Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

Fritz the Freeloader

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Fritz“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Meade

We were never without adventure when we boarded a bus, train or taxi in Eastern Europe. If you have traveled abroad, you are sure to have had similar experiences.

Being a “first-timer” in the Baltics, I was intrigued with their customs and tried my best not to miss anything. Actually, it was crucial that you paid attention to detail, especially if you didn’t want to get a ticket, or a “protocol”, as it was called in Latvia.

The metro systems are very crowded, as I have mentioned in previous posts. To own a car is almost a luxury in the city, to add on licensing and insurance makes it impossible for many. The public transportation system is quite good and efficient and there is an abundance of bus stops that come about every ten minutes. Once on board, you had better pay attention though, you have to be vigilant and on guard, ready to fight your way off when your stop is coming up!

There were always those on public transportation that tried to “beat the system”, just as there are here in the States. In Riga, you could buy a ticket that you would validate every time you jumped on the bus. If you happened to forget to do that, terrible things could happen. (Scary music begins to play in the background).

Now remember, we were three hours from the Russian border.

Envision just like my mother did, the KGB on every corner just waiting to whisk you away if you even looked American. Okay, it wasn’t just my mother; I went over with those same thoughts in my head too. You can’t help but feel that way being in a country that has only had their independence since 1991.

So we are on the bus, and if you forgot to validate your ticket these scary looking people, appropriately called CONTROLLERS, get on, randomly, three to four at a time to check your passes. It is the most terrifying thing ever! If you don’t have your ticket validated, guess what they do?!

They take you off the bus and…..they…..leave you there along the side of the road!

Yep, that’s it. Unless you are a criminal of some sort I guess you might get hauled away. But other than that you are just left to walk.

But let me tell you it is pretty scary! Especially if you are a girl all alone in Eastern Europe and you have finally gotten brave enough to take the bus back to your apartment BY YOURSELF without THE SWEETHEART. You have no idea how HUGE that really was!! I got on the bus and checked my shoulder bag, reached into the zippered pocket where I kept my ticket and it was empty! Oh. My. Dear. Lord. In. Heaven. I was already sitting down. I thought I would throw up. Seriously throw up. There was another pocket on the outside! Empty. Dear Jesus. This cannot be happening to me. I know I just said all they do is let you out on the side of the road but I DON’T LIVE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!! This isn’t Indiana! We are not in Kansas, Dorothy!!

Panic has set in. You know all of those articles I have written about fear? I hadn’t written them yet! They are going to let me off in the middle of NO-WHERE with no ticket and no money and my cellphone is dead. This little purse over the shoulder is not very big because all of the missionaries tell you not to carry a big bag so you won’t get mugged but I am clawing that thing inside out to no avail.  I had never left Doogalas or Korey’s side for one single minute since we had boarded that plane in Indianapolis. I had clung to them for dear life in every public place until they were exhausted and they had finally gotten me out of my comfort zone to do this one BIG GIRL thing and I am falling into the Twilight Zone.

Then it hits me. Check your coat, stupid. And sure enough I had put the ticket in my coat pocket just as soon as The Sweetheart had handed it to me. I feel like a ten year old.

Not everyone is as nervous on the bus as I was. Some people get on, off, on and off, no big deal.

I have been bumped, bruised, literally, burped on, sat on, stepped on, and even had one lay their head on me for a while.

But Fritz beat them all. He was a Freeloader. You say you have seen freeloaders too? Not like Fritz you haven’t. He didn’t even care that he was cheating the system; he was brazen about it, jumped on, jumped off, right in front of everybody and just dared you to do something about it.

We didn’t see him coming. He just came out of nowhere, bumped into the middle of the crowd, he was smelly, hadn’t bathed in weeks, of that I was sure. He wasn’t polite, but he didn’t take anyone’s seat either. Just found his place and stood there until the next stop. Then he just kind of looked around as we all stared at him and then he sauntered off. We whispered among ourselves and next thing we know, he gets back on! He still doesn’t have a ticket!

Fritz didn’t care if the controllers were on or not! He wasn’t afraid of them either. I kind of liked his spunk, but I wasn’t brave like Fritz. He took chances, maybe because he had seen it all, done it all and just didn’t care anymore. Maybe he wanted to get caught. Perhaps he needed the attention, some are like that. He could have been hoping to get a hot meal, thinking maybe if he got on the bus someone would feel sorry for him, take him home with them and let him stay for dinner. Poor Fritz, that didn’t happen that day, so he just kept getting on, off, on, off, on off.

He knew we were staring. I’m sure he had felt it before. He had been rejected, been pushed around, his kind usually is. Nobody wants to get too close, let someone else help him. We ignored him, all of us. We let him go on his way. We all hoped someone else would pick him up out of the cold and take him in. Give him a bite, keep him warm. Give him a place to sleep for the night. It was too much trouble. We were too busy, we had places to go, schedules to keep, things that just had to get done.

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“Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” Matthew 25:37-40.

Fritz the Freeloader may not have been what you thought he was going to be but there are plenty of people that fit his description, and I don’t mean the physical. He really did get on and off the bus like he owned the place! God help us if we are ever too good or too busy to stop and help someone in need. And it truly does start in our heart.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men…” Philippians 2:5-7.

Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, He asked Peter if he loved Him. “Do you love Me?” He asked three times! (John 21:15-17). When Peter said he did, Jesus didn’t reply, “Okay, then go do this for ME, bring ME this, give ME that.”

You know what He said? “Feed my sheep.”

Take care of the needs of my people. That is the definition of a servant of God.

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I am Proud to be a Skibo!

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Smithville is just a little curve on the map. Southern Indiana is made more beautiful by Lake Monroe and you just have to drive south through Smithville  to get there. Small town life was wonderful, growing up in the country, but access to Indiana University, just fifteen minutes away, gave us a wide variety of educational opportunities.

When I started school in the mid-sixties, kindergarten wasn’t required for another couple of years. We were still blessed to be able to stay at the same school until graduation. You had one teacher for each grade up through the fifth grade. We still recited the pledge of allegiance every morning before school began and I also remember in the first and second grades my teachers even prayed with us before class! My, how times have changed.

A school’s greatest pride was their mascot. It stood for strength, stability, endurance, sportsmanship, loyalty, and yes, even MANHOOD. Schools had big and strong mascots like lions, and tigers and bears, oh my! I couldn’t resist. Menacing animals on the prowl such as cougars, panthers, and wolves, along with the bulldogs, rams and even the soaring eagles, were stately mascots that any school would be proud to have.

Present at most sporting events, his job was to get the crowd excited before the team came out and the game began. Then he would usually stay with the cheerleaders and entertain the spectators in the bleachers throughout the game. And at halftime? Well, he was ready to go!

Smithville was no exception when it came to school pride. Now whether all of the other mascots were taken at the turn of the century I do not know. I like to think our school overflowed with originality. Surely they knew their mascot would be the brunt of jokes, would be laughed at, poked fun at, and forever the stigma would follow them when the big double doors would open and out would waddle…….. a SKIBO, “What in the world is a SKIBO?!”

To Smithville School a Skibo was a Penguin, the cutest black and white, tuxedo-clad little guy that would become the center of pride and joy for the community for decades.  The only other reference to the word Skibo that can even be found anywhere on the internet is to the Skibo Castle in Scotland! Two meanings for the name are mentioned, one which in turn comes from an Old Norse name meaning firewood steading and the other derives from the word schytherbolle, which is Gaelic for fairyland.

image-1I highly doubt the Smithville Skibo got its name from the Scottish Castle so I guess we will forever speculate about its origin. The Smithville Historic Society has a wonderful collection of memorabilia and even one of the local historians, Rosemary Wisely, acknowledged there is no record of the decision-making process for the name of the famed mascot. And if memory serves me correct, the Skibo was even affectionately named, “Sammy”, he just becomes more fearless all the time…

Now before you think I am making light of my beloved alma mater, let me set the record straight in more ways than one. Smithville played some mean basketball! They have a room full of trophies in Historic Redman Hall as living proof that time and time again that Skibo shuffled his way out on the gymnasium floor, worked that crowd into a fevered frenzy and then those boys played Indiana basketball! Hoosiers love their basketball and the Skibo’s lived up to the title. We were Skibo-proud!

It didn’t matter to the Smithville team what their mascot looked like, they had team spirit. And team spirit took precedence over looks. When they were unified they could do anything and they proved it every time they got on that court.  I was still in the sixth grade when the powers-that-be re-districted and decided some of the smaller outlying schools were going to have to close down their middle and high schools and send them into the city. I can remember going to the last few games, those players were bigger than life to me, literally and figuratively. And all too soon a way of life was about to become a thing of the past.

Even though the Skibo was different, it didn’t matter to the kids at Smithville. They were willing to endure the humiliation, the guffaws, the laughs and the hee-haws to prove that they were just as good as the next guy. You may think I am grasping at straws today but really I’m not. I wasn’t having a slow day either. I was having a nostalgic day. I’m intrigued by the underdog and those that associate with such heroes.

I was reminded of another such champion this weekend…

He wasn’t popular, He wasn’t fierce, He certainly wasn’t a superhero to the Sanhedrin, the Romans and those that were determined to see Him nailed to a tree. He didn’t come into this world as a King, He came as a baby. He didn’t make His triumphant entry as a conquering general but as a lowly servant on a young colt.

To call it a Triumphant Entry to a Roman would have been a slap in the face! Only a Roman general would have been worthy of that honor having won a complete victory and killed at least 5,000 enemy soldiers.  When the general returned to Rome from battle he would be honored with an elaborate parade. There were treasures captured from the enemy and then the prisoners were marched in front of the crowd. His soldiers marched by and then the general himself rode in a golden chariot pulled by magnificent horses. Even some prisoners were thrown to wild animals as entertainment for the crowd. This was considered a Triumphant Entry, not Jesus sitting on a pony.

He was a true Champion. And yet He was not seeking fame. He didn’t have to. He was the Savior of the world. Yet He suffered, He grieved, He was tormented! All of the humiliation and insults He endured were  for you and me. “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself  to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:23-24.

Forever we will be indebted to the One who paid the price and gave His life so we wouldn’t have to. The stone was rolled away. But Easter didn’t end over the weekend; it just began with the empty tomb! He arose, He sent the Comforter, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, Christ in you the Hope of Glory! This is the promise that He is coming back to get us and our assurance that we can rise to meet Him again.

If you’re ever in Southern Indiana and are curious to see a Skibo, holler for Rosemary, she can take you to Smithville!

Then I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff and I’ll…

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Our most viewed post for the past year was a Daniel Fast article! “The Daniel Fast: Here We Go!” was the top viewed post, followed closely by “We Don’t Do the Church Thing”.  Today is our final flashback, celebrating Hope in the Healing’s One Year Anniversary! Anything that included My Three Sons was always a “hit”.  My sweet friend, Carrie, was the inspiration for this post. Enjoy!

168096_192971524046629_2724866_nHindsight is always better than foresight, so they say. I am a slow learner. I think I’ve told you I raised boys, did I tell you I raised boys? I may have told you I had at least three boys, sometimes it seemed like more. Three adorable, look-you-in-the-eye-I-didn’t-do-it boys. So I have an excuse for my absentmindedness.

The boys, they caused all kinds of things to happen to me, it wasn’t my fault.

I could usually get away with blaming it on Kristopher, the middle riddle. It usually was his fault! He was known for his mischievousness, and if I wasn’t apologizing to a teacher, a parent, or a neighbor, we were visiting the emergency room. It started very early in his life. We arrived at the hospital just in time to settle in, and the obstetrician arrived just in time to catch Kristopher; and he has been running ever since.

Kyle, The Worrier, is 5 ½ years older than Kris and has always been his protector, even though it usually meant he had to tattle. It was nothing for him to come running in my bedroom with a horrified look on his face, “Mommmm!!!! Kristopher is on TOP of the refrigerator!” Kristopher had barely learned to walk, how could he be on TOP of the refrigerator?! But true to his word, there he was, sitting proud as a peacock, smiling from ear to ear and clapping his little hands.

Kyle was terrified. I had a problem.

It wasn’t two days later that I heard the same blood-curdling scream as he came racing down the hallway. I was taking curlers out of my hair and thought surely the house was on fire. Two minutes ago they were sitting quietly playing with their Fisher Price airplane! Kyle comes tearing into the bedroom, “Kristopher, (pant, pant) Kristopher!!!”

That’s all he could get out, I was already running. Thankfully our little ranch house was small, and not so thankfully, I could already smell smoke! There he was, sitting on the kitchen counter again. This time he had taken all of the little plastic ABC magnets off of the refrigerator and put them in our toaster oven and turned it on! In seconds, smoke was pouring out of the oven. Thank God he wasn’t burned! And thank the Lord for Super Sleuth Kyle!

I could go on and on and write a book on Kristopher alone but I want to save some of that material for other slow blog days!

I have been laying the foundation for my defense for the story I am about to share. I was a frazzled mother of three. My husband was a busy air traffic controller and God knows how stressed they are. I could tell you that statistics show it is one of the most stressful jobs in the WORLD!

We were also youth pastors at the time of a large and very active youth group, which we loved very much. Kyle was involved in Bible quizzing and I was one of the coaches. That was also a very time-consuming activity, but we loved it and it was worth it.

There are some things in life that are just worth the effort. Sometimes you are just desperate. You will go the extra mile and push everything else aside. No matter what it costs, you will do whatever it takes to get what you need for your loved ones.

Now stay with me here…you won’t believe where I’m going. And it does get spiritual, I promise.

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“While he (Jesus) was preaching…four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’” Mark 1:2-5 NLT.

We can all feel this man’s “pain”, wanting to get to the front of the crowd, not being able to see, especially if you are short like me! Well they were definitely creative! I read that a first century home in Palestine had a flat roof made of stone tiles which was very easy to remove and easy to replace. It wasn’t like they tore up someone’s home, thankfully.

And it also had an outside staircase up the roof. So they could easily carry their paralytic friend on his “bed”, which was just a lightweight pallet or mattress-like pad. But they still didn’t just shrug their shoulders and say among themselves that it was too much trouble. And not only did their friend receive his miracle, he received the forgiveness of sins, the bigger miracle!

They were desperate and they resorted to desperate measures. 

So I found myself in quite the similar situation one beautiful spring day almost twenty years ago. We had a quiz tournament to go to a couple of hours away and I was driving the church van and taking the quiz team. I had driven to town to pick up our babysitter that was going to stay with my littlest baby boy, Korey Ross, at the time. I picked up the Bible quizzers, then came back to the house to drop off the babysitter and Korey, before we all headed north for the tournament.

Everything was under control, we were on time and it was a beautiful day. The kids were happy, we get back to the house and there was only one big problem. I didn’t have a key to the house!

I don’t even remember now why I didn’t have the key, it’s been so long. But I do remember why we couldn’t take Korey with us. The car seat and his diaper bag with his diapers and bottles were in the house too! THAT was a big problem.

And now we are running out of time. I was in a panic. The Bible quizzers were in a panic. This was a big tournament. They were all talking at once. And believe it or not this was BEFORE cellphones! Or at least I didn’t have one. It wouldn’t have done any good to call anyone. The neighbors didn’t have a key anyway.

I know what I am about to tell you would not be what YOU would have done. I have been laughed at for the last 20 years over this one and now I am just laying myself out there for the world to laugh some more. I didn’t care what it cost. I did it for the kids.

That’s right; I did it for the kids.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I went around to the side of the garage, our house backed up to a woods, thank goodness, so no one saw the “vandalous” act that was about to take place.  They might have called the police. And before you jump too far ahead, yes, I had already tried ALL of the windows; they were locked!

I went around to the side of the garage and there was an old brick lying there by the garage window so I picked it up. I thought if I broke the garage window it wouldn’t cost too much, and that would be the safest place to break into. I told all of the kids to stand back and I threw that brick with all the strength I had and instead of shattering into a million pieces it came back and almost hit me in the face! Stupid windows were double-pane!

I had to throw that brick at least three times before I ever broke it! The quiz team was cheering me on. Well, all of them except for Kyle. He just kept saying, “Dad is gonna be so mad, Mom. He’s gonna be so mad.” Kyle is a worrier. I told him Dad would understand.

He’s like that, your dad, he’ll understand.

We scraped all the glass away from the window the best we could. We then scooped The Worrier in through the opening to run and open the garage door. We’re in! Everything from there is a mad dash. Get the babysitter and the baby settled. She is a nervous wreck because “DAD” will be home before I will. I assure her he will understand! But she isn’t so convinced. And unfortunately there is no way for me to get to him and tell him what has happened before he gets home. He just gets to show up.

Well, the good news is the Quizzers won!! And to brag on them a little more they even made it to Nationals that year!

The bad news is that DAD wasn’t real happy with MOM.

It did take some convincing that my getting the kids to the quiz tournament was just as desperate as the four men getting the paralytic to Jesus! They won the tournament just like he had his sins forgiven! And I should be forgiven too!

I tried to tell him it was just a window, it was replaceable, and they sell them on TV all the time.

And one day we will laugh about this, really we will, and so will everybody else.

It is true that sometimes our situations put us in a place of desperation. And while breaking windows and tearing down doors may not be the best way to go about it, we do need to be desperate when it comes to our relationship with God, desperate for the will of God at any cost.

Desperate for the people that we see every day with a need, and then be willing to make a difference.

Desperate to reach our unsaved families, to go out of our way to heal the hurting, and then, through us, Jesus can reach the broken.

Do I really care about those whose lives are paralyzed by sin? Those that might just be waiting for me to reach out to them? Who are waiting for me to invite them to church or my home fellowship group? Or just out to dinner one night?

Am I too busy being a “Christian” that I don’t have time to carry one corner of the bed of my paralyzed friend?

Early Christians “turned the world upside down” for the cause! They lived in hard times and difficult circumstances without the tools we have available to us today. Let us be just as desperate in our desire to reach those that we see on a daily basis. Let’s make it easy for them to get to Jesus.

And if you’re ever locked out of your house…just call me.