Monthly Archives: May 2011

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Gordon Temple & Suzanne Burch

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The congregation of St. Martin of Tours Episcopal Church is gaining a full-time rector in June. We are losing our Interim Rector, Gordon Temple, and our deacon, Suzanne Burch. Please follow along and celebrate these precious human beings with me.

What do you all like in sermon from a preacher, rector, or priest? Do you want a sermon on philosophies on religion, or do you want to know how to live a religious filled life? St. Augustine a Christian from the 4th century believed reason to be a uniquely human cognitive capacity that comprehends deductive truths and logical necessity, and I have heard sermons associated to his infusion of Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism (most of us are like..’What the heck, and how can I apply that to my daily life?’) I have also seen and heard sermons from preachers/rectors who use works of Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologica (God’s thinking and willing, Aristotelian Ethics, and Jesus protects all in both Heaven and earth) and drone on and on for an hour about such. Folks, I don’t need religious philosophy to live by, I need every day acts that represent how we should serve God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For approximately a year, God saw fit that the congregation of St. Martin of Tours in East Brainerd, Tennessee and I had our hearts and minds filled with these types of sermons from Father Gordon Temple.

When Jesus was here on earth, he taught with simple parables (everyday life situations that have heavenly meanings), and that is what I need and appreciate in a sermon. Those are the kinds of sermons Gordon Temple preaches.  I love Gordon’s sense of humor, his smile, his genuine concern for everyone around him, his love of family, and his love of children. The joy this man has in the tone of his voice and the sparkle he has in his eyes as he talks about his wife, his children, and his grandchildren are priceless. He simply loves children. On Father Gordon’s last Eucharist on Sunday, I was holding Carter when he handed me the communion bread. When Father Gordon blessed Carter and touched him on his forehead, Gordon had such a twinkle in his eye, and he tapped Carter on his nose. Carter’s face lit up with a grin. Gordon doesn’t think he is a good teacher in the classroom, but he is great. I don’t know how many times we went past the “hour allotted” in our Sunday school class because we had asked questions and we were intently discussing and enjoying his answers. I also love the fact that he was raised in Chattanooga. He is living history for all of us living in this city. Father Gordon, we love you, and you are an inspiration to all you come in contact with. Thank you for being a reflection of Jesus Christ and for being such a great preacher and shepherd for St. Martin’s.

Gordon Temple: May 15, 2011

We only saw Suzanne act as a deacon for a year, but we saw her love and enthusiasm for taking care of the physical needs of the St. Martin congregation and the community during the 2010 Christmas season. She was glowing during the whole month as we gathered and gave in the name of Jesus Christ in honor of his birthday. She like Gordon uses such finesse in weaving everyday thoughts and feelings into sermons from the Bible especially in the life of Jesus and how we should live like him. Wherever she goes, the congregation will be so lucky to have her. Suzanne, we love you and God bless you.

Suzanne Burch and Gordon Temple: May 15, 2011

A special thanks to our church buddy, Jerry Thurston, for taking these pictures on Sunday and sharing them with me so I can share them with you all.

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Okay, I finally have my “About Me”

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You will find this on my permanent “About” Me from now on…however, I am using it for Monday May 16, 2011 as well…LOL

Carter, Haven, & Ammon: May 2011

 

My name is Haven Caylor, and I am a married man with two wonderful children, Ammon and Carter. I am a stay at home father who teaches on line for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I am a Christian, and my main goal at the point in my life is to raise my children in “…the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4). My second goal is to write, and God is blessing me with wonderful opportunities especially with this blog.

When I started writing several months ago, a friend who is an editor for an international magazine commented that she liked the way I write because it is a “slice of life”. One problem I have in writing is when I “get lost” in details. When I am writing my blogs or my short stories, I have to review, and “reel in the details” so people will not get lost while they are reading.  All the way through my doctorate in education, I have had to read and whittle away at the details of a reading to get to the main point of a story, an action research study, or a novel, and when I write my blogs, I try say what I mean with as little “fluff” or details as possible. However, when I do write my novels, I will expand as far as I can without being boring.

Thank you for visiting me/us on my blog. I hope you can glean something for yourself, put it in your heart and mind, and apply it to your own life. God bless you all. Haven

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Nanny Caylor: Birthday

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Nanny Caylor

Her full name was Mary Naomi Alexander Caylor.  She was born May 15, 1918. May 15 was also her father’s birthday who was born in 1875. She was born in Smyrna, Georgia, but she grew up in Atlanta. Her father worked for Southern Railroad as an engineer, and he was killed outside the tunnel at Braswell Mountain near Rockmart, Georgia when his train exploded in June of 1935. Nanny, her mother, and sisters moved to Varnell, Georgia where her mother (My Nanny Alexander) was born and raised in January of 1936.

Two years later, she married my grandfather, Troy Dewitt Caylor, and 10 months later my father, Oliver Haven Caylor was born. Their second son was born in January of 1943. She outlived her parents, her sisters, her husband, and my father. There was a part of her soul that was like Naomi from the Bible especially when Biblical Naomi told the people to call her Mara which meant “God has dealt bitterly with me.” However, she leaned on Jesus Christ as her strength and her redeemer and never forsook him. She was a great mother, a spectacular grandmother, an exemplary Christian lady, and a great friend to me.

She was my Bible study confidant, and we loved to talk about world traveling and world events. We also shared good short stories, classical literature, and she was a walking treasure trove of family, oral history. I could listen to her talk about our ancestors and her childhood forever. Literally, we could sit up until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. simply looking at pictures, family Bibles, or family heirlooms. We had to make ourselves go to bed. When my father died in 1982, she and I leaned on each other in our bereavement. I was so glad God let me have her for three more years. Nanny died on August 10, 1985. She has been dead for over 25 years now, and I still dearly miss her. It is also a treat when I dream about her and her house, but, of course, a part of my heart is lonesome when I awake and she is only, once again, in my memory and in those dreams.

I cannot wait to share all these things plus tons more with Carter and Ammon. Nanny will live on through them. Happy Birthday up there in Heaven, Nanny. We love you!

Mary Naomi Alexander Caylor (Photo Date: March 1982)

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Orrin’s birthday/Texas Roadhouse

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1st line of business: Happy Birthday to our great-nephew and Ammon and Carter’s cousin, Orrin James Mynes. He is 4 years old today, and it is so hard to believe! We love you, and we hope you have a terrific day!

Orrin and Haven

2nd: Since I began this blog in March, I’ve wanted to magnify and laud the name of the restaurant Texas Roadhouse. I have to begin with saying that it has delicious food: Steak, hamburgers, chicken, and pork! Their vegetables have great seasonings. Even the green beans taste good! Our favorite meal is no longer on the menu, and you have to “special order” it: The Hot and Bleu Salad…grilled chicken with hot, bacon and honey mustard dressing topped with bleu cheese crumbles, yum, yum, yum! It is also worth mentioning that like many other roadhouses, they have delicious peanuts and rolls.

If we’re in town without a special function (church dinner, family birthday party, etc.), we go to Texas every Friday evening for dinner. The people (maitre ds’, waiters, bar tenders, assistant managers, managers (manager’s wives) have become our friends and part of Ammon and Carter’s family. We are so blessed to have all of them. I would name them all, but I would leave someone out, and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. However, folks at Texas Roadhouse, we love and appreciate you all, and thank you for loving and playing with Carter and Ammon since the first day they were carried into the restaurant in their baby carriers.

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Lightening Bugs

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Lightening Bugs (Fire Flies)

I saw our first lightening bugs about a month ago, but they were hovering up in the tree-tops. Last night before bed, I saw them in the field next to our house. I am anticipating catching my first lightening bug and with that catch all the childhood memories of the event. Just sitting here typing this, I can feel the coolness of the green grass on my bare feet and picture the dusky evening at Mamaw’s house in Varnell. Of course, there is the memory of the obligatory Ball’s jelly jar with the tin lid with holes poked in the top as the lightening bug receptacle.

Oh, me. I am looking forward to Carter and Ammon catching the lightening bugs with me. They caught a few last summer, but I know they don’t remember. I am going to enjoy sharing the tradition of this summer time event. I hope you all can enjoy it at your house too.

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Summer Mornings

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It was only until I had a home, a family, and MANY CHORES to do that I really appreciated the summer, early-morning hours. I get up around 6:30 during the work-week days. On Thursday morning, I was reminded how I enjoy the pre-summer/summer mornings: Birds singing, the dew on the grass, the sun coming up in the east! It is absolutely gorgeous and enjoyable. I can turn the hounds out for a cool, morning romp, I can pull weeds from around our flowers, I can clean our pool, I can fill up the bird feeders, and so much more!

It also looks as though we are continuing a trend that started last summer. Carter and Ammon get up earlier too. I think it’s because of the sun coming into their nursery. It is so much cooler in the mornings, and if we go out and play before breakfast, they are ravenous when we sit down at the breakfast table. Now, I know we are still in May, but it looks as though we have settled in to our “summer routine”.

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Fun in the Sun: A double-edged sword

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Fun side of the sword:Carter and Ammon enjoyed their first 2011 “Romp in the Sprinklers” today. They had a ball! I think my favorite part was when they spent about 20 minutes playing a game of “on and off” where Carter played with the sprinkler while Ammon turned it on and off. The best part of that game was when Ammon would turn off the hose, Carter would pick it up, and as he would be looking at it, Ammon would turn it back on into his face with a sneaky chuckle of “Hee, hee, hee!” I cracked up! Did that stop Carter? Nope, not at all. Like I said they played that game for about 20 minutes.

Now, the other side of the sword: Skin cancer! Ammon and Carter were covered from head to toe with SPF 50 sun block. I spent Tuesday morning at the dermatologist having my rosacea laser-zapped, and in January 2010, I had a pre-cancer taken off my head. Fun in the Sun is awesome, but we have to remember to use sun block. Don’t think skin cancer cannot happen to you. We have a 19 year-old friend who has plenty of melanin, but she has also had skin cancer, so, please, please, please EVERYONE use sun block.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E3XDyxZTNM

Ammon & Carter

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Mother’s Day (Hey, wasn’t that Sunday?)!

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My mother’s (please note Mamaw and Mama is the same person throughout) Mother’s Day actually started the day of the horrific weather with tornadoes on April 27. The household was at the end of our kitchen re-decorating, and the downstairs was a mess. I had taken Carter and Ammon to Mamaw’s house just a few minutes after the first tornado/damaging winds blew through. Around lunch time, I was headed to eat and do some grocery shopping, and I heard that local schools were turning out early so the buses could get children home before the next line of severe weather blew in. Because I was right in the same parking lot as the Barnes and Noble Book Store, I quickly ran in and found my mother several mystery novels (those that have a bit of humor) that she loves to read so well, and I headed back to Varnell to retrieve my children. I handed Mama the books, gave her a kiss, and I said, “Happy early Mother’s Day!” We then returned home to make sure we all weathered the storm together as a family.

The storms put everything behind: Packing for New York, cleaning house, spending time with Mama. Before leaving for New York, Mamaw was coming to our house to spend time with us; however, there was a road block between her house and our house (the storm-devastated town of Apison is between here and there), and the police department turned Mama around. She called later and apologized for not making it to see the children. We were not able to give her the Mother’s Day cards, so I carried them with me to mail from New York.

On Sunday morning (Mother’s Day), Mamaw was the first person I thought of when I woke up. I also called her as I scooted over to the Cranberry Café for my hazelnut coffee. She sounded bright and chipper as always, and I wished her, “Happy Mother’s Day!”. Now, the best/worst part is that the cards I mailed from New York are just now making it to Varnell (LOL), so her Mother’s Day celebration is extending.

 I could write a novel about my mother; however,  I am going to repeat to you all that she is one of my heroes in life: wonderful wife, devoted daughter to her parents, awesome mother, spectacular grandmother to her four grandchildren and one great-grandchild, breast cancer survivor, and so much more. As so many millions of us can attest to with their mothers, she is a reflection of Jesus Christ: she loves me/us (all the family) unconditionally. I am so honored and blessed to have her. So, one more time (now the TUESDAY after Mother’s Day) Happy Mother’s Day, Mama, and I love you.

Ammon, Mamaw, Haven, & Nana (who had a great Mother's Day too)

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New York Review (yep, we’re home)

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Balto, Carter, & Haven

Here are pictures from Central Park. The babies and I are around the statue of Balto. He is the Siberian Husky who led the final leg of the dog sled team when in 1925, the town of Nenana, Alaska was suffering from an outbreak of diphtheria. The sled team was carrying the antitoxin. This is the run that is commemorated in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race each year. We have seen the statue several times in Central Park, and this is the first time I haven’t cried while contemplating those wonderful dogs and their heroic run. I can’t help it. I love dogs!!

Haven, Ammon, & Balto

Once again, it was the first time Ammon and Carter had been on a carousel. They loved going “up and down”. Later in the week we returned to Central Park to simply walk and get exercise. It was very enjoyable.

Carter & Ammon: Central Park Carousel

I also promised Diana from the Cranberry Café that she would appear on the blog. She’s here. The pictures of Friend of a Farmer is a quaint restaurant (77 Irving Place) between 18th and 19th Streets near Union Square. We enjoy the breakfasts there. I highly recommend the breakfast/brunch (pumpkin pancakes!), but the service is usually lacking.

Cranberry Cafe (45th and Times Square)

Haven & Diana (Cranberry Cafe)

Carter, Haven, & Ammon (Friend of a Farmer)

What a treat New York was! One play that we saw that I did not write about last week was Sister Act. It was really good with themes such as “working together with your ‘sisters’ (mankind) and ‘raising your voice’ (in life and to God) were throughout the play. I also thought it was a profound idea where the Reverend Mother said that you find God in people. Patina Miller plays the lead role, and she is very good. She has many mannerisms that remind me of Diana Ross, but her voice is more soulful, and (sorry Diana), Patina is a much better actress. If you liked the movie Sister Act, you will enjoy this play as well.

What a treat New York was, but we are glad to be home. We have been going twice a year, and we plan to return right after Thanksgiving this fall.

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Birthday/New York Broadway

. Theater Shows (Broadway)/Movies

The first part of this post is not a self-absorbed, I want attention, “hooray for Haven”, but I am grateful to our Heavenly Father that it is my birthday today (Saturday May 7). I am so blessed, and that is my point: Ammon, Carter, Sean, My mother, my pets, my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, my pets, my health, etc. I am honored that God is giving me another year to serve Him and grow closer to Him. Thank you, God, through Jesus ;o)

Okay, Ammon and Carter have been having a great time especially in Central Park. I will post actual pics of Ammon and Carter on the Central Park Carousel when we get home, but accept this one for the moment. We were also disappointed to find Niko’s Mediterranean Grill (Greek food) closed. It was located at 76th and Broadway. They had the BEST Moussaka ..yum, yum, yum…oh, well, not any more. We, however, found our way to one of our favorite sandwich diners: Deluxe. It’s up on Broadway at Columbia University, and it is located between 113 and 114 Streets. I had a delicious New York Burger!!

We also saw an awesome reprisal show last night: The Normal Heart. It is about the AIDS epidemic here in New York City between the years of 1981-1984. The actors were SUPERB. Joe Mantello is a such a realistic actor. His raw emotions come across as so believable. I am also for the first time a fan of Ellen Barkin. I was lost in her portrayal of the doctor who was researching and treating the AIDS patients. I could have REALLY believed she was a doctor! I highly recommend seeing this play if you are in New York.