Mrs. Watson, faith issues, more travel, Aaron, farm visitors

Mama and I worked a little over an hour at Mrs. Watson’s last night. She has a little patch of flower bed in front of her condo/townhouse. It is about fifteen feet long and about three feet wide. Last night I finished pulling up the bushes that had died there, cut the grass and weeds off of the area and put down some landscaping mesh in preparation for gravel being bought to cover the area. Mrs. Watson was delighted with the progress on the landscaping and all the conversation that went along with it.


I described her dwelling as a condo/townhouse since I am unsure of the definition. Here is the formal definition: A condominium is a housing structure that is a part of a bigger unit or building and the owner of the condo owns the interiors independently and the other services in the building jointly with other condo owners. A townhouse is a style of housing where a row of identical houses share walls. The discrepancy is often in a person’s perception of the unit. Some view a condo as more upscale. Mrs. Watson lives in a townhouse though she prefers to refer to it as her condo.

Before Mama and I left we took time to pray for her daughter – who is probably our age. Like many in my generation, she was raised in church. Then came life with its disappointments and successes; seemingly unaffected by the prayers prayed for help or in thanks. So they have left God thinking it is not worth the trouble to give someone else credit or blame in their lives. They tend to give themselves extra credit when they do not blame God.

I believe it was Dr. Hyles who preached that all of our failures are prayer failures. The real praying generation was the one before my mom and dad. We have not been taught to pray, to take the time required to get a hold of God with importunity. The old folks called it “praying through”. We who were more enlightened than our father’s preached that God knows the heart and does not require such careful explanation or participation on our part.

What we failed to recognize is that God truly does know our hearts but that we have not been careful to know our own hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it: certainly not we ourselves. So we pat each other on the back, full of sympathy, empty of the knowledge of God, wondering why our parents saw church as necessary at all. Though my generation questions the faith of our parents there is still a respect for their beliefs in large part. The generation following has outright contempt for matters of faith. It is truly sad.

Mama leaves today for the farm. Grandma and Grandpa leave tomorrow for West Virginia. Because we are not sure when they will be back, Mama and I have kept our plans open. I will need to be in Decatur on the 1st and 2nd of August. All other trips to the area will be to see Mama. Hopefully, all will work out well and Grandma and Grandpa will be back in two or three weeks, if not, Mama will spend over a month as backup at the farm. It is such a sacrifice on her part.

Aaron will be home today – according to recent news from Maggie. Something is broken on the boat and they are not allowed to patrol without the piece of equipment functional. I am not even sure Maggie knows what the piece of equipment is, although I am almost certain Aaron has told her. She is just excited he will be with her today. So far we have not been told how this will effect his current patrol duration. That will come later.

Cori and Nate and the kids are planning on traveling to the farm in late August. At least, that is what I think Mama told me. Sadly, the pigs will not be there for Grant’s inspection. Their carefully packaged remains are being picked up today by Grandma and Grandpa. That ensures we will eat well while they are at the farm. Mama did mention taking the grandkids shopping for a pygmy goat. That probably will not happen since we are not ready to house a goat. Besides, I do not want to saddle Grandpa and Victoria with another pet if Mama and I get sent overseas.

The sad part of the idea is that Mama’s will usually prevails in such ventures.