From time to time I’ve considered writing a book about the people I’ve met in ministry. I remember talking with an older gentleman I used to know. Great guy — very likable guy. His name is LaVon.

 

LaVon would tell me about how they used to do things in the “old days”.

 

I remember him telling me that when he was a young man....they didn’t have telephones. Seems crazy! He told me of how he applied for a job when he got out of the army and he had to wait for a LETTER from them to tell him when to start work!

 

But then when the phone line was put in…they had to SHARE a phone line with several OTHER houses — and people could LISTEN IN on each other!

 

I remember the PRIDE that he had — in them living on the farm — far from the city.....and they were self-sufficient. They raised enough vegetables in the summer to preserve them and had them for the winter. They would raise their own animals to slaughter, and he told me the would store meat without refrigeration!

 

He even told me about how they had a windmill that would charge batteries to provide electricity because they were not on the electrical grid.

 

I remember hearing it and MARVELING about how independent previous generations were. Nowadays if the internet goes down for an hour we act like it’s the end of the world.

 

As he was telling me this, I could tell he was proud of how hard they worked — of how they had accomplished all that they did through hard work and innovation.