The Event ~ From Dad with Love

On an earlier post I commented on my Dad’s love for poetry. He enjoyed reading books of poems, reciting poems, and writing poems. When I was recently doing more deep cleaning of junk drawers and purging stuff, I came across several of the poems he had written to my Mom.

They were among things my Mom sent to me when she was purging her own stuff and preparing to move from her house into a smaller apartment just a year ago. I am sure she reached the point where she no longer felt the need to keep sentimental things that would only make her cry if she should ever review them ~ which she probably never would since they were deeply packed away anyway. And if they are packed away, why keep them.

Now this “stuff” is at my house, at least it was until my “purging weekend”!  As a keepsake in memory of my father, I am posting only a few of his poetic works just as he wrote them so when this journal is printed and bound, Daddy's poems will be included.  They are nothing fancy, just words from the heart penned ~ or typed ~ on whatever paper he could find, sometimes taped in a card as this first one below was.

The last time I heard Daddy recite poetry was the day after Janel’s wedding when he recited a silly poem to Tim and Janel. I have that on video, and I want to try to capture the words and add them to this post soon.

These are only a sampling.  There were other poems which captured hardships and trials as well as love and joy.

I don't think any purchased gift from the store could be cherished as much as thoughts from the heart.  Receiving these poems must have been a sentimental event for my Mom.  Penning them was a joyful event for my Dad.  Now they can be preserved as eventful memories in my Eventful Friends journal.

The Event ~ Loving Thy Neighbor

Our family was well settled into the new house we designed and built on a little hill in the country. I thought our life would be complete. I remember telling our loan officer when we first approached the bank for a loan, “Isn’t that what life is all about?” (living in a dream house!) Little did I realize how much I had to learn what real life is all about!

It was not long before I realized I still felt an emptiness. What more could I want? I had a wonderful husband, a beautiful family, and a new home. I was active in church, Christian Women’s Club and Bible studies. However, I was missing that inner peace I heard Christian speakers talk about – until the day two young mothers/friends in my Bible study group led me into a divine personal relationship with Jesus as we sat around my kitchen table in my new home. Although I lived in the shadow of church and religion all my life, I somehow missed the point about entering into that intimate, personal relationship with Jesus as my personal friend and savior. That personal relationship wasn’t boldly taught in the Lutheran church I grew up in or the church we attended after getting married.

However, that transcendent moment did not free me from trials and hardships, nor did it give me instant knowledge of God’s will in my life or instant wisdom to understand His word and live accordingly. There were, and still continues to be, many stumbling blocks along the way; but God turns stumbling blocks into stepping stones as He uses everyday circumstances to mold me and teach me. God is my potter, and as clay in His hands, He continues to mold me. God used a particular circumstance and “molding” experience to teach me to “love thy neighbor” and to teach me that there really is more to life than living in a dream house.

We farmed together with my in-laws, who owned the property across the road where together we had a hog-farrowing operation. Within steps of the hog units stood a little old dilapidated house, which, in my opinion, should have been leveled years earlier. The neglected old four-room structure was just in the way and not fit for living. Imagine my surprise when I learned my father-in-law rented it in 1981 to a young couple with a child.

I caught glimpses across the way ~ their beat-up old red pickup, their tattered coats, his long, unkempt hair ~ evidence enough that we would not be including these new neighbors in our circle of friends.

When the man left for work in the mornings, I wondered how his wife managed without a vehicle day after day to accomplish the many errands a young mother faces. It was only a matter of a few days until the six-year old son wandered over to our yard to play. Of course, my two young daughters were excited to have a playmate in the country. I was not as elated. As winter set in, they constantly requested Tim to blade the snow from their driveway when he was doing snow removal around the farm. However, I knew it was the least we could do to help a neighbor ~ they obviously couldn’t get through the heavy snows blanketing western Nebraska. I still kept my distance and made no effort to be neighborly.

Eventually, because Shelly came over to get her son, and then to borrow a cup of sugar, we did get acquainted, and I began to realize she was a pleasant person. I began to feel sorry for her, for being cast into the unfit dwelling with no friends, no transportation, not even a telephone.

Then one day Shelly came home with a new car ~ new to her. Her excitement about the car was evident as she ecstatically told me about it. I remember feeling happy for her that things were going well enough that they could buy a car.   Chuck continued to drive the beat-up old red pickup. However, in only a matter of a few weeks, Shelly’s car was totaled in an accident. She was devastated. I began to feel real compassion for her, and I reached out to her. This young mother needed something more in her life to overcome her struggles. She needed to know that there is a God who is in control and who cares for her and loves her. Even though I was concerned about what she might have to wear to a nice luncheon, I invited her to Christian Women’s Club. She accepted the invitation. I was a little embarrassed by her tattered coat when I picked her up.

During the 30-minute drive, I shared with her about Christian Women’s Club, how I enjoyed the monthly luncheons, and how that organization played an important role in my growth (slow growth) in the Lord. I shared about Jesus and how God can work through any difficult situation and transform difficulties into blessings. I shared about finding strength in God through faith in His Son. Shelly left the luncheon eager to experience the “peace beyond human understanding” that she first heard about that day.

When I took her home, she invited me in. I accepted. What a pleasant surprise to see a lovely, cozy, well-kept home. As small as it was, and in spite of the meager furnishings, the home sparkled with love. God was filling my heart with a love and compassion for Shelly that I could no longer ignore. God convicted me, also, of my unchristian attitude, an attitude that has no place in the heart of a Christian. This was clearly an example of the grip the devil can retain on struggling Christians. I shared some of my clothes with her, and gave her Tim’s grandfather’s two-piece sofa (still in excellent condition) from our basement.

Shelly and I continued to attend the Christian Women’s luncheons together. She attended the home Bible studies with me and she even began hosting them in her cozy, little home. It was a joy to watch Shelly blossom into a beautiful Christian. She found a church home and made many new friends through church. Her new church family gave her encouragement and spiritual support, and rejoiced with her as she led her son to the Lord, and eventually her husband, who joined her in a couple’s Bible study.

Shelly, Chuck, and Donovan no longer live in the little shack she transformed into a home with love and with Christ as the foundation.

Today, Shelly and her son are living in a beautiful mansion the Lord prepared for them in heaven. Shelly and her son, Donovan, died in a car accident on icy roads on their way to church on Palm Sunday 1984, less than three years into her walk with the Lord. The image of Chuck grasping her Bible as he leaned on two friends helping him walk down the isle in church for Shelly and Donovan’s funeral remains a vivid imprint in my mind. God used me in ways I least expected to bring the Whitman family into God’s Kingdom.   Donovan's memorial picture still hangs today in the hall of Bayard elementary school where he was a second grader at the time.

We no longer live in our beautiful house on the hill. The hardships of farming in the mid-80’s moved us out of farming and into the city a few years later. It was only through our faith in God that we were able to survive those trials. Ironcially, we moved from our big, beautiful dream house  to a small house in town and eventually to a little old neglected house in the country.  It has since been filled with love and has been established with Christ as the foundation. In addition, we have been blessed with wonderful neighbors.   The church we settled into after moving from the farm to the city strongly enforced the personal relationship with Jesus.  God used our own farm crisis to place us where He wanted us to grow and be discipled in His Kingdom. 

Through Shelly, God reinforced in me His commandment to “love thy neighbor”, and to reach out to neighbors in love, compassion, and friendship. Our neighbors are not always neighbors by chance, but by God’s divine placement. God has also instilled in me that life is not seeking happiness in building and living in a dream house. Rather “happy is the home established on the firm foundation of Christ, established in love and faith in and through Him.”

Loving thy neighbor is an event. Eventful friends are a result of obeying God's commandment to love thy neighbor!  Everyone is a neighbor.

The Event ~ Junk Purging

OK, I've had enough!  I do not need four closet drawers, two dresser drawers, three hall linen drawers, two kitchen drawers, 2nd bedroom dresser drawers, two pantry shelves, and several basement shelves filled with stuff.    In addition to what is still out in the garage.  It's too much stuff.  I don't use it, I don't need it, why do I save it?  And I am not even a saver! Imagine the stuff if I were actually  a compulsive saver ~ like ~ say ~ my mother-in-law!

Early June I included pictures of my two-day garage sale that looked like we had just set up for an auction. 

A few weeks ago I commented about doing some deep-cleaning.  I guess I'm not done yet.

My plan for this weekend is to tackle the above junk drawers and shelving.  My goal is to merge to maybe three dedicated junk drawers, and clean up the shelving areas.   I will purge my stuff,  keep only a portion of it and eliminate the rest.    The three drawers I keep will not be considered junk, but stuff I really do need.

Ah-h-h-h-h ~ I feel better already!  Yes, purging junk will be an eventful weekend activity!  I can't wait to get started and get finished!

The Event ~ Two + Nine

A whole week with the seven grandkids!  Tim (son-in-law) and Janel and their seven kids came to vacation at Grandpa's farm for a week.  They came also to attend Janel's 20th class reunion.  Wow!  Has it been that long? 

Ben, Mathilda,  Jakob, Amelia, Joshua,  Joe,  Jonathan,  Me
           5       6 1/2        11 1/2        1         9 1/2      3       8 1/2                        

When two empty nesters add nine more people to the household and the dining room table for a week, it can be quite challenging for this Grandma.  But I'll never turn down the opportunity to have them spend time here.  There is certainly never a dull moment ~ or a quiet one!  

        

We played a little ball on the back lawn,  finished off the simple little fireworks that we didn't do on the 4th, played in the sprinkler, enjoyed a water balloon fight, lit the open fireplace and roasted marshmellows. 

The kids did a little irrigating with Grandpa.  One night we all enjoyed watching John Wayne's "The Cowboys" about a dozen young boys from 8 - 15 on a cattle drive.  A very fitting movie for our crew. 

We spent an evening at the lake where the kids camped.  Tim donned his swim suit and enjoyed a good time in the water with the kids.  First time I can remember him ever being in the lake and having so much fun!  We enjoyed campfire dinner and lingering longer until the wind blew us home ~ literally!  The cowboy coffee was so good!

Janel, Mathilda and I had a pedicure/manicure session in our living room.   That was a fun girls' activity. 

It's fun spending time with the kids when there is no rush to attend a special activity ~ we can just hang out!  Hanging out with the grandkids is an event I cherish.  It is an eventful time!  My grandkids are my eventful friends for life!  I love them all.  I may not like them all the time, but all the time I love them! 

The Event ~ Journeys Through Time

Everyone  likes to reminisce and recall  pleasant, enjoyable events experienced throughout life. Trips ~ big and small ~ should be among those memories. I’m in the process of planning another big trip in celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary.   Tim doesn't know about it yet ~ it will be a surprise on our 40th!  Planning this trip has led me to ponder over previous trips and places I’ve been in the past.

Reaching way back to my childhood, this will be a challenge to my memory:

1. Yellowstone Park with my family as a child.  I was in awe seeing "Old Faithful"!

2.  Minneapolis, MN ~ as a child with my Dad.  I remember him taking me to a boxing match.  I think it was a business trip for him.

3. Chicago ~ when in high school with my parents and brother, Kelly.  We camped on the beach of Lake Michigan.  I think that was a no-no.   I remember how beautiful the dairy state of Wisconsin was as we drove through it. I would like to do a road trip through Wisconsin again.

4. Several summer trips to the mountains in Big Timber, Montana for week-long church camps from the time I was in 4th grade each year through 8th grade. Those were some of the most fun memories of childhood. I still have a dear friend I met in 4th grade camp. Heidi and I were maid-of-honor in each other’s weddings, and she is a Godparent to Janel.  A life friend was made at camp!

5. Mobridge, SD ~ summers 1964 and 1965 for church camp when in high school.

6. Los Angeles, CA ~ 1967 with a side trip to Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm my junior year in high school. The State chapter of FHA paid for all presidents and vice presidents of local FHA chapters to go to National Convention. I was vice president of the local chapter.  All the girls had to wear hats and suits on the plane. I took the train to Billings to get on the plane.

7.  Rapid City, SD ~ June 1968 to attend National College of Business (where I met Tim). I went the summer semester right after high school graduation, and continued through the second summer, finishing in December 1969.

8. Denver, CO ~ January 1970 where I worked for a law office for 10 months before getting married.

9. Sacramento, CA for our honeymoon in November 1970.  I remember being really frightened driving over the sand desert of Utah at night.  The moon shone so brightly on the sand I thought it was water and the water was right up to the side of the road!

10. Bartelsville, OK ~ 1976. Tim and I, Janel and Alexis went with my parents and my brother Kelly to see my brother Vern who was going to college in OK. It was a road trip in my Dad’s big Cadillac limousine. Tim and I and the two girls fit comfortably in the back seat while Mom, Dad and Kelly were comfortable in the front seat. We had lots of room. Can you imagine that many in one car on a long road trip. I think I remember visiting “Little House on the Prairie.”

11. Orlando, FL ~ January 1979 when Tim when received a sales trip from Vigortone.  We went to Disney World.




  12.  Black Hills, including Hot Springs several times when the kids were young. We would take an overnite trip to go swimming in Hot Springs, and the tourist attractions around the Black Hills.

13.  Hazen, ND ~ 1979 to see my grandparents one more time when Janel was 7 and Alexis was 4 ½.  As a child I would take the bus to Hazen and spend a week or two with my grandparents. 

14. Disney World, FL ~ December 1981. We bought a van with Tim’s cousins Connie and Rich. With them and their 3 kids and our three kids (Janel 9, Alexis 7, and Cash 8 mo), we embarked on a 17-day road trip through Texas, Arkansas, New Orleans, LA, three days at Disney World, Busch Gardens, Daytona Beach, Christmas in Nashville, TN, and wherever else the road led through from here to there and back. We still laugh today at the fun memories made on that trip.

15. Phoenix, AZ ~ 1984; New Orleans, LA ~ 1985; Las Vegas, NV ~ 1986 for REA conventions when Tim was on the REA Board of Directors.



16. Las Vegas ~ 1987 to celebrate a friend's (Jim Moranville) 40th birthday  along with Kamtz and Loxtercamps.  We did an all nighter walking the streets of Las Vegas.  Hit the bed about 6 a.m. 

17. A four-day covered wagon trek ~ summer 1988 in the southern hills between Bayard and Scottsbluff with Tim and Cash. I would do this again! It was an awesome vacation and 30 minutes to home when it was over.

18. Canada, Glacier Park, Ronan, MT summer 1989 to visit my brother and family. A family trip with all three kids. Nephew DJ joined us for part of the trip into Canada.

19. Phoenix, AZ ~ December 1990. The whole family flew as guests of the National Dept of Transportation for Janel’s winning essay on transportation. Cash left his new hot pink Arizona cap on the plane returning home.





20.  Nashville, TN sometime in the early 1990's in early December.  Tim and I went to his National Transportation meeting.  We stayed at the Opryland Hotel.  That was a magnificent hotel, especially when it was all decorated for Christmas. 

21.  1988 through 1996 I attended eight National Chamber of Commerce Membership Directors conferences in: Chicago (1988); Miami (1990); Cleveland (1991); Palm Springs, (1992); Virginia Beach (1993); New Orleans (1994); Scottsdale (1995); New York City (1996).





Janel and Alexis went with me to Miami in 1990. We three flew into Orlando, rented a car, visited Disney World and did a road trip from Orlando to Miami Beach. Today I can’t imagine that we did that by ourselves.   While in Orlando with the girls at my side, I was awarded the trophy for the best small Chamber in the nation, based on a written application I submitted, winning over Naples, FL and a small city in New York. 



Janel flew with me to Virginia Beach in 1993; and Alexis joined me in New York in 1996. Those were really fun trips with my daughters.



  22. California trips to visit Alexis:  fall 1993 when she nannied in Pleasanton.  We went to the mountains and stayed in a friend's really cool cabin,  and  rode roller coasters all day!  I love roller coasters!

1996 while Alexis was attending Diablo Community College. We spent four hours in a Honda dealership helping her to buy her first new car. 

1996 and 1998 road trips to California

A road trip to California in 1998  took us through beauatiful Tahoe, with Tim and Cash when Alexis attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.  Her roomate worked at a swanky beach resort and  got us a complimentary  room on the beach - Cash stayed with Alexis! 



On the trip back from California we stopped in Las Vegas.  Cash and I rode the roller coaster on top of the New York New York building.  I love roller coasters! 

A second road trip in 1999 driving through the desert through Bakersfield and LA with Cash and Tim for her graduation from Cal Poly.  We stayed in a beach cabin of a friend - that was cool.  Janel and baby Jakob joined us.  A  fly-in with Janel in 2004 for a girl's weekend and to go wedding dress shopping with Alexis.



Thirteen family members took a train to California in 2005 for Alexis' wedding. Tim and I flew again in Feb 2006 to Oakland and Feb 2008 to Sonoma to visit Ryan and Alexis. Tim and Alexis enjoyed a great wine-tasting tour while Ryan and I stayed dry and ate the munchies in wine country around Sonoma.




 

23. Fort Worth, TX (1998), Albuquerque, NM (1999), Phoenix (2000), and Las Vegas (2001) to attend the National conferences through my job at Farmers Irrigation.  In Las Vegas I took time to go see the newest show on the strip - Ron Lucas the ventriloquist.  It was awesome. 

24. Boston, MA ~ 2000 to visit Alexis when she was a graduate student at Boston College. We went to Cape Cod and Rhode Island. A great girls time together.   Boston again in 2002 for her graduation from Boston College.

25. Boston and the New England states ~ September 2001, just 10 days after the terrorist attacks of 9/ll. It was scary to fly at that time. The planes just started returning to the air. We rented a Ford Tahoe and toured Vermont, New Hampshire, a little of Maine; and Alexis took us all over Boston.



2002  in Sioux Falls, SD

  26. Chicago,  IL ~ 2001 to enroll Cash in Moody Bible Institute; 2002 to return him to MBI, taking a road trip through Sioux Falls, SD to meet up with Janel and Alexis (Janel and family were living in SF at the time, and Alexis was visiting there); 2003 to attend Founders Weekend with Cash; and 2005 to attend his graduation.

27. Elkhart, IN ~ 2006 to visit Cash when he worked in a Baptist church. We took the train from Lincoln to Elkhart. It was a pleasant train trip this time.




Allen's Idaho camp site 2003 (Allen, Ambree, Suzy)

 

28. Utah, Oregon and Idaho ~ 2003. A road trip to visit cousin Jim Frickie in Salt Lake City, a college friend (Carol Pomeroy) in Oregon; and brother Allen and family at their campsite in Idaho. A great road trip.

29. Germany ~ October 2006 to visit Daniel Meurer and his family. Daniel was an exchange student that lived for us for a year in 1996. We had a layover in London, England, en route to Cologne (Koln). Daniel took us on a day trip to Brussel’s, Belgium. Rolf took us on a day trip to Dusseldorf. We spent six days with them before taking the train to Rothenburg for a day and Munich for three days.






Salzburg, Austria 2006

 

We took a day trip to Salzburg, Austria. Wow. What beautiful country. It was hard to imagine that most of it had been destroyed in the 1940’s during WW II. I would return there I think before going elsewhere in Europe.




Tim, Waltraud, Sandi, Claudia, Daniel, Rolf
With the Meurer' family  in Germany 2006

 

30. Phoenix, AZ ~ Thanksgiving 2007 and 2008 – both road trips;  March 2009 by plane for niece Kadi Jo’s wedding.

31. Buena Vista, CO ~  White water rafting:  2004 by myself  and then again with Tim and nephew Justin from Phoenix who was staying with us; 2005 with Tim; 2006 with sister-in-law Kathy; 2007 Tim and I went again, each year to white water raft with Cash who was a rafting guide at Noah's Ark. 

 

Christmas 2007 in Estes Park

 32. Estes Park, CO ~ Christmas 2007 with all of Tim’s family – 22 of us in a fabulous 7-bedroom lodge. It was a great family Christmas!

33. Kentucky ~ July 2008 and 2009 to attend the International Ventriloquists Convention.



 

34. Skagway, AK August 2009. By plane to Juneau; by ferry to Skagway; by helicopter to the top of the glacier. Wow, that was cool!  Cash took us all over in his tour bus, and a side trip to the Yukon. A train ride on the Whitepass & Yukon scenic railway.   Alaska is magnificent! 

35 Lincoln, NE and the surrounding area many, many, many, many times in the last 20 years since Janel went to college near there and then
settled there after getting married. And since she keeps all seven of my grandkids east of Lincoln (Eagle), we will continue to go there often.

Well, for a family that doesn’t have very much fun, it appears that we did indeed take time to take time off! Each journey is an eventful memory from my past. Wow, I didn’t realize how much of this great country landscape we have really seen.  Not bad for a couple who doesn't get around much!

Next ~ the surprise trip I'm planning for Tim and I in celebration of our 40th anniversary to be revealed November 28.   Just planning the trip is an eventful time!

The Event ~ Little Drummer Boy!

The drums are gone.  The thirteen-piece trap set ~ drums and cymbals ~ have been sitting in our basement for eleven years since Cash graduated. They were so much a part of his life.  Cash played drums since he was two years old when I ordered him a "snap, crackel, pop" drum with box tops from Rice Krispies when he was two or three.  Prior to that, he played on my pots and pans. 

He soon outgrew the toy drum and we got him a real snare drum found at a garage sale.  But he needed more.  So we bought him a child's trap set for Christmas from the JC Penney's catalog.  Fortunately, we saved the snare drum, because in 5th or 6th grade he had to furnish his own snare to be in band.  Once in band, he needed bigger and better than the junior size trap set. 

We answered an ad in the paper and traveled to Broadwater and bought this complete set of seven drums and nine cymbals ~ alot more than he needed, but indeed a great bargain.   We snapped them up immediately.  Having shopped around in Denver the day before, we knew this was a bargain. 

Cash played drums in the pep band all through high school.  He played drums for the praise team in church.  That was a little scary bringing in drums to our very conservative German/Russian older congregation.  But the little old ladies loved it, and they praised him every Sunday!    Drums were part of his life ~ an eventful friend that he enjoyed spending time with

Last nite the new owner of the drums came and picked them up after making payments for a couple months.  This young high schooler had to earn the money to pay for the drums, which he bought sight unseen, except for a picture.  He was ecstatic when he saw the quality.    The drums went to a good home in Chadron.  Like Cash said, "they weren't made to sit around the basement, it's time they find a new owner!"  Letting go of this piece of the past was an event ~ a bitter sweet event. 

The Event ~ Home Sweet Home

Driving through our old neighborhoods recently brought vivid memories of the years we lived in different houses since Tim and I got married.


First home following marriage in 1970 - east of Bayard

  Our first home, in November 1970, as newly weds was two miles east of Bayard.  This house came with the farm land Tim rented as his first farming operation to support his new wife.  Before we were married, Tim and his parents spent time painting the interior and laying down a wool rug in the living room that Tim's folks pulled out of their house.  Wool rugs never wear out!  The kitchen was painted yellow, the bedroom lavender.   I remember we had to lay hay bales against the kitchen foundation in the winter time so the kitchen sink pipes wouldn't freeze!  It had an upstairs which we didn't use because it was like a freezer in the winter time.   Today, an upstairs like that would be fun to utilize!  I took my laundry to my in-law's house because we couldn't afford a washer and dryer right away. It wasn't until Janel was due that I insisted it was time for our own washer and dryer!  This was the house we brought Janel home to in June 1972! 



Second home west of Bayard - 1972


In 1973 we bought a farm west of town that was adjacent to Tim's parents and his grandparents farms.  We moved into the little white house (shack).  We did put in new cupboards in the kitchen.  My washer and dryer were located in the cellar ~ go outside, lift the cellar door, down the spider-webby steps and into the dungeon to wash the clothes.  Before Alexis was born, Tim and his Dad built a small addition to the west side of the house as a utility room so we moved the washer/dryer up from the dirty cellar.  This was the house Alexis was brought home to in December 1974!  Their tiny bedroom fit a crib for Alexis and a twin bed for Janel.  One day I got tired of the state of the bathroom, so I tore out the sink and toilet.  Tim came home to find the sink and toilet out the back door.  So he had no choice but to remodel the bathroom!




 In 1977 we built a new house on the hill north of the old white shack.  It was a house I designed.  Tim's high school shop instructor framed the house, and Tim and I did the electrical, plumbing, hanging the sheet rock and finishing the woodwork.  We hired someone to finish the drywall.  We started in the fall of 1976 and finished in the spring of 1977.  Two months after we moved in, it narrowly missed being destroyed by a tornado.  Janel and Alexis each had their own bedroom.  When Cash was born, Janel moved to the bedroom "suite" in the basement with her own bathroom and large closet area, Alexis got the beautiful pink and purple room, and the third bedroom became a nursery.  This was the house Cash was brought home to in March 1981.   I had a beautiful big utility room combined with a sewing center. My washer and dryer were on the main floor!



  In 1986 farming went south, we sold the farm and all of the equipment and moved to Scottsbluff.  We bought a little blue house at 1906 Avenue K.  Again, Janel got sent to the basement, Alexis had the bedroom with the orange/yellow/avacado/brown pukey throw-up shag carpet, and Cash the little third bedroom. (Not tearing up that carpet should be added to my list of  "I wish I would have...")  It was different for all of us to live in town.  It was especially hard on Tim with his new city job.  We spent many a lunch hour driving around the country looking for a country house to buy.  We lived in this house for three years.  No babies were brought home to this house.  Just a gold fish and a black kitten!

In December 1989 we moved into our current home two miles northwest of Scottsbluff ~ in the country ~ with 40 acres!  God's hand was definitely involved in buying this little farm.  We drove by it many times, convinced this would be a nice place.  It was vacant and grown to weeds.  But the exterior was well kept with new siding so it looked nice.  We contacted the neighbors about who owned it.  They assured us the owner, Jack Murphy, was not really interested in selling because he was asking way too much for the place.  We also learned nobody had been living in it for 15 years.  But they still kept the light on at night!

We wrote a letter (yes, hand written, snail mail) to  Mr. Murphy in Oklahoma.  No response.  We called.  No response.  We found another place to buy.  The Friday we had an appointment to talk to the realtor about buying the other place, I told Tim "Let's call Mr. Murphy one more time just to see if we can reach him and talk to him."   We called.  He answered.  He remembered getting our letter.  He was just walking out the door to come to Scottsbluff to check on his properties and he would contact us when he got here.  We cancelled our appointment and waited a week to hear back from Mr. Murphy. 




40 acres NW of Scottsbluff  - 1989



(This areial pic shows  the yard at the time of purchase. Today it's totally different with a house addition ~ we enclosed the u-shape in the back ~ a 40x60 steel shop/garage and a steel barn; and all the other buildings in this pic are gone.)

Finally, the following Saturday we drove out to the Murphy place to see if we could talk to him.  He had been cleaning the place up all week.  He wanted to get it in order before he contacted us.  He let us in the house to see it.  It was only two bedrooms and the basement was a dungeon.  We were dissappointed.  We went home, thought about it, decided we could gut the basement, remove the monstrous antique heating unit, and create two bedrooms and a bathroom in the basement.  We returned to Mr Murphy and told him we were interested and invited him in for Sunday dinner the next day to discuss the deal. 



 

We asked him what he would sell it for.  His asking price was only $5,000 more than we were thinking of offering.  We were in the ballpark.  We were on the same page.  Mr Murphy didn't make us sign any papers.  He told us to make sure we could get all our loan paperwork in order.  If we could, he would come back to Scottsbluff to sign the farm over to us.  Thirty days later in September 1989 we closed on the property.  Mr Murphy gave us all the mineral rights, all the crop that would be harvested within three weeks, all the paid up insurance for the next six months, and a case of barbeque sauce that his friends make in Oklahoma.  It was an easy transition. 

Tim and I and the kids spent the next 3 1/2 months gutting the basement, stripping layers of 50 year old wall paper, sanding floors,  painting, tearing out trees, leveling the yard.  We worked many nights past midnight, nights that we weren't at the girl's volleyball and basketball games.  How did we do that? We moved in between Christmas and New Years 1989.  It's been home ever since.  It's the house where Janel, Alexis and Cash celebrated their high school graduations.  It's the home they come back to today.  It's what the grandchildren call Cowboy Grandpa's farm.  It's home sweet home.

Making a house a home is an event.  It's an eventful memory, an eventful journey.  It's an event filled with love.  Any house can be made a home when it is filled with love and family!   A home should be built on a firm foundation.  The house, of course, is constructed on a firm foundation ~ hopefully ~ so that when the winds blow and the rains come, the house will not fall flat.  But, more importantly, a home must be built on a firm foundation ~ the foundation being Christ as the head of the house.  As the song goes that we all learned as a child:      ". . . .The wise man builds his house upon a rock. . ."   (the rock being the Lord Jesus Christ)  ".  .  . the blessings will come down as the prayers go up. . . . so build your house (home) on the Lord."

This last picture is the house I lived in when I was in high school.  I may have been an 8th grader or freshman when we moved into this house. My parents built this house around 1963 or 64.   I wish I could find a picture of the little pink house I grew up in.  It no longer exists.