THOSE FLINT HILLS AGAIN


Some people complain that Kansas is boring and has no beauty at all. Well, those people have never gone through the Flint Hills, Gypsum Hills, tall grass prairie or whatever name you want to use.
We took another trip through Kansas to and from Missouri this past weekend. We went across the southern part of Kansas, through those beautiful flint hills, with the beautiful red and golden grasses. Low rolling hills covered with red grass, with golden seed stems. The grass appears to be about 3 feet tall in places and usually is leaning over a little from the dominant winds. There are interesting towns along the way. The Dalton Gang hide-out, Carrie Nation’s home town, the Cherokee stockade, etc. There are areas with very red soil, which is extraordinarily beautiful.
If your destination is more northerly, then you can enjoy the beautiful hills on that route. Some interesting things from the trip:
1. We saw a parade of cats crossing the highway from one farm house to another. There were four orange tiger cats and one black calico. The calico turned back but the others crossed, one after the other. I don’t know why, but I hope they don’t do that again. We did get a good laugh, though.
2. Our daughter’s neighbor was playing in the street with his boys and we ran over their football. Didn’t mean to but I guess one of them threw it at a bad time. The look on the face of one of the boys was hilariously funny. He yelled. "tragedy, tragedy!"
3. At the library, while using earphones, I talked really loud. My daughter shushed me.
4. My grandson has black and yellow hair.
5. We got lost many times in the city.
6. Saw some white "whitetail" deer.
7. Ran over a dead armadillo which must have been really hard because we thought we'd blown a tire.
8. Had ""fun going down a windy highway with a motorcycle riding upright (but fastened well) in the back of the pickup.

We had gorgeous weather and not a bit of that Missoui humidity. Short sleeves. Ate a lot. Enjoyed the kids. Glad to get home.

Repost: JERRY

One day at the mental health care center, one of my regulars called me over just before I was to start. He asked me if I pray for people. I said yes and asked what was wrong. This man has told me countless times how he got saved at a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting years ago. He always talks about having Jesus in his heart and that we have to do that before we can go to Heaven. He knows a lot about the Bible, too. This day though, he was having delusional thinking. He said that years ago when he was a rock star, he caused hundreds of people to disappear from a football field and a concert hall. He was so upset because he said that he was going to go to hell for that when he dies. He said that Satan deceived him into doing it. Okay, I thought...the only thing I can address is his salvation. I know nothing about him, although he does dress like a rock star from the 70s or so, and he has been to college. Anyway I told him that when we do something that displeases God, all we have to do is repent of it and ask for forgiveness. He said he had prayed but he was still going to go to hell. I told him that if Jesus came into his heart when he in college, then Jesus is still there. He fretted about those people who had disappeared and I assured him that God knows where every one of those people are and they are under his care. So finally, he said, "Ohhh. Because I asked Jesus to come into my heart, when I die I will go to Heaven!" I said, "Yes, Jerry." He smiled and thanked me.What a blessing that he felt he could talk to me about such a personal thing.

My Version of That Story

My daughter, Flower of the Family, posted a story she wrote. Since I wrote one from the same prompt, I decided to post mine, also.

I slowly opened my eyes. The room seemed to be spinning and the light hurt my eyes. I closed them again, covering them with my hands. I slowly opened my eyes again, squinting, and slowing moving my hands from my face. There was blood on my left hand. I felt around and determined that the area of my left eye had an injury. There was some light coming in a small window up high on the wall. I sat up, looking around carefully. I was so confused to find myself in this strange room. How did I get here? As I sat up, I noticed that my feet were tender. What had become of my sandals? My bare feet burned as I walked across the rough surface of the floor to look at the window. It was only about 8 inches in height and about 2 feet across. No way a body could climb through that window, even if one could reach it. There was nothing in this little room, except a container of murky looking water and a chamber pot. The door was made out of very heavy timbers with some type iron reinforcement. There was no way out of here unless someone unlocked the door from outside.

I called out to see if anyone would hear me and come to the room. That was soon seen to be a fruitless maneuver. I started pacing around the small room. I was famished for water, so I reluctantly drank most of the dirty looking water in the pot. That seemed to make me feel better and I was hopeful that it would help me to focus on my circumstances better. I stuck my hands in my pockets and was startled to find something inside the hidden pocket in my garment. I pulled out five stones. Five little dissimilar stones; three of which were beautiful shiny stones, one odd-shaped one, and one very rough and dirty on one side, and smooth and beautiful on the other. I sat down on the floor and lay the stones out in front of me. I simply could not figure out what they meant or where they came from.

As I handled the stones, I realized that, if properly placed, the three beautiful shiny ones would fit together and form one uniform shape, a perfect circle. I thought to myself, "Hum! Three of the same put together make one." Why did that seem so familiar to me? The odd-shaped stone was shaped somewhat like the letter T; perhaps more like a plus sign. The other one was a common stone, except for being rough, unpolished and dirty on one side only. As I stared at these stones, some memories began forming in my mind. Yes! I knew what these stones were for. Yes, they were mine.

I jumped up at the sudden noise at the door. Someone was coming. I could hear a sliding lock being forced back to free the door. The door opened slowly, making a loud creaking noise. There were two men there, one holding my sandals, and the other holding some papers. I stood there silently, expecting them to declare me guilty of some crime and take me out to be hanged.
The man handed me my sandals and watched me as I placed them on my feet. The other man spoke to me in a very official sounding manner and said, "The charge levied against you was that you were using materials to tell people about this Jesus Christ, however, we have found no such materials on your person, therefore, we are obligated to set you free." I thanked them, and as I was leaving, they told me to not return to this village again, ever.

As I walked down the road, I took the rocks out of my pocket. I fitted the three together; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, into One. I held up the dirty rough stone, laid it on the cross-shaped stone, then turned it over so that the clean smooth side was up. Yes, it’s amazing how one can tell another about Jesus’ cleansing power with a handful of stones.

Well, They're well.

The cats have finished their medications and are back to normal. They got to go outside and visit their old territory today. Now I have to clean up this room where they spent all that time.

Cats, Cats, and More Cats

About a month ago, one of my outdoor cats was sick. I took him to the vet and they found him to be so anemic he was only one number away from a blood transfusion. After several days of giving him cherry flavored liquid steroid medicine, they discovered that he had a blood parasite. Then I had to give him antibiotic pills for 21 days! Now, most of you have probably tried giving a pill to a cat. IT IS NO FUN! I finally started wrapping him up in a housecoat and pulling the sleeve over him so he couldn't move. He is cured but now has to be weaned off the steroids, still for a few more days. The problem is this..... my other outdoor cat developed a HUGE abscess on his right shoulder blade (?), about 6 inches in circumference, and protruding about 2 inches. The vet lanced it and got some very green gook out of it. He came home with gauze packing and a little cute net looking shirt to keep the pressure on the incision. I am pleased to say that now I have another cat to nurse. At the moment they are both in the same room, one is in a cage and the other is lying on my keyboard. They shared a bedroom outside so they aren't fighting, so far. I love my cats! I love my cats! I love my cats!

REPOST of "Where Had She Been?"

When I worked on a VA Alzheimer's unit, there was one woman there. I'm not sure she had Alzheimer's or some strange type of mental illness, but she had been in this condition for a long time. She was ambulatory but wouldn't speak. She seemed to understand directions. I had known her for several years and had never heard a peep out of her. She had been a nurse during, I believe, the Korean War. She was sitting in the solarium day room and I heard her say, "I know a good nurse when I see one and there aren't any around here." I alerted the others and one of the doctors came in with a recorder and sat with her for several hours. Her voice was very weak and raspy from not using it for so long and she was a little hard to understand at first. She spoke about being an Army nurse and other aspects of her life. She talked about things that had happened on that unit and mentioned some things she felt the nurses had done wrong. Then she quit talking and, as far as I know, never did it again. It about blows my mind every time I think about it. Where had she been and where did she go?

CAN WE RETIRE FROM GOD'S CALLING?

I am curious about something. When a pastor/preacher retires, does he retire only from pastoring or does he retire also from preaching? We have several retired pastors in our church but there are only about three that will preach at the nursing home services. Why is it that a man can stand up in front of a group of seniors in a classroom but can't stand up in front of a group of seniors in a nursing home? I am constantly being told that it takes a "special gift" to minister in a nursing home. I don't buy that entirely. I believe God burdens certain ones for that ministry, but isn't a pastor/preacher suppose to minister from the cradle to the grave? Please explain this to me. In case you didn't get it, I will be "preaching" at a nursing home tomorrow morning because no one else will. My sister will help me gather people for the service. I let them sing a lot and then do a quick "devotional". I pray with them and tell them that I love them. I guess that's all they need. I just needed to vent a little. But let me know what you think about the retirement issue.