The Straightened-Up Zinnia

 The Unconventional Zinnia

                A few weeks ago, my Faith_Family_Farm blog featured a posting entitled “A Miniature Flower Garden and Unity.” It highlighted our little container garden of zinnias and its comparison to unity which is vital in a family, church, or community to thrive. But the little zinnia curved its stem over the edge of the tub-converted-to-a-flower container and a rain event seemed a good focus for this posting.

                A few weeks after I wrote the miniature flower garden post, we experienced a rainstorm with a little wind. The next morning, the zinnia stems had been blown to one side of the converted cattle tub. To my surprise, the curved zinnia that had extended over the side of the container was standing stalwart even with its bowed stem.

Here is the zinnia container garden after the rain 
with the resurrection lilies standing tall along 
with a couple of tomato plants in the background.
The little purple zinnia that inspired this posting is
standing erect in the lower right corner of the 
photo. Its little curved stem is visible, too.

                As I inspected the tomato plants while the cats ate their morning food, I remembered an account in the Ephesus church that highlighted a dynamic speaker in their congregation named Apollos. He was described as “eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures” yet he had been instructed in the teaching of John the Baptist. Apollos lacked understanding that the Messiah had come and was named Jesus. He stood in the synagogue of Ephesus and began boldly speaking even though it was inaccurate teaching.

                 Under his teaching sat Aquila and Priscilla, a married couple, who had ministered with Paul in another city. They took Apollos “aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” (Acts 18:26) What a gentle spirit this godly couple had!

                As I walked away from the zinnia container, I thought how Apollos was like the errant zinnia. His lack of understanding of the truth of God’s plan incapacitated him from standing strong in the Word of God with the others in that body of believers. But just as the wind of the rainstorm had straightened the curved zinnia so had the Holy Spirit used Aquila and Priscilla’s private instruction to enabled Apollos to move to a greater work.

                The exciting results are revealed in verses 27 and 28 of the 18^th chapter of Acts. God led Apollos to another city where “he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.”

                How important are people like Aquila and Priscilla in our world today, whether in our families, communities or our churches! This displaced-Jewish Christian couple exemplified discernment by sensitivity. They didn’t publicly rebuke or correct Apollos. They took him aside privately to discuss the Scriptures and answer any questions this eager young believer might have had. The work of the Lord benefited by their obedience.

                Lord, give us a heart tender to Your leading as you gave Aquila and Priscilla. Grant us discernment, wisdom and a gentle approach as we work hand in hand with You. When we, like Apollos, need correction in our belief, give us a teachable heart, listening ears and a mind willing to obey.

The Cicada's Case

             

                One morning after feeding the cats, I was taken back to my childhood days. How mesmerized I was by what I called “locust shells” as a child! The photo at the right was snapped of the cast skin I glimpsed clinging to the old board.

                Now for some correction on my childhood thinking. The shell can be called a cast skin, exoskeleton, or exuviae. A more accurate identity of the insect that had emerged would have been an annual cicada.

                Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the perfect exterior of an insect, but it was hollow, empty. As a kid, I remember being pointed to the adult insect that abandoned its unnecessary case where its earlier life had been housed.

                The words from the last verse of the hymn of the 1800s, Sweet Hour of Prayer came into my mind. William Walford, its poet, in speaking about his death picturesquely envisioned it in this way:

This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise

To seize the everlasting prize;

Walford was speaking of the everlasting prize, not as something we earn but the free gift of eternal life purchased by Jesus on the cross for those who would receive Him.

                Gladys Rainey Smith, my maternal grandmother, loved to read 2 Corinthians 5. The chapter speaks of the believer’s death. The Apostle Paul compared the Christian’s life to a transient tent much like the cicada's exoskeleton.  He began with these words in the first verse:

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Paul addressed the weariness of living as God’s child in a world where so many forces aggressively oppose our Heavenly Father’s ways. He stated it like this in verse 4:

For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

The apostle reminded us that God has given us the Spirit as a guarantee of our future home and the eternal life that He gave to each new believer at the moment of salvation when we moved from the dead state of sin to life in Christ. He concluded that section of chapter 5 focusing on the transformation much like the cicada nymph experienced:

…To be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

When we have received life in Jesus by trusting in Him, we can be just as certain of our new heavenly body as the cicada nymph was of its change into an adult cicada.

Another photo of the 
inspiring exoskeleton.

An afterthought - The transformation of the cicada nymph reminded me of a former blog posting entitled The Metamorphosis. It can be accessed at  https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-metamorphosis.html?

Dad Married Someone Like His Mother...an Angler

 

Mamie Irene Tripp Gates, my paternal grandmother, was born in Cowley County, Kansas, to Rufus E. Tripp and Nettie Ann Venator Tripp on August 16. 1895, exactly 125 years ago today. She was the oldest daughter of her father’s three girls. She had younger twin sisters, Cora and Nora, almost 3 years younger than her.

Earliest Photo of Mamie Irene
                  Tripp Gates in our collection

Grandma related few family stories to me. My father said my grandfather, Edmund Gates, Sr., was the storyteller of the family. Dad even indicated Grandma would say to Grandpa, “Why do want to talk about that old stuff?”

Yet Grandma did tell me of saying “Good-bye” to her father as he died of a kidney disease at the age of 42. To access a blog posting about this time in her life, go to https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2013/09/one-of-hardest-things-for-little-girl.html. Soon after his passing, her mother married Robert Black. My father and his siblings loved their step-grandfather. He was the only grandfather they knew. At https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-marriage-of-robert-and-nettie-black.html, one can read what his youngest step granddaughter, Mamie Marie Gates Judkins Tice said about her dear grandfather.

Most of her childhood, Grandma and Cora lived in a blended family with their three younger siblings, Thomas Guinn Black, Ruby Black Gallatin, and Edna Jane Black. A photo of these three children can be seen at https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/03/calamity-in-tent.html. (Cora’s twin sister appears to have died just days after her father. To learn more about trying to solve the mystery of misinformation on her tombstone, click on https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2015/03/just-because-its-carved-in-stone-doesnt.html )

Grandma attended and graduated from eighth grade at the Belford School on the east side of the Bend at the present location of the home of Greg and Vonda Goad. At the turn of the 20^th century, her graduation represented an educational milestone. It was during one of her school days at that small school the horse her beau, my grandpa, had given her met a horrible fate. To read of that traumatic event in her life, go to https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-burial-in-school-yard.html.

On March 27, 1912, my grandparents pledged their love to one another, making the commitment to ensure it lasted until one of them died. Twelve children were born into their family and raised on the farm in the west Bend on the Arkansas River. To mark the centennial year of the ownership of the farm originally, this blog post was published. To access it, go to https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/07/100-years-of-memories-as-gates-family.html .

Grandma with "a fish caught out of 
Edmund's pond" 

A myriad of memories flooded my mind as I reflected on Grandma’s longevity full of creativity, frugality, stellar management, hard work, and most importantly, contentment. Her God-given musical skills and sketching expertise from her DNA have filtered down into those descending from her. I delight in hearing of some of her youngest descendants gifted with vocal talents and musical ability. When Dad married Mother, he chose a musically talented person in my mother. Yet he also selected an avid angler just like his own mother. Grandma loved to fish. Once Ben, my brother-in-law, began dating my sister, Angie, it seemed we planned a fishing excursion on most summer holidays like Independence Day and Labor Day. Ben, Mother and Grandma shared the same fervor for “wetting a hook” even though we only fished in our farm ponds. The irony of those outings was Dad expended more energy in mowing along the banks, pulling out of storage and loading the poles, tackle, rods and reels, chairs, and he didn’t even like to fish! He loved his mother and his wife.

One of Ben’s most successful and exciting days at Dad’s Big Pond occurred in July of 1986, when he, with Dad’s help, pulled out a 33-pound catfish. Our greatest regret was that Grandma was hospitalized and not there to enjoy every second of landing the big one. Mother snapped a shot of Dad, Ben, and the large fish with her Polaroid camera. The next day Grandma shared the thrill of the big catch when we took the photo to show her in her hospital room at Stillwater. 

Photo of Dad and Ben
with the big fish that
thrilled Grandma.

Finally, Grandma had faith and lived it out. One of the great examples of this was told by Dad as he recounted his memories from World War II. This paragraph below was taken from Okie Over Europe, Dad’s military memoirs.

                She (Mamie Gates) would later tell him that after he had completed his missions, she had met a local preacher in a store. The man told her he had heard that Edmund had finished his missions and remarked, “Edmund was lucky.”  Immediately, his mother, a very gentle and reserved woman, shot back without blinking an eye, “No!  God took care of him.”  Edmund knew her faith in God was her mainstay as she dealt with having two sons fighting in Europe.  Jess, Edmund’s brother, was based in Italy flying gliders for the Allied effort against the Nazis.

                In a time of uncertainty, filled with unrest in many areas of our lives, we can emulate Grandma’s actions during 1944, when her two oldest living sons were in combat in Europe. She prayed and trusted the Lord. Most importantly, she gave God glory and thanks, even correcting a minister when he contributed Dad’s safe return to luck. Grandma would have none of that.

May we give Him the credit, the praise, and the glory for every good gift He provides to us. That action will help curtail our complaining and ingratitude and give us strength to live a life honoring the God that Grandma served.

I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. Psalm 71:16

120 Years Ago This Week

 Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith- 1900-1983

                This week, August 11 marks the 120^th birthday of my maternal grandmother, Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith. Thinking of her life has prompted my reflection on what she experienced over her lifetime in the 20^th century. Some events through which she lived eerily shadow current events in 2020.

                Grandma hadn’t reached 3 months of age when the national presidential election selected a president in November. The male voters (women had not been given the right to vote) elected William McKinley as the president of the United States. Yet territorial residents did not/do not have voting rights, so Grandma’s father was unable to voice his choice for the first president of the 20^th century since he and his family lived in Oklahoma Territory.

                At the turn of the century when Grandma came into the world, China’s Boxer Rebellion found the Manchu dynasty in opposition to many other countries, including the United States. 120 years later, discordance between powers continues.

                By the year of 1920, Grandma had earned her teaching certificate with a summer of coursework in 1919, in Stillwater from Oklahoma A and M. As Grandma turned 20 years old the following year, the nation celebrated one of the first summers free of the Spanish flu pandemic since it had officially been declared “over” in April of 1920, having begun over two years earlier. How many of us pray for the time when COVID-19 is no longer an assailant on our people? (Here is a link to a blog post about Grandma's summer at Oklahoma A & M - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2015/06/summer-school-in-early-20th-century.html )

                Babies always come into a familial historical setting. My great-grandmother, Rosa Jarrell Rainey, gave birth to Grandma less than five months after their family buried the tiny casket of their three-year-old Della. A grief-stricken family welcomed another little girl into their family of four that summer. (Here is a link to a blog post about Della Rainey - https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2018/03/forever-great-grandmas-baby.html )

                Upon little Della’s death, Great-grandma Rainey positioned a large portrait of her over her bed. My mother recalled seeing the cherished photograph in its traditional place over 50 years after the toddler’s death. I never heard my grandma bemoan that fact even though no baby or toddler pictures of her survived. She remained a committed, faithful daughter to her cherished mother.

                In my grandma’s family picture collection, the only photo of Grandma in her childhood showed her in a family photo taken with their farmhouse in the background most likely in the Sacred Heart community in Pottawatomie County near the town of Asher. Ironically, the photograph had been torn with the rip severing the faces of Alice and Emma, her younger sisters. Aunt Emma had a reputation for destroying or defacing photographs of herself that failed to meet with her approval.

                The saddest birthday marked by Grandma occurred on August 11, 1931. On her 31^st birthday, her beloved father at age 63 was buried at Pixley Cemetery following the funeral held at the Rainey home.

The death of Grandma's father proved to be a turning point in her life. The following month at a revival held in the Bend, Grandma and her younger sister, Alice, were “converted” at one of the evening meetings preached by Reverend Stallings, the pastor of the Ralston Federated Church. When Grandma wrote in her little family history booklet of her conversion, that experience could be described as the changing of a dead person into a transformed living person solely by the power of Jesus because the death of Jesus makes forgiveness of sin possible. His resurrection empowered her to daily walk in obedience to His Word. From that point in her life, her foundational mission in life became sharing the good news of Jesus being able to “remake” a sinful life into a new, purposeful existence.

Angie, Grandma, Bernadean and Mother

               I find myself seeking to follow Grandmother’s work ethic here on the farm. Her articulate writing serves as a standard for me with each piece I craft. Grandma’s commitment to excellence provides a lofty goal – whether in my research, Bible study, musical practicing or just about anything I attempt. Though I am not always successful, the pattern she set spurs me to do my best. Finally, and most important, she was compelled by the dramatic change in her life to share the power of Jesus. As I mark her 120^th birthday, I concur with the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 – one of Grandma’s favorite chapters in the Bible. For those of us who have been impacted by Jesus may these two verses be the driving force for our living.

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died:

And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15              

One More Night With the Frogs

                Almost every evening when I water tomato plants, I spot a toad. This summer affords more toad sightings than in past years. Each time I glimpse a hopping toad, I think of Hoyt Aduddell preaching, “One More Night with the Frogs.”

                Just a quick amphibian lesson seems appropriate. To my surprise, the toad is a type of frog (order of Anura), according to scientific taxonomy, whereas colloquial categorization never places the toad family in the frog order. Toads (family bufonidae) have shorter legs than frogs (family ranidae). The toad has a bumpier skin than the smooth-skinned frog. One final fact I learned contrasts the eggs of toads being laid in long strands whereas frogs lay eggs in clusters.

                I first heard Brother Hoyt’s name when Larry Wilson came to Ralston Baptist Church in consideration as pastor. Larry had no pastoral experience, but his well-prepared sermons belied his inexperience as a pastor. In the church’s inquiry time, we learned Larry was committed to preparation and planned to dedicate each weekday morning to Bible study and sermon preparation. Finally, one of Larry’s greatest recommendations came from Hoyt Aduddell, his father-in-law who later served as the president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

                We came to love Brother Larry, Debbie, his wife, and his children, Kristen and Brian. Larry prepared stellar Bible studies even for midweek Wednesday night Bible studies. I still find myself returning, in my mind, to his teaching of the book of Judges, especially in this present era. Each week, he reminded us Judges chronicled the nation of Israel cyclically departing from serving God, God sending judgment, the nation of Israel crying out to God for deliverance, and God answering by raising up a deliverer from the nation. Finally, he taught us that each cycle found the nation sinking a bit lower in their societal morality until an apt description of the Israeli people closed the book of Judges with these words, Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Larry, Debbie, Kristen, and Brian Wilson 
taken from my mother's photo collection.

                Then our church received the privilege of Brother Hoyt Aduddell’s agreement to preach one of the first revivals for his young son-in-law. Every night Brother Hoyt preached God’s word, as my dad would say, “without fear or favor of man.” The most memorable message he delivered during his week in Ralston was entitled “One More Night with the Frogs” based on Exodus 8. Brother Hoyt described vividly the presence of frogs in every room of the Egyptian homes, being found on all Egyptians, whether servants or people of means. He based his account on the scripture delineating frogs in their ovens and kneading bowls. Brother Hoyt’s listeners could visualize the unending stream of frogs emerging from the Nile. Ironically, the Egyptians worshipped Heqet, the frog-appearing goddess of fertility from the Nile. Pharaoh, the obstinate leader of Egypt, begged Moses to ask God to remove the frogs from their land. When Moses said, “Accept the honor of saying when…” and Pharaoh responded “Tomorrow.”

Hoyt Aduddell

                Then Brother Hoyt Aduddell eloquently compared people of the late 1980s, with the Pharaoh of ancient days. One of the most frequently heard responses then and even now is much like Pharaoh’s answer of procrastination. Often the reply is “some other time” or “later” or “not now.” (The still photo of Hoyt Aduddell taken from  a YouTube video.)

                Both in Psalm 95:7-8 and Hebrews 3:7-8, God inspired these words to be written in His word:

“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…”

As Brother Hoyt admonished in his message, if we read or hear what He wants us to do, whether to receive the salvation only Jesus can give or as a believer, the Holy Spirit gently speaks of something we are to do for His work here on earth, we need to respond, “I will today.”

               

One of the many toads I have spotted this summer.

When you see a frog or toad, see it as a reminder to obey immediately and not follow Pharaoh’s example of procrastination. Here is Pharaoh’s eerie response after seeing the heaps of stinking dead frogs from Exodus 8:15 –

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.