If You are Blessed .......................

The following are lessons taught to me from my parents and grandparents. If you are blessed to have a home, take care of it. Don't worship your home because it is a material thing but take care of it. It is your shelter and haven after a long day's work. Keep a good roof on the top and a good foundation underneath it. Repair it and paint it. Keep the inside of your house clean and orderly. You don't have to have the best or the most expensive to be comfortable but take care of what you have. Someone is working hard to provide your shelter and the things inside of it. My Dad always lectured us kids to put things away, that everything has a place and then it is easy to find when you need it. Landscape your yard to enhance it. My Mom and Grandma Felton always planted flowers for their enjoyment and those of others. My Grandma Felton would cut her flowers and make vases for Christ United Methodist church on Sundays. I was also taught that flowers were good for nature, for all those little bee, butterflies and hummingbirds. I was taught that if you are fortunate enough to have a home keep it up for you, your children and your neighbors, the next generation. My parents also insisted that we take care of things. We were made to put our bikes in the basement if it started to rain and at night. I had my first bike up into my twenties when I finally sold it in a yard sale. My parents also taught me and my brothers to take care of "land" the earth. My Dad was a scout master for years and I have felt like I was a boyscout even though I'm a girl. He preached to always live a place better than you found it. This applied to a house, a campsite, a hiking trail, the river bank or any plot of earth. My Dad hates litter. I do too. Your home, the land it is on, the world surrounding you is really only yours for a very short time, Ultimately, it is God's! It is our job to be wards for the next generation. My parents and also my grandparents felt jobs were a blessing. Remember the Great Depression. They lived it. If you wanted to eat, you worked. My Dad still feels like this today. If you don't work, you don't eat. If you didn't believe him, he got out the Bible and read you the scripture on it. So a job is a blessing. Get up, go to work. Do what you have to do to get an education and get a job. It was more than understood that a government handout was not an acceptable way of life in our family. Thank God for your job every night even if you hate it. Remember the Great Depression. My parents and grandparents also taught all their children and grandchildren a love for nature. There was always a bird feeder in the yard, binoculars to watch the birds, deer and other wildlife that lived in the river and hillsides around Rowlesburg. My Dad, in later years, quit hunting. He told me that he would rather watch and photograph the deer. Our family spent hours on the Meadow, and now the third generation walks, hikes, and hunts Bell Hill. Take care of the earth. Your land, really isn't yours. It has been there for thousands of years and hopefully will continue to be. Feel blessed you get to share the great outdoors and wonder in its beauty, even the snow. Child are a blessing. Take care of them, work to support them, provide them with clean and adequate shelter. Make time for them, watch them, educate them. Teach them what is important and be willing to sacrifice for them. Be a positive role model for them. Friends and family are a blessing. Nurture these relationships. Be a good friend, a considerate neighbor, a loving family member, a loving parent and a productive member of society. Freedoms are a blessing, Vote. You are blessed. Thank God daily and show your appreciation.