When We Finish This Life

This is a continuation of the previous article from yesterday
Sagebrush Sven added these words of wisdom
Buffalo Bulletin: A4, Oct 1, 2026  buffalobulletin.com

When we finish this life...

God won't ask what kind of car you drove. 

He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation. 

God won't ask the square footage of your house. 

He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet. 

He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

God won't ask what your highest salary was. 

He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won't ask what your job title was. 

He'll ask if you performed your job to the bast of your ability.

God won't ask how many friends you had. 

He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived. 

He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

God won't ask about the color of your skin. 

He'll ask about the content of your character. 

While We Have It: Love It; Care For It

 

My Mother and Daddy and my sister. 1955 on vacation in Austin. taken in front of the Capitol.

Love them and take care of them while you have them.

My husband and I spend summers in Buffalo, Wyoming, the old hometown of Derek's family. Buffalo has a wonderful small-town newspaper. The following was taken from "Sagebrush Sven", a weekly column that covers the topics of the bench sitters, a group that gets together for coffee. It is like a humorous take on information about different things that have happened to locals the previous week.

This particular column drew on my heartstrings, as it could certainly be written about my own family and community. It was something the bench sitters wanted Sven to repeat... an essay from 25 years ago, author unknown. Yet, it could have been written by any of the 'gray' hairs sitting at the table.

"Friends"

"I grew up in the '40s and '50s with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it. We had a father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good; their dreams focused. It was the time for fixing things... a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the over door, the hem in a dress.  It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All the fixing and renewing....I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things way meant you knew there'd always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So...while we have it...it's best we love it...and care for it...and fix it when it's broken...and heal it when it's sick. 
This is true...for marriage...and old cars...and children with bad report cards...and dogs with bad hips...and aging parents...and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special...and so, we keep them close! Good friends are like stars...you don't always see them, but you know they are always there."

"Sagebrush Sven," Buffalo Bulletin: p. A4, Oct 1, 2026. buffalobulletin.com  

Saved and Sanctified

                       💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

I found an article on FB on September 23, 2026. It struck a chord with me, as I have recently been deeply concerned about a phone call I received from someone I love deeply. I was stunned that this person could scream at me with such hatred.... really for no reason other than I have decided that, at my age, I have to square away my personal affairs. I must take care of business that affects me and my personal life, in the hopes that others can see that THIS is what is needed. It is done with no malicious reasons, only that is it the right thing to do at my stage of life. 

So here are a few words from the article 
that give me strength to do what is right for me in the here and now:

Jesus didn't argue with Judas. Jesus knew exactly who Judas was, and He still chose love. He knew betrayal was coming. He knew what Judas would do. Yet He didn't fill His heart with bitterness.

Lesson is... you don't have to defend yourself. You don't have to expose every person who has wronged you. Sometimes, you can simply step back and let time reveal what needs to be revealed.  And when it does, guard your heart. You can recognize someone's true colors without becoming bitter. You can set boundaries and still forgive. You can walk away and still love like Jesus.

THEIR CHARACTER IS THEIRS TO CARRY. YOUR HEART IS YOURS TO GUARD.

Proud to be a Texan

 

Flag of Texas - Lone Star State Symbol of Pride and Heritage 73425415 Vector Art at Vecteezy

PROUD TO BE A TEXAN

Once upon a time…
A love story began in the Red River Valley of the South. Like countless love stories before and after, this one is different as it is my love story. Mother and Daddy met and married in North Texas where just a few years before, their parents and grandparents, had migrated to a land that was wide open, where wilderness was still plentiful. This was a place where cotton and cattle would reign supreme.
 
My people arrived in Texas, a mighty state, full of proud people with a strong heritage. They were not afraid of hard work to establish themselves and sink their feet into solid ground to establish their homes and livelihoods. Most arrived in covered wagons, arriving anywhere from the early 1880s to the late 1890s. They came from Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee.
 
And some of these were people I knew as a young child.
My story begins with a handsome young man, Truman Quillin, and a beautiful young nursing student, Carolita Jones. Both of them were born in Texas in the early 1920s and both of them knew their grandparents who were born in the 1850s-1870s. These were the ancestors who migrated to the great State of Texas. They arrived along about the time that the planning and construction of the State Capital in Austin was occurring.
 
It’s hard to wrap my head around that these people arrived in a place where just 50 years prior, Texas had defeated Santa Anna in the Battle of San Jacinto and the Republic of Texas was established 1836, and in 1845, Texas was admitted to the United States as the 28th state.
 
Here is a brief timeline of Texas just shortly before my people arrived:
May 13, 1865 – The last land engagement of the Civil War was fought at the Battle of Palmito Ranch in far south Texas, more than a month after Gen. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, VA.
 
1866 – The abundance of longhorn cattle in south Texas and the return of Confederate soldiers to a poor reconstruction economy marked the beginning of the era of Texas trail drives to northern markets.
 
March 30, 1870 – The United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union. Reconstruction continued, however, for another four years.
 
At 70 years of age, I stand amazed at how my family history is intertwined with the history of the land. I only wish that our young people would take an interest to truly understand what it took to carve out these areas to prepare the way for the rest of us. We must not lose our heritage. We must never forget where we came from because their footsteps lead straight to our front doors.
 
Timeline of My Family’s Arrival in Texas
Quillins – from Virginia – early 1880s
Sprowls – from TN – early 1880s
Jones – Alabama – early 1880s
Bridges – Georgia – 1880s
McNair – Arkansas – 1890s
Kings – Georgia – late 1880s
Hulsey – Georgia – late 1890s
Haney – Georgia – late 1890s
 

Terry Family Bible - Price/McNair Connection

VALUABLE OLD FAMILY BIBLE

Information given from an OLD family Bible. They are connected
to the Price family through our James McNair and his daughter, Hannah. Hannah was the sister to our John "Jack" McNair.

James McNair's Baptismal Record April 1747

This Baptismal Record was found in the Augusta Stone Church records in Virginia. 

Daniel McNear baptized a child named James. 

Sources for James McNair

 May not be a complete list, but it is what I had from 1993. 

Source Sheet:  JAMES MCNAIR 1747 – 1817

 
"Leaves of the Family Tree-McNair" by Penelope Allen, 1937, 1982, page 175-176. The McNair family of East Tennessee.
 
Chalkley's Chronicles - Volumes I & II, JAMES MCNAIR - (p. 481)     MILITARY SERVICES.
Job Bennington's Declaration, May 5th, 1823: Aged 67; in the Pennsylvania Service; Capt. Porter, Lieut. James McNair, Colonel Proctor.
 
The McNair, McNear, and McNeir genealogies by James Birtley McNair, Chicago: 1929, p 299.
 
Reminiscent History of the Ozark Region. This Goodspeed Brothers collection of sketches was originally published in Chicago in 1864. Southern Historical Press, Inc. reprinted the book from an 1894 edition in 1978, 1984 and 1995.
 
Department of Cultural Resources: North Carolina. Division of archives and History. Certificates of payment for military service.
 
1790 United States Federal Census. Mecklenburg, North Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 7; Page: 360; Image: 538; Family History Library Film: 0568147
 
Calendar of the Tennessee and King’s Mountain Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts, Vol. III, pp 330-331.  (Draper Collection is highly recognized.)
 
Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records; Roll: 5; Book: C
 
Tennessee Genealogical Records: Stewart and Sullivan Counties, p. 271 by Edythe Rucker Whitley, compiled originally in 1930. Combined in 1980.
 
Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Series Number: 02; Series Title: Entries. Original data: Tennessee. Division of Archives, Land Office, and Museum. Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records, 1783–1927, Record Group 50. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.
 
Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.
 
https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/a/y/John-Haynie-GA/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-1089.html
 
Daniel’s descendants by Bryan Douglas McNair, Garland Texas. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~mcnair/genealogy/