That’S All I’M Gonna Say: Earp Family Lore

By Molly Earp Stringer and N. Wesley Earp Ph.D.

The book has three sections.

Section 1

Thats All Im Gonna Say About That was authored by Molly. It has stories that might be used in daily quiet time. It was not meant to be read as one continual story. It is intended to bring a chuckle, a tear, or stir some emotion to draw the reader in and have them want to have a good day, to tell someone they love them, or just simply do something extraordinary thats not really planned to lift someones spirit

Section 2

Earp Family Lore was authored by Wesley. It involves family stories of Grandma Earp. Most took place in Eastland County of Texas. It involves having to move to a new country to start over. It shares how the family always stayed in touch and how when anyone had a problem, they all joined and helped until the burdened one could walk alone. There was a time of moving on upfrom mules for plowing to a tractor and, finally, to a car. The family went from fireplace heat to butane, from lamps to electric lights, and from iceboxes to refrigerators.

Section 3

Roots from the Stump was written by Molly. It involves the family from Molly and Wess grandparents to the present day. And are we related to Wyatt Earp? Are we related to Cynthia Ann Parker and Quanah Parker?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984537430

Molly Earp Stringer

Molly Earp Stringer Molly Stringer has authored five books. This book is filled with true stories from her life with friends and family. Each story has an inspirational ending easily discerned for daily living. Molly lives alone and manages her home. Husband Bill remains in assisted living with dementia. He is doing well. Molly has always wanted to share her heritage and family life, so she took this opportunity to do that in the second and third section, including writings of her Big Brother Wes. Wes' wife Wynelle generously offered pictures of her oil paintings of Earp family home places. Two nieces also shared their offerings. Kaylee Bragg prepared a report on her ancestors for school which proved to be award winning. Rachel Earp Knowles shares a time in her life that she was in a war torn place saw the people as they experienced very difficult issues, but vows that we will be okay in spite of the chaotic world we live in. N. Wesley Earp Ph.D. Wesley Earp was a professor at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. He and his wife Wynelle still live in Denton. Wynelle has been a faithful contributor to Wes' research and writings. She has been secretary and editor to him. She has painted several oil paintings of the Earp family homes through the years as Wes described them to her. Wes is a conservative guy who just quietly moves through his days, always helping family and friends. He was the caretaker of his younger siblings during their growing up years. He would shepherd them as they hoed cotton or pulled cotton and then always took them to church, the skating rink or a picture show.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Molly Earp Stringer.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2018907563

ISBN:              Hardcover                978-1-9845-3741-6

                        Softcover                   978-1-9845-3742-3

                         eBook                        978-1-9845-3743-0

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.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

NIV Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Rev. date: 06/28/2018

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Section 1

That’s all I’m gonna say about that Page 1-170

By Molly Earp Stringer

Section 11

Earp Family Lore Page 199-295

By N. Wesley Earp, PhD

Section 111

Roots Page 317-405

From the Stump

By Molly Earp Stringer

Section 1

That’s all I’m gonna Say about that

Contents

I.   Finding My Way

II.   We all contribute

III.   Eternal Investments

IV.   It Was Enough

V.   How Much

VI.   Count it Joy

VII.   Honor and Respect

VIII.   Timing is Everything

IX.   Stressed out

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Christy

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Melody and Jim

Dedication

I want to dedicate this book to two wonderful and unique individuals it has been my privilege to have in my life for the last 50+ years: Melody Sue Stringer Roberts and Christy Jan Stringer Newberry, yes my lovely daughters. Christy or ‘Cissy’ as we call her was our first born. She came along in 1958. It was a hot summer day in August, the 21st to be exact. My how very proud we were of that sweet child. She lived in a magical fairyland of an unreal world for three and one half years. She was the only grandchild near to both sets of grandparents. What she lacked in material possessions due to her young struggling parents was quickly overshadowed but the love and attention she received from those special people in her life. Our church family doted on her. I was church pianist and so she took turns sitting in Mrs. Ruth William’s lap and playing with her earrings and later by her Granny Stringer’s side. She would get to look at the pictures in Granny Stringer’s white bible and just be her proper little self. Granny and Grandpa Earp were delighted to get to keep her and bought her lots of cute clothes. Their only other grandchild lived far away in Wisconsin. Norma Joye Earp, my brother’s daughter was a delight to all of our family, but she was too far away to really become spoiled by constant attention.

But one day young Cissy, after being involved in something, that she really didn’t understand or know the significance of, was in for a big surprise. It was in December of 1961 that I went to the hospital for a couple of days and brought home a worrisome tiny baby that was no doll, she was real and begin to be a distraction that took up my time and disrupted the perfect world that Cissy had lived in. It was hard on Cissy. Who was this little selfish creature that we got at the hospital? She did not know how to go to the bathroom, she had no teeth, she could not eat fried chicken, and she could not walk! She was so helpless that she consumed most of the attention that had once been Cissy’s. Cissy learned really quickly that life is not fair. You can have your own kingdom one minute and it’s gone like a poof, in the blink of an eye with the birth of a little sister. And you know it took her about ten years to even begin to get over and accept that cute little girl named Melody into her life.

Now a bit about Melody, or ‘Mel’ as we call her. She was a happy baby. She was high energy, and always busy playing. She would go beyond the boundaries and get into things that she knew were not allowed, but she was just a curious adventuresome sweet little girl. If caught in her shenanigans she was smart enough to always toss the blame to Cissy. I can still see the horrified look on Cissy’s face, when one day Mel had gotten my straight pins out and spilled the entire box in the shag carpet just I walked into the room and I asked, Who did that. Mel immediately pointed to Cissy and said, Cissy did it. I’m quite sure that Cissy thought Mel was headed to a long life of crime, that little conniver, not only pushed the boundaries, she lied also. Well needless to say Mel never had to do any jail time for her life of finger pointing and casting blame as a two year old. She has matured well and turned into a delightful lady who has brought joy beyond measure to all of us.

How two children could be so different, I have wondered. Cissy was a very obedient child who did everything right. She was the politician of the two. She ran for office in high school and was the first girl to be elected Student Council President in 20 years. Yes, she was more serious and focused. She made her place wherever she was. She is extremely talented and smart. She has lived all of her adult life in ministry, serving others. She with her husband Paul, who she met while in college, have circled the Globe, singing and being ambassadors for God. She has enjoyed a life of influence, seeing people’s life’s changed by her testimony and music.

Then there is Mel. She has always made her way by doing practical things. She is a registered nurse and worked in the medical field for her early adult life. She did her job well and had a ministry to those she cared for. She was not a politician in high school. She opted to drop out of cheerleading, her junior and senior years and become part of the school work program and worked in the local Dentists’ office. After she completed her BSN in nursing, she later moved to Lubbock to work. One night at a party she met a pilot, Jim Roberts, stationed at near-by Reese Air Force base. They married and Jim transferred back to Maryland to finish his last year of college, as he decided he would pursue a career in medicine. So Mel worked, Jim stayed in the military and flew f-16’s. When Jim got his degree, they came back to Lubbock, Texas for him to go to medical school. Mel continued to work but after eight years of marriage they found that they were going to have a baby. This was tough time for them as Jim was consumed with internship and residency. During Mel’s pregnancy she worked up until the day Morgan, our beloved one and our only grandchild, was born.

Morgan became the delight of our life as she was to her Aunt Cissy and Uncle Paul. She became the beloved child they could not have. She still is that to us this day. Melody was a most extraordinary mother. She mothered Morgan for her first two years while they lived on school loans and then it was back to work. After Jim was finished and received his MD, Mel was able to retire from nursing to take care of Jim and Morgan. She has spent the last eighteen years volunteering, serving and helping others who are struggling along their way. She has a heart of gold and is daily reaching out to people to make their lives better.

So you see I have two daughters with very different personalities, but both have arrived at the same place with the same focus. Mel is a server and a giver and Cissy is the focused person who continues to do what it is that she is good at, providing music, teaching, and just being who she is, to point people to Jesus.

Cissy and Paul came and helped us two times when Bill and I were involved in a church ministry at the RV Park in Ruidoso. I watched her interact with the older people there, being a part of the activities swimming, playing games, singing—really getting to know and visit with everyone. She worked at drawing those who were not part of the group to come and join in the activities. I asked her, Who are you? She said, Mother this is what I do! And I really saw my daughter in a different light.

So I say how lucky can one mother be? I have two daughters who any Mother would want to claim as their very own. They are pretty, they are kind, they love me and their Dad, they are good wives, and their husbands know that. Most of all Morgan knows she has a wonderful Mother and a perfect Aunt. Steve knows he hit the jackpot with not one but two older sisters who have always been there for him.

So it is with a lot of pride that I dedicate this book to Cissy and Mel, who are truly champions living and serving and making our world a better place. I love you!

Introduction

I know, I know, I said in my last book that I was going to hang it up and not write a fifth book in the ‘Just Checking in’ series. Well I was never able to stop. I had a name for my fifth book and I just could not leave it hanging out there. So as the stories captured my thoughts I continued my writings. They may not all relate to you, but my hope and prayer is that you will find something in these pages that inspire you. Maybe you will even find your name if you live around or in Floydada, Texas, or anyplace I have been for a time. Why, because I have had contact with many in places beyond my home and community who have had an impact on my life. My thanks to all of you.

I am leaving you with some stories and history about my family and from whence I came. I asked my Brother Wes to contribute history and snip-its from his memory that he documented in Earp Family Lore, so he is my co-writer in this final book. His wife Wynelle is a valuable contributor using her talent as an artist to capture pictures that are really very authentic.

My niece Rachel Earp Knowles shared some meaningful things of just how far this family has been stretched not just around home but all over the world.

My niece Kaylee Bragg is the granddaughter of Brother Wes. She undertook a project of tracking her ancestors in America for a school project. She won awards for this documentary. --So this is all of our book.

Chapter 1

Finding My Way

Mrs. Lanier

I remember a time many years ago, that I had some time on my hands after all of my children started to school. I wanted to do something worthwhile that would have some value to someone besides myself. As I pondered on this, the thought came to my mind that there are forgotten people right around me in the small world that I lived in. How did I go about finding a forgotten person? I went to our local nursing home and inquired if they had someone who had no family, who never received visitors, and who was lonely. They gave me the name of a lady there that fit this description. It was Mrs. Lanier.

So begin my journey to do something worthwhile, which would just perhaps brighten an old lady’s life. Mrs. Lanier was pointed out to me. She was rather severe looking. Her hair was pulled back into a bun with little wisps escaping. She had very bright pink rouge on each cheek, and she had really big old round glasses on that had very thick lenses.

Mrs. Lanier was sitting in the lobby all by herself. I went and sat down near her. I said, Good morning, how are you today? It took her a minute to determine that I was really speaking to her. Her face lit up a bit and she responded with a pleasant look and a smile. My contact was made and I indeed knew that she was lonely and starved for any attention I could give her.

I begin to return to the nursing home every few days and seek her out and visit with her. Soon she was looking for me to come to her as I entered the door. I knew that most of the folks there loved hamburgers. I asked her if she would like to have a hamburger for lunch, she was delighted. That begin a short ministry for me to my friend Mrs. Lanier. We had many visits and conversations. As Christmas time came she had some presents, that I chose for her—a lovely robe and some goodies. I realized that Mrs. Lanier was a different person from the lady I first met and greeted several months before. She was my friend. I had made a difference in her life and also my own life had been impacted as our relationship grew.

Then came the day that Mrs. Lanier died. I was sad to lose my friend, but I was glad that her last days had probably been happy for her as she talked to me, as she wore her lovely robe, and as she ate the hamburger I brought to her often. So you see it isn’t so hard to find someone to help along their way.

I can remember a song that Tennessee Ernie Ford used to sing. It was a song we had on a long play record album that we would put on the record player and go to sleep by. Some words to this song were:

If I can help somebody as I pass along,

Then my living will not be in vain.

If I can cheer somebody with a word, a prayer, or a song,

Then my living shall not be in vain."

I guess my hope and prayer is that I live daily so that never a day has been wasted. Time is precious, we can never go back and reclaim one minute. We need to live in the moment, in the present—As I have heard ‘yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come so all we have is the present’—today. We must use the moments and the hours of today wisely.

1 Corinthians 8:7 You people are leaders, in so many ways—you have so much faith, so much learning, so much enthusiasm, and so much love. I now want you to be leaders in cheerful giving. Verse 23 If you are really eager to give, then it isn’t important how much you give. God wants you to give only what you have, not what you haven’t.

It couldn’t be much plainer than that, whether it be money, time, love, knowledge, or energy God wants us to give what we have to grow in his kingdom and to help others along their way!

That’s all I’m ‘gonna’ say about that. Find someone, and give them something that you have to share, ‘then you living will not be in vain.’

I am a Skeptic

I was watching a television show about people who believe in or think that ghosts may actually exist. Now I believe in God, and I believe in Jesus who I have never seen. I am told in the Bible that I have the Holy Spirit with me every moment of every day. Yes, he or it is a spirit that I have never seen or heard speak in auditable tones. He moves about as I do, he is wherever I am. So what do I feel that makes me believe in him?

I will address the Holy Spirit as He or Him from this point on. First of all I believe in this spirit because Jesus said he would send the Holy Spirit to come and be with us here on earth when he ascended to heaven. How does he deal with me? Sometimes I feel his presence as a warm breeze that holds me and I know I am in the presence of something wonderful and majestic. There are times that I just want to stay where I am because my soul is in awe of worship. It may have been a song, a scripture, or a testimony that ignites a feeling of love and warmth.

There are times that I have a choice to make, and as I pray I can’t seem to find my way. He may bring a person into my path, to give me words of encouragement, he may lead me through the scripture to light my way.

Just this week as I was grumbling and angry about something I felt like needed changing and I was disenchanted with the person who seemed to be in charge. When we work at our local Spirit of Sharing I feel like if the door is unlocked and we are all in our places people should be able to come in and start their shopping. One of our volunteers said to a lady who entered the open door, We are not open, it will be 7 minutes. That made me so mad! Why make her wait? We were all ready and the door was open. I quickly went to my office and as we weren’t open I pulled out my Sunday school lesson, and begin to read. As I begin to study my Sunday School lesson I was led to the scripture where Jesus disciples’ were asking Jesus for special favor in the places they would sit when he come into his kingdom—Well, Jesus had a lot going on such as facing death on the cross and being ridiculed, rejected, and flogged in public. In his wisdom, he said, it is not mine to decide, but you my brothers, must be willing to walk the path that I am about to walk if you want to sit by me. It seemed that the Holy Spirit was saying Molly Girl, you can’t always have it your way, you must learn something about sacrifice and denying yourself if you want to be all you can be in my kingdom and as long as you live on this earth you will disagree with the way things are done or where you get to sit, so re-adjust your attitude. Folks that’s how the HS leads me.

Now back to Ghosts, now that we know that I believe in the Holy Spirit. The psychic I was listening to kept talking in general terms, that maybe if someone was very gullible they just might in desperation catch on to something that would turn their mind that maybe this was real. I was able to say hog-wash—that was until the psychic begin to talk about aromas and smells that people sometimes connect with certain people who are dead that they have known. It may have been the hot rolls my Mother made or the perfume she wore. You know that spoke to me a bit.

My Daddy was a smoker. He rolled his own from a Prince Albert can for years and when that was not readily available he smoked Camels. I remember seeing the blue haze of smoke in the living room as the sun shined in the door, as he sat in his chair and smoked. I remember him smoking as we traveled, he would open the small side triangle window and tip his ashes out. I never thought about this much. But I remembered as a child if I smelled fresh cigarette smoke my daddy was around. Now to the strange bit of my tale—I have in the last few years had faint smells of cigarette smoke at times. Most of the time it is when I am at home alone. There is no outside source. This started me thinking that maybe we can at times have a visit from those we have a close link to. I have wondered if I have a bit of smoke stored up in my sinus passages. Not for sixty years! So what?? Why do I smell this? Do you think that just maybe my Daddy’s spirit and presence are near me at these times?

I just have to leave my ghosts story there. I don’t know, and I guess it doesn’t matter.

1 Corinthians 2:9b-10 No mere man has ever seen, heard, or even imagined what wonderful thing God has ready for those who love the Lord. But we know about these things because God has sent his Spirit to us, and his Spirit searches out and shows us all of God’s deepest secrets. Verse 12 And God has actually given us his Spirit, not the world’s spirit, to tell us about the wonderful free gifts of grace and blessings!

I want no part of the spirits of this world, but I do believe that God’s Spirit is roaming around this planet guiding us and protecting us and wooing us to keep our heads on straight and our souls in touch with the almighty God who sent him in the first place!

That’s all I’m gonna say about that. And this is probably my first and last ghost story. I remain a sceptic.

Growing and Learning

Just this past week we had visitors. My brother James and his wife Mary from Denton came to visit. James was on a mission of mercy to his two sisters. Sister Jo and I had all of our tax papers in order and being James is a financial planner and manages our investments, he volunteered to do our taxes. I usually do Bill and my taxes, but due to the fact that I have sold a few books and paid sales tax it was necessary for me to file a 1040C in addition to my regular simple taxes. I looked at this and determined that I needed some help this year as I had no idea what to fill in and what not to fill in. So good old James stepped in and did this for me. While they were here we had a great time as we were joined by Robbie and Stan from Colorado. Robbie is Sister Jo’s daughter.

Now that the ground work is laid, I will remind you how picky I am about the way my toilet tissue goes on the roll—up and over. I addressed this in my last book. I went to my bathroom and as I reached for the tissue, it was on down and under—well let me tell you there was no ‘alas!’ I did not endure a whole roll on this way, I immediately took it off and put it on right! Do some folks just not know or care about their toilet tissue, wow! Makes you wonder what else they don’t pay attention to.

So I felt like I have learned something from that. I just change it to suit me and go on with my day—if it is my house, that is. I must say I have never changed the tissue to suit me if I am at someone else’s house—unless I am the one putting on a new roll—then they may come in and say ‘alas!’

I learned another thing while my visitors were here. Now I have recently written about my new deluxe, expensive, White Mountain ice cream freezer, and about how the bucket leaks, and as I recalled years ago we had to soak our freezer bucket to get the wood to swell and hold the icy, water and salt in. I had tried to fill all the cracks, but found that after the bucket sat a while—24 hours, it would again leak.

It seems we have had a revival of making homemade ice cream in our family. Brother James and Mary also have one of those expensive freezers and we were sharing our experiences and I mentioned that I was going to have to get the gorilla glue out and fill up the cracks in my freezer bucket. Mary said, Didn’t you read the instructions, you are supposed to soak your bucket every time before you make ice cream? Well I was caught, by not having read the instructions because I thought I knew everything there was to know about making ice cream. And really I thought that with all the progress in the last seventy years, surely with all the wonderful technology of microwaves, television, computers, and I-phones, that the problem of the old wooden ice cream bucket would be solved—really you still have to soak it—you bet you do! Maybe someone should work on that.

So what do I have to say about that? You never grow too old to learn. We can go buy some Gorilla glue and try to stop up all the cracks or we can just follow the instructions—it works, I have tried it.

So what simple truths have I learned from these two incidents? Just change the tissue, it will only take a few seconds and your day will be better every time you go to the bathroom. And read you directions when starting with a new product. It will save you from driving yourself to frustration when you want to make ice cream.

The same simple truths apply to our spiritual life. If you find yourself where something needs changing that is under you jurisdiction and control, stop right where you are and change it, don’t be a martyr and just endure it to the end of the roll. Next if you find yourself frustrated and grabbing for the caulking to stop up the cracks, stop right where you are and find the instructions. Learn all you need to know to deal what is troubling you.

I am a person who always reads the instructions, how did I get caught up in the ice cream freezer caper? I thought I knew all about it, but I needed to know more.

Philippians 1: I am quite sure that God who begin the good work in you will keep right on helping you to grow in his grace.

As I learn, and grow, and follow instructions, I will find that there are things that I do not know, and I need God to shed his light on me in every situation I encounter that what I do will honor him. Whether it be making ice cream for the senior lunch at church, or just the way I clean and keep my house to reflect my dedication to making everything I do be orderly and peaceful.

That’s all I’m gonna say about that. Lessons for today, may I honor God by the way I do my work, May I seek help as I encounter difficulties. May I change those things that cause me stress and frustration and move on? Amen!

Late note: Another ice cream story. Brother James shared that he was making three freezers of ice cream for a large group and one freezer just kept going and going and never seemed to pull down. Finally in frustration he just stopped the motor and opened the lid, he found he had forgotten to put the dasher in. He said the ice cream was frozen like a rock around the edges. A case of the missing dasher caper! Ha ha!

Endures for Ages

I realize that sometimes when I find a good topic that I just dog it to death. But bear with me there is another lesson emerging from my mind through my fingers to my computer keyboard, which has a noteworthy lesson for us. It is my White Mountain Ice cream freezer. After my sister-in-law, Mary told me about the instructions, I found my manual and read every word of it.

There was a nice historical introduction in the front of the manual. It seems that in the middle of the 17th century that Charles I of England developed a technique of shaking flavored cream in a dish of ice. He loved this delicious treat so much that he kept it a royal secret. But slowly the secret leaked out and ice cream parlors began to appear in Europe. Thus the invention of ice cream.

However it was in the United States where the ice cream freezer was manufactured and popularity soared. The Father of our country, George Washington, purchased a ‘cream machine for making ice,’ and spent the unheard of sum of $200.00, and made ice cream all summer!

In 1853 the White Mountain Freezer company was founded. They took great pride in their product. The highest quality metals, woods and manufacturing techniques were used to produce the finest ice cream in the world.

The original buckets were made of red wood. They now use pine. They used a much more powerful motor to agitate and whip the cream. So for the last 164 years they have made and sold their superior freezers. This product has endured and seems now to have a revival in sales due to the quality of ice cream it produces, and also the younger generation wanting to get back to some good memories of bygone days. They are more impulsive and don’t mind spending their money for the best.

Now the ground work has been laid I will tell you that our family is in the ice cream making business. I make it almost weekly for us or for some event. My sister-in-law Mary makes all kinds and flavors of the treat. My son-in-law, Jim, introduced me to the wonderful White Mountain freezer. I knew I had to have one. I paid $200.00 for my freezer, just as George did. I anticipate that I will get a lot of use out of it, and it will be sold in my estate sale for a good price. If I haven’t learned anything else from this little story I have learned that something good will last through the AGES!

I have always made ice cream. I just never had a good freezer until a couple of years ago. I had a counter-fit model, that was in a thin plastic bucket, the metal insert was thin and had no cold holding or redeeming qualities. The motor was so powerless that it would pull down before the cream was more than a thick soup. But I persevered. I just never knew why my ice cream was soft, I tried packing it down for a while after making it, but it just seemed to melt. I have learned that I was using an inferior fake machine that was not a real genuine ice cream machine.

I think that many times in our lives we settle for something cheap and poorly made because we don’t want to pay the price for the real thing. Maybe not all of us can pay the price, but we in ourselves need to struggle and reach toward the goal of being the best we can be in spite of the cost to us physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I have learned that the real thing, which is genuine, will endure through the ages. The Gospel—the good news in God’s word has been trampled, burned, destroyed, but it has endured through the ages. The evil one will never be able to get rid of this book which, down through the ages, has pointed and directed souls into the kingdom. He has brought fake and impostures to try and lead us to invest in weak motors and thin plastic buckets, but they just don’t do the job. They leave us in a soupy mix that is unsatisfying. The story of Jesus has been put on trial, crucified, and buried in a tomb, but He rose again, He did not stay in the grave. Friends this is something genuine—it is a plan using technology from God’s own hand that will one day lead us to the Promised Land. We must not be fooled by the fake replicates that Satan puts on sale at a cheap price to lure us into his snare.

Don’t settle for mediocre, search beyond the powerless life you are living. There is hope for me, there is hope for you to be a vessel that produces goodness, kindness, love, joy, peace, and patience, to make our lives count and serve a dedicated purpose. Amen!

1 John 3:18 Let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.

1 John 4:7 Dear friends let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show they are the children of God.

Will what you have devoted your life to endure through the ages? We need to daily examine our hearts and see if we have been fooled in any area of our thoughts that will turn out to be just a sham—a plastic bucket, housing feelings and deeds that are worthless and fake.

That’s all I’m gonna say about that. Be genuine, be real today, and don’t settle for the cheap, easy way. Follow the Master Builder of the universe, his plan is made to endure through the ages! Amen!

Finding My Pleasure

We are all pleasure seekers. We just seek what brings us a thrill in different ways. It takes much more to thrill some of us than others. Maybe some are just simply looking for pleasure, but that is not enough and they chase after a thrill. That caught my mind and took it on a trip this morning. I know that young folks of today seek their thrills anyway they can get it, be it sniffing glue, breathing aerosol paint from a can, participating in the choking game, texting while driving eighty miles an hour down the highway, or getting into mind altering drugs. What are they thinking? Don’t they know that these things can kill them? Where did this all begin?

I think most folks start looking for something more exciting when they are bored, ignored, stressed, or depressed. So how can we avoid falling into this trap? What is this world coming to? Are we all headed straight for hell in a hand basket? Has this just happened all of a sudden?

Let’s explore that a bit. Remember the moonshiners of olden days? They did not play the choking game, they just drank rotgut whiskey until they were impaired and maybe senseless and brain-damaged. Then maybe they came home to beat their wife or go gambling with any money they had left. They were seeking after a better feeling in their soul—something was just not right, and the trouble and horrors that lurked in their minds was blotted out for a time—that was until they came back to reality and found themselves, dirty, hungry, with a headache and just wanted to go home.

As I looked back in time this morning I remembered the term LSD, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide. Now that was a drug that came about in 1938. It was obtained from Ergot, a fungus, which formed on rye plants. It was found to easily dissolve in water and be odorless. It had mood changing chemicals. It would take you on a trip, it might be a bad trip or some had good trips in their altered state of mind. It would bring hallucinations which some sought after. Now this was a long time ago before I was born, so it isn’t just today that we have drug problems. Remember the flower children of the sixties and pot. Then it became the fate of some adults—not children who became hooked on prescription drugs, and alcohol. It seemed if it was not moonshine and you bought many different kinds and mixed drinks it was a good social activity. Our children were watching all of this. They tested the waters with alcohol in the fifties and sixties. Soon they begin to get smart and look for other avenues of relieving their boredom; cocaine, oxycodone, methanfedemine and we wonder why in the world they did this. They have a wonderful life. They have friends, they are popular, and we buy them everything everyone else has. How could they go so wrong? Let me tell you friend it has been in the works a long, long time. People follow the leader and try to find just a bit of joy where they can in their empty lives. They always find that the next thrill will lose its power and it will take something more risky to bring on the next high, be it booze, drugs, jewels, cars, I-Phones, luxurious homes, yachts, or vacations. There’s nothing wrong with having things, but one thing we all must know is that the things we possess will never satisfy the deep longing in our inner being for more than a fleeting moment. Just ask the person with immediate terminal cancer how much their things mean to them.

The next step may take us so close to the edge that we will not survive it. I remember seeing a movie where medical students would give each other gas and see how far they could go and escape final sleep. Needless to say it ended in tragedy and death.

Now all I want to say about all of this is that it makes me very sad that people through the ages have sought something that has eluded them. They have tried many drugs to alter their brains to bring them to the ecstasy they are chasing and want it to last forever. I have always had enough to do that I never had time to worry about being happier than just a day of rest and idleness would bring anticipation of being a great day. We need a new mind set. We need to look for our satisfaction and pleasure in the simple things of life—they will never leave us empty. How about getting up in the morning without cancer? How about having two legs to walk with? How about living in America? Yes I still feel blessed to be right where I am even with all the rhetoric that is going on in our nation, where else would be better? How about being able to go to the grocery store and buy food—any kind I want? How about being able to see and visit with my family regularly? How about being able to go to church and worship my Creator? How about being able to hear beautiful music? How about being able to see the trees swaying in the wind, fresh dew on the blades of grass, the crape Myrtles in full bloom? Yes I can see, I can hear, I can feel, I can have fellowship with my family, and my friends. I have two strong legs to walk with, my body is free of disease. I have a comfortable, safe, warm home to live in. Maybe we need to remember a time when we were not warm, we were not safe, and we were very uncomfortable to really see these as blessings! But I have never had cancer, I have always had two strong legs that were not blew off by a bomb, and I can still thank God for that and have compassion on those who have had these tragedies. That my friends takes my mind off of my small little world and helps me to rise from the pit that may be drawing me down and start to be blessed and enter a world of praise for my many, many, many, blessings. I don’t need meth, cocaine, liquor, prescription drugs, or a vacation, or a sniff of glue to make me happy. I have joy in the midst of it all because one day I chose to follow Jesus, the one who gave his life on Calvary, that I might live with him in eternal ecstasy—forever, never ending—no fixes ever needed! Amen!

Isaiah 55: 12 You will live in peace and joy. The mountains, the hills, the trees—all the world around you—will rejoice. Where once there were thorns, fig trees will grow; where briars grew, the myrtle trees will sprout up. This miracle will make the Lord’s name very great and will be an everlasting sign (of God’s power and