Leaving Bowie, green and not green, Grant

I left Bowie yesterday about 2 p.m. I can assure all of you that the trip is much more pleasant to make when Mama is with me. She still has big plans on going to Denton to take Victoria to Chipotle and to return a wheelbarrow we bought at Sam’s that turned out to be a piece of junk. If Mama and I had looked it over better we would never have bought it, but that is another lesson learned and it provides a good excuse for her to go to Denton.


I met Mama at the farm before I left and got to see how they had used the cattle panels Grandpa had bought in West Virginia. Some have been used to fence off the open side of the garden although it will not keep the dogs out. Some have been set up to extend the lot where the donkeys are being kept. It gives them access to some fresh grass. The remaining panel or two have divides the calf lot where Rain was being kept so the lot is now split between Rain and Toi. The older horse seems to enjoy the enclosure. Rain is still very aggressive toward Toi, but after all, Toi started it when she kicked Rain during their first few moments together.

I got into Amarillo too late to go to church but Mama did go to the service in Bowie. I miss our church but I am feeling more a part of the church in Bowie than I did at first. I will have the unpleasant duty of letting our pastor here know that this summer we will be out of town quite a bit. With Chase’s graduation, Brittany’s wedding and the normal time I spend in Decatur we will miss quite a few services and may have to give up our Children’s Church ministry for the summer. I will present the issue and let the pastor make the decision on that.

Mama has had a friend taking care of the plants in our house here while we have been away and they all look very good due to her efforts. We are even seeing some bulbs send their foliage through the rough ground at the house. I was not sure if the ground here would produce any vegetation but it is. It is not desirable for the most part but it is green – of sorts. After leaving the lush grass of the farm it is saddening to look at the yard here.

Snow is predicted overnight with up to two inches forecast for the area. The temperature when I got to town yesterday evening was almost eighty degrees. It fell over forty degrees through the night and will continue to fall through the day today to end up in the twenties. The winds are steady at twenty miles per hour. It feels cold. The “feels like” temperature is predicted to be six degrees by tomorrow morning. I am not sure knowing the forecast is a good thing in this case.

I talked a long time with Cori yesterday about Grant who seems to consider spanking a recreational sport. She has on the one hand Mykenzie who will burst into tears at the mere thought of having disappointed her mommy while on the other side is Blake who is still learning the difference between naughty and funny. Grant, the middle child, appears to think rules are made to be broken and any imposition of boundaries is a challenge to his authority. It still amazes me that children at three, four and five years old, a child can think that they should be in charge of their own lives.

How do you successfully discipline, and when that fails, punish such a child? I am reminded of an episode in the Gospels when the disciples could not cast out a particular demon. When the child was set at the feet of Jesus, He was able to rebuke the demon and cast him out – healing the child. Later the disciples asked why they were not able. His answer; Mark 9:29 “And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”

Do I think my grandson is demon possessed? No, but I do know that there is sin in his little heart and he feels it is more “just” to disobey his mommy that to obey her. Even at his very young age he feels it is his right to do whatever he thinks is best and is willing to endure whatever punishment comes to exercise his will over his parents will. At four years old, he is wrestling with pride; his will vs. anyone else’s – especially his mommy.

Understanding what is in the heart of a child can only come through a prayer life that is agonizing to the point of fasting; burdening the spiritual, limiting the physical, begging God for wisdom. God will not give me the insight for this child that he will give the mommy and daddy, but I can help as I pray for them to have that wisdom and in my deep concern for them and the child, I will fast.

God still answers prayer – especially intercession.