I Get To Because…

There are so many ways this phrase can be completed.  The original thought for me comes from a card I got on my 40^th birthday from my friend Chad Zepernick.  14 years ago. and it’s still my all-time favorite birthday card.  It says “I get to because it’s my birthday”.  Here’s the card: 

Chad did a great job picking this one out, knowing that my favorite color is purple, and that I can be kinda offbeat at times, which partially explains the friendship. And the shoes are sparkly.  It's still on my refrigerator.

One of the things "I get to because it's my birthday" is have Corn Flakes & vanilla ice cream for breakfast. We were at grandma & grandpa Welch's for my 5th birthday and grandma said that I could have anything I wanted for breakfast.  She was most likely thinking something like pancakes, waffles, or some other "breakfast" food; but me being me and having a massive sweet tooth as long as I can remember, said "ice cream". Mom said I couldn't have it, but being the brilliant, and somewhat precocious & manipulative child that I was, I replied "But grandma said I could have a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g [emphasis mine], and grandma doesn't lie". The compromise was that I could have the ice cream if I put cereal on top of it. All grandma had for cereal was Corn Flakes & Grape Nuts - and since Grape Nuts was the 'old people' cereal, Corn Flakes it was... and a tradition was born. After that grandma was more careful about how she phrased things.  I also heard a comment that I wasn’t meant to hear.  Grandma told mom, “You’re gonna have your hands full with that one.” As I look back, she wasn’t wrong.

I use the card with the sparkly purple shoes as my Facebook profile pic on my birthday.  My cover photo, however, is reserved for Flag Day, which also happens to be today. Side note: I grew up thinking they put the flags out along Main Street for my birthday.  For those who may not be aware of what Flag Day actually is, it commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.  It ties into another “I get to because…”  I get to have the freedoms of this country because one of my ancestors moved here from Germany, and his son fought in the Revolutionary war.

 

There are so many other “I get to because” statements, but the most important one is “ I get to have eternal life because I accepted Jesus as my Savior”.  It pretty much makes them all possible, so I’ll leave you with that statement.

Unc Always Whistled

When I was growing up, my Great Uncle Leo lived in the same small rural KS town as we did.  He was known simply as “Unc”.  He loved to fish, was a wiz at repairing electronics, and was generally quite a handy man.  More than once I went with him to check fish lines, but he always cleaned the fish so I didn't have to.  Also because he was much better at it.  

Unc with a decent haul of catfish... Not an unusual sight during the summers. 

You could always tell when Unc was walking down the street because you could hear him whistling.  I never really thought anything about it, because he whistled all of my life.  It wasn’t until later in my life that I heard his story.  He used to sing; and had a great voice.  In 1935 he recorded several songs at the Rocky Mountain Recording Studio in Denver Colorado.  Because he lived in the Ozarks at the time and it was during the Great Depression, in order to travel there and back, he would sing in roadhouses for tips and the occasional beer to make money for the trip.  It should also be noted that this was also during Prohibition.  On the way back after recording the roadhouse he was playing in was raided.  He managed to get out without getting caught and hid in the bushes.  He prayed that if God would let him escape this situation, God could use him however He wanted.  After that Unc couldn’t carry a tune anymore.  But because he loved music, he would whistle.  Unc didn’t think God really used him; but he was respected and loved by many.  He was kind to everyone he met; and strived to be as Christlike as he could.  Almost 60 years later, he was at church in Hutchinson, Kansas, but there was no special music for the service.  The pastor asked if anyone had a song they would like to sing.  Unc stood up in the aisle and ask the organist to play “Old Rugged Cross”.  He sang it beautifully, in perfect tune, and from memory.  Aunt Maureen said that when he finished, there was not a dry eye in the building.  The lesson in this is that you never know when, or in what way God will use you; but don’t think He isn’t using you even in everyday life.  

Unc & Aunt Maureen in 2007 after my brother's funeral:

I’m telling the story now because was recently going thru some things and found a cassette with my dad gave me with the songs and this story on it.  I converted the songs to MP3 format so that I could share them with others in the family including his granddaughter Kaycie who used to come spend the summers when we’d have marathon Monopoly games.  This one’s for you Kaycie! 

If there are family members who want the file with the songs, let me know and I'll get it to you.