Tag: Christians

Birthdays Should Be National Holidays. {Loud, Proud, and Off-Key}

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

noise

With the birthday of my oldest child coming up in July, thirty-three years is the illusion of the blink of an eye. From her very first birthday until she left our home to be married, we celebrated her birthdays and her brother’s birthdays like they were national holidays! And in my opinion, they should have been.

I still can not believe how blessed I am to have children and grandchildren. You know, children do not ask to be born, we make that decision. And the responsibility of loving and raising children, takes on a whole new element of accountability for the parent. At least it should.

I think birthdays are great milestones in our lives and the lives of people we love. God has blessed us with another 365 days to be on this earth. He may not give us the next 365.

So, I wanted my children to know how much their birth and another year of being together meant to me. When they woke up on their “day,” our kitchen and eat-in area, and sometimes other areas of the house, were decorated with banners, streamers, balloon, hats etc. In the younger years, we tried to make the parties special events to share with family and friends.

But the Pièce De Résistance, was their cake! It usually had something to do with their interests at the time. My oldest had lost her tooth one year, so I found a cake maker who put her picture on it with her tooth-missing smile! And then there were the HeMan and Yugioh cakes that the boys had for their day.

Yes, everything represented them and what they enjoyed doing. And when it was time to light the candles and sing “Happy Birthday!” Oh, boy did I sing!

I sang loud, proud, and very, very off-key. For I can not sing. God gave me the creative gift to write and dance, but not to sing.  My toe shoes were my instrument, like a guitar is the instrument of a musician. Well, that did not matter to me, I wanted God and the angels to know how thankful I was for my child!

For the bible says to make a joyful noise to the Lord. It does not say, “only if you can do it perfectly and on key.”  Even though we are all broken and imperfect,  God wants to know that we are happy and full of love. So, I am sure He forgives those of us who praise Him in a not so perfect tone!

Now that my children have grown, my praise for them having another birthday is found within my daily prayers. On their special day, my prayers are a little longer as I list how grateful I am for them and their accomplishments in life. And I still sing, “Happy Birthday” loud and proud, deep within my heart!

I want God and the Angels to know I am thankful here on earth until I can tell them face to face!

Who Has Time for Manners These Days? (You Do!)

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

I love it when my grandchildren answer me with their manners.  From “yes mam”, to “please”, and “thank-you,” it is one of the  Southern traditions I am proud they still utilize every day.

When you look around at our hectic world today, faster is not always better.  Taking the time to teach your children a small level of respect for others, will produce great rewards in their futures.  Even in job interviews, remembering the polite applicant makes them hire worthy. Everyone wants to work in a pleasant environment!

When God created Adam, He basically said that Adam and all of his descendants were to be caretakers of the earth. And Jesus came along to remind us that we were to be caretakers of each other. So how did something so simple become so complicated and discarded?

Because respect is not taught these days in homes, at schools, at work, and even at play.  It is all about upping the next person, being better than they are,  and trashing our environment.  We have come a long way from Adam and it has been downhill ever since. We wonder what happened to the younger generation.  The answer is found within our older generation; us!

We became so caught up in “have it all” mentality, that we forgot our stay here is temporary. And we do have it all! We have God’s grace, and love. Yet, Mothers who stay home to raise their children are looked upon as a lower class.  Women having babies by themselves is applauded and encouraged.  And the fathers, yes, where are the fathers?  We have been divided and conquered by things, lifestyles, and media.

So, how can we turn it around? With respect and manners! Teach the next generation some simple manners and show them this is not a throw away world. Make them the caretakers of the people and their earth once again.

respect

Easter at Pop Nelson’s Pond

Posted on by jonithetentmaker

pond

The Turtle family lived in a quiet meadow on Pop Nelson’s farm. Now, Pop was an elderly man who lovingly took care of all of the animals on the farm.  Every morning, during his morning walk, he would bring food to the pond animals. Pop had duck food, turtle food, fish food, and bird food in his backpack.

The pond had been the Turtle’s home since Pop’s great grandfather owned the farm. And the Turtles live in the same mud hutch that their great grandparents lived in.  Grandma and Grandpa Turtle lived in the mud hutch right beside them too! Everyone’s life was very happy at Pop Nelson’s pond.

One day during Easter season, Tom and his older sister Tabitha were in the kitchen helping Mama dye Easter eggs.  Tom was in a pouty mood because he felt like his friends got to dye more eggs and got better toys for Easter than he did.

“Mom why can we only dye three eggs a piece?” whined Tom.

“Because Easter is about Jesus Christ and not eggs.” Mom said firmly.

Seeing her young son’s pouty face, Mom decided to try to make him understand the real reason for Easter. And it was not dyed eggs, bunny rabbits, and gifts!

“Tom,” Mom said gently, “We dye three eggs because each egg represents something very important at Easter.”

“Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!” chimed in Tabitha.

“That is right, Tabitha.” Mom said.

Mom went on to explain, “Easter is about Jesus Christ, who was sent by the Father, to take away our sin to give us everlasting life.”

“Before Jesus left to go back to heaven, He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us out in this life and to give us a connection to Him and the Father, until we go to heaven.”

“Mom, I know all of that,” Tom said, “we learned about it in Sunday school.”  “I want to know why we cannot dye a dozen eggs and get a cool toy for Easter, like all of our friends do.”

Mom sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for Tom and Tabitha to sit down. This was going to be a very important talk and she wanted their full attention.

“I believe it is my job to keep our family focused on the right things in life.”

“For us to dye twelve hard boiled eggs and no one eats the eggs is wasteful to me.”

“There are too many in this world who do not have food to eat.”

Mom continued.

“And, your father and I feel like for you to get a cool toy is disrespectful to the meaning of Easter, but a small thoughtful one is ok.”

With a smile on her face, Mom decided to let Tom and Tabitha in on a little secret!

“Besides we have a neighborhood Easter egg hunt every year, and we use over 100 plastic eggs.”

“That we put paper crowns and crosses in, to keep our friends remembering the real reason for Easter!” Tabitha said, trying to act like Mom.

Tom stuck his tongue out at his sister. Tabitha always tried to act like she was an adult too, and it annoyed him.

Mom ignored the faces being made between the two of them.

“And this year there will be a surprise at the egg hunt!”

“Huh?” Tabitha and Tom said together, thus stopping their silly face making.

“One of the eggs will have this beautiful gold cross in it,” Mom pulled out a small gold cross from her apron pocket, “and whoever finds it will keep the gold cross.”

A sly grin came over Mom’s face.

“Oh yes, along with a special prize!”

Tom jumped out of his chair and said, “I will help you pick out the plastic egg to put the gold cross in Mom!”

“Tom” Tabitha put her hands on her hips. “You can’t do that, it would not be fair!”

Before a good argument got going, Mom stood up and stated, “Only, Mayor Sam Duck will know because he gets to put the gold cross in the winning egg.”

“I won’t even know,” Mom said.

“Do you know what the surprise is going to be?” Tabitha asked.

“No, that job was for Pastor Peacock.”

“Oooooh,” both children happily said together, “Pastor Peacock finds the most fun things for us kids at church.”

“Come on now,” Mom lovingly touched each of their turtle heads, “We still have the plastic eggs to fill.”

Mom, Tom, and Tabitha filled all of the plastic eggs with the paper crowns and crosses. Tom and Tabitha eagerly ate their dinner, washed, said their prayers, and went to bed. They wanted Easter to hurry up and come!