MY MINISTER

                                                    MY MINISTER


Our Church started looking after its members recently and they chose to call it ministering. Is was nothing new in my case, as unknown people and some who were not unknown have been watching over me for several years, ever since my wife passed away.

I know there must be several people involved because I am pretty sure the ones who cook the delicious food are surely not the same ones who get up and shovel  two feet of snow off of my
driveway after a big storm!

I do not know why they want to keep it a secret, but I have caught them a couple of times. And when someone knocks on my door and hands me a (still hot or warm) pie or casserole, even I can figure it out.

Like I said these good Brothers and Sisters have been Ministering a lot longer than the Church has been calling it Ministering.

One of these people who is surely a minister was at my house some few weeks ago supposedly to see how I was doing. As he was leaving he commented on the large dead tree in my front yard, and asked what I was going to do with? I told him I was just going to cut it down and take it to the dump when I got around to it.

The next day I went to visit my sister and when I came back home, much to my surprise I thought a miracle had happened. The tree was gone---- not even a stick was left--- I could only surmise that my ministers had come to visit me.

I am sure he had some help at times, but as I said he is my Minister in time of need. With one single phone call he shows up to calm my nervous disposition. He never preaches but always calms me.

As I said earlier, he has been my minister LONG BEFORE the name became official. THANKS !!!!

Wallace R. Baldwin
 27 June 2019

COUSINS COME IN ALL SHAPES

                                    COUSINS COME IN ALL SHAPES PLACES & AGES

ETERNAL FAMILIES

ETERNAL FAMILIES       W.R. Baldwin 25 Oct 1998

Where did my Eternal Family go?

Did they stray away as they started to grow?

ETERNAL FAMILIES       W.R. Baldwin 25 Oct 1998 Did I teach them the things, to keep on the path?

Or did I try to teach, when in a state of wrath?

They learned to love from their Mother dear.

The taught them with love, never with fear.

Her love was unconditional all of her life.

Perhaps in her youth, she had her share of strife.

But her children, she thought, I will raise with love.

Then I can have them forever in Heaven above.

But she forgot the Lord’s plan of Free Agency.

They can choose yes. Or no, to come back to me

To live in the Lord’s Heaven as a family,

Or to the Terrestrial Kingdom, go separately.

Their choice is not ours, but theirs to make,

No matter what covenants on earth WE do make.

We teach, we pray and an example we live.

We hope it is good, the example we give.

Especially the Mother, with unconditional love

That she got from our Father in Heaven above.

Will our earthly family, which we raised from birth

Be with us, when we leave this old earth?

Will we be worthy to have them forever?

Will we be Celestial, and there will we gather?

I hope and I strive, and try to do right.

I pray by my bed both morning and night,

That each of my children and especially my wife

Will all live Celestial, in our after Earth life?

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MINISTERING

 
             A DAY IN THE LIVE OF MINISTERING

   I was sitting at my desk a couple of days ago, just thinking of the old times (actually very  old) and "what a difference a day makes", which was the title of a song that was sung then by Dinah Washington.
   Then that made me think of another song that was popular in my day  It was "Have you done any good in the world today?" Which is an old favorite song of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints.
   I am not sure if I will ever get this blog all tied together. but I will try and hopefully it will end up being about Ministering?
   First I need to clarify that these are Real things( Memories) of things that really happened.
   1. A lady I know has a house cleaning service. One day when she had finished she left in a hurry and the home owner left right behind her to run to the bank.He was only gone a few minutes and then returned home. As he drove into his driveway he saw a :wad: of green paper in the drive way. It was $40.00 and of course he knew where it came from. It would have been so easy just to put it in his pocket. However he did not, he called her and told her he had it and she could come and pick it up when ever she wanted to.      
(Was he just being honest or was he ministering?)
   2.An elderly man was walking in the park and as he came to a large tree, he noticed a small boy laying on the lawn crying. He stopped and ask the boy what was wrong and could he help him?
The boy pointed up in the tree and there was a soccer  ball stuck in between the branches. The boy(still crying) told the man he would be in "big" trouble when his Mom came to get him. The old gentleman told him to wait there for a few minutes while he went up to his car. The boy waited, the man went up to his car and returned with a golf ball retriever that he always carried in his trunk. The man extended the retriever, gave the soccer ball one good   "WHACK" and out came the ball. The boy was thrilled, the Mom  (who was running up the hill) to see what was going on, was happy and the older man was happy. Now was the man just helping out a young boy, Was he just wanting some social activity or was he Ministering before that word become popular?
   3.An elderly Man and Lady had finished and were trying to get out of the restaurant but were having a hard time with their canes, walkers and trying to old the door open. A young man was standing a short way up the sidewalk ran down to them and ask if he could help them? the older lady said, my yes, you sure can. He helped them and the lady dug through her purse and gave him a $1.00 bill. The young man told her thank you very much mam. Then he put his hand up to his mouth, like he was whispering and said, "Mam I got a little brother in our van". The Lady said of course please give him this, and handed him another $1.00 bill.( it is great to have a BIG BROTHER sometimes)
   4.A traveling Salesman came upon a car parked on the side of the road with four distraught ladies standing by it. He decided he better stop and see if he could help. As soon as he stopped the car he knew he could help. They were all dressed in their (Sunday go to Meeting clothes,) They had a flat tire on the front drivers side and were trying to put a "jack" under the rear  passenger side. 
   It took about two seconds for him to convince them to let him change the tire. It took him 15 or 20 minutes to change the tire, all the while trying to explain why you could not lift the whole car  with the car like they do in a service station. He finished and was on his way, amid profuse thank yous and he would get his reward in Heaven.
   Now this again poses the question, was he just a Good Samaritan or was he Ministering?
   5.An 84 year old man drove out to his sisters yard to see if she was OK after a BIG snow storm. Of course he could not be of much help to her, but he felt he should go check up on her. He had just got out of his car, when a car with four teen age boys pulled up in front of the house and stopped. Out jumped four boys with four snow shovels. It looked like a snow blower working for about 15 minutes. The drive-way, the parking area, place for garbage can, and steps up to the house were all clear of snow. They all headed back toward there car and the lady was waving her purse in the air and yelling "let me pay you." As they jumped in their car one boy yelled back "nope, we are just helping people out,so they will not forget there are a lot of teenagers in the world that are not trouble makers."
   So were the boys ministering, the lady ministering or both, or neither?
   This is a different type or blog for me. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, are encouraging their members all to be ministers so I thought I would give it a try.
   This Blog brought back a lot of memories and one I liked (In my day) was a song (Little Things Mean A Lot ) by Kitty Kallen.

W.R. Baldwin 
5 June 2019    
   

AGING

                                            AGING

I have been pondering the amazing fact that we all start aging the moment we are born. A baby who has reached their first Birthday is still a baby, but never the less they have been aging for one long year  already.  

Do you think there is some way we can analyze the process we call aging? Of course there are many different ways, and probably there are as many ways to describe it, as there are ways to live it?

So far the lack of time, and the efforts, my thoughts settled on ten or twelve commonalities in the process of aging.

BABY-Babies seem to be the one stage of aging where a lot of attention is given to them. They are cute, they laugh and giggle, but they also have some small  defects, such as crying, screaming, and the bad one going to the “potty” when ever they feel like it. Sometimes I just wonder if they do it ONLY to get attention. These things go on for a year or so and for the most part wear off  as they grow from babies to youngsters.  A little time is spent in the terrible two’s, but parents, for the most part, try to forget them?

YOUNGSTER- The next age bracket could be called a lot of things, but I have chosen Youngster. And yes there are many times in this period of life where they could be called “other very definitive” names. However this is also a a period when they are occasionally called “my angel, my wonderful child, honey” and other childhood names to offset some of the names we do not like to talk about?

TEEN or TWEEN- I do not know exactly where or when the word Tween entered the aging show but it seems like it happened when a person become a young married or an old Teen.

The teen years were a time of mixed emotions. It was a time of thinking you were grown up but sometimes thought like a youngster, but wanted to be with the tween’s. In fact there were times when you did not think you fit in any place?  

MARRIAGE- Then a lot of things changed in your life. You found that special girl. You got married. And at least for me the most special time period of my life started.

Of course there were some tough times during this period. Of course this period was also the longest period of aging. During this time you feel like you can do anything. You could conquer the world. You pick a vocation, you can fix anything.  And for most people it is the longest and happiest time period of your life. And how many things do you learn--- just by having a family?    

MIDDLE AGE- Then you seem to turn around 2 or 3 times and realize you have become a Father & Mother- a provider for others- and also quite rapidly you have become OLDER!

This is the age where your Children and Grand Children find it easy to remind you that you are old and cannot do a lot of things that you could when you were just middle age.

OLD AGE- and then you wake up one morning and you are OLD! When did that happen? At what age did you become Old? Did it happen all at once or did it just creep up on you?

Did it happen while you were sitting on your cabin deck, and preferred that to going on a hike? Or should you have got a clue that you were getting old when you told people you would rather look at Photo Albums than walk down to the lake?

And You REALLY should have got a clue when the Grand and Great Grand kids started asking questions like this:::   

Grandpa how come your neck has a waddle like a turkey?- How come you huff & puff like the Big Bad Wolf when you just walk up the stairs?- How come you hold the newspaper so close to your face when you read it?- How come you go to bed at 9:00 o’clock? How come you don’t like to drive your car anymore? ( you used to tell us you drove about 30 000 miles per year?

I refuse to venture into ANCIENT

WRB 11 Jan 2019 

Change or Not

 For the most part I do not think people (at least the average person) like change. and some people do not like it at all and actually will not physically or mentally make change.

I was acquainted with one man who was offered a promotion. His answer was “no I am not going to do that, no matter what the consequences are.

Some changes are subtle, almost no change at all, and yet some people feel even a small change in our lives could almost be a catastrophe.

So would you agree some changes are HARD? My family and I lived in five different homes, 2 different states and each different move involved different circumstances that had to be considered at the time we moved. Each one was harder, more decisions to make and more people to come to agreement on what would be new changes for all.

Why do we not like change, or do we? I believe if you would get a family of parents, children and perhaps grandparents together and told them we were going to make a major change in our lives the majority the majority would have a life changing reason why we should not do it right now!

   Wife: How can I live without Jen, She is the best friend I have ever had and you know how hard it is for me to make friends? And you know it is the first Church calling in my live that I have really enjoyed?

   Son: I will run away if Thad does not live near us!

   Dau: I finally LOVE school. And you know how hard it is for me to make     friends? Can I stay here a live with someone?

And you may even have one that says, ”Yes, Yes, Oh Yes, maybe I will be happy if we move.

Of course there are other types of change besides employment and schooling. I also think that in most cases change makes us stronger, in the long term?

Most of us make some type of changes every day. And depending on our age a lot of changes are made for us. Mom usually decides what we eat---and WE EAT IT. At least it was that way in MY DAY. Dad decides if you can take the car out just for a ride? He may change his mind if you have a problem at school.

I recall I once made a change about how I looked—I decided to change how I ate, and how I used my spare time, so I would look better and have more energy. So you might say I made a conscious decision to change my life style, for the better. I however made an UNCONSCIOUS decision to lie on the couch and watch TV. To have a short nap most afternoon’s –and why jog in the dark? Were these both decisions?

So I guess there are many decisions made every day? I also guess we all have to make different decisions everyday which require a change GOOD, BAD or INDIFFERENT. And each of us has to pick and accomplish the change we want.   AND SOMETIMES IT AIN’T EASY. (Yes this spelling mistake is MY decision?)    

Christmas Memories

          CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

                                  

His oldest daughter had just given him a hug, said “Good Night Dad” and headed for her car. She was the last to leave. We were just finishing up our traditional task of “putting up” the annual Christmas Tree.

He could not remember when the family had started putting up the tree on the 7^th of December, which was his Birthday. He only remembered it had been many years ago.

As his daughter closed the door and got in her car he took a big breath and thought to himself, “thank heaven that is over for another year.”

But was he happy?

In just a few minutes he had picked up a few odds and ends, dropped them on the kitchen table and walked down the hall turning off each light, as he passed them. As he walked, the thought came again, am I tired or just excited?” I am not really tired, and I do not have to do anything tomorrow unless I want too.”

A little grin came on his face as he turned around and went back up the hall, turning the lights on as he passed them. A thought came to his mind about Christmas’s past. In fact many thoughts did and before he knew it he had told himself, I do not have to go to bed, I can get a snack, sit in my favorite chair and think and reminisce of past Christmas’s  that we have celebrated in our home.

He sat down and got his rocker going and squeaking, and just as he thought they would, memories started coming. He had turned on the tree lights again and just as he thought they would, the memories and a few sad times popped into his head.

The first thing on the tree that caught his eye was the two Santa ornaments. There were 12 in the package when we bought them back in the 1960’s,  but there were only two left and they were a treasure---If they only could talk? I think they were made out of a material called gilt. He snickered to himself again and thought how, did they survive this long with all the little hands  that had played with them over the years.

On the kitchen cupboard stood Mr. and Mrs. Claus who was crocheted by his Mother in the 1970’s. And yes they also are a family treasure.

He looked at the porcelain Nativity set and a lot of pictures, and thought maybe it was time to go to bed. I would have plenty of time to reminisce between now and Christmas.

He thought about his “Magnificent Seven” his pet name for his seven Great Grand Children. And just an hour ago his old house was rumbling with children’s noises, just as it has in the past. The next thought was,” how could seven little people make THAT MUCH noise?” And the interesting thing was they could pass it on from one generation to the next.

He chuckled again as he recalled the years past when Santa came to our home on Christmas and brought everyone a present. To receive your gift each person had to sit on Santa’s lap and report that they had been good! One year when he sat on Santa’s lap and Santa asked if he had been good, all the children shouted. NO, but as Santa reached for a lump of coal for Grandpa’s  gift his oldest Grandchild yelled He is good, he is always good. And I think she had a tear drop or two fall, as she grabbed the lump of coal and hid it in the basement.   

Oh how many memories and how many good times were held in their home throughout the years and now in his old age they are only memories.

After sitting in his favorite chair and reminisced about his favorite time of year, he slowly got up and walked down the hall----Not with memories of sugar plums dancing in his head---but wishing that his wife (who was the spark-plug of the family) could have been here to celebrate with us.—But then who knows ----PERHAPS SHE WAS?        

WRB 14 Dec 2018