His Life Work*

Children tend to forget that their parents had many varied life experiences before they entered the picture. (See Honey Lover) In our laundry room, on the top shelf is a copier box labeled “journals” that I pulled down to explore (for blog posts).

They are my diaries from years long past. Also in that box are several other memory books. One is blue, loose leaf, and falling apart. (See picture below.)

It is named, This is Your Life as Mr. and Mrs. In my mother’s own words and with her slanted, efficient penmanship she tells of the beginning years of her marriage (as my nineteen year old mother, Janice Lou Eagle) to my twenty-four year old father, “Bob” or Robert Eugene Kinker. (Here are some of my favorite excerpts.)

1.  6/12/60 – We had a treat, canned stew, for our supper on our wedding night.

2.  6/13/60 – On Monday, we made meatloaf, fried potatoes, rolls, corn, and a pie. (I rolled crust out with a pop bottle.) We had a time because Bob didn’t want me to measure anything, and I wanted to.

3.  6/14/60 – On our first washing, we put a red blanket in with some white stuff, and had the prettiest pink rags, bathroom rug, and commode cover.

4.  6/29/60 – I got my new washer, and I was thrilled over it. I decided I’d wash that day. I filled my spinner full of water when I got ready to rinse the clothes. I didn’t know I was to let part of it out. I got water all over myself.

5.  6/30/60 – I wanted to finish the laundry. The sun was shining so nice. About a half an hour after I got the clothes on the line, it started to rain. I had the worst mess you ever saw. In the basement, I had just waxed the floors. Before I could get to the stairs, I had a wet floor. What a mess I had made of that (as well as supper).

6.  7/2/60 – I decided I’d walk to the shopping center. I walked about three miles the wrong way. What a time I had trying to find my way back home. I went after a thimble.

7.  7/6/60 – I went out and dusted my roses at ten o’clock at night to keep the weevils from falling off.  I know they won’t fall off because one of Janice’s friends told her so. (This is my father’s only entry. His eloquent handwriting is so similar to mine)

8.  10/24/60 – We started to exercise and diet a little bit, too.

9.  6/12/61 – On our first anniversary, we had rump roast, cooked carrots, scalloped potatoes, iced tea, and pineapple pie. We played miniature golf on Monday evening, and then went with some friends for an ice cream cone afterwards.

10.     7/9/62 – I start IBM-International Business Machines training (computer) at Chemical Abstracts Service.

11.     7/27/62 – We stayed in our new home on 4049 East Mound Street in Whitehall, OH, with my parents and brother (Larry). We are the first to live in it. Larry is the first to stay overnight here because he is staying with us for the summer.

12.     8/23/63 – Bob and I are supposed to have our first baby. (This is me, the oldest of three children.)

13.     8/15/63 – Bob had his tonsils taken out. I went into the hospital on the same day he got out. On 8/18/63, I had our baby. We named him after his uncle and his daddy. Bob got me some beautiful flowers while I was in the hospital. We brought the baby home on Tuesday at around 9am. He was just two days old. He cried for five and a half hours straight (from 11 pm to 4:30 am).

14.     8/23/63 – Bob and I are supposed to have our first baby. (This is me, the oldest of three children. I came early on August 18, 1963.)

15.     6/12/67 and 6/12/74 – We forgot our seventh and fourteenth anniversaries.

Psalm 143:5 (NIVUK) reminds us all of the following: “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.”

If you look back at some of the challenging experiences throughout your lifetime, your feelings might tell you that your Heavenly Father was nowhere to be found. Is that an accurate assessment of the situation?

When you were at your lowest point, you somehow found strength (from somewhere) to make it through safely to the other side (where God’s peace abided). Whose wisdom and strength do you think you were relying on, and whose hand was holding yours? (Psalm 37:24) Though God is eternal, you are His life work.

It was the Almighty’s, and not yours. (Psalm 20:7) So today, rely on Someone (so far beyond your well of wisdom) that knows the beginning, middle, and end of your life. The Almighty says the following of His parental love for you in Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV). Do you see it this way?

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

 

 

 

*The most important contribution of one’s existence.

**Entries from This is Your Life as Mr. and Mrs. have been slightly edited for brevity, clarity, grammar, and spelling. (I have given my best attempt to give you the flavor of my parents early years together.)Children tend to forget that their parents had many varied life experiences before they entered the picture. (See Honey Lover) In our laundry room, on the top shelf is a copier box labeled “journals” that I pulled down to explore (for blog posts).

They are my diaries from years long past. Also in that box are several other memory books. One is blue, loose leaf, and falling apart. (See picture below.)

It is named, This is Your Life as Mr. and Mrs. In my mother’s own words and with her slanted, efficient penmanship she tells of the beginning years of her marriage (as my nineteen year old mother, Janice Lou Eagle) to my twenty-four year old father, Robert Eugene Kinker. (Here are some of my favorite excerpts.)

1.  6/12/60 – We had a treat, canned stew, for our supper on our wedding night.

2.  6/13/60 – On Monday, we made meatloaf, fried potatoes, rolls, corn, and a pie. (I rolled crust out with a pop bottle.) We had a time because Bob didn’t want me to measure anything, and I wanted to.

3.  6/14/60 – On our first washing, we put a red blanket in with some white stuff, and had the prettiest pink rags, bathroom rug, and commode cover.

4.  6/29/60 – I got my new washer, and I was thrilled over it. I decided I’d wash that day. I filled my spinner full of water when I got ready to rinse the clothes. I didn’t know I was to let part of it out. I got water all over myself.

5.  6/30/60 – I wanted to finish the laundry. The sun was shining so nice. About a half an hour after I got the clothes on the line, it started to rain. I had the worst mess you ever saw. In the basement, I had just waxed the floors. Before I could get to the stairs, I had a wet floor. What a mess I had made of that (as well as supper).

6.  7/2/60 – I decided I’d walk to the shopping center. I walked about three miles the wrong way. What a time I had trying to find my way back home. I went after a thimble.

7.  7/6/60 – I went out and dusted my roses at ten o’clock at night to keep the weevils from falling off.  I know they won’t fall off because one of Janice’s friends told her so. (This is my father’s only entry. His eloquent handwriting is so similar to mine)

8.  10/24/60 – We started to exercise and diet a little bit, too.

9.  6/12/61 – On our first anniversary, we had rump roast, cooked carrots, scalloped potatoes, iced tea, and pineapple pie. We played miniature golf on Monday evening, and then went with some friends for an ice cream cone afterwards.

10.     7/9/62 – I start computer training at the bank.

11.     7/27/62 – We stayed in our new home on 4049 East Mound Street in Whitehall, OH, with my parents and brother (Larry). We are the first to live in it. Larry is the first to stay overnight here because he is staying with us for the summer.

12.     8/23/63 – Bob and I are supposed to have our first baby. (This is me, the oldest of three children.)

13.     8/15/63 – Bob had his tonsils taken out. I went into the hospital on the same day he got out. On 8/18/63, I had our baby. We named him after his uncle and his daddy. Bob got me some beautiful flowers while I was in the hospital. We brought the baby home on Tuesday at around 9am. He was just two days old. He cried for five and a half hours straight (from 11 pm to 4:30 am).

14.     8/23/63 – Bob and I are supposed to have our first baby. (This is me, the oldest of three children. I came early on August 18, 1963.)

15.     6/12/67 and 6/12/74 – We forgot our seventh and fourteenth anniversaries.

Psalm 143:5 (NIVUK) reminds us all of the following: “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.”

If you look back at some of the challenging experiences throughout your lifetime, your feelings might tell you that your Heavenly Father was nowhere to be found. Is that an accurate assessment of the situation?

When you were at your lowest point, you somehow found strength (from somewhere) to make it through safely to the other side (where God’s peace abided). Whose wisdom and strength do you think you were relying on, and whose hand was holding yours? (Psalm 37:24) Though God is eternal, you are His life work.

It was the Almighty’s, and not yours. (Psalm 20:7) So today, rely on Someone (so far beyond your well of wisdom) that knows the beginning, middle, and end of your life. The Almighty says the following of His parental love for you in Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV). Do you see it this way?

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

 

 

 

*The most important contribution of one’s existence.

**Entries from This is Your Life as Mr. and Mrs. have been slightly edited for brevity, clarity, grammar, and spelling. (I have given my best attempt to give you the flavor of my parents early years together.)

The inspiration