Picking up sticks, Mother’s Day

I spent the morning Saturday picking up sticks – literally. In the boy goat paddock, there was so much deadfall that it was looking like a wasteland. So, I fired up the tractor and filled the bucked over and over, piling the sticks I collected in two piles which I pressed down with the front loader. I used a long-handled pitchfork to load up most of the sticks, picking up only the ones that were too large to handle with the pitchfork.  After about three hours of clean up I was able to get the mower and mow the paddock. Once the piles were flattened, they did not look like too much, but I know the work required to get all the pieces into that pile. My back was worn out by that time and I had to rest for a bit, but I like the way the paddock looks now – like someone cares.

Mama spent the entire day with Mr. Plumley. They went to a festival in Bridgeport and to Trade Days in Bowie. They spent about three hours at Trade days with the Wycoff girls. All the men of the family were working on a roof that needed to be replaced. I did not envy either group because it was a brutally windy day. Having Mama helped the girls with the booth at Trade Days coordinating bathroom breaks and lunch. Mama and Plumley showed up at the farm about 3 pm. Just in time to help me get into my bee suit so I could service the hive started a couple wees ago. I have Mama help me because it is difficult for me to get the zippers and Velcro panels properly placed once I have the gloves on and I have to put the gloves on under the suit. Otherwise, they will not fit over my arms. I need help with the Velcro closures to ensure the bees do not discover any gap to get into the suit. That happened once and it was very unpleasant. After dealing with the bees my day was spent grilling meats for visitors that were ultimately not able to show up Saturday evening (they were helping with the Wycoff roof) and for Sunday lunch. This evening, I will grill hamburgers for Sam and Erin Echeveria and the kids. They are just returning from Sam’s mother’s funeral.

Sunday was Mother’s Day. We did not necessarily have a different service, but pastor did preach on the mother’s role in the family, society at large and in the rearing of children to love the Lord. As is typical, the church gave out some gift cards. What was different was that Pastor picked names out of a plate to award the girt cards so mother’s that would not typically have won got the prizes yesterday. Everyone seemed pleased with that. Sunday night we had a young lady’s vocal group from a local Christian College, Lone Star Bible College. They did a great job and Dr Bachman, the school chancellor, preached a very moving sermon. He talked about Hezekiah when he had been told by Isaiah that he was going to die. Hezekiah prayed and wept over the pronouncement and God responded by saying “I have heard thy prayers and I have seen thy tears…” His question to the congregation was, how long has it been since God has seen you shed a tear for the lost, for the sins of our nation, for the sins in our own lives? Good question.

He went to Revelation 22 where the Bible says that God will wipe away all tears and pointed out that that verse follows the White Throne judgement where the lost will be judged and cast into the lake of fire. We will be observers at this judgement. Among the billions of lost persons will be some that we know.  Perhaps some very dear to us in this life, but it will be eternally too late. A sobering thought. A very sad thought. My mind immediately goes to Steve Whidden, a dear friend to our family who refuses to consider the Lord. Our mission is to reach out to those whom we know and tell them the Gospel news while there is still time for them to repent and believe. We are not tasked to save them. That is the Holy Spirit’s wok. We are tasked to tell them. We are tasked to pray for them earnestly, knowing the certainty of their fate should they die without believing on the Lord.

For Mama’s Mother’s Day I conspired with the Wycoff girls to put together a basket of Magnolia craft items, chalk and ink paints and stencils. They delivered it to church Sunday morning. Victoria got Mama a wind chime made from a glass bottle with string and wooden beads. It has a very nice sound when the wind catches the streamers. Those were good gifts, but the most important gift was that all of her six children not at home with us called and talked to her through the course of the day. Over the years I have learned that it does not take much to make Mama happy but by far and away, her happiest moments are those shared with her children and grandchildren, even if it is a simple conversation over the phone.

After all, I am pretty boring after a while.