100 years

I still remember my father as a “young man.” He died at the age of 62. Today makes 100 years since he was born. He died on April 3rd 1973 and was buried on my mother’s 58th birthday. What a heritage he left us! Sheralee, Beth, and Jason were the only grandchildren he lived to see. But he still lives on. I see him and hear his voice in my cousin Lyndon Campbell--still have to get used to the grown up name. My sons Matt and Daniel are like him in many ways.

I have many fond memories of working with him on the farm, going to town to the feed store, going to church and picking up neighbor’s children on the way, watching him work algebra word problems “for fun” at night during the winters, and seeing him do Bible study for classes at Currentview. He used to love to sing. I can hear him singing “A Beautiful Life” in our blue, Ford pickup on the way to town. The first line was “Each day I’ll do a golden deed, by helping those who are in need.” I think he really tried to live that line. He was respectful to and friends with the bank president in town and our country drunk. I can remember times when he tried to help that young man who had the drinking problem and how discouraged he felt when it didn’t work. He never failed to tell my mother that she looked pretty when she got dressed up for church on Sunday mornings. I was blessed to have parents who loved each other so very much.


Hope you are having a good summer. Stay cool.




Delores Lee
2 Chro. 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

Food for Thought

Food for Thought

Proverbs 14:12
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. “ (NIV)


I walked through the grocery store loading my cart with brightly colored boxes and packages. Their makers proclaimed these products to be delicious, enriched, fortified, low-cal, free of fats, and fast to fix. The food industry had convinced me that with all their research they could create food that would lead to better health, great culinary pleasures, and satisfaction. A few real foods made it into my cart, but the majority did not resemble any God-made food. My body paid for those choices.

I walked through the world often feeding my mind and spirit with morals and values entertainingly presented in movies, in magazines, in books, on television, or on the internet. These morals and set of values were promoted as more appealing, exciting, enriching, and freeing. I did feed some on God’s word, but the majority of the food for my mind and spirit held little resemblance to God’s truths. How could I expect my spirit to be well nourished?

I’ve changed my grocery shopping habits. Now many God-made foods find their way into my cart. My physical health has improved. I’ve made changes in what I feed my mind and spirit. I spend more time studying God’s word. I am more discerning about choices I make for reading or entertainment. My spiritual health has improved. What joy to be more aware of the presence of God in my life!

My prayer for all of us is that our souls hunger and thirst for God and that we feed our spirits on his word. ( Psalm 42:1-2)

What's This?

What’s This?

Water - Hexylene glycol-Ethanolamine-Propylene glycol-Soytrimonium chloride-Trisodium-Ethylediamine disuccinate-fragrance-Ethoxydigycol-Oleth 5- CII-14 – Pareth-9 -Oleth-2 -Cocamiodopropyl bethane-Dilnoleic acid- Oleic acid-Erthrobic acid – Polysorbate 20- p-Phenylendiamine- Sodium sulfite-Oleamide MIPA- Resorcinol- C112-15 Pareth-3 –Oleth-10 – Panthenol- EDTA- p-Aminophenol- m-Aminophenol- N,N Bis(2-Hydroxethyl p –Phenylenediamine – Sulfate- 2 Methylresorcinol- 1-Napthol- Ascorbic acid-Tocopherol

I recognized the words water, fragrance, acid, sulfate, and parts of the other words! The package did reassure me that the product was ammonia free. That made me feel much better!

Have you guessed what the product is? If you sneaked a peak at the next paragraph you might have guessed. It is the list of ingredients from the product I bought to give my hair a truly natural-looking color and shine.

Thought I had better warn you—I’m going gray. Notice I didn’t say “I’m getting gray.” I’ve been there for a number of years. Some of you are going to be surprised just how gray I am. I will probably be surprised at just how gray I am! It has been a number of years since I let all the color I put in fade out.

This may be traumatic. I am not one of those with beautiful silver hair. Mine is a mousy-brown turned gray. This is going to call for a really good hair cut. I can’t compensate for the lack of color with make-up. I have given up all but a dab of make-up because the list of chemical ingredients was only slightly shorter than those listed above.

I did some research on “natural” ways to color hair. I bought some henna that is supposed to be a better option but couldn’t handle that by myself. I’m not sure I want to go that route even in a hair salon. In a few weeks when I look in the mirror, I may change my mind. I will also research some “natural” make up products.

I’ve been told that a woman who colors her hair can look ten years younger. I’m thinking by not coloring my hair and being exposed to all those chemicals I might add ten years to my life. I may look older, but I hope to live longer!

Rejoice in the Day! Yes!

It's a snow day. I have promised myself no school work today. I'm not even painting a room or doing an "at home project."

I am playing with my i pad. Of all the new tech things that have come out, this is one I have wanted! I've downloaded some more aps, gotten access to my home e-mail, and added Pandora.

Recently I was in the kitchen mentally fussing at the old radio we have there thinking I should just get a new one. Today I realized I have an i pad. I have a Pandora account. Duh! No need for a new radio.

When I set up the account on my i pad, poked an icon and music immediately appeared, I was once again awed by modern technology. I thought back to the development of the communications as man has "invented" all these things. I could just imagine God thinking "Just wait until they discover what else they can do with my creation!" He knows the possibilities.

Now I'm going to rejoice in another technology. Skype--it was invented originally for use by grandmothers. Right?

A Simple Assignment

I listened as a wife related the assignment a counselor had given a couple during their first session of marriage counseling. They were struggling to keep their marriage together, to mend a broken relationship, to deal with deep hurts. Their first “take home assignment” was to spend the time before the next visit practicing being kind to one another.
How often has that been a nice short phrase for memory work in our children’s Bible classes? A simple thing-- right?
Well, it sounded easy. She related what a surprise it was to her to find it so difficult. I would love to say that after hearing her story, I have been kind and compassionate with Kerbe ever since. I think I soon realized how in the wisdom of my creator the “Be kind and compassionate to one another” is followed by “forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” I need the forgiveness part, because I don’t always make it with the kind and compassionate part!
Sometimes I have to become re-aware of the wisdom of God. He created humanity. He knows the best way for us to live to have peace, harmony, happiness, and fulfillment. It’s not something grand and showy. It may be as “simple” as being kind to one another.



Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Be With Me, Lord

For years I have prayed “be with me, Lord” or for others “be with (name), Lord.” I have not been claiming God’s promise. I’ve been asking Him to do something He has already promised. He promises to be with us. The command “do not be afraid for I am with you” is given over 200 times in the Bible.
I have been learning to re-word my prayers. I still catch myself starting “God, please be with (name).” I simply stop and start over. I don’t think He minds. I now pray “Let (name) feel your presence in his/her life.” God will not stop being there. It’s the person who sometimes shuts Him out.
Recently Faye and Kenneth Jackson responded on a Sunday morning with a story that just awed me. Faye is in our Monday night Bible study group. I have included those ladies in my prayers, praying that each of them will feel the presence of God in their lives. They told the story of Faye’s hydroplaning on the interstate coming home from Chattanooga around the Monteagle Pass. It was an amazing story of her awareness of God watching after her safety, of the people He put in her life that day, and of the calm and peace He gave to her during that situation, and how they praised God for His care. I felt like Rhoda who opened the door and was amazed to find Peter standing there after they had been praying for his release from prison.
Since that time Mary Nell Criswell’s mother-in-law died, Peggy McEwen’s father died, and Linda Kirk’s father died. These wonderful Christian ladies are all part of our Bible study group. I am so thankful that I had prayed for them even before they experienced these losses. I know God was with them through this and will continue to be there. I pray with confidence that they will feel His presence and that His presence will shine through them for others to see.
My prayer for anyone reading this is that you will open your heart, soul, and mind to the presence of God in your life. Let Him guide you every minute of your day. You have the creator of the universe with you! How awesome and powerful is that!

Learning As I Go!

I love to travel. During our Christmas Break ’09 travels, I faced these challenges. We were in four states, at six homes (counting Bonnie and Drake’s and the Walton’s), in three times zones in two weeks time and then back to my home. It could be confusing and amusing!

Adjusting from gas (mine) to electric (Kara’s) back to gas (Kathryne and Krista) stoves was interesting—and finding right dial for the right burner important. The microwaves start, stop, time setting things all seemed to vary. I worked at learning or remembering the how-to’s on washers and dryers, kitchen faucets (I did finally find the spray attachment on Krista’s new one without asking), and whether to jiggle the handle in which bathroom in whose house. Then there’s the dishwasher—there’s the learning the dials thing and the how-to on loading. Maybe I should just insist that my kids all get the same brand and model of appliances! I could just stay out of the kitchen and laundry room, but then I’d miss out on the fun. By the time I got back to my house, I had to retrain my fingers.

The kids find it amusing that Kerbe and I like their pets so much but did never had pets when they were at home. I plan to have a dog someday when I can no longer travel. I’ve gained experienced in pet care on my travels. I worked at learning feeding schedules, not to throw away the cup used to get Henery’s water, how the in-and-out the door works for each dog, and what to do with the special treats. The command for sit varies from house to house. We had some confused dogs when Grandma tried to give them commands! Lily retrieves shoes and loves to retrieve items from our bedroom. Thus the bedroom door must remain closed—or at least suitcases up and in the middle of the bed. Henery doesn’t care about those things, but we are on squirrel alert because he loves to go out to chase the squirrels. (I even think of him when I see them in my yard!) Krista’s cats always come to explore our room, and we try to keep the door shut to keep them out because of Kerbe’s allergies. ( Katelyn and Daniel knew that and warned me about it when I was in Searcy in October. But I let their cats in anyway and had some company during the nights I was there.) Tessa loves to share a snuggle blanket.

The grown children, kids, and pets seem to handle the visitors so I count myself blessed.

Global Warming?

I'm thinking of global warming. With having had 6 inches of snow and a layer of ice on top of that, I have been very content to stay tucked away in my house since Friday. Today I'm still content with that, but the sun did make an appearance and melted some--now it's hiding. I'm wondering what the chances of having school tomorrow will be. No problem really--only supposed to give the state writing test--tomorrow or on the makeup day Wednesday.

Seriously I'm thinking of global warming. When I reread the chapters in Genesis of the creation, I thought of God placing man in the garden to take care of the garden and animals. What I consider to be a good outcome of the global warming (mis)information is the push to recycle and "go green." It at least renewed man's interest in taking better care of the beautiful world God gave us. Why did we have to wait for the global warming debate to make us aware of that!

So follow this line of thought from global warming to house chores! When my children were young and we were cleaning house or doing yard work,they always wanted to know why we had to do all that stuff. After runnning through all the because I said so, you're grounded if you don't, and other reasons mothers seem to use, I managed to come up with a reason that they accepted amazingly well and stopped the questions at least. (Can't say they always did all that work without a little prodding.) I explained to them that God had blessed us with the home and the things we had. It was our way of thanking him to take good care of them.

I do praise God for the beautiful world He made for us. Every Sunday in the nursery I get to do a routine about God creating the world. (On days when the sermon runs long we may just make it to day four or five and not get man created!) But the little ones always enjoy it. My prayer is that they will continue to all their lives.

May anyone who reads this rejoice in the day the Lord made.

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed-- what do you mean October!

"There were many lilacs in full bloom. I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy of that day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never fails." (Walt Whitman)

After Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, Whitman wrote his famous lament "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed."

Fortunately the memories the sight and wonderful odor of those blossoms bring back to me are happy memories. Our lilac bush was outside my bedroom. On those lovely spring days and nights, the smell would drift into my room throught the open window. That is a favorite fragrance of mine.

In honor of those memories, I planted a lilac bush in my yard here in Columbia. Last spring it was loaded with blossoms--the most I have ever seen on it. I often wish I had planted it nearer a window to my house.

Ok--so when lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed should be in April. Most lilac bushes know that is the time to bloom. Well, my bush got a little confused this year. Imagine my surprise when I went out the middle of OCTOBER to find it in full bloom. (Guess that tells you I had not been in the back yard for a while.) It has as many or more blossoms than in April. I wonder now what it will do when April comes. I hope it isn't all bloomed out!

A reason to rejoice!

Just recently "discovered" a few verses in Hebrews 12:22. Check it out.

"But you have come to Mount Zion to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better world than the blood of Abel."

The thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly with the church of the "firstborn" and with God and Jesus is just the place I want to "come to."

On the road again!

Kara's preparations for the trip with the babies brought back memories of trips I made with children.

I was very much influenced by my Aunt Naomi. She used to come home to Grandma's house for long visits when Uncle Ed was out on a ship. She drove all the way from California once with little ones. She said two truck drivers approached her at a gas station early in the trip. They noticed she had been following the same route they were taking and was alone with the children. They asked her where she was going. When she told them, they said drive between us and we will take you there! They drove with her all the way to Missouri! I just thought if Aunt Naomi could do it, I could too!

From Shreveport there were the trips to Missouri. I went once with only Nancy Christ (she was about 8) and Matt (3). That was when Grandma had breast cancer surgery. On the trip home I stopped at a McDonalds in Jacksonville, AR. I ate a burger with onions and was oh so sick by the time I got back home. It was a very long trip. That was just the beginning. I was sick for about 8 more months--every day. No wonder Kara is not a fan of 7 UP or graham crackers!

I made trips home to Missouri from Tulsa, Dallas, and San Angelo also. I developed some rules for travel with small children. We drank water not cokes! Stops for gas were made when the children were awake! I did not drive until I was low on gas and then look for a station. I got gas around nap times! Snacks and lunches were scheduled. We sang songs. We could get a lot of mileage out of Kara Lee has a mother ( father, brother, friend, cousin etc.) and Delores is her name-o set to the famous "Bingo is His Nameo" song. We memorized scripture, names of presidents, and did all sorts of things to entertain. Wow! No DVD players in the car so we had to make our own entertainment.

It was a long, long way from San Angelo! I learned to drive 3 hours 4 times or more! I would think of it as from San Angelo to Dallas--Dallas to Texarkana--Texarakana to Little Rock--Little Rock to home!

I really have more good memories of trips than unpleasant ones. Guess that speaks well for my children. Besides all those trips with just mom, there were family vacation trips and trips to visit relatives. All that together time in the car made for some memories!

Saved by disaster!

This afternoon I made a peach cobbler to take to a get-together for the above 55 crowd at church. It looked great! It was 1 cup of self-rising flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, mixed together and poured over one can of peaches (in heavy syrup). Then you cut 1 stick of butter into thin pats and spread over the mixture. Oven 350 for about 40 minutes.

On the way home I decided I wanted one for myself. So I stopped at Harris Foodland and bought a can of peaches. At home I eagerly prepared another and waited for my lovely dessert. Ugh! Old habits die hard. When I reached for the flour--I just grabbed my usual canister rather than the small sack of self-rising flour. Instead of rising--this all-purpose flour just sank to the bottom. I had wonderfully sweet peaches floating in a sea of butter on top of some flour goo at the bottom of the pan. I must admit the peaches tasted great--but I just couldn't go the flour goop!

Kerbe and I certainly did not need a peach cobbler to eat all by ourselves! So bad worked out for the best!

A language of love..

As our family became acquainted with the concepts in Gary Samlley's book about the five love languages, each member readily identified Nanny (June Lee) as being one whose language of love was gift giving.

Nanny would spend days shopping for just the right gift for each person. I had a jewelry box with an iris on it. She knew I liked iris. She bought me a beautiful blouse and sweater that were perfect fits and wonderful colors on me. She always bought clothes that fit the kids right then at Christmas and had the toy selection age appropriate. The Christmas ornaments she bought them still adorn our trees. Matt has his precious black goose she bought for the two year old boy who picked it out from all the choices at the store.

Then she would literally stay up all day and night for several days wrapping each gift to perfection. It also took quite some time to put on all the tape she applied to each box! Her beautifully wrapped gifts were always easy to spot under the tree. There was always much amusement as the gifts were unwrapped, and all the tape discovered, and then the oohs and aahs over how right the gift was.

Even when the health of PopPop and then later her own health prevented her from spending time shopping and wrapping, she was extremely generous with monetary gifts.

Smalley says that the way people show love is usually how they want to be loved. I don't think I ever fully returned to Nanny, the love she showed in process of choosing and giving gifts. Hopefully now that I am aware of these concepts, I can learn to love others in the way they value.

Lesson from receiving...

Soup's on!

Soup's on and smells good. This time it's my put together recipe for mixed vegetable soup. I ate earlier but am making this for lunch and supper tomorrow. Soup and chilli with cornbread are the greatest in this cold damp weather.

I tried a new recipe that Janet gave me last week. It was great--but had stuff in it that Kerbe wouldn't eat. I had to eat all of it. Sometimes life is rough! I want to make some french onion soup and some broccoli and cheese soup this winter. I've always saved those for eating out times. Krista introduced me to Panera Bread's soup and sandwich or salad menu. That has become one of my favorite eating out spots.

Grandma and I used to go to Coco's in Phoenix and get the broccoli and cheese soup and corn bread.

If you have a good soup recipe you would like to share--send it my way!

What's my latest tag?

Through the years I've had lots of "tags" Family tags were daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother. I've been teacher and counselor. At JCS the younger elementary students referred to me as "the dolphin lady" because I often brought DUSO the dolphin to class. Recently at CA one the 2nd grade boys looked at me and said, "I know you, you're that emotions lady!"

Years ago Grandma was in a hospital bed in San Angelo, Texas. I sat by her bedside reading a book. It was titled Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David Burns. Later in my graduate study, I learned it was based on rational emotive therapy. I have found it most helpful in my personal life and in working at school with students.

Burns presents ten cognitive distortions and shows how to identify them and how to “untwist” your thinking. The first is the “all-or-nothing” thinking.

I’m trying to stay off wheat products, but I eat a roll. I’ve blown my diet for a day so I might as well eat another roll, the pasta, and the cake for dessert. That is a perfect example of “all-or-nothing” thinking in my life. In all-or-nothing thinking if I fall short of perfection, then I have failed.

It never ceases to amaze me that .300 is considered an excellent batting average by those who play ball. Yet in most aspects of my life I think success 3 out of 10 times would be horrendous. But this “excellent” batting average comes from putting things in perspective. Burns suggests thinking in shades of gray. Think of experiences as partial success. Evaluate things on a scale of 0-100 and see what success there has been and what has been learned from the situation.

If my self-esteem is based on my being perfect, I’m in trouble. Burns says “Genuine self-esteem is based on humility and an acceptance of your shortcomings. This makes is possible to assume responsibility for your actions, to feel remorse, to apologize and make amends, and to get on with productive and joyous living.”

Sounds like a biblical principle to me!

My celery is stuck!

When I bring a stalk of celery home it takes a while for one person to eat it. So—to keep it crisp I put it in a plastic container and put water over it. It stays cool and crisp! The last stalk I didn’t put in water for several days. It got limp. I finally cut it up and put it in one the tall plastic containers I have. I really filled the container full. The problem is the celery was limp when I put it in. Osmosis did its thing and the celery swelled. Kerbe and I have both tried to pull those celery pieces out of that container! They are really wedged in there now. I have finally resorted to cutting them out. How smart do you feel at 57 playing tug-of-war with a stalk of celery!

Here I Am

I'm going to join the crowd. At least now my arm is somewhat well enough to do this. I have to get some back/shoulder stuff figured out. I'm hoping Linda Garrett and her body zone therapy massage stuff will help me through this.

This is a test run. Hope I have things working well. I've enjoyed the blogs from various members of the family.


Delores