Cookies, VBS, and Treasured Memories

As I hastily put this together, I recalled Vacation Bible Schools of long ago. I have written previously about attending VBS at the Big Bend Baptist Church. As a little one, I had no inkling what a treat I experienced attending VBS each day where my maternal grandma, Gladys Rainey Smith, taught the older students and my paternal grandma, Mamie Tripp Gates, and her dear friend, Fern Anson, lovingly served cookies and Kool-aide to us.

She Only Wanted One Brand

          Aunt Daisy Dean Rainey Rice (she was my great-aunt since she and Grandma Gladys Rainey Smith were sisters) often sent by my father to pick up a few items at town. (Ironically, Dad or Grandpa frequently did the grocery shopping.) Many times, when we gave her a call, she requested a Duncan Hines cake mix. She always specified “Duncan Hines” so I was excited when I discovered semi-homemade recipes using Aunt Daisy’s favorite brand.

        A few months ago, I made a plain vanilla cookie from a recipe calling for a Duncan Hines white cake mix. Mother and I enjoyed the taste of the cookies. The photo below revealed the appealing appearance of the cookie. 

Vanilla Cookies Made from a Duncan Hines
White Cake Mix

        I hadn't made many cookies since Dad’s death. Angie discovered Dad really liked the softness of Loft House cookies but didn’t prefer the frosting on them. I researched online and found a taste-like Loft House cookies recipe. They were so easy to whip up. I combined a Betty Crocker cake mix, any flavor worked, 1/3 cup canola oil, and 3 eggs and baked at 375^o F for about 8 minutes.

        My father was the epitome of self-control. He only ate one cookie per meal. It didn’t matter if the cookies were hot out of the oven or not. Only one cookie for him.

        The season rolled around for VBS 2018. Our church scheduled a workday. Mention was made of “snickerdoodle” and “oatmeal raisin” cookies. An alarm went off in my brain. Here was my chance.

        I had found a snickerdoodle “semi-homemade” recipe on http://www.cookkosher.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6591 so the work day before Vacation Bible School was a chance to try it out. I pulled out a Duncan Hines Butter Golden moist cake mix from the freezer and of course, thought of Aunt Daisy.

Here’s how I made these snickerdoodles.

1          I preheated the oven to 375^o F.

2          In a small bowl, I combined 3 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and set it aside for later.

3          Then I combined the cake mix with two eggs and 1 stick of butter or margarine. (My 93-year-old mother refuses to use recipes that call for more than that amount of butter or margarine. She even tweaks recipes to reduce it even more.) 

4          Using two spoons (it just is less messy on my hands), I made about 1-inch balls of dough, rolled them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture, and placed them on the aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet. (My last few cookies were rolled in Mother’s own sugar/cinnamon mixture. She ups the cinnamon in her mix. They tasted better, especially if you like more cinnamon. But she didn't have exact proportion of sugar and cinnamon she used.)

5          Before placing them in the oven, I flattened each ball of dough with the bottom of a drinking glass.

6          The cookies baked for 9 minutes, cooled for 1 minute, and then I removed them from the aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet.

Snickerdoodle Cookies Made from a Duncan Hines
Butter Golden Cake Mix

Finally, as I reflected on the prospective VBS students on our church’s list and then thought of the teachers, helpers, and workers, I realized Aunt Daisy had relatives either as young students, teachers, or helpers at every level.

I thought of how she loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She delighted in lavishing sweet treats on them or anyone when they came to her house.

As I concluded this posting, my mind went to the longest chapter in the Bible. It is chapter 119 of Psalms. I do not think it is coincidental that it is an encompassing treatise on God’s Word. The snickerdoodles and other VBS sweet treats popped into my mind as I read Psalm 119:103:

How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

May we ever savor God’s Word as we meditate on it as we fall asleep each night, as we wake to a new day each morning with its promises on our lips, as we go through the day with a heart of thankfulness for His gracious goodness to us, and a will to obey what we've read.

For any readers living in the Ralston area, encourage your young relatives or neighbors to participate in VBS 2018 for 5-12 year-old students at Ralston Baptist Church on June 10-14, Sunday through Thursday evenings from 6 – 8:30 p.m.  VBS Family Day will be on Sunday, June 17, beginning with breakfast at 10 a.m. with Worship Rally following.

Memorial Day - a Week Later

Memorial Day Thoughts - The Family Cemetery I’ve Never Visited

            On Memorial Day, I only visited one cemetery - Pixley Cemetery where over 30 relatives are buried. I have a personal connection or have been told a story about almost every grave in that cemetery on the hill with a view overlooking the Arkansas River.

            This year as I loaded flowers, my mother indicated I didn’t need to put out all those floral remembrances. She mentioned “Fairfax Cemetery” and “Riverside Cemetery” as we talked about the burial places of loved ones. She reminded me gently there was no way to "decorate" all of them. Then I began to think of Hickory Grove Cemetery in Delaware County in Eastern Oklahoma.

            My great-grandfather, Walter Smith, a fullblood Cherokee, was buried in the cemetery on land donated by his grandmother, Susannah Spaniard Smith Miller, according to the history of Hickory Grove Cemetery. Great-grandpa Walter spoke Cherokee, English, and Spanish. This week I began thinking of three of his daughters who died young and are buried in the old country, the way my grandpa referred to the area of Eastern Oklahoma where he was born and raised. 

Tombstone of Baby Cherokee Smith

            Darkus, a twelve-year-old sister, greeted my maternal grandpa, Calvin Callcayah Smith, on March 13, 1894, at his birth. A little-four-year old sister, Amanda Alice, welcomed the new baby brother who had large, but beautiful, gentle gray eyes.

            When Grandpa was age three, little Cherokee Smith arrived at the Smith home. Three days later on February 19, 1898, Julia and Walter Smith grieved the death of their tiny daughter. Grandpa never mentioned Baby Cherokee. Only after his death, when looking at the documentation of his enrollment as an original allottee on the Dawes roll, did I learn about her.

            Darkus married Samuel Nichols. Soon she anticipated the birth of their first baby. Sweet Darkus gave birth to little Lewis but once again the Smith family mourned the death of a daughter and sister. Darkus died on April 7, 1901, after giving life to little Lewis. When Death encroached upon the Smith family again, my grandfather was seven years old. I recalled Grandpa mentioning her name but never speaking of her death. My mother's cousin, Elizabeth Purcell Hammer, said her grandparents, Walter and Julia, took little Lewis to live with them.

Tombstone of Darkus Smith Nichols

            A few months shy of Grandpa’s sixteenth birthday, the sister he called “Mandy” died as the result of being thrown from a horse. Grandpa always referred to her as “Mandy.” As I filtered his experience in 1910, I compared it to the shock of a tragic car wreck in our era. What a jolt to Grandpa's young heart! Even though he never told of the circumstances surrounding her accident, I know how challenging that grief journey must have been for Grandpa to say “good-bye” to his twenty-year old sister. 

Tombstone of  Amanda Alice Smith 
whose 129th birthday will be June 9th.

             Even though Grandpa experienced the loss of beloved sisters, he stands stalwart in my memories as one who encouraged, didn't complain, and spoke with words sparingly. I hope to model his example of having a word to uplift instead of tearing down.  I strive daily to stifle my tendency to grumble and complain. Finally, my goal is to live out Proverbs 21:23 by praying Psalm 141:3.

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue 

Keeps his soul from troubles.

Proverbs 21:23

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalm 141:3

Note about  researching - When going to a cemetery where loved ones are buried, look at the markers or tombstones for clues into the past. Each of these photographs of tombstones from Hickory Grove Cemetery were taken from the site findagrave.com. Findagrave.com is a good option for researching cemeteries where ancestors are buried when travel to those locations is unlikely or impossible.

Eradicating a Livestock Irritation

As a Narnia lover, I felt much like the Pevencie children in C. S. Lewis’s book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when it seemed like some magic was chasing them into the wardrobe. I wanted to write about the World War II Veterans Monument at the Pixley Cemetery here in the Bend but knew more research would make it better. Bouncing around in my mind was recent research about Cherokee ancestors and Moravians in Georgia in the 1700s,coupled with a separate discovery of a Moravian connection in North Carolina with the Gates’ family at about the same time in history. Nevertheless, I found myself feeling almost forced to write about the prickly cocklebur.

The Despised Cocklebur

                I have fought cockleburs on Mother's farm since 2013. During the years we cared for Dad following his stroke, I could hardly wage a war on the cocklebur. Since Dad’s death, the battle became more heated during the past two summers. I have still felt the wicked plant got the upper hand.

                My name has been associated with the term tree hugger. My 93-year-old mother cautiously approves chemical use on her land. So I decided to try another solution first.

                About a month ago, I began looking for the first emergence of the innocuous-appearing green leaves on spindly stems. At least five days a week, I’ve been scrutinizing the region of the pasture where the cockleburs have grown prolifically for the past several years.

                Once I spotted the first tiny nuisance this season, I purposed to work vigorously, usually each morning, to pull each cocklebur plant in sight out by the roots. As I have pulled each despicable weed, I thought of Hebrews 12:16 - 

Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. The Message

                Most of the translations warn of the “root of bitterness” and its destructiveness in a person’s life and all who love and interact with that person. As I pulled one of the young cocklebur plants, I thought of how ineffective the cutting of mature cocklebur plants had been a couple of years ago. I had waited too late to eradicate the cockleburs that summer. Destroying cockleburrs must start early.

                Moses inspired by God warned of turning one’s heart away from God and instead worshiping something else. He cautioned in Deuteronomy 29:18 of “a root bearing bitterness.” Interestingly, in this Old Testament passage, the following verse gave insight into the heart of this individual intimating to one’s self that “I shall have peace” even though I am doing things my own way, ignoring God’s principles.

                Just as I spot and pull the cocklebur in its early growth stages, I must identify the attitude of bitterness as early as possible. If the attitude is pulled out by my confessing its horrible presence in my life, then God will enable me to do what I cannot do alone. Scripture passages can be read, memorized, and most importantly, obeyed to overcome the attitude of bitterness.

                However, if I let the attitude of bitterness toward a person or a situation continue, the noxious attitude will pervade my thoughts, tumble out of my mouth in cutting words, and culminate with spiteful actions.

                We must rid our minds and hearts of the toxic attitudes before they shoot up to infect the very thoughts we think. The thoughts will absorb all our creativity and energy in a negative way and spew hurtful, unkind words indiscriminately on unsuspecting victims. Finally, we alienate most people from us because they fear cruel actions inevitably will come from our bitter attitudes, thoughts, and words.
                 After receiving a quarter inch of rain this week, I recalled Jesus indicating He was "the water of life." God's Word is compared with water, too. After God had sent our refreshing shower, the soil around the hated cockleburs had been softened making it much easier to pull even the larger plant pests. As the rain-moistened soil more easily relented its hold on the useless pasture pests, so the reading, hearing, and obeying God's Word sensitizes our hearts to ridding our lives of destructive habits and tendencies as we seek to strengthen our relationship with Jesus.

One of the still immature, emerging cocklebur plants. Even though a little over
19 inches tall, the previous night's shower made it easy to pull this plant pest. 

                The final thought must be a passage Mother loves to quote. It is the answer, the source for power to “dig out the bitterness” and one of the best sections of scripture to memorize to counter a attitude of bitterness.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, 

and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, 
                                          even as God in Christ forgave you. 
                                                             Ephesians 4:31-32