My Testimony

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       My Testimony   by Betty Lou Mikesell Erlandson       I learned a lot about Jesus’ love when I was a child of eight years lying in a Catholic hospital bed in Pocatello, Idaho.  Jesus was very much a part of the life of a head nurse named Sister Mary John.  I was beginning to recover from an emergency appendectomy.  My parents were my only visitors.  I was a cross, depressed, lonely and hurting little girl.  My bed was located in a second story room, close to the window and when I was well enough to sit up a little I could look down upon a walled garden.  Never had I seen such loveliness.  And sometimes, making it even more lovely, there would be one or two black and white figures gracefully kneeling in prayer or sitting quietly on a white bench surrounded by colorful roses and white lilies.  I did so long to be down there with them. It looked like Jesus’ garden and I felt that His spirit must be in the sisters there, for their work was helping to care for the patients who were hurting like I was.   One day soon after my emergency surgery a nurse came into my room and I was being cross and pushing away my food.  She was old – very wrinkled and she had a strange high voice like a cracked piccolo. I decided to hurry and eat as she told me to do because she must be a “sister-nurse-witch” and I was afraid of her.  When she was around I did what she wanted just to get rid of her.  Even the other nurses seemed afraid of her.    One day another nurse came in and saw that I was looking down at the garden.  She became quite upset and said in a very stern voice “My dear girl – what are you doing?  You have not right to look down into our garden.  It is a holy place” and she closed the shades, darkening the room and left me alone in those shadows.  I cried – I felt like I must have really sinned badly.  I felt utterly condemned. Was I never again to see that precious garden where Jesus’ statue stood?     When my mother came in before an hour had passed, she asked why the shade was down. I tearfully told her about my wrong – doing.  She hurried out of the room and returned with – guess – who – the wrinkled sister-nurse-witch. My mother said “Now you tell Sister Mary John all about the garden” I did but I knew that she would bawl me out so I kept saying – I’m sorry – I’m sorry.  She listened – the little old old old sister-nurse and suddenly her face screwed all up and I didn’t know whether she was going to yell at me or cry.  Then in her funny voice she said to me. “Betty Lou, that is Jesus’ garden down there and as long as you are here it is your garden also.  He made this earth for all of us and he made it beautiful.” She opened the shades and we looked down – the three of us.  Suddenly I looked at Sister Mary John as she smiled at me and kissed me, she began to look like an angel.  She understood me and she cared.  I was a cross, unhappy and hurting child and she loved me– just like my mother and father loved me – and like Jesus loved me.  I saw Jesus’ love in her wrinkled funny face and I accepted her as she held me in her arms in a wonderful hug.  I even loved that voice of hers that now sounded just right to me.   She had been working to make me well in her own way and I had feared her and couldn’t see beyond what I thought was ugliness.  She had accepted me as a beloved child of God as she did all her patients and I found this idea in my mind – the Lord’s spirit can be in everyone – if they allow it – and it doesn’t matter how old or wrinkled or how young or cross or how hurting and lonely you are.  And you are loved and you can love.   Now I am at a different stage of life and am old old old and wrinkled and have a cracked piccolo voice when I try to sing and want to be accepted where I am now.  I still want to accept others where they are.  That’s where love begins and grows and grows.  Love finds me through the people I reach out for.  I can’t sit back or hide, or ignore people because then that special love can’t find me.

 

TRIPLES with EMMA

         

 

Counting My Blessings Again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Counting My Blessings Again written by "The Philosopher" Della Ann Mikesell Binder 5 May 1998           The Virtues Of Sleeping 3 In A Bed                                                      Now that I am entering my late "Childhood', I am still trying to decide  what I'm                    going to be when I grow up. Many past events in my life run through my thoughts                    and I ponder the affects of them on my life.                      I came to the conclusion that among the many blessings I received in my                    lifetime, even sleeping "3 in a bed" was one! Now if you've never had to do it                    you wouldn't understand why I say that. So I'll explain my pondering  on the                    subject.                      Consideration -  If you have to sleep "3 in a bed" you learn to be considerate.                    You have to be, or one of your siblings might kick you back, or if you're really                    obnoxious they might tattle on you and you'll all get heck. If one needs to turn                    over then all must turn over, or it's a bad mix of knees and elbows, backs and                    noses. If one needs to get up, one must disentangle oneself with the greatest                    of care and avoid stepping or kneeling on anyone else.                       Compassion - You learn to feel sorry when you hear a tiny sob that none is                    supposed to hear. Someone is sad and too proud to let anyone know, so you                    pretend you don't hear it. You wonder how bad your big sister's leg hurts her.                    It happens to be in a cast and is wedged up against you at the time. You try                    not to move to avoid causing her pain. We must not wake little sister who                    needs her sleep, but also loves a comforting arm around her.                      Gratitude - Then there are all the little secrets you share, with whispers,                    when all else in the house is still, And the quiet expectancy that as soon as                    they awake, you could play "I'm thinking of". You'd pick out some item on the                    magazine wallpaper that you were sure they wouldn't guess. You might even                    have a pillow fight if we were quiet. And you love your sisters because it's                    much nicer than sleeping all alone. Daddy and Mama and the baby have one                    bedroom. The boys have a bedroom and we three girls have our own bedroom.                    No one is in the slightest bit spoiled. How could anyone be spoiled sleeping 3 in                    a bed, I ask you. Look at all the virtues we've learned.         Thelma, Della Ann and Betty Mikesell         Cast of Characters                                                    Daddy: Jefferson "Jeff" Osborn Mikesell                                                                                            Mama: Florence Vivien Allen Mikesell                                                                                            Brothers: Ernest "Ernie" Osborn Mikesell                                                                   and James "Jim" Allen Mikesell                                                                            Sisters: Betty Lou Mikesell; Della Ann Mikesell;                                                                 Thelma Florence Mikesell             and "baby" Leslie Arlene Mikesell                                                             TRIPLES with EMMA

Prodigal Son

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*Photos from the Mikesell family photo album*

 

THE PRODIGAL SON

By Ernest O. Mikesell (This is a true story that took place when Ernie was about nine years old)

Once when I was a little boy, I don't remember just how old, maybe eight or nine years, I had cut my finger. It was too small to hurt, but large enough for me to make a fuss over. My mother thought a little something to prevent infection was needed and brought in the bottle of Iodine. Well Iodine can   sting just a little you know, and that was enough for me. Here I was with a sore just about to kill me and she wanted to make it hurt worse than ever. I just knew I couldn't stand it, and I said, "No! I won't let you put Iodine on my finger." My mother said, "A little sting now is better than a big hurt later, so put your finger out and we will get it over with." "No! I don't want Iodine on my finger and if you try to make me I'll run away and never come back." And out the door I ran.

Well, I walked and walked all afternoon and thought to myself, "I'll go to Aunt Della's house and live there," but Aunt Della wasn't home and by this time I was getting hungry and it was getting dark. "I know what I'll do, I'll go home and while everyone is in the living room, I'll sneak in and get something to eat and take it up in the loft of the barn and eat it and I'll sleep there too." This was a great idea, so I hurried back home again. I slipped in through the back gate and up to the kitchen door, but the door was locked. "Oh, what do I do now?" I sat down on the steps to think this out. "What if I have to stay out here all night, and without lunch and without dinner and maybe without breakfast too!" This running away wasn't such a good idea. Maybe I had better tell my mother I had come back home, so I knocked on the door and no one answered. I knocked again and still no one came to the door.

I was getting a little scared now and really knocked hard the third time. The light went on and my father came to the door. I was sure glad to see him. "Hello little boy, what do you want?" my father asked. "Daddy, you know who I am and I'd like something to eat." "You must be at the wrong house, our little boy ran away and said he was never coming back so you will have to eat at your new home now. Goodbye." and he closed the door and went back in the living room.

I was really scared this time. I didn't have any other home and my mother and father didn't want me. I didn't know what to do, so I just sat on the steps and cried and I prayed too. "Please, God, tell them to let me in. I'll be good and I'll never run away and mama can put Iodine all over my finger if she wants to." And then the door opened and my mother said, "Would you like to come back home now?" I ran in and the first thing I did was to get the Iodine bottle and give it to my mother and held my finger out, and you know it didn't hardly hurt a bit. And I never ran away again.

I was just a little boy who ran away from my parents because I didn't want something that was really good for me. Other people run away, too, you know--even grownups. Sometimes a person will run away from his Heavenly Father who is trying to do something good for him just because he thinks it might be unpleasant or embarrass him a little bit. I've seen children who stayed away from Sunday school and Junior Church which is in God's house because they didn't want to do the things He wants us to do. They think what they want to do is more important.  They are running away from their heavenly Parent and going hungry too, for the things we learn in God's house is the food that will make us grow wiser and closer to Christ. We don't have any other home or anyone else to feed us, and we don't want to be left on the doorstep crying. Being in God's family is the best way for everyone.

 

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Kids Corner

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 KIDS SAY THE CUTEST THINGS!  

 

A young boy was helping his grandfather dig potatoes. After a while the child began to tire. "Grandpa", he asked, "what made you bury these things anyway?"

Little Tim's Goldfish

     Little Tim was in the garden filling in a hole when his neighbor peered over the fence.

     Interested in what the cheeky-faced youngster was up to, he politely asked, "What'cha doing, Tim?"

     "My goldfish died," replied the boy tearfully, without looking up. "I've just buried him."

     The neighbor was concerned. "That's an awfully big hole for a goldfish, isn't it?"

     Tim patted down the last heap of earth, then replied, "That's because he's inside your dumb cat."

Grandma's Home

     When I stopped the bus to pick up Chris for preschool, I noticed an older woman hugging him as he left the house. "Is that your grandmother?" I asked.

     "Yes," Chris said. "She's come to visit us for Christmas."

     "How nice," I said. "Where does she live?"

     "At the airport," Chris replied. "Whenever we want her, we just go out there and get her."

 

  A FIFTH GRADER  

 

poem written by our own Chris Baker, 1998

 

 

 

     A FIFTH GRADER SMELLS LIKE A DIRTY GYM SOCK

  

          IF HE DOESN'T TAKE A SHOWER

 

     A FIFTH GRADER FEELS FLAKY

  

          IF HE HAS DANDRUFF

 

     A FIFTH GRADER IS LOUD AT RECESS

       

          I SEE HIM PLAYING BASKETBALL

 

     ABOUT EVERY DAY

 

          A FIFTH GRADER TASTES LIKE AN OLD BANANA

 

 

A first grade teacher collected well-known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb.  Their insight may surprise you: 

 

     Better to be safe than..................punch a 5th grader.

 

     Strike while the.........................bug is close.

     It's always darkest before............... Daylight Savings Time.

     Don't bite the hand that................. looks dirty.

     You can't teach an old dog new............math.

     If you lie down with dogs, you'll.........stink in the morning.

     An idle mind is...........................the best way to relax.

     A penny saved is..........................not much.

     Don't put off till tomorrow what..........you put on to go to bed.

     Children should be seen and not...........spanked or grounded.

     If at first you don't succeed.............get new batteries.

     When the blind leadeth the blind..........get out of the way.

     And the favorite... 

     Better late than..........................pregnant.  

 

 

 

Wise Advice from Children

     "Everyone has feelings, except for snakes and principals." - Donna Maria G, age 9

     "Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and the world laughs at you." - Rob P, age 8

     "If life gives you nothing but lemons, make up a better shopping list for it." - Steven B, age 8

     "Moses came down with the Ten Amendments, which were God's Bill of Wrongs." - Susie F., age 7

     "Doctors automatically know what's wrong with you. They have a sick sense." - Beau M., age 10

     "My dog had worms. I think he was going fishing." - Emma B., age 4

 

     Rylee W. was showing Grandma a picture of a frog.  "Grandma, I think that's the biggest  frog in the whole tired world."

 

  

 

Rylee & Grandma W. were talking about why it's important to keep some secrets [Xmas etc.]  Rylee said "Grandma, I just can't keep secrets in my mouth for very long."

 

            

   

Josh E. after watching a news story about Canadian Drug Smugglers being comprehended, said "We'll just have to stop buying canadian bacon".
 

 

After his first encounter of reading the front of a sugar packet, Josh said, "I don't want poor sugar, I want rich sugar".  Josh's mom pondered on this for a minute, then replied "it's not poor sugar, it's pure sugar".

    

 Another innocent moment;  Josh said,  "If I have been in 2nd grade for almost 1 year, then I must have been in 1st grade for 2 1/2 years".  This is proof that children have no concept of time and that spring break is well deserved. 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

Easter 2001-

After the Easter Egg Hunt, Josh E. (8 yrs old) counting his money that was inside the plastic eggs said, "Wow, I'm stinking rich!".  Rylee W. (6 yrs old) replied, "I'm stinkier!".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KIDS DO & EAT THE DARNEDEST THINGS! 

 

JOSHUA

             A short story of Joshua the explorer and mighty hunter, as he is seen through his father's eyes

written by Doug Emerick, July 1994

 

It is a nice day and I think Joshua has another extensive exploring expedition planned for us. Joshua is a born explorer and mighty hunter. We went exploring a couple of days ago and he enjoyed it very much. When we came back from our journey I started working in our yard.

I raked the leaves on the south side of our home into a large pile. Right away Joshua's keen eyes noticed the new mountain of leaves before him. This was the kind of challenge he liked, after all he loved adventure and exploring. Mountain climbing would be a piece of cake. He soon made short work of that mountain as he tore through it, leaves flying everywhere. Once the mighty explorer's conquest of the mountain was achieved, he continued to hunt and explore on the lower plains of our yard.

I have to watch Joshua very closely, for he is a cunning and skilled hunter for his age and he hunts everything. You can see him crouch down and then those lightening fast hands reach out, using both hands at the same time, in different directions if he wants and he will have in his grasp what it is he is reaching for and then straight into his mouth it goes. He will eat anything. He will pick up rocks, leaves, twigs, grass, acorn shells from our tree, anything and everything, and after the other day a new item on his list, worms.

 

Here is what happened. I was standing approximately five feet away from Joshua when I noticed he was crouched down and he was stalking something. I looked a little closer and I could see that he was watching a small worm that was crawling on the ground which I uncovered while raking up the leaves. I knew what could happen next if I didn't move as swiftly and as fast as Joshua's deadly hands. I made my move just as Joshua was making his. It wasn't my swift and fast speed that saved that little worm from being bitten in half, but it was that I startled Joshua when I yelled "No Josh!". It gave me the needed edge and time to reach him and grab his hands. I don't know if the worm knows how lucky it was, or how close he came to being Joshua's lunch.

I know one thing for sure, if his mother would have been there and if Josh would have succeeded in eating the worm, I could see her in my minds eye, fainted dead away in her tracks on the lawn. Glad she wasn't there.

Life is mighty exciting and adventurous when I am with the mighty hunter and explorer Joshua.

Kid Jokes  (We're all kids!)

A skunk, a deer, and a duck went out to dinner. When they finished their meal, they found that the skunk didn't have a cent, the deer didn't have a buck, so they put it on the duck's bill!

School Daze

     It was at the end of the school year, and a kindergarten teacher was receiving gifts from  her pupils.

     The florist's son handed her a gift. She shook it, held it overhead, and said, "I bet I know what it is. Some flowers." "

     That's right" the boy said, "but how did you know?"

     "Oh, just a wild guess," she said.

     The next pupil was the candy shop owner's daughter.

     The teacher held her gift overhead, shook it, and said, "I bet I can guess what it is. A box of sweets."

     "That's right, but how did you know?" asked the girl.

     "Oh, just a wild guess," said the teacher.

     The next gift was from the son of the liquor store owner. The teacher held the package overhead, but it was leaking. She touched a drop of the leakage with her finger and touched it to her tongue.

     "Is it wine?" she asked.

     "No," the boy replied, with some excitement.

     The teacher repeated the process, taking a larger drop of the leakage to her tongue.

     "Is it champagne?" she asked.

     "No," the boy replied, with more excitement.

     The teacher took one more taste before declaring, "I give up, what is it?"

     With great glee, the boy replied, "It's a puppy!"

KID'S PRAYERS  (sent in by Pam)