Legacies: Part 3-"Still Juicy"

        Now for the final & REST of the story!  I’m not going to give a big review.  It would be very helpful if you would read Legacies: Part 1 & 2 to fully appreciate Part 3.  This is the continuation of my Legacy of Tithing based on Mal 3:8-12, bringing the whole  tithe into the storehouse (God’s church).  God says to test Him in doing this.  Again, I believe that due to Dave’s & my tithing throughout our lives & especially during the hardest times of our lives when we didn’t have any money, God has been very true to His promises & blessing.

        Well, I left off around December of Dave’s fourth year in medical school.  In Legacy Part 2:”Juicy Part”, I wrote about the miraculous provisions that God provided for us by (1) me becoming the resident manger in our students housing complex, (2) & the extraordinary Conference Week, ending with us finding out that we were NOT deferred as we wished in Dave’s coming up residency program.

When February rolled around Amy was over 3 1/2 yrs old, & Ben was about 20 mons old.  Dave had doubled up his course load & had finished up early.  The negative aspect in doing this was no more money came in from the Air Force.  Dave was still working odd jobs at the hospital.  Through-out these medical school years we babysat children for a weekend or up to 10 days while their parents were on vacation or gone to conferences.  This was great money for us!

Looking back on it, this babysitting again was only from the Lord, because I didn’t have a clue to what I was doing when I signed up for this.  I had Amy at the time, so I guess I thought I could keep another child during the day, off & on, not for continual days at a time.  All this happened because I was a member of the Medical Wives Club which was a support group for the wives of medical students.  This Club had many functions you could sign-up for, so I signed-up for babysitting.  When I got my first weekend babysitting call, I must say I was a little shocked.  Again, this turned out to be an awesome blessing because, one family with three young boys fell in love with us, & especially with Amy.  We gave them a lot of attention, & because of this, the parents called on us a lot.  When Ben came along, it became a little much, so reluctantly we had to give it up.

Back to February, Dave finally had a little time off.  This sweet family who we sat often for, offered us their house in Sugar Mt so we could go snow skiing.  I hadn’t snow skied much, so I definitely wasn’t good at it.  It was fun having Dave’s middle brother & wife go along on the trip with us.  We always had fun with them, & many belly laugh stories.  One in particular came out of this trip.  I’ll have to write about that another day.  

         

             Anyway, about a little over 24 hrs after being there, we got a call to let us know that Ben had fractured his leg.  My parents were keeping the children while we were on the ski trip.  Mother & Daddy always did special things with the children like playing one on one with them, going to the park, etc....   Daddy was playing with Ben by throwing Ben up in the air & catching him around Ben's ankles/legs.  Ben loved this game.  Anyway, this is how Ben got his fracture, & Daddy dreaded making that call to us.  We left Dave’s brother & wife, & turned all the way around to get the kids.  That leg cast looked about as big as Ben was-poor thing!  All of February became a most difficult month due to this situation.  Lesson: even though you tithe, life is not always easy.

May finally got here with graduation.  Hallelujah!!!  Graduation was a lot of fun, and full of different emotions, like: telling all our close friends good-bye, and packing for the big move to Biloxi, MS.  Many of us student families had our own furniture, and the apartments came fully furnished.  It all worked out to pick & choose from our furniture & the Married Housing furniture, & put either one in storage.  When it came time to leave, we went & got out all the furniture.  To our horrors, we found out that someone had gone through the storage unit, & stole furniture.  They picked and chose a little here & there from every one's furniture.  This way, they knew they would get away with it, because we would all have to come together for small claims court.  Naturally, none of us did, & they did get away with it.  I was sick that we lost our antique legal table that we use to use as a kitchen table.  They also stole some of the Married Housing furniture which went into our apartment.  The Married Housing Office was strongly requesting for us to pay for their missing furniture.  I didn't blame them, but we didn't have the money!  PTL, again it was a God thing, when all was said & done, we didn't have to reimburse them.

             Biloxi or Bust!!!

             We made it to Biloxi in fine shape.  I couldn't believe the house the military put us in!  Since Dave was a Captain, we got a very large three bedroom home.  I was in love.

             Now, since we didn't have a kitchen table & chairs, we were eating on a card table.  I began praying for three things that were desires of my heart during the last couple of months of medical school.  They were:

1. Kitchen table & chairs, also matching China cabinet.

2. Microwave oven

3. Piano

            I felt the kitchen table & chairs was a need, but they also could be put in the category of desires.  I just didn't know how the Lord would see this one.  Anyway, I had met a sweet friend quickly after our Biloxi move who had one little boy at the time.  A friend of theirs asked if they would like to buy a dining room table & chairs for $200, & a matching China cabinet for $200.  She said that they were not interested, but she might have a friend who could be interested!  Duh!!!  Since it was us, their friends would have charged much higher.  Well, God supplied us with a very nice diningroom table (not kitchen table), chairs, & matching china cabinet for $400.  Mother was so ready to get all our wedding China, etc... out of their attic, & so was I!  It was like Christmas all over again as I unwrapped our fine belongings, and put them into the China cabinet.  PRAYER DESIRE REQUEST 1-ANSWERED

          As soon as we walked into the Biloxi house, PRAYER DESIRE REQUEST 2  was answered yes.  There was a microwave built into the kitchen.  Y'all might think that this is a no brainier, but microwaves were not super common in every home back then.  The first time I had ever heard of a microwave oven was when my Mother-in-law was all excited & brought one for their home.

          Finally, how God answered yes concerning PRAYER DESIRE REQUEST 3, about seven months down the road after moving in, Dave's Grandmother sent us some money out of the blue.  After tithing, Dave wanted me to use some of the money to buy a good used piano.  We were blown away, on how God had used his Grandmother to meet some of our needs & my desire.

Notice all these desires were answered in about seven months!!!

Pass it on!

           Through our testimony of tithing, God gave us the privilege to share with our new best friends in Biloxi, who I mentioned in DESIRE PRAYER REQUEST 1.  They were not tithing at the time.  After seeing how God met our needs & desires, through the passage Mal. 3:8-12, they began to tithe.  PTL!!

            I love this verse, because it has a condition and a promise.  
And, God is true to His promises.

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, 

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

What legacies are you passing on?

ann :)

Legacies: Part 2-"Juicy Part"

Here is a quick review from my last blog entry-Legacies: Part 1 

I shared how I have been blessed with three legacies: 

1. Legacy of the faithfulness in marriage based on how God Almighty created marriage. (Gen. 2:24)
2. Legacy of corporate Sabbath/Sunday worship & rest.
3. Legacy of tithing based on Malachi 3:8-12.

I want to continue with the legacy of tithing.  Since my story is based on the verses in Malachi, I am going to restate this passage.

Malachi 3:8-12(NIV) 

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you (God’s people) rob Me.  “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing You?’  “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing Me. 10 (Command) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, (WHY-Provision) that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, (WHY-Blessing)“and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

Still reviewing, I stated that these core beliefs of tithing were ingrained by the Lord through my parents when I was a small child after being caught steeling from God by not giving my 5 cents tithe.  Yes, your read that correctly.

If you are new to reading my blog, it might be important for you to understand that I married my high school sweet heart.  We were only 19 (Dave) & 20 yr old.  We were married after Dave’s second year of college.  Before we knew it, I was pregnant with our first child.  In fact she came the day Dave graduated from college.  Praise the Lord (PTL) that Dave chose not to go through the graduation ceremony.  We were babies having babies.   

We had Amy the Summer before Dave began medical school.  PTL Dave went through medical school on a military scholarship.  I hate to call this a scholarship, because it wasn’t free.  Dave did pay a heavy price by giving his time for all those years, & it did change the course of our life.  One of the greatest benefits of going this route was so I could be at home taking care of Amy.  Then, less than two years later, we had Ben.  I must admit, I was scarred to look at the man for getting pregnant again. 

Now for the “juicy” part!!!  Sometimes, in looking at the beautiful Spring flowers or the colorful dancing Fall leaves, you can see GOD is just showing off.  In Legacies: Part 2 & 3, I hope you will see how GOD just showed off during one of the hardest seasons of our lives.  I firmly believe it was connected to our tithing.  We tithed no matter what.  

At the end of medical school, close friends gave monetary gifts to Dave as a graduation present.  I really admired Dave because he chose to tithe these gifts instead of just doing something fun with them.  If anyone deserved to just have some blow-off fun, it was him after working so hard in school, & working extra jobs to support us.  

I have never consciously thought about testing God in this command.  Tithing is something I did in loving Him.  Tithing doesn’t mean when you tithe, God will automatically bless you with wealth.  He does say that He will meet our needs, and bestow hidden blessings beyond our thinking.  

Hopefully, you will see through my examples in this blog & the next blog how God blessed us in the midst of hard-times as we tithed through-out these years.

1. Over half-way through Dave’s medical school we had two babies, and money was very tight.  We were living at the medical school’s married housing apartments.  It was perfect for us.   Dave could walk to school so I could have our one car when needed.  Many who lived there had children.  It was really great to just walk outside our front door, & friends of all ages were all around.  We did have a resident manger who lived on the property, but no one knew them.  They were an older couple that had nothing in common with the medical or dental students.

One day Dave walked in our door with a bright idea.  Out of the blue, he thought why don't I be the resident manger!!  Yes, ME!  After the shock, I thought, why not.  Dave went to the residence office the following day.  Would you believe, the day that Dave had the idea, the resident manger had just put in their notice.  On top of this, the staff were thinking about making one of the student residents the manger of the apartments.  If you think that this was all orchestrated by chance, well think again.  Because of this blessing, we didn’t have to pay for our housing & had very little utility bills.  God is good and very faithful to His promises!!!

2. During the last two years of medical school, all the students begin thinking about their special fields of residence they would like to go into.  Dave was very interested in surgery at that time.  Because of this, the surgery department asked one student to go to a National Surgical Conference, all expenses paid, in Atlanta, GA.  It  was held in early December.  Dave wanted me to go with him to the conference.  I definitely wanted to, but we didn’t have any extra money to pay for my expenses, since he was free.  Did that stop us?  No!  I don’t even remember who kept the kids.

It was one of those LORD SHOW-OFF WEEKS.  I saw clearly His hand on every aspect of each day:

a. The conference began with heavy hors d’oeuvres the first evening.  That was our dinner :)  FREE!!! :) 

b. The second day, Dave went & did his thing with the conference.  I made my way over to a near by building where I could buy meals, etc…  Well, I got my favorite meal at the time-coffee.  I can usually occupy myself very well.  I did so by doing my Bible Study, & I took along the booklets that had events listed for the spouses & their families.  Since I had all the time in the world, enjoying my coffee, I began playing a game.  First, I asked myself, “If I had all the money in the world, what would I do in this book?”  After that, I went to, “If I had some money, what would I do?”  Finally, my third category was, “If I could do two events, what would I do?”  I had a great time, but best yet, it took up most of my morning.  In fact, it was about lunch time, & I was tired of the game.  So I got up to leave.  What I didn’t know during all this time a dear, sweet, older, Christian lady had been watching me plan.  As I was leaving, she asked me, “What are you planning to do this week?”  All I could do was laugh!  I ‘fessed-up & told her I was just playing around and wasn’t going to do any of it.  Well, to make an already long story short, she & her husband took Dave & I under their wings.  They bought lunch for me that day & paid for two events that I did with her.  At these events I met other older, Christian couples who took us under their wings, & who took an interest in us.

Again, coincidence!?  I think not!!  The odds of me going to the same place where I met this lady, at the same time-interesting.  These people were generous, but there was something very different from within them as they gave.  Also, because of them, we met others who took a great & invested interest in us.   Interesting, interesting….

The second couple we met through the first couple, paid for us to attend a dinner theater.  The meal was delicious.  The play consisted of a one man act who played out the entire book of Matthew in the Bible.  I have never seen this before, & I haven’t since.  It was really incredible!  This couple also paid for other meals. 

A third physician we met took us to a famous restaurant in Atlanta called Pitty Pat’s Porch.  Delicious & so much fun! 

If that was not enough, to top off these blessings, The first couple took me Christmas shopping for our children who were toddlers at the time.  The Lord provided again before we even asked.  It was a real testimony to us all week long to see the joy this couple & these others had in giving to us.  Again, this was not just human generosity & joy, but it was supernatural that came from the Father above through them.

As a side note, like I said, we were wondering where Christmas was coming from that year.  Besides the Lord providing through these strangers, the Lord provided through our parents.  We didn’t have a clue, & I truly believe our parents had not talked to each other about our Christmas.  One set of parents provided tons of toys for the children, & the other set provided all their clothes.  Thank you LORD!!!   

I must say I was floating pretty high with all these things happening.  By sides having a chance to sleep late that week, enjoying my hotel free coffee all by myself, & no interruptions while doing my Bible Study.  That in itself was a great week!  I had been reading Hebrews throughout this week.  When I got to Heb. 11-the faith chapter, I was soaring, until I hit vs 35b-38.  Here I read some saints were tortured, mocked, scourged, chained, & imprisoned.  Some were stoned, wandered destitute, & not found worthy of the world because of their faith in God.  These verses burst my bubble a little.  But in vs. 39, I received some encouragement, and all these, having a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise (at that time),  vs 40, God having provided something better for them (in the future)….  

Also at the end of that week, Dave came in & told me some unexpected news.  He (we) were NOT deferred by the Air Force.  They had pulled us for their residence program in surgery, & we were going to Biloxi, MS.  Nothing against MS, but we had fallen in love with Savannah, GA.  We had planned to go there.  Dave was devastated!  The supportive wife that I was and am, I said, “Well, praise the LORD!”  I was too high, & it went right under me.  See, we had put out a fleece before the Lord with all this residence “stuff.”  Dave had to send references to the Air Force residence program in Biloxi.  He didn’t have to send all the references he had.  Five of the references were glowing!  We really did pray about these five, if we should send them or not.  We finally did, knowing God is & was sovereign.  We knew that if we were meant to go to Savannah or Biloxi, these references didn’t matter.  

Dave called the Air Force several times to make sure we received the correct information.  It must have been a mistake!!!  After the Air Force personnel looked into our records, they couldn’t understand either why were not deferred.  Then they came back and said, “Oh, it is because of these awesome five references!!!”  What can you say!

Is this all a coincidence?!  Interesting!

to be continue….

ann :)

Legacies-Part 1

      I am one of the few blessed who have had parents that were married over 60 yrs, & took me to church all through my up-bringing.  I was raised with “good ole” fashion values, which I am so grateful.  I know that this is very rare these days in the midst of our world today which has lost foundational truths of how God created family: uniting of one man & one woman found in Genesis 2:24(NIV)-That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

     I was very blessed by having a Christian extended family, a Christian family & Christian friends who guided me along a straight path.  In fact, my Paternal Grandparents were married over 60 yrs, & my Maternal Grandparents were married over 50 yrs.  I'm so blessed with the legacy of faithfulness in marriage.  I am seeing this legacy passed down not only in my marriage, but my children’s marriages as well.  Thank you, Lord!

   

     I never really gave my parents any trouble.  Yes, I was the very strong-willed child in my family but, I never went down any roads of alcohol or drugs.  Back in those days, the late 50s & 60s, we didn't go to the grocery store, or any store for that matter on Sundays. We didn't even go to movies or play cards on Sunday.  Sunday in my family was a day of worship, family & rest.

     When I got up Sunday morning, Mother was already in the kitchen making an extra special lunch that usually consisted of roast beef & gravy, a starchy vegetable, a couple of regular vegetables, with homemake biscuits & GA cane syrup, & don’t forget the lime jello salad!  And top it all off with some type of homemade desserts.  YUM!!  We would wear our best Sunday “duds”, on the way to church many times we would pick-up someone who needed a ride, then after church, come home to that awesome lunch.  Our special dishwasher was me!, most of the time.  Well, to me, it seemed that way.  We would then go to our special napping places which never changed!  Mother was in bed reading the newspaper/napping; while in the family room the TV had the ballgame on: my brother was lying on the couch, Daddy laying on the floor with his feet prompted up on the couch, & me curled up in a wooden rocker.  I don’t know how I slept there, but I did.  I loved to rock, & I still do.  After naps, back to church for worship again.  

I’m so grateful for the legacy of corporate Sabbath/Sunday worship & rest.  To this day, my Sundays are about the same.  I do go to stores, from time to time; but mainly Sunday is still worshipping the LORD in corporate worship, family coming together to reconnect, & rest.  My weeks still go much better when I can get my Sunday nap.  

A little side note: 

     I remember when my kids were babies, & Dave was gone to work on Sundays.  I desperately needed my Sunday nap more than ever.  I would make Amy, who never needed any sleep, go read books in her room.  Ben was an infant at the time.  I would make a palette on the floor for he & I.  I would put him between the furniture & me to help reign him in.  By God’s grace, I would sleep off & on.  You know how Mothers do, with one eye open & one eye closed.  It worked for that season in my life. 

     Also, Saturdays were important in my family.  Most of the time this day was used to get extra chores & errand accomplished.  In later years we would go to the fishing lake where my parents owned a piece of property on the lake.  Me & my friends had a great time swimming, while my Daddy, brother & friends fished.  Through the years, Mother fried up a mess of brim & bass from that lake.  

     Saturday evening was basically the same.  After bath & hair washing, I would stand in front of Mother’s dresser as she pinned curled my hair.  My hair sure did look pretty on Sunday mornings, but to this day, I don’t know how I slept in those things.  

Either Saturday night or Sunday morning Daddy would call me into their bedroom & give me my allowance.  I really don’t remember what I got, maybe a quarter or fifty cents.  That was rich in those days.  One thing I knew I had to do with the money was tithe a portion to the church.  For some reason, my allowance was broken down into nickels & dimes; because, I remember taking a nickel to church, & would put it into the offering plate in Sunday School.

     One Sunday I truly forgot to put in my tithe in the offering plate.  Well, this planted the idea in my head, “Why don’t I stop tithing & just keep it for myself.  No one will know, & look how much money I could save for something else.”  I was definitely old enough to know better.  What I didn’t know, was what the Bible says is true, “your sins will find you out. “  I’m not sure where that is located, but it came true in my young life.  It must be there, SOMEWHERE!

One Sunday morning Daddy called me into their bedroom to give me my allowance.  Daddy was 6’2”, which was pretty tall to a little girl.  He always stood beside his very big chest of drawers when he gave me my allowance.   That Sunday morning Daddy asked me had I been putting my tithe in the offering plate.  I didn’t think twice & said, “YES.”  Yep, I lied!  What I didn’t know was that the church kept a record of my tithe.  When the statement came in the mail, there was nothing down by my name.  I definitely had been found out.

I don’t remember what Daddy said.  All Daddy had to do was give me a certain look many times to correct me.  This was one of those times.  Daddy gave me mercy & showed me grace.  He didn’t spank me-that time, but he did take away my allowance away for a couple of weeks.

One of the most valuable lessons that I learned at that moment was to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (church).  This simple but powerful lesson made a lifestyle imprint on my soul.  My heavenly Father says, (not Daddy says) in Malachi 3:8-12(NIV) 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you (God’s people) rob Me.  “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing You?’  “In tithes and offerings. 9 You (God’s people) are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing Me. 10 (Command) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, (WHY-blessing) that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, (Blessing)“and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

Interesting:

1. God mentions three times of His people robbing Him.  He also mentions how they robbed Him-with tithes & offerings. 

2. This is the only place in the Bible that God tells His people to test Him.  Bottom Line: He wanted to show them that He was trustworthy to take care of them, & He wanted to bless them like a good, good Father would do.  

This is still true for today.

I’m so glad that the legacy of tithing took root when I was a small child.  

In my next blog-Legacies: Part 2, I will be sharing how God has been faithful to this promise He made to me in Malachi 3:8-12.

As always, thanks for reading and letting me share my life’s journey with you.

ann :)

Going Down Memory Lane-Part 3: English Class

To be continued for the FINAL time...
           (Be prepared for a lot of pictures.  I love my pictures).

     On with the final memories...

    Hopefully, when a new school year begins, you would experience a fun excitement.  Most of my life, the beginning of school was not much fun.  My excitement was a more nervous excitement. Who was my teacher?  Who was in my class?  I hope I had some fun people in my class, some close friends, etc.... 

     As a quick review from Part 1 and 2-"Going Down Memory Lane," I shared how God had blessed me in so many ways: I was in my Senior year, Captain of the Football Cheerleaders, loved my church and all my choir activities, loved my girl friends, & loved dating Dave Register.  Now, loving to learn and study was like me riding on a galloping race horse, then pulling back the reigns resulting in an immediate halt!!  This was not my comfort zone.  This was not fun.  School was just a medium so I could be apart of all this other.

     Thinking back to kindergarten & reviewing by report card, yes I still have all of them; I do see a pattern.  I had Mrs Emma Stevens.  We all called her Mrs. Emma & I loved her to death.  She was so creative & told the best stories.  In reviewing my report card, my marks for outside activities were basically on the high side of things.  But, when it came to my attitude of sharing, care for the playground & respects the rights of others--there was room for improvement!  Let's dive into the marks for inside activities.  I did great with all music.  But, I definitely needed improvement when it came to listening in the circle.  Her commits were: "Her talking keeps her from paying best attention."  Well, that truly has summed me up dealing with most of my educational experience.

    The following grades up until my Senior year were A's, B's, with many C's when it came to reading, spelling & English.  That is why you see many errors in my writing ability & why I laugh at myself in even writing a blog.  Oh well, I keep trying.
     This brings me back to my Senior year.  For the first time in my life I was excited about school.  Mainly due to the extra activities, but I was actually excited about learning.  I had the perfect schedule that year.  It took care of all my desires & wishes, I loved who was in my class, & I loved my teachers.  UNTIL!!!  There always seems to be a little fly in the anointment when things are going great, don't they.
     Dave carried my books as he walked me to most of my classes.  How sweet is that! :)  When our year began, all of a sudden Dave realized that we were in the same English class.  Of course, this didn't bother me.  But, it sure did bother him, BIG TIME!  His perfect schedule  accommodated his playing football & working at Pantry Pride Grocery Story.  All of a sudden he wanted me to change my perfect schedule to accommodate his wishes so we would not be in the same class.  Well, I wasn't even going to go there.
    I don't know if you caught it in the previous blogs that I wrote about Dave being smart.  He had been taking all honor classes throughout high school until, this English class.  Because of football & work he got put down a level, & that is how he got into my class.  He thought I would be a great distraction in the classroom.  Sorry, that was just not my problem.  I wasn't about to change anything.  So, to help him concentrate, Dave, not the teachers, put us on the same row!  I had to sit at the front of the row, & he sat on the last seat of the row.  This way he could keep an eye on me so I WOULDN'T TALK.  If I began in any extra conversation with Elaine who sat next to me, he would snap his fingers, or motion to me to get back in line.  What is too funny, it actually worked!
     I won't ever forget the day that Elaine was talking about something " juicy", & it was killing me not to be apart.  So, I would lean myself halfway into the aisle, & my ear got bigger & bigger.  I wasn't about to turn my head to see if he was looking.  I could already feel his eyes boring a hole through my head, but I wasn't about to miss the "juicy story."
     I didn't have many goals in life, but one goal that I desired deeply was to beat Dave Register at least once on one of our test scores.  It finally happened, only one time.  I beat him by one point.
     Another fun fact concerning our English class was we were married by one of our English teachers, Mr. Walter Salter.  Our regular church pastor had a previous engagement, & since our teacher was also a pastor, we asked him.  Too funny!
     Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without Dave Register in school that year.  When we "love birds" would study together at his house--WE STUDIED!!  He was not about to allow me to mess him up.  Because of this, he taught me how to study, & he actually was my tutor.  Many times we would ride to school together.  He would call out our spelling words in preparation for the test.  I would have never passed English if it had not been for him teaching me how to write a term paper.  This foundation has carried me through the rest of my life.  The Lord blessed me: beginning with the help I needed in kindergarten, giving me Dave to teach me how to study, to being Valedictorian in Dental Hygiene School.  Amazing!!!  Who would have guessed!  God is good!
    
    Before I close, I want to take this opportunity to love on my 1973 Graduating Class.  I am so grateful to the ones who work so hard to bring us together for our 10th, 20th, 30th, & 40th Reunion.  It has been the same ones every time.  I thank you for your dedication, & love for our class.  Many thanks go out to Beth, Sandra, & Elaine (who has now passed away).  There are many on the committee, so I'm going to quit while I'm hopefully ahead.  I'm so grateful that the some of the women in the Class of 1973 get together at least once or more a year for lunch.  This has meant a great deal to me.

     To the Class of 1973, thank you for enriching my life and for the memories that we have created together.  Go Wildcats & the Black & Gold!!!

                                                 MUCH LOVE!!

ann :)
                                              THE END

 

Going Down Memory Lane-Part 2: Cheerleading

To be Continued....

     Well, on with the memories....

      I can't say it enough, how much fun I had during my high school years!!!  Since cheerleading was one of my major events in my life, I have to write more concerning it.  But first, I am going to try to explain a little bit more about the lay out of the high school.
     Back then, boy do I feel old when I say that!  Anyway, back then, the school was right next to the football stadium.  The school and stadium were located right behind a Shopping Plaza that contained some of Valdosta's greatest stores.  You know the ones like: Sears, Pantry Pride grocery store, Woolworth's, Barnes Pharmacy with a special soda fountain, plus some other great unique shops.  There was a wide walkway through the Plaza that connected the school/stadium and the Plaza parking lot.  This complex was a major part of our high school's life in every shape & form.

     Totally off the subject, but while I'm thinking about it, this story will be great for the Grands to read one day.  Dave, their Grandpa, was not only a football player, smart, & good-looking, he was a hard worker.  During his spare time, he worked at Pantry Pride bagging groceries.  He really did work hard to pay for our dates, and saving for whatever he saved for at the time.  We had been going out for a while, when all of a sudden it hit my Daddy that our dates were probably expensive for Dave.  So, to help Dave out with our expenses, Daddy gave Dave a five dollar bill!!!  To make matters worse, this was the only time Daddy helped out.  All we could do was laugh & roll our eyes-after we left him of course.  I think Daddy was in a time-warp.  Five dollars did not even pay for us to go to the movies or out-to-eat!  

     Back to the story at hand.  As I wrote in "Going Down Memory Lane-Part 1:The Beginning," I referred to the building of the high school as the Old High School.  My 1973 graduating class was the last class to use this building as a high school.  Afterwards, the city used some of the building for city offices & tore down the gymnasium a few years later. :(  I find it interesting that the new city school is located just inside the city limits, & is built with open rooms-the class rooms don't have a full wall to separate each classroom.  I would have never made it there.  I'm too much of a talker, & I don't want to miss a thing-especially if there is something fun going on around me.  But, our children attended school in this new facility :-/  and they did great!!!
     My class was called "The First, & the Last."  We were the first class to have all ninth graders in Valdosta to attend school downtown, due to integration; and the last class to attend the Old High School.
     The Football Cheerleaders were in charge of many of the VHS traditions during the Football Season. Some of my favorite traditions were: the School & City-wide Pep Rallies, and all the festivities of Homecoming Week.  Homecoming Week was so much fun.
-Everyday during the week, we had a different theme: one day we wore our Wildcat black & gold colors; another day we wore red in honor of Miss Flame-who was picked by the football players; and Friday, we dressed accordingly to our Homecoming theme-our year was the "Roaring 20's."
-Thursday night was the City-Wide Pep Rally.  This was held at he Shopping Plaza Parking Lot.  Our platform was a base of a trailer.  This definitely served our purpose, only if we could maneuver our jumps between the holes in the platform.  The Marching Cats, our band, was always there playing all our greatest hits and fight song.  They were awesome by the way!  Then the team would parade from the stadium, through the Plaza until they took front and center of the Pep-Rally.  All this excitement was broad cast through the Valdosta radio station, WVLD!  Then came the bonfire.  There was nothing like caring a flaming torch through the crowd to light the bonfire.  Gratefully, I only set the bonfire on fire.
-Friday: the school had a Pep-Rally, and the city came out for the school parade.  Guess who lead the parade?  Yep, the cheerleaders!  Then, the big game!  Oh yeah, I don't want to forget wearing those huge yellow mums with long ribbons hanging down.
     Another thing I loved was at every game the cheerleaders lead the Wildcats onto the field, properly named-Death Valley, with the Marching Cats playing the fight song.  What a thrill!!!
-Saturday: Was the big Homecoming Dance!
     Changing the subject a little, I love Christmas, especially when I was a child as most children do.  I loved every decoration.  My Mother had a special way of decorating our home for the Christmas Season in such a meaningful way, along with our church, and even downtown Valdosta.  The decorations downtown did not just hang along the sides, but the decorations hung from one side of the road to the other side.  The college at that time was called Valdosta State College, had these over life-size camels that just glowed.    
     One thing I dreamed of when I was a child was to be in the middle of the street of downtown Valdosta taking in all the lights.  This wish came true in two ways: 1) Valdosta always had a Christmas parade.  When I was about five years old, I got to ride on a float wearing my church choir robe.  I was in heaven.  2) The other way my dream was fulfilled was when I was a FOOTBALL CHEERLEADER.  I bet you were wandering how I was going to bring all this together.  Every other year the city and county school cheerleaders would swap off leading the parade.  Yes, it was our turn to lead the way.  I must admit, I just took it all in with pom poms in hand, & the Marching Cats were rights behind.  As you might can guess, it doesn't take too much to thrill me, sometimes!  I took in all the music, every glowing face, Christmas sounds, and all the beautiful lights.  I felt so blessed!

To Be Continued Only One More Time!!!--I PROMISE!

ann:)

Going Down Memory Lane-Part 1: The Very Beginning

     I have been blessed to have been married to the same wonderful man for over 41 yrs.  Where does the time go?!  Well, these next couple of blogs are going to be strolling down memory lane.  I hope you will enjoy walking along with me.

     In 1972, I remember the first day of school, standing outside the Old Valdosta High School waiting for the bell to ring thinking, "I'm 17 yr old, & it's finally my Senior Year.  I have arrived!  Before I know it,  this year will be over & I'll be going to my 10th year High School Reunion.  I wonder where I'll be?"  After the bell rang, I went on my merry way, struting down those old halls having a feeling of great pride!!  Yes, I was a big Senior, & the Captian of the Football Cheerleaders.  I loved my church and all the choir activities that I had the priviledge of being apart.  The Lord had blessed me with wonderful, great girl friends, and I was thrilled to be dating Dave Register.  He was not only good looking, & smart, but also one of the Captains of the Football Team.
      I'm going to back-up the train a little bit.  Valdosta had & still has two high schools: 1) the city school & 2) the county school.  I went to the city school which had a long rich traditional heritage of football.  If you went to Valdosta High School, no matter who you were, you were proud to be a Valdosta WILDCAT, and proudly wore the BLACK & GOLD colors!!!  Yes, all the sports were important to the school, but I have to admit that the football team, football cheerleaders & band ruled the school-or so they thought!
     As I have already mentioned, the Football Wildcats had a rich history which included wins.  I wish I had all the dates of these wins, but I don't.  I can say that Dave's Dad was the first team under Wright Bazemore & Dave's Sophomore year (1970-1971) was the last.  During those years, there were too many State and National Championships too count.  After Coach Bazemore retired, the second Coach lost one game the first year, I think.  Two games were lost the second year.  In Valdosta, GA three losses were too many, & he was gone.  Then came Coach Hyder.  Again, I don't remember how long he was Coach, but he was always called the "New Coach."  Dave's second brother was apart of the first team under Coach Hyder (1973-1974?), while our son was the last under the "New Coach Hyder (1997-1998)."  As you can see, Valdosta definitely has had longevity with their Coaches.
     I won't ever forget the thrill during my Sophomore year going to my very first Wildcat Pep Rally in the very old gymnasium.  Again, I thought I had arrived!  I dreamed of being a Wildcat Cheerleader ever since I was a small child.  This dream was about to come true during my Junior year by becoming the Co-Captain Basketball Cheerleader.  Oh, those were fun times & I loved every minute.
     During my Junior year, at the end of football season, (remember our football season was lengthy due to all the Championship games), I began dating Dave Register.  Our first date was a double date.  Dave is nine months younger than I am, & he didn't have his drivers license yet.  Remember, I told you he was smart.  He did first through third grade in two years.  That is how he became a part of my class.  He was not in any of my classes, because his classes were honor classes & mine were not.  I was doing good to get a few A's and mainly B's.
     Back to the first date.  The beginning of our date, Dave had asked me to walk him off of the field.  Again, what a thrill to be apart of all the girls & girlfriends to walk off the players.  I went down to the field with my close friend who we were double dating with.  She was experienced in what to do, so I followed her lead.  Well, the time came.  The game was over and we were allowed to run onto the field to find who we were to walk off.  I had worked hard during the entire game to remember Dave's number & tried to learn what his position did.  So, here I went.  I saw him & I was going as hard as I could to catch-up with him.  I really couldn't see his number on his jersey real well, but I could see his "toe-blonde" hair anywhere.  All of a sudden, I was in the middle of the field, & no Dave.  As I nervously looked around, there he was behind me laughing his head off.  I had been chasing the wrong player all this time.  Oh well!  Now, the huge question was how was I suppose to respond to him when I got to him?  I was new at this dating game.  Even though it was our first date, I did give him a big hug around his dirty, sweaty uniform, telling him how great he did!  Afterwards, we went out for pizza & then MacKey Park.  We went for a walk, but the couple we were with officially started going "steady."
     to be continued...

 ann :)