living in rural Oklahoma

I am not sure if people who live in cities or suburbs can really understand what it is like to live in a town like Minco. You see, I always considered myself to be a small-town girl (from a small-town, that is, not always wanting to live in one). I am from DuBois, Pennsylvania. It is on the western side of the state about 2 hours from the Ohio border with 2 exits off of I-80. When living in the south, my southern friends refered to me as a “yankee.” If the technical definition of yankee is living (or being born) north of the Mason-Dixie line is correct, then I am one. However, I tend to think the stereotype refers to New Yorkers, mostly, and eastern sea-board dwellers, more broadly. DuBois, PA, is more like the midwest than anything else. It is the line where people stop calling carbonated beverages “soda” and start calling them “pop.” DuBois, has a population of about 20,000 people. It is the largest town in it’s particular region, but it has several small towns (ranging in size from 3,000 – 10,000) surrounding it. So, DuBois is actually a sort of center of commerce for the region. I didn’t really realize all of this until I moved to Minco. I always wanted to leave DuBois as soon as I could because it was so small. Now, I realize, it was quite a thriving little city.

Now, onto the discussion of Minco. Minco is about 35 miles from Oklahoma City. It has 1,672 residents according to the 2000 census. One might think that this is ok, since the City is so close. And, in some ways it is. But I had become accustomed to Target or Wal-Mart being a 5-minute drive from my house. I had become accustomed to having 2 or 3 large supermarkets to choose from. I had become accustomed to having a library in my neighborhood to take the kids to with ease.

In Minco, we have Mick’s Discount Foods. It is a small IGA store. The prices are higher than an in-town store, but not nearly as bad as a convenience store. The meats are great quality. The produce is also quite good. The selection often leaves something to be desired. Trips to Wal-Mart Super Center (14 miles away) are really necessary in order to get several rather basic items (vanilla-flavored yogurt, for example). We also have Woodworth’s Hardware (and variety) Store. It has been in Minco since the early 1900s, and they have things in there that have been there since the 1950s, at least. But if you found such an item, you would probably pay the original price for it too. We also have a flower shop, a couple of antique/gift stores, a video/tanning store, a few beauty shops, 2 gas stations, 4 restaurants (nothing you’ve heard of), a small variety store, an electrician business, a junk store, a thrift store, a print shop, a realtor, the senior citizen’s center, the public school, and 6 churches.

You can survive in Minco without leaving town if you need to. Actually, I have made very few trips to outlying towns or OKC in the last few weeks. I have really been trying to keep my driving time down, and I’ve been more of a home body. However, I went to Mustang the other day to visit the new library there. It is the closest library to us (18 miles northeast). We have a card there, and I have taken the children there regularly since we moved here. But they just opened their new community center that houses the new library. It is an excellent facility. The library is spacious with lots of comfy sofas as well as tables and chairs. The children’s section has a great set of little tables and chairs as well as a small play area. It was so nice to be in a real library again. Going there really made me realize how much I love convenience. I love having services available to me. I miss this aspect of suburban life so much.

Now, I know I have blogged in the past about my need to be content where I am. I know God has put us here. I am still working on being content. I haven’t thrown in the towel. I just have to get my honest feelings out once in a while.

Finally, today is the Minco Fair. An agricultural event for the most part. However, for the second year in a row, I will be judging the cake contest. Now, you couldn’t get fun like that in most suburbs.

Evangeline on the death and resurrection of Jesus

I have a friend who often tells me to write down the things that my kids say and do. One thing that this blog has given me is a forum for doing that. I have in no way written about every funny or interesting thing that my children have done, but having the blog has been something of a motivator for me to record a few of the more interesting kid stories. As you might have guessed, I have a new one to share.

Our children are attending VBS at the local United Methodist Church this week. The boys attended VBS there last summer, and they enjoyed it. This year, all three are old enough to go. After I brought them home today, Evangeline (3) climbed up on my lap. She said, “Mommy, I don’t want to die.”

I said, “Did you talk about someone dying in Bible school today?”

She said, “Yes.”

I said, “Who died?”

She said, “Jesus.”

I said, “Yeah, but what happened to Jesus after he died on the cross?”

She said, “He come alive again.”

I said, “What happens to us when we die?”

She said, “We come alive again too.”

I said, “Yes, we will come alive again some day. And, we don’t need to worry about dying, because God takes care of us.”

It was so wonderful to me that she understood (at least in some child-like way) that Jesus died and then rose again. From the expression on her face, I could tell she was putting a lot of thought into this conversation.

birthday

Well, Sunday was my birthday. I am another year older. 37 to be exact. Mark is 2.5 years my junior, and he said since we are one, I could have his age. I really appreciated the offer. But I guess I will have to own up to all of my 37 years.

I had a great birthday. First, my mother-in-law celebrated her birthday 11 days before mine and she and my father-in-law took our whole family out for lunch. They said it was to celebrate Mom’s birthday and to begin celebrating the “12 days of my birthday.” I like this concept. I am actually planning on using it on both sides of my birthday, making it actually “the 24 days of my birthday.”

On Sunday, my actual birthday, I had a nice day as well. The boys were so cute about it. Nevin, our 4-year-old, came into our room on Sunday morning and said, “Happy Birthday,” with no prompting from anyone. This was a first for him. Then after church, Mark’s parents came for lunch. They brought leftovers from their place, so I didn’t have to cook. They also brought a cake that Mom made. Very nice. Before we ate, the children and Mark were getting their presents together. Nevin kept saying, “I got a present for you, but it’s a secret.” Calvin would say things like, “Nevin, you’re not supposed to say anything.” Evangeline kept coming to the kitchen and grabbing my hand to take me to the living room to open my presents, even though they weren’t quite ready. When the moment finally arrived, they were thrilled. I was touched because they each picked out something when they went shopping with Daddy. The card Calvin gave me was the first one I got from him where he wrote all the words of greeting himself. It is fun to have a birthday just to watch the kids. Of course, the next day, Nevin said, “My birthday’s next, right?” Which, it is. But it is not until October. Evangeline came in on Monday and said, “Is Nevin’s birthday today?”

On Sunday night, Mom and Dad watched the kids after church, and Mark and I went out to dinner at Charleston’s. It’s a sort of nostalgic place to us. We used to go to a sister restaurant called Houston’s in Ft. Lauderdale before we were married. It was a nice way to close my actual birthday.

Keeping with the concept of “the 12 days of my birthday” my mother-in-law took me and my closest Minco friend out to lunch on Monday. We also dallied a bit at a nearby antique mall. It was a pleasant afternoon.

Today is sort of the “let-down” day, as I know I really can’t celebrate my birthday for 12 days after my birthday. But when I think about how much I enjoyed myself over the weekend and yesterday, I am really thankful for a wonderful family and for marrying a man with great parents to be my in-laws who treat me as if I am their real daughter.

A 6-year-old’s comment after a sermon on predestination

Mark started a sermon series on Ephesians a week ago. Yesterday, he was preaching on Ephesians 1:3-12. It wasn’t really an expositional sermon, but a sort of overview of the doctrine of predestination. I sit with all 3 of our children during worship. Some who read this might think that children should act like little adults in church, and they should never be given external things to do, etc. I am not of that mindset. (Of course, if they started acting like little adults in church next week, I wouldn’t complain). I try to teach them to sit still when others are sitting still, to sing when others sing, respond when others respond, etc. But it isn’t an easy task. Yesterday, I resorted to giving them each a little bag with sweet tarts and jelly fruits during the sermon. It kept them still for about half of the sermon, so that wasn’t too bad. However, my boys seemed to be especially wiggly during the whole service.

When the service was over, my oldest son who is 6, said, “Mom, I am sorry I disobeyed during the service.” I said, “I forgive you Calvin, but if you are really sorry, you will do better next week.” He replied, “Ok, Mom, but it was in God’s plan for me to be disobedient.” I said, “Well, I guess at least you listened to some of Dad’s sermon.”

Life

It has been a while since I last blogged. Here’s an update . . . On the weight loss front, it seems I am hovering between 18 and 20 pounds lost. I am not thrilled by this, but I am still on my WOE, and I am happy that I am maintaining at this point. I am not doing anything drastic to change this trend until I return from the PCA’s general assembly and then a short vacation. However, I do plan to stick with the current WOE while travelling, so as not to have any vacation gain. When I return, I will start to come up with a new plan to get the poundage off.

Reading . . . I have done little. I am still on the same books. Since school has been out, my children’s activities have kept me busy. It looks like that will be the case for much of the summer. Hopefully, I’ll squeeze some reading in around their stuff. I have, however, been leading a women’s Bible study on The Shorter Catechism, and that has been enjoyable. I am using GI Williamson’s study guide. It is very helpful. Also, there’s a great new family devotional based on the Shorter Catechism called Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. I have used some of the readings in this for illustrations/application ideas. We haven’t used it for family devotions yet, but it looks good, as the readings are short enough for little attention spans, but meaty enough for older children and adults.

Simple trust

This morning, my nearly 3-year-old brought me a “necklace” she had made in Sunday school 2 weeks ago. It consisted of a piece of string and a paper square on which is written a question about her Sunday school lesson. Her “necklace” was broken. In other words, the paper had ripped at the hole where the string went through. She cried, “Mommy, fix it.” I told her I couldn’t. She said, “Use tape.” For her and my boys, tape is the cure-all for everything that breaks. I have fixed countless toys with tape over the past years, and they always trust that tape can save the day in my capable hands.

I am just struck by how simply they trust and how they just expect me to be able to fix anything that goes wrong. I am sure there is some illustration of how we should trust God there, but I won’t try to make it. I just thought I would share the experience.

Sickness, bookstore owner

Update on sickness . . . I was prescribed an antibiotic over the phone. My guess is that my doctor telediagnosed me with strep throat. After 2 days on the ab, I am feeling much better. Still a bit tired, but my throat feels just a little sore and scratchy instead of like a boa constrictor was choking me. Our oldest boy went to the doctor today. He just couldn’t shake the fever. Diagnosis–sinus infection. We should be up to full speed by next week. It has been a long week of isolation. We went to Denny’s for lunch after the oldest’s dr’s appointment today just to relieve a bit of the cabin fever.

We also dropped by the used book shop I mentioned in an earlier blog. I talked with the owner some more, and I now know her name. It is Kelly.

Weight loss program

Here it is about a month since I decided to blog about my attempt to lose weight. I haven’t managed to incorporate regular exercise into my life, yet. I also have struggled all this month with losing and gaining the same 2 – 4 pounds. At my weigh-in Monday, I had gained 2.5 pounds. That’s not the kind of thing I am striving for. The good news is that for the month, I am still 2 pounds down. Not the 10 I was hoping for, but at least it is down instead of up! I walked yesterday morning with grand ambitions of walking the rest of the week. Then at about 11:45 am, I was hit with chills, then a fever, and a sore throat that just kills. I caught it from my children. I have periods during the day when my temp is around 100 and I can function. Then it spikes again, and I crash. So the exercise plan has once again been put on hold. Hopefully early next week will be a good time to get going and I will be over this flu or whatever it is. I really want to make this work, and I am at a pivotal point in the WOE I am using. In other words, I am getting bored with it, so cheating is much more tempting. Being sick makes it easier to justify cheating too. So if you think of it, pray for me to get over these hurdles.

Weight loss update; miscellaneous

I went to my TOPS meeting tonight, and I lost 2 1/2 pounds. So I am down by a 1/2 pound from a few weeks ago, before my last week’s gain. My total loss is now 20 1/2 pounds. This isn’t as good as I would like, but it is much better than going up again. I am pretty much back on track with the WOE now, too. More exercise must enter the equation. I work it in–somehow. (Someone might suggest I exercise instead of blog 🙂

Books–I had an opportunity last week to go to a used book shop that I enjoy visiting in the small town south of us. About 6 months ago, it was sold to a new owner. She has really cleaned things up, and overall, it is a more pleasant shop to frequent. When the new owner took over, I found it easy to chat with her. I came home after meeting her the first time and told Mark I thought I needed to start praying for this woman and visiting the store regularly. I visited weekly for about a month. Since then, I have been there only once a month or so. On my visit last week, she told me that she wasn’t a Christian. This was in the context of discussing books we like and why. She also told me she was “spiritual” and that she believed there were many paths to God. I had the opportunity to tell her that I believed there is only one way to God through Jesus. She was not offended. She even told me she looked forward to seeing me again. All of this was said, but I still don’t know her name. If you read this, please take a minute and pray that God will bring more people into the life of the owner of “The Book Shop on the Corner” in Chickasha, Ok, to talk with her about Jesus.

I should add that I made a couple of great finds on that shopping trip. I found two reading primers to use for practice with Calvin this summer as he learns to read. I also found a copy of Leaving Cold Sassy. I was thrilled with this, as I have wanted to read it since I finished Cold Sassy Tree last summer. If you haven’t read Cold Sassy, you should. Just leave it that. The great thing about this little book shop, by the way, is that no book is more than $2.

Musings and contemplations about trying to live a full and meaningful life