That’S What I’M Talking About: Just Checking in Series 4

By Molly Stringer

The message of this book is to reveal the true heart of common ordinary people living in todays world, trying to be in control of their simple lives as they experience day-by-day victories, battles, and sometimes, defeats. How do we face good times without being arrogant? Some face illness and death with confidence that a better day is just ahead. Wow! Read and see how we find our way when we find ourselves without a job or without hope due to devastating illness.

My lifes stories have begun with the first Just Checking In series in the old Earp family homeplace in Eastland County in Texas. I was rocked on my Grandma Earps lap as she sat before the fireplace as my mother Opal cooked on the old wooden stove in the kitchen. What a heritage my brother Wes, my sister Jo, and I had as we were loved and mentored by Grandma Earp. That was her main responsibility. Stories in this fourth book have more stories about my children, my friends, and especially my husband, Bill. He continues to make me laugh a lot at his expense. But hes always a good sport when I read him a story about himself, and I ask him if it is okay if I share it in my book.

This book is being edited by my very smart granddaughter Morgan Roberts, who is a freshman at the University of Southern California. That way, I am assured she will read every word that I write. Its well worth the price. Come read my book and become a part of my heart and my life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524577490

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.

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Copyright © 2017 by Molly Stringer.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2017900894

ISBN:   Hardcover        978-1-5245-7747-6

            Softcover          978-1-5245-7748-3

            eBook               978-1-5245-7749-0

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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.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Website

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Rev. date: 02/23/2017

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Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 More than one way

Chapter 2 Stormy weather

Chapter 3 Different strokes

Chapter 4 Promises to keep?

Chapter 5 Sad and Glad

Chapter 6 Why is this?

Chapter 7 Daily Living

Chapter 8 Lions, tigers, and bears

Chapter 9 Missing out

Epilogue

Dedication

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Billy Steven Stringer

I dedicate this book to my son Steve. Since the time he was 2 years old Steve has been challenged. It was at this time that he developed seizures and as a result of this he has waged a lifelong battle, to move at the same pace as his peers. It was twice as hard for Steve to do the things his class mates did. He played basketball and even though his coordination was poor, he was happy to just be out there on the court with his friends. His classmates always looked out for him. They included him in all activities, and still do to this day. They make sure he knows when the class reunions roll around.

Steve has never felt that he was handicapped. In fact he was astounded that I was going to mark that on one of the applications I was filling out concerning his status. Steve is very smart about some things and seems to have an incredible memory about things of the past. He struggled to get through school, as focusing was difficult as well as keeping his mind alert, due to the medication that he took several times a day to control the seizures.

Steve lives alone in his own apartment a block from our home. I help Steve manage his finances and pay his bills. He is very devoted to his church and the members and friends he has there. They give him jobs to do and value his presence with them. He is very responsible to be there and carry out his duties every Sunday.

Steve loves to get mail and especially looks forward to the cards he gets on his birthday. He schedules his week to stay at home on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I don’t know why, but this is just what Steve does and he will on special occasions deviate from his schedule, but it has to be something good, like Christmas!

Steve loves to have tee-shirts for special occasions. He will wear one devoted to America, on July 4th, also expect Steve to wear his green and white on Fridays during football season to honor his home school colors. He will wear a Grinch shirt at Christmas, and just about any holiday he will honor it with a tee shirt. Family often send Steve t-shirts from their travels and he wears them proudly.

Now that you know a bit about Steve. Let me share with you that he is a very happy guy. He is agreeable in most every way. He feels good about himself, and just assumes everyone cares about him. He is content with whatever he has. If changes have to be made, he is able to adjust and not be unhappy. He brings a lot of joy to our family with his wit and funniness. So it is with great love and respect that I, his mother, dedicate this book to him, who, in spite of the challenges he has faced, has surfaced as a really delightful person who we all love and cherish dearly.

Often he will proudly tell someone he is talking to, Do you know that my mother is an author and has written several books. Just maybe I should put him in charge of marketing these several books!

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Billy Steven Stringer

Introduction

As I begin to write this book. I have a plan. This plan started without my knowing it was going to happen. I was just simply following the plan that I thought God had for me. It was to write short encouraging blogs each morning and send them via e-mail to those on my contact list. Many asked me, How do you come up with all of these thoughts and stories? Well I don’t know, it just seems sometimes that the simplest things have a message if you explore and pull the wrappings back.

Now back to my plan. I plan to write a series of five books called, Just checking in series. I have three written, and published. Will I last long enough to do this—well as Tennessee Ernie Ford used to say—If the Good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise—I will!

Now my publishers would not like me to say this, but you may find a few errors, a few commas misplaced in my books, they were not written to be perfect, they were written to inspire people who are struggling along their way. It is my hope that those who read these books are not critics, but people who are searching to find their way day by day, in a very chaotic world. I hope my stories, which were lived in the real, non-perfect world will speak to them and let them for a moment smile, hope, and know that there is a perfect world that can be theirs for the claiming. I’m on my way there, come and join me on the journey! Amen!

Chapter 1

More than one way

Don’t be self-absorbed

Daniel 4 Paraphrased: King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. He dreamed that he saw a very tall tree in the middle of the earth, out in the field, growing higher and higher in the sky, until it could be seen by the whole world. The leaves were fresh and green and its branches were loaded with fruit, enough for everyone to eat. Wild animals rested in its shade, birds were sheltered in its branches. One of God’s angels flew down and shouted, "Cut down the tree; lop off its branches and scatter its fruit, get the animals and birds away, leave only a stump and the roots. Tender green grass will spring up around the stump in the ground and for seven years you will live like an animal. The purpose of this is that the world may understand that God dominates the kingdoms of the world. The King wondered, what did all of this mean? Daniel was called in to interrupt the King’s dream.

He determined that the tree represented the King and his kingdom, and he would be destroyed with only a stump remaining. He would be chased from his palace. He would live in the fields eating grass like the cows for seven years, until he, the King learns that the Most High God dominates the kingdoms of men and will give power to whoever he chooses.

Daniel implored the King to turn from sin and do what is right. Be merciful to the poor—and perhaps even yet God will spare him. But the King did not heed these warnings! The prophecy of Daniel came to pass and the King was chased from his palace and lived like a wild animal in the fields eating grass. The King was brought to his knees, his sanity returned and he was restored to his kingdom.

Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify, and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.

Does this sound familiar to you—we need to get back to some of the basics and quit being so self-absorbed.

Count your blessings, name them, one by one, we don’t want to be the ungrateful people that God has to take down. We don’t want to be driven from our little earthly kingdoms and wander in the fields living a deprived life. We want to live in the palace of our heavenly King! We proclaim Him as the God of the universe, who is indeed in power over all things! Amen!

That’s what I’m talking about. Obey the Lord God, honor and glorify him—He is worthy of our praise. Don’t make him send you to eat grass.

How do we miss God?

How to miss God’s will, was the topic of one of Pastor Tim’s messages in our worship service. Pastor Tim suggests that we may miss God’s plan for us, first because we are not willing to move, or relocate. Second, we may have fears that we will fail, that we can’t do what God asks us to. Third, we may be concerned about money—how will we live, will we have enough? And fourth, we may be concerned about leaving our families.

So how do we learn to not miss God’s will?

When we need to learn, we read the Manuel. We may attend classes. We may look at others. We may look back at our own experiences and see that we are smart and capable. We can pray.

My Sis and I were talking about times that God made himself so plain to us that there was no missing his plan for that day and that time in our lives. She recalled that when Jack was called to be Director of Missions in the state of Ohio. They came from their home in England where they had served for a number of years. They found a lovely house that was not even on the market yet. They purchased it, the seller was moving to another part of the country. The house served them well, it was large enough for their extended families to visit. Their young grandson had Leukemia. His mother brought him to the States from Saudi Arabia for treatment. She and her two children lived with Jack and Jo during this heart wrenching and difficult time. Yes the house on Rosewae Drive in Cortland, Ohio, served them well and met family needs.

Jack was called back to Texas to pastor. How do you sell your house and get on your way back to the Promised Land? Before their house was even listed the man who had sold it to them years before, called and wanted to buy it back, it seemed he was moving back to Ohio. As their van loaded out for the trip to Texas, his van was sitting at the corner of the street waiting to move back in. My friend that is not missing God that is being so in the center of what he has planned for your life that you can’t miss it.

I remember back in my nursing career, or should I say, while I was still in school. One of my fellow students was expecting her first child, I seemed to be an expert on this as I had birthed three children. Lafonda was a tiny small girl. My advice to her was that the most important things to do when her labor started was to relax into the contractions. She believed me. After her baby was born with no problems, she came to me and said, I did just like you said, and I just relaxed my whole body as the contraction began to build, and I breezed right through it. Well that surprised me—I had a lot of pain in my three experiences, but I didn’t share that with Lafonda. I think Lafonda went in without fear, and knowing what she could do, and she did it. She learned by asking and hearing from someone who had been where she was going.

We do not want to miss God’s appointments for our lives, because we are afraid. We may fear moving on to something unfamiliar and new in our lives.

I almost missed God’s plan for me to further my education and go to RN school. I feared going to Texas Tech, I feared having large classes, and finding parking on such a huge campus. I opted to go to South Plains College in Levelland, even though it added sixty miles a day to my round trip. Because of my fear, my total career was based on me finding a parking place. The lots at SPC were color coded, and were full when we arrived for me to enroll. I told Bill just to drive through the one where I needed to be and if we didn’t find a parking place we would just forget this plan and go home—God had a plan bigger than my fear, even as I spoke a car backed out and left us a parking space, right before our very eyes—I never looked back from that point on. I had a wonderful 25 year career in nursing.

Psalm 104:1-3 Let all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride on the wings of the wind.

What a great God we serve, I don’t want to miss any part of what he has for me. I will cast my fears aside, I will go where he wants me to, I will not worry about how I will get by, I will not worry about how far I have to go from my family—I am serving the Lord God of Abraham, who channeled my career by simply giving me a parking space, one day in Levelland, Texas! Amen!

That’s what I’m talking about. With God—believe it! He will get you there, He won’t let you leave town without registering for your classes.

Preparing for the big Event

Those of us who find ourselves facing a new challenge in our lives, may be excited, we may be worried, and we may have some misgivings. This especially happens, when we are anticipating the birth of our first child.

I was an instructor of childbirth classes at our local hospital. What did I need to do that? First I needed to attend some training—just the fact that I had three kids of my own didn’t qualify me, just the fact that I was an RN didn’t qualify me. So I went to Lubbock for training. Then I needed some equipment. I needed videos, I needed hands on visuals, I needed an empathy belly, I needed manuals, and I needed hand-outs for those attending. I needed a good spacious, pleasant place to have my classes, and I needed students.

As I set out on my new venture. It was an exciting time for me. Classes were scheduled and students were recruited through our clinic at the hospital. We were able to meet in the garden room of the First Baptist church in Lockney.

As my friend and co-instructor Helen and I began, we found that we were excited, but not nearly as much as the expectant parents who came. They came wanting to know the details about what was going to happen in the next weeks and months. Helen and I had the answers for them. They were on a journey to a place where they had never been before. They knew it was a place where they wanted to go, but as they had never travelled this road before, they wanted to know what to anticipate and expect.

As they began to understand about the mood swings, the body changes, the weight gain, the strange cravings some had, they were able to relax and feel like things were progressing normally.

Now from my point of view, all the videos, pictures, practicing of breathing, or knowledge cannot fully prepare a pregnant lady for the pain of childbirth. It helps them to understand the various stages of labor, but the end of stage stage 2 is a big ‘bugger bear’ waiting to happen, from which there is a point of no return. I found that it helped if I prepared them in advance by telling them, when you think you cannot do this anymore, when you feel like you cannot stand the pain anymore—you are about to deliver. It’s almost over. We can all hang on just a minute or two longer if we know it’s done! But most of all I promised them that they will never be alone, that they will always have their partner, they will always have an experienced nurse to care for them during the entire labor and a doctor for the delivery.

This reminds me of my life at times, I have times of uncertainty, I am afraid. I cannot see the end result of what I am experiencing, but I have been to classes, I have been instructed, I have a manual, I have been assured through the instructor, be it my pastor, my Sunday school teacher, my family, that I will never be alone—and even in the most painful moments I remember that it is almost over, and I will receive that wonderful, joyful, reward of struggling through this terrible time. I will emerge, smarter, stronger, and more faithful. And I hope my reward is not a baby!

This past week as I attended the high school graduation of my granddaughter, it dawned on me that she is also moving into unknown territory. She has never been there before. It was a joyful occasion for all of us, but a little sadness that our girl is moving on to a new life. We have all been where she is, but that certainly doesn’t qualify us to know every pitfall she will encounter in the big wide world she is stepping out to. She is leaving home as are many other graduates. She will not have a big support group close-by as she goes from the warm nest of love that has been her sanctuary for the past eighteen years, yes, life will be different and challenges will be faced and conquered. With each terrible pain, strength of character and growth will emerge, until she stands on top of her mountain with the prize of facing any giants she may encounter and victory will be hers as she perseveres and endures—that sounds like she will be ready for real life doesn’t it!

Philippians 4:8 Now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on things that are true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you have learned.

That’s what I’m talking about. Deal with uncertainty by knowing you are never alone. You have the manual of God’s word to instruct you, and God your teacher, helper, and guide has all the answers and He will be where you are, and will never leave your side. Amen!

New Territory

I want to continue to think about new things and changes we will face in our lives. Right off the bat, I think of marriage—life certainly does change as we have another person in our most intimate space and territory. There will be two opinions that matter. What if they don’t agree? Settling those differences will bring challenges. We have not been here before, so how do we decide whose idea is the best? Well about all I have to say about that is good luck—that’s from someone who has been in that vehicle, on that journey for over sixty years and still finds herself in conflict daily. So who wins?

I find that in marriage, you have to step back and really look at what your conflict is worth. Is it something as insignificant as eating out of the jelly or peanut butter jar? Quit fussing and buy two jars, and he will probably eat out of both. Some battles are just not worth fighting. If it is really important to you, take a look back and anticipate that if it has happened several times, it will happen again, and go hide your jelly!

New territory to some is divorce, or death of a spouse. This is hard painful territory to move into. It may be something just thrust on you, that leaves you no choice. In divorce there may be others to consider—children who are innocent bystanders. How do you begin your role as a single parent? You’ve never been there before. Only with God’s help can you come out of this as a whole person. There has to be tolerance, forgiving, and yes loving. But then what would I know about that, I have never traveled this road before, and I have never been trained to teach a class on this, so all I can say is God bless you, pray a lot, and if you find yourself falling and failing, go to some trained help to guide you through this to a place of joy once again.

There may come a change in where you live. My parents moved several times in the 1940’s and 1950’s just trying to make a living. It was up to us as a family to adjust and seek new adventures in the place where we were. There wasn’t any disagreement, we just left our friends as we moved on and made new friends where we went.

There is always new territory when death comes to those we love. There will always be an empty place at the table—be it a young person or adult. There will always be a cold side of the bed, there will always be birthdays that remind us to remember them. We cannot stay in the past. We must move on. Weeping is for us, yes just a selfishness in us, that wants to lag back and remember who we can no longer talk to, who we can no longer just companion with. So what do we do in this new territory? We find someone new who needs us to talk with them, who needs us to lift them up. In doing this we honor those we once spent our time with. I remember that my friend Anita said to me, after the death of her husband, Jack. We must go on living after the death of our loved one, so that only one person died and not two.

When we approach death, it is very uncertain territory. We have only been to the door where life ceased to be and death begins. And they cannot tell us how it is. Our option is to go to the manual, and see what God has to say. He says, "In the twinkling of an eye you will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52) In that moment when the last trumpet will sound, death is swallowed up in Victory! Amen!

1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

That’s what God’s word has to say about that. In that we can draw comfort as we approach that door, we also find that Jesus told his disciples, that he was going away to prepare a place for them, and that he would come again and receive them to himself, that where he is they will be also! Amen! That’s all I need to know!

I believe that heaven is filled with mansions and he has prepared for me a new place or territory I don’t want to miss.

That’s what I’m talking about. As long as we live there is new territory to explore, in it we will find blessings, joy, and a rich life beyond our challenges, sorrows, and fears, Yes we can! Move on today to new digs and don’t miss the treasures buried there.

What’s your speed?

I have been with my daughter this week as she rehabs from knee surgery. I have learned a few things, number one is that we march to different drummers. Our speed depends on what we are doing. I have been doing and folding laundry. We have had many loads as we are cleaning out Morgan’s room since she has gone to college. There are clothes that she may need, those that need to be repurposed, and those which are headed for the trash. We have tried to laundry