CONGRATULATIONS! We went to a wedding last weekend. Our cousin, Greg Keith, married his fiancé, Cathy Wilson, last Saturday. Nate was a bit confused about the nature of the event we were going to. As we were getting ready he asked, "Now is a wedding where someone dies or gets married?”
Greg and Cathy had a very nice ceremony and reception dinner over in Clarksville. I particularly enjoyed the vows they had written for each other. They both told of their first impressions of each other and how their relationship grew. It was very special.
Of course, our family has really enjoyed The Princess Bride. So, when the minister at Greg and Cathy’s wedding, who is an older, distinguished looking gentleman, said, “Marriage,” and then paused, it was only natural for Ben to lean over to Vicki and whisper, “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday.”
Greg and Cathy will be living in the little house next to church so we hope to see them around quite a bit.
A SINCERE PRAYER. I've mentioned before that the kids and I pray together on the way to catch the school bus in the mornings. I've heard some of the best prayers listening to them.
As with anyone, the kids use some of the same phrases in their prayers from day to day. Ben usually says, “Use me in all the ways you can," somewhere in his prayer. Well, the other morning Vicki took the kids to the bus and she told me later how special Ben's prayer was that morning. After saying the phrase quoted above he paused and added, "I know I say that all the time, but I really mean it."
3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF! We've been back in the rocket business again. Back in the summer we completed two different rocket kits but were never able to launch them because the store was out of wadding when we went to buy some. It was a couple of months before we got back down to the Rivergate area to try again. So, with plenty of wadding and a package of rocket engines we were back in business.
Last Sunday our church had a tailgate party at Kilgore Park to watch the Titans play on TV. We shot off our rockets at halftime. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show. Our smallest rocket (the one we've shot up before) went out of sight and we thought we'd lost it, but one really sharp-eyed kid spotted it and we recovered it. The other two rockets were easier to track and more fun to watch. The largest one performed perfectly and came down very close to our launch pad. The other did well, but it's parachute was a bit too big for the rocket and didn't deploy. It was melted in spots when we pulled it out to see what went wrong.
YOUNG ANGLERS. I think the boys are hooked on fishing (pun intended). We went to the county wide RA campout at Coldstream Camp Friday night. The boys tried fishing but didn't have any luck. However, we did go back to Jackie's pond yesterday afternoon and Ben caught three. One was almost as big as the one Nate caught the last time we were over there. We got pictures this time so Vicki would believe us.
Of course, as luck would have it, Ben snagged his hook on something on the bottom of the pond. While he was struggling with this his fishing pole came apart at the joint where the two pieces fit together and the upper half slid down the line into the pond. We could still see it about ten feet out from the shore. Somehow I was elected to wade out and get it. While I was out there the boys were telling me that I was the best dad in the whole world to go out and get the fishing rod. I was just hoping I wouldn't meet up with a snapping turtle while I was knee deep in the water.
POEMS BY AUNT MAR. We are continuing to look through stuff at Aunt Mar's house. Last night we ran across some poems Aunt Mar wrote about 25 years ago. She said she used to write them late at night before going to bed. She gave me permission to share here so I'll pick a few and include them here and there for you to enjoy. These two were on a paper dated February 1986.
The Lord is my shepherd
Sometimes I forget
And do what I want
Without being led.
If I would only listen
To what He has to say
There would be no penalty
For having my own way.
This next poem was written about Aunt Myrtle, a relative we all loved and enjoyed very much. She was about ten years older than Aunt Mar.
I visited her the other day.
A lady wise with much to say.
My years are passing,
Little time,
To be like that lady
When I am eighty-nine.
I think, at 96, Aunt Mar has achieved this goal. She is one of the wisest people I know.
Joe
