Once upon a time….

When I was a child, television was not available…in fact, I had never heard of it! That was long ago! After I had children, their Saturday morning entertainment was watching cartoons in the den. They laughed and kept their eyes on the television screen so they would not miss a thing!

In contrast to my Saturday morning entertainment, I sat on the floor in the living room listening to the Story Lady! The radio station in Charlotte came in loud and clear. Sometimes, my best friend, Mary Hughes, would come over and we listened to “Let’s Pretend.”

Back in those days, we enjoyed the things we had because that was all we knew about. Mary and I listened attentively to the Story Lady, with her beautiful voice, tell about princesses and castles. Our imagination would run wild.

We were two small girls who lived with our grandparents and had very little other than the necessities of life. We were happy and looked forward to our Saturday morning adventures in the “make believe world.”

We envisioned being a princess who lived in a palace, had beautiful dresses and a prince who took us to a ball in a coach drawn by horses. That is the kind of things the Story Lady told about.

Living in a make believe, perfect world, where everything had a happy ending was fine for a youngster’s Saturday morning entertainment, but that was not really how it was then and it definitely is not that way now.

In recent years, and especially now, we live in a world of fear, sadness and uncertainty. Each day, instead of hearing good news, we hear horror stories from every corner of the globe! It seems that the reporters want to fill our minds with gloom and doom, so we will take more drugs or find ways to escape what is happening. We do have to face reality, but we need leaders who care about important things that benefit everyone, not just themselves.

Years ago, before the world was in the terrible situation it is in now, we were told, through the Bible, that IF we, as a country, would humble ourselves and pray and turn from our wicked ways, that God would hear from Heaven and would answer our prayers. I believe this.

We don’t want to exist in a “make believe “ world, we want to live as God wants us to live, in peace and harmony. I pray that our world will realize that God wants the best for each of us and that beginning now, we will pray for God’s mercy and deliverance from the nightmare that will soon be a thing of the past.

Warmth….

If I asked what your first thought is when I said, “Warmth” what would your answer be?

When I was a child, living in an old house with almost no heat, I thought of cold winter nights, when the wind would howl and the glass in the windows would rattle. The house had a living room which we called the front room, a hall that was very long, with two bedrooms on that side of the house, The room next to the front room was called the middle room and the kitchen was at the end of the house. There was a front porch, where a swing hung from the ceiling and there was room for several chairs. The back porch was off the kitchen and the upper half was screened. The ice box was there and the only sink and faucet was on the back porch. During the cold winter nights, the pipes had to be wrapped to help prevent it from freezing. By today’s standards the house was very small. There were hardly any conveniences, but to a child that didn’t mean much. Since everyone else’s house was like mine and children don’t think about things like that, it did not seem small.

The middle room was where the family spent a lot of time. There was only one fireplace in the house and it was in the middle room. The kitchen had a cast iron stove called a laundry heater. Winters were cold back then and with almost no heat, so we wore heavy clothes.

During the winter I wore what we called “feet” pajamas. They were one piece that were a heavy cotton and kept you warm. The only things that weren’t covered were your hands and your head. My Mother would heat a heavy blanket by the the small fireplace and wrap me in it. Next she would carry me to the bed, which had the covers turned back and would cover me with quilts so heavy I could not move until the next morning.

As I look back to those early days, I wonder how we survived! Our time was spent in two rooms, the middle room and the kitchen. As I remember, those rooms were always warm. But if you stood in front of the fireplace, you had to keep turning around so you would not blister yourself.

We have come a long way since those “pioneering” days when my Granddaddy had to bank the coals at night, so he could start a fire by putting some kindling and some pieces of coal in the fireplace very early every morning. Being a child, my life was no different from my close friends and neighbors. We even had a pot bellied stove in the the wooden school I attended. That was the way life was!

When I think about how far we have come in my lifetime, I am so thankful that things improved in every phase of life. So when I think of “warmth” I still remember the very cold winters, my warm pajamas, those heavy quilts and the loving care my Mother took of me and made sure I did not get cold.

My final gift from Paul Crouch

I have often been “accused” of being too sentimental. Perhaps this trait, of which I definitely am guilty, is why I keep so many things!

Most of my friends do not recognize the name Paul Crouch and naturally do not know who he was and what part he played in my life. I do not remember when I became acquainted with Paul and his wife, Jan. Jan was born in March of 1939 and died in November of 2016. They were the founders of TBN, Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Paul was born March 30, 1934, of missionary parents. His wife, Jan, was from South Carolina and her father was a pastor. Paul worked in broadcasting in his early days. Both he and Jan wanted to spread the gospel around the world, which they have done.

I began watching TBN when I lived in Atlanta. At first it was only after I came home from work, but after I retired, I saw more programs during the day. I enjoyed the guest singers and preachers so much. The program grew in it’s outreach by leaps and bounds. They added studios in several other cities, one being Atlanta. I visited the studio to learn a little more about what went on behind the scenes.

The growth of this Christian Network grew by leaps and bounds. I could elaborate on the expansion and good works, but that would be so lengthy, I will save it for another time. I did become a supporter and each month a little gift of appreciation was sent to donors.

That leads me to title of this journal entry. Paul selected a final gift before his death on November 30, 2013. It was a coffee cup with the TBN logo on the front and a calendar of 2014 on the back. Matt Crouch and his wife, Laurie, took over the leadership of the ministry when Paul passed away and he has continued the practice his father began.

When my daughter saw the many coffee cups I have in my kitchen cabinet, she asked if I really needed that many cups. I told her I used some cups that matched plates for decorating, but my special cup from Paul Crouch was my favorite and my coffee tasted better in that cup, so that cup will stay with me until I no longer drink coffee!

I appreciate all that Paul and Jan accomplished. One thing is the Holy Land Experience in Orlando. I visited it several years ago and was so impressed! There is so much to see and do. I recommend it. It is time for me to go to the kitchen for my morning coffee…and you already know that I will be drinking from my favorite cup…my last gift from Paul Crouch before he went on to Heaven, where he is waiting to welcome all of us when our journey on earth is over!

Needlepoint, counted cross stitch, crewel, and embroidery…all crafts that I admire

Back before all the distractions that have come along with social media, many ladies crocheted sweaters, afghans and doilies to pass their time, as well as to make useful things for their homes. When I was a teenager, I had a friend, an older lady, who crocheted constantly. She taught me the basics and once I had mastered the chain stitch, I made some doilies. I almost ruined my eyesight, but I was very proud of my accomplishment. I still have them, although they are never used. They are proof that I did learn to crochet.

When I “recovered” from eye strain I began to make Granny squares so I could have an afghan to use during the winter to keep warm. As I mentioned in a previous journal entry, when I was very young, I used to embroider vanity sets. My Mother kept some of them and I showed them to a friend at church who wanted to see them, just recently. Many years later I bought a set of preprinted dish towels for my kitchen.There was one for each day of the week and the chore that was associated with it. For example, Monday was washday, Tuesday was ironing day, etc. I also bought packets of iron on transfers to decorate pillow cases for the bed.

I did not master knitting, even though I bought needles and yarn and tried. I really admired people who could take a ball of yarn and end up with a sweater! I did try crewel, which turned out well. Through the years there were so many skills I wish I had, but was thankful for the things I could do.

My Grandmother could tat. That was something I benefited from! Grandmother Rinehardt made many of my dresses. She would tat lace to decorate the collars. She even made my doll a dress to match mine! I guess that was a benefit of being the only granddaughter and giving her a chance to do things that she enjoyed.

That brings me to two gifts I was given many years ago by one of my students. One is a small frame with a lady in cross stitching, kneeling and in black letters, the words, “God Bless Jean.” The other is a paperweight with an old fashioned candlestick telephone and underneath it is my name. It took a lot of skill and good eyesight to make these gifts that have been treasures of mine. All through the years I sewed for myself and my daughters. I am happy that I was able to make drapes, table cloths and bedspreads. But if I had tried a bit harder, maybe I could have done much more!

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