The Adventures of Mother, Her Parents, and Polly Parrot

               This week, Mother and I saw a news story about parrots. It prompted us to discuss Mother's first pet, the positive impression the parrot made on her, and to reprise this previous blog post.

                  My grandparents, Calvin and Gladys Smith, furnished lodging for two brothers who were working for them. At that time, my mother and her parents lived in the little house that was the first home my mother remembers. (The aforementioned house was featured in the blog post entitled Miracles at the Little House. Here is a link to the blog post: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/07/miracles-at-little-house.html) In lieu of rent, Grandpa and Grandma accepted a parrot in payment! To make matters worse, Grandma discovered that every evening the talking parrot would call repeatedly the name, “Willa Dean” causing my grandmother to suspect that she had taken stolen property for the delinquent rent.

                Grandma was a working mother. Grandpa drove the team of horses while Grandma rode the cultivator. Before Grandma left for the field, she always put on her meal of pork to cook. That took care of lunch preparation.

                Childcare for my mother, Bernyce, was imperative. Grandpa fixed a little seat for my mother to ride on the cultivator. What resourceful parents she had!

                The same cultivator was stolen and later located around Skiatook. My grandparents could easily identify it. Even though the thieves cut off Mother’s little custom-made seat, they could not disguise where Grandpa had originally attached it.

                One day while in the field, they heard the cry, “Fire! Fire!” Grandpa reverted to his days playing baseball and ran to the house as though he was rounding the bases during a game. There was Polly, the parrot, perched atop their house watching the smoke come out of the chimney. When Grandpa could see the house was not burning, but Grandma's dinner preparation had produced the smoke, he reacted angrily, “That nasty parrot!”

Lewis, older brother of Gladys
Rainey Smith, and Pearl
Bierman Rainey

                One evening  Grandpa, Grandma, and my mother returned home to hear laughter. It sounded just like Aunt Pearl Rainey’s cheerful, high-pitched laugh. As Grandma searched through the house, she began saying, “Now Pearl come out. I know you’re here.”

                However, Aunt Pearl was not there. No one else was there, except Polly, the parrot. Sure enough, it was Polly laughing exactly like Aunt Pearl!

                On another occasion, my grandpa was trying to get the team of horses into their harness so he could work in the field. Polly Parrot begin saying, “Yee! Yee!”  Immediately the horses reacted to the shrill command, lurching back into the pasture. My normally easy-going grandpa retorted, “That nasty parrot!”

                My mother’s maternal grandma, Rosa Jarrell Rainey, came often to visit at Mother’s home. When she bid good-bye to Mother and her parents, Polly imitated their farewells with her own mimicry of theirs by calling, “Good-bye, Grandma! Good-bye, Grandma!”

Another day when her grandmother came, Mother was sitting in her highchair with Polly, the parrot, perched on the back of the highchair. Polly leaned down to gently “kiss” Mother. Her grandma reacted in fear and impulsively grabbed Polly’s back in an effort to protect her little granddaughter. Polly’s beak instinctively ripped a deep gash in Grandma Rainey’s hand. Up to this point, Polly had never harmed Mother or her parents. Even as young as Mother was, she knew to offer Polly her finger for a perch and never grab her.

Soon Mother’s parents sold Polly. In retrospect, Mother has always insisted Polly did nothing wrong. She has often wondered what happened to Polly since parrots naturally have a long life span. As an only child, Mother bonded with Polly to such an extent that she still recalls how she missed that lively, smart, avian imitator even though their adventures occurred around 95 years ago.

Bernyce Smith Gates, my mother, and her grandma, Rosa Jarrell Rainey.

The Patience of God on Display

        While feeding the cats one evening this week, I saw God’s patience illustrated in His creation. Dangling precariously from the underside of a shelf hung an exoskeleton of a cicada, For the first time in my life, I observed the laborious way God allowed the adult green cicada to emerge. As I watered tomato plants, checked on cats, and ran the weed eater some, I periodically checked the status of the emergence of the adult green cicada from its nymph case or exoskeleton. What a miracle in ultra slow motion!

First glimpse of the exoskeleton.

        

        The late-planted tomatoes are growing imperceptibly with an occasion blossom appearing. Not just the tomatoes or the emergence of the green cicada, but most progression in God’s creation moves at an unhurried pace rarely seen in our 21st century. 
        Then one morning, I finished edging with the weed eater after mowing the previous evening. The warm morning with its slightly cool breeze made the task almost pleasant. At one point, I had to go old school and get a spade to better edge the sidewalk.

The cicada emerges more.

        As I used the spade to move the dirt and then turned on the power blower, I thought of Grandma Gladys Rainey Smith. She loved the yard work, the expansive (at least for me) flower beds, and rejoiced when every aspect exuded touring a botanical garden. However, she had no power tools – just a hoe, spade, and shears leading to painstakingly slow, hard work.   

First spotting of wings.

        Jesus called God the vinedresser. God, in Jesus’s illustration, and Grandma both served as caregivers of plants. Pruning required cutting away anything endangering the growth or productivity of the plant. In the same way, Grandma’s edging, required meticulous care to remove the culprits of weeds, grass, harmful pests, or anything that impugned her vision for the flower beds
        Jesus called His followers branches on His vine. John 15:2 stated Every branch that bears fruit He prunes. Jesus articulated to His disciples that productive branches can expect pruning. Pruning removed the unproductive aspects of the plant.
        In the lives of the children of God, pruning is a slow and challenging process, almost always painful, as fruitless elements of our lives are removed. Yet it remains extremely important since John recorded in John 15:8, By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. Yielding to His pruning will result in fruitfulness that glorifies Him.

Final photo of nine taken.

        

        Whether observing life cycles in God’s creation or equating our plant or garden care to the Father’s pruning of His “branches,” we see He demands patient waiting. This waiting is so evident in our prayers that we often pray for many years and appear to receive no answers, especially when petitioning Him for the salvation of a dear loved one. Peter expresses articulately this aspect of God’s character in II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 

         May we take time to see the patience of God on display in His creation every day. His followers obey and yield patiently to His careful pruning of unproductive aspects of our lives. Our prayer attitude of trusting His answer to come exemplifies our unrelenting trust in Him and His willingness to respond - no matter how long the wait.

Falls Creek Back in the Day

        

Kneeling: Paul Warnock, Darrel Banning (served as a lineman and died in 

1982), Tony Warnock. Standing: Jim Warnock, Linda Laird, Janice Wolf, 

Glenda Wolf, Jean Banning, Nancy LeForce, Opal Warnock, Vonnie Laird, 

Gilbert Domeny (who served his country for 20 years, retired, and died 

in 2019)

        A photo from the photograph collection of my maternal grandma, Gladys Rainey Smith, inspired memories of a newly formed church and its ministry to young people over 60 years ago.

        The Masham Baptist Church originated from brush arbors preceded by all-night prayer meetings. Mother said Brother Ray Hart, the preacher with a burning desire to see people’s lives changed by Jesus, guided in the building of the initial church structure. He taught his congregation the Bible with an unrivaled fervor for them to grow in grace. Mother said those early days of the Masham Baptist Church mirrored the last phrase of Nehemiah 4:6, The people had a mind to work. The congregation’s unity and willingness to work exemplified the first church in Acts.

        A couple of summers, my grandparents accompanied young campers to Falls Creek. Both had been saved as adults so had never attended or chaperoned a week with teens. Even though they didn’t meet the typical criteria for youth sponsors, some of those youth as older adults still comment on their week with my grandparents so many decades ago.

        Grandma was in her late fifties and attended primarily as a cook. She and Mrs. Warnock prepared the “grub” as Grandpa would say. Grandma recalled Brother Jim Warnock, their new pastor, refused to allow any complaint about the meals. Establishing that attitude of respect impressed Grandma.

        Grandpa went as a token male sponsor. He loved the outstanding teaching and preaching that Falls Creek always provided. His easy-going personality with an understated sense of humor emerged years later when Tony Warnock asked me about a little rhyme I had recited as a preschooler. Grandma had taught me to say, “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.” Grandpa created a second line and I quickly learned, “Saddle up the cat and Nanny got on.”

        Mother recalled Paul Warnock meeting, getting to know in the youth group, and marrying Linda Bright at the Masham Baptist Church. Her usual comment: The Masham Kids were a good group.

        Recently, Vonnie Laird Robbins passed away. This brought many memories and mourning for Mother. (This link shares more about Vonnie: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2023/08/singing-about-lilies.html)

        Vonnie’s sister, Linda Laird, sang with a beautiful soprano voice. Dad always connected with her at the Pawnee Sale Barn when he sold cattle. He would say, “I saw Linda when she gave me the check.” He delighted telling Mother any family updates Linda shared. Linda’s death brought such sadness to Mother’s heart.

        Nancy LeForce proved to be a committed Bible student--taught by Grandma in upper elementary grades, and then Mother in the high school years. Nancy sang with her sister, Janie, and Linda Laird in a trio that blessed many of the worship times at the Masham Baptist Church. Nancy’s grandparents served the Lord faithfully in many ways even hosting youth parties in their rural Masham home.

         Mother often commented, “It was always Nancy and Janie.” The girls were so close in age with Nancy being just slightly older, but Janie’s strong, determined personality belied that.* Mother was heartbroken when Janie and her son, Brett, were taken in a car accident in 1986.

        Janice and Glenda Wolf heralded from the rural Morrison area. Mother remembered Janice at the house parties, which were thoroughly enjoyed by the high schoolers. Recently, Janice sent a note expressing her appreciation to Mother for her influence in her salvation and spiritual journey. With Mother’s ministry opportunities being minimal, Janice brought encouragement to Mother’s heart. 

        Brother Jim and Opal Warnock, Jean Banning, my grandparents, and possibly Alwilda Laird had sacrificed a week of their summer to allow these young people to be immersed in Biblical teaching, preaching, and fellowship. May all who have a life committed to Jesus follow the Apostle Paul’s personal plan from I Corinthians 9:19 

Even though I am no one’s slave, yet I have made myself a slave to everyone. I have done this so that I might win more people to Christ.

*Our pastor commended Nancy LeForce Wills and her husband, Charles, for their willingness to serve the Lord faithfully week in and week out. He had served many years with them in the Pawnee Baptist Church. I enjoyed serving in VBS under Nancy’s directorship as children’s lives were influenced for eternity.