Oh Phil!

That's so swee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eet! I had a rubber knife, 
too, and I also had a pop gun, but the best toy of all was a rubber 
fishie that you could open up. I would love to have another one of 
those. My dad gave it to me when I was about four. I think it was a salmon.


LOVE IN DADDY JESUS,
Mari.


At 06:49 PM 6/26/06 -0600, Phil Scovell said:

>Doris, and others who haven't heard this yet,
>
>both my mother's parents were first generation Germans.  they were
>Mennonites and their parents came over to start life in this country.  My
>mom's parents, both of whom I knew growing up, farmed in Kansas.  They had
>11 children.  They were all German children, of course.  A little humor
>there, very little.  Anyhow, my grandmother died first when I was a young
>teenager.  Grandfather died a few years later but I spent a lot of time with
>him as I grew up whenever we went to visit.  My father's parents were gone
>before I was born so we spent most of our holidays and vacations going to
>Kansas from Iowa to spend with my grandparents.  I got grandma to teach me
>one or two German words but to answer your question, no, I never learned the
>language.  Mom said, although the family grew up speaking English, her
>parents spoke German to each other and often to the children without
>realizing it so my mother, although she couldn't speak much German, she
>could understand it quite well.  My mother passed away about three years ago
>at age 80 but a few years before she died, mom and my sisters all got to go,
>along with some of my mother's sisters and brothers, to Germany.  My sister
>and her husband were in the Army and stationed in Germany for three years so
>several of the family flew over to see them while they were living there.
>My mother was thrilled to get to see her heritage.
>
>so, here is what happened to me as a kid.  I was pretty little, too, but
>even back in the early fifties, I was born in 1952 of February, there were a
>lot of war stories on television.  so, of course, with an apple orchard in
>our backyard just perfect for playing, I was always fighting the Germans
>with my friends in that orchard.  I didn't know at the time I was half
>German and this is where it gets funny.
>
>I must have been maybe 6 or 7 at the most, if not even younger.  We went for
>Christmas to grandma and grandpa's in Kansas.  They lived in a big house
>compared to our home so there were lots of rooms and places to hide.  I had
>on some of my army equipment, rubber knife, plastic gun, and most of all, my
>little boy's soldier's heart.  I came running into the living room where my
>dad and mom and grandparents were visiting.  Grandma had gotten up to do
>something so I stopped and started telling her all sorts of things about who
>I was and the war I was fighting.  I said, "Grandma, you know what I would
>do if I saw a German?"  She said, "Tell me,"  So I pulled out my knife and
>my gun and was not only describing but was demonstrating my hand movements,
>too.  Grandma was smiling, I could still see then, and bobbing her head and
>showing total interest in everything I was saying.  Finally, my mother said,
>"Philip, did you know that you are German and that I am German and that your
>grandma and grandpa are German?"  It is funny now but it wasn't funny them.
>My father had not had good enough sight to be accepted into the military so
>I didn't hear any war stories at home.  This was a first for me.  I was a
>German?  Holy cow!  And here I am, I thought, standing in front of my poor
>grandmother telling her I was going to kill who?  they all laughed and
>thought it was funny and I remember how much grandma laughed at the look on
>my face.  More than that, three or four years later, before she died, I led
>one of my cousins to Christ when I was spending the night at their farm.
>The next day, after I came back to grandma's my mother told her.  I'll never
>forget my German grandmother, which I knew real well was German by this
>time, smile, hugged and kissed me and thanked me over and over again for
>leading my cousin to Christ.  I asked mom later what the big deal was all
>about.  She told me that although they were raised in a Christian home, they
>were, her parents, quiet people as Mennonites and they were raised not to be
>so pushy like we were as Baptists back then.  then I understood why grandma
>was so happy.  I got to go to her funeral and then a few years later, after
>my first year of seminary, I went to Kansas to stay a couple of weeks with
>my dad's oldest brother.  My father died when I was eleven years old.  His
>oldest brother became like a father to me and in fact, Uncle Fred had raised
>my dad because their father died two months before my father was born.  so,
>Uncle Fred dropped me off at grandpa's and I spent an afternoon and evening
>with him.  It was one of the most important spiritual times in my life.
>Grandpa loved the Lord and he and my dad, when he was alive, talked about
>nothing but the Bible when they were together.  I used to lay on the floor
>and listen to them argue.  I knew when I grew up, I wanted to be just like
>these two great men who knew the Bible.  That time I spent alone with
>grandpa was special because we not only talked the Bible like I used to hear
>him do with my dad, but he told me parts of his life I had never hurd about.
>When he died shortly after that meeting, I wrote a story about him in high
>school as an assignment.  the preacher read my story to everyone at my
>grandfather's funeral.
>
>Since then, my sister, the one who lived in Germany for three years, has
>done some family tree research.  Apparently, our grandparent's heritage
>stretches back into eastern Europe and Asiatic Russia.  Each of my great
>grandfathers all had a love for the Bible and were known for their love of
>the Scriptures and their dedication to God clear back to my great great
>great grandfather.  Pretty interesting stuff.  I knew when my sister read
>this history of our family to me, that it was no accident I had a love for
>the Bible, too.  From all we have now learned, my dad's side of the family
>were English.  It is quiet amazing how something as terrible as war still
>brings people together.  My dad did not become a Christian until a few years
>after he married my mom.  Once he was born again, he devoured the Scriptures
>and tried to lead everyone to Christ that crossed his path.  He died at age
>46 unexpectedly from probably something like a bleeding ulcer or something
>like that.  But I learned more by watching him in my childhood than I ever
>learned from church or school.
>
>So, that's my funny, sort of funny, German story.  I know grandma is still
>laughing and grandpa was about the biggest teaser on the planet.  He also
>loved animals and took me with him when he worked partime at an animal
>clinic.  He told me about each animal, what they were, and I bet I wasn't
>over 4 years old.  He was always fun to be with.  I'm sure glad I'll get to
>see them again some day.
>
>Phil.
>
>
>Has He Ever Crossed Your Mind?
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com


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