Purchase the Clay

While the general idea started many, many years ago - maybe even when I read this book....

I feel quite sure somewhere in that book the author talks about Lemonade Stands and children selling things on the neighborhood corner.

But what if the children live in the country?  I will answer that in just a moment.

I am dedicated to Podcasts!

I have just a few to listen to - my favorites right now are:

**Malcolm Gladwell - Revisionist History (so incredibly good)
**The Wealthy Contractor
**The Minimalists Podcast
**TEDTalks
**Austin New Church
**And ....

**Blue Babies Pink


It is the Blue Babies Pink podcast that actually prompted this blog entry.  I was driving home - listening to Brett Trapp and my phone dropped on the floor, about that time - the episode ended - and because I am somewhat technology challenged - the podcast did not advance to the next episode.  And Brett's story is captivating - so I desperately wanted to keep listening for the next 10 minutes.

In the meantime -

2 boys, holding a sign, with a cart - obviously selling something on the side of the road - in the country - away from the advantages of the typical lemonade on the corner business opportunity.

For a while now our family has subscribed to the philosophy of stopping at any of those neighborhood business franchises that we encounter.  We just believe in the entrepreneur spirit.  Sometimes we just donate money - sometimes we purchase (and never eat or drink because we did not really want sugared red koolaide) - and sometimes one comes home with clay.

So I turned around - picked up the phone while I was stopped safely on the side of the road - headed back to the 2 boys selling clay and continued listening to Brett.

Brett's story isn't something I ever dreamed I would want to hear.

I grew up in such a sheltered - controlled - perhaps a bit unrealistic world.

Brett grew up in a very similar world.  In fact at one point in time I suspect that we lived less than an hour from each other.

Brett's podcast is worth your time.  I share that with a slight hesitation - you will need to be more open minded than perhaps you are now.  You must be okay to laugh, hurt, cry, and worry all the while listening to a friend share their story.  You will benefit from truly grasping that Jesus is about Love.  And his requirement of us is Love.  And at the end of the day - that is probably all I really want to be about - is love.

And a disco ball.

Yes - Kerry is teaching Sunday School this next week - his lesson might just be entitled:

Are you a wall, a mirror, or a disco ball?

I strive to be that disco ball.

I strive to purchase clay, sugared drink, cookies from a package - from any kid I see setting up shop (and the same goes for those that have the courage to come to my door selling some school stuff)....

Thank you Brett Trapp - your courage inspires me.  Can I get a Roll Tide?

And to that first Lemonade Stand owner - you have inspired countless children!

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Come on Tide!

It doesn't really make any sense.

But I think when we start trying to figure out God's plans and his timing - it never will make sense.  That statement is true from beginnings to endings and everything in the middle.

In June of 2013 I shared with you my connection to Cheryl.  That connection was simply the coolest growing up - I loved knowing someone else with the name Cheryl.  Finding out that the adult
Cheryl loved Alabama was just another cool connection.  More on Cheryl in just a moment...

I know you simply don't get why I like Alabama.

It doesn't make any sense.  After all it was in the National Championship in 2010 that Alabama beat Texas and I loved Texas during that time.  Those seasons of watching Colt as the quarterback were so much fun and that is really where my love for college football began.  But about that game... if Colt doesn't get hurt - Texas wins - really - he had studied the Tide and he knew what they were going to do.  Colt getting hurt and not getting to play is another thing that simply doesn't make sense ... but let's never forget Colt's post game interview

Colt's Interview

I will never tire from hearing those words.... 

I love this game... I always give God the glory.  I never question why things happen the way they do.  God is in control of my life and if nothing else I'm standing on the rock.

I latched on to The Tide bandwagon over the next few years.  I went to Alabama several times after that National Championship game and even tried to be an Auburn fan but in the end it was Son One who shared the Alabama Crimson Tide tradition with me and I decided to join him in this quest to love that Alabama football team.

I know you remember that Son One lived in Montgomery for a year.  He made many friends - and most of them were on the side of The Tide.  In Alabama one must pick - you either love The Tide or you love the War Eagle.  I remember weekends in Montgomery - basically in the middle of the 2 towns (Tuscaloosa and Auburn) - the cars and people would be decorated with the school colors.  That's something we don't see here in Texas - maybe if you are in College Station, Waco, or Austin - but not in cities in between.

Another aspect of it all that really doesn't make sense.

But for me - it is about cheering for a team that I can just love and I don't have to personally hurt when the game or season doesn't go as planned.  That's where it started.  I just found a storied, southern football team that has tradition beyond tradition and quite frankly I love the colors and the houndstooth!

So I cheer for Alabama.  But I also cheer for Ohio (I loved watching JT Barrett) - I cheer for Clemson - I cheer for Georgia - I cheer for Texas (mostly when McCoys were at QB) - I cheer for college football - it is truly a game I love.

So it doesn't make sense - I realize that - but just love that I love because that same love for college football goes far beyond a game and into the lives of others.

Which brings me back to Cheryl.

You must follow her blog...

Cheryl's Blog

Particularly - follow the link to her entry about The Benny Books - but specifically notice what she has to say about love.

Why is it that we in the "Christian" world truly forget to love?  Or maybe we don't know how "to love".  

I think I Corinthians 13 has become so popular that perhaps we forget to read it - internalize it - and live it.   I know I almost avoid that chapter because everyone references it....

But love is the only way to make sense of all of this life.

But if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

That speaks volumes.

So it really doesn't matter now much faith in Jesus we think we have - if we leave out the love part - we are nothing.

Ouch.

That hurts much worse than losing a National Championship, or losing the first ever semi final college playoff game.

In this game I must love others with that same kind of love football passion -

Perhaps it is about being a fan of loving others.

Now back to God's plans & timing not making sense....

When is Sweet Baby One going to arrive????

This family is ready (pictured.... Daughter One, Son One, Nephew Three, Grandpa, Son Two, Grandma, and Grandson One)! There has been more than one night that I have thought my phone was going to ring.  Oh don't get me wrong - it has rang plenty of times.... Mom - what temperature should I cook _____, Mom we are all sick (yes Son One and family have been sick), Mom did you see that play?

But I haven't heard ....

Roll Tide

Because when I hear Roll Tide - it means our Sweet Baby One is ready to be in the game!

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Life Long & Relatively Recent Friends....

I grew up in a little, little town.  I can remember making the drag when I first got my license.  Around the school parking lot, turn left, turn right at 2210, down to the Baptist church parking lot, turn around and back again. If I wanted to make the long drag - then we would turn right out of the school parking lot, go down to this road (which actually leads to the land I now have in Perrin), then to 2210 and take a right, Baptist church, and back again.

Across from that Baptist church parking lot was a sweet home inhabited by a grandmother.  I don't remember much about the grandmother except she had the most wonderful "thing" I could think of when I was growing up....

A granddaughter named Cheryl.

If I was as good as keeping up with stuff as my mom - I would be able to take a picture of my address book from those early days - and show you Cheryl Franklin's address.

She went to school with me when she would come to visit.

We wrote letters - just like pen pals.

Then as time continued - somewhere along the way we stopped writing.  (Side note: that's one reason I LOVE facebook- email and such.  There is less room to drop out of touch.)

Facebook - oh yes I love how I can find people!

Here's my message to her when I came upon her name on Facebook:

Roll Tide

Oh you must accept my friend request (here's hoping you remember me!) and tell me about your connection to the University of Alabama... I have a son who is living in Montgomery and we figured out real quick one had to pick between the 2 major universities in Alabama and we rolled with the Tide. Hope to hear from you....

February 21, 2011 9:21 pm

Here is part of her response:


Oh my goodness! As in the Cheryl Cannon from Perrin that I used to tag along to school with?? Oh I can't believe this!! And an Alabama connection at that?? How did you know we were Alabama fans? Actually to say that would be a huge understatement-haha!



Fast forward 2 years from that Facebook exchange....

I met her at a Barnes & Noble in Arlington - I told her "I am obvious" to describe how she would remember me!  I had to wear the Alabama shirt....

Cheryl & her husband lived in Alabama for 10 years and even got to attend games in Tuscaloosa (I am jealous....) - her father in law played for Bear Bryant at Texas A&M.  After visiting with Cheryl in Arlington - I suspect that Alabama still holds a dear place in her heart.  (that state has a way of doing that to the least expecting people....)

I did leave that meeting a bit heart broken.

It seems that Cheryl's family traveled & lived a bunch between those going to school days with me and college for her in Brownwood.  She even moved to a place about 10 minutes from where I was living.  She finished her last year and a half of high school - 15 minutes from me.  It wasn't so great for her - and you can imagine..... moving to a new high school the last year and a half of school in a state you had not lived in before - with zero connections......

We would have been the best of friends - forever without the break in time... so ....

Now we pick back up - we text during college football season - and she visits her parents up this direction - and I think I should visit her near her home - down by the coast....

Thankful I found Cheryl  -my life long friend - just relatively recent all over again...

Roll Tide

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

MLK Day ~ Montgomery ~ Roll Tide Roll

I enjoy holidays thrown in the middle of a work month.  I am quite thankful.  But you know the reason for this holiday thrown in the middle of January has fairly far reaching implications.

I can remember when Kerry & I were just married and moved to Pittsburg, Texas.  In Pittsburg in 1986 one could still see evidence of an earlier world.  The back door and alley entrances to the downtown businesses were still operational.

Living in Graham, Texas doesn’t bring race issues to the mind.  It’s a quiet Texas town with little racial confrontations.  I am not so naïve to think that we don’t have concerns but they are certainly not open and I know our family has never been targeted for having friends of many colors.

That all changed when Son one moved to Montgomery, Alabama.

When Kerry and I visited Montgomery for the first time together we drove downtown – in a small area is the Bus Boycott Memorial, the slave trade corner, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, and the state capital of Alabama. 

I was amazed at the history that happened in such a small area.  I wonder just how tired Rosa Parks was that day – I wonder how much of a financial impact a 381 day bus boycott cost the city of Montgomery – I wonder how many people pledged to follow Jesus and were baptized in that church?

And I know that Montgomery still has the past as a part of their daily lives.  I know we are thankful that we don’t live in turbulent times such as in 1955 when Rosa Parks sat in the wrong place, in 1963 when Governor Wallace stood in the doorway on the campus of the University of Alabama, or in the 60s and 70s when peaceful demonstrations weren’t always a definition of peace.

However we now live in a hidden agenda of discrimination.  Both blacks and whites have gotten creative in their quest to prove their feelings of superiority.  Both groups have forgotten:

We cannot walk alone.  And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.  We cannot turn back.  ~ MLK excerpt from the famous I Have a Dream speech.

I certainly cannot prove in a courtroom that Son one was treated differently because of his choice of friends.  There were several coincidental moments that happened that caused me to wonder.  There were black students who were given consequences that were harsh and non forgiving.  And perhaps the most troubling were the consequences that forced young Christians to leave a university – to leave a place where learning about God’s grace should have been paramount.

The boys with Dooce - Dooce has an amazing voice - we have lost track of him but so wish I could hear him sing once again - he left Faulkner in the fall of 2010.

Doug Amos - our connection to the Roll Tide world - Doug graduated from the University of Alabama and is now the Sports Information Director at Faulkner.

Doug & Karla's daughter sitting in my lap after church. Isn't she beautiful? We had an immediate connection - she's adopted too!  

Trent & Adrian - Trent is a dear friend who now plays football at Troy University - Adrian now lives in Austin - he is from Garland!  Trent grew up in Tuscaloosa - another connection to the University of Alabama.

Son one celebrated his 20th birthday in Alabama - LOVE the cake - what a great memory!

So I believe that while we have certainly progressed – there’s still much to be accomplished.  We must march ahead.  We must do as Peter recorded in I Peter 4:8.

Above all ,love each other deeply…

Notice the shirt? Did you watch the National Championship Game?  I thought Alabama was just amazing - I know LSU had a great team but Bama just came with a fierce determination that was unstoppable.  I would have liked to have been in Tuscaloosa that evening - I can just see the smiles on their faces - the hope they clung to after a spring of 2011 and the tornadoes that changed their lives for a lifetime. 

There's part of my heart that will always be in Alabama.  

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  I Peter 4:8.  ... Live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. I Peter 3:8.

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

A New Year, Alabama, And a Book

We had a wonderful holiday season.  I especially enjoyed our time at my mom and dad’s new home.  Sharing Christmas with my brother and his family was enjoyable and I am thankful for the time we spent.  I haven’t always been thankful for my brother – it makes me laugh to think about the time that I told my parents “to take him back – he gets too much attention”. 

my brother Chris, me & my dad & mom in their new home!

New Years was spent at our cabin with our boys – and enjoying the last day of 2011 with James Kelly & Mona Lois.  And I finally got another picture of our kids together.  Look how they have changed!

Top picture 2012, Bottom 2005

The month of January also brings the National Championship – and all the bowl games.  I have loved every moment of all this football.  I just cannot believe that on Tuesday – I will be counting down the days until the season begins again.  It is exciting to have a connection to the National Championship Game.  We have many friends that love the University of Alabama and Son one & I will be chanting ROLL TIDE ROLL on Monday (okay I may have started already).  As for Kerry and Son two – they aren’t quite the obsessive ones that I tend to be.  I have been reading today about the University of Alabama and the history involved with the University is just amazing – I am not so much a history person but I am interested in the history involving the civil rights movement.  I wonder where I would have been in those days...  I would like to think that I would feel as if I do today that we are all equal – I have always been proud that I raised boys who do not see color.  Would I have been like them?  God gave my boys that gift – I am thankful. 

My Bama Stuff!  LOVE this shirt - and check out the cups!

My dearest friends Ross & Jamie gave me a book for Christmas that is just perhaps my favorite gift of all time.  How did they know it was exactly what I needed?  Have you heard of “One Thousand Gifts”?  What a wonderful daily life plan…. The author – Ann Voskamp – also started a Joy Dare for 2012 – visit her website to learn and you can join in too!  aholyexperience.com

5. something you’re reading, you’re making, you’re seeing

I read about the University of Alabama and the events of June 11, 1963, I made potato soup for my boys  (yes they don’t feel very good…) and look what I have been seeing today….

my Christmas plant - blooming in our entry way - from my dear friend Lana....she is a gift.

I would love for you to capture gifts with me….I enjoy my cup of coffee and record my gifts in my journal.  I am quite thankful for the Christmas gift that included this cup & this journal – perfect timing!

 Roll Tide Roll…

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.