People are People

 

My daddy was a long-haul truck driver. He traveled all over the continental states, a little into Mexico, and a little into Canada. This was mostly during the 1990's and early 2000's. He was born in the 1940's. 

As a child, I asked him what the people in other places were like. I lived in a small town. 

I still remember his answer. People are people. Some are good. Some are bad. It doesn't matter where you go, you will find people that are nice and people that are mean. Skin color doesn't matter either. People are people. 

The Boat Ride

 

Many years ago, it rained for about 1 month. My grandfather (Marcus) was just a boy. He was the youngest of his siblings. He lived in a 2-room house with his parents (Berry and Pearlie Mae) and his 3 sisters. Yes, I said 2-room house. There was a kitchen and a living room. They cooked and ate in the kitchen. They lived and slept in the living room. The bathroom was in the outhouse behind the house. 

During this month of rain, they all went stir crazy. The only excitement was counting the chickens through the floorboards. They didn't own a television. 

On the day that the sun finally came out, Berry suggested that they go on a boat ride. Pearlie Mae agreed. She fixed a picnic Lunch. They all quickly got ready. Now they didn't own a vehicle, so they got the small boat and the picnic basket and started to the flooded Pearl River. 

They put the boat into the river. They put the basket into the boat. Pearlie Mae gets into the boat. The 4 children get into the boat. Lastly Berry gets into the boat. The boat is barely above the water. They row around on the river for about 2 hrs. While on the river, they eat lunch. Water keeps splashing into the boat. 

Finally, the come back to shore. A man runs up to them. He is so relieved. He had been there since they had gotten into the boat. He explained that he had not taken his eyes off of them so he could tell rescuers where the boat went down. He had been so afraid that the boat, which was barely above water, would sink from the weight of the 6 people and 1 large picnic basket. 

My grandfather, Marcus, told this story many times. He said that God takes care of children and crazy people. 

It still amazes me that 6 people could even fit into a boat that size. The boat was only about 5 or 6 foot long and about 2 foot wide. 

Friday Night Church Service

 

My great-grandmother was a youth leader and a Sunday School teacher for many years. She finally had to stop teaching because of age related health problems. A few years before she passed away, the church was talking about not having church services on Friday night anymore. They thought that having church services on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night would be enough. 

My great-grandmother did not agree. She said that if you quit having church on Friday nights you might as well close down the church because the youth needed something to do on Friday nights other than get into trouble. If the youth didn't come to church on Friday night, they would eventually stop coming to church. She was very vocal about this. Everyone knew her position and thoughts on the matter. 

The church still voted to stop having Friday night youth services. This was in the early 2000's. Has anyone noticed the current state of the churches here in the United States? Here is a link to an article about youth and church attendance. Church Attendance Dropped Among Young People, Singles, Liberals - Christianity Today The youth has now mostly left many of the churches. 

Maybe my great-grandmother was right. 

Locked Church

 

My great-grandparents helped to clear the land for the brush arbor that then grew into a church. As the church grew, they helped to build the church building. They were very active in the church. My great-grandmother was a youth leader and a Sunday school teacher. My great-grandfather was an ordained minister and a deacon of the church. They put many things in the church such as a fellowship hall with kitchen, a nursey, the pews, and classrooms. The one thing that no one had ever installed was a lock. The people of this church believed that the church should always be open. This was for several reasons. 

• What if someone was caught in a rainstorm? They could use an unlocked church for shelter.
• What if someone needed to pray? According to Jesus, the church is a house of prayer. 
• What if someone was passing through and needed a place to rest? 
• What if the women wanted a place to meet?
• What if the men wanted a place to meet?

They had the church unlocked for all of these reasons and possibly a few more. This went on for many years. This church was founded in 1940. That is until about the late 1980's or early 1990's. A new preacher came in. The preacher asked for the keys to the church. The deacons explained that there were no keys because there were no locks on the doors. 

The new preacher was from the city where locks were everywhere. He insisted on locking the church because of the valuable equipment (speakers, microphones, etc.) The preacher insisted so much that he, without anyone else knowing, installed the locks. 

The next Sunday the preacher was surprised to see an angry crowed waiting for him. They complained that they had been waiting for the last hour. They complained that the church had never in all their days been locked. Some complained that breakfast was now very late, and the children were hungry. This preacher had thought he was arriving 1 hr. early. He did not realize that this group of people normally came 2hrs earlier than the service for fellowship that including breakfast and prayer. 

The dispute was settled by giving a key to every member household. 

3rd grade math topics and resources

 The 3rd grade math student:

•  Adds 3-digit to 3-digit numbers, subtracts 3-digit from 3-digit numbers, and solves word problems with carrying and borrowing.
• Learns multiplication facts 1–9 with timed drills and oral drills.
• Reviews numbers in place values of 1s, 10s, and 100s; writes numbers to count on a number line. reviews and writes on charts; and learns to use picture tables to determine height.
• Reviews telling time and learns half-hour, quarter-hour, and 5-minute increments.
• Learns Roman numerals.
• Reviews measurements of weight, liquid, and length; converts inches to feet, feet to yards; reads scales in pounds; and learns the abbreviations in., ft., and yd. 
• Writes ordinals first through tenth.
• Learns to divide objects or sets into halves

Resources:

• EP Math 3 – Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool
• Grade 3 Curriculum
• Math 3 Free Download - The Good and the Beautiful
• Under the Home Online Homeschool Curriculum - Math Textbook
• Math Facts Practice – Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool
• Multiplication Facts Lapbook - Homeschool Share
• Musical Multiplication

For More Homeschool Resources click here.

Short Prayer

 

I had just turned 16 years old. My mom and I were on 16th avenue in Laurel, MS. We were in a 1977 Ford Maverick that we had recently bought for $100. It barely worked. You had to use both feet to drive even though it was an automatic. The car would die at the red lights if you didn't keep gas going to it. So, you held the brake while tapping to gas at red lights. This was the best car we could afford at this time. 

We were stopped at a red light when an 18-wheeler was making a right turn. We could see that it was turning too sharp. There was a car beside us and a car behind us. There was nowhere for us to go. We screamed, "God help us" Our car turned sideways and the car beside us slide over. We heard the screeching of car wheels.  It took two light changes with us figuring out how to turn the car back straight. Not one car honked at us. Everyone waited patiently for us to move. Later we heard people talking about this event. It turns out that they were in too much shock to honk or yell at us. The people 1 month later were still trying to figure out how the car turned sideways and how we did not get hit by the 18-wheeler.

God does hear Prayers. Prays don't have to be long or eloquent. Prayers only have to be sincere and from the heart. Having a relationship with God before you need help is important.    

Peanut Butter Cookies

 When I was a little girl, we didn't have much money. We certainly didn't have money for extras like cookies, but children like cookies. I was no exception. Thankfully, we go WIC. WIC, for those that may not know, stands for Women, Infants, and Children. WIC gives food to poor women who have infants and young children. One of the food items every month was a very large can of peanut butter. My mom came up with a recipe for peanut butter cookies. It was so easy. It only needed 3 ingredients. I loved those cookies. I still use the recipe with my children today. My daughter really likes them because of how simple it is. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Roll into small balls and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet
3. Press down with a fork
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
5. Bake for about 7 minutes
6. Let cool before removing from cookie sheet 

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