Monthly Archives: June 2008

Children of the Dust Bowl

I read a very good book recently by Jerry Stanley. It is called Children of the Dust Bowl. It is a true account of families who were farmers in Oklahoma during the Depression of the 1930’s and then after a large drought dust storms came and blew away the top soil. Many families decided to pack up belongings and move to California where they could work harvesting crops. But the migration was too much and the “Okies” soon became hated by Californians.
This book is a true account of “Okie” children that were able to help build the school in a camp where they lived. A man named Leo Hart is the hero of this real life story. The book and movie, Grapes of Wrath, is good use along with Stanley’s book.
Here’s a website that tells of the area where the school existed. Check out the pictures of the author, Jerry Stanley.

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Family Fun 5k

OkRunner is a good place to find 5k run races in northeast Oklahoma. Here are a few interesting and lower cost races.
Chelsea’s Route 66 Celebration 5K run (first annual)
June 28, 2008 7:30 AM
cost– $15 (not timed)
Fleet Feet Firecracker 5K
July 4, 2008 7:30 AM
cost– (timed)
Josh Hatzell Memorial Ram Run
July 12, 2008 7:30 AM
Cost– $13 pre-register
Riverside 5000
Saturday, August 16, 2008, 07:30 AM
Riverside Dr
96th & Riverside
Cost– $25 adults 18 and younger free
Get Fit Tulsa Mud Run
August 23, 2008 5:00 PM
2-man or 5-man team must be 18 years old
Cost– $25 per person
Escape From Turkey Mountain
August 23, 2008 7:30 AM
Cost– $17 online pre-register

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Seek Ye First

My kids are writing out Matthew 6:25-34 this week. I am teaching them a song from that passage. I learned it when I was around 13 years old at church. It’s a campfire sing-a-long Christian song. It’s called Seek Ye First. It has four stanzas and all are Bible verses. This is a powerful song to have randomly bumping around in your head through out your day. It’s words are inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. ❤

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This Day In History: June 23

Born this day in 1948 was Clarence Thomas~
associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1991, whose appointment to replace Thurgood Marshall (the court’s first African American justice) gave the court a conservative cast.
1314~
began the Battle of Bannockburn, a decisive engagement in Scottish history whereby the Scots defeated the English, regained their independence, and established Robert the Bruce as Robert I.
1961~
The Antarctic Treaty was enacted, reserving the entire continent for free and nonpolitical scientific investigation.
1940~
Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three track-and-field gold medals in a single Olympics, was born.
1925~
An expedition under A.H. MacCarthy and H.F. Lambert became the first to reach the summit of Mount Logan, the second highest mountain in North America.
1865~
The Cherokee chief and Confederate general Stand Watie surrendered at the close of the American Civil War—one of the last Confederate commanders to do so.
1817~
Popular English actor John Philip Kemble retired after his last performance, in which he played Coriolanus.
1298~
German King Adolf of Nassau was deposed in favour of Albert I.

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Behold the Fowls of the Air

Taken from Joy and Strength devotion @ Back to the Bible
Bible Passage Matthew 6:25-34
WAS in the act of kneeling down before the Lord my God,
when a little bird came and perched near my window, and thus preached to me:
“O thou grave man, look on me, and learn something,
if not the deepest lesson, then a true one.
Thy God made me, and the like of me;
and, if thou canst conceive it,
loves me and cares for me.
Thou studiest Him in great problems,
which oppress and confound thee:
thou losest sight of one half of His ways.
Learn to see thy God not in great mysteries only, but in me also.
His burden on me is light,
His yoke on me is easy;
but thou makest burdens and yokes for thyself which are very grievous to be borne.
Things deep as Hell and high as Heaven thou considerest overmuch;
but thou dost not ‘consider the lilies’ sufficiently.
lf thou couldst be as a lily before God,
for at least one hour in the twenty-four,
it would do thee good:
I mean, if thou couldst cease to will and to think, and be only.
Consider, the lily is as really from God as thou art,
and is a figure of something in Him–the like of which should also be in thee.
Thou longest to grow, but the lily grows without longing;
yes, without even thinking or willing,
grows and is beautiful both to God and man.”
JOHN PULSFORD

Continue reading →

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Hank Williams

Like I’ve mentioned at other times, my dad loved Hank William’s songs. When one of his songs would come over the radio or if we would play a record my Dad would listen intently. He had to stop sit down and lean back in the chair and just listen. He would listen to the music, he would listen to the words and the story they told. If the part in the song came up where there was some fiddle playin’ or guitar pickin’ Dad would tap his foot and grin real big. Although we were little, I knew it was time for my brother Kelly and I to be quiet.

I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry~ The words and the music cry out and you can relate to William’s words because you can feel his lonesomeness.

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CCR

Cotton Fields

These lyrics are funny, “Now when them cotton bolls get rotten, You can’t pick very much cotton, In them old cotton fields back home.” My dad’s and his family would pick a lot of cotton! They had too! That’s the way they would get money to feed their big family in the 1940’s.
Jambalaya~ a classic remake of a Hank Williams’ song

When I was a kid I would hear Cotton Fields on the radio and have fun singing along and my dad would from time to time sing Jambalaya. A couple of great songs 🙂

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