What's with Such a Little House?

Why Edmund, Sr. and Mamie Tripp Gates Lived in a Two-Room House

            Recently, I saw a couple of old photographs from the Gates family taken over 100 years ago. I did not recall viewing these pictures of the latter 19^th century. What a window into the past a vintage photograph opens!

            When handed a photograph of the barn on my great-grandparents’ farm in Crawford County, near Girard, Kansas, I remembered Dad’s comment about his grandfather’s barn. I held up the photograph that I had never seen before and stated, “This is why Grandpa and Grandma had such a small house.” Dad had indicated Grandpa  insisted a big barn be constructed first. 

The barn on the Gates farm in Crawford County, Kansas. My grandfather is 

with the horses by the wall of the barn and his younger brother, John, is in 

the doorway of the barn with a team. Standing in the forefront of the photograph

 is John Fredrick Gates, the incredibly successful farmer father of my grandfather.

           In the early 20^th century, when my grandparents married, houses were not sprawling, massive dwellings. Their residences sheltered families and provided a place for family activities – like eating meals together, congregating for evenings of singing and storytelling, and the making of shadow pictures on the walls.
            I vividly recall my father, Edmund Gates, Jr., entertaining me with shadow pictures to get me to sleep. I tried in vain to create the shadow animal pictures with my own little hands.

When writing this blog, I finally made a rabbit!

              According to Dad, making animal shadow pictures on the walls of the tiny living room/family bedroom whiled away many winter evenings. The wood stove would have provided exceptional lighting for the little dexterous hands of my father and his siblings to perfect the shadow animals modeled by their father.
            The Gates family home on the 95-acre farm on the Arkansas River was comprised of two rooms – a kitchen and a living room that doubled as a bedroom at night. Each of five boys, upon promoting out of the baby bed, moved to sleep in the bunkhouse just steps from the little two-room main house. The arrival of the next baby prompted the graduation of a little Gates boy from the baby bed to the bunkhouse!
            Descendants of Ed and Mamie Gates discussed, with consternation, the challenge of raising a family of twelve in such cramped quarters. Then the question often was posed, “Why didn’t they build a larger house?”
            My great-grandfather, John Fredrick Gates, as a hearing-impaired farmer in the late 1800s, succeeded in his work in agriculture, first building the barn as shown in the photograph. At the time of the photograph in 1895, he was age 54, whereas my grandfather, Edmund, Sr. was 18 and his brother, John was 13.
            Then John Fredrick proceeded to his second goal, constructing the house shown in the second photo. He posed with his wife, Elizabeth, also deaf, and his children, Edmund, Sr., Merry, John, and Ella for the photograph taken a few years later.

The John Fredrick Gates Home - posing in front are Merry and Ella, his

daughters, Elizabeth, his wife, and John and Edmund, his sons, and finally the

mastermind behind the entire farming operation.

             John Fredrick’s success couldn’t keep harmony in his family. My grandfather left Kansas disgruntled, settling in Indian Territory, returning only occasionally for business and visiting family.
            Yet even though my grandfather disagreed  sharply with his father, my grandpa carried his father’s goals with him when he settled in Osage County. Grandpa’s first goal was to erect a big barn. Then he wanted to build a large home. One of his children said he wanted to have a room for each child.
            As my mother, his daughter-in-law, Bernyce Gates said, many obstacles got in his way of achieving his dream. First the Great Depression hit in 1929 when he and Grandma had seven children. The Dust Bowl descending on the farm during the 1930s, decimated his early dream for his family. Finally, twelve children diminished that plan for a room for each of his children!
            Grandpa was so committed to his plans for a dream home for his family, he struggled with seeing it "die." He pressed forward with his plans and purchased concrete blocks for the foundation. (As a child, I recall seeing the blocks stacked near the little house.) Yet he died in the same house, only a little bit larger, with renovations of indoor plumbing and a bedroom approved by Grandma, but not by Grandpa. 

The two-room home of Edmund, Sr. and Mamie Gates in August of 1964. The 

fish cleaning table is in the forefront. The only cooling appliance is the window

unit visible on the left of the house. It was only operated if company came. Only

antenna TV here. A wood stove served as the sole source of heating.

            A study of historical figures reveal Grandpa wasn’t the only one who had unrealized goals. Abraham Lincoln tried various business ventures - unsuccessfully. C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, studied and tutored at Oxford University for near 30 years but was never offered the position of professor. Instead that dream of being named chair of medieval and Renaissance studies was realized with a move to Cambridge University. Amy Carmichael, a committed missionary at the turn of the 20^th century, determined to serve in China. Her health prevented that. She was approved for work with at-risk children in India but due to a debilitating fall was confined to bed for the last two decades of her life. During those 20 years, she produced manuscripts forged because of unrealized dreams. Yet Carmichael's writings still inspire today.
            Grandpa was committed to education. He would be astounded how many of his descendants acquired marketable skills and degrees, allowing them to occupy positions of impact that render good in each of their chosen fields. Many of his sons, grandsons, and even great-grandsons could have designed and constructed Grandpa's dream dwelling. Numerous of his descendants exhibit creativity in a myriad of artistic areas.

            Edmund Gates, Sr. was characterized by his children as a man of principles. He valued honesty in thought, word, and effort. His children and so many of their offspring carried on Grandpa’s standard. How much more powerful are the influences of principled people than an edifice of wood and stone!

            Inspired by the Spirit of God, King Solomon penned in Proverbs 16:9 these insightful words for the one who feels dreams have been dashed and unrealized. 
                      A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Father, help us to place our dreams and goals in Your hands, recognizing You may have plans that exceed what we imagined for ourselves. Reveal to us when we need to loosen the grip on our goals and dreams so we can accept an even better plan. Enable us to carry on the legacy of the principles of our ancestors and bring honor to Your name. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Not a Putdown But a Badge of Honor

                                                                        She’s a Robbins!
            Dora and Ernest Robbins were both short of stature. I have overheard some of their taller descendants tease their shorter cousins with the taunt, “She’s a Robbins.”
           Three of my mother’s great-great-nieces descend not only from the Gates family but also from the family of Ernest and Dora Robbins. One of the girls nodded her head and rolled her eyes when I mentioned the phrase, “She’s a Robbins.” I responded quickly, “That’s a badge of honor.”
           Dora and Ernest were charter members of the Masham Baptist Church, which was the first church I attended. My father loved to tell how the church felt my mother should continue teaching the teenage girls Sunday School class. Mrs. Dora Robbins and Mrs. Myrtle Wills insisted they could care for me in the church nursery. In typical grandmotherly fashion, these two godly women let me do whatever I wanted. I have been told stacking blocks and then knocking them all over the nursery became my favorite activity. When I began to practice at home, Mother and Dad had to “break me” of that activity.
          Even to this day, I refer to them with respect, only being able to call them “Mrs. Robbins” and “Mrs. Wills.” These two visionaries knew the young women in their formative teen years in their church needed a teacher who would teach them God’s Word and how it could apply to their daily lives. These ladies were willing to sacrifice their Sunday mornings to care for me so Mother would teach.
          My grandparents respected the hard work ethic of Ernest and Dora Robbins. My grandma, Gladys Rainey Smith, had in her scrap book an article clipped from The Farmer Stockman. Written in the 1960s, the article deals with the innovations implemented by Mr. Robbins and his middle son, Wayne. (A scan of the article is below. Mr. Robbins and Wayne are pictured at the end of the article.)


           Wayne and Vonnie Laird Robbins, his wife, were not married when I first remember them. Their wedding is the first wedding I recall attending at the Masham Baptist Church. As a little one, I was so disappointed that Grandma clipped out the wedding announcement with a photograph of Vonnie and put it in her scrapbook. I remember insisting I needed a photo of them. This photograph is in our collection.

The photograph that Vonnie gave since

I wanted the newspaper clipping of her

in her wedding dress.

          In other blogs, I have mentioned that at Masham Baptist Church every week- or two-week-long revival concluded with testimony time on Saturday night. One that stood out in my memory was spoken by Wayne Robbins. He was a young husband and father. One statement that he made that evening was, “When we were growing up, there was never a question about going to church. We knew we were going.” Mr. and Mrs. Robbins made it clear to their children – We will serve the Lord.
          Maybe this explains my response to the gibe, “She’s a Robbins.” Being called “a Robbins,” based on the integrity, wisdom, and faith of the patriarch and matriarch, Ernest and Dora, truly is a compliment worthy of emulating. It does not matter whether their descendants are tall or short!
          Roy Lee Robbins and Delcie Robbins Barrett, two of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Robbins remain active members in the Masham Baptist Church along with many other grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. Many descendants of theirs serve the Lord in numerous ways. What a powerful visualization of the impact of this couple to live out what they read in God’s Word! May we be inspired to do the same in our own families.

“…Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,…
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
– a quote from Joshua as recorded in Joshua 24:15

Salty, Soothing, Moldable Stuff

Oh No! I Left the Bag Opened!

                My resourceful 93-year-old mother clipped, from the Ponca City News in 2007, a recipe to make homemade play dough. So when I made a batch a few months ago, I had her to thank. Following one of our studies on God’s creation, the Wednesday night kids Bible study group enjoyed molding replicas of things God made.

                A few days later, I pulled some items from my teaching bag only to discover the bag containing the homemade play dough unsealed. In my rush to clean up, I hadn’t closed one of the bags. To my surprise, the homemade modeling dough wasn’t in bad shape. I realized that was because of the ingredients in the homemade play dough, such as salt and oil.

                As I kneaded the play dough to deal with the few, tiny crystals of salt and in turn, make it usable for creating, the scripture came to mind from Matthew 5:13 –

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

               Jesus indicates our faithful living, by the power of His indwelling spirit, provides seasoned preservation in society, in our families, in our worship in our church, in our communities and at our workplaces. Jesus is also recorded in the gospel of Mark, in chapter 9, verse 50 as stating,

Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?

Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.

                 Then I thought What kept the homemade play dough from hardening, being rendered unmoldable? It was the oil primarily. The oil kept the three-month-old homemade play dough pliable and usable. 
                  I recalled multiple times when oil was used to anoint a specific person in the Old Testament. This anointing with oil signified the Spirit of the Lord empowering the individual for leadership such as a king, priest, or prophet. Then Jesus, just before his crucifixion, promised to send His followers the Holy Spirit "...when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth;..." (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit enables the believer to be usable and moldable in the hands of God. 
                 But back to the role of the salt.....The salt's preservative qualities drew water from the play dough to preserve it. This drying action reduced greatly the chance of mold or bacteria thriving since the lack of moisture made growth unlikely.

                Elisha, the Old Testament prophet, was approached by a new city’s developers praising its location but seeking his help for the bad water—so bad that the ground was barren. Elisha requested a bowl of salt and cast it into the water source. He said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have healed this water…’”

                Many DIY hacks can be found online using salt as the main ingredient in a cleaner for various tasks. Salt is considered a purifier or cleanser.

                With these thoughts bouncing around in my head, I began to question Lord, what is this preserved play dough in an unsealed bag teaching me? Here are some take-away questions.

1.       Is my life “savory” and “well-seasoned” prompting thirst for Jesus, the Water of Life?

2.       Do my thoughts, words, and actions preserve peace in my family, neighborhood, church, workplace, state, and nation? Or do I add to the pervading putrid decay in our world?

3.       No matter where I enter, whether it be a family gathering. a social media discussion or a controversial meeting, does my presence bring a purifying aspect to the setting, de-escalating it, and resulting in a climate of peace, yet not compromising my Bible-centered world view?

4.       Am I spending quality time with the Lord daily to keep my “savor” and avoid losing my “flavor” and becoming “good for nothing"?

Salty, homemade play dough can not only relieve stress and be used to create fun stuff, but its prominent ingredient illustrates the power of allowing the Holy Spirit of God to work through us.

The kids created a sun, flowers, a giraffe, and 

other detailed sculptures with this homemade

play dough. ( I used yellow food coloring 
since we had more of it than any other color!)

This bag left opened inspired my thoughts about

our saltiness as believers.

 Play Dough Recipe (as it appeared in the Ponca City News on January 21, 2007)

1/2 cup salt
1    cup all-purpose flour
1    tablespoon cream of tartar
1    tablespoon vegetable oil
1    cup water
      liquid food coloring

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients except the food coloring. Stir until well-mixed, then add food coloring a few drops at a time until desired color is reached. The mixture will start out soupy.
Set the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the mixture begins to clump, dry and gets difficult to move the spoon through, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the dough to a dry work surface.
When the dough has cooled to the touch, knead until smooth and cool. To store, refrigerate the dough in plastic bags. 
Makes about 2 cups of dough.