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Grandma’s Apron

I don’t think our kids know for sure what an important role grandma’s apron played in history. It was like a badge of honor to wear it. It showed how capable the girl or woman wearing it was to handle whatever challenges came along.

The principal use of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath while she tended to keeping her home. It was a part of her everyday wear; a practice she had started when she was a child.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood-fired cook stove. Still, she smiled when she thought of how much better that was than the open fireplace her grandmother had to cook in!

That apron also served as a handy potholder for retrieving hot casseroles from the oven, or those heavy iron skillets from the stove top. It was essential for gripping those pesky caps screwed on the glass jars of food she canned and stored earlier.

It carried in all sorts of vegetables she pulled from the garden. After the corn was shucked, the peas shelled, or the beans snapped, it was handy for carrying out the waste.

On the return trip it carried in wood chips and kindling for the kitchen stove. Sometimes it carried in a piece or two of firewood just to keep the fire going until the men got back up to the house.

From the chicken coop, it carried in that morning’s eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven of the cook stove.

In the spring, the apron was used to bring in sweet berries, and in the fall, delicious fruit from the trees out in the yard. On cool mornings grandma wrapped it around her arms to still the chill while she got the wood fire going.

Toward evening, when dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron real high, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

When unexpected company drove up the dirt road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds! And, as the dust settled, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids as they snuggled in close.

But perhaps the most wonderful role it played was drying children’s tears, or draping over their shoulders for comfort, cleaning out dirty ears, or applying just a little spit to clean a dirt streaked cheek.

It was certainly a simpler time, when grandma’s “old-time apron” was arguably the most versatile and comforting device in memory. It once symbolized everything good about the safety zone of the American home; love, devotion and skill at everything from cooking to medicine and home management to child psychology.

No, our kids can’t know what a wonderful thing grandma’s apron was, but they’ll go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on it!

(I don’t think I ever heard of anyone catching anything bad from grandma’s apron . . . . )

You may have forgotten about the Alabama Chief Justice who recently refused to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom wall. Judge Moore was sued by the ACLU for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom foyer. He has been stripped of his judgeship and now they are trying to strip his right to practice law in Alabama! He is still standing tall, and has written an insightful poem depicting the moral decay of America. The judge’s poem sums up the situation quite well.

America the beautiful,
Or so you used to be.
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride;
I’m glad they’ll never see.

Babies piled in dumpsters,
Abortion on demand,
Oh, sweet land of liberty;
Your house is on the sand.

Our children wander aimlessly
Poisoned by cocaine
Choosing to indulge their lusts,
When God has said abstain

From sea to shining sea,
Our Nation turns away
From the teaching of God’s love
And a need to always pray

We’ve kept God in our
Temples, how callous we have grown.
When earth is but His footstool,
And Heaven is His throne.

We’ve voted in a government
that’s rotting at the core,
Appointing Godless Judges;
Who throw reason out the door,

Too soft to place a killer
In a well deserved tomb,
But brave enough to kill a baby
Before he leaves the womb.

You think that God’s not
Angry, that our land’s a moral slum?
How much longer will He wait
Before His judgment comes?

How are we to face our God,
From Whom we cannot hide?
What then is left for us to do,
But stem this evil tide?

If we who are His children,
Will humbly turn and pray;
Seek His holy face
And mend our evil way:

Then God will hear from Heaven;
And forgive us of our sins,
He’ll heal our sickly land
And those who live within.

But, America the Beautiful,
If you don’t - then you will see,
A sad but Holy God
Withdraw His hand from Thee.

~~Judge Roy Moore~~

That states the sad decay of America quite well. Lift up Judge Moore to be victorious in his battle for the right to honor God and the Ten Commandments, and for America to wake up and realize that our country is on a path to self destruction.

IN GOD WE TRUST!

PRAISE GOD! I give thanks today on so many levels for SO many blessings our family has received! God’s shower of blessings for Lea and myself during and following her illness have just been absolutely humbling. Even though Lea’s medical expenses left us financially devastated His provisioning for us has been constant and steady. Along the way we have found a much better relationship with Him, with each other, and with our service in a local church body.

I am greatly relieved that the Indiana house Dottie & Dave purchased to provide for our needs has indeed been sold. The house was certainly a perfect blessing for us, and its provision was one of the most generous acts I have ever heard of. I know the Lord has arranged for their compensation, and Lea and I feel an undying gratitude, and love them all the more. The house again became a solution when my mother suddenly needed help with housing.

Just as that occurred, the Lord opened a door for Lea and me to relocate to Texas for the next phase of her recovery. We were led to a fine doctor who accepted the special challenges of Lea’s medical needs, we were provisioned a lovely rental home in a delightful setting in close proximity to my younger son’s family, and I was able to continue the part time consulting work that helps with expenses. Lea has found a renewed sense of purpose in caring for our new grandson, and her mental progress has been amazing since we relocated

She now has accepted the fact that it is unlikely that she will ever have her abdominal ventral hernia surgically closed, and that she will have to wear an elastic binder that reaches from her hips to her shoulder blades 24 X 7. The joy of caring for the grandson, and seeing God’s wonders reflected in his development, has been the best medicine for her and has lifted her from the troublesome place her mind resided prior to our move. Again, the Lord provisioned for our needs according to His plan!

When Lea’s illness devastated our financial reserves, we sorrowfully abandoned the lifestyle we had enjoyed, and just got down to the basics of survival. Back then Lea still had an active fistula draining pancreatic fluid onto her new skin graft over her bowels, which had been left exposed by her many surgeries. Her medical needs were intense.

Her physical weakness caused her to be confined to a wheelchair or walker, her mental acuity was very poor due to the addictive narcotics she was taking to control her constant pain, and her emotional state was tremulous at best. Providing a continual flow of positive experiences, and protecting her from negative ones, was a constant requirement, since it could take her days to recover from mental anguish.

Over time, as she continued to heal, she was able to reduce the amount of narcotics she needed to offset the pain and was able to get back to meal preparation, which is one of her favorite activities. She improved physically, too, and eventually was able to progress from using a walker to a cane, which affords better mobility. Even though she subsequently had knee joint replacement surgery, the implant was not entirely successful, and she still has to use a cane to maintain her balance. Perhaps some day we will have that surgically corrected, but she isn’t ready to consider that yet.

We are becoming active in our local church as her health permits, and really enjoy going to adult bible study on Wednesday nights. It is a delightful gathering of like-minded Christians with a prepared meal and study of the scripture led by the pastor, who has a charming demeanor and comprehensive knowledge of the scriptures. We were led to his church by our new neighbors.

We have had the privilege of getting to know our grandson’s maternal grandparents better, and delight in being able to spend time with them. They have vastly different backgrounds than our own, but we share the love for our family and a love of the Lord that has made our move here much easier. We look forward to growing closer as we all help our grandson grow in the Lord.

Looking back over the past three years, I am so glad God intervened in our lives! I had mistakenly planned for security, but God planned for growth. I had tried to build security for Lea’s retirement, expecting that I would be the first to go to my heavenly reward. He took security away to remind us that our purpose here to prepare for eternal life. Lea and I have much less now, but have gained so much more. We no longer have financial security, and I continue to struggle with that emotionally, but we have the peace and comfort of knowing that He is moving mightily in our lives, and that His purpose for us will play out in His way in His own time.

One of my favorite hymns, Amazing Grace was made even more special for me a few years ago when I heard my daughter-in-law perform it, a cappella, during a very touching ceremony to recognize fallen Civil War era soldiers. I will never forget how beautiful her voice sounded as it echoed off the tall buildings downtown as a horse-drawn wagon passed carrying a flag draped casket.

I received a link to a video of a performance of Amazing Grace by Wintley Phipps, in one of the most profound performances I have heard. It made chills run up my back, and brought tears to my eyes, as I felt the Spirit and visualized the setting this hymn came from. I think you will enjoy it, too.

Wintley Phipps is an ordained Seventh Day Aventist minister, world-renowned vocal artist, and president of the US Dream Academy. He also founded Songs of Freedom Publishing Company and Coral Records Recording Company. Mr. Phipps has been the featured speaker and performer at many notable occasions around the world. Additional videos can be found just by searching on his name. He currently serves as Pastor of a church in Palm Bay, Florida.

If you aren’t familiar with the slave-ship-captain-turned-evangelist John Henry Newton, there is a lot of interesting information on him on Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. He was the author of many hymns, including Amazing Grace. He was born in London, the son of a shipmaster in the Mediterranean service. At the age of 11 he went to sea with his father and sailed with him on a total of six voyages.

In 1743, he was pressed into naval service, and became a midshipman. After attempting to desert, Newton was put in irons, court martialed, and received a flogging of eight dozen lashes. He went on to become enslaved himself before being freed by a friend of his father’s.

Sailing back to England in 1748 aboard the slave-ship Greyhound on the Atlantic, the ship encountered a severe storm and almost sank. Newton awoke in the middle of the night and prayed to God as the ship filled with water. It was this experience which he later marked as the beginnings of his conversion to evangelical Christianity. He later said that his true conversion did not happen until some time later: “I cannot consider myself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word, until a considerable time afterwards.”

Still, he didn’t renounce the slave trade until later in his life when he wrote a tract decrying it in aid of abolitionist sympathies. He only gave up seafaring and his slave-trading activities in 1754, after a serious illness.

Much later he published his thoughts about the African slave trade, which is quoted here:

“With our ships, the great object is, to be full. When the ship is there, it is thought desirable she should take as many as possible. The cargo of a vessel of a hundred tons, or little more, is calculated to purchase from two hundred and twenty to two hundred and fifty slaves. Their lodging-rooms below the deck, which are three (for the men, the boys, and the women), besides a place for the sick, are sometimes more than five feet high, and sometimes less; and this height is divided towards the middle, for the slaves lie in two rows, one above the other, on each side of the ship, close to each other, like books upon a shelf. I have known them so close that the shelf would not, easily, contain one more. And I have known a white man sent down, among the men, to lay them in these rows to the greatest advantage, so that as little space as possible might be lost.

“Let it be observed, that the poor creatures, thus cramped for want of room, are likewise in irons, for the most part both hands and feet, and two together, which makes it difficult for them to turn or move, to attempt either to rise or to lie down, without hurting themselves, or each other. Nor is the motion of the ship, especially her heeling, or stoop on one side, when under sail, to be omitted; for this, as they lie athwart, or cross the ship, adds to the uncomfortableness of their lodging, especially to those who lie on the leeward or leaning side of the vessel.”

John Newton went on to study theology, and went on to pastor churches and was also a prolific hymnist. So popular was his preaching that the church he pastored in Olney for 16 years had a gallery added to accommodate the large numbers who flocked to hear him. In 1767 William Cowper, the poet, moved to Olney, worshipped at Newton’s church, and collaborated with Newton on producing a volume of hymns, called Olney Hymns. This work had a great influence on English hymnology. The volume included Newton’s well -known hymns “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”, “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds!”, “Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare”, “Approach, My Soul, the Mercy-seat”, and “Amazing Grace”.

What a blessing it is, to listen to this performance, and experience anew the thrill of God’s love!

I might be one of those bad Americans the politicians are talking about . . . the Liberal-Progressives’ worst nightmare.

I believe I’m in touch with my feelings and I like what I am . . . a former Boy Scout who still honors family, God and country.
I believe “illegal” is illegal no matter how the lawyers manipulate the language.
I believe you should shut up about slavery, already. I wasn’t involved!
I believe professional wrestling is fake and I don’t waste my time watching or arguing about it.

I believe everyone has a right to pray to God when and where they want to. I tolerate those who don’t recognize that there is only one true God, and that His son, Jesus Christ, was sacrificed to save us from sin.
I believe in angels and miracles.
I believe the American flag should be the only country’s flag allowed to fly on American soil!
I believe those who desecrate the American flag should be severely punished.

I believe we owe a great debt of gratitude to those who have honorably served in our armed forces.
I believe it is good to remember that Jane Fonda became a traitor to this country years ago and refuse to support her.
I believe it’s good to have my face shown on my drivers license, and my personal identity should be absolutely verified.
I believe it is proper to have “God” written, stamped or embossed on my money and public buildings.

I believe that it only takes two good parents to properly raise a child, not a whole village.
I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, and my taxes should not be given away to support people who are in this country illegally!
I believe being a minority does not automatically make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything special.
I believe that if you are going to live here you should learn our language. It was here before you were.

I believe that if you were born here and don’t like it, you are welcome to move to any other country that will have you.
I believe if you are too challenged to know how a ballot works, I don’t want you deciding who should be elected.
I believe those people begging at the intersections should be run off by the police. Let’s find other ways to help them.
I believe profiling of terrorists is a good thing, and random searching at airports is a senseless waste.

I believe people kill people. Owning a gun doesn’t necessarily make you a killer.
I believe the cops are right to pull you over if you’re breaking the law, regardless of what color you are.
I believe the cops have every right to shoot your sorry butt if you’re running from them.
I believe this country has to get some of its old, conservative, values back. We need God back in America!

If this makes me a BAD American, so be it.

It’s Good Friday, 2008. Lea and I are together, and we pray thankfully every single day that we have been given the privilege to be together. Lea continues to make good progress in recovering from her time in “the hospital” . . . in Meriden and Hartford, Connecticut, Noblesville, Indiana and Kealakekua, Hawaii. During the past two and a half years there have been some very difficult times involved in her recovery from emotional, mental and physical challenges, but our Lord, God, has been with us every step of the way. We have never felt closer to Him, and pray each day that He will direct us in walking the path He has chosen for us.

Since the end of last year I’ve been following a little baby’s trials in trying to recover from a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a defect or hole in the diaphragm that allows the intestine to squash the lungs and prevent them from developing properly. Only five pounds five ounces at birth, the hole in Anna’s diaphragm was quickly discovered, and she was transferred to Indianapolis’ Riley Children’s Hospital for treatment. She is still there today, and is preparing to undergo another surgery today. She has a journal blog at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annayutzy if you would like to keep up with her progress.

I have experienced many floods of emotion as I follow the ups and downs she and her extended family are experiencing. I have been through most of those same trials during Lea’s treatment and certainly recall the horror and helplessness I felt. It makes me feel certain that the Lord is working through Anna to reach out to all who will listen to help them hear the news of His good and great plan for each of us who have accepted Jesus as our Saviour and the doorway to complete forgiveness of our sins. Praise God!

As I read the journal entry posted by her parents this morning, saying that Anna was awaiting this next surgery, and they are hoping it will be a great step to achieving a normal life, I was just flooded by gratitude that our own grandson, now almost five months old, has been such a blessing to us! We have marveled as we have watched his mental capacity and eye-muscle coordination improve as he grows, and just absolutely melt when he gives us a smile.

We have praised God so many times for the blessing of this new grandchild, and I try to see in the pictures of Anna that are posted periodically that she, too, is growing in these ways. Each little baby brought into the world is such a wonderful blessing; a heavenly gift that can bring such joy! And, I am humbled that Anna’s grandparents are having to go through a different kind of experience, certainly a more difficult one, and my heart goes out to them. I can empathize with the pain they feel, and know all too well the helplessness one feels.

The Caring Bridge blog the hospital provides for Anna is a wonderful means to help loved ones keep up on Anna’s progress, but I also know that it serves as an excellent source of strength and support for her parents and family. In my own case, some of the best support I received came through emails that encouraged me, gave personal testimony, and lifted Lea up in prayer. It seemed to me that I always got just exactly the message I needed for that day, just in time. It was uncanny . . . each of the four times Lea clinically died and was revived, there was a message from God in my email!

I hope that I have learned to be more openly appreciative of His works, more expressive of His plan of salvation, and a better witness for the peace one can obtain by turning your life over to God. Hopelessness, I think, may be most evident when you have a loved one in critical care for an extended period of time. There is nothing you can do; you have to trust their caregivers to keep them safe. That’s when you feel totally helpless. They even control when and where you can visit your loved one!

his is when it’s time to get on your knees, or prostrate yourself in front of God, and say, “Okay, Father, I know You are in control here. I can’t do anything! I am powerless to determine how this is going to turn out. I can only say that I know you love her/him, and that you can work through her/him to reach others who need to receive The Word. I just pray, Father, that if it is Your Will that she/he be taken home to receive her/his reward, that You will give me the wisdom to understand that my personal loss might be a blessing to You and Your works here on Earth, and please give me the strength to be a good and obedient servant. Thy Will be done! Amen.”

We pray that the Lord’s will for Anna is that she be given miraculous healing to help her overcome this problem, and that she be granted a full and healthy life in His service. I pray that He continue the shower of blessings on our extended family, as we share His word; that He will always have His hand in the life of our grandson, just as He has for our delightful teen-age granddaughters, who have already given of themselves to minister for Him on mission trips.

What a joy it has been to see seeds planted long ago bear such bountiful fruit! Can you imagine how He feels as He watches us? Glory to God for all things, and may you receive a special blessing today, and each day of this Easter weekend, as you ponder the magnificent gift of life given us by the blood shed on the cross so long ago. And yet, He lives! I hope you saw Him here in this simple, humble posting. God bless!

I am joining the Gratitude Campaign, started last September as a way for people to say “thank you” quickly and easily to our troops without even having to approach them.  This suggestion makes it easy.  So, don’t hesitate - just say “Thanks.”

We thank God for answering our prayers for Chris’ safety, and for Amanda’s well being. In this most recent note he shares some touching reflections and a happy surprise. Welcome home, Chris (and crew).

“Hello one last time from the air on our way into Iraq. We are headed to Balad on our final mission before heading home tomorrow. We were hoping that our relief would have been in place to fly however the crew was slightly delayed and couldn’t get spun up in time to fly tonight’s mission. Actually despite the long hours and little sleep I am glad we are flying one last time as a crew. Friday morning we will board a C-17 on our way to Andrews AFB and finish our journey by vehicle on our way back up to New England.

By the time we get to DC we will have flown 175 hours (over one week), travelled over 80,000 miles (3 times around the world) and transported over 350 patients, plus tonight’s load in just 14 missions. Not a bad pace when you consider when I was in Afghanistan for 140 days we flew 8 more missions and we thought that we were busy back then. Efficiency has kicked in and now we are able to do more with fewer flight crews having to be deployed, sounds very reasonable to me.

My thoughts and memories from this deployment will be very different from my previous deployments however they will be cherished just the same. On one of our previous flights back to Andrews AFB we had the chance to meet two Medal of Honor recipients, thePresident/CEO of the USO and John Ratzenberger from Cheers and Gary Sinise known to most as LT Dan. It was nice of them to take time from their busy schedules to come overseas and visit with the troops. Unfortunately we were trying to take off on time so there wasn’t an opportunity to take a picture or to get any autographs.

While over here in Germany I was fortunate in being able to maximize our limited down time with some very memorable trips to Normandy, Bastogne and Remagen. Perhaps the most moving of all and forever unforgettable were the American Cemeteries at St Avold, Luxembourg and Normandy. With meticulous precision and detail if the perfect lines in which the crosses sit were not enough to move you the sheer magnitude of the number will leave anyone in awe, they truly were the Greatest Generation. Much as before I still hope at the end of this life that in the deepest recesses of my mind that my final thoughts will be those of my family and the life experiences that this job has shared with me.

From being on the ground during the first elections in Afghanistan history back in 2004, to seeing the drastic reduction in casualties
over the past 3 years it is comforting to know that the personal sacrifices made by all of those who serve this great country have not been in vein. In the past 3 years since I have last deployed I have seen flights with anywhere from 10-15 battle casualties andsometimes even more reduced to a handful, 3 maybe 4 on an average flight. Unless something changes before we land tonight we have no scheduled combat related injuries and that is simply amazing to me, this is Iraq after all.

Of course all of the improvements made through the years will never get passed along to those back home. For some reason the media feels compelled to sensationalize all of the bad news while very rarely reporting on the good stories. While a change in our current policy may seem to be a great vote getter for some, I fear what the eventual consequences will cost. It is my true hope thatsacrifices made today will make the world safer for our children and can only pray that the battles that we have waged over past 5 years will mean that they will never have to.

In closing a special thank you must go out to our friends and neighbors back home. All of the help they have given Amanda with dump runs, snow blowing the driveway and bringing in wood can never be measured. It made this separation just a little easier knowing that while she was pregnant (surprise) and home alone that she was still being taken care of which in turn enabled me to take care of my mission over here. All too often I think we neglect the commitment and dedication that is required to be the spouse of someone who is in the military, especially when that loved one is deployed.

It is easy to think of and thank those who go overseas and serve but they are only half of the equation. This being the first time I have deployed since Amanda and I got married I can say that it takes two to go overseas and the support from friends, family and co-workers will be forever remembered. Thank you to all from the bottom of my heart and I will see everybody soon. Chris”

Lea continues to make very good progress, health wise, and it appears that she is beginning to regain a lot of her memory. Just a week or so ago, however, she asked me how I got a scar that I have had since I was three years old. She has heard the story many times, so she doesn’t have total recall yet, but then, who does? I really don’t remember my memory ever being any better than it is today, but it might improve if I could just remember to take those pills!

We are certainly enjoying the warmer winter weather in Texas, and are happy we don’t have to deal with Indiana’s ice and snow with temperatures near or below freezing for three or four months in the winter. I built a little wooden bridge from the concrete slab patio just outside the back door to the large wooden deck just a few feet away, so Lea could do some pot gardening. She loves working in the soil, but can’t work in the ground any more.

The walkway between the patio and deck was formerly large stepping stones laying on the bare ground, and she was not able to cross over unassisted for fear of twisting her ankle or knee or hip. So, the deck seemed to make good sense, and seems to make her quite happy that she can get back to “turning over dirt.”

The deck also gives her a sense of independence because she can now go out on the deck whenever she wants to, without having to wait for me. I captured her on camera this afternoon, and asked her to tell about her garden. That video appears below.

She and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary yesterday, and enjoyed dinner together at a gourmet Italian restaurant near our home. It was our first visit there, and we were very pleased with the overall experience. We’ll go back again some time. We spent some time praying together last night, just praising God, and thanking Him for the shower of blessings He has been giving us during this time of healing for Lea.It is incredible how He continues to present new opportunities and friends, and provides for us, as my younger son would say, “Just in time.”

As we settle in, we have found a church that we are enjoying, and I have started some initial steps to get my consulting practice back up and running. I had to pretty much give it up entirely to care for Lea for the last couple of years, but now that she is getting better, I feel I can leave her alone for a few hours at a time, and would like to take on some advertising or marketing design, or maybe even some training design jobs. Again, I trust that He will open the doors according to His will. I just need to be ready to step through them.

We just thank Him every day for the blessings of that day, and pray for His guidance in serving His will.

One of my earliest personal memories is a visit to my grandparents’ house in Bevier, Missouri. My grandfather, William Thomas Vaughn, was pastor of the Baptist Church there. My family had traveled by a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad steam powered passenger train, from to Bevier. The tracks were on the same roadbed as the predecessor Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, part of the original Pony Express route.

Bevier, at the time was a bustling coal town, with active coal mines all around the area. I loved hearing the big steam engines pulling the heavy coal trains from the mines through town. This visit to Bevier must have taken place in the spring, because I remember my grandmother, Beulah, had just dug up some roots to make fresh sassafras tea for us. Sassafras tea, served steaming hot in a china cup with a touch of real cream was a special event the entire family enjoyed.

I can remember several times we would hear a train approaching, and I would run to the sidewalk along the street, to gaze the few blocks toward the railroad tracks to catch a glimpse of the engines chuffing through the intersection. I always enjoyed the noise and drama of the “working” end of the train, and admired the men in the cab of the locomotive who made the train “go.”

Bevier & Southern #109, shown here, was a 2-6-0 Mogul built in December 1900 by the Brooks Locomotive Works for Illinois Central Railroad as their #560. After retirement on Illinois Central the locomotive was sold to the Bevier & Southern in Bevier, Missouri to be their #109. It may have been one of the locomotives I saw working back then. It is now in the Illinois Railroad Museum. Another of the locomotives, #112 is on permanent display in Bevier, and I’ve included a few photos of it below.

The original operator of the Bevier & Southern Railroad was the Kansas & Texas Coal Railway, which was reorganized in May 5, 1898 as the Missouri & Louisiana Railroad. The Missouri & Louisiana divided on September 26, 1914 with the northern portion adopting the name Bevier & Southern, with the slogan “Have Train Will Haul.” During 1915 the company operated 63 miles of track in bringing coal from the many mines along its route to the CB&Q siding in Bevier for shipment to markets all over the Midwest.

Headquartered in Bevier, the railroad had its general offices located near the roundhouse, which sat just below the CB&Q siding. Records indicate that B&S employed over 40 employees at one point with an annual pay roll amounting to $135,000. The railroad was very important to the coal mines all along the line, and it was a primary transportation link for many of the residents of the communities that sprung up around the mines.

Miners would gather at the Bevier roundhouse each morning to catch the 4AM passenger train and ride to work. School children would then ride the return train to Bevier so they could go to school. After school the children would walk down to the train station and wait for the train home. The return trip brought miners home from their day’s work.

The passenger train usually consisted of seven miners’ coaches and coach number 204 for other passengers and the mail. Many people relied on the B&S not only for transportation, but also for jobs and to ship coal out that was mined in the Bevier area. The passenger service was discontinued in 1926 after post offices at Ardmore and Keota closed, and the postal contract was canceled.

In 1943 it was necessary to construct additional tracks to serve new pits at Southern mines, and the railroad tried electric locomotives to reduce the cost of operation. The experiment lasted only two years, however, due to the severe grade between Ardmore and the Southern mines. Frequent burnouts of traction motors proved the locomotives were ill suited for the task, and the electric operation was discontinued.

Over time, as mines depleted their veins of coal and the operations were closed, the railroad was forced to abandon unused sections of track until it finally reached its final length in 1961 of 9.18 miles, from the CB&Q (now Burlington Northern) siding, adjacent to their yards in Bevier, to Binkley where the last working mine was located.

The B&S went out of business in 1982 after seventy years of operation. Their general offices were moved into coach #204, parked on a siding behind the roundhouse. One of their locomotives, #109, a Brooks 2-6-0 that was originally Illinois Central Railroad #560 is now on display at the Illinois Railway Museum. Another of their engines, Baldwin 2-6-0 #112, is on display at the post office in downtown Bevier.

According to Wikipedia, the free Internet encyclopedia, the railroad was reopened in the late 1990s under the ownership of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad, now known as BNSF Railway so it could serve a large coal-fired power plant at the Thomas Hill Reservoir. The new line is approximately 25 miles long and is still in use today.

I was fortunate to make a couple of motor car trips on the abandoned railroad in the mid-1980s, once while the roundhouse was still fully equipped with its steam powered tool shop, and then again after the equipment was sold to Steamtown Museum . On the first trip the owner arranged to have some of the former employees meet us at the roundhouse to show us around the property, and they later agreed to ride down the line with us in the motorcars.

We had a splendid fall day on that first trip, and we enjoyed the former B&S employees as we ran the two motor cars down the line, listening to their stories about past operations on the line. I made tape recordings of several of the conversations as we toured the grounds and roundhouse, and we also acquired a large number of 35mm photos of the equipment, buildings, roundhouse and scenery. It was a delightful experience, and a day I will always fondly remember.

The roundhouse equipment was subsequently moved to Steamtown Historic Site Pennsylvania as a fine example of a steam operated repair and maintenance facility from the steam era. It is difficult to imagine the complex web of massive drive belts that operated each of the gigantic drills, saws, and presses, but if you should have the chance to visit Steamtown the walking tour of the locomotive shop is one exhibit you won’t want to miss.

Snapshots from the Bevier & Southern Railroad motor car excursions

I just received an update from our friend Chris, who is on active duty making medical flights into Iraq and Afghanistan to evacuate wounded and sick Americans. In this latest note he describes a nostalgic trip to the beaches of France made hallowed ground during World War Two. His narrative, below, gave me chills:

“Greetings once again from somewhere over Turkey, It is hard to believe that we are already less than 4 weeks from heading home. Our replacements are due in sometime around the 12th of next month, give them a few days to get oriented and spun up and I would anticipate heading home sometime around the 15th or so. We are currently on our 10th mission and are on pace for 16 before it is all said and done.

The patient loads remain relatively small and much to my surprise the number of trauma related patients is down even in the last month we have been here. Of course we still have our share of medical patients, usually contractors who don’t have the best health to begin with. I truly believe that the health screen used by some contract companies is: Have you ever died from a heart attack? Anything more in-depth they might actually discover the uncontrolled diabetes, CHF or even a heart attack that they did survive. None the less it keeps us busy on the flights.

During our down time over the past two weeks I had the opportunity to take two very interesting and moving road trips. Our first took us to Bastogne, known to most as the Battle of the Bulge. (NOTE: The battle lasted from mid-December 1944 to January 1945). To see it on TV has always been inspiring but to actually go there and walk through the same woods and small villages and to see the monuments was truly great.

Over the course of a month back in 1945-6 over 19,000 Americans were killed and another 40,000 wounded, it is truly sacred ground. Our second trip took us to 450 miles to the Northwest corner of France, Normandy. The entire region is so rich in history that it does not take long to realize the prices paid by the “Greatest Generation,” and the toll of blood they shed some 53 years ago.

Our first stop was a small village called Saint Lo. My Grandfather’s brother fought in the same town during July 1945 to liberate it. We went on to visit Carentan, the first objective for the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, the Church at Saint Mere Eglise then on to the beaches. First stop was Utah Beach. It had been raining steadily all day since we set out from Saint Lo, buy the time we reached the beach it was torrential down pour. Realizing we still had two more stops we opted to cut this visit short and made our way to Pointe de Hoc.

Here the Rangers were tasked with defending the western side of the units that was going to attack Omaha Beach. I have read of some of the ordeals of the Rangers and have seen on TV the cliffs they had to scale just to get up to fight the Germans. That is nothing compared to seeing it in person. Relatively untouched since D-Day, the craters from the initial bombardment, some reaching 10 feet deep, riddle the ledge to this day. Destroyed bunkers and old fighting positions are strewn throughout the ¼ mile long area.

From there we headed up the road maybe 4 miles to our ultimate objective, the American Cemetery and Memorial at Omaha Beach. There is a very nice museum located there complete with memorabilia from years past, video accounts of the battle from General Eisenhower and much more. A small hallway connects two exhibition rooms and as you walk through there is a reading of the names of those killed and still missing from the invasions on D-Day.

It takes almost an entire day to read through the list.

While I was\hoping deep down that the rain would subside for the hour of so we spent inside the memorial it wouldn’t be. Having wanted to make this trip for many years I resolved myself to getting soaked in order to live this moment.

As you walk from the museum to edge of the cemetery you come across a statue, “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves”, looking up toward the sky. The inscription on the back reads, “TO THOSE WE OWE THE HIGHEST RESOLVE, FOR THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED SHALL LIVE”. For anyone who has been so blessed to visit these 750 acres of hallowedground, they would agree that it not a question of if you will cry, rather when you cry and how many times.

Just past the statue are the graves of 9,387 Americans. A generation past who did not know the meaning of fear, defines courage and whose bravery defies common sense.

The only bad thing about Normandy is of course that it is in France. The people of Normandy are very friendly, out going and still extremely thankful of what our Fathers or Grandfathers did for them years ago. The rest of France on the other hand, well that is best suited for another email at some other time.

In closing thank you for the number of request to donate to our unit fund (to prepare cookies and other snacks for wounded soldiers on the long flight home). I am sorry it has taken so long to get back to you so I will give it to everybody. Donations can be sent to: Treats for Troops, PSC 2, Box 50,000, APO AE 09094. I will talk to you soon. Chris”

Chris’ description brought to memory the many tales of that war that my family recalls. World War II spread to America when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. The United States declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan on December 11,1941 and on Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary the following June. My father enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve while a high school senior, and was ordered to the St Louis Military Recruiting Station on November 26, 1942 to be shipped to San Diego Recruit Depot for basic training.

He was honorably discharged only a few days later, on Dec 18, 1942, due to a severe allergic condition known as hay fever, or rhinitis, which is caused by pollens of seasonal plants. A person with rhinitis is not well suited for any type of combat duty where exposure to pollens, or dust, could trigger an allergic reaction and subsequent sneezing, which could give away an entire unit’s position, and the only treatment back then was mentholated inhalers, which were not very effective.

He returned to his young wife in Hannibal, Missouri and worked as a silk screen press operator at Hannibal Outdoor Advertising, and volunteered for duty with the Missouri State Guard as a radio operator. Many of my early memories about him are from his service with the State Guard and, later, with the National Guard.

My grandfather, William Thomas Vaughn, who later became a Baptist minister, served in France during World War I. My father had the photograph below in his personal collection, and was passed on to me by my mother. It shows my grandfather’s battalion posing in front of a building, somewhere in France during World War I.

Above: U.S. Expeditionary Forces’ 84th Division, 325th Machine Gun Battalion, posing while posted to France during World War I. William Thomas Vaughn is front row, kneeling, fifth from the right edge of the photo. Date unknown – Larry Vaughn Collection

Below: I received this photograph from my Aunt Ruth’s (dad’s sister) collection, of Company A, 325th Machine Gun Battalion, in Place de la Concorde, Paris. I have no information on the occasion, but notice the different uniforms the troops are wearing, from combat helmets to headquarters uniforms. My grandfather is in the back row, just to the right of the fountain. Date unknown - Sharon Walley Collection

Thanks to Chris for his notes on his trip to France. It brought back the reality of the sense of pride we have in all those men and women who have served our country in peace and war, today, and in times gone by. Their names are recorded in history forever. They will never be forgotten.

If you are able, could you send a dollar or two, or at least a note, to the address Chris gives above, to provide a little comfort for our sick and wounded troops as they are being transported to Germany for medical treatment? Our prayers remain with Chris and his team for a safe conclusion to their tour of duty and a safe return home to their loved ones.

Every once in a while one of those accursed chain emails comes across my desk that has a significant message in it. I received one today that inspired me to take it to the next level and recreate it as a slide show. I copied the graphics into a directory, and then used a suitable background to paste them into. The result is quite an attractive 25 slide show that has an appropriate message for everyone who from time to time feels burdened.

I named it The Cross You Bear. I don’t know who the original artist is on the graphics, but trust that this treatment of the material is another step in achieving the desired goal. This is dedicated to the glory of the Lord.

Lea and I have been keeping very busy since relocating to Austin to be close to family that can help with Lea’s care. We have been enjoying getting to know our new neighborhood and community, finding a church, meeting new friends, and getting to be with our new grandson. It is amazing to see how he changes in just a few days, and we love to see how attentive mommy and daddy are, and how much they appreciate this precious gift. Some of our favorite times to date have been spent with his other set of grandparents, who are a joy to be around. They were both so very supportive while we were in Hartford Hospital, and their sharing and caring didn’t stop when we got home. We love them dearly, and look forward to many pleasant times together.

We have been seeing doctors since we arrived, making sure Lea’s many needs are being addressed by appropriate specialists. Our new family physician is a very pleasant young man, and is very thorough, just as Dr Miller always was. We have had lab tests, ECGs, chest X-rays, echocardiograms already, and he is going to refer Lea to an orthpedic surgeon to see what needs to be done to straighten up her leg. Even with the complete knee replacement, her leg still bends in so much that she still has a limp and has to use a cane for stability.

Yesterday, while holding Benjamin in her arms, she misstepped while turning in the bedroom, and fell to the floor. She protected him, holding him close, and fell first on her artificial knee, and then spun herself around to fall against the bed and bedside table with her back and left shoulder.  Neither of them was hurt, but she was very visibly shaken for several hours afterwards, just thinking about how quickly it had happened, and how dangerous it may have been. She still can’t handle stress well at all, and this type thing can still send her into an  anxiety attack. She was so fatigued by it all she went to bed at 8:30, and slept soundly for 14 hours!

Lea’s disability coverage under Social Security comes to an end on the 19th of this month, and she automatically will receive Medicare coverage, even though she isn’t retirement age yet. We were able to acquire a Medicare Prescription Plan for her at reasonable rates, but we are still going to hit the Medicare gap by June or July. We’re not certain Gap Insurance would be a good investment for us at this point, but any hints that additional surgery might be required this year could get us across that gap early enough in the year to make it a wise step to take.

She and I continue to enjoy cooking, and we are also checking out the local eateries as we try to have lunch out each day as a part of her mental recovery, which was originally suggested by Dr Mah, and recommended by Dr Miller. Each and every social interaction helps her regain her mental acuity, and I think we are seeing a lot of improvement in the last several weeks. It sure makes me happy when I see her social skills resurfacing, and the way she enjoys interacting with others. She has always loved people, and I have always admired how that bubbly personality of hers could dominate a room.

I continue to teach classes over the Internet in my part time job, which allows me to be at home and take care of her. But, I’m beginning to feel that I am going to have to get other work in order to get some health benefits. It sure isn’t a comfortable thought, leaving her at home alone, but simple economics may mandate that change be made. Regardless what comes down the pike at us, we know the Lord will be watching over us, and His will is what will be done.

We continue to grow our prayer list, and invite you to let us know if you would like us to add your concerns. Please take time to click on Prayer to review the prayer requests that have been added recently and still need your support. God bless!

In memory of my Aunt Jo, who, like a candle, spread her light through giving and caring for others. We rejoice that she is free of her earthbound troubles and now at home with our Heavenly Father. Still, her light burns on . . . . . .

Lea and I received the message below from our dear friend, Chris, who was one of Lea’s nurses in the Cardiac Acute Care Unit at Hartford Hospital in 2005. He is now on active duty as a flight nurse, caring for wounded soldiers being flown out of Iraq and Afghanistan. To catch up on his current tour of duty, see his writings in our Christmas time post, http://godswoodshed.com/2007/12/26/christmas-prayer/, in which we passed on two notes from Chris.

Here is his first note of the new year:

Greetings this week are from FL 330 somewhere over Turkey,

It is hard to believe that we are already on our 6th mission in only 20 days. Six missions almost 100 patients, over 55 hours of flight time and 30,000 miles flown so far. I can’t wait to cash in all of my frequent flyer miles. Since I can’t send this email until we get back to Germany early tomorrow morning I suppose there is no harm in saying that we are currently on our way home from Balad, Iraq.

Take off got a little sketchy but the rest of the flight has been fine. We are currently cooking up some hot dogs and corn dogs (sorry, no picture this time) for the troops. As soon as we get out of Iraq and obviously if the mission permits we cook up a hot meal for all of the patients. All of the food is purchased by our unit fund and help is always appreciated and needless to say it goes to a great cause. If anyone would like to make a donation please let me know.

The picture this week is from our version of Red Light district, somewhere near Mosul on our way down into Balad. Once we enter Iraq or Afghanistan airspace everyone puts on their armor, the lights turn red and helmets find their way onto our heads.

We have been averaging a mission every three to four days so when you consider the long days and trying to adjust your sleep schedule there isn’t a lot of down time. Free time usually consists of going to the gym and studying for a military course I am trying to get finished up while I am away. For a short time today we almost had two days off in a row however an unexpected urgent mission came up and in the end it will bump us up a day in the rotation.

If we can manage more than a day off I would like to make it to Normandy however that is at least an 8 hour drive so one day just wouldn’t cut it. New Year’s was spent much like Christmas in fun filled Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. It is incredible to see how much it has changed in the 3 years since I was stationed there. Instead of tents and buildings made of plywood there is actually a solid Hospital building complete with ED, ICU’s, OR and many of the services one would expect back in the States.

The food still stinks and so does the garbage burning but you can’t win them all. I can’t really say that I miss it all that much and besides the beer is a whole lot better in Germany. Well I should probably get back over to my hot dogs before I smoke up the cabin, I hope you all had a Happy New Year and I will talk to you soon. Chris

Lord, please keep a shield of protection around Chris and his team, and give peace and comfort to their families. Amen.

My father, Eugene Vaughn, loved Christmas tradition. He instilled in his children, and eventually his children’s children, the blessings of family gatherings over the Christmas and New Year holidays. These times were always filled with one-on-one activities we just didn’t seem to take time for any other time of the year . . . card playing, piecing puzzles, playing Battleship, and, of course, on Christmas eve, reading of the Christmas Story from the bible.

In later years, Lea added a Birthday Party for Jesus to our Christmas eve traditions, with an elaborately decorated table filled with festive foods and snacks. It was also a time of wonderful, heartwarming, conversations, and building excitement for the youngsters present that year. Our granddaughters will never forget the excitement of receiving “Reindeer Food” that they could sprinkle in the lawn around the house, to attract Santa’s reindeer.

These traditions have great impact in the life of a youngster, and live on to bless future generations. This was never made clearer to our family than when our youngest son went off to college, and found himself yearning for those traditions. He expressed these things very eloquently in a short story he wrote and a subsequent Christmas Carol he composed to celebrate the importance of family during the holidays. Here is what he recently wrote:

“It was 1991, and I was a sophomore at Purdue University. When Christmas rolled around, I was painfully low on cash. I wasn’t sure what to do for my family for Christmas that year. I had been toying around with a bit of writing over the last few years, so I came up with the idea of writing a short Christmas story. Little was I to know that so many feelings… so much of me… would find its way into the story. When I read the story to my family Christmas night, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was a beautiful moment — one that I will remember forever!

Now, fast forward nine years…

It was the year 2000. I had spent almost every waking moment that year writing music for a studio band that I was in, so I decided to attempt writing a Christmas carol for my family’s traditional talent show that we do every year on Christmas night. Easy stuff, right? Ha! I was only able to write a couple of verses in the one or two hours that I had, but it went over really well. It was fun when I asked my family to sing along after having only heard the song for the first time just a few moments before! I wasn’t even sure what key the song was in!

Well, the next year, I had a little surprise up my sleeve. Starting in late July, I began collaborating with Brian Hazard of Color Theory to finish the song. It wasn’t easy writing a traditional-style Christmas carol — trying to capture the true warmth and magic of the season without being too cheesy — but it was incredibly rewarding when we finally wrapped it up! And what a wonderful surprise for my family that year! I couldn’t even wait until Christmas night. Christmas Eve hit and I was all aglow!

I had really started getting into the spirit of Christmas early that year and it was a long wait until December 25th! Since I had a bare bones recording studio in my home, I had also decided to create an audio version of my Christmas story that year. It had gone through a lot of small revisions over the last ten years, but it was time to finally put it in stone. So, while I was working with Brian on the Christmas carol, I decided to ask him to write a short instrumental to include in the audio version of my story. It was designed as a companion song to the carol, but was meant to capture the deeper, more personal side of Christmas. I swear there was such an amazing degree of divine intervention involved, because Brian created the song with very little direction from me; yet, as I began to piece everything together — layering his music in with my reading — I must have cried a dozen times out of sheer joy! The timing and overall feeling of the music matched the storyline perfectly! Bravo!

Please visit Brian’s site at colortheory.com — beautiful music from an incredibly talented individual!

I am sharing these two productions with you simply because I love Christmas and I hope they will somehow touch you the way they have me all these years. Please feel free to share this site with anyone and everyone — it’s a great way to help your loved ones find their spirit! Christmas is such a beautiful season! It brings out the best in us… reminds us of everything we take for granted.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Listen to the original Christmas carol and read the lyrics here: The Magic of Christmas

Read the original Christmas short story and listen to the audio version here: The Warmth of My Santa’s Beard.”

This (edited) note comes from Anna’s Aunt Rene via email:

Anna is doing well and the medical team is working their way toward being able to do surgery.

She’s a pretty little thing and we can’t wait to hold her — she’s got “White-family toes” (long and skinny) that are just waiting to be fiddled with — too cute for words.

What a wonderful hospital with fabulous staff — they are truly exceptional and make everything as easy as they can.  The family is all holding up really well and taking everything in stride.

Below is an email link that goes to a web page we were able to create at Riley Children’s Hospital for posting up to date information on Anna’s progress: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annayutzy.  The hospital web page makes it easy for Alyssa, Anna’s mom, to update everyone about what is going on.  There is also a place to add a personal message, perhaps some comforting words, to Anna and the family.

Share with whomever you think might be interested — we look forward to seeing your messages!

Anna Renee Yutzy was born in Northern Indiana at 4:00 a.m. Saturday, December 29, 2007, just hours before her mother was to undergo a C section. Anna was four days overdue, and her parents were mentally preparing themselves for the upcoming surgery, when suddenly the natural birth process began, and Anna was delivered without a problem. She was, however, only five pounds five ounces upon arrival, and it was quickly discovered that she had a hole in her diaphragm.

According to http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/health/diaphragmatichernia/, the diaphragm is the muscular sheet that separates the chest from the abdomen. A congenital diaphragmatic hernia occurs when the diaphragm does not form properly during pregnancy. A defect or hole in the diaphragm allows the intestine to push through the muscle, squashing the lungs, and preventing the lungs from developing properly.

Holes can occur in either side of the diaphragm but they usually occur in the left-hand side. Babies with a diaphragmatic hernia can have breathing and feeding problems. Up to half of babies with a diaphragmatic hernia also have other serious problems.

Anna has been transferred to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis for special care and diagnosis. This rare type hernia can be a life-threatening condition, particularly if the baby has other serious complications, and tests will be conducted urgently as soon as the baby is strong enough, and surgery will commence at the earliest opportunity.

Each little baby brought into the world is such a wonderful blessing; a heavenly gift that can bring such joy! We pray that the Lord’s will for Anna is that she be given miraculous healing to help her overcome this problem, and that she be granted a full and healthy life in His service.

Some members of the family have returned to their homes in Northern Indiana for much needed rest, while others remain in Indianapolis to be near her. It will, of course, be a night of troubled rest, as Anna struggles for survival. Her family and loved ones are asking that you take a moment to lift  up Anna Renee for the Lord’s blessing and miraculous healing, if that is His will, and that He provision peace and comfort for her parents and family. We know the power of prayer works, and ask for your help in praying for healing for this newborn.

Lea and I shared a wonderful Christmas day with our grandson and his extended family, were able to do a webcam visit with our granddaughters and their parents in Hawaii, and had a joyous day filled with His bounty of gifts, affection, great food, reverence, and carefree light heartedness. Lea is in reasonably good health, it seems, and our quality of life just keeps getting better little by little. And, yet, there was a part of my thoughts that kept drifting to those who were so dear to us, but too far away to be together.

I had sent an email containing a link to the video I posted of Lea giving our grandson a bath a few days before Christmas to many of these loved ones, as a way to help them see how well Lea has progressed in the last two years, after miraculously surviving a deadly sudden illness. One of the persons I had sent the link to was one of the nurses who tended her during the 180 days she was in Hartford Hospital.

This particular nurse was one of the special ones to us. . . he was the first nurse who took Lea outside after four months in the hospital. It was cold in Hartford. Lea was still on life support. She wasn’t strong enough to sit up in a regular wheelchair. She had already had over two dozen surgical procedures. She was on constant tranquilizer and anti-depressent IV drips. Her vital signs had to be continuously monitored.

This nurse, Chris, and Danielle, a patient care assistant studying to become a nurse, moved Lea into a cardiac chair (at home we call these recliners), attached remote monitoring gear, portable oxygen and medications, and took her outside the hospital for her first breath of fresh air in months. The hospital has a nice garden area with a gazebo that worked perfectly for this little outing, and I snapped this photo on our way to the garden.

Needless to say, Chris’ willingness to take her outside was an additional burden for him during already difficult work days, and our appreciation for this, and many other kindnesses he bestowed upon us, knows no bounds. Chris, by the way, is also in the reserves, and has been called to active duty a number of times. Shortly after this trip outside, he was called to active duty to assist with medical support, as a flight nurse, during hurricane Katrina. When he returned to work at Hartford Hospital, he continued caring for Lea as though nothing special had happened. He even stopped in to check on her after she had been moved out of the Critical Care Unit. He, and fiance Amanda, drove us to the airport to fly home, so we wouldn’t have to take a taxi.

He will always hold a special place in our hearts. And, my thoughts were on him during this Christmas day, because I had gotten an email from him Christmas eve, stating that he was back on active duty; this time in Germany, where his medical team flew into Iraq and Afghanistan to tend injured soldiers being flown back for treatment. I was humbled by his letter, and asked for special prayer for him and his unit at the Christmas eve service at church. I was also a bit ashamed that I get so caught up in my own day to day concerns I forget what others are going through.

Pasted below is Chris’ email letter, received mid-afternoon Christmas eve:

“Merry Christmas to all from cold and foggy Ramstein, Germany. We have had over a week to get settled into our routines and get our lives as normal as you can. Much to my surprise there seems to be a regular flight schedule which allows for a day of recovery, a day of standby alert and then a mission. We fly every 3rd day and get a true day off once every 10 days or so. My crew and I have been to Balad, Iraq twice already and our flight time is quickly adding up. We obviously land in total darkness and try to minimize our ground time which I am all for.

While I haven’t been officially tested for it I think I am extremely allergic to mortars, shrapnel and anything that might have missile like characteristics. The attached picture is three of us from Westover shortly after we entered Iraq on our first mission. It’s hard to see with the lighting but you have to take what you can get.

The other picture is of me cooking up some cookies shortly before we landed back in Ramstein. I think they were pretty tasty but it is hard to mess it up when they are already made for you.

Our unit uses donations to purchase sweets for us to cook up when we get a chance and after seeing how much of a hit they were it is totally worth it. The days are extremely long and depending on mission location the duty time can easily approach 24 hours long. The crew I am with, especially the enlisted are truly awesome. On our last mission our patient load almost doubled, we had 3 vented patients added at the last minute and had to fly with equipment that I haven’t seen since flight school over 4 years ago. Without missing a beat the aircraft was totally re-configured and within 30 minutes we were ready to accept patients. Not bad considering that for most of them that was only their 2nd or 3rd live mission.

Our holiday today consisted of shopping earlier and dinner at Chili’s. We will try not to over do it. Christmas Eve and Christmas are huge over hear and there is nothing open off base. With another mission tomorrow nobody was up for a late night anyway. Our Christmas will be spent in the festive colors of tan and black, flying for over 16 hours and getting back sometime the following day. In all honesty if I have to be away for the holiday there is nothing more rewarding than flying wounded troops home on Christmas.

I hope that all of you and your families have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year (just in case I am lazy and don’t write before then.) Remember to keep those in Afghanistan and Iraq in your prayers and world peace is one of my personal favorites when you are making your wish list. Talk to you soon, Chris”

Needless to say, Chris’ letter touched me, and reminded me how self centered we become, even when we think we are reaching out, and consciously seeking His will for our lives. So, I was already sensitized when I went to my email the morning after Christmas and found another email letter from Chris. This one brought reality crashing in, and I felt led to share this with you.

“December 25th, 2007.
Ramstein Air Base, GermanyOur mission was scheduled to leave within 90 minutes and our crew of 7 was sitting in a van waiting anxiously to get the day started and wondering what in the world we could be waiting on. Our mission was to take us to Bagram Afghanistan aboard a KC-135R, a 16 hour day and that is if everything goes according to plan. The earlier we get going the earlier we get back which will be sometime early tomorrow morning if we are lucky.

One distinct disadvantage to using this aircraft is that we need a specialized piece of equipment called a K-Loader in order to lift all of our equipment up so we can load it into the aircraft. With the lifter already 30 minutes late we sat and we waited and waited, and… Then going down the middle of the tarmac was not only one lifter but two! It was finally our turn, however the trucks never stopped, they just kept on going.

This sequence of events brought some curiosity on my part which quickly changed back into our meaningless conversations we
were having all along. I watched the loaders pull up behind a C-17 that had just landed and had parked only a few spaces from where we were. Like clockwork people prepared the aircraft after arrival, chalking the wheels, lowering the ramp, and moving vehicles.

After a few minutes I looked over again and was surprised to notice that everyone around the aircraft had suddenly stopped working. All of those people who moments earlier were hard at a work around the plane had gathered near the rear ramp and now they
were standing at attention, then they saluted. I now knew why we were waiting. Somewhere back home maybe a few hours before this, a family got the news that no family ever wants to receive; their loved one will not be coming home.

After a few more minutes, a slow moving blue truck with a blinking yellow light appeared from behind the C-17 followed by one of the
loaders we had seen earlier. On it was a single flag draped coffin, a hero heading home. As the small convoy drove the length of the tarmac other vehicles it would pass would come to a complete stop and turn off their lights, those who were working on the ground would stop what they were doing and render the time honored salute given to those on their final voyage home.

Waiting was no longer important anymore. Out of respect, the DOD and the Air Force strictly forbid taking pictures of these events and rightfully so. So, this is my experience to share with you.”

I am so ashamed of my selfishness! Oh, dear heavenly Father, forgive me my shallowness and self centeredness. Please give peace and comfort to those who are not as richly blessed as You have chosen to make me. Father, my heart goes out to those who have sick and injured loved ones on their minds, and particularly that family that received the horrible news of the loss of their loved one on Christmas Day. I pray for their comfort, Lord, and that You will hold them in the palm of Your loving hand, as they struggle to overcome their grief at this tragic loss.

Father, I pray, too, for those You have chosen to be our care givers. Bless them, Lord, as they go about tending to the needs of those sick and injured in their care. Tend to their own hearts and minds, that they might receive gratification from what they do to help others. Guide their hands that they might be steady and true. I pray for a circle of protection to be put around Chris and his team as they continue to be put in harm’s way to help those who need medical attention. I pray for all our troops, Father, wherever they might be; that You will always be present in their hearts and minds. Bring them home safely to their families to share a glorious day of celebration.

Continue to bless this Christmas season, Lord, protect it from those who would diminish its importance. Give each of us the moral strength to stand by, and fight for, the right to publicly declare our gratitude for the sacrifice made by Your son, Jesus Christ, that we might have eternal life. It is in the name of Jesus, my saviour, that I humbly lift up this prayer. Amen!

It’s amazing! Our loving heavenly father has, once again, responded to the power of our prayers, and delivered little Kora. Earlier this evening I received the following email from Lea’s sister, Kathy:

“We just got back from taking Kora to the doctor in St. Louis and it’s not cancer. They said it is a virus. That it will have to take its course. Praise God! They said that if the lymphoid in her throat would continue to grow that they would have to do a biopsy but it would have to get twice as big and they really think it will go away. What a relief. Hollaluja! Thanks everyone for all the prayers.    God Bless Kathy”

Our family has been SO blessed! And, once again, every one of us was given an opportunity to realize how much we can rely on His benevolence and love. It is when matters are beyond our control that we are brought closer to Him, as we seek His help. He keeps showing us The Path, and we step on it and walk it as long as we need His help, and then begin to stray as soon as the crisis is over. This straying from the path is dangerous, and can bring His discipline down on you and those you love. Take heed! This was another chance to change our hearts and minds and submit to His will. Don’t waste it!

Blessed be His name!

Thank You, Father, for delivering Kora. Please place a shield of protection around her and give her comfort as she recovers from this illness. And, Father, please keep Your guiding hand in her daddy’s life as he struggles to help his young family. You know our hearts and our needs, Father, and we pray for Your continued blessings. Amen.

This heartbreaking email arrived Sunday evening from my dear sister in law, Kathy, requesting prayer for her granddaughter Kora, age 6.

“I’m writing to ask for everyones prayers. My grandaughter Kora (Corys daughter) hasn’t been feeling well the last 2 weeks. She has been going to the doctors alot and missing alot of school. Doctors kept thinking it was a virus. Well Monday her lymphoids in her throat started swelling, then tuesday lymphoids under her arm, and on wednesday in her pelvic area. They have done blood work of all kinds, MRI, CT scans and also a brain scan. They called us early Friday to bring her in for more test and contacted St. Louis childrens hospital as they think it might be cancer. We have to take her tomorrow Monday , Dec. 3. Please everyone pray for her that she will be okay. We need all the prayers.    Thanks Kathy”

This sweet little girl is a delightfully darling child. I, too, would like to ask that you join us in lifting Kora up to our blessed Savior for miraculous intervention. I pray, Dear God, Father, that it is your will to spare Kora, that she may continue to bring joy and laughter to this family. We know, Father, that Kora has a role to play in your great plan, and we pray that it is a role of overcoming adversity to go on as a witness for You and Your gracious outpouring of blessings.  Be with her family during this time of uncertainty; give them comfort in knowing that her precious soul is forever in Your care. Blessed be Your name, Father. Bless You for the gift of salvation through the cross. Thank You for Kora, and her victory over this sickness, if that be Your will. In the name of our precious Saviour, Jesus Christ, we now lift her up for Your blessings. Amen.

Lea and I have been quite busy in recent months as her stamina and overall health continue to improve, and she is able to return to being more herself. We praise God, and bless His name, for the wonderful miracles He has worked in our lives over the past few years in particular. The mere fact that He allowed her to survive those months in Hartford Hospital still overwhelm me with emotion. And, now, at this season, we are, for the first time, going to be able to open that box of ornaments we received while in Hartford.

I had hung those ornaments around her hospital room for Christmas 2005, and with the help of Austin, a maintenance worker originally from Jamacia, we hung those I thought she’d most enjoy from the trapeze and frame above her bed, and placed others on the window ledge, a bedside table, and hung them on the bulletin board, trying to make her room as festive as possible. And, as I recall all those wonderful caregivers who took such special care of us, I pray that God is working in their lives to help them be the blessing to others that they were to us.

Now, as December has rolled around two years later, we feel exceptionally blessed that she has recovered so well, and is able to enjoy family activites again. We are looking forward to a wonderful family Christmas again this year, and feel particularly blessed that we will have a new family member present; Benjamin Lucas, our grandson, born October 26th.  As you can see in the photo below, he is already “in the spirit!”

What a wonderful shower of blessings we have received in recent weeks, not the least of which is the fact that Lea is getting to spend Thanksgiving with friends and family. The past two years she has been hospitalized, so this is a truly joyful time for us. The photo is really special for us, because it shows our miracle girl napping with our latest miracle, grandson Benjamin. We have truly been blessed, and we give praise to our Lord and Saviour for the miracles He works every day! Happy Thanksgiving!

I generally don’t just dismiss entertainment because someone says there is a dark meaning behind it, but there is a movie coming out in early December that directly targets our Lord and Savior, Christianity as a whole, and actually promotes aetheism. I’m against that. I received an email relating to this movie from my brother, David, and felt that I needed to share it with those of you who have influence with children in any way.

There is a children’s movie coming out in December 2007 called The Golden Compass, which has been described as “atheism for kids,” and is based on the first book of a trilogy written by Phillip Pullman, a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia.  His motivation  for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis’ symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.  Pullman’s avowed objective is to counter Christianity and promote atheism. 

The Golden Compass, a fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman, has rightfully been drawing fire from concerned Christians. The film is based on the book Northern Lights,  which was released in the U.S. as The Golden Compass, the first volume of Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy of children’s books. Books of the trilogy have sold over 15 million copies around the world, and it is expected that the movie will be widely accepted as well.

In a 2003 interview Pullman explained the theme of his books, and the movie, when he stated that “my books are about killing God in the minds of children.” Conservative British columnist Peter Hichens labeled Pullman “The Most Dangerous Author in Britain,” and described him as “the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed.”

The Catholic League has condemned The Golden Compass, and has produced a pamphlet that unmasks the hidden themes of the trilogy and the upcoming movie. The League’s position is that children will go to the movie, which is based on the least offensive of the three books, and that they will then purchase the trilogy and its seriously anti-religious themes.

While The Golden Compass movie itself may seem mild and innocent, the books are a much different story.  In the trilogy, a young streetwise girl travels through several worlds in an epic struggle to ultimately defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God.  Another character, an ex-nun, describes Christianity as “a very powerful and convincing mistake.”  In the final book, characters representing Adam and Eve eventually kill God, who at times is called YAHWEH.  Each book in the trilogy gets progressively worse regarding Pullman’s hatred of Jesus Christ.

The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman, is set to premier on December 7, during the Christmas season, and will probably be heavily advertised.  Pullman’s promoters hope that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie, enjoy its relatively mild anti-religion theme, and then purchase the entire set of books for Christmas. This is a serious threat. Check it out for yourself. See what the editors at SNOPES have written about this movie: click here

Please consider a boycott of the movie and the books. Also, pass this information along to everyone you know, including your church leaders. 

The past several weeks have been a time of great progress for Lea as she recovered from her knee replacement, reduced her pain medication as quickly as she was able to, and began to come out of the mental fog she has been in for the past couple of years.

I have been working with her all along trying to get her to use her mind for creative thinking, or simply get interested in keeping up with her email, just to improve her alertness and over all mental acuity. Our dear friend, Lou, tried to get Lea interested in one of Lou’s avocations; quilting. I was pretty dubious at first, concerned whether Lea would have the ability to stay interested long enough to finish a project, let alone be able to do the calculations necessary for measuring and cutting the pieces that are fitted together.

But, while Lea and I were in Missouri for a short visit last fall, she and her sister were visiting a cousin, Dora, who is a long time quilter. Dora said that she would give each of them a supply of  embroidered squares that she had completed if they would use them to make a quilt. Both of them assured Dora they would.

This appeared to be quite a motivator for Lea, who got excited enough about making a quilt for her bed that she got Lou to go with her to shop for fabric. We took the fabric with us to Hawaii, where we met Bonnie, who was one of the ladies attending bible study home group at my son’s house. Bonnie, also a quilter, got Lea started designing the quilt, and actually started cutting out some of the hundreds of pieces that would be needed.

After her fall that resulted in a broken hip, Lea was so medicated that she didn’t really have any interest in the quilt, and the project was put aside for months. Then, after her knee surgery recovery was well under way, she was invited to a baby shower for our daughter-in-law in Austin. The timing was just right! She and Lou went shopping for material to make a quilt for our grandson’s crib. He is expected to arrive within the next few days, by the way.

The quilt turned out beautifully, and she was so satisfied with the final product, she actually started working immediately on the original quilt. She and Lou spent several days together cutting, piecing, sewing, bordering, and pinning the king size quilt. Now, Lea is doing all the hand quilting, and enjoying her craftsmanship a great deal.

I have pieced together some random photos and video segments of the two quilts and assembled them into the final production which you can link to by clicking on the “arrow” in the middle of the frame, at about her left elbow, above. If you have been following Lea’s healing, you will be as delighted as I have been. Thank God for His miraculous healing!  

We are so humbled by the power of prayer we have witnessed so many times since the Lord opened our eyes while Lea was in the hospital in Hartford. Early in September we responded to a request for prayer from my cousin Carol who was relaying the prayer needs for Glenn Bridgeman. Praise God, Glenn has been able to return home after some very extensive surgery. Below is an email we received from Carol, passing on the news from Glenn’s son, Brent. 
Praise the Lord!  Dad was able to leave the hospital yesterday!
 
Again, I wish to thank you all for all your prayers!  Dad went home yesterday, and when I talked to him on the phone last night, the relief in his voice was evident.  I think being home will accelerate his recovery even more.  He is walking on his own and not having any trouble with it.  He is supposed to increase the time by 5 minutes every day.  It was not necessary to put in a defribillator or a pace maker, so all of those prayers have been answered with a mighty “yes”!
 
Although this is not all over by any means, and what has gone before has been trying and emotionally taxing, it has been a humbling and inspirational process.  To see the love that has been shown, and poured out upon, my Dad and our family has been a tremendous, and sometimes overwhelming, blessing.  While I was up in Quincy, many times I heard my Dad say, “I love you kids more than you’ll ever know.”  It struck me yet again that this is the same type of love that our heavenly Father has for us.  His infinite capacity to love His children is beyond our comprehension.  A love so great that He sent us His only Son, who willingly became like us and suffered humiliation, torture, and death; taking our just punishment upon Himself, so that we will live forever with Him.  This perfect love grants the gift of life to all who simply believe in Him!  No strings attached!   Perhaps this is a Love (yes, this needs a capital “L”) that only a parent can begin to grasp and strive for.  I hope to find out soon with the imminent arrival of Gabriel Glenn and Joshua Aaron (twins expected late December.)
 

¹   Hear my cry, O God;
     Attend to my prayer.
²   From the end of