family loved him and cared for him, but in his words—I was alone not just physically in a big empty house, but I was also spiritually alone. I thought this issue had been settled for me many years ago, but now at age sixty-six, I was not so sure.

Robert’s mind was turned to—I let go of the Divine and clung tightly to my faith of human-created science. But—circumstances had changed my mind. I begin to seek!

He was advised by a couple of pastors who counselled him to read portions of the Bible, especially the gospel according to Saint John.

Next is the part that I have based this entire blog on—For Such a Time as This:

Robert’s words: I was not sure that there was a Bible in my empty house, until I remembered Daddy’s ordination Bible. It was purchased by his Grandfather Godfrey. Grandfather Godfrey had anticipated that Daddy would be a preacher and had planned to give the Bible to Daddy when he was ordained. Grandfather Godfrey did not live to give the Bible directly to my father. Thus the post-mortem nature of the gift had an increased sentimental value. Daddy used that Bible and preached from it until it was worn and old. Some years after Daddy’s death, Mother passed the Bible to me. It was a surprise since my older brother Darold was a preacher. After Mother’s death, I told my wife Shirley that I was going to give the Bible to Darold. Her answer was, Your Mother gave it to you. I think you should honor her desires."

I believe that this was not just a case of chance circumstances, it seems to me that God preserved Daddy’s ordination Bible, for just such a time as this, in Roberts life.

Robert searched the house and found a box in a closet where the sentimental bible was stored. He opened the worn Bible and begin to read. He especially paid attention to the verses marked by his father who had died many years before.

And whosoever believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this? Robert answered Yes, Lord I believe. Amen!

I believe that God could have used another Bible to bring Robert back to belief, but the personal touch of Daddy’s Bible, with scriptures marked by his daddy were like a warm arm drawing him close, and I believe were preserved for such a time as this in Robert’s life.

God can and will do what is necessary to bring His children back to the fold. He is our Shepherd. He does not close the gate and go to bed, He is ever searching looking to bring us home! Amen!

Esther 4:14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, God will use some other way, but you will die, what’s more, who can say that God has brought you into this palace for such a time as this!

I believe that God preserved that special bible and directed Blanche Baldwin, through her wisdom and discernment, to gift it to the son whose life would be the most impacted by it—for such a time as this! Amen!

I remember my Sis, Jo, whose husband was a minister saying that when the Boggs’ died, the other siblings had no desire for their bibles and just assumed that Jack and Jo would treasure and use them. Jo said we had dozens of bibles in our house and we did not need more. So I believe Blanche Baldwin was right on track following God’s prompting as she chose who to give ‘Daddy’s’ bible to. It helped bring one of her own back into the fold! Amen!

That’s how it seems. God does not make any mistakes, He has a plan for your life, and for my life as he did for Robert’s life. He uses people who are close to Him to deliver his message and purpose. Will you be that one in our chaotic world?

Notes:

Pruning Time

I walked out from the utility room into the sunporch. As I looked out the glass storm door, I saw the walk that runs from the house to the back gate. The walk passes within inches of the big fifty year old maple tree. Time has taken its toll on the walk as the roots from the maple tree has grown and expanded their search for moisture on dry years. The walk is cracked and buckled, I keep adding concrete to the edges to fill in the gaps. There was no deliberate intention by the tree to destroy the walk, it just happened in the process of aging, and whatever got in its way suffered.

I have mentioned this huge tree several times, but let’s continue to talk about the tree. It was the tallest tree in the neighborhood, it had a dead limb or two in the top. There was no way for us to trim that tree. There were tree trimmers in town. So we asked for them to come over and give us an estimate to trim the tree. Two thousand dollars! No way! Well that’s just what we did.

The big truck with the basket was moved into our back yard through the big gate we had for the RV. The trimming began. Our tree was totally pruned of foliage, leaving only some shortened arms reaching to the sky, naked as they could be. We wondered will our tree survive. As spring came we watched our tree closely, soon there were some sprouts and buds showing. We had one big limb that reached to the north that produced no buds and seemed lifeless. We hired our neighbor, Juan, to come and take that huge limb off. It was so big he had to cut it off in sections, tying his ladder to the limb below where he was cutting—he also tied himself to the ladder. At last all of the dead wood was gone. Two hundred more dollars invested.

As spring progressed and summer came on, the leaves grew so thick that we were frequently having to prune lower branches to get down the walk. Never have I seen such thick foliage and leaves. The tree looks so healthy and is producing so much shade—all of this because of the severe radical pruning.

I believe that sometimes in our lives we need to have the dead wood cut away to free us up for more productive lives. We need new life breathed into our souls, then we can more effectively produce the shade—I mean the work that God has for us. We may need to just get back to Jesus, and shed the leaves and dried up limbs that are sapping us and draining our strength.

Water and pruning, that’s what we need to toughen us up and help us to grow. There may be times that the pruning is so harsh that we feel like we are just raising our naked limbs to the sky and will never be whole again—but hold on, spring is coming. We will flourish again.

I don’t know what will happen to the cracked up walk—maybe we will have to break it up and elevate it a bit, but at least we can reach it standing on the ground, and not have to have special tall equipment.

How about you? Has your bloomer quit blooming? Do you need some dead wood removed from you soul? God has the tools and the basket, He can make you happy and productive again.

John 15:1-4 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce.—and He prunes those branches which bear fruit for even larger crops. He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness. Take care to live in me and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine.

I know the last phrase is true for in my garden, when Mr. Bill was running the weed eater, he severed some of my flowers from their vine and they died.

As for me, I want to stay busy and productive as long as I have life in my being. I hope to bear fruit for the Master, just give me a bit of water and lop off the dead limbs when I need it.

That’s how it seems. Grow beyond your painful pruning, flowers and fruit are in your future. Amen!

Notes:

Cracked and broken

I now want to address the cracked and broken walk that runs by the old maple tree in our back yard. As it passes the tree it has a gigantic crack across the whole walk. It is buckled up and really needs replacing. That seems too big a job for me and Mr. Bill to tackle, so what I do at intervals is mix up some concrete and fill in around the edges where it is raised. This lasts a while until the tree grows a bit more and the concrete no longer holds. My patch job is really very temporary.

This is like trying to make a bed sheet good again by patching the holes it has in it. The sheet looks bad because of the patches, it is rough and uncomfortable, and the patches will not hold as the sheet shrinks with washing. The only solution is to throw it away and get a new one.

It is like trying to drive on worn out tires. As the road is rough and the weather heats up, flats occur and make traveling a nightmare, as well as a safety issue. So what do we do? We can continue to fix flats or we get new tires—if we can. Maybe that is the only good solution for our walk.

This brings to my mind what happens in my life as I struggle with difficulties. Sometimes I feel like I have maple tree roots, tearing me apart. When I face illness of myself or of a loved one, I feel myself cracking and breaking as the roots push on me. It may be financial problems that make the crack wider. It may be the death of a spouse or child or parent. The gap gets so big that I am cracked, buckled, and seemingly beyond repair. We may even add some concrete to patch our brokenness up. How do we do that?

We can get involved in activities and keep ourselves busy so we don’t notice the pain, but it is still there. We may travel and go on vacations and cruises. We may spend money, we may get a better car, or we may move to a bigger house. We may visit doctors until we are so weary and never find the solution to our pain. We may take all kinds of medication to dull the pain. Discouragement begins to take over and we are soon back to our brokenness.

So what is the way to fix our walk? There is no way except to remove all the old walk, break it up completely and remove it. We may cut the roots of the maple tree, and possibly kill that wonderful fifty year old lovely tree, that brings shade into our life. We could modify the walk by making a new walk with steps up over the roots. That seems to me to not be the perfect solution, but to do that we must consult and hire a master contractor to come in and do the job. We have a new walk—not as ideal as the old on was, but the tree is saved, the walk is no longer broken and buckled, and it is more functional and looks good.

In the brokenness in our lives, we must go to the master contractor, and rely on Him to bring a solution that will be workable to stop the pain and destruction. We may have to live with some modifications to have things better, just as a diabetic must have insulin to control their blood sugar, and a person without a job, may have to take something with less pay for a while. Yes, that is just adding concrete to the crack, but we never know how God will work things out.

Our niece Stacy and her husband Sean who have two young children, had a desire for Stacy to stop working and take care of her boys for a while. In order to do that the husband needed a better job. They decided a move was the solution. They moved to the DFW area in Texas. Sean was able to transfer with Target. The pay was better, but the hours were not good. He had to start working weekends. They made the move. They could not go to church as a family. Within a couple of months Sean was offered a job from another company with more pay, and it was five days a week, Monday through Friday. If they hadn’t have been willing to move and start with something less than perfect they would have missed out on that job offer.

We must remember that God is always near and He is always working for our good and His purpose. He is reliable and will remove the cracks and buckles from our lives if we trust Him. It may take some more brokenness for Him to remove the old concrete that is blocking our way. But God always has a plan! Amen!

Jeremiah 28:11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Verse 13, you will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.

That’s how it seems. Don’t settle for a patch job, God is waiting and has plans for your reconstruction job, He will clean out the debris and do the job right.

Notes:

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The cracked and broken walk beside the old Maple tree

Notes:

Adversity

I recently heard someone say, Every adversity we have is an opportunity to show God’s greatness. This sounds good to all of us, as long as we are not the one involved in the adversity. It is so easy to see what others can do to cope with the difficulties they face.

During our Christmas trip over the holidays we were able to go to Denton Texas to the Bender Terrace Rehab facility and visit our friend Betty Ingle. Betty is still recovering from the car accident that took the life of her husband Rick several months ago. Betty has not been to her home since that time. She is just beginning to walk again with help. Betty has been experiencing adversity of pain, sorrow, loss, and you name it and it has been stalking her.

She was not able to see her husband Rick for two weeks before he died. They were in the same hospital just a short distance apart, but their injuries were too grave to move either one of them. Finally after their family left to go home and regroup, Rick’s condition begin going down fast. Their kids were not able to get back to the hospital as they were hundreds of miles away, nearly home. So as Rick lay dying they wheeled Betty’s bed into ICU and let her be by Rick’s side and hold his hand for a short while. That must have torn her heart out. He was kept alive on life support until his son could fly back, he died shortly after being taken off of life support. Betty was left in a strange city, hundreds of miles from her home and family. She wasn’t able to travel by ambulance or fly commercially, she had to be transported via bed on a private plane. When she returned to Denton she faced the challenge of hoping to sit up in a wheelchair to go to Rick’s funeral. That my friend is adversity.

Yet when I walked into Betty’s room, she was up in her wheel chair. She greeted us with a smile and was her usual positive sweet self. She was making plans for her future. She showed us her new tennis shoes that would support her feet and ankles so she could walk. She hoped to go home sometime within the next month. She shared with us, how one of her daughters was not dealing with Ricks death well. Betty said, I told her she needed to not dwell on what had happened, that she knew that Rick was in a much better place than she or I are, and we need to move on with our lives. God has a plan and a work for us.

Betty shared that she wanted to make some gifts to her church in Rick’s memory. The church who had stood so faithfully with her and Rick for years.

When I left Betty’s room my heart felt glad. She was making her mark where she was. Nurses came by to give her a hug and say goodbye for the day. I want to be like that. I don’t want to suffer like that but I want to handle things like my friend Betty. Truly in her adversity Betty has and is taking the opportunity to show God’s greatness. Amen!

Many of us get so caught up in the little losses in our lives that we are swallowed up feeling sorry for ourselves. During the recent blizzard, I looked out and my rain barrel was gone from the front porch. I loved that rain barrel. And had gone through a lot to find it and I enjoyed using it during the spring rains. I was lamenting about it, and wondering if I would ever find it. No telling where the storm had taken it. I asked Bill to look for it, the weather was not good to go hunting it, so I just thought maybe he would see it as he went to checked on Steve. Then I begin to think about those who had been in the area of Texas who had experienced tornadoes. They had lost their homes, all of their belongings, and had no place to go, a rain barrel wasn’t even on the radar in their lives—and here I was worrying about my precious insignificant little rain barrel. Boy that made me feel like a real jerk. Most of my adversities are so small God doesn’t even have a chance to show his greatness. We found my rain barrel nestled between two of our neighbor’s houses.

Job 2:4-10 Satan said to the Lord God, man will give anything to save his life. Touch his body with sickness and he will curse you to your face. The Lord said, Do with him as you please, only spare his life. Job was struck with boils from head to foot. His wife said to him, Are you still trying to be godly when God has done all of this to you? Curse God and die. But Job replied. You talk like some heathen woman. What? Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?

Later Job said, Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.

Is your life easy today? You still need Him—hard times will come, be ready to witness and minister wherever you are—in good times and bad times.

That’s how it seems. We never walk alone, we may feel like we are, but God has not moved, guess who needs to run to Him! Only then will we experience His greatness.

Notes:

New blessing under the Radar

I recently traveled to Denton, Texas. My purpose in going was to attend my brother, James’ 70th birthday party. My sister, Jo accompanied me. While there we went to visit our other brother, Wes.

Now just recently Wes and his wife Wynelle have had a change in their home on Houston Place in Denton.

They have a big sprawling Texas style house, which was built to their design and specifications many years ago. After their retirement, they had their granddaughters, come from Columbia, and live with them to complete their education. When they completed their education and established in their chosen careers, they moved to homes of their own, Wes and Wynelle found they had more rooms than they wanted to maintain. A special blessing appeared on their radar.

Their daughter, Joye, along with her husband, David, were offered early retirement by the Foreign Mission Board. The Board had made a decision to reduce the number of missionaries and as Joye and David were just a couple of years away from their planned retirement, they decided to retire from their life of being career missionaries for thirty years in Columbia. The plan was that when this happened that the house at Houston place would be their retirement home. And perhaps Wes and Wynelle would continue their retirement in a smaller place.

They all had a light bulb (also called a God moment) and agreed that they could divide certain quarters and all live at Houston place. So plans were made and set into motion several years ago. Joye and David would have a bedroom, den, and bath for their exclusive use. Wes and Wynelle would retain the master suite. There was an office, an activity room, a formal living room and dining room/music room, a huge family den, with a fireplace, a nice sized kitchen, with a dining area and a garage for two cars and two carports. The big house, seemed perfect for the four people who had lived together at times for three months when David and Joye were in the states on furlough.

We visited with them and they are in their fifth month together. All seemed so happy with the arrangement. Joye and David seemed very comfortable and just delighted to have their future settled. Wes and Wynelle were so glad to have them there. They seemed comforted by having Joye and David close by. There just seemed to be a special peace in all of them. They were relaxed and serene. I saw no clouds on the horizon. It seemed like a very special blessing to all. So the big sprawling house at Houston Place is a place of refuge for two families.

I’m reminded that many times a move or change in our lives can be very unsettling. We may feel ourselves losing ground physically and difficult to do the work to maintain a big place—but let me tell you that isn’t bad ground to lose when you have more than you can take care of. Yes, you may have to give up some storage space filled with things that you have saved but haven’t used or worn in years. If you haven’t looked at that stuff in several years, maybe it’s time to declutter and make room for stuff that is used every day.

As we age, we all have to consider our energy level. We can’t vacuum and dust as much as we once did, and those bathrooms, zow-ee—things may get a little dirty, so four pair of hands are better than two. And just maybe someone will do that while you are in your exclusive quarters taking a nap! All I gotta say about this is, way to go folks!

Now back to the big warm house on Houston Place. This house first housed a young family. The Earp family consisted of Mom and Dad, Joye, Jeanie, and Darryl. They spent many happy growing up days there. Then granddaughters Aimee and Heidi, daughters of Joye and David, came and lived there during their high school and college years. It has been a home and place of refuge for this family. It has been a welcoming place for extended family. We were always able to get a place to sleep and a good meal, and watch a few Dallas Cowboy games on Thanksgiving. We felt loved and experienced great fellowship under its eaves.

What comfort it is to have a place that you feel welcome, you feel secure, you feel loved, and you want to come to live or return to often.

We as children of the Father have that same privilege. We don’t have a big house to physically stay in, but we have a place in his presence 24/7 that we are welcome. He is always there with his door open to receive us. He feeds us spiritual food from his word, he gives us rest in his arms. He dries our tears when we are sad and lonely. He guards and protects us when we are afraid. He is our dwelling place when we come back to rest and finish well. Amen!

That’s what the house on Houston place is giving to those who are abiding under its roof. Wes and Wynelle are able to finish well and Joye and David are able to help and are able to blend in and be productive in maintaining that home and be contributors to the community. Plus they can catch up on the many birthdays, Christmas’, Easters, Thanksgivings, and other special times that they missed not being home.

This seems to be truly a blessing that they had not seen on the radar. And what a blessing it is! Amen!

Psalms 57: Your kindness and love are as vast as the heavens. Your faithfulness is higher than the skies! Amen!

That’s what is happening at Houston Place, God is spreading his wealth around in his due time. Amen!

That’s how it seems. God always has a plan that doesn’t appear on our radar until the time is right.