MY DAD'S DESK

Hello neighbor. Glad you stopped by.

After my sister and I grew up and married we left the farm. After my Grandmother had passed away, Mom and Dad decided to sell the house that he built and move into the old farm house. When you went up the front steps, across the porch and entered the house, right there in the corner was my Dad's desk.  I have no idea where that desk came from or how old it is now, but it was just my Dad's desk.

Dad was still doing his musical stuff, a dance band, and sometimes playing in a church somewhere. But mostly he would be sitting there with a ball point pen in his hand. It is hard to believe that Dad wrote every note on every piece of sheet music  paper for every tune that the band played and the arrangement for every instrument that was in the band.

There were great big thick green note books in piles all around his desk. The note books could never be closed because there were so many sheets of music in each one you could not snap the rings closed to close the cover. But the guys always manged to be able to find the song they needed when Dad called out a song number at a dance somewhere.

Dad not only did all that writing for playing, but he also wrote a number of songs himself.  ''Taking my Time'' was the only song that he had published. I don't think he had any others copyrighted.  He wrote one called "Listen Little Fellow" but never got around to get it published. I have copies of it in his stuff that I have saved. He wrote a very nice song that I sang a number of times at churches. It is called "I've Got A Friend".

I don't know how many of you might be aware that the 23rd Psalm has been put to music by a number of writers. As far as I know none of them follow the words exactly as they are in the Book of Psalms.  Dad put it to music word for word just as it is in the King James Bible. Dad had a way of  using notes in unusual ways and sometimes his music is not as easy to play or sing. I have sung that one also in a number of churches.

Dad wrote a special song he dedicated to our son, Albert, for his wedding. It was called "Take My Hand". He wrote a cover for it that said, " To Al and Linda from Gramp with Love, Your very own wedding song." I sang that at their wedding.  That is a nice memory to share and keep.

His biggest song hit was one he wrote for the State of Maine Bicentennial celebration. It is called, "Maine Bicentennial March" original arrangement - Music and Lyrics by Foster Beach as rendered by the Bank of Maine Bicentennial singers and the University of Maine Bicentennial Band. I love the words to this song and have sung it a number of times. That song was played all over the state by various bands.

 I suppose there are others that I do not know about or have found. I just know that he was always sitting at his desk and with pen in hand writing notes, filling up pages and pages of sheet music papers.

That desk know sits in our daughter's office at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA where she is a professor of 18th century English Literature. So the desk is still being used for good writing.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you will again some time soon.

I'M KILLED!

Hello Neighbor, thanks for stopping by.

I was thinking back to my days on the farm and remembered something that happened many years ago.  A farm is a place where accidents could easily happen.  Looking back, I remember the time I got my arm caught in the ringer of the old washer machine.  It could have been more serious, but I ended up with a bulge on the inner side of my left arm. But things could have been worse.

Than there was the time that we kids were playing in the attic of the farm house and there is no floor there, just a few planks to walk  on.  Well, one of the boys stepped off the plank and his foot went through the ceiling into the kitchen below.  Thankfully, it didn't go all the way through or he would have landed with a thud on the kitchen floor. That would have probably been a more serious situation.

Then I remember a time when some of the kids down the road were up and we were playing in the hay loft of the barn.  Well, there is a beam that crosses the barn and it is very, very high. We were always walking across that beam. Again no one fell from up there,I don't think. But we did have a girl that slid somehow off the hay loft and landed on the barn floor.  I don't remember that she was hurt very much.

Then there was the time that my mother was milking and tending to the cows and one of them tossed her head up and caught Mom just above one eyebrow. She was lucky that it was not her eye.  Mom had to have a few stitches and had a few headaches for awhile.  Again, it could have been a whole lot worse.

But the thing that happened to my Dad could have been the worst of all.  Dad was in the field across the road with the tractor.  He had a kid helping him. He came from way across our woods and on the highway that went into the town of Wayne.  He was sitting in the driver's seat on the tractor.  Dad was standing just behind the front wheel showing this boy something.  I don't know what happened, but the tractor suddenly went forward, knocked my father down and the big wheel went across his chest and just missed my father's head.  The boy jumped off the tractor and took of pell mell through the woods and headed home.  My mother and I heard my father hollering, "I'm killed, I'm killed," as he came running from the field ,up the road and to the house. Obviously he was'n t killed with all the noise he was making.  Thankfully he was not hurt either. At least as far as we could tell. We believe that it was  because the ground there was very soft and Dad's body was cushioned by that. So we took off in the car to get to the kid's house so he wouldn't scare his mother to death.  So everything had turned out not so bad in all these situations.

I, of course, just know that God was sitting up there watching all these things that were just about to happen and he sent an angel to help it from getting too serious.
Well thanks for stopping by and hope you will again soon.

DANCING TALES

Hello neighbor, glad you stopped by.

 Dad put together a small dance band called” Foster Beach and the Dancemasters”.  He began playing at dance halls around the different towns.  These were real dance halls.   Some were quite elaborate, some were just a large building especially  made for dancing and some were real barns that were  fixed to be a dance hall. My sister and I got big enough so we could go along sometimes to join in the dancing. We would dance together and have a great time, waltzing? (trying) jitterbugging and whatever else the band would play. As we grew older we began to get asked to dance by fellows or relatives. These dance halls did not allow alcoholic beverages inside, but I am sure there was some out in the cars.  One of the best things at the dances were the hot dogs and cold drinks.  It seemed that hot dogs always tasted better at the dance.

There are some stories that go along with attending these dances. I will share a few that I can remember. After the dance is over, we had to wait around for the musicians to get  their instruments packed and Dad had all the music to  pack up, too. I remember one night as I was sitting along the bench around the wall of the room, that I noticed something shining under the bench across the room.  So I went to check it out. It was a diamond ring! I gave it to the people managing the hall. I think they knew the woman who had lost it. So I was glad that I found it.

One night as we were driving to the dance hall, the road to the town was flooded.  Of course there was no one with a cell phone in their pocket so we waited.  Dad figured someone from the hall would come once they learned that the road was flooded. Sure enough some people showed up with a boat or two to get us and the instruments and music across. Then we would have to be driven to the hall. And after the dance, the process was reversed.

Another night we were almost home when Dad saw something in the middle of the road. He stopped the car and got out to check it out.  It was a baby fox. We figure that the mother must have been killed. So he picked it up and we took it home.  In our house the stairs to go up to the bedrooms went up about four steps, then a platform, left,  and up the rest of the steps.  In that area under the platform, Mary and I used to use it as a play room. So we fixed that up for the fox. We kept it until it was big enough to take out into the woods and let it go.

I guess the one that takes the cake, this was after I grew up and had left home, Dad was having one of his bouts with tonsillitis. He never went to a doctor but this night he stopped at the local old fellow who had been doctoring in Winthrop for many years.  He needed something to help his throat because he had to blow the trombone all evening.  Well, the doctor handed Dad a few pills and told him to take these. Well, generally they mean a couple every few hours, but Dad took them all. The Doctor wasn’t sure what to do. When he asked Dad why he took them all, Dad said ,”You gave them to me and said to  take them, so I did.” Well, the doctor didn’t have a solution so Dad paid and left for the dance. Said he never had another bout of tonsillitis.

Well guess that tells the story about dance halls, good music and lots of dancing.

Hope you will stop by again for another little chat.

PIGGY BACK

Hello Neighbor, glad you stopped by.

The first week in August we had our revival meetings at our church.  A lady always provides for the 4,5, & 6 year olds. This year she had a farm scene with part of a red barn, a big cow and some chickens.  The second night, she had invited a friend who had a little pig, just about 19" long. I always thought little baby pigs were extra cute.  The little pig would trot around following her.

Seeing that little pig reminded me of a pig we had on the farm when my sister and I were quite small. She was in a fenced in yard beside the corn crib building. Well, as children living on a farm so far from other kids, we usually had to come up with our own entertainment.  So the pig became ours. When she got good and big, we figured out that we could climb on her back and ride around the pen. It was quite a different kind of a ride, but we had a bit of fun from it.

So quite often that's where you would find us, a riding around the pen on the back of that big old pig.  Things went on like that for a while until one day my father took the pig for a ride. And that was the end of our piggy back riding.

Hope you will stop by again soon.

I have been away from my blog for some time now and think I am ready to write something for it. But first I want to write about the “Ruby Saga” that is still going on. I was not really up to thinking about writing.

On Thursday morning, the 18^th we realized that Ruby was missing. She is Karen and Roy’s 2 year old German Pointer.  There is nothing but oodles of forest behind our house except a golf course if she went that way.  Al and I went riding all around the area looking and looking.  Karen and I went out again the next morning taking every road whether paved or dirt or just grass into the woods. We stopped at a lot of houses to let them know of a “missing dog”.  On Friday we went out again and she would stop vehicles.  One lady asked if we were looking for Ruby when Karen told her about the “missing dog”. By this time it was posted on FB and so people were becoming aware of it and this lady was out driving around looking for her. 

Karen had about 300 flyers with Ruby’s picture on it and she and Roy began putting one in some businesses and about every house.  Others came to the house to get flyers to go out to help.  That day Roy stopped at  an apt. complex around the corner from us and talked to a woman and gave her a flyer.

During all this time, I was in pretty bad state.  I spent most of my time just praying, begging and talking to God.  Asking Him to please keep Ruby safe. He knew where she was and if she was alright. We have coyotes and a bear that roams the woods.  I just wanted her home safe.  Saturday was just another day of praying, crying and begging to God.  To please, please keep her safe.

Sunday late afternoon, the lady at the apt. complex called and said she thinks she has Ruby. Karen and Roy drove up there quick. And there she was lying on the lawn. When she heard and saw Karen, she jumped up and began to lick and kiss her. They immediately took her to the emergency vet to be checked out. It seems one of her hips had come out of its place.  She had to be put under so he could get it back in place.  There were no broken bones, but the vet felt that she had been hit by a car and probably a couple of days ago because she  had a few scars that had healed. So he kept her for the night. In the morning Al and Karen went to bring her home, but she had to go to our vet first. After checking her over, they brought her home. She should be alright as there didn’t  seem to be anything else that was a real problem.  Now our tears were tears of joy and thanksgiving to God for getting her home. 

We have to try to keep her fairly quiet and still get her up and outdoors to walk, but no jumping or running. We thought she was doing ok, but  Roy thought something didn’t seem right and so back to the vet.  He said her hip had popped out again and should be taped. It needs to heal inside and needs to be more stable.  But at least she’s home and that is good.  God is a great God.

I'M A TEACHER!

Hello neighbor, thanks for stopping by.  I am a bit late on getting this next blog in this series. First it was VBS at Fairmont Health Care and then it was helping with  4's, 5's and 6's at Rival time this past week.

Anyway, here we are on the road again, heading for Yakima, WA to see what God's plans for us are there. Part of what we were to do was for Al to get a job driving school bus. Then that led to us having our two grandchildren a lot, because of Mom dropping them off on her way to bus driving for another school district and their going with their Grandpa on the bus to school.

Well to get on with what God has been doing in my life of "teaching".  This is where the fun part really began.  The other churches did not really have much for Sunday School, but here there was a larger congregation of all ages. The pastor that was there when we joined left and so we got a new pastor.  He really had been a member there previously before they moved away. When he found out that we were needing a pastor, he came and stayed. He used to be the Youth Pastor years past.

Even though this church was Southern Baptist, it was not as strictly involved in the Association. I have never liked using someone else's Sunday School materials.  And I thank God that our new pastor, Rob, let me do my own thing.  I was also Director as well as teaching.  I worked with the 1st through 6th grades. Generally teaching the older group as it was easier to get someone to do the younger ones.  We had a great time. We put on a couple of productions - musical-, and the kids were great to work with. Then we started an Awana Club on Wed. nights and I taught the lessons for the younger group.

A group of us went to Tijuana, Mexico a couple of times to do kids clubs. That was another experience trying to teach a lesson and crafts when the only two words I knew were  "Si" and "Uno".

It was here in these years that I began to really realize what God was doing with me.  I just never gave it a thought. I never considered being "called" to be a teacher. I just did what I did because I loved doing it.  Wherever I went shopping I was always looking for things for my classes or my kids.
It was so much a part of who I was that I never really had to think about it. And it is still that way today.

After about 12 years, (Al and I are getting older now) it was time to think about our future. Our daughter, Karen, who was a professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA wanted us to go there to be closer for her to look after us should the time come for that need. In fact, Roy, our son-in-law, built us a brand new house right in their back yard.  Close enough? It is great and has been good and it was God's plan all along.

Now comes a new church. This one is really, really large compare to any we had ever been involved with before, 600 + and growing.  I didn't figure on getting in volved so quickly, but when God opened a door for Kindergarten I wasn't about to say "No". I have never really taught or worked with that age group, but found out that I loved it. Probably God's doing. But anyway. that's where we are today.

Our church started a Good News Club after school at a local elementary church and I taught the younger group.  God is so good. He is always there when I get up to teach. It is so amazing and catches me by surprise by how He does it and what a difference it makes in my teaching.

But age is catching up with me and I get tired easier so try to do things that involve a smaller number of children.  But teaching is still a joy and I love being able to do my own thing, thanks that this is OK.

Well, guess I have made this blog long enough but I just wanted to share how I became a teacher. I have the best boss ever and I teach from the greatest book ever written, the Bible. How can things get any better than that.

Well, that's my story of becoming a  teacher.  Thanks for stopping and come again soon.

GOD EXPANDS HIS PLANS

Hello Neighbor. Thanks for stopping by.

I'm a little late with this next installment.  Last week I spent every day doing a VBS at Fairmont Health Care. It was a good time and the residents really enjoyed it.

Well, the last thing I wrote was our moving from the Buffalo area to Hollywood, FL.  We joined the First Baptist Church of Hollywood.  This church was mostly an older congregation. We were the youngest members except for one younger woman with her children.  There wasn't much there for a Children's Sunday School, but God had other plans for me.

About a couple of blocks from our place was a four floor tenement apartment facility.  It was a low income place and had lots of kids,   I had started a  kid's club at a small house right next to that apartment building.  There were a number of families that I got to know and taught their children. I looked at that huge apartment building and hoped God was not going to put me there. But of course that is just what He did.

The manager allowed us to use an empty apartment for a club meeting place.  I would walk down there a couple  times a week, always bringing some Skittles or something to pass out to the kids. We had quite a little club going there.  Some of the people from the church would get involved and help out.  We had cook outs and parties.  Finally we were able to get some of the kids to church by picking them up.  It was quite a different environment for me, but it was exciting, too.

Another new adventure that God had me do was to go to Dominica to do a kid's club there. A member of our church had a son that was a missionary. So I flew to Dominica and stayed with them for a week.  We had a nice little kid's club in the church next to the missionary's home. The children were so different from those back home. They really were interested in sitting and listening to the Bible story and the songs etc.  The children in the tenement apartment were not as interested in learning about the Bible and it was more difficult to teach them.  Anyway, it was a great experience and added more confirmation in what I was doing.

We were there for 12 years. By this time, we had decided that perhaps it was time for us to move to Yakima, WA where we would be close to our oldest Son and his family.  I also was beginning to feel sort of burned out with all the work that was involved at the apartment complex.

It was hard leaving some of the kids that I had gotten to know so well. I kept in touch with a couple of them for awhile. When we went back to visit five years later, a couple of my "boys" would always try to be there to see me.  One in particular was my favorite. His name was John and he had come to know Jesus as his Savior. I was sorry to learn that he had been killed in a motorcycle accident, but it was good to know that he had shared Jesus with his best friend, who became a Christian, too, and also joined the church.  I also received a letter from another young man that was one of my "boys". He just wrote to thank me for all I had taught him and for caring about him.  These are what makes following God's plan for you worth all the time and effort that went into His training.

Anyway, it is time for us to move along to the next step in God's plan and for putting His training to work in a different place.

Stop again sometime soon and we'll have another chat.