by greg stone

The Dinner Table

The Dinner Table

I cherish the memories of those meals, from the smells of Mom’s amazing cooking of fried chicken, pork chops, fresh ham and beans with pancake cornbread, to the sounds of laughter, teasing and reflections on our day. Those were sacred moments of our family together gathered around the dinner table. 

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Sleeping in a Cold Bed

Sleeping in a Cold Bed

What is it about a cold bed made warm by your own body heat and thick blankets that elicit such peace and joy? How I miss those times of utter peace, rich rest, and contentment. Today, I rarely sleep through the night. I go to bed in my warm bed through central heat and our fireplace insert, and wrestle with the Lord about worries, regrets, fears and stresses. I wake up two to four times each night to go to the bathroom, returning to my warm bed but many times finding it hard to return to sleep.
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Riding in the Back of Our Truck

Riding in the Back of Our Truck

On hot summer days the feel of the air brought welcome relief from the heat, along with the anticipation of swimming in Bear Creek or getting a solid hit in summer league baseball. On cooler days in the fall, winter, or spring, however, the back of the truck brought shivers as we huddled closer to the back window.
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Scaring Each Other Growing Up

Scaring Each Other Growing Up

We played a game where older brothers Perry or Mike would be either in the kitchen or down the hall in our bedroom. Dave and I would have to sit on the living room floor. We called this game “Train,” and it was terrifying, but fun. Suddenly one of the elder brothers would come running in making a train sound, “Choo Choo!!” We had to get to one of the couches before they ran by and ran over us. 
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Our Small House

Our Small House

Our home was a place for epic wiffle ball games, where a ball hit over the fence into the pasture was a massive homerun. Our basketball goal sat on a black oak tree by our propane tank and next to our smaller garden where Mom and Dad grew beans, carrots, potatoes, radishes, peas, and watermelon. The larger garden below was dedicated to strawberries and tomatoes.
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Earliest Memories

Earliest Memories

Memories back when I was very young point to happy times and simpler times growing up in the Ozarks.
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Ma and Pa Stone

Ma and Pa Stone

In reading over Ma’s 1944 journal again last night, it struck me how much she worried about her kids, grandkids, and parents. She fretted when Dan and Dorothy’s son Kenny was sick with pneumonia. She fretted over Clell and Marie’s daughter, Aunt Carolyn, when she was struck with the measles. She wrote grateful praises to God when on November 14th of that year her son, Dan, didn’t pass the physical to go into the army and war. She seemed at times to be an impatient person, as well, writing more than once of her frustration waiting for daughter Tressie and daughter-in-law Marie to come over to take her to the store. Through it all, her writings spoke of a deep love and devotion to her family.

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Uncle Moose and Curly

Uncle Moose and Curly

I watched the movie, Second Hand Lions, with my wife recently for probably the tenth time. The brothers in the movie, played by Robert DuVall and Michael Caine, reminded me of my uncles, minus the shotguns on the porch. These men have had both had great lives, impacted many along the way, and still bless and encourage each person that crosses their paths.
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