Barbara Walters is My Professor( man, I am so smart)

Hi Kids! it's me again- YEP, things are kinda slowin down here on the farm. Most of the crops are gone- we still are picking Peppers but The corn stalks are dry and ready to be used for decorations ! REFORMATION DAY is soon approaching... which character is your child going to dress up like??? Luther?.... or Calvin??..... I am thinking about going as the Bad guy, ERASMUS- His costume is easy, I just gotta find a monk's robe and a copy of the Vulgate and I'll be ready to fill my bags with candy.. I am so excited ... yep.. things are not as busy lately. Maria and I went to Birmingham for the Callaway Family Association meeting last week and we had a wonderful time. I did NOT take John Calvin's laptop with me so NO INTERNET for FOUR DAYS( Idid'nt even miss facebook.. not in the least, I can quit anytime I want, I only do it recreationally...ok Ya got me.. I was miserable).. well... no internet means ya gotta find an electronic screen of some sort to stare at.. so I looked desperately around the Motel 6 room and I FOUND IT.. yep.. my old friend , The TELEVISION was waiting there for me. The continuous splash of colors and noise baptised me with comfort.. the TV shaped void in my heart was filled with images , information, and endless chatter- and for a little while I was happy... I was really happy the day I channel surfed and landed on " The View"....yep.. The Show started by Barbara Walters . You all know it- It's the Show hosted by a bunch of Bossy women that appeals to Bossy women... well.. I digress...it was good to see Barb again- I grew up watching her. She told me the news when I was young.. and I liked her.. and then as I got a little older, I started noticing that Barb( and a lot of her friends on TV) started telling me WHAT and HOW to think.!! Their "air" of intellectual superiority slapped me up side the head through the Tv screen. Why... during the George W. Bush administration, Barb even told me how RIDICULOUS President Bush's religious views were.. Barb constantly belittled, laughed, scorned, ridiculed, and scoffed at GW's belief in a PERSONAL GOD that you can TALK to, a GOD that has revealed Himself thru His Son Jesus Christ, a God who speaks to your heart through His Word and through yearnings in your heart. Barbara told me that NOONE ..(.especially the President) should be making decisions based on conversations with God, spiritual feelings, and the like.. she urged GW and ALL of us to think RATIONALLY and leave the "spiritual stuff" aside when we are making decisions- and BOY did they all laugh... Barb and her TV friends yucked it up every day about all this "faith" talk from GWB.... well... THINGS MUST HAVE CHANGED... because the day I visited Barb and the View they were talking to one of Ms. Walter's friends,... and this lady has a UNIQUE gift, a unique belief.. Barb's friend TALKS to dead people.. yep.. it's true .. and Barb must have changed her VIEW on Spiritual "things" because she cautioned the audience that her friend really believes this stuff .. it's very precious and dear to her .. so.. we must respect her.. and we should'nt laugh.. or make fun.. it's like her faith. It's brought peace and harmony to her life and to the life of her family. so we should repect her.. even if we disagree... Thanks Barbara.. for teaching me so much.. I'm so smart now.. I know WHICH beliefs to laugh at.. and it'sALL because of you.. in closing.. I gotta say it WAS really cool at the end of the show when Joy Behar asked the Dead talking lady how Michael Jackson is doing now..... Good News Kids.. MJ is a-ok... he is watching all of us.. and he is happy... Hey are yall laughing about MJ??? ya better watch it... I'm calling BARB.....

WHERE HAVE ALL "MY" CHILDREN GONE?(long time passing)

It happens about every three years... without fail- someone.. or some THING comes and takes them away. My wife and I have to say good-bye.. and it's tough- sometimes we have them for 3 or 4 years... and then they vanish... Maria and I are starting to get used to this strange thing that happens... ( well, not REALLY)... you see one day, we are hearing wonderful stories about dolls, jet-planes, boat rides, birthday parties, puppies, and kittens. The "boo-boos" on elbows and shins are proudly displayed as red badges of courage -" Mr. Callaway, I went ALL the way to the top of the monkey bars- and I was'nt even afraid!" They tell me about their friends at school and in the neighborhood- they tell me what's going on at home( yep... they tell me everything- so watch out!)We laugh together ..and we get "watery eyes" together..... and THEN??? they disappear... they go away never to return... I think of them often..- There is one little girl in particular that I could always count on for a laugh and a tear- One day, we were doing the lesson on King David, and when you're teaching 6 and 7 year olds, you have to be creative when you are explaining the sin of adultery... so I said ," King David walks around on his roof after sleeping all day, and he sees a beautiful woman down below at her house . He thinks to himself," She's beautiful, I think I will take her from her husband and make her my wife.." before I could finish my pasteurized, G-rated, version of David's fornication, that little girl raised her hand and said, " That was'nt the ONLY thing he was thinking Mr. Callaway!!!-He was also thinking" OH BABY!!!"... needless to say , I turned my face away so that she could'nt see me smile- I held my laughter back, and continued with the lesson.. besides- she was right.. David PROBABLY was thinking OH BABY!!! The Honesty and transparency of my little friends brings laughter. but this little girl also brought me tears when she told me one day, " Mr. Callaway, It's hard when you are little and your parents don't want to stay together"...Watery eyes.. mine and hers... This little friend of mine went away with the others... sometimes in the hallways of the church I see older children that look like them.. they are taller, their voices sound different, the clothes they wear are different from what my little friends wore... and besides.. they CA'nt be my little friends.. my young friends always shouted to me across the hall, " hey Mr. Callaway", they'd wave and smile.. they'd run up to me and hug me... these boys and girls that I see now across the hall??? well..They hardly ever talk to me,,,they are busy talking to their friends... they look almost grown up... I bet they NEVER talk about puppies and kittens and jet planes.. uh oh.... watery eyes...