Honoring Martin Frank Jones - His Christianity

 At the urging of his children and grandchildren, Martin started a blog to share his knowledge of the family. He suffered from macular degeneration, so he didn't write for long. I was able to go back and make copies of his writings. 

His faith in God was deep so I will share his post about that first...before his family memories. He wasn't "preachy"...he just lived by example. 

Christianity Here to Stay – Martin Jones

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Martin Jones

To begin my feelings I must explain my thoughts about what I believe about God’s plan for His relationship with man. I think that His plan existed before He created the universe. I want to make it clear from the start that I will not be referring to scripture to back up my thoughts. I intend to let you do that for yourself. I think that anyone who happens to read this will understand that I don’t claim to be a bible scholar. But I am now 84 years old and have been involved in trying to understand God’s plan over the years.

God created man in the image of God. Man was created and given the freedom to make his own choices. This fact is somewhat a mystery to me. But I believe that God must have wanted to have a kingdom of people who were devoted to Him. Our freedom is one of our most treasured aspects of our relationship with God.

We are told that in the time of Noah, mankind had retreated from God to the extent that God in his relationship with man decided to destroy all those on the earth at that time. He must have decided to start over with Noah. So God instructed Noah who evidently was the only man living at the time who still was faithful to God., to build an ark to save Noah and his family from the flood that destroyed the whole world. We have the rainbow as a reminder that the world will never again be destroyed by flood.

Jesus established his church shortly before he was crucified. Peter had testified that he believed that Jesus was the Son Of God. Jesus declared that he would build his church upon that fact and that the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against it. The church that Jesus established is not limited to any one denomination but includes all the Old Testament saints and all who put their faith and trust in Jesus for the redemption from their sins. Jesus also promised his disciples that he would return someday to gather his church and establish a kingdom and that every knee would bow to his authority at that time.

We are told in the New Testament that God provided a Savior in Jesus even before he created the world. We are told that Christ stood as a Lamb slain before God created the World. So, that leads me to believe that all men since God created Adam have been added to God’s church by faith that God would provide a savior or sacrifice for their sins. I do not understand why God created us with the ability to sin. He created us in his image. We are free to either accept or reject God’s salvation. God’s plan for man’s redemption is made clear in the new testament. “GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING Life.‘ (John 3-16). We also know that God’s penalty for sin is an eternal death in hell. God told Adam that if he disobeyed Him that he would surely die. He and all mankind since have been under sin. Adam was cast from the Garden of Eden, and had to work for a living, and he surely did die. By the same token we live under the same rules. But God in his Love and Grace sent his son to redeem us from our sin. Just as Christ died and was buried and rose again, we will die and are assured of resurrection when Christ returns. I believe that our trials and tribulations in life, and natural death are the only penalty we will have to pay for our sins. John 3-16 assures us that we will not have to pay the eternal death, because Christ paid it for us.

Martin Frank Jones - Honoring the Past

My mother's brother, Martin Frank Jones, loved family history. He so wanted to know about the Jones line but proving before 1800 has been difficult because of the lack of documentation and confusion about names. I believe that a distant cousin is close to making a breakthrough on the Jones line. I began to visit with Martin, and from him I gleaned many family stories. When he turned 90 years old, I published all the information that I have of the Jones family history. I gave it to him as my gift. I couldn't be at the celebration, but I presented it to him weeks before the party. 

    I LOVED HIM DEARLY

 

Remembering my uncle - Martin Frank Jones (1926-2022)

 

Obituary of Martin Frank Jones

 Martin Frank Jones, 96, of Abilene, Texas, passed away on November 27, 2022 in Abilene, Texas. Funeral services will be at 10:00 am on Thursday, December 1, 2022 at Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, with Dr. Jeff Reid and Dr. John Whitten officiating. Graveside services will be held at 3:00 pm at Crowell Cemetery in Crowell, Texas with Dr. Travis Craver officiating. The family will receive friends at Hamil Family Funeral Home at 9:00 am Thursday, prior to the 10:00 am service.

 Martin was born in Thalia, Texas to Ava Ella McNair Jones and Joe Carroll (J.C.) Jones on February 25, 1926. He graduated from Thalia Consolidated High School in 1943. As an eighteen year old, he enlisted to serve his country in World War II with Company “L” 330th Regiment of the 83rd Division Army Infantry. His first day of combat was on his 19th birthday in February of 1945. He served 17 months, finishing out his tour with the Army of Occupation in Germany. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star, along with Good Conduct Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Army of Occupation Medal, World War ll Victory Medal, two Overseas Service Bars and the Honorable Service Lapel Button.

 After the war, he met and married the love of his life, Xena Yvonne McClain, on March 8, 1947 in Crowell Texas. He worked throughout the years as a Gulf distributor, bookkeeper, groceryman and loved spending time working on his farm in Foard County. He was a master yard man and always had the best lawn on the block. Martin was a man who was known for his love of the Lord and commitment to his family. He worshiped and served as a deacon in First Baptist Crowell, First Baptist Hale Center and Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene.

 Martin was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Vonne; parents, J.C. and Ava Jones; and four sisters, Jo Jones, Carolita Quillin, Doris Jackson, and Faye Lynch.

Martin is survived by his three daughters, Deborah Wilder and her husband Ken of San Antonio, Carolyn Abbott of Abilene and Angie Wiley and her husband Rob of Abilene. He was dearly loved by his grandchildren, Amy Fox, Molly Fox, Laura Doughty, Luke Abbott, Kristen Martinez, Marcus Wiley and Elizabeth Wiley. He was able to touch the lives of six great-grandkids, Hayden, Rossi, Easton, Wiley, Logan and Mila. He was also a beloved uncle to numerous nieces and nephews.

 Serving as Pall Bearers will be Luke Abbott, Marcus Wiley, Tyler Doughty, P.J. Martinez, Hayden Lara and Travis Craver.

 Memorials may be given to Hendrick Hospice in Abilene

 The family of Martin Jones wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the loving caregivers at Windcrest units 2 & 4, dedicated hospice nurses and doctors at Hendrick Hospice, and the caring members of Visiting Angels for the excellent care and love they showed to Martin.

Framing My World - 10

 Nature Lover

I love being outdoors and am nourished by nature. I enjoy hiking to places I feel no one has been before. It’s primitive and a way to reconnect with myself. I turn to nature for peace and tranquility. I'm compassionate for everything in the natural world. I love animals, especially dogs. I’ve never been without one.

Family History

I’m a true American at heart, born and raised in rural America. I feel allegiance to this great nation and our founding fathers’ wisdom presented in the Constitution. My family has been on American soil long before it became a nation. I’m profoundly connected to my roots, honored to have descended through people who sacrificed much to build a nation where others throughout the world long to live. We are part of that history. It is through their hard work and sacrifices that I arrived at where I am today. I pay homage to my ancestors through genealogy.

Wide Open Spaces

 In my last post, I talked about growing up in the small town of Vernon, Texas. The Dixie Chicks sang a song titled "Wide Open Spaces." This was popular the year that I lost Daddy, 1998. I know how much Mother and Daddy loved me. I remember the day clearly that they drove off and left me at college, but they gave me a strong foundation....in the place that I came from which was in THE WIDE-OPEN SPACES.

WIDE OPEN SPACES

written by Susan Gibson

sung by The Dixie Chicks

Who doesn't know what I'm talking about?

Who's never left home? Who's never struck out?

To find a dream and a life of their own

A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

Many precede and many will follow

A young girl's dreams no longer hollow

It takes the shape of a place out West

But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed

She needs wide open spaces

Room to make her big mistakes

She needs new faces

She knows the high stakes

She traveled this road as a child

Wide-eyed and grinning, she never tired

But now she won't be coming back with the rest

If these are life's lessons, she'll take this test

She needs wide open spaces

Room to make her big mistakes

She needs new faces

She knows the high stakes

She knows the high stakes

And as her folks drive away, her dad yells, "Check the oil!"

Mom stares out the window and says, "I'm leavin' my girl"

She said, "It didn't seem like that long ago"

When she stood there and let her own folks know

She needed wide open spaces

Room to make her big mistakes

She needs new faces

She knows the high stakes

She knows the highest stakes

She knows the highest stakes (wide open spaces)

She knows the highest stakes

She knows the highest stakes (wide open spaces)

Growing Up In Small Town America Part 7

 WIDE OPEN SPACES

I grew up in Wilbarger County which was organized as a county in 1881 which was only 75 years before I was born there. This western history impacted my formative years because I was raised in a progressive small community which was filled with its own, fairly current, rich history. It became a part of who I am. My great- grandparents were born in the late 1870s and 1880s and my grandparents were born in very early 1900s; most all of them were born in the early stages of Texas’s development. Most of the Texas counties to the west of Vernon were not even formed. The railroad came through in 1886 and much of our existence still revolved around the train in the 50s. Vernon was also on the historic Western Trail at Doan’s Crossing. Still today, Doan’s is celebrated each year with a Doan’s Crossing Picnic. In the early 1960s, Paula and Bryan were selected to participate in this historic event. Paula was a princess (I have some adorable pictures of her) and Bryan was part of a square dancing group that performed. Quanah Parker and the Comanche Indians were common place in our dialogue. The first newspaper was published in 1889, and in a little over 50 years my daddy would own that newspaper. Cattle, sheep, hogs were important to the economy, but when ranchers suffered losses in the 1890s, crop farming became well established in the area, including corn, wheat, oats, and eventually cotton. Cotton became king in the 1920s during the Great Depression, a time that my parents grew up in.  Cotton remained significant, but the oil industry increased and helped offset the losses.

My Pappy, J.C.Jones (Mother’s daddy) grew wheat and cotton, and also hogs. He was a Christian man, a lay minister and a deacon. He was named Conservation Farmer the year before he died.

Framing My World - 9

 Organized

I appreciate order and organization. I’m detail oriented and want things to run smoothly. There’s always more to organize; it’s never ending. I keep lists and try to file properly so I can find things because I hate to reinvent the wheel.

It drives me nuts trying to organize things in my home. Though I’m not a hoarder, I find it difficult to let go of things that I treasure. Derek and I travelled the world and have things from across the globe.  I’m connected to family heirlooms or items that were given to me by someone special, or something that reminds me of a special time.

Homebody

I’m a homebody. It’s where I find peace and comfort. Mother always said there was such a peace within my home. There’s a lot of love here. We communicate well. Derek and I are on the same page. On one of Mother’s trips to the coast, she brought me back a statuette of two gulls flying in tandem. She said that it reminded her of how Derek and I live.