Recipes for Living Ben Cox

It seems to me there are a lot of different things in life that we have to go through and I haven't found any simple answers. My own life is an example. My awareness of the Lord started early-about third grade, in fact. I kind of understood who God was and what the church was about, but not really. Then a school friend invited me to his house and we had what would be kind of like the Wednesday Kid's Club, an after-school gathering. I learned more about who God was and about the Bible. We looked up verses and talked about them. Later, my friend moved away and that was kind of sad in many ways. I got busy with other things and what I'd learned about the Lord didn't stick. I turned away from him.

All through school, I kept a lot to myself and was very quiet. I didn't want to get involved with what other kids were doing, and didn't fit in too well; in fact, I was picked on and made fun of I managed to keep a grip and move forward slowly and surely. In high school I fell into an attitude that I didn't care much about anything or anybody. I was fed up with school and just about everything except for a girl who was about two years older than I. I know now that she was kind of a flirt but I was young and naive. I didn't understand and kind of fell for her. One time I got up nerve enough to ask her out and that was when I found out that she had a boy friend-captain of the football team. That was that and I about decided to end it all.

I am not sure what would have happened if it hadn't been for this really good friend in High school. He talked me through it and was with me through the grieving process. It took some months to come through the attitude of not caring about anything, and then I got a car. I've got to admit that I was not the most responsible driver. I didn't have a problem with speed and stop signs-laws like that; but I liked to make noise with the tires. Finally the police got tired of that. I got a talking to and a couple of tickets, came close to losing my license; but, miraculously, I was able to clean up my act.

I made it through high school and graduated. A couple of weeks before graduation, the church had an event to honor graduating seniors. I don't know how they got my name. I wasn't a member, but I received an invitation and decided to go. Immediately I sensed that there was something special about the place. I fit in! Rev. Judy Miller was the pastor at that time and passed out the gifts we were to receive. She and I had a talk.

At that time I joined the Navy. On the first day, as we were getting ready to leave Des Moines, a guy from the Gideon Society talked to us. He talked about Christ and offered us a New Testament. I thought it was nice that they would give us a Bible and I took one.

We were sent to the ·Great Lakes Recruit Training Command Station, north of Chicago. We arrived in the evening and were put through "heck" as they were processing us. We got to bed about 11:00 that night and they got us up about 3:00 the next morning when they put us through stuff that recruits usually go through in basic training. I got into some trouble and was pulled in to the office.

It was that first night in the holding barracks that I started seeking God. I was nervous and scared. I didn't know anybody or what was going on. I kind of instinctively turned to God. I read from the New Testament that I had with me and started growing spiritually a little bit. I remember praying, ''Please just get me out of here, and get me back home so I can see my family." Actually, up until then, I didn't realize how much I cared for my family.

Then I found I had some health problems. That all happened at the time the Navy was cutting back and I, along with many others, was sent home. They didn't want to waste time and money on us. About three weeks later I thanked God that I was on a bus on my way home.

I made the transition back to regular life. It had been quite awhile since I was free to make choices of what I wanted to do. When Sunday morning came, I went to the Methodist church and have been going ever since. I accepted Christ shortly after that and was baptized a few months later. I won't say that I have never faltered in my walk with the Lord as I've gone through trials and tribulations. I had a bad habit of worrying. I worried about work and finances. I began looking for someone to go out with, but I hadn't dated and was pretty shy. One thing I do know that I did fairly well was showing up for work and helping my dad. I started working with him during summers for the last five years of school. When I got out of the service I went full time and have been there ever since. I am probably one of the best employees he ever had.

Dad is Thomas Eugene Cox. I was named after him. My full name is Thomas Benjamin Cox so it is understandable that I'm called Ben. Dad grew up in Marshalltown and then lived in Des Moines. He is a hard worker and very creative. He worked in construction and helped build lots of houses. He was in Osceola, helping to build the original part of what is now American State Bank. A couple years before I was born, he had gone into business for himself. He had a shop in Norwalk, and when he needed to expand, about '88 or '89, established Osceola Wood Products, north of Osceola, where the old airport had been. He has his own line of furniture and custom builds according to the needs of customers. We have built cabinets for some hundred thousand-dollar homes, have built things for Wal-Mart, and made wooden parts for woodworking tools. Now we have gone international. We have put our entire catalog with color photos and descriptions on the internet and get orders from all over the world. There is one guy who lives in Texas but has a home in Italy and we have an order we are filling for him.

Mom, Sue Cox, was born in Ottumwa. Then the family moved to Des Moines and she went to Roosevelt high school and then to Drake, studying in the field of optometry. A few years after college she worked, and she and Dad were married on December 28, 1973, three months after they met. Two years later they had me. Dad and Mom were living in Ankeny the year they had the real bad tornado. Mom has one brother. She is very artistic, likes quilting, sewing, and homemaking. She likes to try new ideas in decorating and new recipes in cooking. She is a very deeply committed person. Presently she works at the Reynoldson Law Office, primarily doing their copying, updating books, and, during the tax season, copying tax forms and related materials.

I have an older sister who is married and lives in Guthrie Center. She and her husband have a little boy who will be two-years-old on June 14, 1998. My brother-in-law is the manager of a grocery store. I also have a brother, Alan Edward Cox, who was born June 15, 1982. We have lived our whole lives in Osceola, in what people identify as the Gertrude Land house, which has fascinated me because it was built in 1917. I'd like to get to know more about it. It used to be an old farm and has been various other things as well. The folks came to town knowing no one but we've all enjoyed settling here and watching the town grow.

Both my brother and I have had all our schooling in Clarke Community. He is involved in many sports and in band. He is a top notch student, honor roll material. He is really on top of things. His main interest is the computer, and he also likes music and watching TV. I had been involved in band, playing the trumpet, since 5th grade. I worked my way up until I was 3rd chair but got to play the 1st part in my senior year. I was in marching band and jazz band, got to play in a couple of musicals and for basketball games. The most fun I had was that in April every year, we would go to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. We got on the bus about 4:00 a.m. When we arrived we played for judges and they gave us suggestions, but the rest of the day was ours and we had a blast! That annual trip was probably the best part of high school. I still play the trumpet, now with Celebration Brass.

Of all the teachers I had, the most influential in my schooling was the high school band director, Brad Lampe. He and I got along. He understood me and we worked together on lots of things. He helped me in more ways than just band and he went the extra mile for everybody. It was so great that he did that!

Some kids grow up wanting to become firemen or someone like that, but I seemed always to want to help someone in trouble, and this probably was the reason that, while I was in high school volunteered to be a First Responder. These are people who try to get to an accident scene or to people in an emergency situation before the ambulance arrives. We were limited in what we could do but we could stabilize patients, immobilize the attempt to control bleeding, and generally watch over them until the EMTs arrive. We introduced ourselves and offered our service. If they refused, of course we would do nothing.

Training for First Responders is done through the hospital, and we were taught to drive the ambulance, work the sirens and radio, and hook up the oxygen. We were also required to do 30 hours of volunteer service at the hospital. That was pretty interesting. We were taught to stay calm and quiet whatever happened, and I remember one night we had about 10 calls within a two hour-period-everything from a smashed thumb, to a little boy who had fallen, hitting his head on edge of a brick sidewalk, to a high fever case and, most seriously, an older man having chest pains, needing to be transferred to Des Moines. That was an eye-opener! I remember leaving after my period of duty-here I was going home and that man was in serious trouble. I don't know if he lived. Certification is for a year at a time and I haven't updated mine, so I am no longer doing that.

Also, while I was in high school got a scanner, which started me on my hobby of radios, two-way radios and short wave broadcasts, picking up other countries or time signals. There is an atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado, and one in Hawaii that works on the same frequency. If atmospheric conditions are right, you can hear both at once and they will be exactly at the same time. You can set your clocks accordingly and know you are right.

On short wave there is what they call utility transmissions. The Navy ships transmit on these frequencies. You can hear amateur, or ham, radio. Some still use Morse code. In some foreign countries, maybe ruled by dictators, there are people who broadcast for the sole purpose of expressing anti-government opinions. They are clandestine, of course. There are some people who don’t have a license and could get in lots of trouble. Those are "pirate stations". I like to listen to AM regular broadcasts and see how many stations I can pick up. I've made quite a list and the farthest has been an AM bank in Monterey, Mexico. It came in clear as a bell.

CB radio is also fun. These, of course, are for John Doe and everybody-lots of truck drivers have them. Years ago you had to have a license to operate one. I've talked some but mostly I listen in. There are 40 channels, but I listen mostly to channel 9, the emergency channel. If I hear people saying they have an emergency, I report it to the authorities, giving them all the information I can. Channel 19 is the main one. It is the one professional truck drivers use, and they often ask for information about truck stops, weigh stations, weather and road conditions-or cops. Some drivers get kind of nasty if they are cautioned about cussing or swearing but that is against the law.

This has been an interesting hobby. I'd like to have the ham radio equipment and be an operator, but two things have stopped me. One is the price of equipment. They have rigs that run close to $10,000-$15,000, not including microphone or antenna or the other necessities. The second is the amount of testing required to get a license. Those who apply have to have a lot of information, learn Morse code and other things. It is also time consuming and I keep pretty busy.

I am a storm spotter with Skywarn, which is part of the National Weather Service. I am also a part of Channel 8's storm spotters. This is something I’ve done for quite awhile and have had an interest in ever since I was little. I hope someday to go storm chasing around Oklahoma and Kansas.

In September, 1996, I started driving a school bus. Now, there is something in itself that I could write a whole book about. I made some trips with athletic teams and, at the start of the school year, I began driving every day. I first had a long route on Mormon Trail roads with not many kids; then, after a few weeks, I began going to Woodburn. Some kids are kind of a problem and some are pretty decent. Sometimes drivers have to break up a fight; sometimes parents get involved, and that's not pleasant. It takes a lot of patience and understanding, but I really like kids, so that helps. However, driving a bus is not an easy job. There are lots of things to watch -traffic, the roads, making sure somebody isn't going to hit you in the back of the head. It has been a growing experience. I've learned a lot about working with kids and people in general.

While I've been driving, I met another driver, Eleanor Donaldson, who introduced me to her daughter, Kara. They live in Osceola but Kara is a senior at the I-35 school. We have known each other since November, '97. I call her an answer to my prayers. She is a special young woman, interested in working with kids. As part of her classes, she volunteers at Kiddie Karousel. She is also interested in business and, while she is kind of undecided, when she graduates this year she is looking at the possibility of going on to college and getting a business education. We each enjoy our relationship a lot.

I am now enrolled in a correspondence course from the Foley Belsaw School, training to be a locksmith. This is an industrial training, preparing students in the business of selling machinery and tools. It will fit my wish to be of help to people who might lock their keys in a car, or who have lost house keys. Graduates will also be involved in equipping buildings with locks, security systems, safes, and vaults. There are a lot of areas within the general skilled profession and thousands of locksmiths have gone through the program.

From time to time I have considered going into the ministry. Sometimes I feel that is the way I want to lean, and I'm not ruling it out as a possibility but haven't felt called to anything specific. Later on down the line, I will know if that is the direction I should take. Some day I would like to have a house and family and all the things that go along with that.

The Lord is important to my life. I try to rely on him and his strength. I know that if I try to rely on mine, it is worthless. I need his help to be able to hold up in times of trouble, and I try to keep in touch with God through prayer and his word.

On Saturday mornings, I meet with group of men called Cross Trainers. It is something like Promise Keepers. We read books dealing with how to be better men, better followers of God, in whatever role we have. We talk and share our problems and generally have a great fellowship. It is helpful to have other friends in the faith. I am learning to take one day at a time, not worrying so much about things, trying to be a good listener and a good friend to everybody, not judging or putting anybody down. I think that is the way to look at life and that is how I want to live.