“Also” Did he just say “also”????

A pit you don’t want to fall into

Jim  told  with  me  yesterday  he had been thinking about  the things I’d shared with him  the week before.

“What things?”  I asked with a smirk,   “What  did I tell you? “

(That’s one of the beautiful things about short term memory loss….every day is a new day)

He reminded me I   had vented some  anger  frustration  in the realm of relationships.  I had been  feeling devalued.

(Last week’s blog post came out of that stuff) 

Well, He said, “I thought more about it  and by the middle of the week  I  was also battling self pity.”

“also”…did he just say “also”?

Self pity is  what Junior High girls do, right????

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After my conversation with Jim  I decided to look up the definition for self-pity:

     Psychiatrists have an interesting name for people who habitually indulge in self-pity–it’s “injustice collector.” These are the folks who are constantly dwelling on their hurts and hardships – whether real or imagined – and they enjoy thinking about them and talking about them. They lovingly collect and number each and every offense that others commit against them, and they search out people who will sympathize with them and commiserate with them. All this keeps the focus on themselves, which is what they want most.”

Dang, some of that felt a little too close to home.

That is the last thing I want rolling around in my brain!

I”m beginning to  think self pity is a lot more common than I realized.

I’ve been calling it other things  like ” being in a funk”,  “being down” “discouraged” “feeling rejected” feeling down”

My wife’s  daily devotional  had a warning about self pity this past Saturday:

“Be on guard against the pit of self pity.

  When you are weary or unwell, this demonic trap is the greatest danger you face.

  Don’t even go near the edge of the pit. 

Its edges crumble easily, and before you know it, you are on the way down. 

It is ever so much harder to get out of the pit than to keep a safe distance from it, 

That is why I tell you to be on guard.            

   from   “Jesus Calling”     

Grandma was wrong

Picture of me at work yesterday….20 feet in the air/ living the dream ….my dream that is;-)

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“Oh Doug.. You were such a good student…I really hoped you would go to college.”  grandma said when she found out her eldest grandson was NOT planning to go to college..instead, I had decided to follow in my dad’s foot steps and work in construction.

There was disappointment written all over her face..

I felt bad.  Not until she was dead and gone did I appreciate where she was coming from.  Not until I had children of my own, watched them make life choices  that would affect them  long term… in ways they didn’t understand…then I was finally able to understand my grandma’s concerns…

But Grandma was wrong.

There is more to life than money.  A meaningful life  has nothing to do with material things…

I have a couple of friends who are making 2 and 3 times the amount of money  I do but hate their jobs….

They have full benefits, a 401 K… and they are quick to talk about what they want to do when they retire.

No thank you.

Quoting my dad now...”The word retirement is not in my vocabulary”

(Dad just turned 80 this past year and is still active in construction)

Last week I stopped @ Loes to buy a new  skill saw.

Good morning”  I said to a woman about my age.   She looked tired.

“How are you?” I asked…”(It was about 7 AM..she was  checking inventory)

“I wish I were home” she  replied.

I felt for her..  Her life was not her own.  There were bills to pay…only God knows the series of life decisions and circumstances that have brought her to this place in life….

Last April I was invited to speak at a jobs fair for high school students.

Started by sharing a quote that has cast a long shadow over my life :

“Do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Don’t just settle for a job where you punch the time clock.

You may have to work @ a job  (or three) where you  “punch the time clock” in order to get where you really want to be….

but don’t stop there.. God didn’t create you to be a mindless worker ant ..unless that is what you really love to do.

I remember the pressure I felt  in school trying to figure out what I wanted to do once I graduated.   A real part of me thought I should  be a vet…that was until Mr Guard pulled me to the side one day in the guidance office  and  “suggested ” my grades indicated I probably couldn’t handle vet school.  I know he was only doing his job..but “dream killer” comes to mind  when I think of that conversation.

(years later I built a house for a vet/ told her my story, to which she replied, “Doug, if you really wanted to be a vet,one way or the other, you could have done it.  I didn’t make it the first time or two when I applied to vet school either..if you want it bad enough, you could have done it”)

Two  of my daughters , have  the desire to be a wives  and mothers.

Period.

I remember being @ the ripe old age of 20, having the strongest desire (nesting urge?) to settle down and start a family.

So  I did.

Best decision I ever made.

Pop culture today  mock those kind of  dreams…and I’m here to tell you, pop culture is full of #@$%%.

(that’s  German for incorrect…I’ve been using more German in my blog posts lately  you may have noticed )

If truth be told, pop culture is wrong on just about everything it promotes.
“We’ve  got a form of brainwashing going on in our country.”  Morrie sighed.  “Do you know how they brainwash people?  They repeat something over and over.And that’s what we do in this country.  Owning things is good.  More money is good.  More property is good.  More commercialism  is good.  More is good.  More is good. We repeat it – and have it repeated to us – over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise.  The average person is so fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what’s really important anymore….

from the book Tuesday’s with Morrie.

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If there is more to life than money…what do you think that “more” is?

What in your life brings you satisfaction?

What would you tell the person who is up to their eyeballs in bills, who feels stuck in a dead in job they hate?

DM

Shake it off

It was a line drive to center field.

the ball bounced straight toward our son.

He went down to scoop it up and….

and missed….

“Shake it off John” came the encouragement from the bench

He told us later, he bought his glove at a second-hand sporting goods store and the mitt really isn’t big enough for soft balls

“Shake it off”….

Those words came back to me on Saturday.

I called my brother to talk about work.

Instead of getting a sympathetic ear,   I felt like he was a little “snarky”/ I was asked to do some side work for another family member,…for half my normal wages. I mentioned this to  my brother, who said, “Well, it’s better than nothing”

I was tempted to cop a small attitude…when suddenly I hear the words…”shake it off”….

I could either replay this conversation in my head several times  and let it sour my Saturday morning, or….

refuse to think  anymore about it.

I chose the latter.

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Last night when wife and daughter #3 got home from running errands she told me, she had had a very very close call in the car.

as in…could have been fatal.

After she left the grocery store, she had to cross two lanes of traffic…a pick up was coming from her left/ had his turning signals on…rather than wait,just to make sure, she took off…out of the corner of her eye, she saw another vehicle …

     “Why I didn’t get hit, I’ll never know, she told me…he laid on the horn, I gunned it, just as soon as I saw him..it left me shaking… Normally, that sort of thing would have bugged me the rest of the day.  I would have kicked myself for being so stupid…then I heard “shake it off.  You’d be proud of me, for the most part, that is what I did.”

In the mid 1980′s I was challenged with the concept of being more intentional about what  I allow my mind to dwell on.  At the time, I thought it sounded like a bunch of non-sense.  I remember thinking there was no way, I could have control over my thoughts…after all, my thoughts were just…there…thoughts are automatic right?

Nope, they’re not.

I discovered, once I started paying attention to what I think about,  I can begin to take an active part in what I allow my mind to ruminate on…

Is it easy?

Nope,

Is it possible?

Yep.

Feel free to disagree with me.

all I know is, that  the day to day quality of my life is directly affected by my thought life.

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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.

Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day.

The content of your character is your choice.

Day by day, what you do is who you become.

Your integrity is your destiny – it is the light that guides your way.”
  Heraclitus

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What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever had to “shake off”?

Is there something that’s currently “sucking the life out of you?”  Tell me about it.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and stay in touch. DM

What’s under YOUR grow light? ;-)

Do you know what’s more fun than growing weed in your basement?

Heirloom tomatoes!

Why? Because

A.  they’re  legal

and B.

Instead of  only being able to choose from a dozen  varieties at your local garden center, you can choose from several hundred  different varieties of tomatoes.

In  March I started two trays of Brandy wine’s  in our basement:

Brandy wine tomatoes @ 8 weeks.

My Mom reminded me a couple of weeks ago  to set them out  a few hours  a day, a  couple of weeks before   sticking them in the ground.

(The process is called “hardening”)

Different gardeners use different technique but basically, the idea is to introduce  your young plants  to the forces of nature gradually.

…if you don’t, the first good wind and they’ll all snap off.

I set them on the east side of our house, next to the compost pile.  It’s kind of sheltered there and out of direct sun light.

They were still  pretty beat up by the end of the first day.

I  put them back  under the grow light, and within a couple of days, they  started to recover.

It reminded me of a true story I’d read about  few years ago.  The mature trees in an arboretum  mysteriously began falling over.  What they eventually discovered was this….because the trees had grown up inside, in such a sheltered environment,  they had never experienced adversity.  As they matured, the cell structure in the trees was so weak they collapsed under their own weight.

I’ve been thinking about that all day today.

The  relationship between adversity and personal growth.

As much as I hate adversity, I know  that a certain amount of it can actually be good for me.

Right now, I’m roofing a 2 story farm-house.

At the end of the day I come home mentally exhausted.

I am  responsible  not only for my own  safety, but the safety of two other men.

We are installing a new type of metal roof.

So in addition to  safety concerns, I’m also dealing with a learning curve.

(At the end of the day, that roof better not leak, or you know who’s phone is going to be ringing the first time it rains….)

Did I mention, I hate heights

Yep, a carpenter who hates heights…go figure….

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Went to a walk-a-thon 3 weeks ago for our grandson Rigg.   One of the disabilities he has been identified with is Angelman’s Syndrome.

My daughter deals with adversity and stress    24/7

One of the songs playing  in the back ground at the walk-a-thon was a song by Kelly Clarkson…..

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…”

When I was watching that video tonight.  it reminded me of one of my blogging friends

If you’ve been a reader here for any length of time, you know one of my few pet peeves is  religious people who spew out “trite platitudes”

If you ever see me in a receiving line at a funeral home..I want to warn you in advance..don’t..and I repeat, don’t  mumble some trite platitude to comfort me.

It won’t be pretty.

I say that here because undoubtedly someone at some point, is going to read this post and think I’m spouting off simplistic trite platitudes in response to the  adversity and suffering life can sometimes dish out.

Not on your life.

Some of the tomatoes I started out with  didn’t make it.

Others are still alive..

barely….

Here are some pictures of the ones  still standing  tonight:

Brandy wine tomato thick and healthy stalk  starting to bloom

Notice how robust that stem is

Down but not out

Broken and starting over

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my “stuff”   DM

Some of last years crop

no regrets

In 1987  I penned a list of long-term  personal goals.

It wasn’t as easy as you think.

I never know who is reading my stuff so if you’re a regular, bear with me 30 seconds while I give the context

I was 29 years old. Married to a very supportive wife, 3 young children, working full-time as a carpenter, pursuing schooling on the side to potentially be a marriage and family counselor.   VERY  involved @ our local church in youth work and Saturday work days.  Things were very tight financially  but overall, I felt things were going pretty well.  My wife felt otherwise.  Plus we were living 1000 miles from home.  Things came to a head.  She was angry because she saw me reaching out to other people’s kids while ours were being neglected, doing work on other people’s homes while stuff @ our home went untouched. I’m embarrassed now to even think I was so  dense

There’s a song by Sanctus Real on Christian radio right now that captures that time in my life perfectly

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames, I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling, but on the inside

Oh, I can hear her saying

Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can’t
Don’t leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you’re willing to fight
That I’m still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They’re just children from the outside
I’m working hard, I tell myself they’ll be fine
They’re independent, but on the inside

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I dropped out of everything.  Focused my energies where they belonged…first and foremost a husband and father.

Made a list of long-term goals (back to where I started this post)

I  set some long-term goals.  A 5 year goal, a 10 year goal,  a 20 year goal , a 30 year goal  and lend of life goals.

Here’s  a portion of my end of life goal:

#1  I would have loved my wife, children, brothers and sisters with no regrets.

#2   I would have a  home in the countryside  with animals and growing things.

#3  That I would have been faithful to God to the end...that I ran the race well.

(Life is a marathon/ not a  50 yard dash)  If I’m going to make the long haul, then by golly, I need to know how to set a long-term pace/ and that includes knowing how to live a balanced life)

We live in such a materialistically saturated culture.

I know financial pressures first hand. I know what it’s like to not have enough money to  take the kids to the dentist. Clothes shop @ the  Salvation Army.  Grocery shopping @ Aldi’s.   Not have enough $ for postage stamps.   Drive old cars donated to help out families like ours.

I also know that in some mysterious way, I have been led.  We just celebrated 33 years of marriage this past weekend and our relationship is still smoke’n!

We survived the teen years and I have great lines of communication with all 4 of our children.

My relationship with my parents and siblings has never been better.

Came across a list from the book by Bronnie Ware titled The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

In it, she lists the top five regrets of those lying on their death beds.

1. I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I had not worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had kept in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier

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I read that list and can honestly say @ this point.  I have no regrets. None, Nada. Period.

I am so thankful things came to a head back in 1987.   If you’re reading this post and are wondering about your life purposes…your goals, if you feel trapped…you know what I’m talking about.  This is not a bad place to be.

It may mean in the deep recesses of your sub-conscience  the real you, is crying out for you to stop long enough to set some goals.

Quit running a hundred miles an hour…..

in the wrong direction…

DM

Arne Saknussemm

In 1864 Jules Verne wrote  Journey to the Center of the Earth, a fictional story of 3 men, following in the footsteps of a Mr Arne Saknussemm, to the very center of the earth.  They encountered trials and situations beyond their wildest dreams.  At certain critical points, they would discover the name:

(Arne Saknussemm) carved into rock. That meant that in spite of what they were going through, that yes, they were on the right course.  Arne had been through this very same area and had returned to the surface to tell about his adventure, so they could keep pressing on.

I became a Christian May 4th 7:48 PM 1980.    Since that time, I have on occasion found myself in various  trying situations , some relatively short-term, others that caused me to stumble for weeks and months. For the most part, I have felt alone as I would attempt to gain (or keep) my spiritual bearings. Most of the mentoring that God has used to keep me on track has come in the form of good books and biographies.

While I am thankful for all of those timely books, I believe there is a better way….somebody who could have looked me in the eye and said, “Yes, I hear you,” or “Yes, I too can relate to what you are struggling with,” or “What you are going through happens more often than you might suspect.”

I am not talking about quoting verses about this or that, or telling you to “claim the victory” or other cheap trite platitudes.  Rather, as one battle hardened, battle- weary soldier to another.

All of us, sooner or later, to one degree or another, will taste many of the same pains:  Addictions, depression, grief, loss, betrayal, rejection, slander, loved ones who wrong us in a significant way, other Christians who turn on us, etc. etc.  Really, the list is endless.  Not one of them will come into our lives without first having to pass through the hands of God.

Even as Satan (yep, I do believe he’s real) could not touch so much as one of the hairs on Job’s camels without God’s permission, so too, nothing comes into our lives without the same permission.  There is not one harsh word, one look, one bit of slander, not one wrong doing that comes into our lives without first passing through the nail- pierced hands of Jesus.

Let me close by sharing a few things  I learned when I passed through an extended season of depression and discouragement, at a time where I lost all but one my closest friends,  and my life goal suddenly disappeared right before my very eyes. (I’m not talking about some short term, project, but something I had invested years of my life.)

#1  My focus was to remain “connected” and “soft” to God and  other people.  when I was tempted to get angry ( I was and you will be)  I could not afford to harbor bitterness.  Instead  I needed to pray God’s best over their lives.  I did it, and so can you.

#2  I wrote out my inner turmoil on paper.  Gradually it helped to clarify the many feelings and thoughts swirling around in my head.

#3  If you are depressed, you are in great company.  Elijah, David, Spurgeon, Luther, Winston Churchill and a host of modern day Christians have walked where you are walking.   Sometimes, it’s not due to any wrong doing on your part whatsoever.  Sometimes it is as simple as “burning the candle on both ends.”  Vince Lombardi put it like this; ” Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

#4  Schedule some R and R into your life. (Remember Elijah?  God sent him to a B and B (well sort of);-) to recharge)

#5  Seek Godly counsel, someone removed from your situation with whom you can “unpack” the whole tangled mess.  My experience has been that some of these things are rather complicated.

#6 Don’t beat yourself up, cut yourself some slack, be patient with yourself.

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I originally wrote this back in 2000.  Since that time, I’ve dealt with the sexual assault of a daughter,  some heavy duty marriage stress,  one child landing in jail for drunk driving, just to name 3 significant life events.  I’m still on track and plodding .  DM

Celebrating my Immigrant Roots

Grandma came to America in 1929.

She was 23 years old.

Picture of grandma when she was still single.

She came to America with a girl friend.

They, like thousands of others, came by ship…

Grandma second from the right

She told me later, she never saw her father again and didn’t see her mother until after the war. She moved to  Chicago, but came west to  visit her Aunt and Uncle on the farm near Scotch Grove Iowa.  Her aunt and uncle were her sponsors.

Grandma sitting with her Aunt and Uncle Fred and Hannah Otten  shortly after coming to America.

While visiting them  she met my grandpa.  A big strapping farm boy who spoke low German and English.

Side note…Grandma spoke both High and Low German.  She was a city girl from

Wilhelmshaven, Germany  a port city on the North Sea

His parents were good friends with the Ottens….and the rest as they say is history.

Grandpa told me his friends made fun of him for marrying a “city girl”

He said, “What’s it to them???   They could just  to go to….@%#&” .

Grandma  learned how to milk cows (by hand) .  Grandpa told me he got grandma  a couple of hundred chickens “so she could have her own egg money.”

Dad was born at home, (I’m pretty sure on the kitchen table)

Those had to be tough years..

Here’s a picture of grandma and my dad:

Here’s a song  that reminds me of grandma….

and finally, here’s a picture of me….all decked out in my German leterhosen.

Three short Essays on Contentment

Currently doing a short series on Contentment. I asked some of my friends to share with me their thoughts.  If you’d like to contribute something more than just a comment let me know. DM

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I used to feel discontent at work in only two circumstances:

–when there was too much to do and I was overwhelmed

–when there wasn’t enough to do and I felt guilty and worried if I was doing enough

I felt worried and guilty all the time.

I finally decided that balance in my life doesn’ t come every day, but over a period of weeks and months my life did balance out. I was more contented with my everyday situation when I took the long view into account. Now I am happy to work late, and happy to leave early…knowing it will all balance out in the end. For me, the secret to contentment is to take the long view. Enjoy life’s seasons.

Hannah

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Contentment…  Biblically based, as in “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  (Philippians 4:11-13).

Whether it is a goal in itself or the result of some other process, though, I’m not sure.

There is, I think, a tension between contentment and laziness that can be difficult to distinguish.  There is a cultural imperative that seems to push us constantly to be better in whatever we do, and there is certainly merit to that objective, but I wonder if perhaps the secret of contentment isn’t letting go of the end result and focusing on the process.  Yes, there is value in pushing beyond what we think we are capable of, and in pursuing achievement and a good living, because not doing so means that we’re coasting on the past and acclimating to the neighborhood where laziness lives.

However, the reason for doing the work – for pushing for excellence, for trying to be a little bit better every day – isn’t (or maybe “shouldn’t”) be because we’re paid to or because we get recognition or power for doing so, but for the joy of doing the best we can, regardless of whether it pays well or not.  I think that maybe once we can honestly say that, we have become content, not to mention truly successful.  

Anyway, that’s my two cents’ worth –   Your topics always give me something good to think about, Doug!!  Thank you for sharing them with me, and for pushing me to think outside my own collection of boxes.

Later!

Cheryl

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Contentment is a complicated concept.

According to the World English Dictionary, to be content is to be mentally or emotionally satisfied with things as they are.

To me, contentment sounds like a great thing if that definition is true for how you feel about all aspects of your life.

But often times, we aren’t truly satisfied with the way things are.  We want more.  We want to be better.

And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  In some situations, if those sixty extra pounds damage your health and your self-esteem, then maybe you shouldn’t be content with your situation.  Maybe you should want to change.  Or, in my case, if that shyness keeps me from doing the things I want to do in life, then maybe I should address it.

I believe it’s important to make changes in your life when you individually know you need to make them.  You may feel content continuing to live the lifestyle you’ve lived in the past because it’s comfortable and easier that way, but there’s so much to learn when you step outside your comfort zone and push yourself.

With that being said, before you make any changes, you have to accept yourself.  Attitude is the most important factor in any self-improvement journey, and if you aren’t thinking positively about yourself and your efforts, you’re going to have even more battles to fight.  And when you develop a positive attitude, you develop a sort of inner contentment.  You accept that you might make mistakes at times and may have failures, but you support yourself regardless.  You’re your own best friend instead of your own worst enemy.

So really, contentment and self-improvement can work together.  Like most things, it’s good to have a balance of both.  If people were always content with themselves and the world, then there wouldn’t be any changes or any new ideas or inventions.  But at the same time, if people were never content with themselves and were constantly pushing, then they’d never be happy and satisfied.

I watched a video of a speech by motivational speaker Les Brown not too long ago.  In his speech he said that even when you’re 70 years old you should still be setting goals and that you still have much to offer the world.  He said, “You aren’t done giving and doing yet.”

I found this very interesting.  I had always thought by that age you’d just be content with what you’ve accomplished over the years and wouldn’t have to keep pushing yourself to do more.  But after hearing this, I hope to be that 70 year old who is still working to make a difference in the world.

It is important to not wear yourself out with goals though.  Instead of setting a lot of goals it may be more effective to simply set a few goals that really matter to you and excite you.  Then you won’t wear yourself out, and your work will be much more meaningful.  As long as you continue to appreciate and acknowledge what you’ve accomplished, you will find satisfaction.

The key to contentment and self-improvement is balance.  It’s important to remember that you can have both, and you do not have to choose one over the other. 

Together, growth and personal satisfaction can make for a powerful combination and allow you to live the rich, fulfilling life you’ve always dreamed of.

~Brittany Wood

 

Our little Angelman

First, a story….

A Blue Rose

Having four visiting family members, my wife was very busy so I offered to go to the store for her to get some needed items, which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags, detergent and Clorox.  So off, I went.

I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies and headed for the checkout counter, only to be blocked in a narrow aisle by a young man who appeared to be about sixteen years old.  I wasn’t in a hurry, so I patiently waited for the boy to realize that I was there.  This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud voice, ‘Mommy, I’m over here.”

It was obvious now, he was mentally challenged and also startled as he waited for me to squeeze by.  His eyes widened and surprise exploded on his face as I said, “Hey Buddy, what’s your name?”

My name is Denny, and I’m shopping with my mother, he responded proudly, “Wow, I said, That’s a cool name;  I wish my name was Denny but my name is Steve.”

“Steve, like Stevarino?” he asked.  “Yes, I answered, How old are you Denny?”  “How old am I now, Mommy, he asked his mother as she slowly came over from the next aisle.  “You’re fifteen- years- old Denny; now be a good boy and let the man pass by.”

I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about Summer, bicycles and school.  I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone’s attention.  Then he abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section.  Denny’s mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking the time to talk with her son.  She told me most people wouldn’t even look at him, much less talk to him.

I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said something I have no idea where it came from, other than by a prompting of the Holy Spirit.  I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow, and pink roses in God’s Garden; however, “Blue Roses” are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness.  You see, Denny is a Blue Rose and if someone doesn’t stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they’ve missed a blessing from God.  She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she asked, “Who are you?”

Without thinking I said, “Oh, I’m probably just a dandelion, but I sure love living in God’s garden.”

She reached out, squeezed my hand and said, “God bless you!”  and then I had tears in my eyes.

May I suggest, the next time you see a BLUE ROSE, don’t turn your head and walk off.  Take the time to smile and say Hello.

Why?  Because by the grace of God, this mother or father could be you.  This could be your child, grandchild, niece or nephew.

What a difference a moment can mean to that person or their family.

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I (DM) received that e-mail this morning which in turn stirred something  inside of me to want to introduce you my blog readers to our grandson Rigg…

 

Within hours of  Rigg’s birth, a nurse suspected something was not quite right.

He wasn’t even a day old and, Rigg was in an  ambulance  headed to a larger hospital.

Test after test came back negative….

It  would be almost three years before the diagnosis of Angelman Syndrome was given.

Here’s a recent picture of our grandson  Rigg at age 3:

If you’d like to learn  more about Angelman’s Syndrome click on this link

 

Rigg’s mom and dad have been on duty 24/7 from the day he was born.

Rigg’s mom is my eldest daughter

If you’d like to send Rigg or his parents a  note of encouragement, let me know…and I would be glad to forward it to them.

Sarah’s Reader

    Or     “Why I love local  history ”

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Pretend  for a moment,  you were a crew foreman for 10 years.

Then  a new job  takes you out-of-state. 

 25 years later  you  step back into your old  position  at the same company and  realize things have really gone down hill  in the time  you ’ve been  gone. 

There are new faces on the crew. People  are padding their time cards, leaving work early to go  road drinking…and worse,  most of the crew think this is normal.

What do you have that the rest of them don’t have? 

Perspective

And it is this perspective that gives you the confidence to stand up for what you know is right.

(That’s been my experience the past month, if you’re curious , you can read more at   this link)

Hang on to that word…perspective.  I’ll come back to it in a minute.

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Last weekend  I  grabbed an old school reader off  my shelf published in 1833.  I noticed for the first time, the name  Sarah Ann ______ dated 1838 in the inside cover.

  On a lark I did some checking on the Internet to see if she was mentioned anywhere at all. 

 I hit a gold mine. 

I found her mentioned several times.

 I’m not going to give you too many details of her life just yet.. but I will tell you  this…Between Sarah Ann, her husband Will and her mother-in-law, there is enough raw material  to write a whole new  Little House on the Prairie series….anyone want to help me????

 Getting back to Sarah…

Sarah Ann marries when she is  just 17.    Her and her husband  Will   owned a hotel that entertained this young man  on several occasions:

  I wondered what it was about their story that stirred me so?

 Was it just the thrill of discovery?

 A lust for knowledge?

 It wasn’t until yesterday that I was finally able to connect the dots and put a name to my inner angst.

Their story gives me Perspective.

When I read about Sarah’s mother in law  with 7 sons carving out a livelihood in 1831, dealing with Indians  on the rampage murdering neighbors it gives me perspective on how good I have it.

When I read about harsh midwest Winter storms dumping 2 feet of snow and ice  and  young families  trying to keep warm in a 24 by 16 ft log cabin and all they had to eat was corn dodgers, salted pork and coffee  it gives perspective on how comfortable I have it.

 When I read about how a  families meager salt  supply  runs low so a mom  is forced to let her 15 yr old son and his  7-year-old brother travel 90 miles with 3 yoke of ox to get salt in the dead of winter, it gives perspective on  worry and anxiety.

When I read  about an economic bubble popping   in our nation in 1837 which plunges our country into 5 years of  extreme deprivation, it brings perspective in these uncertain economic times.

    Found a quote on history that  also speaks to me:

     The writers of history seldom give more than the rise and fall of nations, biographies of great men, kings and princes, and but little or nothing of the common people - a matter of far more importance, and more interesting.

To know the intelligence, opinions, tastes, amusements, method and means of living, routine of every day life, the hopes and fears, which swayed and controlled a people, would be far more interesting than the life of a prince socially far removed from and having no feelings in common with the masses”

So what do you think? 

 What would you do if  the electrical grid were to go down for a month? 

   What if  we experienced the popping of another economic bubble and all the wage earners in your home were suddenly out of work…long term? 

  Would you (and I) have what it takes to survive? 

It really does come down to our perspective.  (attitude)

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my stuff.   DM