Tag Archive | Eugene

Little Isabel and Rainy Days ~ Conclusion

Oct9
Photo used with permission.

Photo used with permission.

It seemed as if they had been in the cellar forever but if Isabel had been able to tell time, she would realize it had only been an hour. She sat on a wooden bench with her head in Mama’s lap and dozed as male voices droned on about the old days.

Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass and a loud thump made Mama jump; almost dumping Isabel on the dirt floor. “I’m sorry, Isabel,” Mama said with a soft, quivering voice. The quiver in Mama’s voice frightened the child more than the loud noises above them.

“Don’t worry. Probably just a broken window.” Papa stroked his chin and walked to the ladder leading to the trap door.

“We should wait a few minutes until we are sure the storm has died down,” Mr. Scott stepped ahead of Papa, climbed three rungs of the latter and put his ear to the trap door.

Isabel smiled at the sight of the man whose hair matched the wall. He also had red dirt smeared on his face, hands and shirt. She looked at her own dirty hands and then up at Mama who smiled.

~*~

Eugene followed Papa and looked up at the door. “I wonder if this is how Noah and his family felt?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it was raining hard outside for a long time and they were stuck inside the ark wondering.”

“Why didn’t they open the door and look out?” Curtis asked seriously.

“They couldn’t do that, silly. Remember? God shut the door!”

“What if lions, tigers and rats tried to eat them?” Curtis said with a smile.

“Did that happen, Mama?” Isabel’s enormous eyes turned to Mama.

“No dear.” Mama said softly. God protected them. The ark was a place of safety. God took care of them and of the animals that lived in a separate part of the ark. Noah and his family took care of the animals God sent to them.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Isabel looked at Mama cat curled on the floor at Mama’s feet with kittens cuddled closely. She reached to pet the velvety coats but Mama took Isabel’s hand into her own and then lifted her onto her lap.

“The kittens are like babies. They need lots of sleep.” As if on cue, Mama Cat opened her eyes and began grooming her little ones.

~*~

“Looks like we can go back upstairs now,” Mr. Scott said as he opened the trap door. “Doesn’t look too bad from here,” he said as he turned back toward the family. “Something smells awfully good too!”

“Oh, the stew,” Mama exclaimed as she lifted Isabel to the floor and rushed to the ladder. “I hope it didn’t burn. I remember sliding the pot to the back of the stove.”

“Ummm. Smells just right to me,” Papa said with a grin.

Mr. Scott stepped into the kitchen and reached for each of the children, cat, kittens, cradle, Mama and baby before Papa stepped into the kitchen, closing the trap door securely.

c45b46f862df9b41e062843447890c6fkitchen decoupage Maria Laura

Everyone stood in the kitchen as if afraid to move. “Well, it aint too bad,” Papa said as he ran his hands through his salt and pepper hair. I’ll cover that kitchen window with a tarp for now.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Mama said as she nodded toward the window. Looks like the rain has stopped and the fresh air feels wonderful. Just as she finished speaking, a hiss and a whine came from the basket near the stove. Mama Cat looked with consternation at two brown puppies shivering by the bowl formerly filled with cream. To everyone’s amazement, Mama Cat placed her kittens into the basket and then herded the puppies into the basket, lay beside them and began grooming them as if they were kittens.

“I’ve never seen anything like that.” Papa exclaimed and Mama smiled.

“She isn’t seeing puppies,” Mama said softly. “She just sees puppies in need of a mama. Now, why don’t you men clean up the glass and leaves that have blown in while I prepare lunch? Isabel, would you like to help me?”

Isabel nodded vigorously while Mama pulled out a flour sacking cloth and tied it around Isabel as an apron.

“Look!” Curtis pointed to the kitchen window to a beautiful double rainbow. Everyone ran to the window and Papa lifted Isabel to his shoulder.

“Jesus did keep us safe just like he did for Noah!”

“I know today isn’t Thanksgiving but today, I am very thankful,” Mr. Scott said as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and loudly blew his nose.

“Well then,” Mama said as she sliced bread and slathered them with butter. “Let’s sit around the table and give thanks.”

~*~

Later that evening as Mama was tucking Little Isabel into bed, Isabel reached for the toy rabbit her friend Sally Anne had given her at their first real tea party.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to have a tea party for your friend, dear.”

“That’s okay, Mama. This was more fun and Jesus gave us our own rainbow!”

Little Isabel and Rainy Days ~ Part 3 ~ Kittens and the Ark

Oct30

f31dfa774da41c0ae9ed08e203bdd205greenlikebathwater

 “Mama, did Jesus send the kittens because of the storm?” Isabel’s beautiful blue eyes looked to Mama for an answer.

“If He did, it wouldn’t be the first time He sent animals. Do you remember the Bible lesson we have been working on every morning?

Isabel twisted her hair while swaying to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof and windows while keeping her eyes on the kittens. “Noah’s Ark?”

“Yes, that’s right Isabel. You have been listening!” Mama said as she swept Little Isabel in her arms for a hug and butterfly kisses. “We will talk some more about Noah’s Ark but for now, we need to coax Mama Cat into bring her kittens inside the house where they will be warm and safe.”

“How will we do that?” Eugene asked loudly.

“Shhh,” Mama put her finger to her lips and motioned for the boys to join her and Isabel near the stove. “First, we need to stay very quiet. Cats are often afraid of people; especially noisy ones. Now that we have a box filled with soft flannel, we will need to coax Mama inside first. Then she will bring her kittens one at a time. Curtis, please fill that old chipped bowl with cream – not milk. She needs the extra nourishment and then I will place a trail of goodies leading from the tree limbs where she is hiding to the kitty bed.”

Isabel held her breath as Mama picked up the pan of scrambled eggs and dropped small pieces of egg from the porch to the box by the stove.

“Now, we must be very quiet and don’t move a muscle. Sit back at the table, finish your breakfast and try not to make a sound.” Mama said softly.

Isabel found sitting quietly was difficult when something so exciting was happening in this very room.

Papa filled his saucer with coffee again and slurped too loudly as Mama gave him a warning glance. Eugene and Curtis put their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing.

Soon, Mama Cat slowly entered the room. She sniffed the air and then gobbled up the eggs until she reached the warm box. Stepping inside the box, she kneaded the blanket while purring loudly.

“Mama,” Isabel whispered. “Does she think she’s making bread or biscuits?” Mama shook her head with a smile and put her finger back to her lips. Isabel turned back to the cat and watched as Mama Cat rubbed her chin on the corners of the box.

“Mama, does her chin itch?”

“She’s putting her scent on it so that she and the kittens will know they belong there,” Papa whispered a bit too loudly and the cat looked at him, walked to the table, rubbed against Papa’s leg and then sauntered to the back porch and brought the kittens one by one to the new warm bed.

“It looks like we have new members of our family,” Mama said softly and laughed gently as Papa rubbed the whiskers on his chin and shook his head from side to side before giving the family a slight smile of approval.

~*~

“I have an idea,” Mama said as she cleared the table and peered out the kitchen window as she poured boiling water and soap shavings into the dishpan. “It doesn’t look like this storm will end any time soon. Why don’t you children bring your animal carvings Papa made for you and bring them into the kitchen? When you come back into the kitchen, we can make a pretend Ark for the animals and you.”

Eugene picked up Isabel and put her on his shoulders as they dodged water droplets and puddles, jumped over bowls and pitchers collecting the water until they reached the curtain divided room.

~*~

“Guess what, Peter; you are going into Noah’s Ark!” Isabel chirped as she picked up the stuffed Peter Rabbit her friend Sally Anne had given her at their first tea party combined with birthdays for each girls a few weeks earlier. “Now Peter, how will we carry all of the toys Papa made for us?” Isabel placed Peter Rabbit near her ear and smiled. “Very good, Peter Rabbit. You are so smart! We’ll put them in the Easter basket!”

“Hey Sis,” Curtis said as he peeked through the curtain dividing their room. “Are you ready yet? It’s raining too much in here!”

~*~

Just as the children entered the kitchen, Papa entered from the back porch – dripping wet.

“I found it! This is a lot of canvas but it should work,” Papa said as he laid the large bundle on the kitchen table.

“Perfect!” Mama said as she dried her hands on her apron and reached into her sewing cabinet for a pair of large, sturdy scissors. The children watched wide eyed as Mama and Papa worked together to make a tent over the kitchen table which had been moved to a dry spot in the room.

“Let’s read about Noah from God’s Word, the Bible.” Mama reached for the Bible on the shelf as Papa slipped into the other rooms, cutting canvas and draping it over pieces of furniture before returning to the kitchen with two full buckets of water, dumped them into water barrels on the back porch and made another trip. By the time he had finished, Eugene, Curtis and Isabel were sitting patiently on the floor and baby Maggie slept soundly in her tented cradle.

Mama opened the Bible to Genesis and started to read. “Before we begin,” she said softly, “We will act out Noah’s story as I read. So when  we get to the building part what will we do?”

“We will pretend to be builders!” Curtis dipped his head as if to ask forgiveness for disturbing Mama Cat who stopped grooming her orange kitten and stared intently at the boy.

“That’s right Curtis. Now, I would like you to place all of your toy animals in Isabel’s basket and set it on my sewing machine.”

Eugene collected the animals, placed them in Isabel’s basket and placed the basket on the sewing machine at the far end of the room.

Papa entered the room with the bolt of canvas just as Mama began to read.

Miss Madison10441101_10203141061280662_7210698404753137386_n

The Vision of a Mother’s Heart ~ The Lesson

Jul29

Summertime is a wonderful time for families to do activities together. One day, the Greene boys decided to give their dog, Sandy a bath while their younger sisters were hanging sheets on the line for Mama. The result was a lot of fun for the children but extra work for “Mama,” especially since the sheets were dragged through the mud twice! What would you do? Did she fret or did she use the opportunity turn the bad event into something wonderful?

I’ll let you decide. This is a repost of a blog I posted last year. Happy reading!

What would you do if your dog pulled a clean sheet off the clothes line and dragged it through the mud? Isabel’s Mama turned it into an opportunity to share the Gospel. Read part of a chapter from The Vision of a Mother’s Heart to see how Mama used a dirty sheet to share the Gospel.


Isabel followed Mama and the children outside, helped her dump muddy water, and refilled the tubs with clean water for washing as Eugene built a fire under the wash water.
“Now,” said Mama, “This dirty, filthy sheet reminds me of something.”
“Mama,” said Maggie softly, “I don’t think it’s just dirt and mud…this one stinks!”
“Oh, Sandy, sighed Mama as she picked up the corner of the sheet and held it up for the children to see. Do you know what this reminds me of?”
“Sandy? Curtis asked with a wide grin on his face.”
“Doing laundry?”
“Sin,” said Maggie.
“Yes, said Mama, It does remind me of sin, especially since we continue to sin again and again but Jesus has washed us clean in His precious blood so that all the Father sees when He looks at us is the precious blood of His son…and not our dirty, stinky sin. However, that is not the lesson I came outside to teach you today.”
“It isn’t?” The children asked in unison.
“No, it isn’t,” said Mama as she walked around, showing the sheet to each child, making sure they got a good whiff as she passed by, “this sheet reminds me of my good works.”
Isabel could hear a gasp, her own amongst them.
“Isabel,” said Mama, “I have heard you often say lately that you are ‘doing a good deed today’ and I want to make sure that my children are not counting on good deeds to go to heaven.” Mama stopped and looked seriously at each of her children before she finished her thought.
“You see,” continued Mama, “the Bible says that all our good works are as filthy rags to the Lord. There is absolutely nothing that we can do to earn our way to heaven. God is so Holy, so good, that in comparison the very best we can do is…well like this filthy sheet.”
“Ugh, that’s really bad!” Isabel turned to see which brother had spoken but could not see for the tears in her eyes. If Mama’s good works are as nasty as that sheet, what about mine? The thought cut to her heart, Everybody has always told me that I’m a good girl; certainly not a sinner. Of course, everyone is a sinner, Isabel admitted to herself. She quoted Romans 3:23 quietly to herself.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”…that means me.
Isabel thought about the unkind words she had said about Sally Anne before she really knew her and suddenly, she remembered talking back to Papa in her heart and she thought of all the times her pride was hurt by the other girls at school and she knew without a doubt that Isabel Greene was indeed a sinner. Her heart pounded and her stomach churned as she remembered
Romans 6:23 which says that “the wages of sin is death”, and that means separation from God, we learned that in Sunday School. What was the rest of that verse? Oh yeah, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Isabel returned her focus to Mama who was just about to dip the sheet in to the wash water, which Isabel knew contained Clorox bleach, for she had noticed Mama pouring liquid from the brown bottle into the water while the children were talking amongst themselves. Isabel listened carefully as Mama continued to speak.
“Our good works will not get us to heaven. We cannot work our way to heaven, or buy our way. There is nothing we can do. Going to church does not save us either, she said quietly. There is only one way to heaven. Jesus said:
‘I am the way, the truth and the Life, no man cometh to the Father but by me.”
“ Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sin,” said Mama as she put the sheet into the soapy water, sloshing it around with her hands and rubbing it on the scrubbing board as she talked. “The Bible says
‘ Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool’,”
When she pulled the sheet out of the water, it was clean, and white.
Mama whispered something to Eugene who disappeared and quickly returned carrying Mama’s goody tin. Mama opened tin as she spoke.
“Salvation is a gift. A gift is free, you cannot earn it or it would not be a gift; nor can you purchase it. Do you understand what I am saying?” Mama said.
Isabel looked around to see if everyone understood and was surprised to see Sally Anne and some neighborhood children sitting in the grass with them. Isabel smiled and returned her attention to Mama and the important gift of salvation.
“Good,” said Mama,“I’m glad you understand and accept the Truth of the Word of God but you have not yet received the free gift, have you? All that is left for you to do is to receive God’s gift of salvation, just as I have this little gift for you.” Mama reached into her tin and pulled out a peppermint stick and offered it to Sally Anne who reached out and took it with a polite
“Thank you.”
“Now,” said Mama, “that gift is yours to keep and no one can take it from you; it belongs to you.
“Salvation is just as simple. You trusted me to give you a good gift and opened your hand to receive it; we call this faith. Trusting The Lord Jesus Christ for salvation is faith. John 1:12 says: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:”
“ When you receive Christ as your savior, you become a brand new creation. This is part of His gift…new life!” Mama gave a “gift” to everyone before continuing. “Part of receiving the gift of salvation, my dear children, is repentance. This means to be truly sorry for your sin, ask Jesus to forgive you and leave that sin with Him. Some preachers say it this way: ‘take your sin to the cross, lay it at the feet of Jesus then turn and go the other way.’ In other words, don’t go back to your old sinful way; remember, Jesus washed your filthy sins away, see the dirty water?”
The children stood up, looked into the tub of muddy water, and nodded.
“Mama,” said Isabel, “I want my sins cleaned away so that I will be white as snow.”
“Me too,” said Maggie with tears running down her rosy cheeks.
“Let’s pray together,” said Mama as she hugged each daughter close to her heart, then directed them to the back porch steps where they tearfully laid their sinful self at the cross, asking and receiving the forgiveness that Jesus extended to us all on the cross of Calvary. They opened their eyes as new creations in Christ.

The Vision of a Mother’s Heart.