Rainbow Garden
I attended two churches growing up - depending on which set of grandparents had me for the weekend. This went on from birth through all of elementary school. I had a lot of friends and acquaintances spread throughout our smallish town.
Mabel Holcomb was my pre-school Sunday School teacher at one church. Trena and Timmy were two classmates I can remember. In the 4th grade our teacher was the young newlywed Anita. She was the church pianist and had recently eloped with Stanley, the church organist.
Anita decided to have a Bible verse reading contest probably in an effort to get a bunch of 10 year old children interested in reading the Bible. Timmy and I were neck and neck every week. If he reported reading 4 verses, I had read 5. If I reported reading 6 verses, he read 7. It has been many years, I don't know how many weeks the contest went on, but in the end our competitiveness ended in earning both of us a winning prize.
My prize was a book called Rainbow Garden by Patricia St, John. I loved that book and read it multiple times. That was nearly 50 years ago and I still have that book.
Tim (no longer Timmy) and I went to the same high school, it was the second largest class to ever graduate from there, we had no classes together, I attended a church of my choice, and we certainly weren't in the same social cliques. He had a steady girlfriend, I was kind of a homely teen, boys weren't beating my door down for a date.
Through the years we were each updated on each other as his parents and my grandparents were friends. At one point we both lived in Colorado at the same time, less than 100 miles apart, but had no direct contact. I named my second son after him, the name Timothy was associated in my mind as being the name of a nice and friendly boy.
About 10 years ago we re-united, at the Bob Evans near the town we grew up in. I confessed a guilty secret I had carried around for years. I had cheated in the 4th grade Bible verse contest. He confessed that he had cheated as well. We laughed, we had carried that guilt around for at least 40 years. Maybe we should try to find Anita and confess. I am betting she knew.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament indicate confession is good for the soul.
"When anyone becomes aware they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned." Leviticus 5:5.
"Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing my come from the Lord" Acts 3:19
I had repented long ago, but confessing to the person I wronged was a lifting of a long carried burden.
I am praying for you, my friends. For my cousins who lost their mother, for those of you with illness in your family, for the newly ordained Kristi, for my ministers, for our President. For the immigrant children, and children in foster care. I ask that you pray for me as I try to write in a way that glorifies God, on topics he chooses. Harder than you might think.
Mabel Holcomb was my pre-school Sunday School teacher at one church. Trena and Timmy were two classmates I can remember. In the 4th grade our teacher was the young newlywed Anita. She was the church pianist and had recently eloped with Stanley, the church organist.
Anita decided to have a Bible verse reading contest probably in an effort to get a bunch of 10 year old children interested in reading the Bible. Timmy and I were neck and neck every week. If he reported reading 4 verses, I had read 5. If I reported reading 6 verses, he read 7. It has been many years, I don't know how many weeks the contest went on, but in the end our competitiveness ended in earning both of us a winning prize.
My prize was a book called Rainbow Garden by Patricia St, John. I loved that book and read it multiple times. That was nearly 50 years ago and I still have that book.
Tim (no longer Timmy) and I went to the same high school, it was the second largest class to ever graduate from there, we had no classes together, I attended a church of my choice, and we certainly weren't in the same social cliques. He had a steady girlfriend, I was kind of a homely teen, boys weren't beating my door down for a date.
Through the years we were each updated on each other as his parents and my grandparents were friends. At one point we both lived in Colorado at the same time, less than 100 miles apart, but had no direct contact. I named my second son after him, the name Timothy was associated in my mind as being the name of a nice and friendly boy.
About 10 years ago we re-united, at the Bob Evans near the town we grew up in. I confessed a guilty secret I had carried around for years. I had cheated in the 4th grade Bible verse contest. He confessed that he had cheated as well. We laughed, we had carried that guilt around for at least 40 years. Maybe we should try to find Anita and confess. I am betting she knew.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament indicate confession is good for the soul.
"When anyone becomes aware they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned." Leviticus 5:5.
"Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing my come from the Lord" Acts 3:19
I had repented long ago, but confessing to the person I wronged was a lifting of a long carried burden.
I am praying for you, my friends. For my cousins who lost their mother, for those of you with illness in your family, for the newly ordained Kristi, for my ministers, for our President. For the immigrant children, and children in foster care. I ask that you pray for me as I try to write in a way that glorifies God, on topics he chooses. Harder than you might think.
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