Country Commandments~

Please click on the Country Commandments to enlarge for easier reading~it will be worth it.

As a kid growing up on a struggling country farm, our Country Commandments were adhered to daily.  We behaved, or else.
God, church, Sunday School, Bible camp, the church choir, were the center of our entertainment and learning back then.  I miss those fond days.
Life was good on the farm.  Myself, my twin and 7 siblings each had our ' chores ' to do, some pleasant, some not so much.

One of the things I recall as my ' job,' was to pick weeds before picking and eating the tomato I had my eye on.  As I think of it, there were times that we each had a row to clean of the weeds that seemed to pop up over night.  Or a 20 mile ride to  where Mom grew up just to pick at least 10 buckets of raspberries before we could go home, snitching was allowed.  Times enough, we were rewarded with pie, cake or cookies, making every berry or bean worth the wait.  Is that Mom's bread I smell drifting toward the garden?  Things like that made the chore seem less like work.

Oh, I'm not complaining, so much, as I'm in total recall of some of my youth, lately.  Did you know I was quite the horse gal in my prime.  I could ride like the wind through the woods on Poncho, Penny and Old Babe., even Amber Gal on occasion.  She was my one of my sister's favorites.  Poncho was one of my favorites, tho he was quite a spunky young paint.  He loved to run...straight for the barn, but he was the one I loved to ' horse play ' with.  My twin and I would pretend we were circus performers.  Doug could do just about anything with those horses, so of course, I had to give it a shot.  Ride, I did, side-saddle, standing on the saddle, hanging upside down on the side of the saddle, backwards.  If Mama knew half of what we did, she would have paddled our behinds.    We Did Mind our parents,......most the time.  Like any kid, we did try to get away with things once in awhile, ( is that like lyin' ?, ) but we did mind...most of the time. 

We did not cuss, at least I don't recall ever getting my mouth washed out with soap.  I do remember my Dad sternly reminding  my brother  ' once,' that he eats with that mouth...and in all his 80 years, I don't think I ever heard him swear, honest!

Did you ever have to give back a toy or something that doesn't belong to you, and then apologize ta boot?   It's a tough cookie to swallow for a kid.  Tears swell and a knot forms in your throat.
I know., but I never took what wasn't mine after that hard lesson.

Do you know what a party line is??? well we had one at the farm.
And one thing you never, never, ever do is to listen in on your neighbor's conversations,...........even if they're talking about you.  It was a long bus ride to school the next morning, sitting with who you ' thought ' was your best friend.  That's a hard pill to swallow.
I never did like bad-mouthing.  It's such a hurtful, useless thing.

What's most important in your life?  As a kid, it was a distant dream to be the best dressed kid in your class or the smartest.  Going on a ' real ' shopping trip, or just the chance to leave the neighborhood for a day, swim in a real swimming pool or ride in a nice car instead of being crammed in a station wagon with 8 other kids.....it was a rare treat, a very rare treat.
I suppose I wanted it so badly, that I'd have given up Sunday School and sitting quiet in church for it.  I never, however, would have given up my brothers and sisters, even when they were being mean.  Today, I am just happy being me and living on less.

We had a good life growing up on the farm.  So we had to muck the stalls, feed the chickens and slop the hogs, feed the mink and brush burdocks from the horses and dogs tails.  These were the worse of the jobs for which we were greatly rewarded.  We got to grow up together as one big happy family.  Sure, we stumbled from time to time and even lost our way on occasion, but we knew that whenever we needed, the door was always open and we would always be received with wide open arms.

We have had our good times and the bad, but we have survived to tell about our loving and understanding up-bringing.  My heart prays for those who have not had that same relationship with God and their parents.   Our home was just that...a home, the place we know we can always come back to. 
 
I understand now and Our Country Commandments come easy~

Life IS Good

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