Afterthoughts

     In the sixties, we trusted people and never locked our doors.  Therefore, the milkman always had access to deliver our milk.  One cool fall morning, my husband and children went on an outing.  Because I had a migraine, I stayed home in my pajamas and went back to bed.  When the phone rang, I jumped up and rushed to the dining room.  As I picked it up, I looked toward the kitchen.  There stood our milkman with his back toward me putting milk in the refrigerator.  Without saying a word, I quietly hung up the phone and returned to the bedroom.  As I closed the door, I prayed he had not seen me. Trust Who are we to trust in this world today? It's hard to know as we go along life's way. Maybe It's the man or woman down the street. Or perhaps It's a stranger your apt to meet. The answer to my question is not very hard. The Holy Spirit is a gift if you accept the Lord.  So, discernment is yours as people come and go. The tug in y...

           After almost twenty-two years of marriage, my husband and I decided to get a divorce. Two years later we reconciled and decided to remarry.  Wanting to get married quickly, we asked the pastor that officiated our daughter's wedding ceremony, in Waco, Texas, if he would marry us. After he agreed, we drove to his house in Gladewater. Texas, only six miles away.      When we arrived at his home, he had us sit on his couch while he proceeded to give us forty-five minutes of marriage counseling.  We wondered why he would counsel us since it wasn't our first time to get married. Afterwards he asked, "Would you mind if my guests watch your wedding?"  My husband answered, "I'd rather they didn't."      The pastor said, "It's your daughter's in-laws.  They are taking their daughter's wedding flowers and decorations to her in Houston.  On their way, they stopped by here for a couple of days."   ...

          Bringing a creature back to life can be quite an experience.  When my son's hamster was operated on, we forgot to take the running wheel out of his cage. The morning after the operation, to our horror, he died.  Feeling compassion for my son, I decided to bring the poor thing back to life.  I put him in the palm of my hand and blew in his face.  His cheeks spread out full of air.  I then proceeded to take one finger and tap on his chest.  After several minutes, he responded.  With a squeak, he lifted his head. If I tried to touch him, he would bare his teeth at me.  Two hours later he once again died.  I felt bad about putting the dear pet through a second death.  I realize now that there are times, we need to just let things be. God's Will When I die where will I go? I really would like to know. If I'm planted in the ground, Is that where I'll be found? Could there be life after death? Can I live ...

          A concerned flight attendant spoke over the loudspeaker, "Is there a doctor onboard?"  Seconds later a stranger sat next to me putting an oxygen mask on my face.  Even though we were hundreds of miles from my destination, he advised that I be taken to the hospital.  When we landed in Little Rock, Arkansas, an ambulance waited on the runway.      The next day after being dismissed from the hospital with nothing but low potassium, my daughter and I boarded Amtrack and continued our journey.  On our way home, a couple of times she said, "I wish I hadn't left my favorite devotional In Jesus' Name, Amen on the plane. I smiled and in a sincere voice commented, "This whole experience may have happened so you would leave it for someone to find and be blessed." The Perfect Plan When things don't work out the way you plan, Is it possible God was giving you a helping hand? The job you lost was it really meant for you? Woul...

     Oh . you poor thing. You're going to die if someone doesn't water you. Or so I thought standing in the church foyer in front of a large potted plant.  Its leaves drooped almost to the floor. In order to prevent its inevitable death, I poured six cups of water on it.  I then proceeded to the sanctuary for the morning service.  A few minutes later a man tapped me on the shoulder and said, "The water you put on the plant is now on the floor."  When I rushed to clean it up, a kind lady had already begun to mop.  While I helped her, two men watched and commented, "Who would do such a thing?"  Embarrassed I mumbled, "I did."  Their laughter bounced off the walls as they walked away.  Beneath the surface At church a plant in a pot had droopy leaves. An old man walked by with shaky knees. He looked at the plant, and he thought. Do I need to help this poor thing or not ? The dirt may be dry surrounding its roots .   It looks l...

    Robert Glenn Westbrook       I asked, "What do you mean I left the baby?"      My husband looked at me with a strange expression.  "Don't you remember you only planned on staying for Sunday school. You must have left him there."      With shock I realized my mistake.  After I took the three older children to their class rooms, I took the youngest to the nursery.  When it was over, not intending to stay for the morning service, we rushed home.  Too embarrassed to go get him right away, I did some chores around the house.  Then at just the right time, I returned to pick up one of my most prized possessions.  Everyone at church thought I had been there all the time. The Great Commission "Where did your brother go?" God asked. "Doesn't he know I've forgiven his past?" The young man said, "He's off to no good. I couldn't stop him and didn't think I should. I'm not my brother's keeper so I've been told. I...

      JT Westbrook stationed at Fort Hood.      A fence separated the fort from Killeen.     The preacher stood on the corner hollering, "Do not vote for liquor to be sold in Killeen." If the soldiers wanted to buy beer, they had to drive to Temple, Texas.  Since many of them didn't have transportation, they spent a lot of their time in town.  One of their favorite spots to gather was in front of the two theaters on main street. Never once did I walk in front of them when I got off work between eight and nine at night and walked home.  Instead, I went down the alley behind the theaters.  I didn't want them to know I was alone.  If no one was home when I got there, I would open the door and holler "All right! Come on out! I know you're in there!" I didn't fear the soldiers scattered all over town.  However, going into a dark apartment by myself, is another matter.  Happy Not Afraid I saw a man as happy as he could...

Natalie Westbrook       At the Post, Texas rodeo, my girlfriend and I sat on the fence close to where the horses came out of the chute.  After a while, I excused myself and headed toward the bathroom. On the way back, four boys walking several feet behind me started singing the lyrics of a nineteen fifties popular song. Embarrassed, I hurried as fast as I could to where my friend was.  When I climbed back on the fence, she asked, "What's wrong?  Your face is beet red."  I turned and pointed toward the boys that had been following me.  "See those boys over there?  They were singing that new song 'Short Fat Fanny.' I knew I shouldn't have worn these Levi jeans tonight."  She laughed and said, "Don't be silly.  They were just teasing you."  I nodded, "Maybe so but I didn't like it." From that point on I became more concerned about how I looked in the clothes I wore.   The Song Some boys sung a song just to tease. Th...

     In Pearsall, Texas a skunk crawled under our house and sprayed his scent.  We held our noses and went about our daily life. Since we had no place to go, we had to stay there and suffer.  After a while, I thought the odor had dissipated. When my two boys and I went to the grocery store, I found out how wrong I was.  After we finished shopping and went to check out, a woman in front of us said, "I smell a skunk."  That's when I realized the odor had not gone away.  From that point on, I always made sure before we went anywhere our clothes were freshly washed and our bodies had been scrubbed until they shined.  Never again did anyone comment about smelling a skunk in our presence.  Perhaps they were just being kind.     Trails What are those strange shadows in front of me? No matter how hard I look I just can't see. If they're what I smell, they need a bath. Maybe I just need to walk a different path. I'm afraid if I don...

JT Westbrook  Being covered in dirt from head to toe is one of the hazards of being a bulldozer operator. Not only that, at times, the pay only covered necessities. My husband worked hard for our family. and it was appreciated.       In order not to strain our budget, I did my best to fulfill our children's sweet tooth. I would dip rose petals in peanut butter mixed with honey instead of buying candy.  Sugar, water, and vanilla slowly cooked to a caramel state then added to whipped egg whites became their favorite treat.  They called it calf slobber. If I made a cake and we didn't have any milk, I used a can of pumpkin for the liquid. Once a cake recipe called for sour cream.  Instead of going to the store, I found a package of powdered sour cream in the cabinet and used that. When I poured it in the batter, I realized it had garlic in it.  For fun I added food coloring to the icing.  The cake turned out purple with a garlic taste. ...

Patricia Lawson Westbrook      When the rodeo came to Killeen, Texas in May of 1953, my friend and I got permission to go.  For some reason when the rodeo ended, I didn't have a ride home.  So, in the dark, I started walking along highway 190.  I enjoyed the walk while thinking about the fun I had.  However, when a car full of men stopped a short way in front of me, I was scared.  Not knowing what to do, I frantically looked around.  That's when I saw a large house across the road.  I walked toward the front door.  When I did, the car drove away.  Thinking back to that time in my life I know I had a Higher Power watching over me.              I'm Not Alone When I walk down a lonely road, I'm not alone. You can't see my friend walking with me going home. He's walked with me throughout all these many years. Often, he comforts me and wipes away my tears. Jesus died upon a cross for your sins and ...

Alan Westbrook      The voice on the other end of the line said, "Mrs. Westbrook your son has missed a number of days this semester.  I replied, "I'll take care of it."  When I went to talk to him, my other children told me he had been listening on the other phone.  After he hung up, he ran out of the house, jumped into his friend's car, and they sped away.        For several days he didn't come home.  During that time my husband and I went to church to get some advice from our pastor. (Who happened to be our neighbor.) When we left his office, it had begun to rain.  So, I waited on the church porch while he went to get the car.  As the rain turned to pea sized hail, I hollered, "It's hail!" I didn't know at the time the sanctuary happened to be full of people. I should have since the parking lot had a lot of cars parked in it. I've often wondered if they thought a crazy woman stood on the porch cussing.    ...

Patricia and Sharol      In the late forties, after the machine gun was banned, who would have thought one would show up in the small Texas town of Tahoka.  To my family's surprise, it did in my stepfather's possession.  That was the last thing my mother ever expected him to bring home.  He came into the house all excited and insisted we all go with him to shoot it.  So, we piled into his car, and he drove to a field several miles outside of town.  When we got out of the car, he propped the gun on a fence post and fired.  With our hands over our ears, we watched the dust fly into the air as the bullets sprayed across the dirt.       The next day he took it with him to the radio and television repair shop where he worked.  We never knew how he got it or where it went.  There is one thing I learned from that experience. Just because something is banned doesn't mean a person can't get hold of it.  Also, I was h...

     Patricia and Kathleen      While driving down US-87 to Lubbock Texas, I had a hard time concentrating on the road because I was listening to my mother.  She said, "At sixteen months you climbed over our fence in the back yard.  We looked everywhere but couldn't find you.  Finally, we walked across the street to a construction site to find out if anyone there had seen you.  When a man making cabinets saw us, he grinned and pointed to you playing in the sand with some blocks of wood.  He commented, 'I knew someone would come looking for her.'  We thanked him and took you home."         I turned to look at mother causing the car to swerve a little.  My voice rose in excitement at the discovery I had just made. "Mother! I remember that.  Since dad was a carpenter as a young man, I always thought he took me to work with him.  I've often wondered why I was there by myself, and my sister an...

     The last thing I expected to see when I entered the doctor's office was two policemen.  They stood just inside the room talking to a nurse.  I walked around them to the receptionist desk and checked in. After I sat down in the waiting room, I noticed a man sitting across from me wearing what looked like striped pajamas.  When I saw the shackles on his feet, I knew he had a problem.  With a bowed head, he seemed dejected.  That is when I remembered a conversation, I had with God earlier.  I told Him if he wanted me to say something to someone about Him I would.  Without thinking I said, "Sir, Jesus loves you," The man looked up at me with a big smile on his face.  He replied, "Thank you ma'am."  Words Words have a way of lifting a person up or tearing them down. The power they have can make them smile or cause them to frown. Always remember no matter who you talk to be careful what you say. Quite possible the words may come...