Christianity Oasis Forum

[saint701]

Hello Christianity Oasis, All...

Blessings!

The greatest time of my life began when I was 3 years old. It was then that my heart and mind became awake to the great love that my grandfather had for me. Grandad was a cattle and hog farmer. He made his living selling milk to the nearby dairy. He never knew that by today's standards he was extremely poor. He couldn't afford a car, electricity, or other luxuries we take for granted today, but his farm was paid for with years of hard labor....leaving him with plenty of money to supplement his farm life with supplies from the MFA, (Missouri Farm Association), located in the town 5 miles from his house. There he purchased feed for his cattle and corn out of which he created slop to slop the hogs with... of course he also bought staples such as white bread he called light bread, sugar, flower, molasses, corn syrup, cocoa, and oil for the numerous lamps. Grandma churned out the butter which was out of this world with flavor.

But grandpa was more than rich in my estimation through those things located on his farm...4 ponds filled with perch and catfish, a stand of timber large enough to yield plenty of wood for winter and wood for grandma's wood stove, as well as a habitat for squirrels that my grandma fried to perfection. Of course there was more than enough pasture good for grazing and it was also a habitat for rabbits which grandma also fried to perfection.

Besides being one of the greatest wood stove cooks, grandma also raised chickens...had a bunch of them she dutifully fed daily by using her hands to scatter corn in the barnyard.

As mentioned my memory of them began one morning as I woke resting on my grandpa's arm..snug as a bug in a rug as they say...grandma already had the wood stove fired up and was busy mixing up ingredients for the greatest biscuits on earth...if ever there was a dream breakfast grandma made it. I still remember the mouth watering richness each breakfast component contained...it was a royal treat to get out of bed for that feast!

We had fatback bacon fried to perfection...the same with runny eggs we mixed with crumbled biscuits, butter and corn syrup all while sipping hot cocoa...after breakfast we were off to the old cow shed...on the way we could hear the cow bell ringing...soon all cattle were in the shed feasting on grain...grandma gave me a small stool to sit on and helped me take my place underneath a cow...she showed me how to pull on the cow's udders and much to my delight out came squirts of milk.

Some 3 years passed...with each year my love bond with my grandpa grew...my parents frequently left me with him as they took care of other business...we were inseparable...I would sit next to him on the couch frequently asking him to show me his giant biceps...he would scrape a Granny Smith apple with his razor sharp pocket knife and I was constantly wowed by the sweet juicy flavor resting on my tongue...he took me hunting and fishing and all over the farm where he pounded posts and mended fences...what a great life it was...no stress or strife...all full of love.

Of course the greater love our Heavenly Dad has for us abides in us through Christ imparted to us through the Holy Spirit who resides in us...despite what we think or feel we should ever be mindful of the fact nothing can ever separate us from that love,and that love is God, the origin, pure and perfect essence of all that is love or ever will be love...we should ever be mindful of how intimately we are connected to the love of God in Christ Jesus.

John 17 Verses 22-26

[22] And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

[23] I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
[24] Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
[25] O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
[26] And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.


Blessings!
Love, in Christ Jesus, Saint701.