Thoughts on August

On August 15, 1954 Paul and I said our marriage vows in the old Methodist Church in Coronado, California. This was my parents' nineteenth wedding anniversary. After this I would never forget their anniversary and they would not forget mine. Paul and I were teenage sweethearts looking forward to our years together. We had a sweet wedding with many friends and family present on a lovely Sunday afternoon.

A year later on August 28th our first baby daughter was born at the Coronado Hospital. Kathleen Jean Marvin weighed eight pounds plus one and a half ounces. She shared my middle name Jean. My dad was known as Gene so my name was partly from him. Kathy was born on a Sunday which is my favorite day of the week.

Paul was in the Army at Fort Ord and not able to get away to see his new baby girl for another week. He had a weekend leave and barely had time to visit us for a day or two before he had to head back to his training at the base. Kathy was a week old when he saw her. Then again when she was six weeks old he was able to get to Coronado again to see us. Back to Fort Ord and more training. After this Paul spent eight weeks in Colorado in a tent in the snow getting ready to go to Korea where he spent sixteen months. Thankfully this was after the war. But it was not easy for us to be apart for almost all of his time in the Army. As it was, Paul only saw his new little daughter those two times during her first year and a half. Not a good way to start a new family.

Since these are my thoughts on August I will get back to my theme. Kathy spent her first birthday with her Grandma and Granddad Marvin and me on the trip we took that summer. We had gone to Washington state to see my grandma and other Davenports there. We were on the way home from Washington on little Kathy's first birthday. Yes, Paul's parents took me on this trip to see my grandmother. They were going to Canada so decided to take Kathy and me to Washington. They were always good to me and were great with their grandchildren.

On Kathy's second birthday I was in the hospital after having surgery. Kathy spent her birthday and many other days with her Grandma and Granddad Marvin. I'm sure my parents and sister Betty would have spent some of that time with Kathy. She was the darling of the family. My parents loved being grandparents as much as Paul's parents did. My sisters loved their role as aunts.

By this time my sister Donna was married and living in Los Angeles with her new husband. They were expecting their first baby by this time. Their baby was expected in September. I was expecting our second baby and she would be born in March of 1958.

We now celebrate another August birthday as our granddaughter Melissa Joy Golden was born August 16, 1988. She joined big sister Rebecca Jean Golden who was born four years earlier in September of 1984. Missy was born on Whidbey Island in Washington state and Becky was born in the Navy Hospital in San Diego. Their Daddy John Golden was in the Navy at the time.

It has been a blessing to be a grandmother and I have enjoyed spending time with Kathy and John's girls over the years. The girls are grown up now and Becky is a Mommy to Jacob who was born in December of 2010. They all live in Colorado.

My sister Donna became a grandmother six years before I did. Her first grandson, David, was born August 6th, probably in 1978. My sister Betty's first grandchild was also born on August 6th. Brittany is twenty one this year so she would have been born in 1990.

We have had other August weddings and birthdays over the years. Becky and Jay were married August 8th last year so they recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary. They had a sweet backyard wedding with their close friends and family. I'm sorry to have missed their special day. But Laura and I were at the restaurant with the family when they announced their engagement. Becky and Jay also came to San Diego for their honeymoon so we got to see the newlyweds.

So in August we have many birthdays to celebrate as well as wedding anniversaries to remember. There may not be any holidays in August, but we can celebrate life and love. The next month we also have many loved ones to remember. We are certainly blessed.

top photo- Caroline and Paul
next photo- Paul
last picture- Becky and baby Jacob

Following Him

When I first came to the realization that I needed to really know God it was an eye opening experience. I did not have a problem with really believing in Him. I needed to learn what it really is to follow Him. I do not know the exact moment I accepted Jesus, but I do know the year that I had changes in my life.

I was twenty three years old and expecting our third child when I became aware of needing a personal walk with Jesus. I could have begun this memorable time just before I was pregnant. But I remember Paul coming home from work with a renewed 'enthusiasm' for the Lord. He had a good friend that was on fire for the Lord and it seemed to have rubbed off on Paul. Paul was already a Christian so this was mainly a time of growth for him. I would have thought I was already a Christian as I had always gone to church and Sunday school.

The reason I remember I was pregnant is because I got the mumps during the early stages of my pregnancy and this was around that time. Paul got the mumps from his friend at work. Paul had them bad and knew to stay home in bed, not like his friend did. I was already expecting our baby at that time. When I got the mumps I only had them on one side but I spent time in bed despite having two little girls to care for. I remember being in bed and beginning to read the large family Bible that we had. Baby steps in being a new Christian.

Kathy and Laura got the mumps around that same time also. With children there always seemed to be times of illness to remember. But reading to them from a favorite set of books as well as Bible stories is what I remember most. Bedtime prayers were always part of the evening ritual. It was also fun to sing the songs we knew from Sunday school as well as other favorites.

Another event that happened when I was pregnant was when Paul and I were baptized in the ocean at Rosarito Beach south of the border. Paul's friend had been baptized there as he had connections with a little church in Tijuana where his wife was from. He made arrangements for us to be baptized down there too. It was a memorable day spent with our friend and his family and friends from the little church south of the border. I do not have photos but it is imprinted in my mind. This was 1960 and Rosarito Beach was completely different than it is today. We had the beach to ourselves near the old hotel that has been there for generations.

We were still in the Methodist church at that time. We were there until our baby boy was a few months old, early in 1961. Over the years we had visited First Baptist in Coronado on occasion when there were visiting evangelists. After we went to hear the evangelist in 1961 we were drawn to our little Baptist church in Coronado. Pastor Lyon was there at that time and we liked him a lot. The people of First Baptist were very welcoming and we decided to join the church that spring. This was a time of growth for us. I enjoyed becoming active there.

Another thing I remember when Paul and I were going through so many changes is wanting to share the message with family and friends. I was awkward at it and all I really accomplished was letting people know that there was something different about me. It took me a long time to be comfortable with this new me. I still struggle on how to share this good news. But it is a part of me and not something to be uncomfortable about. I remember one neighbor and friend who called me a "Holy Roller". That is one thing I never considered myself to be. We did visit Paul's friend's church, which was a Church of God, on several occasions. The church we were baptized through was a Church of God. They are often much more enthusiastic than we are used to although I never witnessed anything different.

People seem to have their own opinions on what it is to be a Christian. Many people think you have to work to be saved, but it is a gift freely given. Some people think that the building will collapse if they enter the door. Of course they are joking. It would be difficult to enter for the first time if you weren't used to going to church. That is one reason churches have special activities that are separate from worship services. People can see that we are friendly and they would be welcome. Other people think that just going to church makes you a Christian. I may have been part of that category at one time. What makes the difference between a believer and a nonbeliever is whether or not you have accepted Christ as your Savior. We need to have Him as the most important part of our lives.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."  Romans 10:9

Seeking God

"I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord." 2 Chronicles 34:15  While reading one of my older Daily Bread booklets I read these words, "During Josiah's reign as king of Judah, he ordered the repair of the temple. In the temple, Hilkiah the high priest found the Book of the Law that had been given to Moses by the Lord. When Josiah 'heard the words of the Law' he felt convicted and later stood before his people to make a covenant to keep all that was written in the book."

"...for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book." 2 Chronicles 34:21

I'm not an Old Testament scholar and won't pretend to take this apart word for word. I can see that when one generation doesn't pass their knowledge of the Word of God to the next generation what is most important will be lost to future generations. I have seen this in my lifetime.

My mother was raised in a Christian home and said that she accepted the Lord as a child. After Mom left home and came to California she must not have found Christian friends and got away from the habit of going to church.

My father was raised by a Jehovah Witness mother and did not really share her belief. She was a dear lady, but held on to her faith in her cult of which she was one of the original 144,000. She tried to get us interested in what she believed but thankfully we did not go that direction. She faithfully went door to door until she was more than eighty years old.

Mom and Dad always sent my sisters and me to Sunday school and we went willingly. We learned Bible stories and enjoyed the songs and fellowship. Mom rarely went to church with us and did not really teach us the lessons that she learned at her mother's knee. We learned to be good in our life's lessons, but did not really learn or hear that we needed to have a personal relationship with Jesus. We did not know "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

There were times that we lived on the farm with Mom's parents and went to Sunday school and church with them. Grandma was also a Sunday school teacher and taught us many lessons at home. If we had always lived with these dear grandparents I'm sure we would have understood the need for the Lord in our lives. We were so young when we were with them. Donna had an extra year with them on the farm and was even baptized during that time.

Since we spent most of our growing up years in Coronado we did not get the lessons from our mother's parents for as long as we should have. We were happy going to the Methodist Sunday school and I'm sure we had good lessons, but I do not remember hearing that we needed to be saved. We would have wondered what we needed to be saved from. We did not know that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

We actually could have heard what we needed to know but just did not take it to heart. I do not know. All I know is that I do not remember hearing this lesson.

One thing I can be sure of is that our grandparents were praying for us. God hears the prayers of grandparents. When I read old letters I find from Grandma I see that she was not giving up on us. She always got a good word for what is truth into those letters. We probably just thought that Grandma was preaching again. But we always loved our grandparents, both sets of grandparents. One grandma may have been trying to get us to be involved in her cult. The other one gave us what was truth in her letters to us. Both had our best interests at heart.

As teenagers my sisters and I still went to church and got involved in the Methodist Youth Fellowship where we had friends. These are the friends I was with when Paul and I met. He ended up coming to the Methodist church too. Paul had gone to the Christian Scientist Sunday school as a child. As a teenager he was attracted to the Presbyterian church as he wanted to sing in their choir. I don't know how long he went there before he came to the church where I was. Eventually we both sang in the choir together at the Methodist church.

When we were in grade school the Gideons gave out little New Testaments to many of us. I remember receiving one. Paul received one too. He remembers reading the statement of faith in the little Bible and signing it. That has the date of when he first believed and accepted Christ. He can tell you the date even now. I wish I had a specific date to say exactly when I was saved. It would have been much later than him even though I can't say I ever did not believe in God. I always had some sort of belief, but I needed to have a time that I accepted Christ as my Savior. I just did not realize this.

I remember one time when I was a young mother and a friend called me a good Christian. Well, I said that "I try to be a Christian." When I remember that now I would take that as a sign that I did not really know what it was to be a Christian. How could I know if I had not really heard? I remember other times of not giving the right answer too. When I was a teenager when someone asked me to be specific about what I believed I gave some dumb answer. I can't believe how confused I was. I did not know scripture, yet I had always been in Sunday school.

I was the mother of two young children, and expecting our third, before I realized I needed a personal relationship with Jesus. I don't know the exact moment when I first believed and sometimes questioned myself about this. There have been moments in time when I have gone ahead and reaffirmed that I am a believer. I do love the Lord and look forward to seeing him in heaven someday.

What has bothered me is all the years my sisters and I could have been growing in the Lord, but we were walking in darkness. If Mom had taught us what she learned as a child we could have made personal commitments to the Lord as children. Yes, Donna was baptized as a child when she was with our grandparents and going to their little Baptist church in Washington. How much she really believes in the Lord I do not know. I do not even know if my other sister Betty ever accepted the Lord before she died. This is a sad thing for me. I can hope for miracles and could see her again in heaven someday. Why did I not lead her to the Lord? I spent my time planting seeds, but don't have any idea if they grew. I know her daughter is a believer. Possibly one of her sons is a believer too.

I tried to do my best in raising my children. We always went to church and Sunday school together. I did not have the foundation I needed to be totally effective in what I wanted to do. But my girls are believers, thankfully. Kathy raised her girls with more wisdom than I had. They are also believers. I'm sad to say that my sons still need the Lord. My prayers are always going out for them. I will not give up praying for them.

Will future generations of our family know the Lord? If I had my way they would. My grandmother's prayers did not go on deaf ears. Thankfully I came to the Lord while she was able to hear the good news. Now days so many people walk in darkness and have no belief in God at all. This is such a sad thing for our generation and those to follow. "...for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord..." 2 Chronicles 34:21

In Remembrance of Those Who Have Died in the Line of Duty

All too often we hear on the news that there has been another shooting in San Diego. Ordinary people enjoying a normal day get caught in the middle of gunfire and are seriously injured or die from their wounds. It has happened to elderly as well as the very young. I do not spend my days in fear as I walk to the bus or through different neighborhoods. We can't spend our life being fearful. But I can understand why someone would be fearful if they have been anywhere near someone who has been shot.

Again our city is mourning the loss of one of our finest. There have been too many police officers shot and killed in the line of duty. The list is long and another name will be added to a memorial this year. This weekend we lost San Diego police Officer Jeremy Henwood. Just last October we lost San Diego police Officer Christopher Wilson in another ambush. The Border Patrol has also suffered loss not too long ago. In 2009 Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas Jr. was killed while on patrol. And the list goes on and on. Oceanside lost two of their finest in recent years.

I especially remember October 12, 1954 when Coronado police Lt. Frank S. Greene lost his life during a traffic stop. Such things never happened in Coronado! We never heard of policemen being killed in San Diego. The last one that had happened in San Diego county had been in 1933 when a San Diego police officer had been killed. Coronado's Frank Greene was a neighbor of Paul's family on Pomona Avenue. He lived right next door to Paul and his family. He had a wife and teen age son. His son Craig was in my sister's class at Coronado High School. Alice Craig Greene, Frank's wife, was a well known mystery writer. Frank Greene had been a Coronado High School graduate and was a football star while in high school. He even played professional football.

Paul has stories to tell about his good neighbor. Frank taught Paul how to throw a curve ball. Frank also witnessed some of Paul's teen age adventures. One time in the middle of the night at, 2:00 A.M., Paul and a friend were fencing, or at least taking the stance of fencing, in the middle of the street outside of the Greene's home on the corner of 5th and Pomona. This friend happened to be a girl, the older sister of the girl that Paul really liked. Anyway they were having fun and not causing any trouble even though it was a strange hour to be goofing around. They were under the street light for any night owl to see. Paul saw that his good neighbor Mr. Greene was silently watching the show.

It was a shock to have a shooting in Coronado in 1954. It was a bigger shock for it to be someone that so many in Coronado knew. There was a big man hunt for the bad guys and many people have stories to tell of their experiences of that day. Some of my classmates shared their adventures of that day even fifty years later at our class reunion. I think some of them wanted to help catch the bad guys. We were seniors that year. Frank's son Craig was a junior when he lost his father. Our 1955 CHS yearbook was dedicated to Lt. Frank Greene. The dedication page reads--

In the praise of Lt. Frank Greene there just isn't enough that can be said of his loyalty, courage, devotion to duty and his service to his "home town." Through the thousands of peaceful nights while we slept, Lt. Greene cautiously and diligently made his rounds in his prowl car in search of marauders. To this departed former student of C.H.S. and a true friend to all we say thanks for a job well done. To the memory of Frank Greene we respectfully dedicate this 1955 Beachcomber.

To this day there is a picture of Frank Greene at the Coronado Police Department. Some time after the new police station was built in Coronado Paul and I decided to go inside and take a look. We especially wanted to see where Frank's portrait was hanging. We asked a policeman where it was and he graciously showed us. We had a very nice conversation with him and it turned out that his family had been our neighbors when we lived on Margarita Avenue and our girls were babies. They lived across the street from us. I had known his parents in those days of the late fifties. Coronado is a small town even if there are more people there now.

There is a Police Memorial at the Chula Vista police station. Paul and I took pictures  of it several years ago. I had especially wanted to see Lt. Frank Greene's name on the memorial. It was there along with all of those in San Diego county that had been killed in the line of duty. Sorry to say there will be more names added when we see it again.

As for catching the bad guys that ambushed Frank Greene, Paul remembers that it was someone that we had known who found the bad guys. His name was also Frank, another home town hero.

This Heart is For You

Sometimes things get too much for me and I start to feel sorry for myself. Challenges keep adding up and I need a reminder to make lemonade out of those lemons. I do not like paperwork, but I need to find some missing papers. Paul is usually in charge of such things, but sometimes I hang on to something only to misplace it. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

While I was enjoying the fresh air, hanging up the clothes on the clothesline and trying to forget the cares of the day, God gave me a reminder of his love for me. I looked down and there was a beautiful heart shaped leaf. Sometimes the eucalyptus leaves do form into heart shapes. This one was there especially for my pleasure.



I like hearts and use one with my signature on cards and letters. I found a cute little heart shaped rock in my mother's many belongings after she died. I still have it on my dresser in a container with other small treasures. I found a red heart shaped glass crystal piece while walking in our neighborhood one day. I guess I still have it someplace. It is fun to pick up small treasures while on a walk. You can find pennies and other change as well as marbles and other small items.

In the Bible we read,"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  Matthew 6:19-21

I try not to put too much importance on the treasures here on earth as I know that they can be taken from us so quickly and they are not of eternal value. We are actually trying to not hang on to things too tightly and want to thin things out. Yet pretty things are nice to have, even if only for a moment in time. Most important is what we do that is of eternal value. Are we prepared to meet the Lord? Are we touching other's lives for the Lord? I want to share my love for Jesus with those people I care about, my friends and family. I pray that each one I love will know and love the Lord. :)

Old Time Friends

In my last blog post I mentioned my friend Betty Clark as we have known each other for many years. Laura and I got together with Betty and our friend Carolyn Moorhouse the other day at the Ferry Landing in Coronado. Betty and her family have history in San Diego. I think it was her grandfather that was the first doctor in the area where he lived, maybe National City. Her father and an aunt were professors at San Diego State College, now SDSU. Her father's class surveyed the mountain for the large S that remained there for many years. Maybe it was his class that put the first large S in place.

Betty's brother Ted Livingston and his wife were missionaries in Japan for many years. First Baptist in Coronado used to support their mission work long before I ever was part of the church. Betty lost her brother Ted the very same year that she lost her husband Buford, within a month or two of each other. Betty is headed to Washington to spend time with her sister-in-law. They will go through Ted's things together. Then Betty plans to go to eastern Washington to see more family including her son and his family.

Carolyn and her husband John are probably the only ones left in the church that remember Betty from her time at First Baptist in Coronado. There is possibly one other person that would remember the Clarks. Betty's husband was our pastor in 1966 and 1967. I told more about them in my previous post. Everyone else there now would have come to our church since those years in the sixties. Carolyn and her husband were there when the church was founded sixty years ago. They remember the days of meeting in the VFW hall on Sunday mornings. They had to clean up the place for church after whatever took place on Saturday evenings. It was early in the fifties that the current church was built. I remember visiting there sometime before I ever got married in the early fifties. Paul and I joined First Baptist in 1961 when we were young parents.

Carolyn's husband John was born in China as his parents had business there. They were from England if I remember correctly. They came to Coronado when John was a young teenager. John's father was on business abroad when he became a POW during World War II. Actually the family saw the beginning of the war when Japan invaded China while they still lived there, way before Pearl Harbor ever took place. John was anxious to join the Marines as soon as he was old enough to do so. It took him a while to be able to though. He finally succeeded and soon went to war. He was injured in Okinawa and received a Purple Heart. Eventually John was able to be at the place where his father had been held prisoner and he was there when his father left the prison. John has written his story in book form and I got to read it. I am not good on all details, but I think I have a pretty good thumb nail sketch of his story. John can say that he saw the beginning of the war as well as the ending of the war.

Carolyn and John are both graduates of Coronado High School, as are Paul and me. Carolyn was a majorette for CHS. Paul had a newspaper clipping for many years showing Paul and his sousaphone and Carolyn and her baton, together on the front page of the paper. The high school band was greeting the Valley Forge aircraft carrier as it was arriving at North Island. Paul has misplaced this important news clipping after saving it for many years. Maybe he will find it again someday.

Carolyn's cousin Phyllis was one of my classmates in high school. She was one of my friends and hosted one of my bridal showers. She lived in a house that would have been about where the Lutheran Church is now. I was totally surprised when I got to her house and my friends were there to give me a shower. I pretty much guessed I was having a bridal shower when it was at my grandmother's house. It was family and close neighbors at that shower. My aunt or sisters put that shower on. But the shower at Phyllis' house was a total surprise. Her mother probably helped put that party together. I last saw Phyllis at our fiftieth high school reunion.

I got to know Phyllis' mother quite well when we joined the Baptist Church. We were both active in the women's missionary work. I also got to know Carolyn's mother as she was active in the women's work too. She was one of the founders of First Baptist, Coronado, a charter member. I guess Carolyn and John were charter members too. They were married in First Baptist Church of San Diego before our church was started. We were an outreach of the San Diego church. It used to be downtown for many generations but is in another area now. We used to go to events in the downtown location over the years.

This history can get wordy so I will not go into any more details. It all started with remembering old time friends and all of our connections to our past. There was a reason the Lord led Paul and me to our little Baptist Church in Coronado. We heard the message we needed to hear. We had some wonderful men of God who touched our hearts with God's Word. When we were first in the church we had Pastor Lyon. He was a dear man of God. When we first started going to the church there were visiting evangelists that attracted us there. They came about once a year and we appreciated them. After Pastor Lyon we had Pastor Bruce another dear man of God.  We loved their wives too. They ministered to us in a heartfelt way.

Paul and I had been in the Methodist Church when we got married in 1954 and when our first three babies were born. We made many friends and happy memories there as young people, but the time had come for a change. Our lives are forever changing.

One thing remains the same and that is God's Word, His truth does not change.
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8