Brunch in the Flower Garden
By larry r Linville

She was blessed with such a green thumb
Her plants grew and blossomed with great ease
She has tulips and marigolds
And a fence row of bright sweet peas.

There were beautiful rows of roses
And gladiolas to make you glad
While your eyes beheld the irises
Next to the pond’s green lily pad.

The bachelor buttons spread their hue
Around the big lilac bush
Near the bubbling water fountain
Where the beautiful goldfish rush.

The garden was such a lovely place
To entertain all her close friends
So she wrote out on nice stationary
Invitations with her colored pens.

“Come to my morning garden brunch.
We’ll call out the Army and Navy
We’ll fry up some sausage and bacon
And feature hibiscus and gravy.”

First Morning at Camp
By larry r Linville

Standing outside the cabin
campers sleeping in their cot
air smells good and so refreshing
before the day get very hot.

The birds and little creatures
sing the songs they’ve always sung
it’s like the day of Pentecost
their message comes in every tongue.

This symphony of nature
seems to be for me alone
which I hear uninterrupted
by the ringing of a phone.

Within me is a feeling
of nostalgia and great bliss
from many years of camping
which busy lives seem to miss.

The new campers will awaken
to create a special time
and some day may stand right here
with those feelings so sublime.

So standing here beneath these trees
in the early morning shade
I take time to remind myself
this is the day the Lord has made.

Camp Counselor Prepares
By larry r Linville

I’m settled in my room and bunk
Soon the campers will arrive
I’ll start with abundant stamina
And hope til the end to survive.

I’ve done this many times before
And I know I can do it again
But I still get a little nervous
When it’s time for each camp to begin.

I was a camper at the age of twelve
My first time away from my home
My mother had packed my suitcase
And forgot to put in my comb.

This time the suitcase was also full
I had all that I needed I felt
Although I don’t need a comb today
My suitcase was lacking a belt.

I have lost all my bright red hair
But I’ve added much weight don’t you see?
Lacking a belt instead of a comb
Could be embarrassing to me.

The campers have started coming now
I guess I should swallow my pride
It may be very hot outdoors
But most of the time I’m inside.

Time With God at Camp
By larry r Linville

The campers are all swimming
and here it’s just God and me.
There are no big distractions
no radio or TV.

I sit in the sweet stillness
my mind open to God’s Word.
Perhaps it will be sent
in the singing of a bird.

When they come back I’ll tell them
a Bible story of old
which gives a modern message
so simple their minds can hold.

We’ll season it with action
so it will have an appeal
leading them to Jesus’ day
and make it seem so real.

I pray the Spirit enter
into my soul and heart
so I can share it with them
before we have to part.

Now that I’ve had my time with God
and the kids are coming back
I’m prepared for the study
and I know we’ll be on track.

Golf Cart Blues
By larry r Linville

He used to own a golf cart
and drove from home to the club.
He covered well the fairways
and seldom did he flub.

He could drive in bad weather
with an iced tea in his hand
and keep up with the best of them
with all four tires on the land.

Sitting at the steering wheel
he knew he still had his skill
with two nice ladies with him
he started up the hill.

Rounding corners gracefully
so well he thought he’d pop
but the nightmare soon developed
when he finally tried to stop.

He gently touched the pedal
to cause the cart to stop
but it accelerated
and at the curb took a hop.

The more he hit the pedal
the faster that missile sped
and everyone was watching
as he wished that he was dead.

He clung to the steering wheel
his rear was far from the seat
the ladies with white knuckles
tried to act so discrete.

When all the dust had settled
and they learned they all were fine
he looked down to the pedals
and then he began to whine.

He understood the feelings
of that senile guy in his town
who drove into the drug store
and could never live it down.

Little Girl at Church
By larry r Linville

They put her in a pretty dress
with a fancy bow in her hair.
But she was six and couldn’t see
and was so bored setting there.

She got off the uncomfy chair
And sat in the middle of the aisle.
She looked around at her mother
who’s face wasn’t wearing a smile.

She came to life when the children sang
a song they learned at Bible school.
She put on her white sun glasses
and gave her arms a big wide whirl.

When she got back to her seat
a little baby was baptized.
She sat up very attentively
to see what was before her eyes.

As the preacher started the sermon
she climbed up by mother on a chair
and though she squirmed a little bit
she continued sitting there.

Sometimes I’m like that little girl
I’d like to sit on the floor.
And there are times I’m restless
at the things that seem to bore.

It’s only when I get involved
that I see the boredom go.
It’s then and only then
that my faith begins to grow.

School Days
By larry r linville

I didn’t know how school would go.
They kept teaching things I didn’t know.
I attended a country one room school
where older kids thought I was a fool.

When my answer was wrong they would stare
making me wish I wasn’t there
but the teacher asked them questions too
which they missed before they were through.

They were smarter than when they came
so if I studied I’d do the same.
The next year I looked at a new class
seeing what I had learned to pass.

Each year had more for me to learn
and I was filled with great concern
that I’d soon sing a different song
because I’d stayed there much too long.

I made it through my college day
so seminary came my way.
At each step I worried a lot
thinking my ignorance would get caught.

When that last diploma was earned
and I though of all I have learned
I told myself I’d finished school
and no one could call me a fool.

With school done my learning goes on
and it seems like I’m never done.
Wisdom tells us we’re always a fool
and every day we are still in school.

Obesity Guidelines
By larry r Linville

Who decides how much I should weigh?
Where’s their authority to say?
Are they also fat like you and me
or just as skinny as they can be?

Do they know they want me to weigh
less than I did on graduation day?
I know I’m fat as fat can be
but I’d look bad at one thirty-three.

I had my feet in the stirrup
until that crazy fructose corn syrup
was placed in everything I ate
which was piled high upon my plate.

It seemed that the tempting food
that looked and tasted very good
was not the thing good for me
but I just couldn’t let it be.

I just don’t like someone fat
wanting to make me like Jack Sprat
with anything short of a knife.
I must settle to be like Sprat’s wife.

My Best Sermon
By larry r Linville

“What’s the best sermon you’ve preached?”
she asked me out of the blue.
I’ve preached over three thousand
how could I pick one or two?

Did she mean the one I liked best
or one that the members preferred?
I don’t have a single sermon
that all of the people have heard.

Sometimes the people seemed to like
the sermons I thought were poor.
They came to the door with a smile
requesting I preach it some more.

Sermons I thought were very good
often had no response at all
and if anything positive was said
I simply do not recall.

Since that question I’ve thought a lot
and there is not one I can give.
So I really think my best sermon
was preached by the life I live.

Little Boy at the Auto Garage
By larry r Linville

I made a new friend yesterday
whose skin was much darker than mine.
He asked me to sit beside him
and this boy was only nine.

He said his name was Michael
as he ate apple slices and sauce.
Soon his mother entered the room
and I cold tell she was the boss.

What a good boss she was to him
I could she the love in her eyes
as she helped him to be polite
so he wasn’t rude like other guys.

We talked about our diabetes
and how I was sixty years older
then he talked about bugs and snakes
as his ease with me became bolder.

We shared our common interests
even deaths we both have had.
He lost an older brother
and I’d lost my mother and dad.

When he went to the restroom
I bragged on the good child she had
and I complimented her
on raising such an nice lad.

I may never see those two again
our paths may not ever meet
but for one short hour of bliss
I shared time that was so neat.