Happy 87th Birthday!

Happy 87th birthday to my great aunt, Dorothy Dean Yerton-Layman!

Today I fondly pay tribute to a woman of God who has always lived by faith in King Jesus. A beautiful woman who believes in things not seen. A compassionate woman who believes there were always better days ahead, off in the distance. An endearing woman of service who perseveres, knowing full well she will receive all those things she is promised in God's word because she believed her efforts would deliver a better life for those who followed behind. My great aunt, Dorothy Dean Yerton-Layman is the baby sister of my late paternal grandfather, Thomas Roland Yerton, Jr. She was so much her junior that she was actually closer in age to my father, her nephew, than to her own brother. I was always fascinated by Dorothy. There was just something about her that was so special. I think it was because she was a carbon copy of her mother, my great grandmother, Carrie Etta McClain-Yerton. She shared her faith, her strength of character, and a certain twinkle of the eye. I am told that she also reflected the opinionated outspokenness of her father, my great grandfather, Thomas Roland Yerton, Sr. I never knew my great grandfather Yerton, but I was very close to my great grandmother McClain-Yerton, and Dorothy's character, conduct, and conversation reflected her mommas. I have so many fond memories from my youth of holiday meals and celebrations that included the extended Yerton family. I remember going to Dorothy's at Christmastime for family sing a longs, cookie making, and creating candies. She and her sister, Mildred Yerton-Phillips, had such harmonious voices. When the family grew too large to celebrate in her home there were many years of celebrations at the FOP Lodge at 31st and Sheridan. When the coordination of those large events became too cumbersome, each of Dorothy's siblings (Alan, Thomas, Wanda, John, and Mildred) became the new patriarch/matriarch and the six families began doing their own thing. Dorothy worshiped at Crestview church of Christ with the rest of our family for many years until the late '70's or early 80's when she and her husband, Larry Layman, left due to some disagreements with C.B. Fisher and others over their dogmatic church of Christ attitudes. No longer connected by church, Dorothy would often show up on Sunday afternoons at my Papa and Granny's home to play dominoes (Shoot the Moon) for a few hours. Everyone became so excited when Dorothy was visiting. One evening in the late 90's Dorothy was sharing with us about her then recent trip to the Ukraine with the Let's Start Talking Ministry. Kimberly and I were still attending Crestview, but knew that that was unsustainable, and we wanted a church where our children could have a real relationship with Jesus. We wanted them to grow up with age-appropriate friends who shared their faith: friends whom they could go to VBS with, go to camp with, and mature in their faith with. A church that valued missions work and was an active part of the community. In 1998 we decided to leave Crestview and joined Dorothy and Larry at Garnett church of Christ. That was a life transforming decision. Dorothy helped us transition into small groups. Our children were welcomed and loved. She helped Kimberly and me plug in to ministry work. Eventually, when Garnett was folding, we followed Dorothy and Larry to Park Plaza where we went on our own Let's Start Talking journey to Guangzhou, in the Gaungdon province of China for two summers.

When my father became ill, she laid hands on him and claimed his healing. When life wounded people, she showed up ready to be a balm. When my granny was slowly declining due to TIA's and age, Dorothy, one of her dearest and oldest friends, as well as her sister in-law, would drop by with food and ceramics to paint. When weaponized false allegations were levied against me, Dorothy was among my staunchest allies. She prayed over me. She showed up at the courthouse. She ensured, along with Larry and CK (THANK YOU C and C K.) that I had an opportunity to work full time during the 3 years I was out on bail. She acted to preserve my humanity, my masculinity, and my opportunities to be a productive father and husband. I will always be grateful to the three of them. Dorothy and I had a shared affinity for genealogy. When I was a teenager, we worked together to build the Yerton and McClain family trees. After my incarceration, Dorothy and Larry took seriously the Lord's admonition to visit those in prison. They would drive three hours, both directions, to visit me at Crabtree in Helena, Oklahoma. They would encourage me and fill my empty love tank. They continued to validate be, believe in me, and claim eventual victories over the lies and liars. She was a proud conservative Republican evangelical and would not hesitate to let you know it. But she loved Jesus first and foremost. I thought she was going to stroke out when I told her I voted for Obama. She was an INTENSE high choleric however, and sometimes that intensity could be misconstrued as unloving and harsh. But that was only because she was concerned about every soul she met and wanted every soul won over to Christ. As a "living eulogy" I would/could/should proclaim the following: Dorothy loved, and was deeply devoted to, her family. She adored her mother. She cherished her grandchildren. She was a #grandfluencer before there were hashtags or that the world knew what a grandfluencer was. She was proceeded in death by her husband, all of her siblings, a daughter and a grandchild. She was happy to shed this mortal body for its spiritual upgrade. She believes the dead are currently "asleep" until our eventual resurrection, but if our spiritman or soulman is more than just waiting around dormant waiting for Jesus to get this show on the road, then I imagine she's busy making the rounds, chatting up a storm, and if there is a box of dominoes around, she's shootin' the moon. I love you Dorothy and look forward to our reunion in the next Earth age. Robert https://ManassehEphraim.blogspot.com

Happy Resurrection Day!

 While I do not personally ascribe to the traditional Christian and Catholic skewed time lines for "Holy Week", I still can get on board with "Easter" programming because, while the "dates and hours" do matter, and I grew up being taught a false narrative, the overriding importance to remember this time of year is the FACT that His love for humanity held King Jesus to the cross as he allowed himself to be murdered and exsanguinated for our human shortcomings: only to then be miraculously resurrected 72 hours later!

What a day of confluence of extreme love existing alongside extreme contempt that that day of King Jesus' execution was. Talk about your #broligarchy having too much influence while truth and justice were being ignored and subverted. The Pharisees and Sadducees might as well have had exiled Jesus to an El Salvadoran prison. Imagine their shock when He returned from his visit to Hell where he shared grace and mercy with those who never knew him. This week I observed Passover, avoiding leavened bread to recall the Hebrews exodus from Egypt as well as enjoying the specialized meals DOC is required to serve those who identify as Messianic. This yard does a great job of honoring our religious dietary needs. I also enjoyed four hours or so in the sweat lodge on Friday as we had a Creator Sweat to focus on God, his Son, their Great Holy Spirit, and their love and care for us. On Thursday my millennial age students from last winter and fall passed their Universal EPA tests. They took such pleasure in bringing me their evaluated exams indicating they passed and were now EPA certified. It was like having proud children come show dad their report cards. I found myself happily being proud of them and proud for them. I saw in their faces, and heard in their voices, an actualized hope that their futures can be better and prosperous once they complete this program and are discharged. Seeing their smiles of hope touched my heart and really moved me. It is the FREQUENT times like this when I remember that God has a plan, a good plan FOR ME, even in my exile (Gen. 50:20). It is just another confirmation of my Day #4600 reflection that, like Jeremiah exhorts (29:4-14), it is important to build community, to build your own family, even in the midst of exile. To increase and not decrease. To seek the peace and prosperity of the place you find yourself living in. Praise King Jesus for His prosperity, for His peace, for the new family, for the new students, and for the new "progeny" that I have. This morning before riding the bus to attend OKC's Crossing Community campus church I was reading Psalms 20, as it is the twentieth of the month. These particular verses always ring true with me, but especially on THIS day every year: "If someone curses his father and mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in utter darkness. An inheritance claimed to soon will NOT be blessed in the end." The Word then reminds me not to say, " I'll pay you back for this wrong. Wait for the Lord, and He WILL avenge you (v. 20-22)." I also take comfort in the promises laid out in chapter 19 that FALSE WITNESSES WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED and that whoever pours out lies WILL perish. It hurts when the people you love tell lies and weaponize false allegations for their own financial and personal gain, whether that gain be silver coins or a new truck, new i-phone, and a false perception of independence. I find comfort in serving and worshiping a deity that understands that pain because He suffered unjust accusations, an unjust trial, and unjust incarceration due to those circumstances as well.

I couldn't help but have some of these same thoughts from Psalms 19-20 while watching Mufasa the Lion King a few weeks ago. Betrayal hurts and often times has lasting consequences. We see that play out in the story of Taka. His cowardice, insecurities, and jealousies led him into a life of inadequacy and folly. In Mufasa, Rafiki advises the soon to be patriarch that, "sometimes, when the people most like you don't love you, it is a hurt that can cause the greatest pain, and this pain can lead you to hate everything." Jesus understood this pain the night before his crucifixion as the sons he loved let him down through napping, being set up and paid off by the detectives and ADA's of his time, and then having his brothers deny their association with him. I find Jesus so relatable in this context. He is a deity that has a firsthand understanding of my personal pain. I only have 50 more months of incarceration to live behind these fences (at most, possibly less. Much, much less). In the meanwhile, it is important to me to continue to build community, to build my own family, even in the midst of exile. To increase and not decrease. To seek the peace and prosperity for the place I am living and working in. Praise King Jesus for His prosperity, His peace, and for the new family, the new brothers, and new progeny that he has given me. As the movie Mufasa reaches a climax Rafiki later relates to the newly crowned leader that, "You helped [your new family] see in themselves what they considered unseeable. Nothing is more kingly. It's not what you were, it is what you have become." I am proud of these millennials who passed their Universal EPA examination this month. I am thrilled to share in their accomplishments, like a proud substitute father. I am excited to see their lives changing, their horizons expanding, and their futures taking a new positive direction. I am particularly proud of my closest friend, my nephson, who is discharging in just a few short weeks. Less of a friend or nephew or son, more of a brother-in-arms actually. A true Johnathon (2 Samuel 1, 1 Samuel 20). I guess in a way, God has fulfilled one of the deepest desires of my heart by resurrecting what I thought I had lost 16 years ago through my association with CMcD, and I am all the more blessed because of our relationship. More importantly, the Father has resurrected for CMcD the life he should have had all along. When I see how Jesus is continuing to transform him into whom he is now becoming, when I see his heart change, when I've witnessed his mind and body transform, when I see him confront the truth of his situation, I find hope that one day, someday soon, my own Prodigal will do the same and that our once close relationship will be resurrected as well. My dearly loved children, I would love to hear from you both on this Resurrection Sunday. I am just a text message away at Securustech.net