My girls and I went to my sister Shellie's over the past weekend and went to Six Flag. On our way home we stopped in Cisco, Texas and attended worship there. One of the song's that morning hit me in a way that it has never before. I have sung (sang I don't know which is proper! LOL!) the song many times in my life, but in the wake of the divorce of my mom and step dad, it hit me different. I want to share the song with you.
Take My Hand and Lead Me
I want to live, dear Lord, for Thee, O keep me every day; A faithful witness let me be, Along life's rugged way.
When satan would my hopes alarm, O shelter Thou, my soul; Protect me with The mighty arm, Thy strength will keep me whole.
Let me each day, Thy Spirit feel; Increase my courage Lord, To walk by faith, endowed with zeal, Directed by Thy Word.
(Chorus)
Take my hand and lead me, Anywhere you need me; With Thy spirit feed me, Till I'm safe with Thee at home.
What a prayer! It was just exactly as I felt at that moment. It gave me a sense of easiness. A sense of courage. A sense of protection.
Mom got a call Friday afternoon from the Sheriff in Quanah that he had a subpoena to serve her for her to appear before the Grand Jury Monday morning. We all knew why. When she caught my step dad the last time cheating, he came at her. She pulled a gun on him to keep him from coming at her. He had pressured the Sheriff and the D.A. to try and indict her for the incident. They all tried to talk him out of it, but he still pressured them. So, my Mom, had to appear before the Grand Jury Monday morning to tell them her side of the story. She didn't get indicted. I prayed for God to be with her. For her to be in his presence while she was on the stand. She felt it!
God always answers our prayers!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
My Mom
It's about time I get back in the habit of writing again. Seems like I can always find an excuse for skipping this. A couple of things to catch ya'll up on before I start writing about my mom. First of all, we lost a saint here in Lockney a couple of weeks ago, Dee Copeland past away. Dee turned 100 last October. I will miss him. One of my favorite memories of him was a few years ago he told me he was about to "deliver meals to the old folks!". I asked him how many of them were younger than him, he replied"all of them". You can read more about Dee in some of my early blogs. An update on Lockney High School, the portable buildings are in place and they will begin classes in them next Monday.
My Mom. My mom is one of the strongest women I know. Let me tell you a few things she's been through. My dad was killed at age 26, mom was 25. She was widowed and had 2 kids, 7 and 5. She did her best to provide for my sister and I. She worked as a secretary/bookkeeper at the Coop in Lockney for a couple of years. In 1973 she met who was to be my step-dad, Joe Gayle Baker. Joe Gayle called me in January of 1974 and asked if he could marry my mom. He had just bought a new chevy pickup. I told him "only if you promise to buy a Ford". So, less than a year later he bought a Ford. They were married February 9th, 1974. Joe Gayle had 2 boys, 10 and 7. My sister and I had 2 brothers! YEAH! We were happy. One big family. I started to school on February 13, 1974 in Quanah, Texas. The reason that sticks in my mind is the fact that the next fay was Valentines and I just put on my valentines to the rest of the class "From Preston". LOL! The challenges of mixing a family came quickly and often. In 1977, John the youngest of my step brothers went to live with his mom and Jim stayed with us. So now there was just us 3 kids. In 1984 my sister got sick with Crone's disease. While trying to get her diagnosed, she almost died a couple of times. In 1986 my grandmother passed away. In 1988 my granddad past away. In about 1990, Mom and Joe Gayle were forced into bankruptcy. In 2002, Joe Gayle had a wreck and was ejected from his pickup. He was transported to Wichita Falls and Mom was at sister's in Perryton when it happened. On February 21, 2009 (yes on my birthday) mom caught Joe Gayle cheating on her. And this wasn't the first time. It goes back some 15 years. She never mentioned it to no body.
I guess I tell all of this to ask all of you for a favor. Please pray for my mom. She's really struggling right now.
Thanks!
My Mom. My mom is one of the strongest women I know. Let me tell you a few things she's been through. My dad was killed at age 26, mom was 25. She was widowed and had 2 kids, 7 and 5. She did her best to provide for my sister and I. She worked as a secretary/bookkeeper at the Coop in Lockney for a couple of years. In 1973 she met who was to be my step-dad, Joe Gayle Baker. Joe Gayle called me in January of 1974 and asked if he could marry my mom. He had just bought a new chevy pickup. I told him "only if you promise to buy a Ford". So, less than a year later he bought a Ford. They were married February 9th, 1974. Joe Gayle had 2 boys, 10 and 7. My sister and I had 2 brothers! YEAH! We were happy. One big family. I started to school on February 13, 1974 in Quanah, Texas. The reason that sticks in my mind is the fact that the next fay was Valentines and I just put on my valentines to the rest of the class "From Preston". LOL! The challenges of mixing a family came quickly and often. In 1977, John the youngest of my step brothers went to live with his mom and Jim stayed with us. So now there was just us 3 kids. In 1984 my sister got sick with Crone's disease. While trying to get her diagnosed, she almost died a couple of times. In 1986 my grandmother passed away. In 1988 my granddad past away. In about 1990, Mom and Joe Gayle were forced into bankruptcy. In 2002, Joe Gayle had a wreck and was ejected from his pickup. He was transported to Wichita Falls and Mom was at sister's in Perryton when it happened. On February 21, 2009 (yes on my birthday) mom caught Joe Gayle cheating on her. And this wasn't the first time. It goes back some 15 years. She never mentioned it to no body.
I guess I tell all of this to ask all of you for a favor. Please pray for my mom. She's really struggling right now.
Thanks!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Up From The Ashes
It has been over a week now since the school burned. The surrounding communities have been awesome on helping put our lives back together. The Jr. high should be ready for school Monday. My daughter Sarah is way excited about that. The rooms at the church are cramped to say the least. Balckmon-Mooring have worked long days since the fire and 7 day work weeks to get the jr. high functional. I know the teachers are ready to be back int there building too!
Seems to be some wrangling going on among a few folks to try and consolidate the Lockney and Floydada schools. I have mixed emotions about that. The Lockney-Floydada rivalry is still in effect. It's not near as bad as it used to be, but still alive. Lots of folks have stated their opposition to the consolidation in this way: "My kids aren't going to be Whirlwinds!". Others have had words that I won't repeat here.
A couple of things bother me on the subject of consolidation. Who's administration is going to run things? Where will the kids go to school? Will Lockney carry as many board members as Floydada? What will happen to the support staffs? What will happen to the teachers?
One of the things that really bothers me a bit is the superintendent situation in Floydada. No one seems to like him, and the board was split on re-newing his contract this year. His contract was re-newed by a vote of 4-3. Also, our district is debt free. All of our buildings are (were) in awesome shape. We have taken a great deal of pride in taking care of our buildings and keeping them as up to date as we can. We have a good fleet of buses. We have above average sports facilities. And we have grown our fund balance through all the upgrades.
I wonder what would happen if Floydada came to Lockney and went to school?
I kinda feel like they are trying to kick us while we're down!
WE ARE LOCKNEY! WE WILL OVERCOME!
Seems to be some wrangling going on among a few folks to try and consolidate the Lockney and Floydada schools. I have mixed emotions about that. The Lockney-Floydada rivalry is still in effect. It's not near as bad as it used to be, but still alive. Lots of folks have stated their opposition to the consolidation in this way: "My kids aren't going to be Whirlwinds!". Others have had words that I won't repeat here.
A couple of things bother me on the subject of consolidation. Who's administration is going to run things? Where will the kids go to school? Will Lockney carry as many board members as Floydada? What will happen to the support staffs? What will happen to the teachers?
One of the things that really bothers me a bit is the superintendent situation in Floydada. No one seems to like him, and the board was split on re-newing his contract this year. His contract was re-newed by a vote of 4-3. Also, our district is debt free. All of our buildings are (were) in awesome shape. We have taken a great deal of pride in taking care of our buildings and keeping them as up to date as we can. We have a good fleet of buses. We have above average sports facilities. And we have grown our fund balance through all the upgrades.
I wonder what would happen if Floydada came to Lockney and went to school?
I kinda feel like they are trying to kick us while we're down!
WE ARE LOCKNEY! WE WILL OVERCOME!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Just some thoughts
Well, I guess I'm still trying to digest all the happenings of the week. The loss of our high school is weighing heavy on my mind. My prayers are with our kiddos and teachers. Just praying that they are able to put some sort of normalcy back in their days.
I can remember when the Methodist church burned in Quanah when I was a kid. I think it was 1975. I remember going to school that morning and driving by the church. Nothing left but a shell of a building, still smoldering. The building was one of the oldest buildings in Quanah at the time. When you're a kid, everything is big. That building seemed to stand like a skyscraper. I can remember going around that building a couple of days after it burned and picking up lead and glass from the stained glass windows it had. They held church services at the community building there in town for what seemed like an eternity. I think it took around 2 years to get the building built back. The library sits where the Methodist church used to be in Quanah.
Just a few months before I got on the fire department in Lockney, the Baptist church in Floydada burned. They had fire departments from Matador, Lockney, and Ralls there.
What is really cool about all this is how a community comes together after tragedy strikes. I have watched it happen several times. Tornadoes in Lubbock, Vernon and Wichita Falls. The church fires in Quanah and Floydada. The community just comes together, puts all differences aside and rebuilds. I have full confidence in Lockney that this will happen. I love my town!
I can remember when the Methodist church burned in Quanah when I was a kid. I think it was 1975. I remember going to school that morning and driving by the church. Nothing left but a shell of a building, still smoldering. The building was one of the oldest buildings in Quanah at the time. When you're a kid, everything is big. That building seemed to stand like a skyscraper. I can remember going around that building a couple of days after it burned and picking up lead and glass from the stained glass windows it had. They held church services at the community building there in town for what seemed like an eternity. I think it took around 2 years to get the building built back. The library sits where the Methodist church used to be in Quanah.
Just a few months before I got on the fire department in Lockney, the Baptist church in Floydada burned. They had fire departments from Matador, Lockney, and Ralls there.
What is really cool about all this is how a community comes together after tragedy strikes. I have watched it happen several times. Tornadoes in Lubbock, Vernon and Wichita Falls. The church fires in Quanah and Floydada. The community just comes together, puts all differences aside and rebuilds. I have full confidence in Lockney that this will happen. I love my town!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
FIRE
I know most of you have heard about our loss here in Lockney Sunday night. Our High School burned to the ground. Most of ya'll also know that I am a volunteer fireman here in Lockney. We first got the call of a fire at the high school just after 11:00 pm Sunday night. We always get calls to fires at the hospital or nursing home here, most of the time, to find out it's a false alarm. This was not the case on Sunday night. When I walked out of the house, you could smell and see the smoke bellowing from that direction. Our high school and jr. high is connected so it was twice as scary. When we arrived on scene, we couldn't believe what was before our eyes. The second floor was pretty much engulfed in flames. Also when we arrived, there were several folks beginning to get all the keepsake stuff from the first floor. All the pictures, trophies, etc., were saved. We began our interior approach quickly, sending a team to the second floor to find things pretty much uncontrollable. We immediately began to save what we could. The Floydada Fire Department came over to assist. My friends from Floydada that were on the first truck leaving Floydada could see the flames from the city limits of Floydada. When they arrived, they did an awesome job keeping the fire from continuing down the hall into the jr. high. Only some minor smoke damage and water damage occurred in the jr. high. The High School Library was also spared of any fire damage but did receive some smoke and water damage. The science lab was also saved for the most part sustaining some fire damage and lots of smoke and water damage. The rest of the building was a total loss.
Unfortunately, we have learned that the fire was a product of arson. I will let you read or hear about that in the news.
The building was erected 1929. This years graduates would have been the 80th class to graduate from the building. Lots of history went up in the building.
I attended elementary school here before moving to Quanah. So there wasn't a lot of sentimental memories for me. At one point on Monday morning, we (the firefighters) were sitting in the new gymnasium that sits to the south of the high school across the street. While our chief was being interviewed by the Plainview newspaper, the reporter asked the question "how many of ya'll graduated from high school here?". As I looked around the room, out of around 18 fireman sitting there, there were only 3 of us that didn't attend school in the building.
I don't really know what's in store for our community for the days and weeks to come. I know that God is good! And I know something good will come of this!
Pray for us!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Reflecting On the Week
It has been a good week for me. The new year is going to be a good one. My week has been full of pleasant surprises. One of the funnest things this week for me was my Tuesday night with the girls. My friend Kurt brought his two younger kids by my house Tuesday night while he went to a Boy Scouts meeting. We had a Guitar Hero concert. All the kids got an instrument and sang. It was a hoot!!!
Something I don't do near enough of on here is ask for prayers. I have a couple of requests. Dee Copeland, A gentleman I wrote about in my early entries on here and he just turned 100 in October, fell over the holidays and broke his hip. He is in Covenant Hospital in Lubbock. I hear he's not doing real well. Hopefully I will get by to see him this weekend. One of my best friends, Jay Don Poindexter, has a brother-in-law that has a tumor that is attached to his kidneys and goes all the way back to his spine. His name is Johnny. Keep these two men in your prayers. Pray that God's will be done!
Something I don't do near enough of on here is ask for prayers. I have a couple of requests. Dee Copeland, A gentleman I wrote about in my early entries on here and he just turned 100 in October, fell over the holidays and broke his hip. He is in Covenant Hospital in Lubbock. I hear he's not doing real well. Hopefully I will get by to see him this weekend. One of my best friends, Jay Don Poindexter, has a brother-in-law that has a tumor that is attached to his kidneys and goes all the way back to his spine. His name is Johnny. Keep these two men in your prayers. Pray that God's will be done!
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