Betty’s Week

My week began last Wednesday with a very good day – weather was nice, lots of folks were out and about, traffic was almost back to normal (except for school buses), and I enjoyed seeing and visiting with several friends. This came to an end at my last delivery. The customer right ahead of me was not nice, to say the lest. She was accompanied by  her small child, which was very well behaved. 

The mother, who was purchasing a pack of cigarettes, had her money counted out. While the clerk was counting it, the child very politely ask if he could have ice cream. The mother very loudly stated, “No, I don’t have money for ice cream.” 

The clerk then informed her that she was a few cents short of the cost of the cigarettes and she stated that they had been that price the day before at another store. The clerk explained that the price had increased over night and it had to be increased at all stores before opening that morning. The lady, with the child in tow, returned to her vehicle to search for more money. 

The child never raised his voice, never asked again for ice cream, was just so polite. Jim Shearer would probably been screaming,” But I want ice cream”. 

I was in tears, thinking a mother could be so cruel. She could afford to feed her habit, but could not buy that child a little treat. I so badly wanted to pay for the child’s ice cream, but was afraid I’m make life worse for it. 

The clerk seemed to know the mother, so I handed her some money and asked if it were possible for her to give the child ice cream to do so. Then I sat in the van and prayed for both the mother and the child – I know God can help. Parents, let me urge you to always put your children’s needs, and even their wants, before yours. I know we spoiled ours, but spoiling is much better than abusing them. Be sure to love them, they are a gift from God and they are only in your care for a short time. Also, remember you may need them when you get old.

God always sends me illustrations for our Sunday School lesson and this certainly fit well with Sunday’s lesson, which had a section on love, compassion, and putting others’ needs before our own.

Another part of the lesson, still on love, was loving our enemies. One of the messages I listened to Sunday morning on TV used this example of loving your enemies (the preacher did not say so, but I believe it was personal). It seems that the Viet Cong had Americans pinned down and an Apache helicopter was sent int to help. After the enemy fire was stopped, the pilot  and his crew went down to see if any of the enemy had been injured and were suffering. They found two, one not badly hurt and another seriously injured. 

The injured were taken back to the field hospital. One was immediately patched up but the other was fighting for his life. All blood of his type was administered, but  he still needed more. A plea was sent out for American soldiers with his type to volunteer. In a matter of minutes over a hundred of the men had volunteered to help save the life of one who only a short time before had been trying to take lives of their comrades. Now that’s loving our enemies.

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Tuesday night I cooked a little to help with the meal for the family of Mr. Tom Davis, whose funeral was Wednesday morning. With my early rising time on Wednesday morning, I did not wash the dishes, so Thursday morning was spent cleaning up a kitchen. Then that afternoon, I picked up the pots and pans from the church and put them away. Did a little laundry and a bit of straightening and dusting in the rest of the house. After that, decided it was time to cook and eat. Had some fresh squash, purple hull peas, corn, a pork cutlet and some cornbread. After overeating, I just became a couch potato for the rest of the evening. 

Watched some great old westerns (boy those handsome cowboys have aged, or died) and a couple of Hallmark movies. 

On Friday I had intentions of going to Panola County to visit with the family. Put on my favorite shorts and found a button about to come off, so got out my needle and thread, and proceeded to replace it. It took me abut 30 minutes to thread the needle. 

Now talk about missing my Mom, this did it. If she had been with me, as she had thousands of times, she’d have said, “Hand that to me!” and in about two seconds she would have threaded that needle, put a knot in the thread, and told me to sew on the button, knowing that  would never get it done. After I struggled for a while, she would have taken it back and sewed the button on perfectly. 

It took me another half hour and the button stayed on, but it was not a pretty job. After I finished that one, I remembered that I had popped a button off my favorite black dress pants, so while I had a threaded needle, I undertook another button replacement. This one was a bit easier, it had only two holes – the other was one of those complicated four hole jobs, where you have to criss-cross the thread. 

If Mom had been there, I would have been instructed to cut those buttons off and do the jobs all over again – I was just glad they held when I put the pants on. Both pants were about 25 years old, so if my repairs holds that long, I should never have to do it again. 

Another chore I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks is cleaning the fan blades on the den fixture. It catches all the grease from the kitchen and the lint from everywhere – it’s a mess. I’ve used grease remover – Windex, and Bar Keepers Friend, – so far and still have some dirt and grease left. Also, I think I’ve ruined the fan—the blades are hitting the light fixture. 

I’m sure I pulled so hard on them that they are drooping. Tried to bend them back up, but so far it has not worked. Do believe I’ve found a solution for saving it, though. If nothing else works. I can take the cute little globes off and just use the bare bulbs—won’t look very good, but think it will work. If you have a better solution, let me know – surely someone out there must have done the same stupid thing I’ve done. Have four more fans that need cleaning, but they only need a good dusting. 

After button repairs and the fan, I was just too tired to travel, so put  the trip to Panola County off until Saturday.

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I was watering plants in the sunroom Saturday morning, glanced out the window and saw a sizable plant in a pot in the backyard. The week before, Bo had found a volunteer tomato plant, planted it in a big pot in the back yard, telling me to keep it watered. He found a stake, and tied the tiny little plant to it. I’d completely forgotten it and with the hot dry week we’d had, I was surprised that it was still alive. It had grown about a foot and looked healthy. 

With the hot mid-day sun, I though it would be better to wait until later in the day to give it a drink. Didn’t have to water after all – God sent a good rain. The little plant is growing like a weed and so far the deer have not needed a snack,  or maybe they’re just waiting until there are a few ripe tomatoes on it, as was the case with this little fellow’s mother last year. At any rate I’ll enjoy watching it grow until I let it dry up or the deer find it.

Still didn’t make it to Panola County. I never have a tummy ache, but had a debilitating one after lunch Saturday. I’d eaten a tub full of garden salad late Friday night and then, for breakfast, added to the fire with hot sausage gravy and biscuits, along with an over medium egg. Maybe I’ll make it next week.

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Sunday we celebrated a double holiday at church. Since we’d missed being in the sanctuary on Mother’s Day, the decision was made to combine Mother’s and Father’s Day. We all got red roses. 

Bringing our message was Bro. Derrick Redwine, who is an excellent deliverer of God’s Word. His message was on the rapture, with the inclusion of the tribulation and the second coming of Christ. He is a dedicated Bible scholar and gave all scripture to back up each of the points in the sermon. Wish everyone could have heard it. I was okay with the message, since I’ve known for sure since I was 13 and a half years old that I’d had a personal experience with the Lord – I’m one of His children. However, the message made me more aware of the need for me to share this message with those who have not heard it, or who have not heeded it.

After the service, one of the McCluskey’s children took Bud McCluskey and me to lunch. Autumn took her Dad and me – Wanda got left out. The McCluskeys are such a wonderful family and we always have a great time together.  

Sunday was even more fun, since we had Autumn with us. Food was delicious and the fellowship was wonderful—I forget how much fun it is to have a young person around and Autumn is so delightful.