Tuesday, July 12, 2005
MARCH AND APRIL...1995
After getting comfortably back in our routines, Jonathan’s birthday came up on a Saturday. We had him and Becky over for lunch and gift opening. It was a nice balmy day and things were beginning to “green up” nicely. WalMart had been in the process of building a large Super Center in West Plains and the evolving edifice was impressive. It dwarfed everything around it. They were outgrowing the small-town shopping center they located in originally. The parking lot they paved and prepared for customers was unbelievable in size. We couldn’t imagine they could ever fill it or have enough business to keep the overhead down. That was 10-years ago.
Today you have to drive around for several minutes too hopefully find a parking place close enough for a walk to the building. The store is always packed full of people and the shopping carts are filled to the brim with every customer. In the years since opening, business has built up around them and it’s a regular little city to the South of town. There is a love-hate relationship with WalMart. We fuss about the monopoly and the way it killed the business down on the Square of a nice little town but we end up shopping there because they have everything in one stop. Small business cannot compete with their prices and cannot stock such a massive inventory. It’s simply more convenient and economical to shop there…..and so we join the masses.
A good Christian friend of ours, Dean McPherson, had been receiving treatments for cancer. We were concerned for him and hopeful he could win the battle. John had married Dean and his wife a few years before and they now lived near Springfield. Dean stopped in one day to tell us his condition was terminal and they couldn’t do any more for him. Of course we were stunned and sorry. Dean was a man whose life exemplified Christ and we had many good conversations over the years, sharing the Gospel together. One of his favorite verses was, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 New Standard Version) It is a verse that changes any person who takes it to heart. It became a favorite of both Bear and me and reminded us of Dean every time it was mentioned or read. It was hard saying goodbye that day. We knew we wouldn’t see him again. He was at peace and ready to meet God.
Becky’s birthday came up towards the end of the month and I fixed her favorite meal. She liked her gifts and her 41st year came and went quietly. We had all been doing quite a bit of planting this spring. Bear and I set out a Bradford Pear tree, some Flowering Quince, Cardinal Bush, a pink Dogwood tree and Lilac’s. When I look at them now, it’s hard to believe they were once so small. In the 10-years since planting, they have literally filled our yard up with foliage.
The 19th of April was LJ’s 10th birthday. It became quite momentous when special news breaks told of the Federal Bldg. in Oklahoma City, being blown up. I was working at Houston that day and we had our ears glued to the TV set to hear of the on-going rescue attempts. Many children were killed in a Day Care Center on the second floor and our hearts went out to the victims as well as the rescuers. As the day wore on there were more and more details……12 children lost and 30 people killed….hundreds in hospitals and several hundred unaccounted for. It was reported that a car-bomb caused the explosion.
The following day news began to unravel the mystery. A man was charged with the bombing, stopped 90-minutes later, driving a car with no license plates and for having a concealed weapon in the vehicle. They were finding connections to a Patriot Group who retaliated for the Waco disaster. The following Sunday was a National Day of Prayer for the victims.
It was a sad day for America………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Today you have to drive around for several minutes too hopefully find a parking place close enough for a walk to the building. The store is always packed full of people and the shopping carts are filled to the brim with every customer. In the years since opening, business has built up around them and it’s a regular little city to the South of town. There is a love-hate relationship with WalMart. We fuss about the monopoly and the way it killed the business down on the Square of a nice little town but we end up shopping there because they have everything in one stop. Small business cannot compete with their prices and cannot stock such a massive inventory. It’s simply more convenient and economical to shop there…..and so we join the masses.
A good Christian friend of ours, Dean McPherson, had been receiving treatments for cancer. We were concerned for him and hopeful he could win the battle. John had married Dean and his wife a few years before and they now lived near Springfield. Dean stopped in one day to tell us his condition was terminal and they couldn’t do any more for him. Of course we were stunned and sorry. Dean was a man whose life exemplified Christ and we had many good conversations over the years, sharing the Gospel together. One of his favorite verses was, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 New Standard Version) It is a verse that changes any person who takes it to heart. It became a favorite of both Bear and me and reminded us of Dean every time it was mentioned or read. It was hard saying goodbye that day. We knew we wouldn’t see him again. He was at peace and ready to meet God.
Becky’s birthday came up towards the end of the month and I fixed her favorite meal. She liked her gifts and her 41st year came and went quietly. We had all been doing quite a bit of planting this spring. Bear and I set out a Bradford Pear tree, some Flowering Quince, Cardinal Bush, a pink Dogwood tree and Lilac’s. When I look at them now, it’s hard to believe they were once so small. In the 10-years since planting, they have literally filled our yard up with foliage.
The 19th of April was LJ’s 10th birthday. It became quite momentous when special news breaks told of the Federal Bldg. in Oklahoma City, being blown up. I was working at Houston that day and we had our ears glued to the TV set to hear of the on-going rescue attempts. Many children were killed in a Day Care Center on the second floor and our hearts went out to the victims as well as the rescuers. As the day wore on there were more and more details……12 children lost and 30 people killed….hundreds in hospitals and several hundred unaccounted for. It was reported that a car-bomb caused the explosion.
The following day news began to unravel the mystery. A man was charged with the bombing, stopped 90-minutes later, driving a car with no license plates and for having a concealed weapon in the vehicle. They were finding connections to a Patriot Group who retaliated for the Waco disaster. The following Sunday was a National Day of Prayer for the victims.
It was a sad day for America………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
