Christmas Memories

          Christmas brings back so many great memories.  It always has been my favorite holiday.  And, long vacations from school helped make it my favorite as well.

          I think of trips on Christmas to be with family members - especially to Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Sunbury and Ephrata.  They were such special times.  I remember caroling and cantatas and Christmas meals.  Ironically I remember family members, many now in heaven, but I don't remember any of the presents I received, especially as a child.  I guess that might prove that people are more important than things.

          Now this might surprise you, but one of the things that I miss the most are my classroom experiences the last day we met before Christmas break.  For many years I had a special routine that allowed me to share my faith with my students in a very unusual way.

          On that day I taught my classes dressed as Santa Claus.  The class involved a number of special activities such as one which I will describe a little later.  I read parts of several Christmas classics to my class, including some things about Hanukkah, ending with the Christmas story from Luke.  I always had the full attention of my students, some of which had never heard these readings before.  I then shared what Christmas meant to me personally - a special opportunity probably unheard of in a public school. Over the years several students thanked me for this and I pray that somehow this time has had an effect on someone's life.  This is an opportunity which I miss each Christmas since I've retired.

          Now the class also included the singing of several of the math carols that I had written over the years.  Actually I have had a few students remind me of these years later.  Maybe that is all they remember from my math classes.  And after sharing these with other teachers including at a national math conference, I've heard that they have also been shared in other schools throughout the country.  Maybe I should have gotten then copyrighted.

          So let me close this Christmas blog with a few of them.  Try singing them - even if you've forgotten the mathematics.

OH ALGEBRA (OH CHRISTMAS TREE)

Oh algebra, oh algebra, how lovely are your properties, Oh algebra, oh algebra, how lovely are your properties. They show us how to operate, our feeble minds they stimulate. Oh algebra, oh algebra, how lovely are your properties.

BINOMIALS (JINGLE BELLS)

Binomials, binomials, add and multiply. Are the terms alike, or are they different? Oh my! Binomials, binomials, to multiply we toil, Distribute the monomial or multiply by FOIL.

TRICKY OLD TRIG-NOMETRY (JOLLY OLD SAINT NICHOLAS)

Tricky old trig-nometry, it's a useful art, Helps you find an angle, especially if you're smart. You can use the tangent or the cosine law, Careful with the 'rithmetic, so you don't have a flaw.

Use the secant ratio for a right triangle, Draw a picture first of all to help your thoughts untangle. Patience with your efforts, precision in your task, Soon the answer you will find, success will come at last.

MATHEMATICS, MY FAVORITE SUBJECT (RUDOLPH)

Mathematics, my favorite subject, is a very challenging class. And, if you ever take it, you will learn to love it fast.

In it we learn equations, linear, quadratic and more, We always do our homework, it will never become a bore.

For some future college day, professor just might say, "Students with your minds so bright, solve this problem right tonight!"

Then you will use this background, that some other kids have missed, With math you'll solve the problem and be named to the Dean's List!

I'M DREAMING OF A NICE PARABOLA (I'M DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS) I'm dreaming of a nice parabola, just like the ones we used to draw,

With a fixed directrix, a single focus, a vertex which on the graph doth fall. I'm dreaming of a nice parabola, with every quadratic that I see,

May your thoughts be second degree, as you sketch a parabola for me.

Have a very merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2021!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 We want to wish you a blessed Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2022.  May the Lord protect you and guide you and your family through these challenging days.

"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;

His greatness no one can fathom"  Psalm 145:3

          This past year has been a challenging one for us but we thank the Lord for His presence, provision, peace and guidance.  We have been isolated now from our family and friends for nearly two years.  A few months ago we lost the contents of our freezer from an electrical problem that required a new electrical box.  But PTL nothing else, including our house, was damaged.  We have kept our doctors busy with about 145 visits, tests and procedures this year, including 20 trips to Hershey for Barry's treatments.  And this does not include the three weeks Dianne spent in the hospital and a nursing home after a fall.  But God is good and we thank Him for each new day that He gives us.

          The isolation has also kept us from continuing many of the ministries that we previously had.  However, Dianne continues a ministry of encouragement by corresponding online and by phone with many of our friends.  Barry continues running our church prayer chain as we have now done for 50 years.  He also continues his two blogs. His hymn blog reaches folks all over the world with about 1,000 visiting each week.  So we thank the Lord for these opportunities to still minister to others.

          We thank Him, too, for our sons and their wives.  Craig is CEO/President of the Codorus Valley Bancorp and Kisha loves to entertain.  Ken is President of Moore Engineering and Sandy teaches special needs children at Warwick.  Tim is Chief Administrative Officer for Meridian Products and Wendy is a busy housewife who coordinates their busy household.

          And we are very thankful for our grandchildren.  Zachary is doing editing for a company online and he has been a tremendous help in doing work and errands for us.  Josh completed his PhD in chemistry at Penn State and is now working for Colgate Palmolive in New Jersey.  He and Corine, a chem teacher at LS, plan to be married in April.  Taylor continues to work with the DiscipleMakers ministry, but now remotely from Massachusetts.  Her husband, Daniel, completed his PhD. In chemical engineering, also at Penn State, and is now working for Bristol-Myers Squibb.  Noah is a student at Salus University where he is working to obtain his degree in eye care.  Chloe is a senior at Messiah College and she is hoping to attend graduate school.  Lexie is a senior in high school and is presently applying to colleges to continue her education.  Brodie is a tenth grader at Conestoga Valley and is very interested in sports.  We are thankful that all of them love the Lord and are serving Him.  They are all answers to our prayers.

          So we enter a new year trusting in the Lord's continued leading. We do miss the fellowship with our friends, like you, and would welcome hearing from you.

          Take care and keep looking up.

         

    Dianne and Barry Kauffman

Five Steps

          The pandemic has resulted in many changes in our lives that we never expected to make.  Three years ago I would have laughed at you if you had suggested that we would turn to worshipping online each Sunday.  But we have.

          Both of us have physical problems that have made it dangerous for us to expose ourselves to possible covid infections.  We must admit that we are very disappointed that church attendees do not consider people like us as they maintain their personal "rights" to attend church without masks.  Personally I belive that this attitude is selfish and wrong for Christians to have that attitude.  And churches make no attempt to keep folks like us at home involved.  We become the forgotten congregation.  But that is a subject for another day.

           So with no safe place available for us to attend in person, the Lord has led us to the streaming services of Stonebriar Community Church in Texas.  Chuck Swindoll is pastor there and his preaching is sound and helpful

          We also enjoy their outstanding music – professional musicians, great choir and many ensembles.  Excellent!  And their services include both old and new hymns and we can sing along with them.  It has become a worshipful experience for us – all we miss is fellowship.

          Recent Swindoll has done a series on Integrity.  One of his sermons was on Habakkuk.  In his conclusions that week he made four points which he encouraged us to write in our Bibles.  Let me share them with you.

 

1.     GOD IS ABLE, I AM NOT

If we understand who God is, we should not keep trying to solve our problems ourselves.  We can't.

 

2.     GOD KNOWS WHAT IS BEST, I DO NOT

We may think that we know what is best, but He is omniscient and what we often think might be the correct solution may not be.  Trust Him.

 

3.     GOD SEES ALL, I CANNOT

He knows where we are headed and what is ahead.  Our decisions may be shortsighted.

 

4.     GOD SHOULD HAVE HIS WAY, I SHOULD NOT

Isn't this what we really want?  But instead we often worry and rush ahead with our solutions.

 

5.     GOD MUST BE GLORIFIED THROUGH THIS, I SHOULD NOT

May we never forget this step.  To God be the glory!

 

          I have written these steps in my Bible and am trying to remember them as the challenges of life roll on.  What a mighty and glorious God we serve.  God is so good!

          Maybe these five steps will be good reminders to you as well.  Have a good week!

Choices

          Have you ever wondered how your life might have been if you made other choices that were once available to you?

          A physical challenge has recently made me take 25 trips to a medical clinic in Hershey.  We've also made two side trips to Elizabethtown.  These trips have made me ask myself this question.  

          When I was graduating from Susquehanna University in 1963 I had three interviews for teaching jobs – Hershey, Elizabethtown and Penn Manor – and all three offered me a job. Did I make the right choice?

          On each trip to Hershey we passed the old high school where I would have taught as well as their new more modern high school building.  Hershey appears to be a nice, clean town and their educational program is highly rated.  I doubt that I would have gone wrong if I had accepted their offer.  But I just didn't feel very interested or comfortable after the interview.  However, I do wonder what would have happened to my career and family had I said yes.

          Now Elizabethtown was a different situation.  Both my wife and I had lived there, actually about five blocks apart for about two years, even though we didn't know each other at that time.  We both have many good memories and a few weeks ago we even visited the areas where we had lived.  Our old elementary school has been torn down.  Her home looked a little different. My home that was on the campus of Elizabethtown College has also been torn down and replaced by a college building.  But the big campus yard that I played in is unchanged.

          Now I really wanted to go back to Elizabethtown but the teaching job that they offered me was not the least bit interesting.  They wanted me to teach all low level math courses.  I reluctantly said no.

          Then there was Penn Manor, a school that I didn't know much about.  And they didn't even have football.  But they gave me a good schedule and I said yes.  And for 39 years I enjoyed myself.  I had many great opportunities there and I knew I was where the Lord had placed me.

           Years later I was also offered similar jobs as department chairman at Ephrata High and then at Manheim Township.  Both thought they could offer me more than I had at Penn Manor, but they couldn't.  And I had no reason to change.  I was where the Lord wanted me to be.

            But in my second year of teaching I was contacted by the former sports publicist at Susquehanna.  I worked for him at Susquehanna and he and his wife became friends of Dianne and me.  He had just taken the job of public relations director at Wagner College in Staten Island.  He needed a sports publicist to work with him there and he offered the job to me.  It was tempting but Wagner was not a location where I wanted to raise my family.  But who knows where we would be today if I had accepted.

           Now as I look back at the past 60 years I am thankful for all the opportunities I have had not only in education but in ministry as well.  I never could have dreamed of all of them back when I was making major decisions.   But the Lord knew and He provided and helped me make the right choices.

           There is a hymn that shares my testimony.  Maybe it could be sung at my funeral as praise and thanks to the Lord.

 

Some day life's journey will be o'er

And I shall reach that distant shore,

I'll sing while ent'ring Heaven's door

"Jesus led me all the way."

Jesus led me all the way,

Led me step by step each day;

I will tell the saints and angels

As I lay my burden down

"Jesus led me all the way.

 

If God should let me there review

The winding paths of earth I knew,

It would be proven clear and true

Jesus led me all the way.

Jesus led me all the way,

Led me step by step each day;

I will tell the saints and angels

As I lay my burden down

"Jesus led me all the way.

 

And hitherto my Lord has led,

Today He guides each step I tread,

And soon in Heav'n it will be said

Jesus led me all the way.

Jesus led me all the way,

Led me step by step each day;

I will tell the saints and angels

As I lay my burden down

"Jesus led me all the way.

Thanksgiving

          I trust that you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We do have so much to be thankful for.  God has been so good to us.

         So because of Thanksgiving I want to do two things here this week.  The first is to share some laughs.  So here goes.

 

THANKSGIVING ONE-LINERS

 

What do Thanksgiving and Halloween have in common?

One has gobblers, the other goblins.

 

What did the turkey say to the computer?

Google, google, google!

 

What kind of face does a pilgrim make when he's in pain?

Pil-grimace.

 

What's the best way to stuff a turkey?

Serve him lots of pizza and ice cream.

 

What sound does a limping turkey make?

Wobble, wobble!

 

What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?

Pumpkin pi.

 

What's the most musical part of a turkey?

The drumstick.

 

When is the turkey soup bad for your health?

When you are the turkey.

 

Why can't you take a turkey to church?

They use fowl language

 

What do you call a running turkey?

Fast food.

 

Pilgrims were still alive, what would they be known for?

Their age.

 

          Enough of that.  Secondly on a more serious manner I would like to share the words of a prayer chorus that we often used when working with children.  It shares some of the important things that we should thank the Lord for.

 

For mother's love and Father's care,

For food to eat and clothes to wear,

For home and friends and answered prayer,

I thank Thee, Lord.

 

But most of all my thanks shall be

That on the Cross of Calvary,

The Savior gave His life for me,

I thank Thee Lord.

 

          I also thank you for taking time to stop by and read this blog.  There is never anything profound here but about 25 of you keep dropping by and humoring me.  I've often thought about quitting this blog and at some point I probably will.  But right now it gives me a way to communicate with others during a time of isolation and pandemic.  It forces me to think and attempt to do something constructive.

          But I am also thankful for my hymn blog which gets almost 1,000 hits each week.  I'm especially thankful for the many comments I receive from all over the world.  They are an encouragement to me.  Here is one I just received this week.

          "I minister with a few folks in total theatre for expressing and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We just sang "In this Very Room" at an ordination accompanied by an interpretation that this VERY Room is not only the space we are in but the very redeemed body which has become the Temple of The Holy Spirit. The Love, Joy, Hope and Power are there because God is with us at all times.  It is a great song. Your story is beautiful and, as God anoints all great works that exalt Him, this song expands for God's purposes in the lives and hearts of so many through the generations. Thank you for the gift and may the Lord bless and keep you, recompense you according as you and your wife have labored and given to so many."

          Let me close this Thanksgiving blog by sharing a comment that I just received from David, a reader in South Africa.

          "Hello my name is David from South Africa and a born again Christian and love the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To me He is my everything my Alpha and Omega.  When I wake up in the morning I glorify Jesus and at night when I go to sleep I glorify Jesus. When I first heard this song Oh When I Come to the End of My Journey by Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, the presence of the Holy Spirit came all over me and I began to weep and there was a joy unspeakable and full of glory that permeated my room. Thank you my Brother in Christ and bless you for this amazing song by Sister Lucie Campbell.  May the Lord Jesus shower His Grace and Mercy to you and your beautiful family. And continue His Work.  Kind regards, David"

 

Headlines

          Much of my life was spent working on newspapers.  I've worked on the editorial staffs of the Lancaster Sunday News, the Sunbury Daily Item, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal and the Lititz Record Express. The experience I gained during a variety of assignments was invaluable.

          Only the Lititz Record Express provided me with the experience of writing headlines.  This was always a challenge since you needed to summarize the article in just a few words.

          Over the years many newspapers have failed in the creation of their headlines.  Here are some of those that didn't do too well.

 

·        Barbershop singers bring joy to school for deaf

      *     Bridges help people cross rivers

      *.    City unsure why sewer smells

      *.    17 remain dead in morgue shooting spree

      *.    Starvation can lead to health hazards

      *.    Man accused of killing lawyer receives a new attorney

      *.    Parents keep kids home to protest school closure

      *.    Hospitals resort to hiring doctors

      *.    Federal agents raid gun shop, find weapons

      *.    Total lunar eclipse will be broadcast live on Northwoods public radio

      *.    Diana was still alive hours before she died

      *.    Meeting on open meetings is closed

      *.    New sick policy requires 2-day notice 

      *.    Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25

      *.    Bugs flying around with wings are flying bugs

      *.    Study shows frequent sex enhances pregnancy chances

      *.    Marijuana issue sent to a joint committee

      *.    Worker suffers leg pain after crane drops 800-pound ball on his head.

 

          If biblical events were being covered by today's media you might get the following headlines

 

On Red Sea crossing:

WETLANDS TRAMPLED IN LABOR STRIKE

Enforcement Officials Killed While Pursuing Unruly Mob

 

On David vs. Goliath:

HATE CRIME KILLS BELOVED CHAMPION OF RELIEF TROOPS

Psychologist Questions Significance of Rock Used as Weapon

 

On the prophet Elijah on Mt. Carmel:

FIRE SENDS RELIGIOUS ACTIVIST INTO FRENZY

400 Killed In Unprovoked Attack

 

On the birth of Christ:

HOTELS FULL, ANIMALS EJECTED FROM SHELTER

Animal Rights Advocates Enraged by Insensitive Couple

 

On feeding the 5,000:

LAY PREACHER STEALS CHILD'S LUNCH

Disciples Mystified Over Behavior

 

On healing the 10 lepers:

QUACK PREYS ON TERMINALLY ILL

Authorities Investigating Use of Non-traditional Medical Procedure

 

On healing of the two demon-possessed men in Gadarenes:

MADMAN CAUSES STAMPEDE

Local Farmer Faces Bankruptcy After Loss of Hogs

 

On raising Lazarus from the dead:

ITINERANT PREACHER RAISES STINK

Will Now Being Contested by Lawyers of Heirs

 

          So read your newspaper today but be careful about interpreting the headlines.

Questions

         I know I don't have any special wisdom.  I am terrible about trivia.  And I generally try to keep my mouth shut rather than opening it and sharing how little I really know.  But there are numerous situations I am observing that I really don't understand.

          For example, with the obvious danger of getting covid if you don't get the vaccines, why don't more of my friends get the shots?  Over 4,000 folks in Pennsylvania are getting covid each day so why do folks continue to take this gamble.  In the last two weeks four of our friends have caught it.  One died in the hospital, another is in the hospital on a ventilator, two others had mild cases and will probably not need to go to the hospital.  I don't understand their decisions.

          I don't understand why medical facilities have relaxed their entrance procedures.  Were they not effective?  Do they think the threat of covid is over? Are they tired of taking criticism from the people they serve?  The local health campus and a medical center we use do very little screening anymore.  Last week I went to my family doctor.  This time I was asked no questions about covid exposure and no temperature was taken when I entered.  Just come as you are – like it was before the pandemic.  I don't understand that.

           I don't understand how folks get a religious exemption from getting the shots.  What Bible verse do they use to defend their request?  Maybe Hezekiah 20:21, "Thou shall not get a covid shot."  I don't know.  Does a pastor write an excuse for them?  We have a friend who is a nurse at a medical facility that we often use.  She received a medical exception.  Then she tested positive for covid.  It is interesting that a specialist from that facility told my wife that if my wife didn't have the shots and came to the hospital for treatment, he wouldn't treat her.  Fortunately my wife now has three shots.  But I don't understand religious exceptions.

          I don't understand why there is so much fuss about wearing masks in school. Most kids have no trouble wearing them.  And they help keep children safe.  Why wouldn't a parent want that?  The bottom line is that many folks just don't want to be told what to do.  We all want our own rights.

          And I don't understand why churches abandon their members who choose not to attend services for fear of covid.  With so many conservative folks living as anti-masking and anti-vaccine, church is not the safest place to be if you have a low immune system.  But when you no longer attend in building services you are often forgotten.  No visits, no telephone calls, no church bulletins or announcements, no personal attention.  It can be like you died and I don't understand that at all.  But that may be a subject for another day.

          And I don't understand our government at all, but who does?  Why are we giving huge stipends to refugees who have broken the laws to come to this country?  Why is our governor giving government employees who get the vaccines special vacations with pay?  Where is that money coming from for these unusual expenditures?  Probably it will come from the same places that will be used by President Biden to fund all of his new major laws.  Increase the national debt and tax the rich to give to the poor – more evidence of socialism taking over in our country.

          And I don't understand why I even question these things in a public blog.  All I might do is stir up more controversy since so many of my "friends" have opposite opinions.  I should avoid these topics

before I lose more "friends".  But I may be safe since very few of these folks even read this blog anymore.

          Then I don't know why I even think about these problems.  I should have better things to do, like take a nap or enjoy a snack.

November 5, 6 Memories

          Time passes but memories seldom do.  And sometimes memories are brought back to us by things we can't control.

          This week the calendar dates of Friday and Saturday brought back difficult memories from 28 years ago.  My how time flies.

          It was Friday, November 5, 1993 when my mother observed her 72^nd birthday.  We never did much to celebrate birthdays but this year each of her children, their spouses and her grandchildren individually took time to drop in during the day to visit her and wish her a happy birthday.  That was unusual but I believe that the Lord planned this.

          It was a good day and now it is a great memory.

          The following day, Saturday, November 6, my wife and I left early in the morning to drive to State College to attend the Penn State – Indiana football game.  We had a good time especially since Penn State won, 38-31.

          We decided to go home by the way of Selinsgrove since my mother-in-law was not well.  We stopped for something to eat at a fast food spot – I think it was Hardees – near Middleburg.  When we arrived at my wife's parent's mobile home my father-in-law greeted us and told us that we had to immediately call my son because my parents had been in an auto accident.

          We called Craig who told us that my mother had been killed and that my father was in the hospital.  He was the only family member the police were able to contact.  We immediately headed home stopping only at a restaurant to go to the bathroom before reaching Lancaster.  Fortunately no police saw us because we made the trip in record time.

          When we arrived at the hospital we met Craig, my sister and her husband, and our pastor.  My brother and his wife had also been out of town and they arrived a little later.  It was a sad and stunned gathering.  An elder from our church also arrived to be with us.

          Together we went to see my father who did not have any serious injuries.  He had already been told about my mother.  He ended up being admitted for observation and was released a few days later.

          Then we asked if we could see my mother.  That was a mistake because she looked terrible and was still hooked up to hospital equipment.  I will never forget that sight.  They told us that she had died instantly although later we heard some conflicting information that said she was still alive when she was taken out of the car.  No matter which was true, she was then with her Lord in heaven.  All of her physical problems, which were many, were then all resolved.

          We then learned that a teen on his way to work ran through a traffic light and hit my parent's broadside.  My parents were on the way home from shopping.   Apparently the boy's parents came to the scene and quickly took him away so the police did not have an immediate chance to examine him.  There were some stories that he might have been drinking earlier in the day but there was no evidence available about his condition at the time of the accident.  So we will never know if he was sober.

           The next few weeks were very busy.  We had a private service and burial attended by family and a few friends and family.  A very heavily attended memorial service followed in our church.  The number of people who came to give their respects stunned us.  Mother had many friends throughout our denomination and community.  We had to cut off the visitation line and the service actually started an hour late.  Many stayed after the service to talk to us.

          My wife and I stayed with dad for about a week and then he lived alone for another 16 years until the Lord took him home.  He never complained but he missed her deeply.  He displayed his faith and trust in the Lord that he had shared with us all of his life.  His faith was real and was an example to all of us.

           I still miss my mother and often wish that I could talk to her again but I know where she is and know that someday I will see her again.  Mother had many physical problems but God kept her from going through all the suffering that so many older folks face in nursing homes.  I am so thankful for that.

          But specifically, Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6, even in 2021, bring back many memories.