The Rollin' Store

by Danna Shirley
This is an assignment in writing class to use all the words in bold (or any form thereof) in a story:

extraordinary     byway     happy     Spanish     chicken coop     
beautiful     community     heartburn     hair           

In our little community of Shirley’s Crossroad, just a little byway out in the country, Daddy Jack and me would take our rollin’ store and sell the vegetables we plucked from the patch by the house that MawMaw tended for us every year.

Daddy Jack and me did the big plantin’ out in the field but MawMaw watched over the radishes, carrots, sweet taters, tomatas, and strawberries. When they was ripe and ready, she boxed ‘em up and we took ‘em in our makeshift trailer headin’ down the road. We stopped at every house along the way and sold a little bit here and a little bit there. We had a good business goin’ and pretty soon others were doin’ the same. In fact, they was steppin’ on our livelihood.

We come up with a new idea when Daddy Jack went out to the chicken coop one mornin’. Now ever’body round here had chickens so ever’body had eggs, but we begin to color them eggs just like at Easter and the young’uns loved it. They begged their momma to buy our eggs. So we was now one step up on the competition.

Next we figured ta pickle some of them eggs but that didn’t go over so good with Festus Barker cuz it caused his heartburn to flare up. He said it were a hair raisin’ experience fer him all night long.

We were happy and even makin’ a pretty good livin’ but time marches on and life happens. I got drafted and went in the Army. Daddy Jack and MawMaw was getting’ older and it weren’t so easy to get out in the patch or drive the rollin’ store. Soon they was just plantin’ for themselves and enjoying the fruit of their labor.

I was stationed in Texas and met a beautiful Mexican gal and she taught me Spanish so’s I could get around with the locals. She fixed up some vittles I’d never tasted before and they was extraordinarily hot. My taste buds were burnin’ but I took a likin’ to them tacos, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, and quesadillas. I think I'll marry her and bring her back home with me. We'll add somethin' new to the rollin' store.

There is a Shirley's Crossroads in Crenshaw County, AL and my grandfather-in-law, Daddy Jack, did have a rolling store. he was born in 1890.

GROWING UP . . .

by Danna Shirley

Writing assignment

Pa looked pretty forlorn as we rambled down the dirt road to the bus stop. I was the oldest of three brothers and he needed me to stay and work the farm with him but I just couldn’t. I’d been telling him when I turned eighteen I would be oughta there and leave the farming with him and my brothers. It was just not for me! The drought, the flood, the bugs eating the crops, the sun burning up the plants, the dust and broken down farm equipment. I didn’t want to even start a life like that. I knew I was disappointing him but I was also excited to head down the road to Central Community College and plot my own course for life. I was pretty smart and I would make it.

Now we were sitting on the tailgate of the pickup truck, Shep’s head on my knee on one side and Pa wrestling with his hat on the other. We never had the man-to-man talk before and I’m sure Pa was thinkin’ about it. It would be awkward, though, for both of us. I already knew the facts of life; I’d been raised on a farm watching and birthing everything under the sun. I watched Ma and Pa, too, but they never even touched in front of us boys; never kissed. I guess that was only for after the lights went out.

Now I was waiting on the bus and the only thing I could take with me was a suitcase and all I had learned from Ma and Pa; love from family, a good work ethic, loyalty from a faithful dog, and God to guide me and keep me safe. 

It would be an excellent adventure.

HERE, BETWEEN THE SHELVES

The following is an assignment to write a story using the sentence: "Here, between the shelves."

I saw a glimmer on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. It was strange to see something shiny while everything else was covered in dust. I scooted a book of Tarzan to the right and was surprised to find a band showcasing seven round diamonds lying there. It sparkled from every angle and written inside were the words, Jane~We’re a Perfect Fit~Love, Tom and then almost unseen was the date, 1968. How did this ring find its way here, between the shelves, in this dusty basement? Who was Jane . . . and who was Tom . . . and how old were they in 1968? I had inherited the house and all its contents from Great Aunt Edith, but this ring was from Tom to a Jane. Who were they?

I knew of Great Aunt Edith from my Aunt Tabby, Mom’s sister, but now they were all gone and it seemed I was the last living relative to inherit. I didn’t particularly want to leave my home in California to go to a small town in South Alabama but my curiosity had gotten the best of me so here I was. Why I had started in the basement I’ll never know but I put the ring in my pocket and continued perusing my new-found possessions. The basement also contained a wine cellar, an old trunk, a chifferobe with what looked like clothes from the 1920s and 30s and two pairs of high-button shoes. Wow, I could dress to the nines for any costume party now.

I found many more delightful surprises upstairs. There was an antique table and chairs on an oriental rug in the formal dining room. China, silver, and crystal were in the matching hutch with a tea cart and a silver tea service beside it. 

While going through some old magazines for recycle, I found a newspaper clipping in an album hidden in the stack. It was the wedding announcement of Tom Blake to Jane Leslie, December 19, 1968. They had gotten married in Reno but would be making their home in Mississippi while Tom attended Ole Miss. Now the ‘who’ and the ‘where’ were solved but what about the why? Why would her wedding ring be left on a dusty shelf in the basement of this old house in Alabama?

It was getting late and I chose one of the upstairs bedrooms to collapse and sleep. It had been a long day and I only had a week off from work to settle this estate and return to California.

The next morning I took my time going through the kitchen. I searched the shelves, pantry, drawers, and cabinets, but there was nothing unusual there to identify Tom and Jane. I got down to the business of deciding what I would keep and what I would sell, however, I knew I would keep the diamond ring. Besides the china, silver, etc. there were some beautiful paintings, jewelry, and a BMW in the garage. Those were definitely keepers.

The rest, the dishes, pots and pans, toilet paper and Cheerios, could go by the wayside with the estate sale liquidator. As for me, I would be investigating the mystery of Tom and Jane. I began with the stack of magazines where I found the album. The top were addressed to Aunt Edith but as I moved lower and lower through the stack, I found the rest addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Blake. The top address was in Alabama 1983 but those prior were New Jersey 1980, Washington 1975, Bermuda 1972, and the earliest address was in Oxford, Mississippi at Ole Miss 1968. Interspersed among them were Ladies Home Journal, Time, and Woman’s Day; then Parents Magazine and children’s Highlights began to appear. Okay, Tom and Jane had children. Hopefully one was a boy who still lived here.

            I got online and looked up ‘Blake’ at this address but as I clicked on several ‘Blakes’ here in town, related people began to appear. I would not be deterred. Finally the name Jane came up under James and Victoria Blake. I called their number and asked to speak to Jane.

            “This is Jane speaking. May I help you?”

            “Yes, are you the Jane Blake that used to live at 885 Fourth Avenue?”

            “Why, yes, but I haven’t lived there in a long time. Not since my husband died.”

            “Did you happen to lose something very valuable and sentimental in the basement of that old house?”

            “Yes, yes,” she said very excitedly. “I lost my wedding ring. We couldn’t afford another so Tom just bought me a plain gold band.”

            “Well, I found it, here, between the shelves of an old bookcase. Can I bring it to you?”

            “Yes, yes, please do come over!” 

            Fifteen minutes later I was knocking on her door. She opened it with tears in her eyes and hugged my neck. I slipped it on her finger and it still fit. It did my heart good to see the happiness on her face. There was happiness on my face, too. I was a blessing and I received a blessing . . . and, after all, I still had the BMW in the garage at home. 

WHAT IF . . .

Danna Shirley

This phrase conjures up so many scenarios that it is difficult to even calculate the results. My “what if” thoughts tend toward my life with my husband, Ron.

What if his ship hadn’t come into port in San Pablo, California where I lived in 1968? He was there for just three short months before going to Viet Nam for the third time but it was long enough for us to meet, get engaged, and marry upon his return.  

What if there had not been that fateful meeting that took me away from my family and everything I knew in California and sent me to a place and culture I didn’t know in Montgomery, Alabama. This was just the beginning of Navy life living in three countries and seven states over the course of our thirty-four years together.

What if Ron’s separation from the Navy hadn’t led us to his employment with Alabama Power in Demopolis and eventually to his decision to pursue continuing education which brought us back to Montgomery?

What if our short time there hadn’t brought us to attend First Assembly of God Church before moving on to our next destination?

What if our hearts hadn’t been ripe for harvest to bring us both to His saving grace and our salvation through the testimony of Betty Baxter?

(Note: It is important to understand we had lived in Montgomery several different times and had the opportunity to attend this church previously but in God’s grand scheme of things “our hearts weren’t ripe for harvest” until May, 1980.

What if Betty Baxter hadn’t been healed from a crippling and debilitating condition that led her to serve God and give her testimony the rest of her life? Her faithfulness to God brought her to speak at First Assembly of God Church, which brought us to our salvation?

This is not to say we each wouldn’t find God another way by His leading but would I have this family . . . my family now? 

We were just two people out of billions and billions over time in whom God orchestrated down the long path of life to dwell in our present place in His kingdom.      

Here’s another exciting chain of events to follow…

http://www.travisagnew.org/2013/07/22/the-chain-of-events-for-billy-grahams-conversion/

What if a young teacher named Edward Kimball hadn’t taken a Saturday and sought to help a young man understand what the gospel was all about? He went to the shoe store where he was stocking shelves and led Dwight L. Moody to receive the Lord. 

What if this young man hadn’t received salvation in the stockroom of that shoe store? D. L. Moody wouldn’t have touched two continents for God, with untold thousands coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

What if another man’s heart was not touched by God under Moody’s preaching? Wilbur Chapman was an evangelist who preached to thousands. One day, a professional ball player had a day off and attended one of Chapman’s meetings, and thus, Billy Sunday was converted.

What if this baseball player, Billy Sunday, hadn't quit baseball and become part of Chapman's team. When Chapman accepted the pastorate of a large church, Billy Sunday began his own evangelistic crusades. A young man named Mordecai Ham attended one of these crusades and was converted. 

What if this scholarly and dignified gentleman, Mordecai Ham, had decided he wouldn’t go listen to an ex-baseball player? Then he wouldn’t have come to Charlotte, NC to preach against a house of ill repute located right across from the local high school. Some male students were going to interrupt the meetings and a young man named Billy Frank Graham decided to see what would happen.

What if the most famous evangelist of our day, Billy Graham, hadn’t been curious to attend the meeting of Mordecai Ham? He wouldn’t have given his heart to Jesus in 1934 and as a result, travel the world and preach the gospel to approximately 2.2 billion people.

As the old saying goes, 

"You can count the apples on a tree,

but only God knows how many apples are in a single seed.”

We cannot possibly know how many lives have been converted by Billy Graham or how many more seeds have come to fruition through him and Ham, and Sunday, and Chapman, and Moody, and Kimball, or even you and me.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;

it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:8-10)

          All we can do is be faithful with our part in and for the Kingdom and trust God for the results.

GOD'S GREATEST DESIRE

Given in a sermon by Robert Morris, Gateway Church, Dallas/Fort Worth area:

This is the heartcry of God throughout the whole Bible...
Ex 6:7
Lev 26:12
Jer 7:23
Jer 11:4
Jer 24:7
Jer 30:22
Jer 31:33                  So shall you be my people . . .
Ez 11:20                          and I will be your GOD . . .
Ez 14:11
Ez 36:28
Ez 37:23
Ez 37:27
Hos 2:23
Zech 8:8
Zech 13:9
2 Cor 6:16
Heb 8:10
Rev 21:1-3

God's greatest desire is YOU...

To marry you and live happily ever after!

Article About Genealogy from Mountain Press 2016

"At most, living memory endures for a hundred years or so. 

Thereafter, even the barest outline of the past is forgotten,

unless it is recorded in writing..." 

John Morris, Londinium: London in the Roman Empire

Publisher's Notes

In this article we discuss visiting with our older relatives and finding out more information about our ancestors. I love to ask lots of questions and usually learn some new stories each time. It is so important to learn as much as you can while they are still able to tell you about the past. As always, I enjoy hearing from you. Thank you, James L. Douthat Mountain Press

GOOD OLE SUMMER TIME

We are now in summer with those long, hot, lazy, hazy days at hand. What do we do with our genealogical research at this time of the year? As we all have figured out, there are seasons in research just as in everything else. In the spring and fall, it is time to go into cemeteries and locate graves. This is the time that insects and snakes are least trouble. In the winter we go to libraries, archives, and court houses to avoid the cold, snowy weather. But now in summer, where do we go? This is the time of the year to do our best with those around us. We all want to take a few days here and there to get away, so why not go see Aunt Matilda. We have not seen her in about ten years, and she still knows a lot of the family history that we have not learned before. Let her know that you will be visiting for a day or so and then plan your questions. We never start a conversation with, “Tell me all about the family.” This is much too broad a question, so break this down into some small amounts of answers. Do something like, “What do you remember about your grandfathers early school days?” It is best to ask questions that can be answered in only a few sentences. They will not be able to respond to more than that about the question, and you will be unable to write down long descriptive sentences at one time either. If they will let you, try to record or videotape the answers to reference later. Be prepared for some surprises. I was visiting with one of my wife’s uncles not long ago and he came up with information I’ve been after for years. After being married for over 50 years into this huge family, there were still many points I did not know. This uncle had been with the other side of the family and had corresponded with them over the years and had collected many pages of information on a side line that helped to identify his grandfather’s brother. I had known these two men were together in one county prior to both of them moving to Arkansas from Tennessee. I could not connect these two in Tennessee, but in Arkansas they lived in the same town and named children for each other. I have not found the father/mother of these two men as yet, but I have more clues to go on from the information received. Aunt Matilda might just have some records that she has not given you before. Run as fast as you can to a copy machine and make copies before she changes her mind. I’ve had pages taken back by the next sentence of the conversation. I had a lady bring me papers to explain what they meant on a family and as I read them and began to explain them, she grabbed them back because they were signed by two different United States Presidents. She did not want me to make copies of those signatures. I only had to walk about ten feet in my office to the copy machines, but did not get the land grants copied. This left a hole in the family research. Especially since I figured the signatures were machine signed since Thomas Jefferson invented the machine to do this for the Presidents. Take the papers that Aunt Matilda just remembered that she had, make copies, and give them back ASAP. Now the fun begins as you read over them later with all of your information at hand. Make notes on the variations of names, dates, and locations. This now begins a long search to verify which of the facts are correct or more correctly possible. You know for fact that your ancestor born in 1781 was not an American Revolutionary soldier. Their father might have been, but not this individual even if it says they are listed on the 1840 census as being such. Remember that the 1840 census states “American Revolutionary or War of 1812 Veteran”. Born in 1781 he might have fought in the War of 1812 as that was the starting date for the war. Be very careful about statements that link your ancestor to someone famous at the time they were written. This was a favorite habit of our ancestors. It was always said that my Earhart line of the family were related to Emelia Earhart. Our family was in the mountain of southwestern Virginia and her family was in Kansas for several generations. There might be a connection back a few centuries, but probably not close. Don’t forget those older cousins, as well as the older aunts and uncles. Everyone knows some things about their family tree you are not aware of, so learn from them. One of the quickest ways to gather information on all of the family is to do a family newsletter. I did one back in the 1980s about one side of my family. The stories, photographs, and research came from all sides of the family, especially from relatives I had no idea had this kind of information. Since most of them were teachers, college professors, doctors, lawyers, etc., the stories were quite interesting. Use these “good ole summer days” to your advantage in research and good luck getting Aunt Matilda to turn loose of her information. Happy Hunting!!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS . . . LISTEN!!!

by Danna Shirley

God got my attention on Sunday morning (July 3, 2016) through so many different sources that I couldn't allow myself to ignore Him anymore. I must begin by saying that I have drifted away from what I know I should do because I let myself get busy and distracted by many other things going on in my life. I feel as Paul did when he said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do; but what I hate, I do.” (Rom 7:15)

So what do I mean by that? Here is what has been on my plate for the last few months:

1.      Hip replacement surgery and rehabilitation.

2.      Stacks of pictures laid out on my kitchen table that I plan to organize someday.

3.      Preparation for publishing a book of short stories in my writing class.

4.      Piles of material, thread, and scissors strewn about while I’m making travels bags (50 of them; I've made 7 so far) for Youth Village boys and girls.

5.      Saving and trimming and taping Box Tops for Education for my granddaughter’s school.

6.      In between all of these activities I play Free Cell while watching mindless television (too often I might add).

Every one of these projects are worthwhile (except Free Cell) but I’ve looked at myself as being so busy that I don’t have time to read my Bible or devote the quality time needed to pray. Oh, I say my cursory prayers but I don’t let my heart really be touched like I want to do because I am too busy doing what I hate, which is being distracted by many things that are not as important as spending time with God.

So what happened Sunday morning that God used to get my attention? All hell broke loose in my spirit!

1.      I always turn on BOTT Radio (AM640) while showering and getting ready for the day. Pastor Chuck Herring of First Baptist Church in Collierville, TN was preaching on the Mary and Martha story (Luke 10:38-42). The message was that Martha had busied herself with many things (like me) but Mary had “chosen that good part,” which was to sit at the Master’s feet and hear His Word.

2.      Next I watched television (Fox 13) while eating breakfast. Pastor Steve Gaines of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, TN was preaching on the need for prayer and why we shouldn’t neglect it because without praying for God’s guidance we go our own way and make mistakes. And sometimes we even blame God. Woe, woe, woe!

3.      Then I arrived at my church, Bartlett First Assembly, Bartlett, TN and worship begins with worship—not praise. If you understand the difference you will understand the atmosphere and presence of Almighty God in a totally worshipful  service.

4.      Our youth had just come back from one week of church camp in Nashville and they were walking high. Cheyenne gave such a testimony to stir our hearts. One thing she said zapped my spirit to the core: “We can all spit some words into the sky but we all don’t touch heaven.” My cursory prayer! Woe is me!

5.      Then my pastor, Johnny Byrd, said God had him change what he had prepared and wanted him to preach Matthew 6:31-33.

                     “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things shall be added to you.”

In my spirit I was hearing, “Therefore do not worry about organizing the pictures or publishing the book or sewing the travel bags. God knows you need to get all of these things done. But SEEK GOD FIRST and PRAY and PRAISE and WORSHIP Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and all these things will be added unto you."

What’s so disappointing to me as a Christian is that I’ve learned this lesson before…many, many times before. But I am not alone. God continues to teach us, over and over and over again…until we get it right! And here I sit typing this testimony instead of spending time in prayer!