My mother was a 5' lady who generally never weighed much over 100 pounds. She was, however, the strength of our family because of her strength of character and her faith in God. She could be seen practically every evening sitting under our Living Room lamp reading her Bible. She very seldom preached to anyone, but there was seldom any doubt about her set of beliefs.

She was the major force in a family of seven, and in my biased opinion she was very successful. The four of us who have lived to maturity are all married to our first spouse, are relatively successful, and have all raised families who are following in the same tradition.

My father was a good father, but spent most of his waking hours providing us a relatively small income. During most of my memory, he worked until retirement for the local hardware store in Langford, SD. He generally worked from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM except Wednesday and Saturday when he worked until between 9:30 to Midnight - depending upon how many farmers needed their tools, milk pails, etc. repaired.

One of the differences between my Mom and Dad was their attitude toward alchohol. My mother was an absolute abstainer - tea totaler was the term we used. My Dad would enjoy a couple of drinks on Saturday night. One of the best laughs I have heard from my mother was as my Dad was telling a story of how one of us kids evidently drank the remainder of his "half-pint" which had been left in the pocket of his jacket hanging in the entry.

As he was telling the story we heard these chuckles coming from the back seat of the car in which we were driving at the time. Then during her laughter she explained that she had used the jacket for the trip to the outhouse and decided to help him out by pouring the contents of the bottle down the toilet. She then returned the bottle to the jacket, without saying a word about it for at least 20 years.

The difference between "the sin and the sinner" was best exemplified by her attitude toward the few "town drunks" who lived in Langford. A couple of them often showed up sleeping off their over indulgence on our front porch. They were generally fed a good breakfast and sent on their way with only a small admonition.

My mother always baked bread one day a week and usually baked somewhat more than our family would eat during a week. I was often sent to the rooms of these same gentlemen with a warm loaf of freshly baked bread.

My point is that we can stand for a set of values, speak of our faith as a follower of Jesus Christ, and attempt to follow the guidelines set forth in the Bible without judging those who have differing beliefs.

Viking Home

We are a continual work in process E-mail us describing any problem. Thank you.

Portions copyright © 1996 - 2000 Viking Services. Last modified January 25, 2005. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Other trademarks or are the property of their respective owners.