More memories

Frodge family men l to r: Granddaddy, Andrew (front l ) Benny, R.G. (next cowboy hat) and Matthew share a moment with Col. John Eidsmoe, historian, reinactor, and man of God. Col. Eidsmoe got R. G.'s attention right away with his understanding of the Southern cause during the War between the States.

Mary and Callie are excited to see a friend from Georgia. One of the wonderful benefits of our trip to Jamestown -- sweet fellowship with new and old friends, online friends finally met face-to-face, friends from previous conferences, fellow sleuths -- the great coming-together of the household of faith. What a blessing!

NEVERMIND

Please ignore the plea for help below, and just go to the next post down. Thank you.

Sincerely, Granny-brain

CAN ANYONE HELP??

Yesterday, I wrote and posted a very nice post about precious grandson Andrew and his sincere desire to follow his Commander. With it was a sweet picture of him, his brother Joey, and his cousin C.J. marching in the Children's Parade at Ft. Pocahontas. It does not come up here, for some reason. I can get to it by going to the behind-the-scenes listing of posts and clicking on it, but I cannot seem to get it to transfer over here. What could I have done wrong? What can I do to correct it? Help, please?

"The Children of Zion . . ."

Little Joey walks point in the Children's Parade. C. J. (tricorn hat to the left) joins him. Andrew, on the right, keeps a vigilant eye out for the enemy. (Sorry, I have no idea who that faithful warrior in the dark vest and tricorn in the middle is!)

One of the things we so appreciated at the Vision Forum Jamestown 400 celebration was the conscious decision to include the children in the history presentations. Not only were they welcome at the faith and freedom tours, the symposiums, the keynote sessions, and especially at Ft. Pocahontas, but there were activities to make history live for them. The younger boys especially loved training for colonial battle and learning to follow the commands of their dedicated leaders (VF interns).

Benny, Andrew, C.J., and Joey faithfully listened for the drums to call them to duty. Katie was relating to me one incident when she was gathering the little boys to escort them over to the “training field”. Seven year old Andrew fervently replied to her, “Mama, you don’t need to come with me! My commander is calling me!”

Of course, as she shared this story with me, we both choked up. It was too vivid in both our minds the double meaning of his assertion. He is growing up – Mama won’t be needed to escort him to the business of men for much longer. Some day he may be called to shoulder arms in a righteous cause when his commander calls.

Of course, little Andrew is already a footsoldier for His Savior and Sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. He diligently practices with his Sword; he ponders the things of God and takes literally what his Commander decrees. Andrew is serious about his calling. He is God’s man.

Lord, bless him and keep him. Keep his heart. Give his parents wisdom and faithfulness in his upbringing. Thank you, Lord, for Andrew and his brothers and cousins, men in the making, already doing the work they are called to. “The children of Zion must follow their King”.

Where oh where . . .

(L to R: Peter on banjo, Gracie on mandolin, Sarah on fiddle, Matthew on guitar, Kitty on guitar, and R.G. on bass on the Vision Forum stage. What a blessing!)

. . . to begin?? What a week (and some) this has been! I had hoped to post while at Jamestown, and the facilities were available, but time got spent (appropriately) on outstanding sessions and with family projects. When we were “home”, we were finishing, up to the last minute, costumes for little boys who decided they wanted to be frontiersmen after all. Oh, it was fun, but it did keep us busy during “downtime”.

The Lord has been so gracious and merciful as we traveled many miles. The large RV we rented has been a challenge, but definitely a blessing. Danny has really improved in his ability to handle it (we won’t talk about a couple of ... umm ... incidents!) So we are thinking of getting the old Beaver we have at home back in shape and adventuring out a little more often.

Where to begin? The work, planning, expense, inconvenience of travel with a large group were all definitely worth it. God is doing some amazing things in this age. He is drawing families to cry out for His clearly seen plan and purpose as revealed in His Word. He is giving family patriarchs a vision for family evangelism, expressed in everyday life and action in their communities. He always has His remnant, in every era, and He will accomplish His eternal plan.

One high point for us was when the grandchildren were asked to play on stage before an evening meeting (above). They did a good job and encouraged several other families who have been working on playing music together. This grandmother had a ball giving out copies of our “rough” CD to friends new and old.

I hope to post some specific impressions of the Jamestown 400th celebration over the next few days. It will be a highlight of our family’s memories for a long time. Thank you, Lord, for your providence to the faithful families of Jamestown -- 1607 and 2007. Thank you for your goodness and mercy to the Frodge family.

Whoa!

Finally, a moment to sit still and think! The last few days have been a swirl of activity (so what makes that any different from your life, right?) We are almost to 0 on the countdown for our trip to Jamestown. The Lord willing -- and the laundry gets done (see below), we leave tomorrow morning, or sometime.

I told Danny I got hornswoggled emotionally into helping sew costumes for grandchildren. Oh, what fun! But oh, what a time-eater! The last girls' costume I was helping with was finished this morning. The boys' are not finished. I will take my sewing machine, and we will have fun! Katie and I will be doing our creative, short-cut thing and gluing stuff together, where we can.

Then, the man supplying our new sound equipment for the Country Cousins called yesterday and said he was bringing it out last night. Well, we have waited a good while for it, but had given up hope for being able to do a CD for my elderly relatives in Charlotte NC. We have been promising a long time, but were just sure we would have to say "sorry" again, since everyone was exhausted and busy. But we decided to put in a good effort anyway, and last night we recorded 9 bluegrass/gospel pieces live. No mixing, no separate tracks, not much professionalism, not finished until about 2:00 a.m. but -- it sounds good! We're calling it "Country Cousins -- in the Rough". Since we don't have copyright clearances yet, we aren't producing enough to sell, but just a few to give away.

Then while we were in the middle of recording, the cows got into pump house area, stepped on PVC, and we were without water until late this evening. So, no laundry for packing and no dishes or showers! Well, thank God, it is fixed now.

Today, Danny, son-in-law Chris, grandboy CJ and I went to Kissimmee to pick up the RV we are renting for the trip. It is a large one (Class A I guess), but truckdriver Chris gave Danny thumbs up on his handling skills, so I am looking forward to a comfortable, though gas-guzzling, trip. With the Lord's help, we will be in Charlotte NC on Saturday evening to visit with my father's remaining brother and sisters. They love to see the children, so we hope to be a blessing to them.

Then -- on to Jamestown! We hope to arrive on Sunday afternoon and get settled before the excitement starts Monday. Beth's family especially wants to get rested up because their exciting adventure, hunting for 400 buried gold coins, starts Tuesday morning. This promises to be quite a memorable trip! I plan to take the laptop, so hopefully we can keep in touch. We ask your prayers for traveling mercies and a special family time.

Thank you, Lord, for golden opportunities to fellowship, bless others, and learn great things!

Sunrise, Sunset . . .

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older

When did they?

When did she get to be a beauty?

When did he get to be so tall?

Wasn't it yesterday

When they were small?

Sunrise, sunset

Sunrise, sunset

Swiftly flow the days

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers

Blossoming even as we gaze.

Oh, my. Sometimes Grandmothers wax sentimental. And we Harris women are the teariest, from my mother down. Right now, we are busy getting ready for our whole family trip to Jamestown VA for the 400th commemoration. This includes sewing period-appropriate costumes, especially for the girls. Almost-16 year old Gracie decided on a late federal era pattern (think Pride and Prejudice). I was privileged to be asked to help her with this project – quite a detailed one, fully lined, train and all. And the dress is pure white cotton.

As you can see, it is beautiful (not quite finished with the trim in these pictures). Gracie did most of the sewing, with Grandmother close by to help interpret the difference between “ease stitching” and “stay stitching”, “interfacing” and “lining”, etc. We got to the rewarding point of pinning the hem, so she stood on my piano bench and I pinned. Well, Granddaddy came downstairs right then, and ran back up to get his camera. As I watched him snap pictures, an eerie feeling came over me – “this looks all too much like a wedding gown!” Tears began to well, of course.

As we got back to sewing, Gracie inadvertently began whistling “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof. Of course, Grandmother plummets deeper and deeper into a sentimental retrospective reverie.

“Is this the little girl I carried?” Gracie was such a snuggly, lovie baby. She has the same glowing smile today.

“I don't remember growing older. When did they?” Time flew too fast when her mother was a child; now it seems to race at sonic speed. Time is not relative; its rate does not change. I must not be paying close enough attention. Come back, little Gracie.

“When did she get to be a beauty?” Grace is a true beauty, because her loveliness comes from within – the inner beauty of Jesus. And it expresses itself not only in her radiant face, but in her precious spirit, her love for the Lord and her family, and her humility.

“Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, blossoming even as we gaze.” This is the business we are about, the purpose for which God puts us into families. Bringing seedlings to full blossom. The process does take place even as we are watching, slowly and diligently the unfolding of a beautiful life bringing honor to Him.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to be a part of this divine miracle. Thank you, Lord, for faith becoming sight in this lifetime.

Life!

Today, just after daughter Katie and several of her younger children left our house, husband Danny went out to give the cows some hay, which has become necessary in this season of drought. Lo and behold! Latte’ has a new baby! Most of our cattle are registered Brangus (with chocolate names), but Latte’ is a Beefmaster/something mix, and she is white and brown, thus the name Latte’. She is a small cow, but the only one with full horns. She doesn’t know the power of those horns, because she sometimes lets the other cows . . . ummm . . . “cow” her when it comes to getting to the hay.

Anyway . . . here is her new baby, barely standing, fresh born, making its thin little “m-a-a-a-a.” Danny called me to bring out the camera and enjoy a moment of God’s miracle, which I truly did. To me, all birth and reproduction are a wonderful miracle, an amazing principle which few take the time to understand. Agriculture is the true and only source of increase there is in this world. Everything else is just rearranging of assets. The Biblical laws of sowing and reaping are a perfect articulation of this principle. One of the laws of sowing and reaping is “you reap more than you sow”. If you plant one corn seed, you will reap hundreds. One good brood cow will produce several babies to increase the herd.

This principle applies in all areas of life, whether to the negative or the positive. If you sow to the wind, you will reap the whirlwind – that sounds negative to me! I don’t need no whirlwinds in my life! Conversely, if you invest hours of time into your stubborn little two-year-old’s life, you will reap years of obedience and family peace and harmony. (BTW, how can that happen if we are farming that precious two-year-old out to a sub-contractor?)

We can even apply it to cultures or societies. If you have not read Mark Steyn’s book, “America Alone – The End of the World as We Know It”, you need to buy or borrow it and look at the plain (but extremely interesting) statistics. Europe is dying, because they refuse to sow. Muslims will be in control, because they understand sowing. America will not be far behind, unless we get our eyes opened. Thank God, many in our “circle” are willing to say, “we’re not trying to overpopulate the world, just to outnumber the idiots”.

So, the herd has increased. Bless you, little Latte’! Thank you, Lord, for Your immutable laws. We can depend on what You say to be true forever. Life!