We had just finished our assignment in Frantfurt, Germany, and were on our way to Fort Sill.  My husband and I left the kids with my parents in Arkansas and drove to Fort Sill to find a place to live.  It didn't take us long to find at house with three bedrooms and a fenced-in backyard that was close to an elementary school.  On Friday, we went to a local furniture store to look for a much-needed couch.  The saleslady who greeted us was very nice.  While looking at couches, we told her that we were new in town and would be looking for a church.  She invited us to come to her church--Westminster Presbyterian.  Her husband was the interim paster there.  And we were Presbyterian too!

When we walked into the sanctuary two days later, there was the nice saleslady (named Bea) watching for us.  She had saved a place for us.  We ended up joining the church!

Now jump even further ahead to our time in Hawaii.  We joined a small Presbyterian church in Mililani.  There was a class for people who were thinking about joining the church, which was lead by the pastor.  For the first four classes, he asked what he called "Quaker Questions."  He didn't know why they were called that, maybe because both the words started with a Q.  Anyway, here are the questions (and there are no wrong answers):

1.  What was the first house that you remember living in like?
2.  How was it heated?
3.  As a child, who did you go to for warmth?
4.  When did you first realize that God loves you?

My answer to the fourth question was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where during our first week there, we meet a woman who invited us to her church.  You see, before we even arrived at Fort Sill, I had been asking God to help us quickly find a good, loving church for our family to attend.  When he answered my prayer during the first week, I knew that God loved me!

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To Him be the glory both
now and forever.  Amen.
2 Peter 3:18b

Here is one by Larry.

And another by Susie.

If you are brave enough and have the time, you could try it.  Be sure to invite me over!

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I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
Proverbs 8:17

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And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:10

Note:  I'm upset that I didn't get a promotion in all these years.  And I don't even want to think about the amount of my pay during the two years that I've been retired.

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You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the LORD your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame.
Joel 2:26

Amy lost her first tooth today.  A bottom one.  It has been loose since yesterday.  It really became loose when she was eating lunch.  I said, “Let me pull it.”  She said no and pulled it herself.  Didn’t cry.

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The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And save such as have a contrite spirit.
Psalms 34:18

Our kids were about the same age and got along well.  We did all sorts of things together.  Karlynn and her children would come to my house; we'd go to hers.  We talked about crafts, decorating our houses, raising kids, and anything else we could think of.  When Bill and I went out for the evening, she would watch the kids; and we'd do the same for her and her husband.

I was fast at getting things done; she was a bit slower.  We started calling ourselves the rabbit and the turtle.  She even collected things in the shape of turtles.  Not real ones!  That's when I started my rabbit collection--not real ones.  We worked on the monthly church newsletter together.  After her husband received orders for Germany and they moved away, I worked on the newsletter without her.  It was not near as much fun.

But all was not lost.  About a year later, we were stationed close to them.  The kids and I went to stay with Karlynn and her family for about a week while we waiting to get an apartment on post.  The German hotel we were staying in was so small.  Later, Karlynn and her family visited with us at our place.

In 1993, I went to Washington, D.C. to attend a high school reunion.  I told you ages ago about graduating from high school in Itazuke, Japan.  Well, we can't all go back to Japan for reunions, so every couple of years there is an all-school reunion somewhere in the United States.  They've had them in places like Las Vegas; Arizona; Dallas; Houston; Florida; and Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  Anyway, to continue the story--on my way back from my high school reunion, I stopped in Kentucky where she lived.  We spent about three days continuing our conversations and friendship.  Below is a photo taken during my visit in 1993.

Karlynn was the first of the three best friends I've had.  I'm very fortunate to have had them all.  Now I hope I can find a fourth one here at our new place.

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A man's heart plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

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The LORD is my rock and
my fortress and my deliverer.
Psalm 18:2

The whole family went to the games.  It was a good social time for all of us.  I talked to the other wives while sitting on the bleachers, and Amy and Lee played with the other kids under them.

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Ask and it shall be given to you;
seek and ye shall find;
knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7

Below is Amy, at almost three, wearing a hat that her dad wore in Viet Nam and riding the fastest horse in Texas.

I bet you can't tell who are wearing paper bags in the photo below.  Okay, I'll give you a hint.  The one on the left is an almost 5-year-old girl and the one on the right is a
four-year-old boy.

Below are those same kids a year and a half later wearing my old bathrobes.

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This is what real love is:
It is not our love for God;
it is God’s love for us in sending his Son
to be the way to take away our sins.
1 John 4:10

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Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
Luke 2:10

So, I asked Bill if he had any memories of Fort Hood that I hadn't blogged about.  He told me about the night that we thought someone was trying to break into the house.  We got up and looked out our bedroom window.  We saw a cow in the front yard having a late-night snack on our shrubs!

The cow, along with a few more, had wandered over from the range there on Fort Hood and was enjoying the luscious food in the housing area, which I'm sure was a whole lot better than the grass in the Texas pastures.

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The LORD will guard you as you come and go,
both now and forever.  Psalm 121:8

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Depend on the LORD in whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.  Proverbs 16:3

While we were stationed at Fort Hood, Amy went to nursery school or preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.  We paid for her to go to preschool.  The lady who lived next door was a bus driver for the school.  So Amy rode back and forth with her.  I liked her being with someone I knew.  During kindergarten and first grade, she walked to the public school behind our house.  In the first grade, she walked by herself.  Nowadays, I wouldn’t let her do that.  But it was pretty safe back then.  She liked school when she was a kid.  Lee was never very crazy about school.  We didn’t send him to preschool because we felt that he wasn’t ready.  Below are photos of Amy on her way to school.

Left photo below:  Amy's first day of preschool, August 1976.  See her Snoopy lunchbox.
Right photo:  Graduation from preschool, May 1977.

Left photo below:  Amy's first day of kindergarten, September 1977.  That's her younger brother, Lee, standing beside her.

Right photo:  As the caption says, here she is on the way to begin the first grade.

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For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Proverbs 2:6

The second one was not making grill cheese sandwiches with Velveeta cheese.  Do you know how much Velveeta cheese cost?!  We sure couldn’t afford it very often on a sergeant’s salary.  But mostly, I didn't even think of using Velveeta cheese.  Amy had a grilled Velveeta cheese sandwich as an adult and realized what she had missed all during her childhood.

I feel so sorry for my daughter!  My heart aches for her!  Oh, the depravity; oh, the injustice!  Oh, the sorrowful memories of an inhumane childhood!

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Delight yourself also in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

I made an appointment as soon as possible.  They took x-rays of my upper teeth.  I had a cyst that had eaten the root of one tooth and maybe three other teeth.  They couldn’t tell from the x-rays.  I had a very nice oral surgeon who explained it all to me.  I needed to have surgery to remove the cyst.  During the surgery, he could determine if any other teeth were damaged and removed them along with the one he knew he would definitely have to be removed.  I had to be put under and wasn’t too crazy about that.

The surgery went just fine; there were no problems.  One thing happened that embarrassed me later.  I blame it on just coming out of the anesthesia.  The doctor was talking to me, and I said something like, “You look cute in your scrubs.”  Oh, my!

I lost only one tooth, for which I was very thankful.  At that time, it was the policy for military family members to have bridge work done by civilian doctors; the Army would not pay.  However, because I didn’t have any fillings and they said my mouth looked so nice, they made an exception and gave me a permanent bridge—for free!

They did a great job, and I didn’t have any problems with it.  I had that bridge until the mid-90s.  The x-rays showed that the root of the tooth in front of the one that I had lost in the 70s was deteriorating.  This time I didn’t have to be put under.  Whew!  It was all done in the oral surgeon’s office.  I’m so glad that medical technology of all kinds has improved over the years.

Now I have another bridge, which is doing its job.  (When I went to a new dentist yesterday, he said that it was a good bridge.  I need work done on my teeth--old fillings fixed, two new fillings, a crown on a back tooth, and a tooth in the bottom front build up.  It will cost me around $2,000.  Why can't dental plans pay more?!)

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“For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

I finally did get the courage to go for another hearing test when we were stationed in Frankfurt, Germany.  I think it was in 1981.  The Army corpsman tested me on a machine while I just sat there wearing headphones.  The doctor thought that the machine wasn’t working correctly and asked the corpsman to run the test again.  She finally put me a booth to test my hearing.  When I got out of the booth, she told me that I had a mild hearing loss.  I broke down and cried.  Finally, someone believed me!  She recommended that I get a hearing aid for my right ear, the one with the most hearing loss.  Read THIS ENTRY that I wrote in June 2005 to find out my reaction.

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And we know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

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He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with rejoicing.  Job 8:21