Just Thinking...

I thought you guys might like to know that I have an update about Betty and her electric bill.

So far Shepherds of Love Ministry has collected $925 of the $1530 that is needed for Betty's OG&E (electric) bill. This money came from Teresa's e-mail request for help.

Wow. Great response!

I expect that they will be able to raise the rest of the money soon.

That will be good.


I got to reminiscing this warm summer evening...


I was reminded of a time when all the kids (all 15) and I were at the pond fishing.

There was a pond behind the house we lived in, and in that pond were some really nice crappie and large mouth bass.

Every so often we would walk through the pasture, down to the pond, and try to catch "Big Daddy Bass".

There was a bass in that pond that was just enormous.


On days like this, he would come to the surface of the water...

And skim near the surface.

He would slowly open and close his huge mouth...

Taunting us, it seemed, on those hot and thirsty summer days.


None of us had been able to land this huge bass.

We had many a broken fishing line to prove it.

But it never stopped us from trying...

And we were always prepared to haul that monster in, because nobody ever forgot to bring the net down to the pond with us.


Well, this particular evening, we were down there trying to catch that fish.

I was sitting on a plastic lawn chair on the steep bank...

Baiting hooks, answering questions (always answering questions), and trying (in general) to just relax.

Then suddenly, I got a *hit*...

and I could tell it was a "big one"!


In my effort to set the hook, I over-reacted, lost my balance on the steep bank...

Me, the pole, and my chair landed in the warm waters of that muddy pond.


After their shock, all the kids started laughing at me.

~Mom~ had fallen in the pond!

What a sight I was.

And boy...

Was I mad!


All I had wanted to do was sit and relax.

I had had a particularly difficult day.

All I needed was to sit down and rest for a while.

I didn't care if I caught a fish or not.


So, I sloshed back up the hill to the house, kids in tow....

~mad~

In my mind, my couple of hours of rest by the pond had been ruined.


I went in the house and took a shower.

After my shower, I then stomped downstairs and announced to everyone that I wasn't going to cook dinner.


The house became silent.


Eyes got big with fear crossing a few of them.

What was going to happen?

Mom was still ~mad~!


We had a jar on the kitchen counter where we would place spare change. We called it the "Restaurant Jar". When there was enough money in the jar, we would go out to eat at El Chico's, or some other favorite restaurant.

We would get various 'donations' for our jar from friendly visitors. ;+ )


I grabbed the jar and *eyeballed* the contents. It was short.

I emptied it into my hands and said, "Everyone, get in the van."


Kids started running out the door.

I grabbed my purse and off we drove.


Whenever we would go anywhere we were always quite the sight.

And of course, the kids were always obliging whenever someone was interested in striking up a conversation.

That evening, we laughed, and ate...

And ate, and laughed.

The kids told everyone my "Fishing Tale" and the reason *why* we got to go out to eat that evening.

Because Mom was too mad to cook.

The waitress was quite entertained.


I am reminded of that day quite often it seems.

Sometimes by Carrie and Parker. They still relive that tale and laugh about Mom falling into the pond.

Sometimes by scents and sounds...

Most certainly by the weather.

And sometimes by God.

later...