A little bit of country

Well, I'm back at my keyboard, only a week later than I had planned to make my next post. I had to laugh when I read Emily's blog for last tuesday, "I'M SICK!" You would think I could at least have dragged myself over to my office to write "DITTO!". Next time I am that sick I will just call Emily to post - hope you're feeling better, hon!

Thanks, Lorlee, for your last post. I just love how your kids get to grow up with a little bit of country. It's a lucky kid, in my opinion, that gets to enjoy learning to hunt and fish, especially if you're a girl. In my county upbringing, I didn't actually get to hunt with my brothers but it had a way of rubbing off on me anyway. Like I used to tiptoe down into the cellar to go after some goodies from the freezer. (My mother, to this day, never runs out of goodies in her freezer!) And I was always so glad that there was a good strong light in that deep, chest freezer because one had to carefully scrutinize the contents of each baggie before bringing it up for dessert. You see, my brothers hunted pocket gophers for bounty and they had to chop off the front feet and bring them into the county authorities to collect 25 cents per foot. So naturally it was the logical thing to keep them in a baggie in the freezer until they had a sufficient minimum - right next to the brownies!

So imagine the nostalgia that Dave and I sensed when Brenna decides she would love to raise alpacas when we move to our new farm - which someday will be a real hobby farm. Unlike the sort of corporate farm that we now live on, where nearly every square foot is dedicated to growing product. So this past weekend we took her over to the alpaca show at the fairgrounds. Country livestock pens, cowboy hats, spinning wheels and that lovely barn smell. We ended up watching some of the show animals being paraded around the ring on this great, green sod, fertilizing it every so often here and there. Suddenly, Dave sees a little sign on the fence and his country eyes light up. "Free sod, U haul, at the end of the show!" So on Easter morning when the kids wake up, yawn and ask innocently, "so what are we doing special for Easter?", Dad gets this evil grin on his face. Yep, by 3:30 Easter afternoon there's a line of very muddy Van Essens in the rain filling a HUGE trailer full of rolls of alpaca defiled sod. It gave a whole new meaning to the term, Easter grass.

Actually, somehow it was a refreshing way to spend part of our Easter Day. I don't have anything against pretty Easter dresses, fuzzy bunny decorations and egg hunts - but come on, in the rain and the mud, how fun can that be? And what do they really have to do with Christ's suffering on our behalf?

For me the Easter service is the very best part of the day by far, and Sunday was one of the best we've ever had in my opinion. We really have a great church family and to see it growing with new members and baptisms, the kids singing and such a great sermon was just wonderful. There was no rain on my heart's Easter parade, hope the same is true of you.

So tonight when Dave opens up the local paper, he announces to me from the headline, "Scio mare turns 40". (I am not making this up!) I call back to him from the kitchen, "do we know the Scio mayor?" "Why would they put his age in the paper anyway, don't they know that's discrimination?" Now that's a country headline.

Every ten year old needs a shotgun

This past Saturday evening Sierra, Kalee, and I had the privilege to help at the tenth annual Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet. For those of you who are not familiar with the REMF, they are an elk conservation and habitat organization based in Misoulla, Montana. Every year the local chapter puts on a benefit auction and banquet in Albany. For the past couple of years they hold a youth drawing during the event. Every child under 17 years of age has an opportunity to win a prize. The first place ticket this year was a brand new Remington model 870 (youth size)20 guage shot gun. There were probably 20 kids who went up front for the drawing. To my surprise, Kalee held the winning ticket! I got a huge smile on my face and immediately thought of one of my most prize memories! When I was about ten years old or so my dad came home from work one afternoon and said that he wanted to take me down to the local gun shop to look at a shot gun. So, the next day, he took me to the shop and showed me the shot gun that he had in mind. Now, to say that this thing resembled a gun was a stretch! The stock was black and the barrel was so corroded and covered in rust that I was surprised that the store could think that they could actually sell such a piece of junk. I wondered if the previous owner had burried the poor thing in the ground for safe keeping? My dad tried to reassure me that it was a good size and a good calibur. It was shorter and not too heavy. The fact that it was a 20 guage meant that it would not "kick" too bad. He held that gun and saw the potential underneath all of that rust. Dad looked at me with that twinkle in his eye and said, "what do you think, Lorlee? We can restore this shot gun and make it look brand new." I had my doubts, but, I trusted my dad. We came home that day with that short little hunk of junk. Over the next several weeks we worked and worked. He took the gun apart and we cleaned, stripped, and refinished every speck. I don't remember how many jars of Zip Strip we went through or how many steel wool pads we demolished. But, sure enough! That little shot gun was going through a transformation right before my eyes. I remember the day my dad put all of the pieces back together. The stock was a beautiful blonde wood with a shiny finish, the metal action and barrel were jet black with not a trace of rust let alone a fingerprint! And when you broke open that gun and looked down the inside of the barrel it was like looking into a lighted mirror, it shown so bright! That little shot gun was my pride and joy! I showed it off to all of my friends (only, under adult supervision ) and relatives! In fact, that little shot gun is still my pride and joy and I've got a turkey in my freezer because of it! I have had several offers to sell it and every "gun buff" worth his salt has been impressed with it's restoration. That is why I smiled so broadly when Kalee won that gun Saturday night. She, too, will share in a little family tradition. Hopefully, this will be one of her fond memories. Restoring that shot gun taught me a couple of important lessons: Dad knew what he was doing and value is not always seen on the surfice, sometimes you have to scrap past the rust. Isn't that the truth!? I some times wonder if God looks at us and thinks the same thing, "are they burrying themselves in the dirt, for safe keeping?" Luckily, He is there with his "zip strip" and steel wool to clean us up. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone , the new has come!"
Let God clean your rust to reveal the shine underneath. By the way, Spring Turkey season will be here shortly, maybe I'll get to put another one in my freezer?
Lorlee

Back to Reality

Hopefully by now, you readers have figured out that there are no guarantees in life, especially when it comes to blogs. As has been previously underscored, life is hectic and busy and posting to our blog doesn't always make it into the top 50 things I hope to get done today.

Furthermore, life doesn't get any easier, Lorlee, when those 5 young children of yours will grow up into 5 young adults who still need their mommy & daddy, only in a different way. As it was, this weekend, Dave and I had to "divide and conquer" in order to throw a 14-year-old birthday party and take a 17-year-old on a college tour. But suffice it to say, kick-the-can has as much appeal as it ever has, especially when mud and darkness are added. The party will long be remembered in the minds of 8 14-year-old boys - good job, Dad. And that Seattle is an awesome place to imagine oneself living the great, single life of a college student who has finally "gotten out of the valley"!

Now for the reality check of all this fun travel and frantic partying; it took this mother 10 1/2 hours of sleep last night to recover from riding the Space Needle elevator, the Bainbridge ferry and hiking the Seattle waterfront all the way up to the bus depot. I definitely should have started this when I was younger. I know some day all this activity will subside and then I will really know what I am missing.

Which brings me to my tidbit for you this week. It comes once again from a radio program I heard this past week (yes, I do spend alot of time in the car!) and it really caught my attention. The question had to do with how we live the Christian life and it went like this: If God suddenly disappeared from the stage of your life, would you notice He was missing?

It really hit me that it's possible I might be so busy and so self-sufficient that I could miss something like that. Then I read in this week's study about Paul who while driving down the Damascus freeway was pulled over and stranded for 3 days. He suddenly came to the realization that he was completely dependent on others and had been busy doing all the wrong things.

Another fresh perspective on this would be from the words of a song I've listened to alot lately. No, of course I didn't get this from my drive time - I have a life outside of my car, you know. There's that radio - CD player in my kitchen.

from WORTHLESS by Point of Grace:

I woke up today with a revelation
An introduction to the truth
I knew the world was round
What goes up comes down
And maybe I finally got it figured out
A moment is worthless, No meaning, purpose
Every breath is just wasted
If you are not the center of my world I'm just drifting
Barely existing
Every minute without you
Is worthless

McLives

Leanne and Bethea recently shared in our Sunday School class that they both had the wonderful opportunity of "running" into old friends that they have not seen in years. While I listened to them share, I realized that I was feeling a little...Jealous. I wanted to "run into" someone from my past (and I am not talking about my ex-boyfriend who is now a sheriff's deputy for Linn County!) I don't remember if I actually, prayed or if God just heard my subconscious yearning. But, he came through just the same. A few days ago, while stopping by Wal-Mart, I ran into a childhood friend that I have not seen in a long time. It was so good to see her. I only manage to see this person once a year or so. We stood there in the aisle trying to catch each other up to speed with our respective lives. After we left, I felt so blessed to have been able to see someone from my past that was so dear to me. However, my joy was tempered by the fact that I really don't know much about her life, anymore. I have drifted out of her life and she has drifted out of mine. The shame is in the fact that we allowed it to happen at all. All of us are so busy. We operate and conduct our lives by the fast food mentality of: get in and get out. Sadly, we are missing opportunities to bless and care for those around us by not taking the time to slow down. I am pretty sure that this frenetic pace and expansive consumption of our lives is not what God had in mind when he thought up the concept of community. Believe me, I am just as guilty. Ephesians 5: 15 and 16 says, "Be very careful, then, how you should live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is." I don't know about you but I needed to hear that! The very next day after running into my friend, I sent her a card. I do not want to have any more regrets. I pray that the Lord will help us all to slow down and see those opportunities that await our attention. I just hope that if I run into my old "ex"(boyfriend, that is) the red and blue lights aren't flashing!

Greetings Ladies,
I know it has been a while since I've posted to this blog but don't think for one second that I have not thought about you. I have been thinking about all of you and sending you all, mental hugs! I have to share about what happened last night. There comes a time in every child's life when they realize one sober fact: their parents will...Die. Over the weekend our son Wyatt helped his daddy (Chris) take apart shelves out in our shop. Chris was so appreciative of Wyatt's help that he told him he would take Wyatt out for some special outing, just the two of them, as his reward. So, on Sunday evening Chris took Wyatt in town to a park with a lighted basketball court. There they played and shot hoops for over an hour and on their way home Chris stopped at the Dollar Tree for a little spending spree. Wyatt got to spend $ 3.00 . While they were driving home, Wyatt told Chris that this day had been the "best day of my entire life!" When Chris asked him why, he replied, "because, I got to spend time with just my dad and I got to to the dollar store." Chris chuckled all the way home. When I tucked the kids into bed that night Wyatt seemed, especially, happy. He had just had one of his "best days." About 15 minutes later, Owen (Wyatt's younger brother) came and got me. "Wyatt says that you and dad are going to die." I looked at Owen and said, "What? What are you talking about?" Owen then elaborated, "Wyatt said that you and dad are going to die, because everybody dies, and he's in there crying and he's gonna make me cry." I rushed into their bedroom to see Wyatt sobbing and drenching his pillow. I put my arm around him and asked him what was the matter. He began to tell me about how much he did not want us to die...But, that he knew we were going to die, someday. I tried to reassure him that mommy was feeling pretty good, afterall, she's been working out almost every day. Finally, it occurred to me, I could not offer him the peace that he was searching for. I looked into his big blue eyes and said, "sweetie, it is true, that everyone dies. But, no one knows when their time is up. I hope daddy and I will be here for a long, long time, but we may not. But, I can promise you one thing: whenever our time comes, Jesus will get you through. Whether you are a young boy or a grown up man, Jesus will get you through!" I kissed him and tried to remind him not to worry over things that, might happen. Each day has enough of it's own trouble we don't need to borrow it from the future. He finally calmed down and went to sleep. I can remember when I was young, crying over the same thing! Chris and I have the blessing, to be able to live with my folks and we see the reality of mortality every day. I could easily cry myself to sleep every night with the same fear Wyatt experienced: I don't want my mommy and daddy to die. However, I give myself the same advice I gave to my son, put your hope in Jesus and believe that he will get you through. I am remembering a few words to a hymn right now, "on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand."
That is all, we can do, put our hope in Christ no matter what we face.
I suppose it will be several more years before Wyatt realizes the second grim reality we all face, taxes!!

Lorlee

Behind the Scenes

My sisters are very quiet this week. You might think I would politely wait until I hear from them before posting again. Nope, I usually have something to say and I'm not very shy about going after it- a trait I inherited from my dear mother. In fact, you would laugh if you listened in on our phone conversations: Mom and me and Dad on the other extension. He rarely gets a word in edgewise and often I suspect he naps a little while we're chatting.

But lest you think my dear posting sisters are sitting idly by doing nothing let me assure you, they are busy women. There's alot going on behind the scenes. I'm sure it's that way with most of us. But today is one of those rare days for me when everyone has vanished at my house, most unusual for a family of our size but probably a sign of things to come. Child 5 is off to a quiz meet, child 4 is embarking on a traveling team, child 3 is overnite at a birthday party, child 2 is at mudfest (ooh, messy) and child 1 usually "gets out of Dodge" before the Saturday morning chores assignments are handed out. She's turned into a very smart adult and has earned this wonderful freedom to do as she pleases, although still seems handicapped by mother's laundry room!

Oh, and I forgot to mention (sorry sweetie) that husband 1 is enjoying time away at Men's advance. So I have my whole day, no, the whole weekend lying before me as an empty slate. It is very exhilarating. As soon as this fog burns off I am outta this house, ripping up the chores list and diving into the barkmulch.

Oh, yes, back to my point - behind the scenes. This reminds of a wonderful thing I heard on the radio this week. (I just love interruptions in my morning to go run errands because then I get to listen to my favorite radio preachers on the radio and get so blessed; yes, even the one with the very funny radio voice.) The message was about Esther - I never get tired of reviewing that one. It was pointed out how God is like a great, slow-moving gear; never sleeping, never stopping and moving with great precision and detail as it connects to other gears that in turn drive other movements and events in this case. So as God had in mind the great purpose of saving the remnant of Israel and was moving in the minds of kings and eunuchs, he also had in mind the tender and innocent heart of young Esther. She had no idea what was going on with the nations and the kingdoms or why she had lost her parents or why God had made her so beautiful. But every detail of her life and the events that followed plays into God's master plan, just like the cogs in a small gear connect to ever larger ones. And the thing to remember is this: don't think that just because you can't see God moving today that the great gears in heaven have stopped. He is moving and answering - we just need to be the Esther gear, obedient and faithful.

So read it this week, be amazed at how He moves, and get in gear with God, girlfriend!

Knit together

Happy March 1 everyone! And welcome to our new readers. Do you know what today is? Today is the day we get to find out how our archive works on this blog. I'm tellin ya - this is exciting. There is so much to learn every day. Years ago I would have thought that by the time I would reach my ripe, old age the learning would certainly have slowed down. No sirree, the cerebral challenges just keep coming!

Speaking of blogging, I've been curious about other bloggers out there. Here's what I found out, aren't you glad you are no longer in the "don't know" category?

8 million Americans (7%) have blogs of their own
14 million American (12%) have commented on other people’s blogs
32 million Americans (27%) read blogs regularly
74 million of Americans (62%) don’t know what a blog is

Speaking of learning, I must tell you about our great evening of "knitting together" last night at Judy's home (thank-you for hosting us!). There were the experts, the wanna-be's and the very brave in attendance. Most brave of all were our youngest sisters of elementary and junior high age who persevered until they had mastered the craft, crochet in this case. Needless to say, we had a grand time and look forward to our next night out together. What a great blessing to have sisters of all ages sharing together and passing on an age-old craft to a new generation.

After all, knitting is Biblical, you know. I bet someone can tell me where it's found in the Bible. Sorry I don't have any Bible verse to share at the moment except that one. Maybe someone else has one to share that will bless all of us with tired knitting fingers. Just click on comments and thank you!