It is good to be the Empress

Childhood

2009-10-03T13:49:00.002-04:00

'Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favorite fastfood when you were growing up?' 'All the food was slow.' ' I don't remember going to a restaurant as a child except maybe at Christmas when sister, Audrey would take us shopping and to dinner at a cafe.

We ate all meals at home. Mom cooked casseroles, pasta etc in morning and we had it at dinner time. We sat down together at the small kitchen table after pulling out the fold up chairs. If we didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it. We would hide food under the table on the ledge and throw it again. You always heard about the starving kids in China. Denny got in trouble with Dean Herron at Westmont for complaining about the food with the China comment. Denny said he would provide the food if the Dean paid the postage.
You had to have permission to leave the table.

My mother was very proud of owning her own home. We never wore Levis as they were for farmers. Only the rich set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country or had a credit card. My mother never had a credit card. My father gave up driving when he got a ticket for a wrong turn and we never had another card.

We played in the neighborhood mainly at Erica, Barbara and Margaret Mauz' house. They had a TV. Conrad was a gardener for the very rich and had green houses full of orchids and ferns. The yard was huge and beautiful. We got in trouble when we played hide and seek in the roses or other gardens. Little League was baseball for boys. No one else played on teams.

I had a used bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house until I was in high school. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. I remember Howdy Dowdy but mainly we listened to the radio. Mother listened to soap operas like Helen Trent. We listened to the FBI and comedies like Our Miss Brooks.

I was in high school before I tasted my first pizza, it was called 'pizza pie.' When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.

We got a telephone only when I could pay for it with my job at Foster's Freeze. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Milk was delievered to some homes. The Helms Bakery truck came around with expensive items and bread. We got our bread at Safeway. The Union ice truck came around with ice for the ice box but we never got any. We had a cooler cupboard with a metal grate open to the cool air under the house. It was kept pad locked.

We rarely went to the show though neighbors would go to the Tivoli Theater on Santa Monica Blvd. Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing,
without profanity or violence or most anything offensive. Our Baptist Church was against movies, dancing, smoking and alcohol.

A soft drink bottle with bottle top with a stopper with a bunch of holes in it sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Mother would starch shirts and when it was time to iron she would sprinkle them with water to help remove the wrinkles.

Head lights dimmer switches were on the car floor. Ignition switches on the dashboard. Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall. You used hand signals for cars without turn signals.

Older Than Dirt Quiz : Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about Ratings at the bottom. 1 Blackjack chewing gum. 2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water. 3. Candy cigarettes. (We were not allowed them.) 4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles. 5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes 6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers, cream at the top. 7. Party lines on the telephone. 8. Newsreels, cartoons and short features before the double feature movies. 9. P.F. Flyers. 10. Butch wax. 11. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels [if you were fortunate])
12. Peashooters. (You will blind someone.) 13. Howdy Doody. 14. 45 RPM records 15. S& H greenstamps. (Audrey gave these to us for our wedding and we got a table and chairs. 16 Hi-fi's. 17. Metal ice trays with lever. 18. Mimeograph paper and dittos. 19. Blue flashbulbs. 20. Packards. 21. Roller skate keys. 22. Cork popguns 23. Drive-ins. 24. Studebakers. 25. Wash tub wringers. Mother boiled the clothes in the washing machine, wringered them to the bluing tub of water, then wringered them to the rinse water. Wring out clothes and hang on the line on Mondays.
If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young.
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older.
If you remembered 11-15 = Don 't tell your age.
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!
I might be older than dirt but those memories are some of the best parts of my life. Don 't forget to pass this along!! Especially to all your really OLD friends.

Our houses were not secure and you could break in by any window. We slept with the windows open most of the year.

Down with Apathy

2009-08-31T10:37:00.002-04:00

From Breakpoint - Prison Fellowship
Rejecting Apathy
The Church and American Civilization

Many Christians, once motivated by protecting the sanctity of life, religious freedom, and traditional marriage, seem inconsolable -- as if the fight is over and there's nothing we can do about it.

But embracing this attitude is a certain prescription for disaster.

I received last month a newsletter by Don Reeverts of the Denver Leadership Foundation. In it he gives the following quote, often attributed to an 18th-century Scottish writer:

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence...from bondage to spiritual faith...from spiritual faith to courage...from courage to liberty...from liberty to abundance...from abundance to selfishness...from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy...from apathy to dependency...from dependency back to bondage. (Check out the Biblical book of Judges for the same progression.)

These are sobering words. This question of where America is in the cycle should be extremely important for Christians. That's because I firmly believe that culture is nothing but religion incarnate -- that when we see a culture losing its moral footing, it's because believers have failed to bring Christian truth to bear in society. We haven't been, as Calvin put it, making the invisible kingdom visible.

So what stage are we in? Reeverts thinks we are entering the stage of apathy. And I hate to say it, but I agree. I am finding growing apathy among believers.

Apathy manifests itself in how people dress, how they talk, how they care for each other -- and how concerned they are about the great issues of the day. It resembles what the Greeks called acedia, a languidness, a torpor, in which we stop caring about anything.

Apathy inevitably leads to dependency. And once we become dependent on Big Brother, we are back in bondage. Can anybody really watch the dramatic growth of governmental power and not be alarmed? For the fact of the matter is that the more government acts as God, the less people
depend on the one true God.

Your congressmen and senators are home now for summer recess. Have you contacted them?Are you angry about what's happening in this country today? Things like the elimination of the conscience clause for medical professionals, or embryonic stem cell research, or the advance of gay "marriage," or threats to religious liberties, or government making life-and-death decisions in health care?If you're not upset about those things, you've succumbed to apathy already.

I can't imagine anybody sitting at home, comfortably watching us slip into a state of dependency without getting outraged, and then without expressing that outrage.

If we value our liberties, if we believe in the most fundamental principles upon which our civilization is based, then we owe it to our God and to future generations to speak out.

Institutions aren't going to change the course of America; but great movements have changed the course of the nation and will again. And what better network to fuel a movement than the Church? Rejecting apathy and trusting in God, firm in our belief in human dignity and our God-given liberties, the Church can ignite a fire in this country.

Do we get it? I pray that we do.

Youth as an example of Godliness

2009-07-06T13:01:00.000-04:00

Have you read the book by teens for teens,"Do Hard Things"? This article by John Stonestreet says the same thing from an adult point of view. I wish everyone could read this and see the truth of the situation. I largely grew upat age 9 when my father died. Both my husband and I are grateful that we followed these precepts from our youth and it has been of great profit to us. I remember as a teen giving a devotion to our youth group on I Timothy 4:12,13 "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct,in love, in spirit,in faith, in purtity." Note that so many Bible heroes were young when they did important things for God. How many examples can you name?

BreakPoint WorldView Magazine
Our Adolescent Culture
By John Stonestreet
6/12/2009

Where Are the Grown-Ups? BreakPoint WorldView » June 2009

“There was a time, literally, when there were no teenagers.” What Diana West is suggesting in The Death of the Grown-Up: How America’s Arrested Development Threatens Western Civilization will undoubtedly sound ridiculous to thousands of youth pastors, family therapists, and advertising gurus whose livelihoods depend on entertaining, counseling, and selling to teenagers.

Nevertheless, West argues that adolescence didn’t always exist. In fact, it is a quite recent phenomenon. The word “teenager” wasn’t really used until 1941, after all. In virtually every other culture in the history of the world prior to late 20th century Western culture, kids became adults. Not so anymore. They now become teenagers, or, to put it in more sociologically acceptable terms, they become adolescents.

THE CREATION OF THE TEENAGER
What happened to bring about this new stage in human development? The sexual revolution and political upheavals of the ‘60s are, of course, the most obvious suspects. However, West suggests a number of other things, some earlier than the ‘60s: a generation of disconnected fathers trying to deal with what they experienced during WWII, factories which once produced necessities for war began producing non-necessities for consumption, new marketing engines selling these goods to people who didn’t realize they wanted them, Chubby Checker’s Twist, Elvis’ hips, the Beatles’ hair, automobiles—perhaps more than one—in every home, the growth of Hollywood, and the recognition by the marketing engines of the fortune to be made from this brand new segment of the population.

Today, of course, adolescence is considered a fixed stage of development. We expect students will lose their minds from ages 13 to 18. “Kids will be kids,” we say. Only we aren’t referring to kids anymore, we’re talking about 15-year-olds. In other cultures, “teenagers” were marrying, farming, fighting wars, writing books, and in one case, bearing the Messiah.

ADOLESCENCE AS APEX
One of the complications of adolescence is that this fixed stage of development is not very fixed. Its grip has forcefully expanded beyond teenagers, and in both directions. On the front end, we have “pre-teens” or “tweens,” whose financial potential marketers quickly spotted. On the back end, whereas 18 was once considered the end of adolescence, it is now considered the middle. The National Academy of Sciences now defines adolescence as the stage from the onset of puberty (around 11 or 12) to age 30.

But there’s more. The reach of adolescence is even greater than this. Adolescence has become, and this must not be missed, the goal of our culture. Somewhere along the way, we ceased to be a culture where kids aspire to be adults and became a culture where adults aspire to be kids.

THE MARKS OF AN ADOLESCENT CULTURE
What are the marks of a culture with a dominant adolescent mindset? Not surprisingly, they are precisely what we have come to expect from adolescents themselves.

Demand for immediate gratification. We want what we want now, and we will not wait or work for it. Spiraling credit card debt, addiction to new technologies, bouncing from church to church, abandoning marriages—the list goes on and on.

Absence of long-term thinking about life and the world. Hand-in-hand with a demand for immediate gratification is a distraction from the real issues that actually matter. Ours is a culture largely ignorant of economic theory, political distinctions, or the rules of logic, but one which is fully up to speed on latest from American Idol.

Motivated by feeling rather than truth. This is a key indicator of a volatile person, and an even more significant indicator of a failing culture. Truth is murdered by pooled and polled ignorance.

Wanting grown-up things without growing up. Ironically, despite our addiction to all things adolescent, we still expect to be treated like adults. “Don’t tell me what to do,” we say. “Every opinion matters” and “Treat me with respect,” we add. Of course, fools actually do not deserve respect and their opinions are, at best, a thorough waste of time and, at worst, dangerous.

Expecting bailouts rather than accepting consequences. Not thinking before acting is a trait of adolescence as is making excuses. Bad mortgage decision? The government should help. Sexual immorality? Birth control, abortion, and HPV vaccines. Falling grades? Reduce standards. Poor behavior? Ritalin will do the trick. And once we accept adolescence as normal, we are then forced to excuse poor behavior. “They’ll grow out of it,” we suggest. A quick look around reveals that “they” are not.

Focusing on appearance rather than depth. Seen in everything from fascination with celebrity to the way presidents and churches are chosen, cultures that choose style over substance quickly become silly cultures. Neil Postman proved this in his classic work Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Worse still, silly cultures are easily deceived and destined for tyranny. History proves this.
More could be added here, but the point is that sometimes what is normal, well, shouldn’t be. Adolescence is a recent and foolish invention. And, as noted scholar, Richard Weaver taught us, ideas have consequences. Good ideas have good consequences; bad ideas have bad consequences.

THE OPPORTUNITY
Still, there is good news. Cultures like ours have a leadership vacuum. Therefore, there is a terrific opportunity for influence from those who produce the leaders, especially if they produce leaders who can think beyond the current cultural shallowness.

How can we do this? I suggest we go after the students themselves, from those intolerant of adolescence to those who seem most susceptible to it.

First, we need to challenge students, rather than coddle them. We aim too low with teenagers. Students do not need more entertainment, whether from the television, the IPod, or the youth group. They need and want to be challenged. We see this every year at our Summit student leadership conferences. At Summit, students endure over 70 hours of lecture and instruction on worldviews, apologetics, culture, and character, and they love it. They thrive when they realize that their faith need not be silly or superficial.

Second, students need a thorough education in worldviews and apologetics. There are three components of this type of education. First, students need to know what they believe. Too many see Christianity as merely a private faith rather than as a robust view of reality that offers a tried and true map for life. Christianity is not a narcissistic self-help system, but truth about all of reality. Second, students need to know what others believe. Non-biblical worldviews are battling for their hearts and minds, as well as for our culture. An isolated faith is an immature faith and often a scared faith. Third, Christians must know why they believe what they believe. Too many Christians cannot answer, and are even afraid of, challenging questions about God, Jesus, the Bible, morality, or truth. When they learn that their faith can be defended, they get excited about defending it.

Third, students need to know that Christianity is not just about what we are against, but what we are for. Proverbs says that without vision, the people “cast off restraint.” One of the main reasons that students are casualties of immorality is that they lack vision. While they may know what they are not supposed to do, they fail to understand what meaning, purpose, and impact following Christ offers. Christian students often get the impression that we are merely saved from, and not to. They miss the "re" part of the salvation words that sprinkle the Scriptures: renew, regenerate, reconcile, redeem, etc. They miss that Christ not only came to save us from death, he came to save us to life--and abundant life at that!

Finally, we need to confront students with, rather than isolate them from, the major cultural battles of our day. Historically, Christians have sought to understand and respond to cultural crises. They understood that these crises were the battlefields for competing worldviews.

THE CHALLENGE
Unfortunately, many Christians today are oblivious, apathetic or avoidant of issues like embryo-destructive research, euthanasia, emerging technologies, the arts, film, fashion, legislation, human trafficking, politics, and international relations. In the Garden on the evening before His death, Christ prayed these astounding words for his followers: “Father, do not take them from the world, but protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Our prayer and preparation for our students should be no different.

The Church’s approach to students must never embrace adolescence as normal. “Meeting them where they are” is no excuse for leaving them where they are. Students are designed with the capacity, and thus the calling, to think deeply and broadly about their faith and their culture, as well as to champion the Gospel by confronting evil, injustice, and lies. By appealing to God’s design for humanity, rather than this cultural fabrication of adolescence, we may find our ministries more relevant to students than the culture itself.

John Stonestreet is executive director of Summit Ministries, a ministry dedicated to training students in worldview analysis and apologetics so that they will defend and champion the Christian worldview. He is co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview. John holds an M.A. in Christian thought from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is on the bblical studies faculty at Bryan College (Tenn.). He, his wife Sarah, and three daughters live in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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Articles on the BreakPoint website are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Chuck Colson or Prison Fellowship. Links to outside articles or websites are for informational purposes only and do not necessarily imply endorsement of their content.

Happy Birthday America

2009-07-06T08:38:00.001-04:00

My mother and father were great storytellers and I was raised on tales of family “derring do”. I got my Major James Pattillo line finished for the Daughters of the American Revolution. It was fun to add information on Joyce Jane Calliham Scott from the DAR magazine (Jan. 2002) “Revolutionary heroine. District III, South Carolina: Joyce Jane Calliham Scott, riding at night, took news of the Tory smuggling to patriots at the Ninety Six District. Later, in order to discover where her husband’s legendary wealth was hidden; Tarleton's troops repeatedly tortured her. (They roped and pulled her under the Savannah River. Revolutionary War water boarding.) She never betrayed her husband or the other patriots.”

Another interesting bit was a letter written in 1892 by my great, great, great uncle.

Dear Sir:

My father, David Thomas, was born in Edgefield District, S.C., in the year 1775 and died in Louisiana 1849. He was a nephew to Joyce Calliham, the wife of Ready Money Scott, who lived on the Savannah River above Augusta, GA., and had a ferry that is known to this day as Scott's Ferry.

In 1850, I visited among my relatives there and heard much of the family history from old kin’s people who are now dead.

Samuel Scott, better known in that country as Ready Money Scott, was a very thrifty farmer. He got his soubriquet from the fact that he always paid the ready money for what he bought, and would not sell unless the ready money was paid to him. This habit obtained for him the reputation of having money, and when the war broke out between the colonies and Great Britain, he, having cast his lot with the colonies and rendered such services as are usually given by patriots to the cause, this espousal brought upon him and his family much persecution.

For robbery, he was visited from time to time by the Tories and the British. One time they destroyed a field of growing corn by turning their cavalry horses loose in it, while the men plundered the dwelling house and premises.

Falling to find any money, they ripped up with their swords the family featherbeds and gave the feathers to the winds. It is a well authenticated fact that old Ready Money Scott was an intense patriot, and aided the Colonies in their struggle for freedom against Great Britain.

Yours, SAMUEL M. THOMAS

I was interested to see that "Tusculum" the house built by my relative, Rev. John Witherspoon, is for sale according to the July Perservation magazine. Tusculum is named for the Italian summer home of great thinker and leader Cicero. The notice says, “Tusculum, 1773. Built for and named by John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence and 6th president of Princeton University, 5 bedroom manor house, 1 mile from downtown, on State and National registers. Renovations and additions to original house in 1998. Caretaker’s cottage, stone barn, out buildings, all restored. Farmland tax assessment. $8,975,000.” Maybe we could get money from the stimulus package to buy it.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the men who signed the Declaration of Independence ? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.It's not much to ask for the price they paid. REMEMBER THAT FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!!!!

From John Quincy Adams' oration on July 4th, 1837: "Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?"

The Declaration of Independence was approved JULY 4, 1776. John Hancock signed first, saying "the price on my head has just doubled." Benjamin Franklin said "We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately." Of the 56 signers: 17 served in the military; 11 had their homes destroyed; 5 were hunted and captured; Abraham Clark had two sons imprisoned on the British starving ship Jersey; John Witherspoon's son was killed in battle; Francis Lewis' wife was imprisoned and died from the harsh treatment; many, such as Thomas Nelson and Carter Braxton, lost their fortunes; and 9 died during the War. When Samuel Adams signed the Declaration, he said: "We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come."

John Adams said: "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty." John Adams continued: "I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration...Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory... Posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we [may regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not."

Happy 4th of July and I pray that America will fall on its knees repent and return to Jesus Christ. God, in His abundant mercy, has been very patient with us all.

Virtue in a world without virtue

2009-06-27T11:27:00.000-04:00

Today Dennis and I have been married for 45 years. What a blessing to have a faithful Godly man for a husband! The news this week has carried the headlines of two men who claim to be redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ but are now shown to be unfaithful to their wives. What sadness for their families! Faithfulness is a lost virtue in America today.

Neither of us look like the young handsome couple we were in 1964 but the beauty that comes from living for Christ is deeper now. So many in our world are concerned only with the external and spend millions of dollars to conceal the aging process. Inner Beauty is a lost virtue in America today.

I received this email today and it stresses the importance of working on our daily attitudes. In () I have noted the virtues shown in this man's life that I want to continue to grow in mine. I want to praise the Lord for the opportunities and blessings of each day as is my priviledge. "Give thanks to the Lord, for HE is good, HIS love is everlasting." Psalm 126:1

A New Home

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. (Dignity) His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home,(Patience) he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. (Good cheer)

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. (Strength)

I love it, he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. (Hope and optimism)

Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.

That doesn't have anything to do with it, he replied...

Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. (Joy and faith)

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life. (Thankfulness)

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. (Maturity)

I am still depositing. Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred. "Love your neighbor as yourself."Matt. 19:19
2. Free your mind from worries. "Do not worry about your life." Matt.6:25
3. Live simply Matt. 6:25 - 34 "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness" 33
4. Give more. "Give and it shall be given to you." Luke 6:38
5. Expect less. Phil. 4:11 "I have learned to be content in any and every situation."

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Aprons

2009-06-06T14:47:00.000-04:00

I remember making a white apron in Clothing 1 to wear in Home Ecomony 1. It was an easy project and came after making your gym bag both with your name embroidered on them for the teacher to know who you were. The apron was white so it stayed spotless while I learned to cook. I took 3 years of sewing in High School and loved it all the way including tailoring. Sewing certainly was a life saver for me so that I could look like my millionaire Bel Aire peers at West Los Angeles' University High School for pennies - which was all I had to their millions.

My mother and grandmother wore aprons and used them as stated below. There are stories of my great grandmother Mary Ann Maltsberger Jones and her apron. She was the mother of ten children who all lived to be adults. Her husband was paralysed in 1886 and did not work after that accident in his stone quarry. My father was 11 and his older brother was 13 years old when their slavery, as he called it, began. They were sent to work with a rancher who worked them HARD for 12 hours or more a day. The small amount of money they made was sent to their mother to help support the family. Mary Ann took in boarders from the train station across the street and did wash to raise the other resources needed. It was a busy house full of noise for this godly woman. When things got to be too much for her, she would go into the front yard and throw the skirt of the apron over her head to pray and calm her heart.

Mary Ann had a wealthy younger sister who invited her to visit her in West Texas. She took the train for the trip and as she was reboarding the train at the end of the visit her sister confessed that she had been afraid that Mary Ann, as a poor woman with so many children, would prove to be an embrassment to her social standing with her lack of education. Mary Ann had been forced into marriage by her father when she was 14 years old. Her sister asked how Mary Ann had learned to speak so well, with such an impressive vocabulary and knowledge of so many things. Mary Ann quietly responded that her knowledge and vocabulary came from her daily reading of the Bible and her relationship with Christ.

Here is a piece I received on the internet that brought back memories for me.

The History of Aprons

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath,because she only had a few,it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven and stove.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

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

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ' old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs was on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an Apron.

Weak but strong

2009-05-27T13:25:00.000-04:00

All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God, because they reckoned on God's being with them.- J. Hudson Taylor

Father, I am victorious, real failure can never happen because I am doing all things through Christ who strengthens. Philippians 4:13

I do not lack strength, wisdom, or resources because my God is supplying all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

I refuse to submit to fear because God hath not given me a spirit of fear but of power, of love and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7

I will not assume weakness for the Lord is the strength of my life. Psalm 27:1

I will not be affected by the circumstances today for greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I John 4:4

I will never bow in defeat for God always causes me to triumph in Christ. II Corinthians 2:14

I refuse to worry for I am casting all my cares upon Him for He careth for me. I Peter 5:7

I will not exhibit frustration or apprehension for I am promised the peace of God which passeth all
understanding. Philippians 4:6-9

I will never again agree to bondage for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. II Corinthians 3:17

I will never express self condemnation for there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

I will never display discontent for I have learned in whatsoever what I am, therein to be content. Philippians 4:11

I will not have feelings of unworthiness for I am His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works!. Ephesians 2:10

I will never be intimidated for if God be for me who can be against me.Roman 8:31

I will never feel insecure because the Lord shall me by countenance and keep my foot from being shaken. Proverbs 3:26

I am victorious in all levels of life because my Lord has overcome the world.John 16:33

I am a winner. II Corinthians 2:1

I am an adequate person. II Corinthians 9:8

Francis Schaeffer remembered

2009-05-12T12:19:00.000-04:00

Francis and Edith Schaeffer made a tremendous impact on my husband and me when we studied at L'Abri in 1970. I thought his concern for "fertilized eggs" was strange at first as abortion was discussed but the Lord lead me to see life is precious from beginning to end. I have spent almost 40 years as a "voice for the voiceless" as a pro-life activist and pregnancy center director. It was not a role I wanted but accepted as a call from the Jesus.

The Schaeffer's love of art, music, hospitality and beauty echoed mine and I have sought to make them part of my home. Francis' prophetic vision of the future has come to pass to our sorrow but I thank God that I have had a small part in standing for Biblical Truth in our "situational" culture. I appreciated this interview with Os who was at L'Abri with us and thought you would enjoy it too.

I have been impressed with the difference in the book of Christopher Buckley on his father and Franky's graceless work on his parents. May we truely see "The memory of the righteous will be a blessing." Proverbs 10:7

Another family impacted by the Schaeffer's was Jack and Joanne Kemp who provided America with wise leadership for decades. It was wonderful to read the rememberances of Jack at his death last week. The phrase from the Peggy Noonan article that impressed me was "The power of a happy man." May God have mercy on America and may young leadership arise to speak truth in power and in joy.

An Interview with Os Guinness on the 25th Anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's Death

Next week (May 15) will be the 25th anniversary of the death of Francis Schaeffer, who died in his home in Rochester, MN, at the age of 72.

Two biographies of Schaeffer have been published relatively recently: Colin Duriez's Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life and Barry Hankins's Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of American Evangelicalism.

I was recently able to ask Os Guinness a few questions about Schaeffer's impact and significance.

How did you first meet Schaeffer?

I first met Francis Schaeffer in 1965 when I was a student in London. I had come to faith in Jesus through a Christian friend and through reading such writers as Dostoevsky, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis. But it would be fair to say that while we had extraordinary biblical exposition and deep, rich theological teaching in England, there was almost no encouragement to think Christianly or to understand what was going on in the wider culture. So there I was as a student in the middle of ‘swinging London’ and the exploding Sixties, and no Christians that I knew understood what was going on at all. Then a friend took me to hear a strange little man in Swiss knickers, with a high-pitched voice, terms all of his own such as ‘the line of despair,’ and appalling mispronunciations and occasional malapropisms. But I was intrigued and then hooked. Schaeffer was the first Christian I met who was concerned to, and capable of connecting the dots and making sense of the extraordinary times that puzzled and dismayed most people. Two years later, I went to the Swiss l’Abri myself, and my first three weeks there in the summer of 1967 became the most revolutionary period in my entire life. I have never been the same since.

Can you describe his influence on you personally?

Later on, I had the privilege of living with Francis and Edith Schaeffer for three years in their home, so I came to know them both very well. To be honest, I adored Edith and have never met a woman like her. I can’t say quite the same about Francis, and I have my differences with him. But I also owe the world to him, and he has influenced me profoundly even where I differ from him. His main influence was not intellectual. I owe far more in that area to my real mentor, Peter Berger. In fact I have not read many of Schaeffer’s books, because I heard them all delivered in lectures and discussions before they were written. So Schaeffer has influenced me more in an unspoken way. I often say simply that I have never met anyone with such a passion for God, combined with a passion for people, combined with a passion for truth. That is an extremely rare combination, and Schaeffer embodied it. It is also why so many of his scholarly critics completely miss the heart of who he was, and why his son’s recent portrayal of his father is such a travesty and an outrage.

We all serve as examples to others—both positively and negatively. What are some of the main things in Schaeffer’s life and ministry that we should seek to emulate, and what are some cautionary lessons we can learn?

Of all his own books, Francis Schaeffer’s favorite was True Spirituality. It tells the story of his passionate, even desperate, search for reality in faith. But that was what was so great about him. There was no gap between his trust in God, his praying, his wrestling with issues, his lectures, his preaching, his love of the mountains, his sense of fun, his appreciation of beauty, and so on. With all his flaws, he was a very real man. Nietzsche used to say, “All truths are bloody truths to me,” and the same could be said of Schaeffer. He was very real.

At the same time, although he was a brilliant thinker, with an uncanny ability to connect the dots and see the significance of things, he was not a scholar and he relied too much on reading magazines rather than books. So he allowed himself, perhaps, to believe his flatterers' hype, or at least to go along with the puffery of his publishers and others. In the end, he lost a bit of his earlier humility, and was portrayed as the great philosopher and scholar that he wasn’t – which means that real scholars have an easy time of debunking some of his ideas.

Is there something in particular that you think people today misunderstand about Schaeffer?

A host of misunderstanding swirls around Francis Schaeffer’s reputation today. The two that concern me most are about his apologetics and his significance. Many who cite his apologetic approach have a comically wooden understanding of how he approached people to win them to faith. I have yet to see the book that does justice to the sheer brilliance of his way of presenting the gospel.

As far as his influence, he had a massive impact on the lives of individuals, including me, but his wider significance was as a ‘gatekeeper,’ or a door opener. When almost no Evangelicals were thinking about culture and connecting unconnected dots, Schaeffer not only did it himself but blazed a trail for countless others to follow. Many who trumpet their disagreements with him today owe their very capacity to disagree to his influence a generation ago. A little man in stature, he was a giant in influence, and many who have gone further have done so only by standing on his shoulders. I for one owe far more to Francis Schaeffer than I can ever say, and I live daily in his debt.
posted at Between Two Worlds by Justin Taylor at Thursday, May 07, 2009

Tulare Inn Memories

2009-03-25T19:54:00.000-04:00

WalterWorld
Assorted Tidbits - Reheated Just For You

Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tulare Dust

This was a walk down Memory Lane for me. Go to WalterWorld to see the photos of the Tulare Inn Coffee Shop and Motel which Hoot Perry foundered and ran for many years in Tulare, California. Mom and Dad(Amanda and Hoot)Perry were given an award by the California Restarant Association for their 50 years in the business. Our parents were married for 63 years, had seven children and 15 grandchildren.

Here are the comments on the photos

Once "The best cup of coffee on 99", Perry's Coffee Shop on Paige Avenue has seen some 40 years slip past it.

This ad from a 1965 Vacationland magazine served as a heads-up to those who travelled North or South on the 99 in route to Walt's little park in Anaheim:

Next door, the Tulare Inn soldiers on as a forlorn ambassador of a time that was...

Where was once a neatly kept lawn, only dried chaff remains on exhibit:

A refreshing pool now hosts only echoes from the past...

"The Tulare dust, in a farm boy's nose...wondering where the freight train goes.

Standin' in a field by the railroad track, cursin' the strap on my cotton sack.

I can see Mom and Dad with shoulders low, both of them pickin' on a double row.

They do it for a livin', because they must...that's life like it is in the Tulare Dust..."

---Merle Haggard---
Posted by walterworld at 10/20/2007 12:46:00 AM
Labels: perry's coffee shop, tulare, vacationland

The Wisdom of Depression Era Survivors

2009-02-26T10:16:00.000-05:00

This article is a good reminder of the realities of life for most of the world. We can do it again if we need to do so. The keys are: Live simply; Work hard; Love and help others; Be part of a community; and Love God with your whole heart, soul and mind.

An 87-Year-Old's Economic Survival Guide by Chuck Norris 02/24/2009

"An old Spanish proverb says, "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy." I believe that value holds, in or out of a recession. And seeing as my 87-year-old mother lived through the Great Depression, I think her value (and that of those like her) will increase through these tough economic times because her insider wisdom can help us all.

Mother was about 10 years old when her eight-member family endured the thick of those recessive days in rural Wilson, Okla., which only has a population of 1,600 today. The recurring droughts across the heartland during that period dried up the job market, making it worse in the Midwest than it even was in the rest of the country. Over the years, my grandpa worked multiple jobs, from the oil fields to the cotton fields, and he was even a night watchman. The family members did what they could to contribute, but most of them were simply too young to play a major part.

In 1933, when President Franklin Roosevelt took office, his administration, through the Works Project Administration, brought about the employment of millions in civil construction projects, from bridges to dams to airports to roads. My grandfather traveled about 90 miles for a day's work to help build the Lake Murray dam. But with a far smaller ratio of jobs to potential laborers, if Grandpa worked five days a month (at $1.80 a day), it was a good month.

Like most families, my mother's family didn't have running water or electricity. And Granny did her best to keep the outhouse clean, with Grandpa helping by regularly depositing lye to control the odors. (You can imagine how the hot, humid Oklahoma summers turned that outside commode into one smelly closet-sized sauna.) A "scavenger wagon" came by once a week and cleaned out the hole, which had a small chairlike contraption over it with the center punched out. (They once had a two-seater in there, which allowed for two people to enjoy each other's company and conversation. Mom told me that she always felt a little upper-class when she sat with someone else!) By the way, and I'm not trying to be crude, toilet tissue wasn't around, so they used pages from Montgomery Ward catalogs (and you wondered why the catalogs were so thick). No joke -- they preferred the non-glossy pages. I'll let you figure out why.

Got the picture? With that in mind, I turn to a recent conversation I had with my mother. I asked her, "How would you encourage the average American to weather the economic storms of today?"

Here's her advice, in her words:

-- "Get back to the basics. Simplify your life. Live within your means. People have got to be willing to downsize and be OK with it. We must quit borrowing and cut spending. Be grateful for what you have, especially your health and loved ones. Be content with what you have, and remember the stuff will never make you happy. Never. Back then, we didn't have one-hundredth of what people do today, and yet we seemed happier than most today, even during the Great Depression.

-- "Be humble and willing to work. Back then, any work was good work. We picked cotton, picked up cans, scrap metal, whatever it took to get by. Where's that work ethic today? If someone's not being paid $10 an hour today, they're whining and unwilling to work, even if they don't have a job. The message from yesteryear is don't be too proud to do whatever it takes to meet the financial needs of your family.

-- "Be rich in love. We didn't have much. In fact, we had nothing at all, compared to people today, but we had each other. We were poor, but rich in love. We've lost the value of family and friends today, and we've got to gain it back if we're ever to get back on track. If we lose all our stuff and still have one another and our health, what have we really lost?

-- "Be a part of a community. Today people are much more alone, much more isolated. We used to be close with our neighbors. If one person had a bigger or better garden or orchard, they shared the vegetables and fruits with others in need. Society has shifted from caring for one another to being dependent upon government aid and welfare. That is why so many today trust in government to deliver them. They've forgotten an America that used to rally around one another in smaller clusters, called neighborhoods and communities. We must rekindle those local communal fires and relearn the power of that age-old commandment, 'Love thy neighbor.'

-- "Help someone else. We never quit helping others back then. Today too many people are consumed with their own problems and only helping themselves. 'What's in it for me?' is the question most are asking. But back then, it was, 'What can I do to help my neighbor, too?' I love Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life, and especially his thought, 'We were created for community, designed to be a blessing to others.' Most of all, helping others gets our minds off of our problems and puts things into better perspective.

-- "Lean upon God for help and strength. We didn't just have each other to lean on, but we had God, too. We all attended church and belonged to a faith community. Church was the hub of society, the community core and rallying point. Today people turn to government the way we used to turn to churches. It's been that way ever since Herbert Hoover's alleged promise of a 'chicken in every pot' and President Roosevelt's New Deal. Too many have abandoned faith and community. We trust in money more than God. And maybe that's a reason why we're in this economic pickle."

Now that's conventional wisdom that should be shouted and posted in every corridor of government, every community across America, and every blog on the Internet.

Call me overly pragmatic, but I think a little practical wisdom and encouragement is what we all need about now. Mom always was good for that. She still is."

My parents sound a lot like Chuck Norris' mother. My mother and father were from big families and knew how to grow gardens and harvest the weeds by the side of the road. I was embarrassed when, in West Los Angeles, mother would pull out a shopping bag at a vacant lot and proceed to harvest the mustard greens growing there. They were a gift from the Lord to her. "Greens" were a part of most meals when in season.
We always had a vegetable garden and fruit trees to harvest and can.

In the 1930's, my father was a supervisor of Civilian Conservation Corp boys in Death Valley, California as they built roads and the monuments in the National Park. He met my mother in Death Valley as she was the teacher for the children of the workers and of the Indians who lived there. They were happy to live simply, to work hard, to love and help others in the community and to truely love Jesus Christ. I am happy to follow their example.

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday from Pastor Ron Jones

2009-01-15T20:47:00.000-05:00

January 14th, 2009

Open Letter to President-Elect Obama
January 14, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama
President-Elect of the United States
Hay-Adams Hotel
800 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006

Dear Mr. President-Elect,

As the leader of a church with more than 5,000 attendees located just a short drive from the White House, I join millions of Americans in honoring your inauguration as our forty-fourth President.

All Americans celebrate the arrival of a new President and the peaceful transfer of power as more evidence of our great democracy. This occasion also marks a monumental civil rights achievement for our nation. I rejoice in the fact that an African-American has been elected, a true affirmation of our nation’s fundamental premise that all persons are created equal by the hand of God.

Holy Scripture exhorts us to pray for kings and all those who are in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Please know, we the people of Immanuel Bible Church pledge to pray for you, your family and your Administration. These are difficult times to lead our nation. No President has ever done so without acknowledging the need for divine guidance.

We will pray that God will grant you Solomon-like wisdom in all of the decisions you make, knowing that King Solomon himself wrote, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1).

You assume the Presidency on Tuesday during a time of economic crisis at home and conflict abroad. Yet as these great challenges loom ahead, I ask you to “defend the cause of the weak” and “maintain the rights of the oppressed” (Psalm 82:3-4).

In 2005, America aborted 1.2 million unborn children who are precious to their Creator. Since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973 legalized abortion, the total number of dead has exceeded 45 million. That’s more than seven times the number of Jews killed during the Nazi Holocaust. Abortion is a human tragedy, and it is something we believe breaks our Lord’s heart as He created each of these unborn children in His image.

Mr. President-Elect, you talked a great deal in your campaign about “the little guy,” who is often mistreated in our society. Surely you understand that the smallest and most vulnerable Americans in 2009 are those in the womb, whose lives are unprotected by the law, and thus dependent upon the decisions of others. Surely America is better than this.

Fundamentally, does the unborn child have value independent of his mother? Clearly, the answer from science is yes. From the moment of conception, the life forming within the womb has all the same DNA as a fully-matured adult person. And the answer from biblical revelation is equally compelling. John the baptizer leapt in his mother’s womb when she met her pregnant cousin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Even so our hearts respond to the sanctity of unborn life.

I pray that you will reconsider your views on this moral issue. I raise my voice on behalf of the voiceless, pleading with you to take the lead in building an America where all of our children, whatever their race or family income, are welcomed into the world, protected by the law and have a seat at the table with the rest of the American family.

These precious unborn children have been deprived of life without due process of law. More than 3,300 abortions per day, or 138 per hour, happen in clear violation of the Constitution and the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, which makes it plain that our liberty comes straight from God and that our first right is the sacred right to life.

Furthermore, think of what those parents have missed because of abortion – a baby’s smile, a child’s first steps. Think of what the world has missed – a gifted teacher, a doting father, a dedicated missionary, a talented artist or entrepreneur, a future President.

During your campaign you spoke much about hope. You inspired a nation. You have written about The Audacity of Hope. And yet, your past support for abortion is a hope-stealer. Abortion robs our nation of a tiny bit of tomorrow’s hope found in every unborn child.

Specifically, it is my hope and prayer that you will reconsider your support for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), even though you promised Planned Parenthood that signing the FOCA is “the first thing I’d do as President.” FOCA is by far the most radical piece of abortion legislation ever introduced into the Congress. My concerns with the bill are many, but chiefly they are:

According to pro-choice advocates, FOCA would overturn the ban on partial-birth abortion, again allowing this barbaric procedure described as “near infanticide” by pro-choice senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

FOCA may invalidate scores of pro-life laws passed by dozens of states.

According to the pro-choice National Organization for Women, FOCA would eliminate existing laws against taxpayer-funded abortions.

The Freedom of Choice Act is inconsistent with the Christian ethic of compassion for the least among us. King David’s heartfelt lyrics in Psalm 139 remind us that God is the author of life: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

It is my sincere hope that you will join us in a celebration of God’s gift of life, and resist those who would allow another generation of Americans to disappear.

I welcome you and your family to join us for worship at Immanuel. You can learn more about the church at www.immanuelbible.net. May God bless you, your family and our great country.

With sincere respect in Christ,

Dr. Ron Jones
Senior Pastor of Immanuel Bible Church

Assist Pregnancy Center
Annandale, VA

Assist Crisis Pregnancy Center is a non-profit ministry serving women, their families and partners, who come to seek help making decisions about their pregnancies and related concerns. Assist is staffed by loving, concerned volunteers who have received training in crisis counseling. It provides accurate information about pregnancy, fetal development, life-style issues and related concerns, but it does not provide abortions or referrals for abortion.

Assist offers free, confidential services such as pregnancy testing; education on pregnancy, abortion, adoption, and abortion alternatives; referrals to OB-gyns in the Northern Virginia area, childbirth classes (on video) and prenatal information; adoption and foster care information; abortion-recovery counseling for women and men; and an “Earn While You Learn” program to earn maternity clothing and clothing and furnishings for the baby. One client wrote, “Two weeks after the baby was born I took him to Assist where the counselors treated him like one of their own. That is when I realized every life they save is a part of their family!”

Learn more about Assist through their website, www.assistcpc.org, or pick up a brochure at our Welcome Centers.

Prayer Requests:
1. For the many women and their families who are helped through the ministry of Assist.
2. For clients to choose life for their unborn children.
3. For Assist to be able to continue to provide education, counseling, clothes and baby furnishings for clients.

Mary Alexander Story 1742 - 1822

2008-11-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

Some of my reading of late on Ancestry.com includes, "Genealogy of the Reese family in Wales and America: from their arrival to the present time" written in 1903 by Mary Eleanor Reese, Whittet and Shepperson, Richmond, VA. It has interesting information on my 5th great grandmother, Mary Alexander Story. She is said to have raised, spun and woven silk so thin and fine that it could be pulled through her tiny wedding ring. She was known as a godly mother who raised her children in the Lord. I love this letter she wrote to her daughter, Anna Story Reese. (I have copied it with no changes from the 214 year old letter. I love her focus on eternity and on Christ.)

“Jenewary 3, 1794, Fryday night.

Dear daughter,

Having an opportunity I now set down to write a few lines by Mr. James Hall he come sence night. my dear may assured I have not for got you but as providence ordard it so that we are to be parted I desire to be content and wish you to be resigned to the will of a wise god that will make all things to work for good if we but love him. The old year has gone and if we look back what a nothing it appears departed
as a tale that is told thus will our whole life appear when our end approachs and eternity opens. but eternity will never expire but will last world with out end, when millions of ages are past away eternity we may say only will be a beginning and this short life this little span is the seed time of long, long eternity and do my dear indeavor to improve time and make the best provision for an eternity of happiness. Should we not be careful to get faith in our lord Jesus Christ to get the love of god shed abroad in our hearts. and our souls renewed according to the amiable example of our blessed redeemer this and nothing but this is trew religion. fix dear daughter this truth in your memory a true faith in Christ an unfeigned love of god and a real holiness of hart are the greatest blessings you can desire without them we can not be happy and this is the wish of you poor frail mother. that you will incessantly and earnestly mind the one thing needful though the whole advancing year. if you do so you will have god for your friend and he is able to supply all your wants and make you good friends to strangers it was my intend to come up in febweary but (saturday morning) their is so menny things to hender me. I am week and this could sesen of the year might be hard for me at this time Charls has a bad cof. and fever and is much redust, Susannah has hard fevers yestrday they got medeson from the doctour and Charls thinks he is som better this is Susannah best day and I cant tell if the medesom has hope her or no. I hope Charls is gettin better of his other complant I hope god in his own good time sent him comfort and speak peas to his consunse I convarsed with him on the subject yestrday James Weatherspoon famley (my 4th great grandmother, Hester Story Witherspoon) I hope is well I heard from them Wensday. none of our peeple has gon to town yet I expect they wold gon next week if they had ent been take sick the Gentman is waiten I may conclude with my love to you and Mr Reese and my little dears give my complements to my good frends fearwell my dear fearwell I am your souls well wisher tell deth. Mary Stoery “

ccMary was the second wife of Charles Story and was his widow for 31 years. They had four children: 1. Mary Alexander who was the second wife of David Witherspoon III andthe mother of 10 children. 2. Anna who married George Reese and had 11 children.
3. Charles who married Susannah Carter and had one child. 4. Hester who married James Witherspoon and was my ancestress. Hester and James had 11 children.

Mary often lived with Anna's family who buried her at the Hopewell Cemetery at the Old Stone Church near Clemson. The stone marker says, "Sacred to the Memory of Mary Story who departed this life in the full assurance of a happy immortality on the 5th day of Sept 1822 Aged 80 years Erected by her Daughter Ann Reese"

Old Hopewell Cemetery is at the SE corner of intersection of S.C. Hwy. 81 and S.C. Sec. Rd. 29 Located 1.09 miles northwest, this cemetery marks the original site of Hopewell Baptist Church, which was constituted in 1803. The cemetery contains graves of Revolutionary and Confederate veterans. Some graves are marked by field stones with hand-chiseled initials. Erected by the Congregation, 1975.

Hopewell Church is off S.C. Hwy. 81, 1/2 mile E on Road 29. This Baptist church, which was first located about 1.5 miles northwest, was constituted in 1803. The congregation moved to the present 4.4 acre site after it was surveyed December 14, 1822. Two houses of worship were built here before 1891, when a third was erected. It was replaced by the present 1949 structure. Erected by the Congregation, 1975.

Lady P - My Great Grandmother

2008-07-31T10:44:00.000-04:00

This is a story about Louisiana Prestine Chalfant (1855 - 1943)when she was was 8 years old. This incident is when her sick mother died due having no shelter and then her father died of grief she was 14 years old. She continued to live at China Grove Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana with her sister, Emma and her husband, J. Foster Collins and with her sister, Belle.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL (ATLANTA, GA), June 9, 1863, p.2, c.8

"A spunky Girl.--A letter in a Northern paper says:"One of the houses destroyed by the Queen of the West on her trip down the Mississippi belonged to an old gentleman, (Nathaniel Chalfant) who, with his two sons(Charles and James)and daughters (Mary, Belle, Emma, Ann and Louisiana) carried on the farm and worked the negroes. One of the young ladies admitted that her brother had fired on the Queen of the West, and only wished that he had been a dozen. She abused the colonel and berated the Federals. When she discovered that her abuse failed to move Colonel Ellett, just as the flames began to circle around the house top, she sang, in a ringing, defiant tone of voice, the "Bonnie Blue Flag." until forest and river echoed and re-echoed."

The Bonnie Blue Flag by Harry MaCarthy

We are a band of brothers and native to the soil,
Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil;
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far,
"Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star!"

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

As long as the Union was faithful to her trust,
Like friends and like brothers both kind were we and just;
But now, when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar,
We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand,
Then came Alabama, who took her by the hand;
Next quickly Mississippi, Georgia and Florida,
All raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Ye men of valor, gather round the banner of the right,
Texas and fair Louisiana join us in the fight;
Davis, our loved president, and Stephens statesman are,
Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

And here's to old Virginia, the Old Dominion State,
Who with the young Confederacy at length has linked her fate;
Impelled by her example, now other states prepare,
To hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise the joyous shout,
For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out;
And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given,
The single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be eleven.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Then here's to our Confederacy, strong are we and brave,
Like patriots of old we'll fight our heritage to save;
And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer,
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights hurrah!
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star.

"Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River" by Steve Mayeux. This story is included as a footnote - footnote looks as of now, in my rough draft:

[6] Ibid. This was originally a Chicago Tribune article, dateline February 15, 1863, and can be also be found quoted in Moore, The Rebellion Record, Vol. 6, 387, and Gosnell, Guns on the Western Waters, 183 (Bodman account). According to family stories handed down over the generations, the man who shot Master Thompson was Charles Chalfant, the 25-year-old son of plantation owners Nathaniel and Caroline Burrows Chalfant. Charles had been discharged from the 2nd La. Infantry in 1861 for physical disability. In the Chalfant version, Charles' sisters Isabella (known as Belle, and described as "cold, haughty and regal") and Emma had the Yankees drag their piano from the house, and one played while the other sang "The Bonny Blue Flag" as the house burned. They also reported that in addition to burning the house, the Yankees also burned the gin, the sugar house, the corn crib and twenty-two slave cabins, and stole the cattle and "cut the feet off of little calves." Stories collected by Linda Ellen Perry and posted on the Internet.

Dear Ms. Perry,
For years I have been trying to identify the girl who sang "The Bonny Blue Flag" while the Yankees burned her home down after her brother shot an officer aboard the USS Queen of the West, and now thanks to your geneology site I think I may have her narrowed down. And I also now know the name of the man who shot First Master James D. Thompson. (He died a few weeks later, and is now buried at the National Cemetery in Pineville, LA.)
I am writing a book on the history of Fort DeRussy, and this incident played a part in the history of the fort - the Queen of the West was captured at the fort two days after the plantations on the upper Atchafalaya were burned. Since Captain Thompson was injured, he could not be removed from the boat so it could not be burned, and therefore it fell into Confederate hands.
Steve Mayeux
President, Friends of Fort DeRussy

Occoquan Workhouse and Women's Voting Rights

2008-07-25T13:51:00.000-04:00

As we crossed the scenic Occoquan River on the way home, we decided to drive through the Fairfax County Park that runs along the bluff. We have visited the historic town of Occoquan, Virginia many times but had never gone into the park across the river. It was a beautiful drive through trees, picnic areas, hiking trails, scenic overlooks and sports fields. We came to a low domed brick building with a rusted metal door and barred openings a few feet off the ground. It was brick kiln which was used by prisoners the Occoquan Workhouse which later became Lorton Prison and now will reopen as an Arts Center. It jolted me to realize I was looking at part of the place of horror recounted in the story below. I do not know the author, as I found it on many sites.

"This is the story of our Grandmothers, and Great-grandmothers, as they lived only 90 years ago. It was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic."

They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the "Night of Terror" on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie (2004) "Iron Jawed Angels." It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. "One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie," she said. "What would those women think of the way I use--or don't use--my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn." The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her "all over again."

HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: "Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity."

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Remember to vote."

Blessed 4th of July 2008 - John Witherspoon and Benjamin Rush

2008-07-04T10:45:00.000-04:00

Please note that much of the blog information posted is not my orginial writing but is "cut and pasted from other sources."

On this 4th of July I am proud to be associated with Signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon. We share the same ancestors, James Witherspoon (b. 1640 Scotland) and Helen Welch. I descend from their daughter, Janet and he from their son, James. The Witherspoons are descended from the Scottish Reformer Rev. John Knox and his second wife, Lady Margaret Stewart. The Stewart line takes the family back to Charlemagne, as royal lines are well documented.

"The Rev. John Witherspoon was from a branch of a very respectable family, which had long possessed considerable landed property in the East of Scotland. He was descended from John Knox. His father was eminent, not only for piety, but for literature and for a habit of extreme accuracy in all his writings and discourses. His father a minister of Ester, about 18 miles from Edinburgh.

He went to school at Haddington and was a distinguished scholar. He entered the University of Edinburgh when he was 14. At 21, he was licensed to preach the gospel. His first church was at Beith, he them went to a large, flourishing congregation at Paisley. He was a profound scholar, he held two degrees, Doctor of Divinity and L. L. D. He was a great theologian who organized the spirit of Presbyterianism in this country.

He came to America in 1769 to be the President of the College of New Jersey, now called Princeton University, from 1769 to 1794. His wife had to be convinced by Benjamin Rush who was studying medicine in Scotland and Richard Stockton to come to the U.S. John brought 33 valuable books with him as a gift to the College. (Benjamin Rush is another signer of the Declaration of Independence and an outstanding father of America. I will blog about him soon. It is fun that our excellent neighbor and friend of decades, Ralph Stevens, is his descendant.)
John preached two sermons each Sunday, taught mathematics, natural philosophy, divinity, rhetoric, history, chronology, and French.

He was elected as a member of the Congress of the United States and served for 7 years from 1776 to 1779 and from 1781 to 1782. He taught them the importance of basing any form of government on the recognition that our true rights come directly from the hand of God. His life work is a powerful example of the impact one person can have on the renewal of our nation's religious, moral and constitutional roots.

John Witherspoon was the Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He said, "There is a tide in the affairs of men - a nick of time. We perceive it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That noble instrument upon your table should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house. He that will not respond to its accents and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions is unworthy of the name of freeman."

"Although these grey hairs must soon descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather that they should descend thither by the hand of the public executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country."

"Sir, in my judgment the country is not only ripe for the measure (Declaration of Independence) but in danger of rotting for the want on it." When the British burned his library, a colleague reported, 'He would lay aside the cloth to take revenge on them, I believe he would send them to the devil if he could."

He was described as of medium height, tended to stoutness, bushy eyebrows, prominent nose, large eyes and a commanding presence.

Dr. Witherspoon was a dedicated patriot who held one of the most responsible positions in Congress as the trusted financial counselor for the new republic. He was an affectionate husband, a tender parent to his twelve children, a kind master and a sincere friend. He was a good companion full of amusing and instructive stories. He was a powerful minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ using his melodious voice, good sense, elegant and beautiful expression to give sermons without notes or oratorical flourishes and gestures. He was called by John Adams, "as high a Son of Liberty, as any Man in America."

JOHN WITHERSPOON AND THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, by Jeffry H. Morrison, Notre Dame, $22.50, was reviewed in The Washington Times Sunday, August 28, 2005. Morrison argues that any one of the Witherspoon's three careers - pastor, college president and politician - should have guaranteed him the "prominent and lasting place in American history that he has been denied." Witherspoon signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, and, the author argues, only "a prior commitment to his ministerial duties" (attending to a conference to establish a national Presbyterian Church, where he was elected the first Moderator) kept him from playing a key role at the Constitutional Convention. He helped write the Presbyterians' national constitution, which "provides an interesting corollary to his pro-federal Constitution stand." Five of his students including James Madison were delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

Witherspoon was a man of many achievements in religion, education and politics.
Benjamin Rush decided to propose to his future wife partly because of her high opinion of Witherspoon's preaching.

Morrison states, "Even in his day some Americans were made uneasy by the idea of clergymen as legislators," and Witherspoon didn't make it easier for those Americans by insisting on wearing his clerical garb to the Continental Congress and composing religious proclamations in the name of that Congress. He was also accused of favoring "A general establishment of Protestantism," although the author argues that Witherspoon advocated nonestablishment.
Witherspoon, John (1723-1794), was the sixth president of Princeton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and from 1776 to 1782 a leading member of the Continental Congress. He came from Scotland in 1768 to assume the presidency of the college and held office until his death a quarter of a century later.

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, who received an honorary doctorate from St. Andrews in 1764, Witherspoon had become widely known as a leader of the evangelical or "Popular Party'' in the established Church of Scotland, of which he was an ordained minister. The trustees of the College first elected him president in 1766, after Samuel Finley's death; but Mrs. Witherspoon was reluctant to leave Scotland, and he declined. Thanks very largely to the efforts of Benjamin Rush 1760, then a medical student at Edinburgh, she was persuaded to reconsider. Informed that Witherspoon would now accept the call if renewed, the trustees again elected him to the presidency in December of 1767.

With their five surviving children (five others had died in early childhood), and 300 books for the college library, the Witherspoons reached Philadelphia early in August 1768. When a few days later they moved on to Princeton, they were greeted a mile out of town by tutors and students, who escorted them to Morven, home of Richard Stockton. That evening the students celebrated the occasion by 'illuminating' Nassau Hall with a lighted tallow dip in each window.

Witherspoon had arrived in time to provide the highlight for commencement, which in those days was held in September. Early in October, he wrote Rush that on the preceding 28th he had delivered "an inaugural Oration in Latin'' before "a vast Concourse of People.'' He was obviously heartened by the warmth of his reception, but he also reported a number of disturbing conditions in the state of the college. He found far too many of the students inadequately prepared for college work, a complaint frequently heard since, and one that explains the close attention he subsequently gave to the grammar school conducted by the college. Most worrisome of all was the low state of the college's finances.

With characteristic vigor, Witherspoon moved immediately to find the remedy. Taking advantage of the vacation between commencement and the beginning of a new term in November, he went first to New York and then on to Boston for consultation with friends of the College. During the next fall's vacation, he visited Williamsburg, where, the Virginia Gazette reported, he "preached to a crowded audience in the Capital yard (there being no house in town capable of holding such a multitude) and gave universal satisfaction.'' The concrete measure of that satisfaction was a collection taken at the end of the sermon amounting "to upwards of fifty-six pounds.'' The following February found him again in Virginia, and this was not the last of his southern tours.

By no means the least of the advantages that accrued to the College from his itinerant preaching was an increased enrollment of students, whose tuition continued to be the major source of revenue. Enrollment had reached a peak under President Finley, with graduating classes of 31 each in 1765 and 1766, but had fallen off thereafter. There were 11 graduates at the commencement of 1768, but 29 in 1773, and 27 in 1776. Simultaneously, a change occurred in the constituencies from which the students were drawn. Now, as before, most of them came from the middle provinces, but the representation from New England, which had been substantial, declined markedly, and a significant enrollment from the southern colonies began to develop.

Not all of Witherspoon's preaching was done on the road. Indeed, when in Princeton he normally preached twice each Sunday to a mixed congregation of townspeople and students, which only recently had acquired a place of worship apart from the Prayer Room of Nassau Hall. Their church had been constructed at the front of the present campus, where stands today a Presbyterian church of much later construction. According to Benjamin Rush, Witherspoon's manner in the pulpit was "solemn and graceful,'' his voice melodious, and his sermons ``loaded with good sense and adorned'' with "elegance and beauty'' of expression. But Rush was impressed above all by the fact that Witherspoon carried no notes into the pulpit, in sharp contrast with the "too common practice of reading sermons in America.'' Other contemporary descriptions indicate that he depended upon no oratorical flourishes or gestures. The story is told of a visitor who, observing that Witherspoon's enthusiasm for gardening was confined to growing vegetables, remarked, "Doctor, I see no flowers in your garden,'' to which came the reply, "No, nor in my discourses either.''

To the day of his death, his speech revealed his Scottish birth. A man of medium height, tending toward stoutness, with bushy eybrows, a prominent nose, and large ears, he had a quality contemporaries were inclined to describe as "presence.'' One of his students, a later president of the College, recalled that Witherspoon had more presence than any other man he had known, except for General Washington. Witherspoon lived at first in the President's House (now called the John Maclean House), but after several years he moved about a mile north of the village to "Tusculum,'' a handsome residence he built that still stands on Cherry Hill Road. His route to and from the College is well enough indicated by the street that bears his name.

President Witherspoon was obviously a very busy man, for in addition to managing the College's affairs and preaching twice on Sundays, he bore the heaviest responsibility for instruction of the students. His "faculty'' normally included two or three tutors (recent graduates who may have been pursuing, in such free time as they could find, advanced studies in divinity before moving on to some vacant pulpit) and one, later two, professors. Considering himself less than an accomplished scholar in mathematics and astronomy, he secured the appointment of a Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1771. This left to the president the main responsibility for the instruction in moral philosophy, divinity, rhetoric, history, and chronology, and also in French, for such students as might elect to study the language.

Witherspoon's administration marks an important turning point in the life of the college, but the changes he made were mainly of method and emphasis within the broad objectives which had been originally set. Thus, he brought to Princeton a fresh emphasis upon the need of the church for a well-educated clergy, a purpose to which the college had been dedicated at the time of its founding, but by men who at the height of a stirring religious revival may well have given first place to the church's need for "converted'' ministry. There is no indication that Witherspoon discounted the importance of a conversion experience, but on balance he tended to place the primary emphasis on education. His influence in helping to bring about a final reunion of all Presbyterians, who earlier had been sharply divided, in support of the College was one of his major accomplishments.

The founders had hoped too that the College might produce men who would be "ornaments of the State as well as the Church,'' and Witherspoon realized this hope in full measure. His students included, in addition to a president and vice-president of the United States, nine cabinet officers, twenty-one senators, thirty-nine congressmen, three justices of the Supreme Court, and twelve state governors. Five of the nine Princeton graduates among the fifty-five members of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were students of Witherspoon.

Witherspoon broadened and enriched the curriculum of the College. He was the first to introduce the new rhetoric of the eighteenth century, accomplishing his purpose by extending and intensifying instruction in English grammar and composition. He added substantially to the instructional equipment of the College, especially books for the library and "philosophical apparatus'' for instruction by demonstration in the sciences, including the famous Rittenhouse Orrery acquired in 1771. (Our family is related to David Rittenhouse through his wife, it appears. The three great scientist of the Colonial era were David Rittenhouse, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. Unfortunately, Rittenhouse has been forgotten except for Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia.)

He was not an original thinker, but he was a product of Scotland's leading university in an age when the Scottish universities had a vitality possessed by no others in Great Britain. Although certain leniencies encouraged by the Scottish Enlightenment had offended his orthodox Presbyterianism, Witherspoon introduced to Princeton, and through it to other institutions, some of the more advanced ideas of that movement. He subscribed to John Locke's view of the role of sensory perception in the development of the mind, but vigorously rejected all esoteric interpretations of that view. He saw no conflict between faith and reason; instead, he encouraged his students to test their faith by the rule of experience. He was much inclined to apply the test of common sense to any proposition, and to reduce it to its simplest terms. In lecturing on rhetoric he advised his students of the multiple components into which a discourse traditionally had been divided, and then suggested that it was enough to say that every discourse or composition ``must have a beginning, a middle, and an end.'' His name is rightly identified with certain attitudes and assumptions, considered to be of importance in the development of our national life, that are associated with what is known as the Common Sense Philosophy.

Though a man of strong convictions, he showed no inclination to protect his students from exposure to ideas with which he disagreed. The many books he added to the library gave the undergraduate access to a wide range of contemporary literature, including authors with whom he had publicly disputed. In his famous lectures on moral philosophy, not published until after his death and then probably contrary to his wish, his method was to lay out contending points of view and to rely upon persuasive reasoning to guide the student toward a proper conclusion of his own.

Witherspoon had a helpful sense of humor. He suffered from insomnia, and his tendency to drowse, particularly after dinner, led him, during one of the two terms he served in the New Jersey legislature, to move that the daily sessions be concluded before dinner. When his motion lost, he informed his colleagues that "there are two kinds of speaking that are very interesting . . . perfect sense and perfect nonsense. When there is speaking in either of these ways I shall engage to be all attention. But when there is speaking, as there often is, halfway between sense and nonsense, you must bear with me if I fall asleep.''

In his support of the American cause there is no occasion for surprise. He subscribed to John Locke's political philosophy as wholeheartedly as to his psychology, and brought from Scotland a strong sense of "British liberty,'' which he came to see as greatly endangered by the course of British policy. When John Adams stopped over in Princeton on his way to the first meeting of the Continental Congress in 1774, he met Witherspoon and pronounced him "as high a Son of Liberty, as any Man in America.''

Through the years he served in Congress, Witherspoon's patriotism and judgment won the respect of his colleagues, as evidenced by his assignment to many committees, some of them among the most important. He struggled through these years -- not always successfully -- to keep the College in session, and he became a frequent commuter between Princeton and Philadelphia. He resigned from Congress in November 1782, when a war that had cost him the life of his son James (who graduated from the College in 1770 and was killed in Germantown) was ended, and peace, with American independence, seemed assured.

Witherspoon's later years were filled with difficulty. The college had suffered extensive damage to its building and instructional equipment, and its finances were in disarray. Two years before his death he became totally blind. His wife died in 1789, and a second marriage in 1791 to a young widow of twenty-four occasioned more than a little comment. Through these later years his son-in-law, Samuel Stanhope Smith, increasingly carried the responsibility for conduct of the College's affairs.

But through these later years, too, Witherspoon remained remarkably active and influential. He was a member of the ratifying convention that brought to New Jersey the honor of being the third state to ratify the Constitution of the United States. He contributed greatly to the organization of a newly independent and national Presbyterian Church and in 1789 opened its first General Assembly with a sermon and presided until the election of the first moderator. Above all, the name he had won as a divine, an educator, and a patriot brought returning strength to the College. He is rightly remembered as one of the great presidents of Princeton.
W. Frank Craven

From Alexander Leitch, A Princeton Companion, copyright Princeton University Press (1978).
Go to Search A Princeton Companion
* Dr. John Witherspoon, who wrote, "I entreat you in the most earnest manner to believe in Jesus Christ, for there is no salvation in any other [Acts 4:12]...."
* Dr. Benjamin Rush, an innovator of mass-produced Bible printing, initiator of the Sunday school movement in America and founder of the first Bible society in our nation.
* John Dickinson, also a signer of the U.S. Constitution, who wrote in his will: "Rendering thanks to my Creator for my existence and station among His works, for my birth in a country enlightened by the Gospel and enjoying freedom, and for all His other kindnesses, to Him I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity."

Bats and Basements

2008-06-02T11:20:00.000-04:00

Smile – This is from Lyn’s blog about our adventure. Photos later
The latest flood
Along with the bat story, below, my parents also woke up to a flood in the basement. Again. This time, a pipe burst. In the library. There are probably 16 fully loaded bookcases in there, so the carpet can’t be air dried very easily. Dad used their carpet cleaner machine to suck up water for about 5 hours. I pulled another 3 gallons of water out of the carpet too. The plumber finally arrived and it took about 2 hours to fix the problem. Apparently the carpet can not be salvaged, so strong men must be hired to pack up the books, move the book cases. Then Beth & Dad will lay a tile floor in there. Good choice!

Batmen and Robin
Somehow a bat got into my parents house yesterday. Their cat was very fascinated with trying to catch it and was tearing all over the house batting at it. Dad tried to shoo it out the window for a while, then it hid behind a bookcase. It finally took three grown men to catch the bat in a trash can with the clothes hamper lid. Here are the mighty bat warriors:Notice that Tim is wearing 'professional' protective clothing...a coat and gloves...so that he is not bitten or scratched by said poor bat.And here's the cute little fella before he flew away:

By George, She is a writer!

2008-06-01T06:21:00.000-04:00

My favorite book in the whole world is, "The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare (Nov. 21, 1908 to Nov. 15, 1994). I wrote letters to her many times telling her of my love for her books and the impact they had on my life but I never mailed them. They were too important to have end up on a publishers fan pile or trash instead of in her hands. She is rightly called one America's 100 most popular children's authors. Her books have received 2 Newbery Medals, the Newbery Honor Citation, the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and the Christopher Award. In 1989, Speare received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her distinguished and enduring contribution to children's literature.

Elizabeth was born in to Harry Allan and Demetria George in Melrose, MA. Her childhood, as she later recalled, was "exceptionally happy" and Melrose was "an ideal place in which to have grown up, close to fields and woods where we hiked and picnicked, and near to Boston where we frequently had family treats of theaters and concerts." She had an extended family with one brother and many aunts, uncles, and cousins, and most importantly, very loving and supportive parents. Speare lived much of her life in New England, the setting for many of her books.

Speare discovered her gift for writing at the age of eight and began composing stories while still in high school. After completing her BA degree at Smith College, she earned her MA in English from Boston University and taught English at several private Massachusetts high schools. In 1936 she met her future husband, Alden Speare, (I imagine I would love their family histories. Sounds like he is an Alden descendant.) They married and raised two children; Alden, Jr., who was born in 1939, and Mary in 1942. Although Speare always intended to write, the challenges and responsibilities of being a mother and wife drained her of any free time. Speare began to focus seriously on literature when her children were in junior high school.

Speare's first published work was a magazine article about skiing with her children. She also wrote many other magazine articles based on her experiences as a mother, and even experimented with one-act plays.

Her first novel, "Calico Captive", was published in 1957. It tells of women and children captured by Indians in New England and marched to Canada to be sold as slaves to the French. In my family, we have a similar story of brothers who are stolen out of the fields in Texas and sold as slaves by the Indians to other Indians. "The Boy Captives" tells their tale. "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," tells the story of a young woman who struggles to adjust to her New England home after being raised Barbados. "The Bronze Bow", published in 1961, is a tale of Christ and a young Jewish boy's fight against the Romans. He learns that a bow of bronze will bend with love better than with hate. (Walden Media needs to do a film of it.) In 1984, "The Sign of the Beaver" my least favorite of her books was published. She wrote an interesting adult book on David Brainerd and the Christian colony of whites and Indians living together but I can find no references to it. She was a bright, articulate Christian who communicated her faith clearly to the secular world. She need more of her ability and grace.

Speare said, "it was always a thrill to watch some girl or boy discover for the first time the enchantment of reading and writing".

She died in Tucson, AZ at 85 years of age.

It is strange that there are other author's named, Elizabeth George. One is a speaker at women's events and television and radio programs. She worked for Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California. She also taught at the Grace Logos Bible Institute, Talbot Theological Seminary and The Master's Seminary. Her husband Jim taught and served as Talbot Dean of Admissions and Placement. Jim and Elizabeth's ministry is to create books for practical Christian living and personal Bible study. They have two married daughters and seven grandchildren, and live and write on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula in Washington.

The other George is Susan Elizabeth George, who is an American mystery author who writes about Inspector Lynley in England. The stories are also on BBC TV.

Sojourner Truth - anti-slavery and for women's rights

2008-05-31T10:42:00.000-04:00

Isabella Baumfree (1797–November 26, 1883) was the name she was given at birth, but God renamed her: Sojourner "because I was to travel up an' down the land, showin' the people their sins, an' bein' a sign unto them." She soon asked God for a second name, "'cause everybody else had two names; and the Lord gave me Truth, because I was to declare the truth to the people."

To me, she has the prefect name for a Christian living for Christ at the beginning of a new millennium. We are to see ourselves as travelers in a foreign land speaking out boldly for truth to ears that do not want to hear or be disturbed in the midst of their pleasure.

All of Sojourner's days of slavery were in the North not the South. She lived in New York, 95 miles north of New York City. Slaves were freed in NY on July 4th, 1827. She spoke only Dutch in her youth and carried the accent all her life. When she was 9 years old she was sold to John Neely who raped and beat her every day, she reported. She was beaten by others for her speeches and stand.

Reminiscences by Frances Gage of the Women's Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio, May 1851.
"There were very few women in those days who dared to "speak in meeting"; and the august teachers of the people were seemingly getting the better of us, while the boys in the galleries, and the sneerers among the pews, were hugely enjoying the discomfiture, as they supposed, of the "strong-minded." Some of the tender-skinned friends were on the point of losing dignity, and the atmosphere betokened a storm. When, slowly from her seat in the corner rose Sojourner Truth, who, till now, had scarcely lifted her head. "Don't let her speak!" gasped half a dozen in my ear. She moved slowly and solemnly to the front, laid her old bonnet at her feet, and turned her great speaking eyes to me. There was a hissing sound of disapprobation above and below. I rose and announced "Sojourner Truth," and begged the audience to keep silence for a few moments."

"The tumult subsided at once, and every eye was fixed on this almost Amazon form, which stood nearly six feet high, head erect, and eyes piercing the upper air like one in a dream. At her first word there was a profound hush. She spoke in deep tones, which, though not loud, reached every ear in the house, and away through the throng at the doors and windows."

"Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen (historians say she had five) children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or Negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it. The men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.”
--Sojourner Truth

Her last words were "Be a follower of the Lord Jesus." This is the best advice anyone could ever give!

William Wetmore Story, the son of famed Supreme Court Chief Justice, Joseph Story sculpted his "Libyan Sibyl" and it is said to be modeled on Sojourner Truth. It is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. His "Angel of Grief" is one of my favorite statures, especially the copy in the Friendship Cemetary in Columbus, MS. My 5th great grandfather, Charles Story, is reputed to be from this family but I have found no connection.

Family Women's Suffrage and Temperance leaders

2008-05-30T10:56:00.000-04:00

I am proud of the strong women in my family history. I never have been able to understand the feminists and their version of history with helpless women who hated their family responsibilities. I work in the prolife movement as the director of a Pregnancy Center which seeks to assist women to affirm their bodies, their pregnancies and their children. We also provide healing through Jesus Christ to women to have made poor choices. Here are two distant relatives who helped women get the right to vote and who helped to protect their families from the troubles which come from the abuse of alcohol.

Zerelda Wallace is a great niece of my great grandfather, Nathaniel Chalfant. Corporal Nathan Chalfant served in the War of 1812 under her grandfather, Lt. Col. Presley Gray.

Copied from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Zerelda G. Wallace
Zerelda Gray Sanders Wallace (August 6, 1817 – March 19, 1901) was a First Lady of Indiana, a contemporary of Susan B. Anthony, an early temperance and women's suffrage leader, a charter member of Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Indianapolis, and stepmother of Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

Early life and family
Born Zerelda Gray Sanders, August 6, 1817 in Kentucky , she came to Indianapolis with her family in the early 1830s . She was a charter member of the Church of Christ in 1834 (later renamed Central Christian Church) which went on to be the "mother church" of all Disciples of Christ congregations in Indiana. She was elected the first president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Indiana in 1874 and was a member of the Equal Suffrage Society of Indiana.

She married David Wallace on December 25, 1836; they had six children, Mary, Ellen, Sanders, Jemina, Agnes and David. She was stepmother to Wallace's three sons from his first marriage to Esther French Test. Her stepsons were William, Lewis and Edward. David Wallace became the sixth governor of Indiana, serving from December 6, 1837 to December 9, 1840.

Temperance and suffrage leader
Zerelda spoke nationally on temperance and suffrage. On January 21, 1875, she testified before the Indiana General Assembly, presenting 21,050 signatures on temperance petitions from 47 counties. (Do you see that petitions have a long and effective history?) On January 23, 1880, Zerelda testified before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on women's right to vote. She died March 19, 1901 and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

Zerelda Wallace became a temperance leader first in the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, when in 1883 she refused communion at Central Christian Church because of her convictions about alcohol. Her refusal eventually led to the use of grape juice rather than wine at communion celebrated during each worship service of the Disciples of Christ.

An Indiana State Historical Marker was erected in Zerelda Wallace's honor in 2004 along Fort Wayne Avenue in downtown Indianapolis on the grounds of the Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The marker is located on Fort Wayne Avenue, an angle street, in the block between Alabama and Delaware Streets. Indiana's first female lieutenant governor, Kathy Davis, led the dedication ceremony for the marker.

Caroline Thomas Merrick was the sister of my great, great, grandmother, Ellen Aurelia Thomas Miller. Here is a copied biography. The book that Caroline wrote in 1906 is available on line.

Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Person in Cyclopedia Form, Vol. 5, pp. 298 - 299.

Merrick, Caroline E., was a daughter of Capt. David and Elizabeth (Patillo) Thomas. She was born at Cottage Hall, parish of East Feliciana, LA., Nov 24, 1825, died in New Orleans, LA, 29 March 1908. Her father was a native of South Carolina and a soldier in the War of 1812, settling afterward in LA where he became a prominent planter.

Mrs. Merrick was secretary of the board of St. Ann's Asylum for Widows for 12 years, and in the constitutional convention of 1879 she with Mrs. Saxon petitioned the convention to remove those disabilities which restricted the independent action of women, and to grant them a vote in educational matters, since many were large tax payers. The convention gave them a public hearing, at which Mrs. Harriett Keating, of New York, and Mrs. Saxon spoke, and Mrs. Merrick made the concluding address. Her husband, Edwin Thomas Merrick - former Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, encouraged her to the undertaking which resulted in the concession which enabled women of 21 years and older to hold any managerial position under the school laws of the state.

Another constitutional convention was held in 1899 and another opportunity was afforded Mrs. Merrick and her associates to plead their cause. They begged for power for to sign notarial acts, to witness wills, to own their own wardrobes, to draw their own money from banks without written authorization from their husbands, and to exercise municipal suffrage. But the convention revoked the concessions granted in 1879, and gave in its place only the small privilege of voting when a question of imposing taxes came up, a privilege restricted to tax paying women. Mrs. Merrick continued to work for the enfranchisement of women in her own state and elsewhere. She was made honorary vice president for life of the Woman's Suffrage Association of LA when she resigned the presidency in 1900. For 10 years she was president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Louisiana, and was one of the first presidents of the Woman's general society of which she became honorary vice president.

She was the author of published stories of pronounce literary merit and of a volume of recollections of her own times entitled "Old Times in Dixie Land". She was a notable example of what a woman may do when actively interested in public and private benevolence, and at the same time maintain her position as a leader in domestic circles.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity." Proverbs 31:25a Hurrah for women who know their minds and speak them!

Prince Caspian

2008-05-17T20:25:00.000-04:00

We went to see PRINCE CASPIAN yesterday. Movieguide gave it 4 *'s (their highest rating and +1 for acceptablity) and found it to be an exciting, fantastic epic in the tradition of LORD OF THE RINGS. (Like LOTR it is basically a war/battle movie with some good lines and beautiful scenery.) Despite some loose ends, it re-imagines the C. S. Lewis book’s story, which is about having faith in God through the Christ figure of Aslan. (Aslan does not appear as much in the film as He does in the book which is too bad.) Ultimately it is God who determines the future of Narnia (and of America). MOVIEGUIDE® commends the filmmakers for being faithful to the book’s spiritually uplifting, redemptive themes. They turned a complex plot into an exciting adventure.

I am a Christian

2008-05-17T09:12:00.001-04:00

In recent days I have run across several versions of the poem, When I say, "I am a Christian."

Here is the original poem.

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not shouting, "I've been saved!"I'm whispering, "I get lost! That's why I chose this way"
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't speak with human pride I'm confessing that I stumble-needing God to be my guide
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong, I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success,
I'm admitting that I've failed and cannot ever pay the debt
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't think I know it all, I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect, my flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it
When I say, "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain, I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name
When I say, "I am a Christian," I do not wish to judge, I have no authority--I only know I'm loved. Copyright 1988 Carol Wimmer

Next is the version, incorrectly attributed to Maya Angelou, I posted in a letter sent to friends and family.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin'' I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!'

Graham Weeks posted it this way and said, "I received this from an Afghan Christian friend who is suffering for his faith."

When I say, "I Am A Christian - A Follower of Jesus Christ" ... I am not screaming that I am HOLY! - I am only whispering that I was lost and now I am found and forgiven.
When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not saying this with pride. I am only confessing that I slip and I am a sinner and I need Christ to guide me.
When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not trying to be strong. I only confess that I am weak and to continue my life I need His Power.
When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not proud of my achievements. I only accept that I have failed and need God to fix my life and my wrong doings.
When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not claiming to be perfect. My weaknesses and failures are obvious, but God values me.
When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not immune to pain and suffering. I have my share of pain and suffering, so I trust in His Name.
When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not saying I am holier than you. I am nothing but a sinner who has received the Grace of God - His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. "

I must say like Graham, I like the last version best and thank God I can say, I am a Christian.

This quote goes well with it.

For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is--limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death--He had the honesty and courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it was well worthwhile.... Dorothy L. Sayers, Christian Letters to a Post- Christian World [1969]

Bear Story

2008-05-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

Today I would love to be a bear. This was an email I received from a cousin. The writer must have shared it as part of her Sunday School lesson. Forget the reincarnation junk and smile.

"Hey ladies! Several of you asked for the bear story from my lesson yesterday, (glad you go for the spiritual stuff ), so here it is...In this life I'm a woman.
In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.
When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup---gonna be a bear."

Thank you, Lady Bird

2008-05-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

My daughter and I drove to North Carolina for the weekend, enjoying the wildflowers by the side of the highways along the way. Thank you, Lady Bird Johnson, for a great idea full of natural beauty. I would love to visit Texas and see the Blue Bonnets around the Lyndon Baines Johnson
Ranch when they are in bloom. I was hoping the Jenna Bush wedding photos had blue bonnets as a backdrop but I don't see any in the released photos. (Henry's father, Lt. Gov. John Hager, spoke at our Assist Pregnancy Center Banquet a few years ago.) I enjoy the beautification projects that Mrs. Johnson inspired here in the D. C. area as well. Here is an edited bio of my distant relative, Lady Bird.

Mrs. Lyndon Baines Johnson was born Claudia Alta Taylor in Karnack, Texas on December 22, 1912. She died in Austin, Texas on July 11, 2007 at the age of 94 and was buried beside her husband in the family cemetery at the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas.

Mrs. Johnson's father was Thomas Jefferson Taylor, owner of a general store who declared himself "dealer in everything." Her mother, Minnie Pattillo Taylor, died when the little girl was but five-years old. She had two older brothers, Tommy and Tony. After her mother's death, Mrs. Johnson's Aunt Effie Pattillo moved to Karnack to look after her. At an early age, a nursemaid said she was "as purty as a lady bird" -- thereafter she became known to her family and friends as "Lady Bird." Mrs. Johnson grew up in the "Brick House" and attended a small rural elementary school in Harrison County, Texas. She graduated from Marshall High School in 1928, and attended Saint Mary's Episcopal School for Girls in Dallas from 1928 to 1930.

Mrs. Johnson entered the University of Texas in 1930 and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1933 with a major in history. She earned a journalism degree in 1934. Many colleges and universities have awarded Mrs. Johnson honorary degrees. Throughout her life, she supported and was very interested in the activities of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, both located on The University of Texas campus in Austin.

After a whirlwind courtship, Claudia Alta Taylor and Lyndon Baines Johnson were married on November 17, 1934 at Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas. Two daughters were born to the Johnsons: Lynda Bird Johnson (1944) (Mrs. Charles S. Robb) resides in Virginia; and Luci Baines Johnson (1947) (married to Ian Turpin) lives in Austin, Texas. Mrs. Johnson had seven grandchildren -- one boy and six girls -- and eleven great-grandchildren. President Johnson died at his beloved LBJ Ranch on January 22, 1973.

Mrs. Johnson was the author of A White House Diary, a record of her activities which she kept during the years her husband served as the 36th President of the United States. About writing A White House Diary, Mrs. Johnson said, "I was keenly aware that I had a unique opportunity, a front row seat, on an unfolding story and nobody else was going to see it from quite the vantage point that I saw it." She also co-authored Wildflowers Across America with Carlton Lees.

In 1977, President Gerald Ford presented Mrs. Johnson with this country's highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. Mrs. Johnson received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

First and foremost, Mrs. Johnson was an environmentalist, and she was an active worker on innumerable projects. In Washington, she enlisted the aid of friends to plant thousands of tulips and daffodils which still delight visitors to our nation's Capital. The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 was the result of Mrs. Johnson's national campaign for beautification. In 1999, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt presented Mrs. Johnson with the Native Plant Conservation Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award. At that time he said, "Mrs. Johnson has been a 'shadow’ Secretary of the Interior' for much of her life."

Mrs. Johnson was honorary chairman of the LBJ Memorial Grove on the Potomac in Washington, D. C. On her 70th birthday in 1982, Mrs. Johnson founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the preservation and re-establishment of native plants in natural and planned landscapes. In December, 1997, the Center was renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in honor of Mrs. Johnson's 85th birthday. In December 1972, President and Mrs. Johnson gave the LBJ Ranch house and surrounding property to the people of the United States as a national historic site, retaining a life estate in the Ranch. Mrs. Johnson continued to live at the Ranch in Stonewall, Texas until her death. She was a member of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Lady Bird or Claudia Alta Taylor was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Taylor III and Minnie Lee Patillo and 5 generations ago we shared grandparents, George Alexander Pattillo and Martha Varner. Here is some information on our common ancestor.

George Alexander PATTILLO Birth: 1720 in Dundee, Angus County, Scotland Death: 9 Jun 1798 in Lunenburg, Charlotte County, Virginia
" George Alexander Pattillo, b. ca. 1720 in Scotland; d. 9 June 1798, Charlotte Co., Va. Married Martha Varner (Varnor, Vernon) of Penn. in Va., 1 July 1757. She was b. 1 Feb. 1735.
George came from Dundee, Angus County, Scotland to America with his brother, Henry Pattillo in 1740. George and his younger brother, Henry, had supposedly been in Penn. before moving to Va. They were closely associated with a large group of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who had emigrated about 1734, by way of Penn., to the southern part of Virginia. The group we speak of settled in and around Cub Creek, Charlotte Co., then Lunenburg Co. John Caldwell seemed to be the leader of this particular group as the area near Cub Creek was known as the "Caldwell Settlement"(His grandson was Vice President John C. (Caldwell) Calhoun.) They helped establish Washington College and now Washington and Lee University and Hampden Sydney College.

It was located near Phenix near the Red Hill home of Patrick Henry. In 1742, the first log church was built as one of the first 6 churches of the first Presbytery of VA and it was used until 1820. The church was established in 1738 on more than 30,000 acres on Cub Creek by the colony of Scotch-Irish. In May 1739, John Caldwell got permission from the Synod of Philadelphia to ask the Governor of Virginia "with suitable instructions in order to procure ther favour of the government of that province to the laying a foundation of our interest in that place and to ask for the Colony Liberty of Conscience and the priviledge of worshiping God in a way agreeable to the principles of our education."

William Caldwell executed a deed, 2 Apr. 1751, in Lunenburg Co., Va., for the conveyance of one acre of ground on his land for a burial place to thirty-one men in his neighborhood. Among these men whose families we find closely associated with the Pattillo family were David Logan, James Logan, John Middleton, Isaac Vernon (Varner, Varnon) and Henry Pattillo. (Va. Hist. Mag., Vol. XVIII, pp. 40-41)

I hope you note that my claims to be Empress have some faint historic facts to support them. :)

Happy 60th Birthday ISRAEL May 8 2008

2008-05-09T15:04:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Israel. May there be peace in Jerusalem and throughout the land. Israel turned 60 on May 8th on the Jewish calendar. "We salute the brave men and women whom God brought back to the Holy Land to fulfill the prophecies of Ezekiel 36 & 37 -- to rebuild the ancient ruins, make the deserts bloom, create an "exceedingly great army" and forge a homeland to protect and defend the Jewish people from all enemies, foreign and domestic." (Joshua Fund)

God says: "I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them a singleness of heart and action so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will most assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul." (Jeremiah 32:37-41).

I am old enough to remember the excitement many expressed in seeing prophesy fulfilled in the early years of the nation of Israel. Certainly I grew up with an expectation of the soon return of Christ the Messiah to the earth. My expectation remains but, hey, Christians in the first century looked for the Messiah too. I am praying for the success of Jews for Jesus' "Behold Your God Campaign" which is underway.

When we spent two weeks in Israel in 1970, we decided that Israel would be a country we would enjoy living in. As we came in to the airport at Tel Aviv, we were addressed in Hebrew repeatedly. The customs men would not believe we were not Sabra (native born) or that at least
we had relatives in the country. It was late on Friday afternoon and when we went to the taxi stand I was questioned as to why a "good Jewish girl" was traveling, as the Sabath was about to begin. I stated I was a Christian so the man spit on the ground stating, "Well, that explains it." It was a funny experience as I attended University High School in West Los Angeles, CA. The high school was nearly empty on the Jewish High Holiday days and we Gentiles used to say, "Unihi was 99 and 44/100% Jewish."

I loved seeing the sites where Jesus and other Biblical persons walked. Salvations history played out in time, space and history. Denny and I really enjoy the DVD's by Ray Vander Laan, founder of That the World May Know Ministries. You are see the places of Biblical history through them.

Veggie murder

2008-05-07T21:27:00.000-04:00

In a culture which has little respect for the unwanted child in the womb, I thought this was a new low in craziness. With the thought expressed below, everytime you have a salad at a table with a floral arrangement you have become a mass murderer.

Switzerland Ethics Committee Calls for the Right to Life of PlantsBern, Switzerland (LifeNews.com) -- A group of Swiss experts are arguing that plants deserve the right to life and that killing them is morally wrong except when it comes to saving humans. In a report on "the dignity of the creature in the plant world", the federal Ethics Committee on non-human Gene Technology condemned the decapitation of flowers without reason. In a new article published in this week's Weekly Standard, bioethicist Wesley Smith opines: "Switzerland's enshrining of 'plant dignity' is a symptom of a cultural disease that has infected Western civilization, causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns. It also reflects the triumph of a radical anthropomorphism that views elements of the natural world as morally equivalent to people." Smith notes that once society began to diminish the view of the worth of human beings by abortion, euthanasia and other practices, it makes sense that scientists would push for the rights of plants. "Our accelerating rejection of the Judeo-Christian world view, which upholds the unique dignity and moral worth of human beings, is driving us crazy. Once we knocked our species off its pedestal, it was only logical that we would come to see fauna and flora as entitled to rights."

We went to see "Expelled" with Ben Stein today which pointed out that the acceptance of Darwin's worldview of the "survival of the fittest" was the basis of the eugenics movement in America, Germany and elsewhere. I was encouraged to see that abortion and euthanasia were shown to be an outcome of such thinking. Margaret Sanger and her Planned Parenthood continue the thought with abortion mills in black neighborhoods. Day Gardner, Lillie Epps and others protested at the DC PP last week. They stated that 39% of abortions are in the Africian American community which is 12% of the population.

May we properly appreciate and protect human life and value this beautiful creation from God.

Max McLean Screwtapes Letters

2008-05-07T21:05:00.000-04:00

It was amusing today to go to google and put in “Max McLean Screwtape Letters” and find that they had posted Beth’s comments on the show from her Blog. From blog to published on a Theater website as a review. I love it! It was also interesting to view the TV interview posted there. Please do watch it. I think you would all enjoy it and would get a sense of the production.

Last night in small group we watched a tape of Dean Jones in his one man show “St. John in Exile”. It is a wonderful and insightful view of John at 86 on the Isle of Patmos. So much for my theater reviews for today. Next is Beth from the Screwtape website -
"This afternoon, my mom and I trekked downtown to see Max McLean in his one (well, really two) man show of CS Lewis' Screwtape Letters. I can't think of when I enjoyed a trip to the theater more - it was seriously wonderful.Max McLean has always been a dramatic reader to me. If you get the chance to hear his CD of Jonathan Edward's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, do so. His voice and voice performance is amazing. But as Screwtape he was wonderful. And Toadpipe nearly stole the show - she was fantastic, not just as she scribbled down the letters, but as she became the personifications of the various illustrations Screwtape used in his letters."--Beth
This review by Perry (not me) was well word smithed and I wish I could write so well.
Usually, one-person shows stretch my patience, but this adaptation of C.S. Lewis's epistolary novel was a sinfully delicious exception. Scaling to an upper floor to St. Clement's Theatre, we look down on a wondrously appalling vision of hell, where His Abysmal Sublimity Screwtape has his efficient little office. McLean veers deftly between the various Screwtapes we encounter in his letters. Generally, he is avuncular in his correspondence with his unseen acolyte Wormwood as this junior temptor strives here on earth to recruit his first soul to the netherworld. Yet as Wormwood's fortunes shift -- along with his own -- Screwtape may rage, shrivel into unctuous servility, or reveal his primal cannibalistic core.Greatly enriching this infernal treat was Karen Eleanor Wight as Toadpipe, Screwtape's eternally silent personal secretary. Slithering on the floor to transcribe her master's dictation, slinking up a pole to post it, Toadpipe was a constant undertow of evil even when Screwtape himself was his most charming and provocative -- a Cirque du Soleil imp turned into nightmare. During those delicious instances when she bared her teeth, we realized that the servile Toadpipe was also a carnivore, hungrily dependent on her master's scraps."