JoJo 2.2; Best Friend Moves!

JoJo never remembered a time when he didn't remember Bob! He and Tommy had been JoJo's best friends since birth. Then he got the news...Bob is moving!! At first, he thought it was a prank. He couldn't imagine life without Bob. But, he heard it again. And again. Finally, Bob called to tell him he was moving to Austin, Texas.

JoJo was holding back tears. "Why Austin?"
Bob said, "My daddy is tired of being a plumber."
Bob came from a long line of plumbers going back to his great-grandpa. Bob was already studying and working to be a plumber, too.
Bob contiuned, "Do you remember my Uncle Dusty, the Wrassler?"
"Of course!" Bob's Uncle Dusty Rhodes was an up and coming wrestler. He had not hit the big time yet, but there were rumors that he would be a part Georgia Championship Wrestling within the next few months.
"Well, Uncle Dusty called daddy and asked him to be his manager."
"You mean we will get to see him on television?!"
"No, he will help him with his money."
"Are you really leaving, Bob?"
"Fraid so, Pal! I am going to study to be a Master Plumber with my GrandPa in Austin! But, I sure will miss you! Hey, my other Granny will be here, and they said I could come visit her!"
"Man, I hope you come a lot."
"Does Tommy know?"
"I'm not sure. I am fixin to call him."
"I hope the 3 of us can go fishing before you leave."
"We will. I guess I better call Tommy." The boys hung up.

When Dan got home, JoJo was in his room.
"Hey Sport, are you sick?"
"No, I'm sad..."
"What's going on?"
"Bob is moving."
"JoJo, I didn't know. He has been a good friend to you for a long time."
"All our life!" JoJo finally breaks down and the tears flow.
"I am sure he will come visit his grandmother."
"Maybe...Dad, I need a Bible verse to help me! Do you have one?"
"I will be back in a few minutes."

Dan goes to the bedroom. He prays, "Father, thank you for my son." "Please show me a verse that will help him."
At first, Dan googled "Friendship." Then, he recalled Romans 8:28. It would be on target.

"JoJo, I think the verse Romans 8:28 will help."
"I knew you would come through, Dad." "Do you mind if I read it by myself? I kinda want to be alone."
"Sure, JoJo." "I will let you know when supper's ready."

JoJo loved the New Living Translation. He still was struggling to get some of this God stuff, but he was searching. When he found the verse, he decided to write it in a notebook.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.
"Wow, that is a really cool verse."
JoJo whispered, "Thank you, God. And, please help Bob. Amen"

JoJo 2.1; School Daze

JoJo was in another galaxy called Janie. He couldn't believe God could make such a pretty creature. The boy had no clue he was staring at her instead of doing his math. He was also clueless that Old Lady Cantankerous was standing right behind him! She wanted to give the back of his head a "Gibbs Slap." Instead, she wrote something on JoJo's open notebook. To get him out of Janie Orbit, Ms. Cantankerous hit his desk with her pencil several times. This caused everyone in the classroom, including Janie, to look his way. Finally, JoJo entered Earth's orbit and landed back in his desk. He looked up and saw Old Lady Cantankerous. Almost as fast, he noticed a word that she had written in his notebook: DAD! JoJo immediately shook his head relaying, "NO!" Then, she wrote another word: MATH! JoJo shook his head as to say, "YES,YES,YES!!!"

Ms Cantankerous took her 'teacher place' in front of the room. As she began to talk, he realized he had been hearing a Blah Sha Blah noise while in Galaxy Janie. He thought it was a space animal! However, as the Blah Sha now was interrupted as, "Who can tell me the first step in adding fractions?", JoJo realized it was a creature named Cantankerous talking the entire time. About that time, he remembered the words from Micah 6:8..."To do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." JoJo thought this was the time to do right. He raised his hand.

Ms. Cantankerous almost fell over! "JoJo, do you know the first step?"

"Yes mam. Find a common denominator."

"Exactly! Thank you, JoJo."

The rest of math class was a breeze that day. When he got home, he went straight to Ann's house across the street. Ann was a grown lady, but she was his friend. Ann always allowed the boys to play basketball on the court her son developed several years prior. After a while some other guys showed up, and it was game on. JoJo lost track of time, but when he saw his dad pull in the driveway, he knew it was 6:10. Dan closed the Hardware store at 6:00 and drove the 10 minutes home every day. JoJo told the guys he had to go and rushed home.

Before Dan could get in the house, JoJo caught him.
"Dad!" "Dad!"
"Hey, JoJo!" "How was your day at school?"
"Stupendous!" OK, that was weird, too. He had never used that word before in his life. Heck, it seemed like the new abnormal was starting to feel normal.
Dan couldn't help himself..."How was Math?"
"I killed it, Dad!"
"I am proud of you, Buddy!" "What happened?"
JoJo thought for a few seconds. He confessed that early in the class he was not paying attention, but later Micah 6:8 was a key to him being the star of the Cantankerous Show. (He left out the part where Ms. Cantankerous came to his desk.)
"Excellent! Praise the Lord!!!"

Wonderful Visit with Aunt Nell!

I am giving the Saga of JoJo a day off.

Yesterday, 2 faithful youths, Addy and Gauge, accompanied me to our monthly Oaks/Bethany Visitation. One of their first questions was, "Are we going to sing?" I told them no, unless it was This Little Light of Mine for Aunt Nell. (I didn't want to sing with that few folks, either. I want many voices to cover my clunkers!) We got to the Home a little late, and we headed straight to Aunt Nell (Hodges)'s room. We had a great conversation! First, Addy's parents came to get her, then Gauge had to take off. So, Aunt Nell and I reminisced for about another hour. Aunt Nell turned 90-years-old in February, and I have been a member of the Vidalia First United Methodist Church since the early 1970s. So, we talked a great deal about former members of the church. She reminded me of people that I had not thought about in years. (She remembers better than I do!) 

God has blessed me with many godly role models throughout my life. One of my favorites was Aunt Nell's husband, Bill. I detailed to her a special day in my life that occurred in circa 1987. Our pastor, Bill Strickland had presented us with a vision for a Family Life Center. I was a first-year teacher, and had the privilege of being on a committee with a group of men, all much older than I was, to investigate other equivalencies of a Family Life Center. On this Saturday, we traveled all over Georgia. I particularly remember going to Epworth By The Sea and Savannah. If there were other cities, I don't recall them. As we rode in the church van for several hours, I listened to these men, at times in amazement. The one memory that stuck out was one Bill told. The men had to conjole it out of him. Maybe Bill hesitated because of his humble nature and did not want to draw attention to himself. Maybe the memories were tough to dredge up. Whatever the reason, I am thankful the guys kept encouraging him until he recalled several near-death experiences during WWII. I think there were 3 accounts, but I can only recall two of them. During part of his deployment, Bill was required to be in a fox hole with another soldier during bombing. Bill made it a habit to collect shrapnel after explosions. One night, he crawled out of his foxhole to collect shrapnel and while he was out, a bomb exploded in his foxhole and killed his soldier buddy. WOW! Another time, he and a buddy were pulled off an airplane just before takeoff. Bill was mad about this for some reason. His feelings soon changed as he saw the plane go down and explode shortly after take-off. Bill said he didn't know what work the Lord kept him alive for. The other guys said, "You're doing it!" And, he was. My memories of Bill include him being a nice man, which was important to me growing up. There were some mean dudes along the way. Bill was a faithful church member. But, there was so much more to his Christianity. 

Jesus said you would know people by their fruits. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.

We know the only perfect man was Jesus, so I won't claim anyone else to be perfect. I know I have never even had one day where I was perfect, but I do believe the Holy Spirit lived in Bill in such a way that ALL these fruits were exhibited! Instead of him dying during WWII, he lived for over 60 years after the war. People like me could look to him to learn what a man of God was. 

Don't get me wrong, my parents were great examples for me! I praise God for my family! However, we all have holes in our examples. God has been so good to me for plenty of godly men and women to show me how to live, plus His Word tells me to as well.

I would not trade anything for my visit with Aunt Nell yesterday! I could brag on her just as much, but I think she would enjoy hearing about somebody else because she does not want the spotlight on her. Praise God she shines it on the Lord! Watching the employees enjoy their relationship with her is evidence enough--if you were not already aware of "This Little Light" in her!

JoJo; Part 4

JoJo was very happy! He had just downed his third chocolate-covered doughnut! He had been in Mr. Wesley's Sunday school class for three years. JoJo really liked Mr. Wesley. He brought them doughnuts every week, taught them Bible lessons, and most of all...he was a nice man. JoJo really didn't know many nice men, but they all seemed to go to his church. Of course there were others, like Mike, the mechanic; James, the mailman; and Sy, a family friend. But, most men he knew were mean! They were always talking about how long his hair was or how his family was goody-goody. Mr. Wesley's lesson that day was really good, but 5 minutes after it was over, JoJo had no idea what the man said.

This was the second Sunday, which meant no worship service for his family. For two years, they had traveled the thirty minutes to Stuckey for a visit with Granny-Jo. She resided at the Methodist Home for Old People. Only 4 people in the world knew who JoJo was named after: JoJo, his dad, his mom, and his Granny-Jo. As a matter of fact, Granny-Jo was a nickname for Josephine. You guessed it, JoJo was named after his grandmother. He didn't mind because he loved her from here to Canada! Granny-Jo was cool! She had a nice stereo with an 8-track player. She liked all kinds of music: Christian, Country, and Rock & Roll. Plus, she always played it real loud because she was hard-of-hearing! Today, she was listening to an old Beatles' tape called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. 

As soon as Dan heard the music, he said, "Groovy Man!"
JoJo whispered, "Oh, no"
He hated the word groovy. Some words left over from the 60s were OK, but NOT groovy. Oh well, Dan had his faults like every one else. On the flip side, Dan was one of the main reasons JoJo wanted to know more about God. His dad was more than nice. He went out of his way to help people, especially poor people. Dan was almost always in a good mood, usually humming some hymn. And when it came to Alice, Dan would do anything to make her feel like a queen.

Granny-Jo had already had lunch, which was always the topic of conversation. If it was bad, she would say, "Dan, get me out of this Old Folks' Home!" But, if it was good, Granny-Jo would have a smile on her face and usually laughed often. Today's meal, complete with pumpkin pie, was especially good. Granny was full of questions.
She would begin with me: "How much have you grown?" "Have you been watching the Braves?" "Have you been playing your guitar?"
After a while, Dad would give me the nod, which meant I could go visit Mr. Wendell. We talked baseball! He played second-base in the minors for a team called the Red Hens. Man, could he tell some stories.

My sister and Granny-Jo were real close. As I left the room, I saw her crawl in Granny's chair. It didn't bother me. Just the opposite, I was glad to see them both happy.

In a few minutes, Dad came and got me, and we were off for Smallville. I was so looking forward to a nap, when Dad cleared his throat to make sure I was awake.
"JoJo, did you bring your Bible like I asked you to?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, turn to Malachi 6:8." "Did you read it three times last night?"
"I think so...I fell asleep reading."
"Shawhaha!" "That's ok, Son!" "I want you to back up and read verses 6 & 7 aloud."
"What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousands rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?"
Dan told JoJo he was impressed with how well he read the verses, then he asked him to interrupt what he read.
"The people sounded desperate!" "They were asking what did they need to do to get right with the Lord."
"Well said, my favorite son!"
"Dad, I am your ONLY son!!"
"Shawha!" "The people were in trouble with the Lord for what they had already done. They were asking could they do all these desperate measures--as you said, but The Lord is Love. He beautifully told them all he wanted. Do you remember those three things from the verse you read last night?"
"Can I peak?"
"Uhhhh...yea."
"To do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
"That was what God wanted!" "Guess what?"
"What, Dad?"
"That is what he still wants from His people."
"Oh! Cool!"
"Now you can take your nap, JoJo."

JoJo; Part Three

As JoJo finished filling in the 30th hole, he said out loud, "I hope you are satisfied, Old Lady Cantankerous!" He surprised himself, because he usually would not utter such words to an adult....even if she was not present. It had taken him the better part of three hours to complete this "lesson," as his father called it. More like free labor was JoJo's version.

The shower felt good, not only to knock off that smell of dirt and sweat, but also to his tired muscles. "I'm getting old," JoJo thought to himself. Another thing that was new to JoJo was his appetite. It was difficult to fill up, and even when he did get enough he was eating 2 hours later.
Tonight, he filled himself up on every leftover he could find. JoJo's mother had been sick for about 6 months. The doctors still weren't sure the diagnosis, but Alice rarely cooked. Also, Dan was not a great cook. Fortunately for JoJo, he was usually so hungry that a leather sandwich with Ketsup was tasty to him.

After supper, JoJo used the new three-way calling that had just come out! He called Bob, then they called Tommy.
Tommy inquired, "What sermon did Disciple Dan preach you?'
JoJo never minded his friends calling his dad by that name until that moment. He quickly thought about the way Mr. Wildfire would make fun of Dan. He called him a Choir Boy. Tommy's dad also said he would not be caught dead in church with all those hypocrites. JoJo wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that.
"Whatever he said was better than what your dad would have preached me!"
Bob chimed in, "Was it that bad JoJo Boy?"
Just as quickly as he got mad, JoJo was fine. "Man, I'm sorry Tommy! I shouldn't have said that."
"No problem, Pal." "Now tell us what happened!"
"Well, it was weird."
Bob asked, "How so?"
JoJo tried to explain, "Dad didn't even get mad. He prayed and told me he understood."
Both friends talked over each other, "He didn't preach to you?" "He wasn't mad?!"
"He said that we would work on math together, but I did have to fill all the holes in the yard."
JoJo didn't say anything about Dan's mention of Marge or his own disrespect.
Tommy told him, "You're lucky, Pal! My daddy would have beat the poot out of me!"
Bob, as usual, chimed in, "Dan is a softy."
JoJo had heard enough. "Listen guys, I need to go."
"Oh yea, church tomorrow." "Get ready to go be Mr. Goody-goody."
"Yea, yea. Good night, guys."

Another new thing about JoJo was his sudden interest in God. It wasn't like he had not had an opportunity to learn. JoJo's grandfather, Carlton Smith was the pastor of Slippery Rock United Methodist Church. It was out in the country, about 10 miles from Smallville. His father never received the call to go in to the ministry. He was a Christian businessman. Dan owned a Hardware store. Due to loyal customers, the business did quite well. And when it came to the First United Methodist Church of Smallville, Dan was serious! Even though Mr. Wildfire called Dan a "choir boy," he couldn't carry a tune. No, Dan was involved with the Finance Committee, and he had taught Sunday school class for 15 years. Dan loved his church! Alice loved the church, too. But, her recent sicknesses that began about 3 years ago, had not allowed her to attend very often. JoJo had been attending church since birth, but he really didn't understand all that Jesus stuff. He knew to be a good boy and that had been enough....until now. He knew he wanted more of God. He needed more of God!

Dan knocked, and JoJo told him to come in. Dan always believed in treating his children with a degree of respect. JoJo picked up on that, and he tried to immitate Dan.
"JoJo, the yard looks great!"
"Thanks, Dad."
"Our next lesson needs to happen before you go to sleep."
"Oh, so he waited until I was too tired to not figure out a way to get out of his sermon," JoJo thought to himself.
"I know you're tired, but please listen to me."
"OK, Dad."
"Son, the things that are changing in your life mean you're becoming a man."
"Really?"
"Yes, Son." "God has an instruction for you to help you be a man." "I want you to read this 1 verse three times before you go to bed tonight."
"Sounds good, Dad. What is the verse?"
"It is Micah 6:8. We will talk more about the context later." "Good night, young man."
"Ha!" JoJo liked being called young man. "Good night, Not-as-Young-as-Me-Man."
JoJo read the verse thoroughly twice, but on the third time, he fell fast asleep.
MICAH 6:8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

JoJo; Part Two

When JoJo heard the expression in his dad's voice, he knew he was in trouble. He told Tommy and Bob to wait in the basement, and he would see what his dad wanted. JoJo couldn't remember doing anything wrong lately. He knew he had cleaned his room, and he had even been nice to his sister.

"Yes, dad..."
"JoJo, Ms. Cantankerous just called to tell me about your math work."
"What did she say?"
"Well, she said you are FAILING!"
"Really?"
"Uhhh, yes. REALLY! You better tell the boys you have something you need to do."
"Like what?!" It was out of his mouth before he knew it. That was another weird thing that was going on in his life. All of the sudden, he was sassy to adults.
"You are about to find out..."
JoJo held back tears. He couldn't let the fellas see him cry. He told the boys his dad said they had to leave.
In unison, they said, "Why?"
"Old Lady Cantankerous (who is 29-years-old) called and ratted me out about my math grade."
Again in unison, the fellas said, "Math grades?!"
Tommy said, "You make straight 100s!"
JoJo didn't even look up. "I'm failing."
The fellas said in unison, "Failing??"
Bob said, "We better leave out the back door! Disciple Dan is about to hit ya with a sermon!"
(JoJo's dad was a devout Christian, earning him the name Disciple Dan.)
"Fraid so. I'll call you guys later...if I'm still alive."
As the fellas left, Bob murmured, "Old Lady Cantankerous has no life! She just ruined our Saturday."

When JoJo walked back upstairs, he found his father in the Living Room.
"Come in and sit down, son."
JoJo felt like he was marching to the gallows. Once he got to his seat, Dan prayed. It seemed like it lasted 30 minutes, but it was only 2.
After the prayer, Dan said three words that JoJo found unbelievable!
"Son, I understand."
"Sir??"
"Are you finding it difficult to focus in math lately."
"Yes sir."
"What is distracting you?'
Now JoJo went from high hopes to embarrassment. "I don't know."
"JoJo, we all have times that challenge us."
"Yes sir." Dan was acting weird and a little too nice.
"Your grades are important, and your respect of adults is even more important."
"Sorry how I spouted off earlier, Dad."
"Here's what we're going to do. You will bring home your math every night, and we will work together. To help you work on your disrespect, we will begin lessons today. I want you to take the dirt beside the ditch and fill in all the holes in the yard."
"Yes sir. " "Dad?"
"What's that JoJo?"
"Why am I not in trouble because of my math grades?"
"Have you been feeling different lately?"
"Yes sir! How did you know?!"
"JoJo, when I was your age I went through the same thing. Her name was Marge."
"You remember?"
"Like it was yesterday."
"Cool."

JoJo; Part One

JoJo lived in SmallTown, USA back in the 1970s. He grew up in a Middle-Income family. They owned a house with a picket fence, and had two dogs names Ruff and Scratchy. Dan Smith, JoJo's dad worked at the Monument place, located on the east side of town, while his mom, Alice was a nurse. JoJo had one bratty sister, Remi, who liked to follow JoJo where ever he went. This only happened when Mrs. Smith made JoJo allow Remi to tag along. To JoJo, his life had been a simple and fun one for the first 12 years of his life, but as he entered seventh grade and turned 13-years old, something was weird! All of the sudden, he had all this energy that literally didn't sit well in a classroom. He couldn't wait until recess, and when he got home he played for at least two hours. Since, JoJo was a good student, he would come in and do his homework, usually before supper. By the way, this small town was in the Deep South, and the evening meal was called "supper".

There were other things that were new in JoJo's life that he had never experienced before. One of the biggest changes was the amount of time he spent thinking about girls. JoJo had begun to notice girls back in the fourth grade, but now he was under some kind of spell! As cute girls approached him, he would go into this whole other universe. JoJo had a difficult time knowing what to say to the girls. He did a lot of coughing and smiling. If there was a consolation, JoJo's buddies were experiencing this same phenomenon. Their favorite phrase to describe a pretty girl was: "SHE'S HOT!!" Dan realized this was the boys' favorite description of these cute girls on Saturday afternoon. JoJo and his friends Tommy Wildfire and Bob Rhodes were shooting pool in the basement. As Dan started down the stairs to the basement, he stopped at the top step and listened. The boys' conversation was repetitious.

"What do you think about Janie?"
"She's Hot!"
"Cindy?"
"She's Hot!"
"Donna?"
"She's Hot!"

Dan actually muffled his own mouth to stop from literally LOLing! About that time, Alice called for Dan to come to the phone. He quietly retreated from his ease-dropping perch.

"Hello"
"Is this Mr. Smith?"
"Yes, it is."
"Mr. Smith, this is Ms. Cantankerous, JoJo's Math teacher."
"Hi, Ms. Cantankerous. What can I do for you?'
"First, I apologize for calling you on Saturday, but I do need your help."
"Oh? How can I help you?"
"Mr. Smith, JoJo is failing Math. I am concerned because he has never had a score below 99."
"I am glad you called! Do you have a thought to the reason for his grade?"
"Well...."
"Ms Cantankerous, don't sugar coat it."
"No sir, I just don't want to meddle. The truth of the matter..."
"Go on."
"Her name is Janie."
"I am not following you."
"Mr. Smith, if I gave a test on Janie, JoJo would make a 100."
"But, he's failing math?!"
"Yes sir."
"I will!"
"Sir?"
"You asked me if I would I help, and I promise you things will change."
"Thank you, Mr. Smith! Again, I apologize for calling on a Saturday."
"Not at all, Mr Cantankerous. Thank you."

Dan hangs up the phone. He thinks for about 42 seconds, then yells, "JoJo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'