--Nostalgia/ A Time to Remember ~~

--AT WORK ~~

-AUNT IDA RANG THE TOWN

--1950s, PENNSYLVANIA- During every single summer until my 11th year, I spent most of my vacation with my grandparents John and Ida Guthrie in Kuhntown. I would weed their vegetable garden and ride horses while hauling massive bales of hay from their fields.

But one of my favorite things to do was watch my grandmother perform her duties for the 'Kuhntown Telephone Company'. My grandmother was the company's chief (and only) operator. She handled 20 to 25 calls each day at one of the oldest switchboards in the state. She said she enjoyed "visiting" with all her neighbors as she made the various connections for them. Everyone called her Aunt Ida. Grandma was paid $124 each year for her operator duties.

Sometimes she let me help her. There were only four lines, but each family on the line had its own ring, such as "two short and three long" or "one long and two short." The operator would plug in the line and then turn the handle to generate the correct ring. Ultimately, Grandma taught me to run the switchboard on my own.

On October 1954, the Pittsburgh Press wrote an article on Kuhntown's telephone company. During her interview, Grandma mentioned that she listened to Tello-Test Quiz, a quiz program on Pittsburgh radio station KDKA, and that she'd like to try her hand at it. Well, host Jim Westover read the article and called Grandma the next day.
'Shure enough, she won $60 because she did indeed know the answer to the question! ~~
--From: RD/Reminisce~~

--Reminisce / Those Were the Good 'Ol Days~~

----A GIFT FROM LASH~~
--By: C. Jan Tootle

--AS A CHILD growing up in Savannah, Georgia, I spent Saturday mornings at the movie theater watching my favorite cowboys: Roy Rogers,"King of the Cowboys"; Gene Autry, "The Singing Cowboy"; and Lash La Rue, "King of the Bullwhips."

Cut to many years later: I was working at my pharmacy, and an elderly gentleman came in and handed me a prescription to fill. The name on the piece of paper was Lash La Rue! I hadn't recognized him, but I was as excited as any young boy meeting a favorite movie star! I quickly filled his prescription, telling him there was no charge because of all the joy he had brought me.

A few weeks later, I received a great surprise, a package from Mr. La Rue containing an autographed picture and a real bullwhip, which is now one of my prized possessions! --- ~~

--Remember "That WASCALLY WABBIT" / BUGS BUNNY (cartoons)
----
--MY "WASCALLY" PRANK~~

--GROWING UP, I had a three-foot-tall Bugs Bunny doll, which I brought with me to college in 1979. In fact he helped me pull off a great prank.

It was a quiet day in our dorm room at Faulkner University in Alabama. My friend Gail and I decided to place Bugs in our roommate's bed, covering him from head to toe. As soon as we heard Mary Ann coming, Gail and I jumped into our closets. A few seconds later, we heard Mary Ann scream! Then silence.

"Where did she go? Gail whispered.
"I don't know," I replied.

--Then Mary Ann yelled, "Someone's in my bed!"
--I heard the door open.
-Mary Ann walked out and back in with some other girls.

"I told you! There's someone in my bed."
-"Who is it?"
"I don't know!"

-They're not breathing!"
-"Pull back the covers!"
-"I'm not pulling them back!"

-"Get it out of my bed!!!"
-"I'm not touching it!"
"Poke it with a stick!"

Finally, someone threw back the covers. There was silence, then: "It's a rabbit..."

-Gail and I simultaneously fell out of our closets and onto the floor, laughing~~
--From: Reminisce Magazine ~~

---OFF THE CHOPPING BLOCK~~

--Rooster not ready for Judgment Day~~/ -

~~Charlotte and I made our debut as cooks for an important church dinner. We lived in Happy Valley, on the Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains. At the end of World War II, like most country folks, we were poor, but proud. Our white farmhouse was cleaned every Saturday, laundry was hung out each Monday, and a full meal was on the table three times a day. Mother trained us early for all sorts of work, and if Daddy told you to do something, he expected it to be done well, trained or not.

Each summer there was a weeklong revival. The deacons' wives took turns feeding the Evangelist and his entourage, and competition was fierce to offer the best meal. In 1950 my mother, who was pregnant, signed up to host. We were all excited to do the honors, but the night before the dinner, she went to the hospital to have the baby. As they left, Daddy woke us. "The preachers are coming for supper," he said. "Take care of it."

I was 13 and Charlotte 14, but she was a good cook. She decided to make chicken and dumplings. Out in the yard, we looked over our choices. The hens produced eggs, so they had to be spared. One rooster was much larger than the others, and we decided the bigger the better. We lured him with corn, grabbed him and tied his feet.

Our plans was that I'd hold him on the chopping block while Charlotte used the ax. We knew how to split wood, but this poor thing looked so trusting we didn't want to hurt him. Charlotte lowered the ax gently. Then again, a little harder. In addition to being big, the rooster was very strong. After a few of Charlotte's gentle chops, the rooster, injured but able, gave a mighty lunge and ran for his life. -

As we watched our dinner run away, our neighbor, Uncle Jim, came to help. He got us a chicken, and even helped pluck it. Charlotte outdid herself with the chicken and dumplings; everything was devoured to rave reviews.

Our failed attempts to kill the rooster, whom we'd named Dumplin', left him blind in one eye, and he became as mean as that old devil the Evangelist preached about. After that, when Charlotte and I ventured out of the house, Dumplin' was there to torment and chase us, though he never bothered anyone else.

'Twas good chicken and dumplings. -- ~~
--Reminisce ~~
~~~~~~

---BACK IN TIME~~

--LOOK, UP IN THE SKY! IT'S A GREEN BEAN HATER!

--(His superpower turned out to be telling fibs- )

---When I was in kindergarten in 1976, I hated green beans and loved Superman. And everybody knows (or so I thought) what Superman's one weakness is --kryptonite.

So one day I got the bright idea to tell my teacher that I couldn't eat my green beans because they had kryptonite in them. To my surprise, she had no idea what that was.

"Is that something you're allergic to?" - she asked.

Even at that tender age, I knew an opportunity when I spotted one. I nodded. As she walked away, my peers stared at me in awe. I felt like the king of the kindergarteners.

Then a few minutes later, the principal was in front of me: "Young man, why can't you eat your green beans?"

Knowing the stakes were now much higher, I responded sheepishly. "Because, um, they have krytonite in them."

His next question revealed his own weakness: "You have an allergy to that?" My jaw dropped, but I nodded again.

Now I REALLY felt like the king of the class. I had duped my teacher and the principal!

Of course, while I was feeling all proud of myself in the cafeteria, the principal was back in his office calling my mother: "Ma'am, your son is saying he can't eat his green beans."
"Why not? Is something wrong with them?"

"He says they contain kryptonite and he's allergic to it."
Silence...... Then, a burst of laughter. "That's the stuff that kills Superman!" she cried through her laughter.

So that day, not only did I eat every green bean on my plate, I ate every green bean left on anybody's plate.
And, yes, I still hate green beans. ~~
--Reminisce ~~

---CELEBRATING DIVERSITY ~~

--"How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together
in unity! " [Psalm 133:1] --

----At the 2019 graduation ceremony at a local high school, 608 students prepared to receive their diplomas. The principal began by asking students to stand when he read the name of the country where they were born: Afghanistan, Bolivia, Bosnia ... The principal kept going until he'd named sixty countries and every student was standing and cheering together. Sixty countries; one high school.

The beauty of unity amid diversity was a powerful image that celebrated something near ot God's heart--people living together in unity.

We read an encouragement for unity among God's people in Psalm 133, a psalm of ascent -- a song sung as people entered Jerusalem for annual celebrations. The psalm reminded the people of the benefits of living harmoniously (v.1) despite differences that could cause division. In vivid imagery, unity is described as refreshing dew (v.3) and oil--used to anoint priests (Exodus 29:7) -- "running down" the head, beard, and clothing of a priest (v.2). Together, these images point to the reality that in unity God's blessings flow so lavishly they can't be contained.

For believers in Jesus, despite differences such as ethnicity, nationality, or age, there's a deeper unity in the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). When we stand together and celebrate that common bond as Jesus leads us, we can embrace our God-given differences and celebrate the source of true unity, in Christ alone.

"Heavenly Father, help me do my part to live in unity with all of God's people. May I be used for Your glory, in Jesus Name." --
---ODB/LMS~

----We All Play A Part ~~

--"So we, being many, are one body in Christ...having then gifts differing according
to the grace that is given to us. - :--[Romans 12:5-6]

---Last Sunday, the choir director came up to my daughter Karen, who, like her mother, doesn't carry a turn very well. "I've noticed that you don't sing the hymns, he told her.

"I can't sing!" she said.
"It doesn't matter," he replied. Really! Some voices are right on pitch , and we need those people. But in the congregation, we also need the voices that aren't perfectly pitched in order to round the sound. All of them blend together and God hears it whole!" So please, go ahead and sing! Karen decided to do just that next Sunday--and her mom might even getup the courage to do it too.

Maybe it's the same with any other ability. The world surely needs the very talented ones, those who truly excel. But perhaps, just as in the singing of hymns, those with average talent still have a contribution to make. So, with my writing and teaching, I will quit comparing myself to others. Instead, I'll work hard at what I do. I'll sing my own part of the song, knowing God that "God hears it whole!"

-"Thank You, Lord, for giving each of us valued parts in Your inclusive song. You get all the glory."

--Guideposts/MMK~
--"All things work together for the good to those who love the Lord." -[Romans 8:28]

--A SPIRITUAL WINTER ~~
--[Keeping the Faith]

--By: Ty'Ann Brown, Vice President, Ministries

---I'm not a fan of winter. There are things I appreciate: the holidays, a blanket of snow coving the ground. Still, I get sad when the days get shorter and the darkness of the season sets in.

We will experience more than one spiritual winder, when we feel we are stumbling around in the dark, alone, disconnected from God. Maybe you've lost a job, a loved one. Maybe a blizzard of bad feelings has enveloped you.

This is a painful spot to be in. . But remember the childhood games of Hot and Cold in which someone hides an item and you have to find it?
When you got close, the other person would say "hot." If you were somewhere in the vicinity, you were "lukewarm. " And when you were nowhere near? "Cold." I felt bewildered whenever I was "cold." Then I'd realize that if I kept searching and listening for Him. Your faith will flourish again.

These bleak seasons are not only inevitable but necessary For my faith to grow stronger, I too need these periods of reflection.

I read a lot in the winter. This verse from thee Gospel of John always jumps out at me: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
Shine on this winter ~
--Guideposts/ TAB~