The King and His Hawk

 

Genghis Khan was a great king and warrior.

He led his army into China and Persia, and he conquered many lands. In every country, men told about his daring deeds; and they said that since Alexander the Great there had been no king like him.

One morning when he was home from the wars, he rode out into the woods to have a day's sport. Many of his friends were with him. They rode out gayly, carrying their bows and arrows. Behind them came the servants with the hounds.

It was a merry hunting party. The woods rang with their shouts and laughter. They expected to carry much game home in the evening.

On the king's wrist sat his favorite hawk; for in those days hawks were trained to hunt. At a word from their masters they would fly high up into the air, and look around for prey. If they chanced to see a deer or a rabbit, they would swoop down upon it swift as any arrow.

All day long Genghis Khan and his huntsmen rode through the woods. But they did not find as much game as they expected.

Toward evening they started for home. The king had often ridden through the woods, and he knew all the paths. So while the rest of the party took the nearest way, he went by a longer road through a valley between two mountains.

The day had been warm, and the king was very thirsty. His pet hawk had left his wrist and flown away. It would be sure to find its way home.

The king rode slowly along. He had once seen a spring of clear water near this path-way. If he could only find it now! But the hot days of summer had dried up all the mountain brooks.

At last, to his joy, he saw some water trickling down over the edge of a rock. He knew that there was a spring farther up. In the wet season, a swift stream of water always poured down here; but now it came only one drop at a time.

The king leaped from his horse. He took a little silver cup from his hunting bag. He held it so as to catch the slowly falling drops.

It took a long time to fill the cup; and the king was so thirsty that he could hardly wait. At last it was nearly full. He put the cup to his lips, and was about to drink.

All at once there was a whirring sound in the air, and the cup was knocked from his hands. The water was all spilled upon the ground.

The king looked up to see who had done this thing. It was his pet hawk.

The hawk flew back and forth a few times, and then alighted among the rocks by the spring.

The king picked up the cup, and again held it to catch the trickling drops.

This time he did not wait so long. When the cup was half full, he lifted it toward his mouth. But before it had touched his lips, the hawk swooped down again, and knocked it from his hands.

And now the king began to grow angry. He tried again; and for the third time the hawk kept him from drinking.

The king was now very angry indeed.

"How do you dare to act so?" he cried. "If I had you in my hands, I would wring your neck!"

Then he filled the cup again. But before he tried to drink, he drew his sword.

"Now, Sir Hawk," he said, "this is the last time."

He had hardly spoken, before the hawk swooped down and knocked the cup from his hand. But the king was looking for this. With a quick sweep of the sword he struck the bird as it passed.

The next moment the poor hawk lay bleeding and dying at its master's feet.

"That is what you get for your pains," said Genghis Khan.

But when he looked for his cup, he found that it had fallen between two rocks, where he could not reach it.

"At any rate, I will have a drink from that spring," he said to himself.

With that he began to climb the steep bank to the place from which the water trickled. It was hard work, and the higher he climbed, the thirstier he became.

At last he reached the place. There indeed was a pool of water; but what was that lying in the pool, and almost filling it? It was a huge, dead snake of the most poisonous kind.

The king stopped. He forgot his thirst. He thought only of the poor dead bird lying on the ground below him.

"The hawk saved my life!" he cried; "and how did I repay him? He was my best friend, and I have killed him."

He clambered down the bank. He took the bird up gently, and laid it in his hunting bag. Then he mounted his horse and rode swiftly home. He said to himself,--

"I have learned a sad lesson today; and that is, never to do anything in anger."

---

😔

On Self-Discipline

 

Peter was a very lively little boy. Everyone loved him: his family, his teachers and his friends. But he did have one weakness. Peter could never live in the moment. He had not learnt to enjoy the process of life. When he was in school, he dreamed of outside playing. When he was outside playing, he dreamed of his summer vacation. Peter constantly day dreamed, never taking the time to savor the special moments that filled his days.

One morning, Peter was out walking in a forest near his home. Feeling tired he decided to rest on a patch of grass and eventually dozed off. After only a few minutes of deep sleep, he heard someone calling his name. ‘Peter! Peter!’ came the shrill voice from above. As he slowly opened his eyes, he was startled to see a striking woman standing above him. She must have been over a hundred years old and her snow-white hair dangled well below her shoulders like a matted blanket of wool. In this woman’s wrinkled hands was a magical little ball with a hole in the center and out of the hole dangled a long, golden thread.

‘Peter’, she said, ‘this is the thread of your life. If you pull the thread just a bit, an hour will pass in seconds. If you pull a little harder, whole days will pass in minutes. And if you pull with all your might, months – even years – will pass by in days.’ Peter grew very excited at this discovery. ‘I’d like to have it if I may?’ he asked. The elderly woman quickly reached down and gave the ball with the magic thread to the young boy.

The next day Peter was sitting in the classroom feeling restless and bored. Suddenly, he remembered his new toy. As he pulled a little bit of golden thread, he quickly found himself at home, playing in his garden. Realizing the power of the magic thread, Peter soon grew tired of being a schoolboy and longed to be a teenager, with all the excitement that phase of life would bring. So again he pulled out the ball and pulled hard on the golden thread.

Suddenly he was a teenager with a very pretty young girlfriend named Elise. But Peter still wasn’t content. He had never learnt to enjoy the moment and to explore the simple wonders of every stage of his life. Instead, he dreamed of being an adult. So again he pulled on the thread and many years whizzed by in an instant. Now he found that he had been transformed into a middle-aged adult. Elise was now his wife and Peter was surrounded with a house full of kids. But Peter also noticed something else. His once jet black hair had started to turn grey. And his once youthful mother whom he loved so dearly had grown old and frail. Yet Peter still could not live in the moment. He had never learnt to ‘live in the now.’ So once again, he pulled on the magic thread and waited for the changed to appear.

Peter now found that he was a ninety-year-old man. His thick dark hair had turned white as snow and his beautiful young wife Elise has also grown old and has passed away a few years earlier. His wonderful children had grown up and left home to lead lives of their own. For the first time in his entire life, Peter realized that he had not taken the time to embrace the wonders of living. He had never gone fishing with his kids or taken a moonlight stroll with Elise. He had never planted a garden or read those wonderful books his mother had loved to read. Instead, he had hurried through life, never resting to see that was good along the way.

Peter became very sad at this discovery. He decided to go out to the forest where he used to walk as a boy to clear his head and warm his spirit. As he entered the forest, he noticed that the little saplings of his childhood had grown into mighty oaks. The forest itself had matured into paradise of nature. He lay down on a small patch of grass and fell into a deep slumber. After only a minute, he heard someone calling out to him. ‘Peter! Peter!’ cried the voice. He looked up in astonishment to see that it was none other than the old woman who had given him the ball with the magic golden thread many years earlier.

‘How have you enjoyed my special gift?’ she asked.

Peter was direct in his reply.

‘At first it was fun but now I hate it. My whole life has passed before my eyes without giving me the chance to enjoy it. Sure, there would have been sad times as well as great times but I haven’t had the chance the experience either. I feel empty inside. I have missed the gift of living.’

‘You are very ungrateful,’ said the old woman. ‘Still, I will give you one last wish.’

Peter thought for an instant and then answered hastily. ‘I’d like to go back to being a schoolboy and live my life over again.’ He then returned to his deep sleep.

Again he heard someone calling his name and opened his eyes. ‘Who could it be this time?’ he wondered. When he opened his eyes, he was absolutely delighted to see his mother standing over his bedside. She looked young, healthy and radiant. Peter realized that the strange woman of the forest had indeed granted his wish and he had returned to his former life.

‘Hurry up Peter. You sleep too much. Your dreams will make you late for school if you don’t get up right this minute,’ his mother admonished. needless to say, Peter dashed out of his bed on this morning and began to live the way he had hoped. Peter went on to live a full life, one rich with many delights, joys and triumphs, but it all started when he stopped sacrificing the present for the future and began to live in the moment.

Unfortunately, none of us will ever get this second change to live our life again. Knowing that time flies, we refuse to make the use of it and live in the present. We are so preoccupied with out thought about the future that we turn a blind eye to our present. And when we are finally on the death bed, we regret not doing so many things we could have done in our life.

I don’t know what’s your age, but that doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is that you are alive, reading my blog at the moment and my message is being conveyed to you. Don’t let time slip out of your hands like the sand. Learn to relish and enjoy the present so that you have some really exciting and interesting stories to share with others and you have no regrets when you would be on your death bed. 🙂

Sarah visits

          After our trip to Indiana to visit family in March we bought Sarah back with us. Frankie was having her 99th  Birthday Party and  Sarah wanted to be there so she came back with Donna and I on a airplane. 

Wow was so fast getting home, beat driving . Bump didn't come with us on this trip so we took a plane ✈.  We had lots of fun while home and while here we tryed to show Sarah a good time. 

Brian took us all on a boat ride....

Went to Frankies party.....

Out to eat alot! .....

Hit our favorite thrift stores..... in all we were pretty busy!  

Happy to have had you here Sarah!!!

           

The Gerbers ...July 2024

 Angie and the family had a three day soccor game in Orlando to attend of Scouts this past week so she decided to make it a family week vacation and visit  us as all while here which was very nice.  We had a cook out at Todds on one of the days that she was here visiting and even some of the pine hills gang was there. . Dad enjoyed showing  C. some family videos and some of  their own children growing up.  It was all so very nice! I feel certain they enjoyed it!  It was a fast visit but we were so glad they could come.  We did miss seeing Finn. Maybe next time.💖

Vertigo

 

 

Two  weeks ago on a Sunday morning around five, I woke up yelling with vertigo.  The room was  spinning!  Never had vertigo ever this bad before.  Had  not had a problem for maybe six months and never like this ....this was worse ever!!   Throwing  up and not able to get back to my old self. Dad was a sweetheart and stayed by my side and finally called Randy and Sherry...they came and I said I will be find cause  they felt I needed to call ambulance for if gets any worse you just never know they said.  But even after they left it was not better and I threw up for awhile.   Donna came and saw that I was throwing up and said to Joey we need to call a ambulance.  I fought it but finally gave in.  Glad I did cause was not getting better. 

After being at hospital 12 hours and was given all kinds of test and meds. I was released to go home and was happy for that.  Meds. stopped it all and got it all under control....what a nighmare.....for awhile I thought my time had come and time to say my goodbys.  Yikes!  Never felt that bad before.  😟ugh!

 

 

1

Randy and Todd

 This entry will be about my two sons Todd and Randy.  Both have been such a blessing to dad and I and had a successful life .....they both went to school to achieve and land good jobs. Todd landed a job with Lockheed Martin and Randy with Lake County computer systems. Todd married Heather Roddy and they have three children.  Randy married Sherry Paup and they have two children.  I will add more here and also the boys picture mostly tomorrow.

Our kids.....some crazy days

Silly things that happened when kids were young......

Leslie put a BB in her ear when quite young and I freaked out and was a nervous wreck.  Dad being a pretty calm guy and a smart man got one of his very strong magnets and layed her down like sideways face down on his lap and put the magnet up to her ear and boom it came right out. Wow what a day that was!

Leslie........This day I could not find Leslie anywhere in the house and I was panicking and called dad at his work.  He left immediatly and came home. We looked all over the  house and lucky we found her sound asleep on floor  underneath the bed skirt . She had fell asleep there for her nap....so funny but also so very scary!!  Today our Leslie has had  two broken marriages and four children, we weep for her and hope one day she finds someone worthy of her and she chooses to return to the gospel.  We love her and that sweet spirit she carried with her always.

Our cat.....while living in Orlando /Pine Hills ......not sure how this happened but our cat climbed up into a opening outside of our brick house on Elon Drive and she wouldn't come down for she was so scared. She had climbed pretty high up and we could almost reach her but not quite.  She was scared and stuck!  We kept trying to reach her and finally we decided to temp her with some good kitty food.  It worked, she finally came down slowly after much coaching.Wow, and yes we filled that hole up and we sure hope she won't ever try that again. 😊

 Randy....... could not find Randy one day and he thought it would be fun to play hide and seek  from me.  Looked all over for him and being tiny and thinking it was funny I looked all around everywhere for him and could not find him.  When finally he saw me freaking out he came out laughing from behind this Big Elephant Plant in our front yard.  I made sure he knew that that was not very funny for mommy and that it sure scared mommy!  Randy made us laugh so hard when young when he  dressed up like Gandhi who was in the movie.

Valerie...first born and everyone thought she was the most beautiful baby ever and of course we certainly agreed. As Valerie got older she was a wonderful helper with all the children.   A helper she was and still to this day she helps alot of people. She is a giver as she has always been all her life. She to this day goes out of her way to help her neighbor or anyone in need,   She is always willing to go out of her way to help others in any way she can.

Angie...Angie was our little tomboy, she could handle the boys , could fight as well as any boy. she had a temper and so it took a little work at times to settle her down. Even so we have always been proud of her and all her accomplishments. Angie has this Zest for life which opens the door to her success and she can overcome most things that would pull the rest of us down.😟

Todd...Todd was always so loving as a young child..  Becoming a teenager is always a little tough and like most teenagers they want to fit in.   He had friends and sometimes they were a bigger influence on him than we would have liked..  But for sure  as a young child  this little guy won our hearts.  I would read to him at bedtime and always got a hug before he fell asleep. He wanted to make us so happy and he did and we were so proud when this young man decided to serve the Lord by going on a mission. His heart turned to the Lord , for now he has lost that feeling but we know one day his heart will turn back to our Savior.

Leslie.... If ever there was a gal who outwardly showed her love to her mom and dad it was Leslie.  She gave me hugs without any reason. Only one of all our kids that freely gave hugs . I have to say she gave me lots of hugs..  She wanted to do what was right always...even as a teenager she made us so proud because of her choices!!

Stacey....she was my helper and heaven knows I needed help.  She wanted to keep the home tidy and clean. She was proud when she knew she was loved and appreciated for all she did.   As with a lot of teens  those years were hard as most the teens  all fight for freedom to make their own choices!

Jenny... My Jen was heaven sent and glad she was born to be my last child in my older years.  Has her when I was 40 but Wow she has given us so much happiness with her funny tricks and ability to make us all laugh. We love Jen....don't remember having problems with her but when she left Fl. and went to California  she hit some had times. We wanted her  to stay home at  tend Community College but her sister had a bigger influence on her than we did.  Sure her life would have been different had she stayed here in Fl.

Quote on CHILDREN

 I HAVE NO GREATER JOY THAN TO KNOW THAT MY CHILDREN WALK IN TRUTH AND GROW UP TO BE GOOD ADULTS!   WHAT MORE COULD A MOTHER ASK FOR💗

I love this , every parents dream!

WHAT TRIGGERS YOU ??

THIS IS SO TRUE GUYS.......ASK YOURSELF WHAT IN LIFE TRIGGERS ME??

ITS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE ALL THE THINGS IN LIFE THAT "TRIGGERS YOU" AND TAKES  AWAY YOUR JOY!   PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THEM.....PERHAPES  LIKE STEPPING ON THE SCALES CAN CAUSE YOU ATTACH YOURSELF TO A NUMBER.... ITS JUST A NUMBER!....ITS NOT BENIFITING YOU ..... WHEN YOU ARE AROUND PEOPLE WHO ATTACH THEMSELF TO A NUMBER AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT #  IT ONLY MAKES YOU FEEL NEGATIVE!   THOSE NEGATIVE THINGS CAN ROB US DAILY OF HAPPINESS...SO FOLKS STEP AWAY  FROM ALL THOSE THINGS THAT WE GET TOO INVOLVED  IN THAT STEALS OUR HAPPINESS .......WE NEED TO  DO AWAY WITH THEM!!  

NOT ALWAYS EASY FOR SURE BUT SO WORTH OUR TIME. 😉

Trip to Indiana

  Well to start with I had some  resurvations about going cause was thinking I could not handle the cold.

At the last minute, night before left I finally said ok, would go.  Sarah had bought me winter underware to help keep me warm.   Away I went ( on plane) Kim and Sarah picked us up, only took like couple hours, sure beat driving.  Bump backed out to going this trip.  The following is what we did........

 Donna cleaned Joe's house as she always wants to do!

Joe took us out to get pizza at our favorite place ...Bobe's Pizza!  Its the very best pizza ever!!

We hit a few thrift stores which was fun as always and got a few cute things. 

We got to use Sarah's old car for getting around in.. 

We visited the following people while home.....Roscoe, Joe, Tammy, Olive, Ozeta and it was nice seeing them all. Joe has trouble with leg, Roscoe can hardly talk, Tammy let us stay in the house that was once Roscoe's. She had it fixed up so nicely, and it was good having a private bath and a very clean and nice place to stay.

So now for a funny thing that happened while staying at Tammy's, one evening,  

Reminded me of the movie " MOUSE HUNT"   yes a tiny mouse ran across the floor while staying at Tammy's place. It brushed against my pant leg and I screemed and jumped upon a chair. ha!   It was so funny and we set a mouse trap next day but it didn't take the bate. Guess he stayed hidden after that cause we never saw him again.  We laughted pretty hard that evening, such a funny memory!! ha!  Being the cold season there I was told if  they can find a way to get in from the cold they will.  😄

CHOOSE WISELY

 There is one kind of marriage in life that you should avoid.  Its mentioned in 2nd Corinthians 6:14.  Here is part of that verse......

                                " Do not be unequally yoked together."

   Unequally yoked sounds strange right?  Its not.  This is the Bible's way of saying that people 

shouldn't marry someone who doesn't believe as they do. Spiritual unbalanced is like different sized oxen

 trying to work together- it's hard to make progress.  The best marriage fit is two people who believe the same things and even about God & Church.

Parent Perfection

                                              PARENT PERFECTION NO

Reality Check 1;....There are no perfect parents. 

Reality Check 2: You're not perfect either.

Most parents want to do the right thing in raising their children. They work hard, haul their kids around , and much more.  The truth is that its takes both parents and their kids who really want to  do things to create a happier home. 

How is it done?

"Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.....Fathers and Mothers, do not provoke your children to wrath."  (Ephesians 6:1-4)

In the home everyone can do their part to make things work.  

 Sound out the words below as a pledge to your family......

I WILL DO MY PART TO HAVE A PLEASING  HOME!

    

More on trip to Indiana ...

 Well this will be all about my trip to Indiana......had a great time visiting with my siblings.... Joe, Roscoe and Sarah plus some of Sarah's kids and spent time with Tammy and Steve...Roscoe's son and wife. Tammy has Roscoe's old home fixed up really comfy and thats where we stayed and it was so nice to have a comfy bed and bath. . Every time we visit Joe, my brother takes us to Bobe's Pizza and honestly it is the best pizza you could ever want. We drove around Vincennes and hit some thrift stores , watched a sweet movie called "Thomasina."  Was cold only about two days, got 30 and 24 degrees ... some ice and wind! 

I do have to tell about this MOUSE that ran across kitchen and brushed against my leg. I jumped and yelled.😯  They asured me it was not  a Rat. It might been more to worry about but it was just a tiny mouse.  Sarah said they come in from the cold , this reminded me so much of the movie

 "MOUSE HUNT."   Watch this movie if you can! 

  Donna cleaned Joe's house. He has a pretty hard time getting around these days with just one good leg... other one is off and giving him a problem! 

Roscoe said a few words this time that we could understand but for most part he barely talks. Sarah has a cane and if does alot of walking needs a wheelchair. she sleeps taking oxygen at night. All us Todd kids are now in eighties and nineties. 

In all it was a really fun nice trip!

Dad's favorite things

 Going to try and put alot here that dad just absolutely loves!!  Also his picture.

Will take some time to fill this up but I am starting.......

First and foremost will say Dad loves the church.... has a very strong testimony of the church, our Savior Jesus Christ and of the prophet Joseph Smith restoring it to perfect order!!!

Self Devotion by David McCullough- saw tears in dads eyes when he was watching this 

Loves anything to do with the rocket launching

Loves Airplanes

Likes watching Sherlock Holmes.

ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE History of World War 2 .

Loves music sooo much.   Said he cannot imagine life without it.

A FEW MORE OF HIS FAVORITE MOVIES:

MAD MAD WORLD

AUNTIE MAIN

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK

Our Jenny

 Jenny moved to Ca. and we miss her so so much!!!!!  She gave us Plo and Dew to keep and love! 

She adopted two more sweet little kitties after she got settled.  Here she is with her two new babies.

  Jen's two cats...  Belly and  Fuffy.......so sweet!!  Here they are!!

!

                               Dad and I love this picture of Jen Jen..her sweet smile......we love her sooo much that I had to put it in here also. 💖  

Kristen's Wedding...

 Kristen married the love of her life on Feb. 24th 20223

....this little gal has been a BIG part of her grandma and grandpa's life for many yrs. since I kept her as a little baby and right till she went to school while her mother and dad worked. 

What joy she has given our family!  Even my own children  adored her and it filled our home with so much love and happy fun days!