A lot has been said recently about all the rules we, evangelical Christians, lived by in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and even moving into the 80's. I’m not sure when it started but I was a little girl in the 40’s and my parents became born again Christians in about 1941, so I’ll begin there. I'm not saying they were right or wrong, I'm just looking back and telling my experiences. First of all I’ll list the no-no’s: make-up; jewelry; movies; dancing; roller skating in a rink; playing pool; bowling; mixed swimming; smoking; drinking; playing cards; gambling; buying on Sunday; eating out on Sunday, reading the newspaper on Sunday, playing sports on Sunday and working on Sunday; instrumental music in the church! Now let me comment on some of these. Make-up: for some reason we were allowed to wear powder on our faces! A shiny nose was unbecoming! In the 50’s some missionary wives began to wear wedding rings because in some (most) countries men watched for women without wedding rings thinking they were available! Once missionary wives began wearing wedding bands pastor’s wives took up the new freedom! I remember when my mom wore her first wedding ring as a ‘Christian’. I became engaged in the late 50’s and was told by my parents not to accept a diamond ring, so Jerry bought me a beautiful wrist watch! Wedding rings were the norm when we were married in ‘59. We weren’t allowed to go to movies, not because they were bad, but because the money we would have spent for tickets would be used by Hollywood where life was anything but Christian. Music played in a roller rink was not music Christians should listen to, and it was too much like dancing if a couple skated together, also there was drinking and smoking going on. Pool was played in a hall where there was drinking and smoking. Bowling, same as pool. Mixed swimming was too suggestive. Smoking - drinking, both bad for health. YES! Playing cards was associated with gambling. Gambling was and is addictive and a waste of money. Buying, eating out, and reading the newspaper all on Sunday meant someone had to work on Sunday to have these available to us. Piano’s began coming in churches in the late 40’s and early 50’s. Personally, I have never understood this rule since there are so many Psalms telling us to praise God with musical instruments!
However, I believe the leaders in the church had our best interest at heart. I didn’t resent the rules like some of my peers. I can’t explain why, I just didn’t. To this day I can’t bear to have a deck of cards in my house. It was so taboo in my childhood I’m still affected by the feelings of shame when I see them. Please don’t ridicule me, try to understand me. I went to a drive-in theater when I was in 10th grade, a couple of times, with my boyfriend (we stayed in the front seat!) because we thought we had nothing else to do. I asked my mom, when she questioned me, if she would rather we ‘parked’ since we had no where else to go! She didn’t give me an answer. Once a month, when I was a teenager, we had church night at the skating rink. The music was secular but it was slow and mellow. The movies we couldn’t watch were ‘good’ movies! The first movie we went to see as a family was Sound of Music. We were visiting my sister’s family and they took us! (I’m playing the blame game here!) It's still my favorite movie today! Most movies, today, are so full of bad language, sex, and violence, I have to question, in my mind, what Christians do when they go to the movies! Do they just sit there and accept it as life today? Do they get up and walk out? I never hear of anyone walking out!
In 10th grade I went to a school dance after a football game one night. We won the game and my friends and I were feeling so high, and they were going to the school dance so I went with them. I stayed back in the shadows and watched, thinking no one would see me. Suddenly, everyone was lining up to do the ‘bunny hop’! Oh, I loved the ‘bunny hop’. I joined in, what would the harm be? We danced all around and around. Finally it ended and I went back to stand in the shadows. All of a sudden I heard my name over the loud speaker! “Anita — please come up to the band to pick up your wallet!” My wallet? It’s right here in my pocket. Oh no, it’s not here, it must have fallen out while I was dancing the ‘bunny hop’. Oh no, now everyone knows I’m here. Everyone knows I don’t dance, now they know I did! I walked slowly up to the band and admitted I had lost my wallet. After identifying myself it was given to me and I sheepishly walked back to the shadows until my friends were ready to go home. Oh, such guilt I felt! Actually, I wasn’t very well known! I went to a large high school in a large city, I was a lowly sophomore. I wasn’t popular. Who cared if I was there? But I never went to a dance again and, in fact, the next two years I went to a Christian high school. Problem solved! For several years Jerry and I were the youth workers here in our church. We worked hard to make an alternative special evening for the teens, especially the seniors, at prom time. We put on a senior banquet, renting a hall,
having special music with musicians, having a special speaker to challenge the kids, etc. It was a dress-up night, one they would remember as special, just for them. Today, at least in our town, everyone goes to the prom! It doesn’t matter who is a Christian and who isn’t. Prom night is the big night. The girls even come to church on Sunday wearing their skimpy gowns! I can’t believe it! Oh, how things have changed. Most changes are okay. Social drinking is now acceptable. We've adjusted to most of them. I wear make-up and jewelry. This will be way, way too long if I list all the ways we've changed, but there are some ways we've not changed, we've stood firm and have grown spiritually along the way.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (legalism). Galatians 4:23
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. I Corinthians 10:23
Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8
These are shelves beside my kitchen window. The top shelf has a pair of black and white from a friend, Dawn. They had belonged to her grandma. She didn't know what to do with them and her daughter, Leah, said, "Miss Anita has chickens in her kitchen, let's give them to her!" The pink chicken in the back on the lower shelf is from Haleigh. Four are napkin holders. The little pink one is antique.
The one on the right has a place for a picture so Lorraine and Bella are in the picture when she came to visit and Bella was just a baby! The next one is a croqueted one. When I was little we had them to cover boiled eggs and keep them warm for breakfast. The pink one is from Tyler. He insisted the family go to McDonald's for supper so he could buy a chicken. He didn't say what it was for but when they came home he came running over and asked if I needed another chicken! I said, "Sure, I can always use another one!" Then he brought this one out from behind his back! A surprise for Grandma!
The red wallhanging is hand made from Paraguay. The white and red hen was my mom's timer.
I have so many chickens I also have them lined up on top of my cupboards in the kitchen. Most of them have been given to me, several by my mom.
The one in the bottom left hand corner, my mom gave to me. The two up in the corner, in front of the plate, were given to me by a friend of my mom. The friend is in her late eighties or early nineties and the chickens had belonged to her mother! I promised to take good care of them!
These were gifts.
These are milk glass, some we bought, some were gifts. I left the end of the curtain valance showing because it's covered with brown hens! These chickens always make me think back to when my family lived in Oklahoma in 1946-48. We barely had enough money to get by. My dad was an evengelist so he traveled most of the time. To give us meat to eat my mom raised chickens and rabbits. We put a fence around our back yard and bought 100 baby chicks - all roosters. Well...all but one...99 roosters and one hen. Of course we didn't know one was a hen until they grew up and suddenly eggs began to appear! One egg everyday, except Sundays! We all laughed and said we had a Christian hen because she refused to work on Sunday! Around the corner and behind us lived an old couple who had a nice garden in their backyard. It came right beside our chicken fence! When the chickens got big enough to fly they did! They flew up on the top of the fence and down into the neighbors garden! That poor old man would get so mad at them! My mom felt bad but didn't know what to do until one day she had an idea! Our pastor came over to help her butcher some of the roosters, and we all helped clean them by taking the feathers off, etc. When she was all done cutting them up she put two in a bag and went to visit the neighbors! They were very surprised to see her, but even more surprised when she handed them the two chickens ready to be cooked! We never heard the neighbor yell at our chickens again! Lord, I have such good memories from my childhood, even though we didn't have much money, we had lots of love! Most of all, we had the love of Jesus. Thank you for my heritage.
(She was the only one of her family of four children to graduate!) One of the clearest pictures I have in my mind of my mom is of her sitting at the sewing machine. When I was little she made almost all of my dresses. We didn't wear jeans or pants or shorts, only dresses and sometimes skirts and blouses. I remember in the 1940's money was scarce so we would go to the farm feed store and buy feed sacks for a few cents a sack! We'd pick out the prettiest ones and Mother would make dresses for Lorraine and me. Because my daddy was a preacher sometimes the ladies in the church would let Mother go through the missionary box to see if there was something she could salvage for one of us. One time she found an adult coat in the box which she took completely apart and then made a coat for me! I thought it was beautiful and I loved it. My mom could do anything and everything! Picture #1 is of my brothers and sister and me. Richard, Anita, Billy, Lorraine, 1947. Lorraine and I are wearing dresses made from feed sacks. If you look closely you'll see lace trimming the pockets and neckline. She did what she could to make us look nice and I'm proud of how she sewed and dressed us in hard times. Heavenly Father, thank you for my mom. Life wasn't always easy for her. She worked hard and loved You more than anything. Thank you for my mom.
My mom gave me the cabbage patch doll and we garbage picked the little chair she's sitting in! Thank you, Lord, for my love of reading and for my books. I know there are people around the world who don't have books. Many people can't even read so I thank You for blessing me.
A friend of mine, Ruth, Ruthie, Ruth Ann
, (I've known her since she was a little girl!) is considering having a sun room added to her house. She made the mistake of writing about it on her blog! I wrote a comment telling her how much we enjoy our sun room. She has now written a comment to me asking to see a picture of ours. So here it is. Now, mind you, with a log home it's quite a bit different than one on a regular house. We have a small deck between the sun room and the back of the garage. We love our sun room. In winter we watch the snow fall on all three sides and in summer we open the windows and enjoy the fresh air, watching the birds, deer, etc. without mosquitoes and other insects! Since we're retired and have down sized our sunroom is smaller than some I've seen but it's just right for us! We love it! I'll see if I can find a picture showing the inside. Okay, I've added a picture of Bella, granddaughter, watching tv. Heavenly Father, thank You for Your blessings to us. Thank you for our sun room. Thank you for our home. Thank you for our grandchildren. Thank you for Bella! Thank you for Ruth! Guide her and help her as she makes decisions on her own.
Come on over. Recognize these chairs? They're from The Crackerbarrel. It's so beautiful today. I raked this morning until my back ached. I think Tyler will help me next week. He needs money for his mission trip to Honduras and he says he'll do anything! So how about helping me rake our yard? It's too much for one person and Jerry just can't rake any more. Dear Lord, thank you for lovely spring days, for relaxing times, for working times, for grandsons who can help out.
of $25.00 and all proceeds are going toward the adoption of Elmise and Armon, the two siblings in Haiti being adopted by Rob & Jessica. Most of the material has been donated, Jerry has made about 75 wooden buttons! Photo #1 is Joanne, #2 Shari, #3 is Mary, #4 is Bobbi, #5 is Mary holding up a bag that I made! There's a shop downtown selling them, Athelia's, plus orders are coming in. If you'd like to order one or would just like to help out the cause, let me know! It costs between 10,000 and 15,000 dollars to adopt from out of the country! Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of helping with this most worthy project. Please keep Your Hand upon Elmise and Armon while they wait to join their family here in the USA.
This Baby Grand Piano was given to Vel way back years before Great Aunt Helen died in 1986. The problem was that Bill & Vel didn't always have room for a Grand Piano...not even a Baby Grand. But now that they have a new house, they have plenty of room. It was stored for years and now has been moved in and tuned. Vel played it for us and it sounds wonderful! It is good to praise the Lord, and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning, and your faithfulness at night. Psalm 92:1 & 2
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1
Our son, Ted, lives across the state from us so it's a good place to take a break. We stopped and ate supper with them and then came on home. Here are Isabella and Sydney all smiles! Bella got her hair cut, it's really cute and will be much easier to take care of. Sydney said she might get her's cut like it. They're coming here this weekend so we'll see if Syd's hair is also cut. It's quite long now so it'll be a big change. We'll be celebrating Bella's 6th birthday! Oh my, I can hardly believe it! Thank you, Lord, for Syd and Bella! What precious granddaughters! Actually all of our grandchildren are precious! Please keep Your Hand upon them. Guide them as they grow up. Help them to learn to love You and trust You.
I have some planted but I'll put more in this fall. It's so good to be back home to see spring waking up. We were welcomed home the first morning by at least six deer in our back yard! That was great! Thank You, Heavenly Father, for flowers, deer, rabbits, birds...all nature. You are the Creator.
. #1 shows their beautiful Rag Doll Cat. She's very loving and playful! Her name is Snickerdoodle!They also have beautiful grandchildren. #2 photo is of twins: Braden and Courtney, 4 years old. #3 is Kimberlyn, 6 years; Heidi, the mom and daughter of Richard and Cookie; and Jenna, not quite 2 years. Thank you, Father, for these beautiful children. Please keep your hand of protection upon them as they grow up. Thank you for Richard and Cookie and for Heidi and Scott. Have Your Way in their lives. 
#1 is Lisa, Justin, and Doug. They live about six miles from Bill and Vel. Lisa is their daughter. #2 is Chris, son of Bill & Vel. We went to see the new house of Doug & Lisa one evening and to meet their two dogs, Duke and Duchess. #3 is Duke. #4 is Duchess, Lisa, and Duke's head. The dogs are as opposite in size as is possible. Duke is a Great Dane, and as gentle and friendly and loving as can be! I forget what Duchess is but she is so tiny, it's just cute to see them together. They get along fine and even play together. We had a nice visit and about 9:00 I said we'd better be going. Little did we know that as soon as we left they jumped in their car and went to the air port to pick up Chris, Lisa's brother. He stayed with them. The next morning Lisa came over, we were visiting and she mentioned a strange man out wondering in the neighborhood. We didn't worry about it but then the door bell rang. Vel and Lisa went to the door and there was the strange man with his back to the door! Vel asked if she could help him with something. He slowly turned around and...it was Chris! Chris is the son that is a pastor in Alaska! He was in Calif. for a special service when he heard about my mom's heart attack so he changed his ticket and came to Colorado before going back home to Alaska. What a surprise!
Scroll down to read what a wonderful special time we had with him. #5 is Justin and his drums. Once again, Lord, thank you for family! Thank You for pets. Thank you for wonderful surprises.
