We’re back! If you’re among my readers who faithfully check every Wednesday for a new “Inside Out”, you’ve found the same piece week after week. My Great, Grand, Gracious Guru, Grant MacDonald moved from New Brunswick to Toronto. That move necessitated packing his beloved computer in a packing crate and allowing Grant’s Graceland (of which “Inside Out” is a part) to kinda sit in limbo.

In the meantime, one of our granddaughters, Rachael, was about to turn fourteen. Every time one of our grandchildren has reached that age, I’ve taken them on a three week trip to see part of our country. Each one has plotted his/her own trip. Rachael wanted to go to the Midwest and see “cows and corn”.

6,641 miles in 21 days; fourteen States and one foreign country! Wow!!!!! Rachael was an excellent map reader and navigator. We both love wild life. We saw many turkeys, deer, a skunk, bear, wolverine, beaver, ground hogs, etc.

Several told me I was nuts to take a teen-ager for three weeks, 24/7. As we began our trip, we talked about how well we were going to get to know each other. We did! (g)

Here are five main things of which I was reminded:

1. The beauty of our U.S.A. and Canada.
2. The fun of traveling with a young person, seeing things through their eyes.
3. The consistent goodness and mercy of the Lord.
4. The existence of people everywhere who are hungry for the Lord. Got to witness to and share “Grandma’s Songs” with more than two dozen people during the entire trip, one on one or two by two.
5. The frequent goodness and kindness of people in all walks of life and in all circumstances.

Our first stop was in Plains, GA. We got to see a truly tiny community, lazing in the spring sun, moving along at a very slow snail’s pace. We saw where Miss Lillian Carter is buried and where President and Mrs. Carter will some day be interred. As we drove past the front gate to their property, we talked about how a man from this tiny place could wind up as President of the most powerful nation in the world. What a country!

We next visited Andersonville POW Camp just a few miles north of Plains. Along the way, Rachael saw her first quarter mile long irrigation system already set up to irrigate the just emerging cotton plants. What can one say about Andersonville? Northern prisoners were housed and grossly abused here during the Civil War. If you’re ever near Andersonville, GA, this is a MUST visit. Sad, poignant, yes! Important to absorb? Absolutely.

A visit with our daughter, Kathleen, and her husband, William, gave us a day to get ready for what was to come. Rachael got to sit in and watch her Aunt teach in Calhoun, GA.

Next, we stopped in Nashville, TN. We enjoyed visiting a scaled version of the Greek Parthenon? One of my nieces works at a large hospital. We were able to visit with her for a bit. Rachael had never met anyone from her late Grandma Joyce’s family. Good experience.

One of the things Rachael looked forward to was taking pictures. Wouldn’t you know it! My 20+ year old Nikon camera went wherever good little cameras go and quit working. What to do? Keep reading! (g)

For four years or so, I’ve corresponded with Dink and Janet. They often spoke of a possible visit should I ever be in their area. We talked about doing a concert at their country church. Well, it turned out that we were going to be going within just a few miles of their home.

What an experience! Janet invited us to spend the night at their home near Makanda, IL. We couldn’t have asked for better treatment, meals, hospitality, etc. Rachael got to help feed the critters the next morning. There was a nice turnout for the concert. Rachael played the piano and talked about her adventures as a short-term missionary to Senegal, Africa. I sang a bunch of “Grandma’s Songs”.

They passed the plate and received a love offering for us. It was $103 dollars. We felt very blessed and honored.

The next morning, we headed for St. Louis and the magnificent Arch. On the way, we stopped at a Wal-Mart. I looked at the cameras. There was a cute little Nikon. (Don’t get too far ahead of me now!) By the time I got a battery for it, the total cost was $103 exactly.

Papa’s Pipeline struck again. We were on a rather limited budget. Rising gas prices had already stretched our resources. Then came an offering we didn’t expect that EXACTLY met a need we hadn’t anticipated when we left. Amazing!

I’d love to hear your stories, reactions, experiences with Papa’s Pipeline. Just use the “Leave a Reply” box below!  I’ll get back to you, for sure!

(Following are about 1/4th of the responses I received. There’s a lot to read, but, hey, you don’t have to read them all! (g) I believe you’ll be amply blessed if you do, however! – PapaJ)

– I am a “pack rat.” Not only might it come in handy at some time in the next 1,000 years, it might just serve as a reminder of some good times. I have some large wood tools in my garage that are never used these days. It has been tempting to sell them, or to give them to a worthy cause. As you said, it would be the sensible thing to do. On the other hand they serve as a reminder of a seven year period in our lives when we trusted God completely for our financial well being. Those tools were given to me as a possible way to earn some money. Though I did design an interlocking system for wooden alphabet letters, I never did make any money manufacturing them. My sense of all this is a powerful one. God didn’t want my help during those years. Foolishly, I worked like crazy to help Him out, but He needed me to know that He doesn’t need my help.

     – I am also into knick knacks. Our “Mansion On The Hilltop”, as someone famous has called it, is filled, some folks might say cluttered, with varying things from my boys, items friends, students, and others have given me because they feel those items are special, pieces handed down from generation to generation from family members, and other specialty items that are special to me. Why? Sentimentality? Stupidity? Maybe I want to be like Fred Sanford and have a junk yard one day. I really believe those items bring back fond and cherishable moments that have created heart-felt memories.

     God does that in our lives. He has a way of bringing back those special moments in our lives while creating new and lasting memories for us.

– Papa, my great grandfather’s gold pocket watch …..!!!!

– Ok, when are you going to write a piece abut the old blue Chevy and all the adventures that it had. We need to have sequels to these things because they are a part of our history. (This is from our daughter, Kathi. Okay, look forward to a piece on the Old Blue Chevy!)

– Thanks for the article…boy did THAT hit home….I am a “keeper”…meaning I “keep” everything in the world….and my “beginner home” looks like it may be “my die-er home”…and it is soooooooo FULL… but, everytime I start looking around and try to decide WHAT I can do and WHAT I can get rid of…it just DOESN’T happen…what to do?…I wish you could be sitting where I am right now and look around…[and, we won’t even start in on “the garage” or “the attic”…GADZOOKS]…thanks for sharing this story…you are NOT the only one that has trouble getting rid of “memories”!

– I just wanted to let you know that I love this week’s issue. What a great connecting point!! Take care!! And smiles too…most “IMPORTANT” of them all! :o)

– Awwwww Jerry, you’re just an ol’ softie aren’t ya. Well, you know what? The Lord gave us those kinds of wonderful memories to exercise our smiles!!!!!! What would we do without them!!!!

     – Your special articles piece reminded me of how I keep a special old weathered spoon in my silverware drawer. It’s a very tarnished sterling silver scotty dog spoon that belonged to an old neighbor of my son’s. We called our neighbor Grandma H____ and visited with her most every day. She took us in as her grandchildren since her own family seldom visited.

     She was truly a special lady who loved me and my family. She spent hours cutting out flowers from seed catalogs with me, baking special little loaves of bread for me and even buying a little black lamb, Blackie, so I could learn how to care for an animal. She taught me that you didn’t need to be family to feel like a member. The spoon I treasure belonged to her Sonny who died at a very early age – I wish I really knew why, but all I can remember was that he had what she called a water head. I remember the day she gave me the spoon even though I was about 8 years old. After she finished washing dishes, she turned around to me and handed it to me. I started to put it back in the silverware drawer and she told me “no” – it was to take home with me now. Sonny wanted me to have it to always treasure. I guess I always have – it went right in my own silverware drawer once I was married. I guess I’m a trinket kind of person myself – holds so many memories. (Grandma H_____ died right before I turned 9 years old.)

– I recently read your story about the old trampoline and had to smile because I, like you, am a true sentimentalist (although those who really don’t know me might call me a “pack rat” instead).

     The Lord has blessed me with fond memories of a wonderful childhood. One of my favorite “grown up” things to do was to bake with my mother. I remember putting on Mom’s apron (wrapped around me several times like a mummy in red gingham), taking the big blue crockery bowl, filling it with the necessary ingredients and mixing it all together with the old Sunbeam mixer Mom had bought second-hand when she and Dad were married. When I grew up and moved away from home, I took the blue crockery bowl with me as a trophy much like your bicycle trophy. One day Mom told me that the old Sunbeam mixer finally “bit the dust” and she would have to replace it. It was like a member of the family died! So now, in my kitchen, I proudly display the second of my baking trophies, an old Sunbeam mixer with a burned out motor.

– I try to buy a piece of jewelry everywhere I visit. Then whenever I put on a ring, pin, earrings, etc., I remember where I was when it was purchased and who was with me, etc. I also am still wearing clothes from jr. high & high school that carry some memories. I bought my red purse when I was 8 years old in the Edison Mall in NJ and I still use it. It has been repaired 3 times now.

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