So the mother of all (who read the Symposium, anyway) has passions too -
really! Jesus, Dick, children, grandchildren, music, writing, making a home,
rural life, biking, scrapbooking, reading.....
Jesus: Ever since I met Jesus face to face between some trees on St. Olaf College campus one evening in 1955 - I was there for a leadership training school getting prepared to be Luther League president - my committment has stayed with Him. What is amazing is that He stays with me, and there have been real awful lows - sins - that could have abolished that relationship. But Jesus does not let go, and I can't count the times he has rescued me, sometimes from myself. He simply makes life purposeful and I love to be able to talk to him anytime, whether in language I ken or those words and songs of the Spirit. Ah, I love you, Lord!
Dick: and I love my husband dearly. I look at him, and ponder the miracle of God bringing us together. Why on earth did He allow me to have a man like Dick, fun, smart, faithful, to name just a few attributes. I think of Dick as my "redeemer-kinsman" like Ruth regarded Boaz in the Old Testament - Dick redeemed me from a life I did not enjoy where I felt empty and certainly lonely. And what a treasure I received instead.
Children: It really is true that "happy is the (wo)man whose quiver is full of offspring". I am so extra-blessed by each of these four children who are raising their own children with love and sacrifice and integrity. My heart swells over a daughter who creates lovely art - and sells it, while guiding five ebullient kids; over sons who write poetry and give sermons and manage the law in a servant capacity and teach and bring the family together for nightly prayers and songs and play games like Scrabble and basketball and make music and laugh.
Grandchildren: Why should I be surprised? Grandchildren are an unmitigated delight. Each so unique, each with separate interests and abilities. They are like petals unfolding to the light of the world, already making their mark in this Earth-garden. I just love them!
Music: Making music is my passion. I'd rather make music at the piano or organ or autoharp or with my voice than listen to others make music. And plain old practicing is fun too - always has been, trying to make beautiful what starts deplorable. I am so thankful for mentors: my dad, my daughter, my friend Marlys with her incredible sense of rhythm, all the teachers, the great composers, the musicians of today. I love it that when you sing (or play) you pray twice!
Writing: Word-crafting is a gift, I know, and I delight in it, and that all my children also have that gift.
Making a home: Since early days I have loved to organize. I remember creating "homes" in the bushes in front of our Hallock-house, or along the ditch in Wadena. I'm still at it, and frequently changing things around to improve traffic flow or make comfortable the eye. It's fun to do that as we come to a new (for us) condo in Mesa, trying to make it our own for a few months. In our beloved Wisconsin log cabin, I am passionate about getting rid of stuff, simplifying the look and the life, letting more of the beautiful logs show - and living out the Biblical injunction to "not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, but rather store up treasures in heaven - wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Jesus, be our true and lasting home.
Rural life: In 1998, Dick and I started looking for a place to retire. We traveled to Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, and considered the Great Smokies. Then I got thrown from a horse in Wisconsin, and the doctor and nurses started selling us on moving to this state. Our search was over when we found "Windmill Creak", a farmsite with a windmill, a creek, 22 acres, woods, barns, pastures. Only one thing was lacking, one thing only: we could not bike out of that lovely hillside home. No problem; the truck hauls bikes to trails nicely. Meanwhile we love to work on the land, and the resulting pile of logs will last for years feeding into our stone fireplace and basement woodstove. And then - ah! - the hot tub overlooking the valley at the sunset end of the day. What could be more perfect!
Biking: I am convinced there is no better way to see the country (USA, France, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria to date) than from a bike. With my peripheral neuropathy and Dick's knees, biking turns out to be the ideal aerobic exercise too. We do love it. At the moment we are looking forward to a bike/barge trip on the Seine and canals out of Paris, in May.
Scrapbooking: How could I have forgotten that one? I don't do great charming designs for scrapbooks, but I am diligent in getting mainly photos into "the book" in a timely manner, and take great joy in the family seeking them out. Okay, so they are really just looking for their own pictures; who wouldn't? We have the record; that's the important thing. Where these many scrapbooks will go after my demise is not my concern, but I hope they will be used somehow. Since Brian turned 12 in 2007, it has been a special delight to make a book for each new grandchild who turns 12. And the books on my parents were works of love.
Jesus: Ever since I met Jesus face to face between some trees on St. Olaf College campus one evening in 1955 - I was there for a leadership training school getting prepared to be Luther League president - my committment has stayed with Him. What is amazing is that He stays with me, and there have been real awful lows - sins - that could have abolished that relationship. But Jesus does not let go, and I can't count the times he has rescued me, sometimes from myself. He simply makes life purposeful and I love to be able to talk to him anytime, whether in language I ken or those words and songs of the Spirit. Ah, I love you, Lord!
Dick: and I love my husband dearly. I look at him, and ponder the miracle of God bringing us together. Why on earth did He allow me to have a man like Dick, fun, smart, faithful, to name just a few attributes. I think of Dick as my "redeemer-kinsman" like Ruth regarded Boaz in the Old Testament - Dick redeemed me from a life I did not enjoy where I felt empty and certainly lonely. And what a treasure I received instead.
Children: It really is true that "happy is the (wo)man whose quiver is full of offspring". I am so extra-blessed by each of these four children who are raising their own children with love and sacrifice and integrity. My heart swells over a daughter who creates lovely art - and sells it, while guiding five ebullient kids; over sons who write poetry and give sermons and manage the law in a servant capacity and teach and bring the family together for nightly prayers and songs and play games like Scrabble and basketball and make music and laugh.
Grandchildren: Why should I be surprised? Grandchildren are an unmitigated delight. Each so unique, each with separate interests and abilities. They are like petals unfolding to the light of the world, already making their mark in this Earth-garden. I just love them!
Music: Making music is my passion. I'd rather make music at the piano or organ or autoharp or with my voice than listen to others make music. And plain old practicing is fun too - always has been, trying to make beautiful what starts deplorable. I am so thankful for mentors: my dad, my daughter, my friend Marlys with her incredible sense of rhythm, all the teachers, the great composers, the musicians of today. I love it that when you sing (or play) you pray twice!
Writing: Word-crafting is a gift, I know, and I delight in it, and that all my children also have that gift.
Making a home: Since early days I have loved to organize. I remember creating "homes" in the bushes in front of our Hallock-house, or along the ditch in Wadena. I'm still at it, and frequently changing things around to improve traffic flow or make comfortable the eye. It's fun to do that as we come to a new (for us) condo in Mesa, trying to make it our own for a few months. In our beloved Wisconsin log cabin, I am passionate about getting rid of stuff, simplifying the look and the life, letting more of the beautiful logs show - and living out the Biblical injunction to "not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, but rather store up treasures in heaven - wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Jesus, be our true and lasting home.
Rural life: In 1998, Dick and I started looking for a place to retire. We traveled to Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, and considered the Great Smokies. Then I got thrown from a horse in Wisconsin, and the doctor and nurses started selling us on moving to this state. Our search was over when we found "Windmill Creak", a farmsite with a windmill, a creek, 22 acres, woods, barns, pastures. Only one thing was lacking, one thing only: we could not bike out of that lovely hillside home. No problem; the truck hauls bikes to trails nicely. Meanwhile we love to work on the land, and the resulting pile of logs will last for years feeding into our stone fireplace and basement woodstove. And then - ah! - the hot tub overlooking the valley at the sunset end of the day. What could be more perfect!
Biking: I am convinced there is no better way to see the country (USA, France, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria to date) than from a bike. With my peripheral neuropathy and Dick's knees, biking turns out to be the ideal aerobic exercise too. We do love it. At the moment we are looking forward to a bike/barge trip on the Seine and canals out of Paris, in May.
Scrapbooking: How could I have forgotten that one? I don't do great charming designs for scrapbooks, but I am diligent in getting mainly photos into "the book" in a timely manner, and take great joy in the family seeking them out. Okay, so they are really just looking for their own pictures; who wouldn't? We have the record; that's the important thing. Where these many scrapbooks will go after my demise is not my concern, but I hope they will be used somehow. Since Brian turned 12 in 2007, it has been a special delight to make a book for each new grandchild who turns 12. And the books on my parents were works of love.
Reading: Have to have something to read, all the time. I
particularly enjoy novels based upon historical periods, and Christian novels.
My new Kindle - and "Inspired Reads" from which I can daily download new novels
for FREE (thanks, Jan Pelzer!) have been enhancements to my reading passion that
began in the sixth grade with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
These are my passions, and like Jon says, my life is not over yet. Who
knows what is ahead?
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