Aggies for Christ

A group of Texas A & M "Aggies for Christ" come work every January at Tipton Children's Home.  Usually we are tied up with basketball games, but this year since our youngest isn't playing, we had a free night.

 

We hosted the Aggies in our home for Mexican food and boy, was that a special treat for us (and for them, I think! They love Mexican food!).  

 We had each of the 21 young adults go around and tell us where they were from and what they were majoring in. A few had already graduated, but just came back to work with the group.  I can't remember now, but there are approximately 250 of the "Aggies for Christ" group that were working at 10 or 12 different places during that last week of their Christmas break.

 We were so impressed with these fine young people! They were so polite and loved working here, but they especially like the fact that they are building relationships with the children here at the Home.  It is a blessing having them come, for sure.

One thing that impressed me was that the group didn't have their cell phones out. That's pretty amazing this day and age! I'm sure their college minister and group leader lays down guide lines for the trip, but it was still nice to see - or NOT see!

 One girl was celebrating her birthday. We were out of candles, but quickly found a skewer and lit it on her dessert for an impromptu birthday celebration!

We played a few games, heard their stories, and got to know them...and got to know some of them better.  I think we would have adopted them all :).  What a great group!

Thanks, Aggies for Christ! We look forward to you being back here next year!

91st Annual Tipton Children's Home Homecoming

What a FUN day it was celebrating TCH's 91st anniversary and homecoming for all of the alumni of TCH, as well as for our high school!

 Over a year ago, a former TCH resident told of her biscuit-making days. She's either the middle girl or the 4th girl in the picture above.  She told about making biscuits for about 225 people every morning!

 The alumni director began getting out all of the "baking" pictures she could find and I, plus a few others, began helping come up with decorations to go with this year's planned "Biscuit" theme.

 It turned out so cute!!  Everyone loved the baking and biscuit theme, with lots of special things added to make the celebration a success.

 Our resident carpenter made recipe card holder centerpieces to be given away.  We placed the Biscuit recipe into the slit and tied each rolling pin with a biscuit cutter.  There were 50 given away!

 It's fun finding pictures from the past that go along with each year's theme.

 And it was easy to use real kitchen items to go along with the look!

 We chose a red, turquoise/aqua and white theme for the colors.

 Just for fun, we decoupaged some biscuits and put in them little baskets (Hobby Lobby).  The biscuits were air dried for many days, then decoupaged with Modge Podge.

 The chefs hats were a fun addition. These were "disposable" and a kind of fabric.  They were a little strange on top with four holes!  I guess it was for ventilation!  But, I got used to it and used them on the tables, anyway.

 The local antique store let us borrow several things, like this cute table!

 These old scales and mixing bowls were in the cafeteria basement.  And then more borrowed items.

 The scales were originally used in the cafeteria and light up.  Very neat!

 This old stove was a WONDERFUL addition to our decorations, and came about by accident! We just happened to mention getting one from a town nearby and one of the secretary's sisters-in-law had one in town.  And the colors on it were perfect!  See the iron skillet with biscuits on the stove?

 Not the best picture, but I've just decided not to care and be glad I have a memory of times like this.  I used to never be in pictures, but figured that some day - when I'm no longer here - my family will be glad I'm in a few!

 Here's Joe and the "biscuit" maker and the reason we began this theme.  She was telling some funny story about how her husband teased her about her biscuit making when they first were married.  She's got some great stories of the past, for sure!

The celebration ended with biscuits, of course.  Lunch was wonderful! Fried chicken strips, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, gravy and biscuits.....oh, and cobbler!  Then it was off for exploring the campus.

(Sojourners posing in front of my old pickup. That was where they wanted their annual group picture!  Good! That justifies me having it even more.  Oh, and I had someone want to buy it yesterday. It's not for sale unless you ask our oldest son! Ha ha!)

Thank you to all at TCH who worked to make this year's celebration a huge success. We owe a BIG thanks to the Sojourners who helped us get ready for the day.  And to the alumni, you are why we have this special day.  YOU are always, always welcome.  We want you to come Home any time.

Tipton Children's Home

(Visit tiptonchildrenshome.com)

Tipton Children's Home will soon be recognizing 91 years of child care.  TCH exists to help those who are in need. It is a residential care facility for abused/neglected children ages 5-18 located in Tipton, Oklahoma. The children are in cottages....homes....each home with a mom and dad who serve as houseparents.  

Children at TCH often come from referrals from people such as YOU.  There are current openings available for those in need.  Do TCH a favor, won't you?  Please help share the news about TCH.  So many of those who need our help get caught up in the system and fall through the cracks never knowing of the services TCH can provide. If TCH can help you or anyone you know in any way, please call or have them call the office at 580-667-5221.  And, if you're on social media, please share this post or one of the pictures. Thank you.

Using Media for Good

Our daughter came to Tipton Children's Home for a "Using Media for Good" project for her broadcasting class. She, along with two classmates, Kate and Mindy, brought towels, washcloths, and candy for the children of TCH.  Here is their video presentation about their project.

Thanks for your project to help TCH, girls! We appreciate it!

To learn more about TCH, visit tiptonchildrenshome.com.

Lessons from the Water Park

Last Wednesday night my husband did a short devotional after Bible classes. I wanted to share it with you. I may not get all of the details he gave, but you'll still get the general idea and message.

The Tipton Children's Home family to the water park on Monday.  One of the "big rides" was the Cliffhanger.  

 On the Cliffhanger, guests grabbed a tube, walked many flights of stairs, and sat down on the tube (my husband and youngest son rode together). The attendant tied himself/herself to the side of the top with a big, heavy cord, then grabbed the tube and gave a big "push" to it to start it down the HUGE ride. It's a lot of work to go on the ride, but the end result is worth it.

In the middle of the water park, there is a Lazy River that runs in a great big circle.  The lazy river isn't fast, but just an easy thing to do that doesn't require a lot of effort. The current can take you around and around and around as many times as the guest wants to go.

The problem with the Lazy River is that, once someone gets on, it may be hard to get off.  There is a tendency to get what the name suggests: Lazy! There are no stairs to climb, no tubes to carry, no responsibility.  But, on the other hand, there's no reward at the end like there is on the Cliffhanger. There's no feeling of accomplishment.  No task completed.

Isn't it the same way with life?  We climb, we carry, we feel like we're not going to make it up a steep hill, but then the reward at the end is so awesome that it makes the difficulty all worth it?  But it's also true that if we get in a rut, get lazy, and seem to go round and round in circles that we don't get anywhere....we're just coasting....then we wonder why nothing is going the way it should in our life.

We could say the same thing about our Christian walk.  Our walk with Jesus should be going up, up, up all of the time.  There may be short times that we slow down, but we should never, ever get on the Lazy River! If we're not growing, we're just coasting.  If we're not climbing, we just as well be going downhill.  Jesus wants us to GROW.  He's not satisfied with lukewarm Christians.  God expects more from His children. He expects us to DO something.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  Revelation 3:15-16

If you're on the Lazy River, GET OFF!  If you're on the Cliffhanger, and you're tired of the uphill climb, just be patient. You're reward is coming!  And in the end, you'll see that it was worth the climb.