Burke, Idaho

Burke is a ghost town in Shoshone County, Idaho.  Once a thriving silver, lead and zinc mining community, it is far smaller now than at its height.  In 2002, about 300 people lived in or nearby in the lengthy and narrow Burke Canyon, about 300 feet in width.  In its early years, Burke was home to the Hercules silver mine, as well as the location of the Hecla and Star Mines.  After years of decline, Burke mining operations finally ceased in 1981, with the closing of the Star Mine, which reopened for a short period in the 1990s.


For the last three summers I spent time sharing the history of Burke with people who take the Ghost Town Trolley.  I enjoy learning about the history of the Silver Valley where I live, and sharing those stories with others.  And it is part of my own family's history as well, because my dad's family lived up in Burke Canyon before he was born.

Here are some shots I took of Burke last September on a photo walk with my brother.

 

If you want to enjoy a real ghost town, journey up Burke some day, and you will see what is left of a thriving mining area with stories that can fill volumes.

The Salvation Army

Like most people, my only experience with the Salvation Army was dropping money in the red bucket at Christmastime.

This summer I discovered it was so much more!!

Here is a bit of history on how the Salvation Army began, according to their website:

William Booth embarked upon his ministerial career in 1852, desiring to win the lost multitudes of England to Christ. He walked the streets of London to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the destitute.

Booth abandoned the conventional concept of a church and a pulpit, instead taking his message to the people. His fervor led to disagreement with church leaders in London, who preferred traditional methods. As a result, he withdrew from the church and traveled throughout England, conducting evangelistic meetings. His wife, Catherine, could accurately be called a cofounder of The Salvation Army.

In 1865, William Booth was invited to hold a series of evangelistic meetings in the East End of London. He set up a tent in a Quaker graveyard, and his services became an instant success. This proved to be the end of his wanderings as an independent traveling evangelist. His renown as a religious leader spread throughout London, and he attracted followers who were dedicated to fight for the souls of men and women.

Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among Booth's first converts to Christianity. To congregations who were desperately poor, he preached hope and salvation. His aim was to lead people to Christ and link them to a church for further spiritual guidance.

Many churches, however, did not accept Booth's followers because of their past. So Booth continued giving his new converts spiritual direction, challenging them to save others like themselves. Soon, they too were preaching and singing in the streets as a living testimony to the power of God.

 

We had the privilege of partnering with the Salvation Army in Harlem when we went there last summer.  We stayed in the Harlem Temple, and daily went to the Manhattan Citadel to minister to the people in the surrounding neighborhood.

If you have ever read the Gospels in the Bible, Jesus tells us to love our neighbor.  And while we were in Harlem for that brief period of time, the people in Harlem became our neighbors and we loved on them.  Some of these people worked for the Salvation Army.  Some lived in the areas around the Temple and Citadel.

We met people who worked in these facilities who loved God and loved the people they worked with each and every day.

We were able to feed the hungry.  We were able to give water to the thirsty on a very hot Fourth of July summer's day.  We prayed.  We shared Bible stories.

I sat and talked for about two hours to a mother of three of the kids who showed up in the park for Kid's Club.  No agenda.  No strings attached.  Just listening, talking and loving.

We served hot dogs, drinks and popcorn one night.

We served lunch to people in the neighborhood.

We sang hymns and spiritual songs on the sidewalk as people walked by.

We cleaned bathrooms.  We scrubbed floors.  We did anything that was asked of us.

And it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.

So the next time you drop some money in one of those red kettles, know that the money is helping love your neighbor in your own community, and communities near and far.

Here we are before Christmas this year ringing the bell and singing Christmas songs as we manned one of the Salvation Army Red Kettles in our community.

Vision Board

Last year my friend April shared an idea with me when we were out for coffee.  Because a group of friends who had attended school together in Kellogg were all turning 50, she wanted as many of those friends to get together to create "Vision Boards" for the upcoming year.

Well, that was in the spring of 2013.  April's life became a little topsy-turvy with some things in her life, so it never happened last spring.  Instead, it happened in December.  Three of our group were able to gather together at my house and look through magazines, and cut out images or words that meant something to us about our vision for the year ahead.

If you want to take a look at April's vision board, you can see it here.

I hope to get a photograph of Tina's board when I see the finished product.

Here is a photograph of my vision board:

April and I plan to get together once a month to do some kind of exercise to get our creative juices flowing.  We hope Tina is able to join us again, as well as the list of our life long friends we have known for many, many years.

Creativity sparks creativity.

Things happen when people gather together to be open to their creative selves.

And being creative does not mean you have to be a good artist, or write poetry, or sing songs.

Each of us has been born with the ability to create.....to have visions.....to birth new ideas into being.

These new ideas don't have a format.  There isn't a mold.  They are new, they are born of who we are.

A woman named Julia Cameron has helped me to create many different things, and she has written many different books on being a creative person.  I love this quote of hers...

"No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity.” 
― Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

I want everyone to realize this....that creativity can be worked on at any point in our journey.....the sooner we make creativity a priority....the richer our lives become.

Favorite Food

I'm not going to elaborate on this post for too long.

My favorite food is fresh Dungeness Crab captured off the Oregon Coast.

You get it cleaned, take it home, steam it for a bit, then dip the meat in butter and eat.

Add a nice green salad, some good bread, and you are set.

It has to be freshly caught, or it just isn't the same.

I have never tasted any food that I enjoy more on this earth than fresh crab.

Pottery

The first year I lived in Glendive, Montana, I purchased this pottery vase.  It still has the sticker on it that tells who created it.  It says:

Vandalia Pottery

 

by

 

Panny Strommen

 

Vandalia, Montana  59273

 

 

I probably purchased it at one of the county fairs I had to attend as part of my job with Dawson Community College.  This was the beginning of my pottery collection.

 

 

Many more pieces would follow.  Some I would purchase myself.  Some I would receive as gifts.

 

The next thing I want to do is learn how to create my own pottery creations.  Fortunately one of my friends now teaches pottery, and has plans in the future of doing a pottery class for adults in the evenings.  I can't wait for that to happen.

 

As I was photographing my pottery, I was reminded I had received a piece of pottery created by this pottery instructor.  I received this piece of pottery as part of a creative exercise we did in a former creative group I started a few years ago.

 

 

 

I am so glad I kept the card that explains about the pottery piece.  Here is what it said:

 

Pottery....I am  a bowl factory------

 

Winter/Spring/Summer 2004---Pottery Class.  I blushed when the instructor wedged the clay.  Could not see the clay as anything except the female body.  Eventually after endless tries I created many crooked vessels---including this one.  By the summer my nickname was bowl factory.

 

I cherish this piece even more now that I am reminded of the story behind its' creation. 

 

I hope I get the chance sometime in the near future to create my own crooked vessels.....and become a bowl factory myself.

 

 

 

This is my newest piece of pottery, a colander, added to my collection as a gift this Christmas.  It is one of many pieces I have received as gifts or purchased from a potter in Spirit Lake, Idaho named Brad Sondahl.

 

If you would like to see some of his inventory, visit his website at here.

 

And here are a few more of the pieces I own from Sondahl Pottery.

 

 

 

The Bible makes many references to clay and being a potter, as this was a visual image that people could relate to during the time the Bible passages were written.

 

One of my favorite Bible verses with this theme is Isaiah 64:8.  The Voice translation interprets the verse like this:

 

Still, Eternal One, You are our Father.
    We are just clay, and You are the potter.
We are the product of Your creative action,

shaped and formed into something of worth.

 

Yes, I do believe I am a creation of God, that He created the whole universe.  In fact I find it rather humbling that He created me as well as the planets and the stars.

 

I like this version of this verse because it refers to we humans as a product of God's creative action, shaped and formed into something of worth.

 

We are all special.  We all have worth. 

 

And sometimes we need to be reminded of this part of the story of our own creation to realize how truly special we are in God's eyes.





Baltimore

Back in the summer of 2007, Zoe and two of her friends made it to National History Day in Washington D.C.  While on that trip, we spent five days in Washington D.C., then spent the last two days in Baltimore, Maryland.

The harbor area has been recently renovated and has lots of shops and restaurants.

But what is Baltimore famous for? Fresh crab. So I wanted fresh crab. Well, after crashing and taking a nap for a few hours, Zoe and I got up and looked at the map, and I found a place about 10-15 blocks down the harbor that had fresh crab. So we headed out on foot. It is about 8 p.m. at night.

One of the first places we saw on our walk was an Irish pub. I told Zoe if she hadn't been with me, I may have gone in and checked it out. It was named after James Joyce, and it sounded kind of cool.

As we kept walking toward the restaurant, we were in a neighborhood with houses really close to each other with stoops out front. I think they are called row houses, maybe. When we walked by one of these buildings, Zoe got really excited because there was a table outside one of the doors with a chess table on it, and two old men playing chess. She thought it was just like something you'd see in a movie.

When we were about five blocks into our walk, I stopped and wondered if this was such a wise thing to do. This was uncharted territory for us. But I guess we are more adventurous than I thought, because we kept walking.

We made it to the restaurant, and actually ate at the wrong one, but that's okay. We did get crab, but not sure how fresh it was.

We headed back and toyed with the idea of hailing a taxi, but we had no idea how one goes about doing that, so we walked.

I headed us up a few street too far at one point, and as we were walking down the street there was a big police station, so that made me feel pretty good. But then we got to the crosswalk, and on the side of the building across the street it said "videos, lingerie and books" I figured we shouldn't keep walking that way, so we took a left past the "Gospel Mission", and told Zoe to now walk quickly.

Most of this area actually seemed safe, but we did go down one street with a vacant lot, and, as we got closer to this vacant lot, a big black rat scurried across the road into the lot, carrying a plastic grocery bag. The rat was about the size of our Pomeranian Sadie. You gotta love the city!!

Well, I got us back on track, and we made it back to our hotel safe and sound. That was our evening in Baltimore.

I remember after returning home, telling this story to someone who was familiar with the town.  Their reaction was that we were lucky because Baltimore had the #1 crime rate in the country. 

But I did actually feel safe the whole time....and Zoe and I always have a great story to tell about our Baltimore adventure!!

Unbroken

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is a 2010 non-fiction book by Laura Hillenbrand, author of the best-selling book Seabiscuit: An American Legend.

I would say this is one of the best non-fiction books I have read in the past couple of years. 

And it is coming out as a movie at the end of next year.

I really hope the story is told well under the direction of director Angelina Jolie and the screenplay written by Ethan and Joel Coen.

Here is a synopsis of the story:

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

The last line of this description is what made this story so gripping for me...... because it is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

After reading this book, it showed me how much the human spirit can take and keep on living, if the will to live is there.  And what can happen if that will is not there.

Yes, there is unpleasantness in this book.  Part of the atrocities of  being a prisoner of war.  But that isn't the main story.  The main story is how Zamperini lived through and survived and what happened on the other side of the war.

The other interesting part of this book is the author Laura Hillenbrand's story while she wrote this book.  If you read this Washington Post article here, you can see what she went through while writing "Unbroken". 

 If you want to read an incredible story, I highly recommend "Unbroken". 

Cozomo

Cozomo

 

 

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life:

music and cats.
Albert Schweitzer 

Seventeen years ago, this sweet little black cat found us.  We have four cats.  Two of them, we found and brought them home.  Two of them found us.  Cozomo is one of them.

We lived in Meridian, Idaho at the time.  It was the fall of 1996.  Paul and I were youth group leaders in our church, and we were participating in an activity that had groups of us walking around the neighborhood near our church, and near our home.  Our group was joined by a little talkative kitten that joined our group as we walked around the neighborhood.  We kept hoping it would find its way home.

The next morning, this little kitten showed up again....this time at our church.  Two of our church members were cleaning the church, and had left the door open.  In comes this sweet little kitten to check things out.  They ended up taking her home, but, unfortunately, this little sweetie didn't get along with their other cat.

So they called us up, wondering if maybe one of the students at Meridian Academy, the alternative high school Paul taught at, wanted a kitten.  So we kept her for the night.  I still remember her being exhausted and sleeping next to me all night long.  So, instead of giving her away, we realized it was time to add another cat to our family, since our beloved Lynx had died the previous February.

We named her Cozomo....after the first two letters of each of our daughter's names.  Looking at her today, you would never know she was 17 years old.  She is very cuddly and continues to be a sweet little girl.  For those of you who have or do have cats as pets, you know the special bond that develops, and they do become a part of the family.

And we have been blessed to have enjoyed Cozomo for all these years.

I'm glad she found us when she did.



Just Do It....Don't Wait To Be Asked

A few weeks ago my friend Jennifer posted this story on Facebook, and I can't stop thinking about it.  It is quoted from Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Last week I had dinner with a friend whose husband recently passed away and I learned a big lesson.

My friend's husband passed away after a long illness and when I asked her about some of the lessons she learned through those tough years, she said something that will stick with me forever.  She said, "When people are going through hard life circumstances, don't say 'Well if there's anything you need just let me know."

My friend said most days she couldn’t process how she was going to get through the next ten minutes, much less be able to ask others for help. I was challenged by this and wondered how I could help someone in need without being asked.

I could deliver dinner. Gas up their car. Mow their lawn. Pick up an extra gallon of milk or some pet food from the grocery store. Whatever it is, I’ll think I'll just do it and I won’t wait to be asked.


This is my challenge this year.  To "Just do it....and don't wait to be asked".  I am horrible in situations when I feel I should help out it some way, but I never know what to do....then I usually end up doing nothing.  Even though I feel my "knower" telling me to reach out and help.

My friend Anita, who has a wonderful blog http://www.littlegreygardens.blogspot.com/ posted this today on her Facebook after a mutual friend of ours, Barb, didn't wait to be asked, and just loved on her today.  Here is what she said:


Very awesome experience this afternoon... I got a text msg. from Barb, and she'd made us a huge bowl of homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Croissants, and some cheese slices, and wanted to deliver them to us for dinner. The way I was feeling, we were going to having a "fend for yourself" night from various leftovers. What a blessing it was, and so delicious! And it came special delivery, along with big Hugs! Thanks so much, Barb!
 It is just taking the time to do it.  It is just listening to that voice inside, and acting on what it is telling you.  People like to be loved on.  And people love to love on other people.  So why is this so hard?

I don't want it to be hard any more. 

I want it to be second nature. 

To reach out. 

To help. 

To shine a little light in the darkness of someone's day.

Because I want to............

 

Cross Country Skiing

There are activities Paul and I used to do more regularly before we had children.  We liked to go fishing.  We liked to golf.  And we like to go cross country skiing.

Once the girls were born, none of them ever seemed interested in any of these activities, so they kind of went by the wayside.  Now that the girls are grown up, and almost "out of the nest", Paul and I have discussed bringing some of these activities back into our life.

One of those activities is cross country skiing.  We started doing this when we lived in Glendive, Montana.  We ordered some skis and boots from the Lands End catalog, and also purchased some clothing and other supplies...everything we needed.  Which was great, except for one small problem.  It didn't snow much in Glendive, believe if or not.  We lived there in the late 80's, and that area was experiencing a bit of a drought.

But the fun thing about that was we needed to go and find some snow.  So off we traveled to Yellowstone Park.  We stayed near Mammoth Hot Springs, which are absolutely beautiful during the  winter, because they are all iced over.  I remember driving into the park, and we were still down low enough that there still wasn't much snow.  Elk were just lying around on the ground as we entered the town.  It was quite a sight to see.

The nice thing about the park is there were lots of trails just for cross country skiers.  So fortunately the people on snowcats went their way, and we went ours, which was much quieter.

And very unpopulated.  We hardly saw any other skiers the whole day.  But we did see wildlife.  It was rather awe inspiring to be skiing along a trail as a 500 pound buffalo is staring down at you while bedded down in the snow on the side of the hill.

We also saw an ermine....pure white with a little tip of black on the end of its' tail...pop up out of the snow. 

This was in the winter of 1988.

Later during the summer of that same year, some big news came out of Yellowstone National Park.  The park experienced the largest wildfire in recorded history.  If you recall, one of the reasons we had traveled to Yellowstone to go skiing in the first place was because of a drought.  Well, that drought contributed to this big fire, because the park was so dry.

Because we had enjoyed our time at Yellowstone so much the first time, we decided to go back the next year, in the winter of 1989.  This year we invited Paul's brother Kevin and his wife Linda to join us.  This time we met at West Yellowstone, and rented a cute little cabin to stay in for the weekend.

The park had changed over the year.  As we skied along the landscape, the charred remains of the trees looked like wooden matches that had been burned then blown out.  It was easy to trace the fire's path during the winter.  And often you would have a path of burned, charred trees, next to living, healthy pines.  It just depended on how the fire's path wove through the park.

Again, we encountered wildlife.  We saw a beautiful herd of elk, over 100, traveling through the park.  We also saw an elk dead under a tree as we skied by...not quite as lovely and majestic looking as the herd.

We also had a visit from a baby moose at our cabin.  It came down the road and was looking in the window.  It was so cute....but we knew the danger.  We did keep our distance.

Some day I hope to return to cross country skiing here in the Silver Valley. 

Some day it would be fun to experience cross country skiing in Yellowstone Park again.

I'm ready to go!!!

James Taylor

James Taylor is one of my favorite singer, songwriters and performers.  I really want to attend one of his concerts in the near future.  Recently he and Carole King toured, and I so wished I could have attended one of those concerts.

He is performing in Maine on my birthday this summer in July.  I keep dropping hints to my family that it would make a great birthday present, but I'm not sure that is going to happen.

The first James Taylor album I owned was called "JT".  It was one of the purchases I received when I was a member of the Columbia Record Club while in Junior High and High School.  I knew every song by heart, and loved each and every song on the album.

Later, I purchased the album on CD.  One day I was listening to the album, and the song "Another Grey Morning" started playing.  It was as if I had a sort of epiphany.  The words to this song had a different meaning to me than they ever had before. 

From the time I was pregnant with my first daughter, until my youngest daughter was around two years old, I dealt with depression.  It was like the lyrics in this song said, I walked around in a gray fog.  My life at times seemed very repetitious as a stay at home mom with three kids.  I struggled quite a bit at times. 

Here are the lyrics to this song:

Another Grey Morning

Written by James Taylor

 

When I feel as though my love is sinking down
The sun doesn't want to shine
When it feels like she won't face another day
Life is unkind
She's frozen in time

And here comes another grey morning
A not so good morning after all
She says "well, what am I to do today
With too much time and so much sorrow"

She hears the baby waking up downstairs
She hears the foghorn calling out across the sound
Repetition in the morning air
Is just too much to bear
And no one seems to care
If another day goes creeping by
Empty and ashamed
Like an old unwanted memory
That no one will claim
The clouds with their heads on the ground
She's gonna have to come down

She said "move me, move me
I'm locked up inside"
Well, I didn't understand her
Though God knows I tried
She said "make me angry
Or just make me cry
But no more grey mornings
I think I'd rather die"

 

But I don't think I realized I was dealing with anything unusual until I heard the words to this song.  It was as if the grey clouds lifted and it helped me understand a little bit what I had been dealing with all those years.  The words of this song had a whole new meaning. 

 

If you would like, take some time and listen to the song yourself.

 

 

 

 

Tradition

When I pulled this subject out of my jar today, the first thing that came to mind was this:

We all have traditions in our lives.  I, for one, love tradition.  As I come off of the holiday season, I have gone through a season of embracing a variety of traditions that we have incorporated into our family life.

• We buy a live Christmas tree...a Fraser Fur.  We call our tree Benton after a character in the television show "Due South".  He is a Canadian Mountie named Benton Fraser.  The actor is Paul Gross.

• Each of the girls has their own small artificial tree.  They each have received different themed ornaments since they were babies, and these go on their trees.  Molly has angels, Zoe has bunnies, and Cosette has stars.

• Growing up Mom always had a cornucopia with colored Christmas balls spilling out of it onto evergreen boughs as part of her decorations.  I continue this tradition at my home.

• Each Christmas Eve we choose a country and learn about this country's traditions for Christmas, and eat food from this country.  This year our country was Scotland.  Countries we have celebrated in the past include England, Germany, Thailand, Romania, The Ukraine, Italy, Greece, Russia, Japan, Mexico.  If we know someone from that country, we ask them for help, and sometimes they join us for the meal.  This year our friend Gail has Scottish ancestry (she is from the Cameron clan) and shared with us some of her Scottish heritage for our meal.  Last year some wonderful friends had relative from The Ukraine, and they joined us for dinner.  A few years ago some neighbors had been missionaries in Thailand, and they shared with us special Thai recipes and traditions.  This makes it all the more special when people we know are involved.

• Our family usually attends a service on Christmas Eve.  The church we attend now is the church I grew up in, and they have an evening candlelight service.  For years and years, the tradition at this service as been for everyone at the end of the service to light candles and sing "Silent Night".  I love this tradition!

• Caroling.  I like to sing Christmas carols, and I'm not sure there has ever been a Christmas season where I have not gone caroling.  When I was younger, my Campfire group would go caroling.  As I grew older, it was church youth groups.  Now we have a caroling party each year sometime between when Christmas vacation begins and Christmas Eve.  We invite people to come and join us, and we walk around our neighborhood to carol, then we pile into cars and drive to different destinations around Kellogg.  This year we had 24 people attend our party.  It was so much fun!!  At each home we visit, we give them a small bag of homemade hot drink mix, such as Fireside Coffee, Christmas Tea, Café Bavarian or Vanilla Chai Tea.  Then we come back to our house, and play "Catch Phrase".  It is a wonderful tradition!!

As I look over the rest of the year, I tried to think of other traditions I do at other times of the year.  Here is what I came up with as other yearly traditions.

As I take down the Christmas decorations, my living room is taken over by Snowmen.

On the Fourth of July we sit behind the Silver Mountain condos in the parking lot and watch the fireworks.

In the spring I plant vegetables.  I also buy bedding plants and put them in pots in front of my house.

We have an Easter Egg hunt on Easter morning.

Each summer we go to Murray, Idaho and eat hamburgers at the Sprag Pole, because they are the best hamburgers I have ever eaten.

Traditions are good.  As Tevye says in the song "Tradition"...

Because of our traditions, we've kept our balance for many, many years. Here in Anatevka, we have traditions for everything: how to sleep, how to eat... how to work... how to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered, and always wear a little prayer shawl that shows our constant devotion to God. You may ask, "How did this tradition get started?" I'll tell you!
[pause]
I don't know. But it's a tradition... and because of our traditions... Every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.

I like the phrase..."we've kept our balance for many, many years". 

As we live our lives, finding a balance is good.  That helps us live our life to the fullest. 

I look at traditions as a bridge.....it helps us connect the past with the future.  It helps us identify with what has come before us, and see the importance of what has happened in our past.  And it helps solidify the relationships in our lives as well as we journey into the future.

It helps us find the beauty and balance of both what has come before, and what lies ahead.

And because of these traditions, our relationships are stronger.

Because that is what living a good life of tradition is all about.....the strength of relationships.

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

This is  question I deal with a lot in my job.  I work with middle school and high school students on a daily basis, helping them explore the vast world of college and career opportunities, hoping to provide them with information to make an informed decision so some day they can answer this question for themselves.

But, as far as answering this question in the context of what career I want to have, this has really never been answered in my life.  As I headed off to the University of Idaho after graduating from college, I had no idea what I wanted to study.  The only thing I knew I didn't want to study was Education.  I guess I thought there were already too many teachers in my family.

I ended up with a degree in Communications, with an emphasis on Public Relations.  This degree helped me get a job at Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana as the Director of Admissions and Public Relations.  But this job was very time consuming, and I knew starting a family was on the horizon, so I resigned from this position, and became a radio announcer.  This job's schedule worked out much better for me once our first daughter was born.

After leaving Glendive, we moved to Meridian, Idaho.  For the next nine years I would stay home and raise my daughters.  I would do a little babysitting in my home during this time, and help out at a friend's flower shop, but most of the time I was home with the girls.

Then we moved to Kellogg.  I stayed home at first, but reality hit, and financially I needed a job.  So I applied for, and got a job as a reporter for the local newspaper.  I worked there for a few years, and decided I wanted to stop and pursue writing a book.  So I took a year off to work on researching for a book I am writing.  (Yes, I'm still writing the book.  I hope to get more serious about it this year.)  Then a friend approached me about being the office manager at their family business, so I jumped into that position for a few years.  While at that job, I was approached by someone at the school district about a new position that was opening working with middle school and high school students, and providing them information about college and careers.  I started this job back in the fall of 2007, and have been at this job about seven years, (which for me is some kind of record.)

But when I look at this question now, "What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?", I don't think of it as a job or career or position.  I look at it more as the type of person I want to be in this world.

I want to be loving.  I want to think of others instead of myself, and care about their needs.

I want to be joyful.  I want to smile and laugh, and have a spirit that uplifts people who are around me, not bring them down.

I want to be peaceful.  I don't want to stir up trouble, just for trouble's sake.  I want to be a calming influence to those around me.

I want to have patience.  I want to not get upset if things don't go my way, or if people disappoint me.

I want to be kind.  I want to know the right words to say to uplift a person, or know if they need a hug, or a special word in a card. 

I want to have goodness in my life.  I want to choose to do the good thing when given choices in my life.  I don't want to do evil, I want to do good. 

I want to be a faithful person.  I want people to be able to count on me, and I want to have faith in my beliefs and live as though I do believe in those things.

I want to be gentle.  If a soft word or touch is needed in a person's life, I want to be there to give that word or touch. 

I want to have self-control.  I want to be disciplined in my life.  To not give in and do everything I want to do, and have the control to do what I believe what is right.

And, as one who follows Christ, these character traits are all lined out in the Bible, in Galatians 5:22-23.  They are often referred to as "The Fruit of the Spirit".  The way it works is, as I draw closer to my Heavenly Father, His Holy Spirit transforms my life and these characteristics become a part of my life.  It is not me struggling to be a better person.  It is me letting God's spirit live through me as I deal with others.

And this is the freeing thing about following Jesus and growing up.

You don't have to grow up all by yourself.

The Creator of the Universe is right there beside you, helping you every step of the way.

Defining Moments

Yesterday I completed my hand-written list of 365 topics that I will write about during the next year.  I cut the lists up and then created a container to put them in that has a photo of my vision board I created for 2014.

The first subject I will be writing about is "Defining Moments". 

 

 

Defining Moments are those things that happen in life that define who we are in our life now.  They make us who we are today.

 

 

Today my friend April at http://www.essence7wellness.com wrote about looking back at the past year, and challenged her readers to do some things.  I thought these challenges worked perfectly with today's subject, so here is my response to her challenges.

 

Collecting fresh product at the Farmer's Market at Union Square in NYC 

on my 50th Birthday in the pouring rain.

 

Was there a particular story, person, object, event that stood out?

 

One week that stood out to me as a very Defining Moment was my trip to New York City for my 50th birthday.  I had decided I wanted to go on a mission trip and my family decided they wanted to come along, as well as my niece and two others.  It was everything I hoped it would be.  My favorite part was waking up each morning know that my sole purpose for the day was to serve others.  We were given our instructions by others, and did as we were asked.  And it was amazing.  And I found a beauty in Harlem and the people who lived there. 

 

 

Did you forge new pathways to understanding?

 

Yes.  This came about by reading some books, and by attending a Simply Jesus Gathering in Denver in November with my husband Paul.

 

On my journey as a Christian, I have attended many churches, all very diverse from the other.  I have gleaned much understanding from each of those experiences.  My beliefs as a follower of Jesus are finally coming clearer to me, and I have found authors who write about how I believe, and how I want to live out my life as a Christian here on this earth.  It has been very refreshing to define some of my Christian beliefs, and find others who share my way of thinking, as well as challenge my way of thinking.

 

The cast of "Mining Madness at the Mill, or a Big Bang for Bunker Hill" performed August 2013 at the Sixth Street Melodrama in Wallace.

 

Did you accomplish great things?

 

Making people smile and laugh is a great thing.  My work in the Sixth Street Melodrama and Theatre in Wallace helps me do that throughout the year.  Last August I wrote and performed in a production at the theater with my husband and two of my daughters, and my other daughter was the light technician for the production.  Doing things with my family is a great thing.  And I am so thankful they all like to perform and be involved in the theater so we can do this activity together.  The subject of the melodrama was the blowing up of the Bunker Hill Mill, an event that happened in 1899.  It was based on a true story from some families that still live her in the Silver Valley, and we were fortunate enough enough to perform the show in front of some of the family members.

 

 

Peaches Maximillian Holyday Roberts:  December 24, 2001 - September 16, 2013

 

 Maybe your year was difficult or sad.

 

Yes, there was sadness and difficulty.  One of these sad times was saying goodbye to our beautiful dog Peaches.  She was the sweetest dog you can imagine, and it has left a large hole in our family to have her gone.  But she will forever be in our hearts.

 

We also said goodbye to our Auntie Lila this year.  Family gathered together last spring in Orofino for her funeral and burial in Lewiston.  Paul and I were able to provide music for the service, which was a very big honor.

 

Meeting up with friends from college during my trip to Sun Valley in April.

 

Gatherings of family and friends.

 

One of my absolute favorite things to do is gather together with family and friends.  I had many opportunities this past year to reconnect with people I haven't seen in a while, and spend time with family members.  Cultivating relationships with others has always been an important part of my life, and I'm glad I was able to spend quality time with friends and family this past year.

 

Some of these gatherings included:

 

*  Sibling Outing with Bill and Christy to take photos in Manitou Park in Spokane.

*  Theater Board attending "Sweeny Todd" at Lake City Playhouse.

*  Higgins Point outing in CDA with family.

*  Attending "Much Ado About Nothing" (finally) with members of Paul's family.

*  Sibling trip to Nelson, British Columbia.

*  Cherished times with lifelong friends from high school.

*  "Essential Commandment" weekly Bible Study in our home on Sunday evenings.

*  All the holiday gatherings that brought the year 2013 to a fabulous close.

 

Things you wish you could redo?

 

Hurting others.  Whether intentionally or unintentionally, I don't like contributing to hurt in a person's life.  But I am human and it is going to happen.  And to those of you, if I have caused any hurt or anguish in your life this past year....I truly am sorry.  Please forgive me.

 

There it is.  Some of the moments that have helped define my past year, and contributed to my life.

 

 

 

When we were children, we used to think that when we were

grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. 

 

But to grow up is to accept vulnerability....To be alive is to be vulnerable.

 

Madeleine L'Engle