Afterthoughts

Pat Lawson Westbrook      Fourteen is an early age to agree to get married.  Even so, I agreed to marry my sixteen-year-old boyfriend.  As the year rocked on, my personality changed dramatically.  I wasn't the same happy, fun-loving person. By the time summer came along, I let him know I had changed my mind. Almost instantly, I became my old self. He even told me how I seemed different. When his family moved to Louisiana, we wrote each other often.  When I got a letter from him, I would put it in a wooden box and lock it.  One day I realized someone had been picking the lock and reading his letters. To let the person who was doing such a thing know I was on to them, I put a note in the box that read ha-ha no letters today. When my boyfriend came to town, I told him my parents were reading his mail.  With a funny look on his face, he told me instead of staying in my home while he was in town he would stay with a friend.  He left and I nev...

    Owning a gun is a privilege that people in other countries may not have. Here in Texas, we do.  Even so, one needs to be careful how they are handled. Take for instance the time my husband was cleaning his shotgun.  I had just finished washing dishes at the kitchen sink when I heard a loud bang.  In slow motion, I turned around expecting to see disaster.  Instead, there sat my husband with my young son sitting on the couch. "He stammered, I thought it was empty." Thank goodness the only damage was the ceiling and the roof.        Another time he was checking the scope on his rifle before we went to the river to practice shooting. He pointed the rifle barrel toward the bedroom window. Once again, I heard a gunshot and went to investigate.  This time the supposedly empty gun went off breaking the window.  The bullet proceeded to hit a clothesline post and ricocheted to a neighbor's roof.  Seconds later, the neighbor...

    Woodland Hills Baptist Church       Have you ever been in Sunday School and answered a question the teacher asked only to have her dispute where you came up with the answer?  I have.  When I told her the answer came from the bible, the whole class laughed.  Her response made me feel as though she didn't believe me. I left church that day feeling sad and disrespected.  The next time I saw her she said, "The pastor preached on what we talked about in class.  Your answer was correct."      At a different church, I opened my bible to read a bible verse the teacher asked someone to read.  After I finished, a man sitting across from me said, "That's not a real bible because it's not a King James Bible."      The two incidences took place over forty years ago at two different churches.  I didn't leave them because of what happened.  I now attend Woodland Hills Baptist church in Longview, Tex...

Sharol Dean Lawson      Latch key kids find all kinds of ways to entertain themselves.  My brother and I were no different than other teenagers.  One summer afternoon, we came up with the idea to ride his motor scooter to Belton Lake seventeen miles from our home in Killeen, Texas.  His best friend also had a scooter.  As it happened, my best friend was his sister.  They were latch key kids also.  The four of us set out for our day of fun.  I don't remember why, but I drove one of the scooters with my friend on the back.  Had our parents been home and we had asked for permission to go they would not have let us have our adventure.   The One You have an Important plan now what do you do? Execute it without consulting the One who's true.        You can do it on your own and face whatever happens.         Or consult the One who watches your very actions.        ...

The Westbrook Clan      Volunteer work can give a person a since of purpose.  Maybe that's why I signed up to be a Candy Striper at a local hospital.  When a patient asked me my reason for being there, the answer was easy.  I said, "To help people."  Yes, I could deliver juice to patients and help in other ways. One day I saw a nurse coming toward me in the hall carrying something in her hand.  She motioned for me to follow her.  After we went into a nearby room, she began unwrapping a tiny, aborted baby.  It was fully developed and looked like a little doll. Stunned, I stood there starring at the lifeless body. A sadness that is hard to describe filled my heart. After a few quiet moments, we left the room going our separate ways. That day changed how I felt about being there. After one hundred hours of volunteering, I moved on to other things.   A Gift Life begins in the mother's womb. It becomes a precious baby soon. This is ...

JT Westbrook       The layout of the Fort Hood army base was of little   concern to me.  That is until I went there to take an item to my husband.  I drove over a foot bridge thinking it was a drive to a parking lot.  Realizing my mistake in a panic, I began to back up coming too close to an office building. When I stopped a man stuck his head out an open window and asked if he could help me.  As I was telling him who I was looking for, the driver's door flew open, and I was told to move over.  In a flash the car sped across a weeded field to a parking lot next to some barracks.  Moments later a soldier came up to the car and told my husband the company commander wanted to see him.  At the meeting after my husband explained what happened, the commander said he understood.    The Layout I've been told of a home far away. I don't know the layout, but I will someday. The way to get there isn't that hard. Open your heart ...