Great Devotion Cookie. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Mark Jones
On Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:26:59 -0600 "ar cook" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> I grew up in the south � not just south, but �deep south�. During the
> summer
> months down there the humidity is usually about the same as the
> temperature.
> 95 degree temperature usually meant 95 percent humidity even when
> it was
> not raining. You could walk outside with dry clothes on and walk
> back
> inside 15 minutes later with damp clothes. Basically, the summers
> were hot
> and sticky!
>
> With weather like that, a kid would drink a lot of water. Of
> course, each
> glass of water required a clean glass. By the end of the day, I
> normally
> would have used 9 or 10 glasses � all of which were left sitting on
> the
> kitchen cabinet next to the sink.
>
> My grandmother tried to convince me to use the same glass every
> time, but
> that didn�t work. We didn�t have a dishwasher, so my grandmother
> got very
> tired of washing all these glasses by hand. She finally came up
> with a
> solution. She took a small BBQ sauce bottle that was empty, rinsed
> it out,
> took the label off, and wrote my name on the bottle and the lid.
> Then she
> filled it with water and put it in the refrigerator.
>
> This was my water bottle. I was allowed to drink straight from the
> bottle.
> As long as I kept it filled, I always had cold water to drink
> anytime I
> wanted it.
>
> Sometimes my grandmother would put a second bottle in the
> refrigerator
> filled with sweet tea. There is just something about sweet, cold
> tea that
> makes you feel real good on a hot day. Most of the time when I had
> a choice
> between tea and water --- I drank the tea!
>
> When I drank from my jug, I didn�t just sip it � I gulped it down.
> I would
> take the bottle of water or tea, turn it up, and not bring it down
> till the
> last drop was gone. I guess you could say that I was kind of a
> show-off.
>
> On what seemed to be an extremely hot and sticky day, I was out in
> the yard
> playing. I was hot and sweating and decided to go inside for
> something to
> drink. Walking up the stairs to the back door I felt like I was
> crossing
> the desert. I couldn�t wait to get inside, open the refrigerator,
> and
> swallow a whole jug of water in one gulp.
>
> I opened the refrigerator door and knew that I was the luckiest and
> happiest
> boy in the State. Right next to my water jug was a second jug --- I
> had
> some ice tea to drink!
>
> I took the bottle from the rack, closed the refrigerator door,
> opened the
> bottle, and turned it straight up�. It only took me a couple of
> swallows to
> realize that something was wrong. The label on the bottle said tea
> and my
> eyes saw tea in the bottle � but this was NOT tea! It was bitter
> and it
> stunk! I spit out whatever it was that was in my mouth, dropped the
> glass
> bottle on the floor (yes, it broke) and started coughing.
>
> My grandmother came running in the kitchen. There I was with a
> broken
> bottle at my feet, this tea colored stuff spilt (and spit) all over
> the
> hardwood floor and a look on my face that can�t be described.
> I explained to my grandmother what had happened � I was hot, I
> opened my tea
> bottle, and it was NOT TEA! I didn�t mean to drop the bottle � I
> didn�t
> mean to spit on the floor!
>
> About that time, she recognized the smell that was filling the
> kitchen and
> stinking it up like some had just scared a couple of skunks. It was
> �RED
> VINEGAR�! Somehow, my tea bottle had gotten filled with VINEGAR!
>
> My grandmother told me she was sorry and she didn�t know how that
> could
> happen, but the taste was still there in my mouth. I don�t know how
> many
> glasses of water, koolaid, and milk it took to get that taste out of
> my
> mouth. With the taste finally gone I went back outside to play
> while my
> grandmother finished cleaning up the mess.
>
> A few hours later, I was thirsty again. I went back inside and
> opened the
> refrigerator. Again, there were two bottles � one marked tea and
> one marked
> water. I chose the water and left the tea there. No way was I
> going to
> take a chance at the label being wrong again.
>
> Over the next few days, I always drank the water. I just couldn�t
> bring
> myself to try the tea. Every time I looked at the tea bottle, I got
> that
> bad taste in my mouth again.
>
> My grandmother noticed that I wasn�t drinking tea and asked me why.
> I told
> her that every time I looked at it, I thought of the vinegar that I
> drank.
>
> She sat me on the stool next to the kitchen sink and poured out the
> tea from
> my bottle. She rinsed out the bottle several times. The she took
> the tea
> pitcher from the refrigerator and poured 2 glasses of tea � one for
> her and
> one for me. She drank about half of hers and then told me to drink
> mine. I
> tasted it slowly � it was tea � and then drank it down. She filled
> my tea
> bottle from the pitcher and told me to drink some from it. I drank
> slowly.
>
> Within a week or so, I was back to drinking tea from my tea bottle
> again. I
> remember that I was still slow to accept or trust the tea label for
> quite a
> while. It took time for me to regain my trust that what was really
> in that
> bottle was sweet and good for me.
>
> What labels do you wear? Do you wear the label �Christian�? Do you
> wear the
> label �Royal Ranger�? If someone �opens your bottle�, will they
> find
> inside what the label on the outside says, or will it leave a �bad
> taste� in
> their mouth?
>
> When someone walks into your church, outpost, home, or life --- do
> they get
> the sweet smell of the love of Christ or do they get bitterness? If
> they
> get bitterness, how long will it take them to get over it and trust
> somebody
> else that is wearing the label �Christian�?
>
> In I Corinthians 8:9-12, Paul says:
> �(9)Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not
> become a
> stumbling block to the weak.
> (10)For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this
> knowledge
> eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has
> been
> sacrificed to idols? (11)So this weak brother, for whom Christ died,
> is
> destroyed by your knowledge.
> (12)When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their
> weak
> conscience, you sin against Christ.
> (13)Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I
> will
> never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.�
>
> We need to be careful that what we do and say reflects Christ in us.
> Being
> without Christ or Christian fellowship because of a bad experience
> is many
> times worse than being without ice tea!
>
>
> In His Service,
> Allen R. Cook - Cookie
> Outpost Chaplain
> Belton A/G -- Belton, Missouri
>
> e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> web page: http://www.crosswinds.net/~rrcookie/
>
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>
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Mark Jones, Ozark MO, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Download a Free Royal Ranger
Database visit my website at: http://home1.gte.net/mjones02/index.html
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