Let there be light! Revival, Chase, Becky

Lights are on at the farm house. Power was restored to the house on Friday, I think. Grandpa was pretty proud of the feat because he had to do quite a bit of prep work on the connections we needed outside to have the power we needed in the outbuildings. We are still not sure if the wiring in the house is safe to leave powered up all the time. We will have to tear out a lot of sheetrock to do a thorough investigation and rewire where needed, but having power back on is a big step forward.


The well is the next major step in getting the property back to working conditions. For now it has rained enough to begin filling the tanks to the brim so any animals we have on the pasture will have plenty of water. Grandpa will still have to haul water for the confined animals – for right now that is the chickens but a hog building is under construction. When the smaller tanks are spilling into their overflows it will start to fill the large tank, which is more like a lake. That will thrill Grandpa. The only image we have of the lake when full is one on Google maps. To see it in real time will be exciting.

Revival is over at our church and it was a good one. The evangelist was from Louisiana; Baton Rouge to be exact and he had a delightful sense of humor. Most of his humor was given in one liners and it was nearly impossible to keep up with him in my notes. He had been saved in his twenties, poorly educated, raised on the bad side of town, hard to the core as a teen. The fight he learned as a youth served him well for the Lord. He has not backed down from anything and has spoken his mind freely and it has led him before some great men. Those in his state legislature know him well and he has met several presidents. His life’s verse is Proverbs 18:16 “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” It certainly has proved true in his life.

I laid down a challenge for Chase this weekend. I told him I would not allow him to retake his driving test until he has kept his room neat and clean for seven consecutive days. (It is actually only half a room since he shares with Victoria.) I have tried every lecture I know to get the point across. I know he understands because such attention to neatness is a requirement at his work – and he is doing quite well in that area of his life. So the mess he leaves on the floor, the mess that he sleeps with, is driven by rebellious spirit and I cannot allow it to go unchallenged. I wish it was more fun but that is what makes parenting such a joy.

Since he is going to New Jersey in a few weeks, I would like to have that one detail brought to light in his mind. I know that whomever he lives with will understand that his sloppiness is a reflection on his character more than it is my parenting skills, but it still comes back to me and Mama and I would like to avoid the embarrassment if possible. I hope that is not too selfish.

Chase is a really good kid and I get to feeling like I am harping on the one outward fault that I see in his life. It seems like a battle worth taking on because I have seen men who treat their wives like cooks and maids, and I do not want Chase to have such a fine delineation of duties in his mind that he falls prey to those stereotypes. If that happens, I can honestly say that I was not the root cause of it. My love for my wife and children has expressed itself in meeting every need in the home, from the work I have done to support it financially to cooking and washing dishes often, mopping and sweeping floors, cleaning bathrooms, etc. My kids have often laughed as I teased my wife by telling her as soon as I finished washing dishes I needed to change the oil in the car. It was always in jest. I love to serve and I would love for my children to adopt that life attitude, rather than loving to be served. I see Chase straddling the fence and it worries me.

Becky is home. She seems to be enjoying the pup Charles got for them while she was gone. I know she is enjoying the liberty of life as a civilian again. Charles has her enrolled in several classes but I forgot the projected outcome of those studies. I know she will be looking for work and I am praying she will find that – she seems to always be able to succeed there. We are hoping they will be able to come down for either Thanksgiving or Christmas; time will tell.