Respect the past...

Ms. Jane (Janie I call her) is by far one of my favorite customers. I know that I talk a lot about the irrate people that come into my store (and there are many) but I want to focus on a real sweetheart.

Ms. Janie is an older lady with a sparkling smile and a face of grandmother meeting you at the door with milk and cookies. She spends her time giving all that she can for soldiers who fought, soldiers who are fighting and soldiers who have given thier lives fighting for us. She knows generals, colonels, and all the brass this side of Georgia. There are officers around here that have the power to send 100's of men to war, but to Ms. Janie they are little boys who run in the backyard using a fallen tree branch as a gun and throwing pine cones as grenades; and those officers respect her for that.

Today Ms. Janie came in to ask about some of her accounts as she often does. Whenever she comes in I hope to have a stack of magazines to send with her to the wounded soldiers she visits weekly. Today, I had actual books donated by my mom. Ms. Janie was thrilled as always with what I gave her and she wanted to show me something.

She pulled from her purse a printed e-mail and a little card (the kind of card they give out at funerals with information about the recently departed person). On that card was a black and white picture of a grinning man wearing a barnstormer leather helmet. He had the goggles and all and he looked thrilled. Ms. Janie told me that this was Elmer "Gene" Browning and that he had recently passed away. She said "love, I am going to keep you for a minute because I want you to hear his fascinating story."

Elmer was a ball turret gunner on a B-17 fighter plane. His plane was shot down in Germany where it crash landed in an open field. Gene's shoulder and hip was hurt during the crash. He had to drag himself into the woods with his parachute in tow. When he made it to the woods, he heard some men coming towards him. He quickly gathered up some leaves and began to bury his parachute and himself. However, the men got to him just as he was about to cover himself up. He was very frightened of course. When he looked up at the men (there were two) he saw that one was holding a garden hoe. The men quickly grabbed Gene and all he could think of was that he was about to be beaten to death with the garden hoe the one man was carrying. The two men quickly dragged Gene towards a barn next to a garden. He felt a bit better about the hoe because he saw the garden and felt that these men were actual farmers. The men pulled him into the barn and began to undress him. Again, Gene had no idea what was about to happen especially when the men were now undressing him! They took his pistol from inside his jacket and another older man emerged from the back of the barn with some old farm clothes. They dressed Gene in the clothes quickly and took him out to the garden. The older man handed him the garden hoe, pushed his head to face the ground and mimicked him chopping the ground with the hoe. At this time the Nazi soldiers were coming past the farm and yelling at the farmers asking if they saw an American soldier come past. The farmers began yelling "yes,yes!" and pointed that the man was headed down the road. After the soldiers had left, the farmers took Gene into the barns storage room; removed the wood slats and made a makeshift bed in the wall of the storage area so that Gene could rest and heal.

After several months the farmers were able to contact the American consolate and arrange safe passage for Gene back to safety. He was carried by horse and cart for many miles before he made it back to the American side.

This story was so inspiring that I had to write about it. I dont ever have much to write about but this had to be told. There is much more to know about Gene and I intend to read as much as possible. I just "met" him today and I already think he is a fine American. Not only that, but those farmers were fine Germans to help him in his time of need.

finally something to write about...

On May 20, 2011 my family lost the strongest woman ever known. My grandmother, AvieLou Brandon passed early Friday morning after 94 years of life. And it was a like well lived.
In 1916, AvieLou Winters was born to a humble family of dirt farmers and cotton pickers. She spent her childhood working and going to tent revivals. Very early in life she knew that she wanted to serve the Lord her God. She met Richard "Buster" Brandon later in life. After she would work all day in the cotton fields, she would stay after and gather the scraps of cotton. She did this to make a marriage bed for her and her soon to be husband. She knew that "Buster" would be her husband and mate for life.
As I said before, AvieLou knew God and she prayed to Him almost every day of her life. My cousin Valerie said at her funeral "I sometimes believed grandmother had a hotline to God". Well, I think so too. I watched my grandmother go to her knees during her "devotional" to God. She would begin her prayer with a greeting to God and thanking Him for hearing her prayer. She would then begin to pray for each and everything that went on in her life until the pain and sorrow of those she was praying for consumed her soul to the point of tears. She would tell God of how she prayed and fasted, fasted and prayed that His grace would be upon anyone who did not seek Him. She would pray that her words would fall on His ears like a beautiful melody. She cried. And not a sad cry, but an emotional cry to God pouring out her soul because she knew she was not worthy of His grace. She came to God as a child begging for forgiveness for the things that she had done or even the things she may do. I listened as my grandmother kept the line to God open at all times.
One day I was sad. I was sad because my mom told me she would come and get me and take me to play. She wasnt there when I expected and I asked grandmother if we could pray for her to come. We went to our knees in the living room facing the front of the house. With the front door open so we could see the road we began to pray. Grandmother asked God to bring my momma home to me. She told God that I was sad and that I wanted my momma. Soon after we prayed, my mom showed up. My grandmother DOES have a direct line to God!.
My oldest brother Jeff lived with my grandparents. In 1985 I lived with my dad in Huntsville. We got a call on Saturday morning that my brother had died in a car accident. My grandmother was devastated. I went to Gadsden with my dad to be with my grandparents and when I got there my grandmother was on her knees with tears in her eyes. You could have hit her with a baseball bat and it would not have hurt her more than losing my brother. But she prayed for my brother and she prayed him into Gods arms.
I did not visit or call my grandmother like I should have. I lived a life that she would not approve of. I felt judged. Little did I know that she was not judging me, she was praying for me. She loved me so much. She would often tell me that she was ready to sell her piano to get me back from Mobile when child services had me. She would always greet me with "hi there, how are you?" I would say "I am good grandmother, how are you?" and she would respond "I am well for someone my age, the Lord keeps me going after all these years". She always smiled when she saw me.
I miss her voice. I miss her words. I miss her prayers. I miss my grandmother. Its strange that when my granddaddy died I did not feel the need to write even though I loved him just as much. But my grandmother introduced me to God and she never let me forget Him. Because of that I am a better man today.
I miss you grandmother. I know that angels lifted you to heaven and Jesus met you at the gates. I know that God said to you "welcome home my faithful child". You are with Buster right now and I know you are happy. Give granddaddy a hug for me. Tell Jeff I miss him very much. Tell dad I hope he can run now. Ask God to give me strength as I finish my life here on earth. Please ask Him to help me daily to be a better man. I love you.

Lordy Lordy...look who's 40!

So I have travelled to the next level of life (according to some weird birthday cards I have read).
As I am writing this, I am 40 years and 2 days old. Do I feel different? No, not really. Not sure what the big deal is. I am still the same person. Yes I have grown a lot in the last 40 years, but its only by the grace of God I am here.
I just thank the Lord that I am healthy, my kids are healthy and that I am married to a wonderful lady. What more could a person ask for?
Happy birthday to me :)

Prodigal

Yes, I am still thinking of you. I never stop. How can I, you are my child. I do get a glimpse of your new world. A world that you have created and the whole intent is to seperate me from it. I do not agree with this world, but I do still love you. I can see that you are doing everything you thought you wanted. But are you happy? It doesnt look like it. Or when you have a bad day do you blame others. Do you blame me?
My world revolved around you. I guess you didnt like it when others tried to share that world. I didnt turn out to be what you wanted. I actually went in an entirely different direction. But you went forward. Doing what you wanted and making it known that you would not be controlled by anyone.
I wish you would come back to me. I wish God would light your path and you would see what real and true love have to offer. Their love is superficial and in all honesty, not from the heart. Their love is from a pocket book.
God bless and keep you. I pray for you all the time. I love you son. I hope you find your way home.

How much was that?

I often browse my magazines. My favorite magazine is one of the two I have a subscription to. Entertainment Weekly keeps me informed to the crazy lives of celebs all over the country. I also have a subsription to Mens Health. I browse through it to see the new "man toys" that are out for all to buy. But I came across a deal today that was one for the record books. A mountain bike made by FOX sports for almost $5000. Once again I say...SERIOUSLY?? A person that will buy such a bike for the same price as a nice and sometimes tricked out used car has got to have more money than they know what to do with.
I worked in a fine mens clothing store. At this store I got to see how the other half lives through their shpping habits. These men were coming into my store and buying $10000 suits. I worked in the mens shoe department where we had one pair of Gucci Croc shoes. This pair of shoes were ON SALE for $3500. More money than I paid for a used Huyandai Scoupe I bought from a friend. I actually sold that pair of shoes to a guy that didnt even fit the shoes. They were too big. I put insoles, tongue pads and all kinds of things in those shoes to make them fit...no luck. But that guy was determined that he was going to have those shoes. I told him that if he wore the shoes and scuffed the soles, he would not be able to return the shoes. He didnt care. He just walked out the door with those shoes just flopping on his feet like Bozo the clown.
At that moment, I was convinced that people with unlimited income wake up each day wondering how they will spend their money.
I have mentioned my dream of having a sort of ranch where girls/women who have unexpected/unwanted pregnancies. At this ranch the girls would have free medical care and they could have their babies. After that they can raise their children or let them go to parents who will love them. But that kind of place takes money. We all know that. I would love to see those millionaires and billionaires contribute to something that preserves life rather than a pair of shoes or a bike.
If the Oprahs, Trumps, and Buffets would like to see a change; let them use their money for good rather than spending it on their 60000 sq ft home.
Just my opinion...

SERIOUSLY?!

I am actually agonizing my way through an episode of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Folks, lets be clear on a few things. Apparantly it isnt enough that we have the entire nation looking at the South as a bunch of back-woods swamp monkeys...but now we have to exploit the fact that we have the same (if not worse) spoiled, irresponsible, money-tarts that all the other big cities have? I turn on the show and the blonde (dont know her name, think its Kim) is sitting in a convertable with her 15-16 yr old girl and they are talking abstinence. In this shot "mom" who had her daughter at 19 is sitting there with what God and the plastic surgeon gave her hanging out for all to see. How does she talk her daughter into remaining a virgin? Lets go and buy JEWELRY! Are you kidding me?? You dont want your daughter to have sex and you BRIBE her? How about this, just going to take a stab at it. Maybe raise your daughter up in the way she should be instead how you came up?? Maybe teach her to not walk around dressed like YOU.
I will say plenty of times that I am not the perfect father. I did alot of things I am not proud of. But a person can change and I have. I raise my children to have respect for themselves and to cherish what innocence they have. Sex is a special thing that God has given men and women to share in MARRIAGE! Not as a play toy. But the fact that we have TV shows and movies that glamourize fornication is ridiculous! Morality has become a bad word. People know what they do is wrong, but who cares right?
This is my "people better get some Jesus" speech. Yes, Jesus is coming back folks, and he will divide those who follow Him and those who dont. I set my sights on God, you should too.

Living the Saved Life (from another blog, October '10)

Blogging, like a diary right? So this is my first blog and it is the going to be the inaugural posting to what I hope to be many interesting things. The subject is “living the saved life” and it was brought about by a decal I have seen on a few vehicles in my area. The decal I am referring to is the decal that says “Salt Life”. My first thought was ocean water, the beach…you know those things that are salty but bring joy to your life. Well, when I saw this decal, I was in traffic so I got plenty of time to ponder this thought of the “Salt Life”. I was thinking about Matthew 5:13 and how it talks of being the “salt of the earth”. After a long drawn out thought process, I brought my thoughts to an end with just “thats a cool sticker”.

So after I get home I look up this “Salt Life” and find that it was started by some folks down close to the beach in Jacksonville Florida. These folks were spear fishing and thought what a grand life it is to be on the ocean, in the ocean, on the beach living the Salt Life. I agree. I love to be close to the ocean. I love the salty sea air. I love the atmosphere of sitting on a beach and looking at Gods creation and feeling so small, yet a part of something so huge.

I was taken back to Matthew. I was thinking how we are to be the salt of the earth and how we should not lose our saltiness. We should always be that bit of spice in someones life that helps to make it a little better. If we arent, we lose our saltiness. Thus brought about my thought of living a Saved Life. What I hope to write about are the good things that come out of bad situations. I want to bring about good news as God has prescribed it.

You have probably heard someone say they were SAVED. This generally means they went to a church building, went up to the preacher or an elder and gave a confession or let the preacher or elder know that they did not want to live a life of sin any longer, they wanted to be saved. The great thing about being saved is that God is always there waiting on us to come back when we stray. His main focus is to save us from the wages of sin. In our bible study tonight we studied on the word “Hope” as it relates to Christians and the bible. We defined hope as “waiting of something to happen” more or less. We always hope for better even when hope may not be an option. What I am trying to get at is that God is the ultimate master of Hope. He patiently waits for us to come to Him or come back.

In my day life I help customers. I dont really like the service industry, but I am good at it. I see some great people come in and I see some jerks. The great people are the ones you want to come around the corner and give them a hug. The jerks…well lets just say we cant wait to see them leave because they just ring my small little store down. To live my Saved Life, I will need to find things in my daily life where God can be pointed out and presented. Please pray that I wont offend and that I can come up with some GREAT blogs!