Everything was wet from the continuous light rain as we lay in the tiny two-man pup tent that Angus had owned since he was a kid. We had tied the tent flaps up and just watched the rain drops outside hit the leaves and run off, listening to the wilderness drink it in. We had nothing to do for the weekend so we had thrown the camping gear into the Jeep and had headed out for this adventure.
We had high-dollar sleeping bags that we had bought with our wedding gift cash and the camp stove, lantern, cook kit and other various camp items were also wedding gifts. I hadn't registered for the typical china and housewares. The only thing we asked for was camping gear and this was a chance to get to try it out. We had camped our way from Missouri to our new life together in Oregon but the concentration had been on traveling, not enjoying the world around us.
The rain, our tiny tent, the fact that we had no real sense of a destination was of no concern to us then. We were young and so in love with each other and with life and with possibility. We drove through The Gorge until we found a secluded stretch of road. Angus pulled over and parked the Jeep. We walked into the wilderness a ways, found a nice little flat area with a stream gurgling below and pitched our tent... I am sure it was totally illegal to be camping there but that didn't even occur to us. The world was ours.
Now, nearly 28 years later, Angus and I are preparing for another camping trip. It will be our first alone-together camping trip since before children. We have planned and researched, and made reservations, and checked out the driving route, and made a menu and purchased items we'll need. Not exactly the impromptu path of our youth but... the world is ours.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Saturday, July 22, 2006
I just finished reading a blog about Fred Gray, the attorney who defended Rosa Parks and encouraged the young Martin Luth King, Jr. to his active role in desegregation. ( Find more about this amazing man http://www.fredgray.net/welcome.html .)
It got me to thinking about all those people out there that are the mentors or role models or just the friend that gives one their ear or the encouragement to accomplish much. I think of all the people I know that have really accomplished a lot in their lives and every single one of them had so much help.
We remember Rosa Park and Martin Luther King, Jr. and think of them as heroes. I have even seen photos of MLK with Fred Gray and nevr gave the man a second thought. Yet neither of these people could have accomplished anything if Rosa had rotted in jail or MLK had just kept preaching at his little church. The changes brought about by the desegregation movement were achieved as much by Fred Gray as by the others.
Let us give thanks today for all the "helpers" out there...all of the people that are great in their own right, serving God as he calls. Let's give thanks for all who understand that their role will not include the glory that goes with the spokesperson, that their planning will not garner the praise that the ones who carry out the plans, that their leadership or guidance or hard work will likely go unnoticed and unthanked by most. Let's give thanks that these people are willing to do it anyway for the good and for God.
God bless the helpers of the world.
It got me to thinking about all those people out there that are the mentors or role models or just the friend that gives one their ear or the encouragement to accomplish much. I think of all the people I know that have really accomplished a lot in their lives and every single one of them had so much help.
We remember Rosa Park and Martin Luther King, Jr. and think of them as heroes. I have even seen photos of MLK with Fred Gray and nevr gave the man a second thought. Yet neither of these people could have accomplished anything if Rosa had rotted in jail or MLK had just kept preaching at his little church. The changes brought about by the desegregation movement were achieved as much by Fred Gray as by the others.
Let us give thanks today for all the "helpers" out there...all of the people that are great in their own right, serving God as he calls. Let's give thanks for all who understand that their role will not include the glory that goes with the spokesperson, that their planning will not garner the praise that the ones who carry out the plans, that their leadership or guidance or hard work will likely go unnoticed and unthanked by most. Let's give thanks that these people are willing to do it anyway for the good and for God.
God bless the helpers of the world.
Friday, July 21, 2006
I stepped into the room to find all the heads bowed in prayer. The four years olds in this Vacation Bible School class were saying grace before their snack. The young college student teacher of the class was having each of them pray individually. Most of their prayers were inaudible but they were talking to God easily and and eagerly thanking him for the crackers and cheese before them.
I was thinking how smart that young woman was to get these kids started with this kind of praying out loud with others at such an early age...getting them comfortable with prayer. I know I shouldn't have been thinking at all but praying along with them myself but I was curious. Suddenly I heard these words loud and clear from a very small boy ~ "and thank you for dying on the cross for us". The adults in the room all looked up at the same time and looked at each other in amazement and smiled.
Oh, how I wish I had known at four years old... even at his understanding level, whatever that may be, he had it right.
I was thinking how smart that young woman was to get these kids started with this kind of praying out loud with others at such an early age...getting them comfortable with prayer. I know I shouldn't have been thinking at all but praying along with them myself but I was curious. Suddenly I heard these words loud and clear from a very small boy ~ "and thank you for dying on the cross for us". The adults in the room all looked up at the same time and looked at each other in amazement and smiled.
Oh, how I wish I had known at four years old... even at his understanding level, whatever that may be, he had it right.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
I stuck birthday candles in a watermelon and brought it out at midnight. Zeke's friends had been coming and going all evening and these that were left were staying up all night. They were leaving at 4:30 in the morning for the Sonshine Festival in Minnesota... so why sleep? Sleep on the bus! This is the thinking of a just-turned-20 young man who would spend his birthday traveling on a church bus with 20 other kids for 9 hours.
They'd been shooting the leftover fireworks and were in the process of building the "sparkler bomb" and the sparkler "flame thrower". These homemade incindiary devices are common among the youth of our community and not without their danger. Last week a hometown boy, a teammate of Zeke's on the soccer team, tried to put a can over the top of his sparker bomb and it blew up with his face above it. It looks as if he will not lose his eye afterall... and with still have some sight in one of his eyes. This after plastic surgery, of course.
What is it about boys? The powers that be outlawed the M-80s and Cherry Bombs of our youth but the ingenuity of kids will prevail. They must have their big bangs! When I use the boy above as an example of why not to build a sparkler bomb I am met with a look of disgust. "Mom, he was stupid." Everyone knows when the bomb is lighted you run like crazy! It's a bomb for heaven's sake!
Just blowing up a sparkler bomb is not enough though. They've all done that. They need to blow up stuff. Beau dug around and found some stuffed animals that they had won in one of those machines where you drop in a quarter and try to grab a toy with a crane. Off they went 2 miles down to the end of this secluded road. The nearest house was a half mile from their destination. They left with instructions for me to listen and see if I could hear it. I told them I'd better not have the sheriff at my door... or an ambulance racing down the road.
You might be wondering how could I let them go off and do that? If you are, then you probably have not raised four sons. There is alot of praying involved. Among these highschool and college boys were 2 valedictorians, 7 honor roll students, 4 members of the National Honor Society. They are smart kids, not out drinking or carousing or vandalizing. Sometimes one just has to trust them and trust God. (Besides, I had seen their bomb and knew they had used less than half the sparklers my oldest son and friend used while experimenting with their bombs 8 years ago when Sparkler bombs were the new thing.)
I sat in my rocking chair on the deck, said a little prayer for their safety and for them to use those good brains and awaited their return. Yes, I heard the blast. It was not loud but one of those barely perceptible booms that sound far off but you know something big just happened somewhere. I waited...and waited...
They tumbled out of the cars, laughing with delight as they all spoke at once and could hardly wait to show me the video. They brought back the bunny...or what was left of him.
I made them show me that they all still had all 10 digits on their hands and then we watched the video. At some point I realized someone (okay, it was Beau) had brought a little bottle of gasoline to douse the dolly with. I watched in horror. Zeke was cautioning but it was still frightening to watch. The group went way down the road to watch. I heard one boy tell Zeke to get closer with the video and he infromed him that he could see it just fine. The torch lighters ran toward the others like their pants were on fire.
There is no doubt, the Lord was with them on Zeke's 20th birthday.
PS~ Yes, I made them listen to me lecture them on the danger of lighting gasoline and the fumes.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Beau slept in a Fireworks tent for two weeks before Independence Day. He got paid $25 a night plus all the fireworks he wanted. If he came in early or stayed late she paid him for the time. It was a sweet deal for him. CJ had done it when he was a teen, too. I suppose it could have been dangerous had someone tried to come steal, it was on the main mini-highway between Smithville and Kearney. His instructions were that if someone after he had closed the tent and he told them that he was closed and if they indicated they weren’t there to buy fireworks, well, he should just take off. The tent was at the edge of the property of the homeowner with the house in full view so I wasn’t too worried.
I was more concerned that pranking kids would come and try to scare him or worse, sickos might think it fun to beat him up out there all alone. I asked him if Carol, the tent owner, knew that anyone could be come in a steal everything in the place while he slept soundly. He just laughed and shrugged.
One night about 11:00 pm someone did stop by to buy fireworks, noticing that the lights were on. The kid was pleased and surprised that it was “open”. Beau sold what he wanted and didn’t mention that he just hadn’t gotten around to closing the tent down yet.
It turned out he was rarely alone anyway. He had company almost every night. His brother Kevin, would often stop by on his way home from work around 11:00 and his Dad would stop by on his way to work at midnight. Girls brought him goodies and boys came for the to play the X-Box that Carol had set up out in the tent for the workers to play during down time.
One morning at 6:30 he was awakened by a “Pssst. PSSST. PSSSSST!” He groggily lifted his head to see a pair of eyes peaking in above the door of the tent. It startled him until he realized it was morning (almost) and it was his tall friend, Jared. His dad had dropped him off at the tent to visit with Beau while he ran in to pick up breakfast before they headed off to work.
Several nights it was an all night party with 4 or 5 boys showing up and playing games while he eventually slept. He had to get up and go to work at 8:00 in the morning! I was always surprised that these kids’ moms let them stay there with Beau all night or at least well into the next day. I guess it says a lot about Beau’s reputation and the way we trust our kids. Trust. We parents pretty much have that among this bunch of kids. They do stupid stuff like any kid but, so far, not stupid, stupid stuff.
It’s not that idiotic, blind kind of trust that some parents have that their kids are always right, truthful or good. Those parents are constantly making excuses for bad behavior and bailing their kids out and their kids keep getting into bigger and bigger trouble. I’m just saying that these kids are making mostly good choices and have earned our trust. When one of them starts to make dumb choices the others respond by trying to pull them back. We parents don’t have to do it much, their peers do it and they accept it so much better coming from them. They really are close. They really do love and accept each other!
I was more concerned that pranking kids would come and try to scare him or worse, sickos might think it fun to beat him up out there all alone. I asked him if Carol, the tent owner, knew that anyone could be come in a steal everything in the place while he slept soundly. He just laughed and shrugged.
One night about 11:00 pm someone did stop by to buy fireworks, noticing that the lights were on. The kid was pleased and surprised that it was “open”. Beau sold what he wanted and didn’t mention that he just hadn’t gotten around to closing the tent down yet.
It turned out he was rarely alone anyway. He had company almost every night. His brother Kevin, would often stop by on his way home from work around 11:00 and his Dad would stop by on his way to work at midnight. Girls brought him goodies and boys came for the to play the X-Box that Carol had set up out in the tent for the workers to play during down time.
One morning at 6:30 he was awakened by a “Pssst. PSSST. PSSSSST!” He groggily lifted his head to see a pair of eyes peaking in above the door of the tent. It startled him until he realized it was morning (almost) and it was his tall friend, Jared. His dad had dropped him off at the tent to visit with Beau while he ran in to pick up breakfast before they headed off to work.
Several nights it was an all night party with 4 or 5 boys showing up and playing games while he eventually slept. He had to get up and go to work at 8:00 in the morning! I was always surprised that these kids’ moms let them stay there with Beau all night or at least well into the next day. I guess it says a lot about Beau’s reputation and the way we trust our kids. Trust. We parents pretty much have that among this bunch of kids. They do stupid stuff like any kid but, so far, not stupid, stupid stuff.
It’s not that idiotic, blind kind of trust that some parents have that their kids are always right, truthful or good. Those parents are constantly making excuses for bad behavior and bailing their kids out and their kids keep getting into bigger and bigger trouble. I’m just saying that these kids are making mostly good choices and have earned our trust. When one of them starts to make dumb choices the others respond by trying to pull them back. We parents don’t have to do it much, their peers do it and they accept it so much better coming from them. They really are close. They really do love and accept each other!
Pro 18:24 Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Finally rain. I hadn’t kept an eye on the weather reports, but I thought it was coming. It has been so hot and the ground already had dry August cracks begging for a drink to green things up. It’s not supposed to be like this in June. June is the rainy month. I remember when I used to teach swim lessons there were weeks at a time when the pool would be closed for rain…or we’d be standing in waist deep water our teeth chattering trying to coax a child into relaxing enough for a black float while the clouds gathered overhead. But yesterday it finally rained.
All week it has been so hot and humid and rumors of that building into a thunderhead and somewhere in the city or the suburbs it had…but no rain for us. The lilies are trying to flower but the buds are wrinkling instead of blooming. The last cherries on the tree look like raisins hanging there.
Yesterday I took my morning walk with coffee in hand, picked a zucchini, popped a cherry tomato in my mouth and noticed how heavy the air was. I reminded God how badly we need rain. By afternoon as I wandered out to the mailbox the sun was hiding but it was still so hot. “hey, God, we sure could use some rain.“ I carried the trash out to the barrel in the evening and I thought “It’s gonna rain. Oh, how we need it!”.
Sure enough, I was cleaning up the kitchen and notice the chickens all run for cover at once. I dropped what I was doing and ran outside. A downpour! Most of that would just run off the hardened earth but it was better than nothing. I sat down in the old wooden chair by the door, glad I’d found it at the garage sale. I just sat there and soaked it all in. There was some distant thunder but the rain song came from the rain hitting all those leaves of the many trees surrounding our house as the reached out the gather in every drop.
I was only sitting under an overhang so now and then I’d get some cool spray but mostly the rain was coming straight down. The smell was fabulous, too. Did the rain smell like cilantro? Yes, it was pounding my herb garden and the plants were giving up their scents readily.
It moved though quickly and in less than ten minutes of heaven on earth I found myself wandering bare foot through the fresh and tender grass. Only this morning it had been dry and hot. Amazing what a drink will do. The rain gauge registered only about an eight of an inch.
But that was just the first chorus! It cooled things off a bit for the fireworks show and held off ‘til it was over. The clouds made a beautiful backdrop for those fireworks! A gentle rain followed with showers all night long. Perfect for the thirsty, dangerously dry on the 4th of July world. Two inches!
Thank you God for giving us what we need when we need it. Would I have appreciated that rain if it had come as usual? Would I have cursed it for making mud where I want to dig and rotting my cherries before I could get to them? Why do we appreciate you and all you do so much more when we suffer first? Thank you , God, for this good rain.
All week it has been so hot and humid and rumors of that building into a thunderhead and somewhere in the city or the suburbs it had…but no rain for us. The lilies are trying to flower but the buds are wrinkling instead of blooming. The last cherries on the tree look like raisins hanging there.
Yesterday I took my morning walk with coffee in hand, picked a zucchini, popped a cherry tomato in my mouth and noticed how heavy the air was. I reminded God how badly we need rain. By afternoon as I wandered out to the mailbox the sun was hiding but it was still so hot. “hey, God, we sure could use some rain.“ I carried the trash out to the barrel in the evening and I thought “It’s gonna rain. Oh, how we need it!”.
Sure enough, I was cleaning up the kitchen and notice the chickens all run for cover at once. I dropped what I was doing and ran outside. A downpour! Most of that would just run off the hardened earth but it was better than nothing. I sat down in the old wooden chair by the door, glad I’d found it at the garage sale. I just sat there and soaked it all in. There was some distant thunder but the rain song came from the rain hitting all those leaves of the many trees surrounding our house as the reached out the gather in every drop.
I was only sitting under an overhang so now and then I’d get some cool spray but mostly the rain was coming straight down. The smell was fabulous, too. Did the rain smell like cilantro? Yes, it was pounding my herb garden and the plants were giving up their scents readily.
It moved though quickly and in less than ten minutes of heaven on earth I found myself wandering bare foot through the fresh and tender grass. Only this morning it had been dry and hot. Amazing what a drink will do. The rain gauge registered only about an eight of an inch.
But that was just the first chorus! It cooled things off a bit for the fireworks show and held off ‘til it was over. The clouds made a beautiful backdrop for those fireworks! A gentle rain followed with showers all night long. Perfect for the thirsty, dangerously dry on the 4th of July world. Two inches!
Thank you God for giving us what we need when we need it. Would I have appreciated that rain if it had come as usual? Would I have cursed it for making mud where I want to dig and rotting my cherries before I could get to them? Why do we appreciate you and all you do so much more when we suffer first? Thank you , God, for this good rain.
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