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By Ruth Gadberry
Wow! Fall did happen, didn’t it? Don’t you love this cooler weather? You even see sweaters or jackets here and there. If you should check the bedrooms you’d probably find a quilt or blanket on the beds. Air conditioners are getting a rest these days. It’s just great weather.
By the way, Moms and Dads, this is the time of the year when sweaters and jackets sorta disappear. It’s cool in the mornings and the kids wear a sweater or jacket to school. But when school is out, it’s warm and they ‘forget’ their jackets. So when they can’t find them the next morning, someone must have ‘stole’ them or something like that. That must be it. They couldn’t possibly have forgotten to bring them home could they?
Sunday night was supposed to be rain. JC and Ruth saw a bit of rain, but it was just a very brief shower and some wind. Nice though. There was lots of lightening. This week is supposed to be on the cool side too. Didn’t the weather people say we would have about three cold fronts coming in this week? The cooler weather is great but not many folks are wishing for frost just yet. Of course, they were in July, but….
Church services were, well, really special Sunday morning. It started off with a couple of baptisms and that’s always a great way to start a service. It seemed that those two young fellows wanted cold water to be baptized in. From the sounds heard from the baptistry, they must have gotten their wish.
There was a baby dedication. John and Sabra Smith brought their brand new baby daughter, Lydia Gene, to be dedicated to the Lord. You just can’t get much more special than that. A mom and dad dedicating their little one to the Lord and at the same time dedicate themselves to bring her up to know, love, trust and follow the Lord. What a blessing that is to the family, church, community and everybody!
At the close of the services, Preacher Joey asked folks to come and gather around him and his wife. Shelly, and pray for them. He asked Jo Patton to lead the prayer.
Then – well, you just should have been there. Some folks came forward and asked to join the church. Wonderful! Some more people wanted to join the church. We told you that you should have been there.
Preacher Joey isn’t even their full time pastor yet. But he will be this Sunday, October 4th!
Okay now, don’t forget the Kolby King Crusade that will be next Sunday, October 4 – Wednesday night, October 7. It will be a fun time, for the adults as well as the kids. But it will also be a time of learning more about God and His plan for His Kids. For some it will be a time of getting to know Almighty God personally, for the first time. You can be a part of it! You will come, won’t you?
Shirley Hunt is feeling better. She has had a rough time with a fall, injuries, pneumonia, and all sorts of problems. She was anticipating another knee replacement but wasn’t too excited about it. Her first knee replacement didn’t work and she lost her leg as a result of it. Now they’ve decided to try injections first and hopefully that will take care of the problem. If not? Well, they’ll take care of it another way. Yes, surgery may be necessary but they are trying other things first.
Keep praying for Loyd and Rickie. Loyd has had back problems for a long time and is in a lot of pain. Rickie is having lots of pain now as well. They are trying to get her pain medication just right so it doesn’t make her sleep all the time and cause nausea. Hopefully she will soon feel better.
The Atoka community and surrounding areas was saddened last week by the death of Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Captain Jeff Sewell. The Coronavirus claimed his life. He will be missed by many who knew him and lots of other people who just knew about him. Do pray for his family during this rough time.
Drive by Beth and Ray’s house sometime and see the bright flowers blooming in the flowerbed box around their mailbox. Now Ray wants a flowerbed around his sign post. You know, the one with the softball and bat or some such thing. You’ll recognize it.
Carter still claims the old 1942 Chevrolet JC gave Zack. Of course the floorboard is all rusted out and there is no upholstery or anything like that. Some people are working on rebuilding the motor. Zack put tires on it so they can move it around if they want to. Big tires; not the ones that belong on it. It’s body is washed and cleaned up and looks lots better than the last time Ruth saw it but it still looks like a pile of rusted junk. But to Carter, it is HIS car.
JC’s dog, Dee, had puppies about a couple of weeks ago. But, alas, none of them survived. She was under the pickup and JC really couldn’t tell how many puppies she had. He disposed of some of them after they died but doesn’t know what happened to the others or how many more she had.
For some reason Dee has developed a strong dislike for the cat and chases it away anytime it gets near her.
One morning last week JC opened a drawer in the cabinet and saw a little mouse.’ He didn’t scream or anything like that. A little later, Ruth opened the same drawer and saw the monstrous creature. She screamed. This is the same gal who, along with her three boy cousins and her brother, used to catch mice in her Daddy’s granary. Mostly cousins. Her brother wasn’t much of a mouser. Her mouse catching career ended though, when a mouse bit a hole through her thumb. She hasn’t cared much for the nasty little critters since then.
JC set mouse traps but so far the mouse is smarter than the traps. Anyway, that drawer got thoroughly cleaned, everything washed, lots of silverware put into the giveaway box; that sort of thing. ,
The cat who has adopted the family isn’t doing his – or is it hers? – job. Ruth still doesn’t know if it’s a ‘him’ cat or a ‘her’ cat. Anyway, the other cat they had pretty well kept the mouse and rat population down, not only in the barn but in the house as well. It never came into the house.
That cat, by the way, is no longer around. She was a great friend to Buck, JC’s dog who died a few months ago. She slept between Buck’s paws with her head right under his chin. She was really old and they had expected her to die for a long time. She had a big growth or something on her neck and, along with being so old, well, you understand.
One morning JC came in and said the cat was dead. He found her in a trash can Roy had cow feed in. He figured she had gotten in there and couldn’t get out. So he threw her over the pasture fence or something.
Anyway, the next morning she was back for breakfast. If, as some folks say, a cat has nine lives, that must have been her eighth life. Now she is gone. Kitten-Cat isn’t doing his, or her, job at protecting the property from mice.
What a delightful surprise Sunday evening! Dionna called her mom, Beth, and asked where they were going for supper. Beth told her they usually have Sunday night supper with her parents, JC and Ruth. Dionna asked if her family could come too. Of course they could! So Dionna, Thomas, Kaelin and little Ava arrived. Ava is almost a year old and is the baby daughter of Thomas’ little sister. She and her mom live with Thomas, Dionna, Jordan and Kaelin and have recently moved from South Texas to Durant.
Not only did they come for supper; they brought supper! Dionna had one of those big Pyrex cake pans – 9×13 or whatever; a big one – filled with chicken and another the same size with broccoli cheese casserole. Delicious! Ruth had a pot of beans and cornbread and Beth brought a cake. Roy and Kathy came out to fix fence so they were there too.
It’s been so long since they could see Dionna’s family except at Christmas, maybe, or something like that. They lived in Hawaii for a while and then in South Texas. Now they are in Durant and that’s wonderful! They look forward to seeing them much more often. Maybe next time Jordan can come. She was working Sunday night.
Lots of folks are rushing around, getting the hay cut, baled, and hauled in to wherever it is they haul it. The bales are stacking up at JC and Ruth’s, ready for feeding to hungry cattle this winter.
JC has retired from feeding cows. It’s time to rest and watch someone else do all the work.
Election Day is getting closer and closer. Do make like a good citizen and vote. Not just for anyone who happens to be on the ballet. Learn all you can about those who would like to be elected. If you are on speaking terms with Almighty God, consult Him about who to vote for. In the meantime, pray for those who are already in office. Our President for example. Ask God to give him the knowledge, wisdom, courage, boldness, humility, compassion and whatever else he needs to do the job he was elected to do.
The longest journey begins with the first step.