“Never look down on anybody, unless you’re helping them up”. I recently received this on the Internet and wanted to share it with you. Such good advice!
Do you remember reading of the elves that spruced up my place the day after Thanksgiving? Well, last Tuesday two of those elves (Randy and Ivan) returned and finished putting up Christmas lights on my house. Now they look so nice and not like an old “widder woman” did the work (as Willie used to say about my fence repair work).
After Willie passed away, 21 years ago on the 29th of this month (where has the time gone?) the fence repair work was solely my chore. At that time we had a Hereford bull with some Holstein heifers out back and a Holstein bull with the 80 Holstein milk cows. Well wouldn’t you know the bulls coveted the bovines not in their group and the fences received quite a bit of damage! The Holstein bull was daddy to the Holstein heifers and had to be kept away from them. At times I even used baling twine when “fixing” fence. If you remember that winter then you remember we had 8” of ice in places, colder than a well digger in the Yukon in January. Besides the 80 milk cows there were 80 head of younger stock….but I wasn’t quite 60 back then. I couldn’t do any of that today.
During that cold spell there was no such thing as scraping the holding pen (where the cows awaited going into the barn to be milked) and all their “droppings” were frozen down. It wasn’t safe to walk there for fear of a sprained ankle. After we had a bit of thawing, Rory came for several days with some of his equipment and cleaned up that mess. Then, Ronnie would come most mornings on his way to work and would help me keep the holding pen scraped. We only lost one cow due to the ice which was a miracle in itself. One thing about all that work, it kept me so busy that I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself, mourning doesn’t milk cows and tears just make it difficult to see what you are doing.
Friday was a long day in the office followed by errands so I didn’t get home until after 5 p.m. Then at 6:30 I hurried over to Randy’s place to meet some folk from Alaska. Sam and Viola are good friends of Ron’s from up north. It took them 9 days to get here when it usually takes 4 days, and then they took off for West Plains. Bless their hearts they hauled Ron’s huge floor jack all the way on a trailer through ice, snow, fog – and Sam said in his 40 years of travel from Alaska to the lower 48 he had never seen so many accidents, one being fatal to all involved, cars off the road in multiple places.
I’ve been writing and mailing off Christmas greetings in bunches, as time permits, usually 75 each year to family and friends. The incoming cards are so welcome. For some, this is our once a year time to catch up on each other, especially those who do not have the Internet. Just a few personal words mean so very much.
Such an interesting Sunday morning after church! I introduced myself to a lady and she said she wants to register at St. Leo’s along with her two teenage daughters. Then I helped a few parishioners find their 2012 contribution envelopes and had to make some switches there. One couple wanted to donate to Friday Feast at Ava Schools so I gave them the contact information. There were a few other inquiries so I didn’t have time to sit and visit during our refreshment time. Then Arlene, Reanna and I stopped in for a few groceries that inadvertently weren’t on my shopping list on Friday. It has reached the point if it isn’t written down, it doesn’t get taken care of. Christmas Eve Mass will be offered at 7:00 p.m. at St. Leo’s and Christmas Day Mass will be offered at 11:00 a.m. Join us in welcoming the Christ Child.
Don’t forget to leave some remembrance in your mail box for your carriers. I have a prayer today; that the message of Christmas will be a personal message to you all, that Jesus becomes and remains our Wonderful Savior for all of you and me, and that He will be the Prince of Peace to us all. In the midst of all the tinsel, the sparkle, the giving and exchanging of gifts, let’s make this a Christmas in which Christ is truly known. May the thoughts and prayers of all in the Dogwood Community and beyond be directed toward the one who gave so much to redeem all of us. Merry Christmas to all, and may God’s blessings be upon you.
From the desk of Jamey Herd:
Children’s Church with 13 children present along with Laveta and Susie presented their Christmas program this morning and it was wonderful. They did such a spectacular job. As soon as morning service was over they went to the Seymour Nursing Home and did their program again. They went to the Ava Nursing Home on Saturday and presented their program there. After they did their program at Ava the residents sang to the kids.
Pastor Carl brought the morning message from the book of John 3:31. “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth, the one who comes from Heaven is above all.” NIV. Services were cancelled for Sunday night. Christmas morning there will only be an 11 o’clock service.
Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful Christmas. God Bless you.
