Welcome, Victoria Bloom Harris!

Yup, it’s happened.  Jan Bloom is now a grandmother, after being a grandfather three times.  Our first granddaugther, Victoria Bloom Harris, was born this morning at 9 AM.  She weighed 9# 2 oz and I forgot to ask her length – but it is LONG!  Jenni loves producing large, healthy babies; Mikey (age 4 1/2) was 12 #, Charlie (age 2 1/2) over 10 # and now Tori, who seems positively delicate after her brothers!

Jan's first granddaughter, Tori

Tori was born in a hospital, due to the fact that her mommy is very tired and thought the idea of being taken care of was lovely!

The boys think their sister is beautiful and are especially glad mommy has  a lap again for snuggling.

Jason was a great labor coach and obedient father-to-be; he jumped when Jenni said JUMP and he got out of the pool when Jenni ordered him OUT.  Jenni is a textbook transition lady who threatens, cajoles, yells, and makes her mind up.  It’s quite opposite to her normal sweet self!

The Harris Family and Granny Janny

Here’s Tori by herself:

Victoria Bloom Harris- 4 hours old

For those of you wondering how Charlie is handling his new rold as elder brother, here is a photo of the two of them:

Charlie and Tori on Tori's birthday

Charlie was a stitch at the hospital.  Whenever he encountered a uniformed caregiver he stopped, pulled up his shirt and proudly pointed to his port and then pointed to his head and said “owweee.”  When Jenni’s dinner came he pulled his chair up to the side of the bed and began looking in all the containers.  He loves that hospital food!  His hair is growing back a little bit but it may take a while -the radiation actually burned the skin and the new hair has to poke itself through in new places.  He’s bright-eyed and bushy tailed and almost always cheerful though we did see some jealousy today when Tori began nursing.  WHAT is she doing???!!!!

I’m in MN for the month of August to help Jenni and pack up our belongings.  We are still waiting for our house to sell.  Anyone interested in a LOVELY garage with a pretty great house?  You can google our house: 380 2nd St SE, Cokato, MN and see it for yourself.  I haven’t been in it yet – I’ve been busy with Jenni and the boys.

Gary is in Houston this weekend at the Woodlands Conference with My Father’s World.  I am jealous!  I miss our times with our vendor friends and conference attendees.  But I’m glad I can be here with Jenni and her family.

 

The Power of Forgiveness

We attended “Experience Night” at our church here in Rolla the other night.  Experience nights are rather new and novel for these Minnesotan evangelicals, but we came away from “Experiencing God’s Voice” back in March bemused and intrigued by the reality of God, and decided to attend “Experiencing Forgiveness”  this month since we were actually here to attend.

Okay, Lord, what do You want to teach me?

(And now, Lord, after 2 hours of writing and rewriting my few simple thoughts on forgiveness, grant clarity and cohesiveness to the words I’ve labored so hard to fit together!)

I’ve never had a clear picture of forgiveness.   I’ve struggled with lack of forgiveness, not really understanding WHAT it was I was battling.  I’ve learned much and have experienced healing in this area in the past few years, but I was eager to hear new insights.

As Matt described it, when we are wronged, something is stolen from us -our innocence, our possessions, a relationship, our time, our sensibilities, our pride,  the list goes on and on… and we are left feeling violated and angry.  (So THAT’S why it’s so hurtful!) We want those who wronged us to pay back what was taken.  (You bet I do!)  Revenge is the feeling we have when we want to “get even” – that is, we want THEM to suffer the way we have suffered.  (And this is WRONG??!)

Matt quoted a writer who stated, “Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”  Unforgiveness can become our security, our identity, and, sometimes, our prison.  (Been there, done that.)

Forgiveness is NOT just pretending the wrong never happened, nor is it making light of any damage that was done.  “Forgive and forget” is NOT the eleventh commandment!

Matt’s definition that spoke so powerfully to me is this:  Forgiveness is saying to God, “I release this person who has wronged me from paying back the debt they owe me, and I trust YOU will make it right.

Sometimes God makes it right quickly by reminding us that we were not totally innocent ourselves, and we bow in humility and acknowledgement.  God also knows that as we mature we understand that our perceptions can be skewed or our memories faulty (this is why we MUST not carry grudges from our childhoods!) or our understanding incomplete.  Sometimes we just need a gentle embrace until we can stand on our own two feet and accept both our own inadequacies as well as the failings of others.

When we are truly wounded, whether it is physically, emotionally, or spiritually, we truly suffer.  Wounds that are not taken care of properly may develop an infection, which can create all kinds of additional problems.  Wounds that don’t heal can be life-threatening.  Forgiveness is intentional.  We acknowledge that we are letting go of a specific something – whether it is a grudge, a resentment, a feeling of being betrayed, or the great emptiness that may accompany the loss of life.  Forgiveness means we look to the LORD to cleanse the wound so the healing can begin.  And He will do it!

Even wounds that heal oftentimes leave a scar.  A song by RIVER that I love has the line in it: “The only scars in heaven are the scars on Jesus’ hands.”  My scars will disappear in heaven, but until then, scars are real.  Scars CAN be reminders of God’s faithfulness and grace.  After all, we are living and can tell the story of how we got the scar and how we learned more of God’s love and faithfulness through the experience.

God IS sovereign.  He DOES know how I’ve been hurt.  He FEELS my pain, for He was misunderstood, betrayed and wounded by others.  Yet He never sinned – that is, He never said to His Heavenly Father: “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!! Your promise to give me all I needed is NOT TRUE and I am going to go get what I need NOW instead of waiting for YOU.  I CANNOT and I WILL NOT trust You.”

Jesus NEVER called God a liar, which is what WE do when we refuse to forgive.  He said, as His life was ending, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”  How many times do we not know what we’re doing when we offend someone?  And is it possible that one who offends us doesn’t know what he is doing?  Even if someone hurts us intentionally, we are not God, and we do not have the authority to call down judgment on that person.

God is the only righteous judge.  He is the ONLY one who knows all the facts and can clearly see.  When I refuse to forgive, I set myself up not only as judge  but jury and executioner too.  Unforgiveness is sin because we will NEVER know all the facts and background nor will we ever be able to judge fairly just because we bring our own preconceptions, biases, and prejudices to every situation.  To say nothing of our affronted pride when we don’t get our own way!

Jesus was VERY specific: if we do NOT forgive our brothers or sisters who have wronged us, God CANNOT forgive us.  What is this all about?  Can’t God do ANYTHING?  Why can’t He forgive?  Is His action TRULY dependent on MY actions?

Language tells us so much.  When I first wrote this next sentence, I was struck by the word picture it brought up: “It’s not that God WILL not forgive us when we harbor grudges and unforgiveness”..WAIT!  Harbor…ships…What happens when the harbor is full of ships – rotting, broken down vessels that are pulled up to slips, taking up all the room?  The big, new ships cannot land and disgorge their cargo or their crew.

The other strong word picture is that of NURSING a grudge.  What does a good nurse do?  She (I’m from the era of Cherry Ames!) keeps the patient comfortable and, as much as it is in her power, alive.  Do we WANT our grudges to be nicely taken care of so they will thrive?

Whew!  Uncomfortable thoughts!

Another picture that came to my mind was that of a petrie dish and its culture medium for growing bacteria.  When we forgive others; when we let God be God in all aspects of our lives, THEN we are able to confess OUR sins and then WE are forgiven and cleansed.  (I John 1:7)  The culture medium of unforgiveness is washed away, our petrie dish is sterilized by the awesome holiness of God, and that nasty bacteria (unforgiveness, bitterness, etc.) can no longer grow!

Do I hear a YEE HAW! about right now?!

When I was young we used to sing, ” TRUST and OBEY for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.”  Granting forgiveness is TRUSTING that our obedience to God’s command to forgive is MORE important than the pain and suffering we’ve experienced.  God makes ALL things new.   Even our pain and our woundedness.  Who would ever think a beautiful butterfly was hiding in that slimy caterpillar?  FORGIVE and let the transformation begin!

Your incomplete, imperfect-but-forgiven friend,

Jan Bloom

 

Mighty Whitey attains 400,000 miles!

Shore ’nuff – look at that!  Four hunnerd thousand miles on her!  Happened somewheres in Illinois as we was driving to Nebrasker.  Yee haw!  Can’t be happier than that!  Of course her signals ain’t working quite right (they are not working AT ALL! ) but she’s in the shop today fer that.  And Gary’s seat ain’t too comfertable no more, but he don’t mind.  He’s used to stuffin pillers and sweatshirts and even Freddy the Pig, one of our mascots that rides in the winder, behind him to prop hisself up.  Yup.  Don’t get much better than this – four hunnerd thousand miles…

Our conference season began with our odometer creeping closer to that 400,000 mark.  We left our temporary home in Rolla, Missouri in March.   On our way to the first conference in Detroit we stopped in to see Charlie and Jenni in Bloomington, Indiana, where Charlie (our 2 year old grandson) had been undergoing proton radiation.  In January Charlie had a grapefruit sized tumor removed from his brain and proton therapy, available at only 5 locations in the U.S., is the only “cure.”   His life expentancy goes from 15% to 85-90% with proton radiation.  Jason’s insurance covered the cost of this, for which we are all grateful.  Charlie’s head was a bit ripe looking for a while,

but so are ALL bald heads!

The second photo is that of Grandpa Gary, Dr. Thornton (the medical director of the Proton Center) and Ed, the all-around manager.   All these baldies have scabs and scars on THEIR heads, too!

We did a one-day conference in a suburb of Detroit, then set up a few days later in a lovely heated garage in Grand Rapids.  We love our Michigan buddies!   We’ve never been able to celebrate birthdays there before, so that was extra special!

Here we are with our Michigan friends, the McDaniels and the Prewitts, who we’ve gotten to know (and love) through the MidWinter Conference.  Doug and Gary have the same birthday week, and Valerie made a scrumptious cake.

From Michigan we drove to Lincoln, Nebraska.  We were judges for the NCFCA regional conference – whew!  THAT was a challenge!  These amazingly well-prepared kids debating topics that I had little knowledge of- and doing it with style, grace, substance, and grit.  We have been SO impressed with the young adults who participate in NCFCA speech and debate.  What an opportunity to develop keen debating and communication skills.  We’d love to be at Bob Jones University in June for the finals.  I’m sure the finals will be amazing.  Go Ian!  Go Hannah!  Go Meagan!  Go Gages!

Lincoln, Nebraska is a smallish show, but very nice.  We love eating in Lincoln!  First it’s Lazlo’s, then it’s Valentino’s.  We love our dinners with vendor friends!  From Lincoln we drove HOME to MN.  Well, we kind of limped home to MN.  When we were 150 miles from home Gary realized we had lost a back trailer tire.  WHAT?  WHEN?  WHERE?  The axle had broken and the tire had spun off in the 15 minutes since we had been driving after a breakfast stop.  Sunday morning.  No shops open.  No tires to be bought.  We prayed, took as much as we could out of the trailer and put it in the van, and drove 35 miles an hour with only 1 full set of trailer tires.  God was merciful AGAIN and allowed us to get home that way.  A new axle had to be ordered and installed.

Home.  We were home in MN only 5 weeks in 2008.  God weaned us from Cokato and He weaned me from my garage-full of books – all neatly organized and alphabetized.   But just because He weaned us doesn’t mean I still don’t LIKE it there!  We worked very hard to get the house ready to put on the market to sell.  We packed, moved furniture, sheetrocked, painted, ripped up carpet, sanded and sealed the wood floors underneath removed carpet, and tried to get a few hours of sleep.  We were home less than 2 weeks and we had LOTS to do in that time.

dining room with newly refinished floor

The bathroom with a new mirror and wallpaper. Love them mooses!

I just can’t seem to get the hang of putting pictures in the best places!

The house looks great.  We bought a house that wasn’t  for sale in a town we never intended on living in and it’s been 13 years!  Though we’ve traveled much of the past 9 years, it has been home for a long time.  And we are sad to leave.  God used our church in Cokato and many of the people there to bring us through some tough days and to pray for us these past years of travel.  We will miss it.  We are praying that God brings a homeschooling family to buy our house and garage.  We have the BEST garage in Cokato – it is 32 x 44 feet with a second story.  It’s been a magnificent book building!  We had a book sale during the time we were home and so now we have only about 28,000 books instead of 30,000 books.  Anyone want any GREAT books for a GREAT price??!!!  We know that we cannot pack them all and bring them to Missouri since we don’t know WHERE we’ll be living here and books in boxes deteriorate rapidly.  We had lots of happy readers leaving with boxes and boxes of great books.  I think I will do another sale in June when I go back to finish packing.

Since MN we have done conferences in Kansas City, Missouri and Springfield, Missouri.  We get lots of questions about the impact of the CPSIA on our business.  We tell people that we are selling collectible books and if parents who buy them want to share them with their young readers, that’s fine with us!  The idea of anything printed before 1985 being a hazard is a very ominous cloud hanging over all educators everywhere.  What better way to change the future than to remove any truth about the past??!

We leave Rolla tomorrow to head to Oklahoma City and then Arlington, Texas.  Between Arlington and Nashville we are being blessed with a few days at a cabin in Oklahoma (riversEdgeCottages.com)  and then we’ll head to Winston-Salem where JJ will meet us for a few days.  We got to be together at Christmas, so it’s been a while.  We are bringing (well, actually Gus Solis from Lifetime Books is doing most of the hauling!) JJ his boxes from home.  I’m sure his son, Blaizen, will LOVE all the toys from JJ’s childhood.  JJ is finishing his first year at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.  He is in Naval ROTC as part of his Officer Candidacy – it is a challenge and he has been pushing hard to meet all the requirements.  Whew!  He’ll have summer school classes too.

After Winston-Salem we head to Wichita, always one of our most fun conferences due to the friendships we’ve established there.  (You know who you are out there in Newton!!!)  Then it’s back to Rolla for a few days, off to a new conference near Chicago, then Denver and we’re DONE for the 2009 conference season.  We’ll be back in Rolla at the end of June.

My!  That was a lengthy update!  All I REALLY wanted to say was that Mighty Whitey is aging gracefully!

 

February in Missouri

My blogging has been more than sporadic the past few months – it has been non-existent.  But then, I don’t know if people look at it anyway!  So whether I’m here or not here – does it really matter??!!  (This is Minnesota angst speaking!  How COULD I presume people will read what I think??!! How audacious!)

We have been enjoying the milder weather present in Missouri, 7 degrees south of our home in Cokato.  This is MAY weather and it’s only February!  No snow.  Sunny skies.  Why DID our ancestors choose Minnesota and WHATEVER kept them there??!!

Gary and I are looking forward to our conference season.  Got a small taste of it the past few weeks in Florida speaking at two smaller conferences.  I do love the privilege of impacting the lives of people with the message of good books and successful parenting.  Our conference schedule is on our website: www.booksbloom.com

For any of you who are checking this blog for information and updates about our grandson, Charlie, you can check his page on caringbridge.com under CharlesHarris.

Jenni, Jason, Mikee, Charlee Christmas 2008

He continues to amaze us all with his astonishing recovery following the removal of a grapefruit sized tumor in his head on his second birthday, January 13.  God has been gracious and merciful and we will keep trusting Him through the radiation that is scheduled.

Volume 2 is done and the first printing almost gone.

We’ll be printing again to have books for the conference season.

We have received many positive comments on the cover and the contents.  Yee Haw!

Jan Bloom

 

Happy Hosting

One of the wonderful perqs of being on-the-road gypsies is our opportunity to stay in people’s homes.  The first year and second years we were out we stayed in hotels since we had a Chevy Astro van fully loaded with books.  We also didn’t know anyone.  When we hit the road with Mighty Whitey and carried our home with us (a mattress in the back of the van), we began accepting invitations to stay in the driveways of folks, use the shower, and get to know the families that were hosting us.  It’s been one of the most profoundly enriching and enjoyable things in our lives. 

We have been hosted by families who live in small homes and families who live in large homes.  We have been hosted by large families and by couples who are childless.  We have added name after name to our address book so we can send postcards along the way, letting the families know that we remember their gift of love and want to continue the relationship.

At first it was difficult to feel comfortable in the homes of others.  I did not grow up traveling and visiting in homes.  We rarely stayed overnight at someone’s home.  As parents we camped with our children but also did not take our family to visit other families who lived further than a day’s visit away.  So it was awkward for me.  What is guest etiquitte?  Where does one hang one’s wet towel?

Of course it was totally fine with Gary, Mr Boy Scout, Mr Sleep Anywhere, Eat Anything.  Is it a guy thing?!!!   Gary always rearranges furniture so he has a light next to the bed.  Is that okay?   He BELIEVES it when people say, “help yourself to the refrigerator!”  YIKES!!!

 We’ve discovered that those who welcome us into their homes really don’t care what we do as long as they can serve us.  It is very humbling to be served.  It makes ME want to serve like that when I am home. 

If you are thinking that you do not have what it takes to host someone in your home – for a meal, for a night’s sleep, for a shower – you probably have incorrect ideas about what it really takes.  It doesn’t take a beautiful home, an incredible meal, or superior entertainment.  It takes a servant’s heart, which is free for the asking! 

Consider practicing hospitality: with family members, those you meet at church, and those who are traveling through your area, like missionaries or homeschooling vendors.  Gathering around a table sharing a meal, playing games, talking and laughing, and oftentimes sharing and praying, is a oft-neglected art in our modern age.  But it is a precious gift – both for you and your family, and for those who receive it. 

We are SO thankful for all those who have opened their homes, their hearts, and their lives to us over the years.  We look forward to our return visits.  I, of course, wonder if people REALLY want us back or just are too timid to say “stay away”, but I am learning that MY way of thinking is NOT true!!!   I cannot imagine traveling and staying alone, just the two of us, and enjoying this season of life like we do.  Part of the joy we’ve experienced is the joy of making friends and visiting them again and again. 

I am writing this while sitting at a friend’s computer in her home that is always a bit frantic and messy.  Yet we know that whenever we are coming through we can call and stop and be loved. We are blessed!  We LOVE our job!!!

 

On the road again…

Two days after Easter, with Willie Nelson’s “Back on the Road Again” and a newer song by Fernando Ortega, “Lord, Remember the Traveler” to begin our travels, we settled ourselves into Mighty Whitey and started our conference trek for 2008.  It was an odd beginning this year since we were home only for six days before we set out.  SIX DAYS?  Yup.  Less than a week.  We left home December 12th, 2007 for the Enterprise Tiger Cruise (posted earlier this year), then spent many weeks traveling to the Living Book Retreat, mid-winter conferences, BooksBloom seminars, and a retreat in Colorado. 

We got to spend a day sightseeing in the Florida Keys with Gus and Shirley Solis, from Lifetime Books and Gifts, Randy and Renee Miller, from Miller Pads and Paper, and Steve Clark, from Video Text Interactive.    It’s always fun to spend “regular time” with vendor friends.  It makes the conferences even more fun!

We were blessed to be able to spend a weekend with JJ, our son, in Charlotte, NC.  The three Silander kids loved his gift of sailor hats he could no longer use!  JJ is currently in Rhode Island and we shan’t see him for a long time. 

The retreat in Colorado was a blessing.  It was our second year of being challenged by Harry Schaumburg, who gathered alumni from his counseling sessions (www.stonegateresources.com) at Lost Valley Ranch (www.lostvalleyranch.com) outside Decker, Colorado.  Harry taught from I Peter 3, emphasizing that though grace is TRUE and VITAL, we still have to be serious about our Christian lives – we must never go back to acting like Jesus did not need to suffer -or thinking I’m okay, aren’t I??!!!!  Nope, we are NOT okay but we can grow in glory as we seek to live by Biblical guidelines.    Harry is always ready to defend his position that sin is a choice not a result of brain chemicals or addictions.  God is GOD.  We are commanded to have NO OTHER GODS before Him.  No addictions, no lifelong sins, NOTHING.  Harry has a new blog, www.pureheartspureminds.com along with his second website www.restoringsexualpurity.org.  He is an amazing life saver.

Lost Valley Ranch is a family owned lodge way, way back in the mountains.  They have an amazing story of God’s kindness:  when the big fires came five summers ago their place was evacuated with the exception of 3 guys who had a bulldozer and a water truck.  They were going to try to save the main lodge.  As they stood, prayed, and watch the fire come, they saw the fire split, circle around the ranch, and rejoin on the other side.  The entire property was safe!  If I could choose to take a young family anywhere for a vacation, Lost Valley would be at the top of the list.  It is such a splendid place!

After being challenged and refreshed by the couples’ retreat, we did a quick conference in Loveland, Colorado and then galloped home.  We finally got to see our “new” house with the siding.  It looks great!  I forgot to take a photograph – but it wouldn’t have looked like much: white house, white trim, white snow!  I’ll wait until the yard is GREEN and then I’ll shoot a picture. 

It was great to see Jenni, Jason, and our two grandsons, Mikey and Charlie.  Charlie started walking a few days after we left and he is still discovering how captivating motion is.  While we were home he began walking backwards.  Life is good for Charlie!  And he is a twirler.  He plants one foot and spins with the other til he falls down.  He gets up and continues spinning all the while humming and singing.  He is a delight!  Mikey loved helping Grandpa do what needed to be done – shoveling snow, snow-blowing snow, and eating snow.

The first conferences of the season are always delightful. Reconnecting with vendor friends is such a pleasure.  I spoke 3 times in Cincinnnati and 3 times this past weekend in Lincoln.  I love teaching about authors, books, and life.  I gave a new talk in Lincoln, “Creating Capacity”.  I was surprised to read somewhere that 50% of a person’s adult capacity is in place by five years of age.  So – the question is, what can be done to make the capacity L-A-R-G-E?  It is a hard concept to grasp – we are used to static forms like house foundations (make it a big foundation for the later house) or containers (if you are going to claim a prize of “as much as you can carry” wouldn’t you bring a HUGE cart instead of a small basket?) yet we are born PERSONS, which means we GROW.  So is creating capacity planting seeds for growth or tilling a garden for the seeds that will come or is it ALL of these things?  The folks that had to listen to my end-of-laryngitis voice were very positive about what I said. 

When we were in Lincoln, our dear friend, Alex Gage, broke his ankle.  Please pray for Alex.  Pray for his ankle to heal and grow together.  He is a 17 year old gentleman who loves being active.  He is cheerfully trusting the Lord for recovery and using his time abed to learn, grow, and listen to God’s voice.  He is an example to us with his faith and his sweet spirit.

Though it is snowing in Minnesota today it is almost Spring where we are in Kansas City.  Cycles, rhythms, seasons – it is such an incredible world!

 

 

My First Cruise – on a Navy ship!

Gary and I and JJ’s honorary aunt, Judy Starr, were priviledged to join our son, JJ, on his ship, The USS Enterprise, for a 3 day cruise from Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia.  What an experience!  The Enterprise (CVN 65) is the largest aircraft carrier in the world.  The flight deck is 4.5 acres.  It is 20 stories from the top of the conning tower to the bowels of the ship.  There are more than 5,000 sailors on the ship for a regular deployment.    The ship is a floating city.  Indeed, OUR city, Cokato, has less than 3,000 residents. 

 After three days of living on the ship I decided that ship life is an amazing analogy of the body of Christ.   Sure, an orchestra needs all the different instruments playing, and the body needs all the parts working, but sometimes a NEW analogy makes things SO clear!  All the different people in all the different departments on the ship need to be working well in order for the whole ship to function.  JJ, our son, is in IT.  He fixes computers.  Computers are vital nowadays – nothing runs without them.  However, JJ cannot do HIS job if the electricians don’t do THEIR job and provide electricity. The electricians cannot do their job if the service crews don’t bring the equipment on board.  The maintenance workers have to keep “on board” in good condition.  The cooks have to prepare and feed these thousands of sailors with LIMITED storage space, and limited groceries.  (All the sailors were delighted to be getting salad, ice cream, and vegetables after weeks of chicken nugguts, canned stew, and pancakes.)  Everyone on the ship is important.  There are different ranks on the ship, yet they are all working together to achieve something great.  I honestly don’t know how they do it. 

Living conditions are a challenge.  My bed (berth) was in one of the women’s berthing sections.   There are three beds in a stack, called “racks.”  I was on the bottom.  I had to roll into it from the floor!   I could not sit up and could hardly turn over to change positions.  The bed in the photo is open – “the coffin” is the storage space under the bed, one of two spaces to put stuff.  The other was a small locker.  I packed for 3 days and could hardly fit all I thought necessary into these two spaces.  How DO these gals fit in 6 months worth of clothing and stuff??  The bathroom in my unit had 4 toilets, 4 showers, and 3 sinks.  There were maybe 100 women in this unit. 

The food was also a challenge.  The lines were LONG.  The cooks do a good job but the food is calories/fuel, not something to be enjoyed.  The tables are like those in elementary school, with skinny benches.  OUCH!  You have to eat and get out so others can eat.  No long lunches here!  This is a photo of me and Judy eating in the First Class Mess.  

Judy’s presence on the Tiger Cruise was special.  Judy and her husband, Stottler, serve with Campus Crusade for Christ.  Stottler has been with them for 35 years, Judy for 20.  Judy is Gary’s sister Cindy’s husband’s sister.  (Whew!)  She is writing a series of children’s books and was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview a number of people on the ship for background to one of the books.  JJ introduced her to SEALS, Search and Rescue guys, officers, and others who were always so willing to talk about what a young girl rescued in a foreign country would experience aboard the Enterprise.  When the book is out, I’ll let you know!

THE PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE.  There is little or no privacy on board ship.  No cushy chairs or comfy couches.  No quiet cubicles in which to read.  Being from a small town I had to look each person I passed in the eye and give a greeting.  TIRING!!! However, each sailor I greeted always responded cheerfully.  Even when I asked directions, which I did every time I tried to find someplace.  (I asked JJ if he knew how many ladder stairs were on the ship – he didn’t know – I would guess thousands…) The sailors invariably would stop and show me how to get somewhere – maybe they liked doing something different but it certainly was impressive to have such helpful people everywhere! 

  It was a delight to meet JJ’s fan club.  So many stopped him to be introduced to us.  We heard over and over again how helpful, cheerful, and intelligent he was.  Makes a parent blush!  We are SO proud of him.  He recently was promoted to First Class Petty Officer, an unusual feat for someone in the Navy less than 5 years.  Officers and enlisted alike love that boy!  Even the ADMIRAL stopped to chat with him and be introduced to us.  Whooeeee! 

All the sailors were so excited to be going home.  Many of them (like JJ) had been home only 6 months after the last deployment before they went out again for another 6 months.  Though they were tired, they were still working hard these last few days.  The feeling in the hanger deck was electric as we watched the shore slip past on the way to the pier where we would be docking in Norfolk.  The Navy works really hard to welcome ships home – the new dads get off first in order to see their children that were born during this deployment.  They get a tent of their own for a homecoming - the rest of the sailors have to find their loved ones in the mass of thousands that are pier side to greet the returning heroes.  Bands, balloons, signs, food, helicopters – WHAT an amazing time homecoming is!  We’ve seen it from both sides now – we’ve been pierside at two homecomings and now we’ve been shipside.  I think the sailors win for being the MOST excited – even tho’ their families and loved ones act mighty excited too!

JJ was able to see his 4 year old son, Blaizen, already – Blaizen’s step-aunt brought him to the homecoming.   JJ’s pastor, Angus, is also in the photo – he and a few church members also came to the homecoming.  There just isn’t anything to compare to the joy of a homecoming. 

Which, of course, brings me to another analogy – HEAVEN!  If a homecoming of 6 months’ absence can be THIS thrilling, what WILL our homecoming in heaven be like?  WOW!!!  Just like we had to be the sponsor of a sailor to be on the Tiger Cruise, we need to have Jesus as our sponsor as we journey to heaven.  Simplistic ? yes!  Easy? no!   We had to do quite a few things in order to be on the ship – clearance, both security and medical, money (our tax dollars do NOT cover Tiger Cruises!), and time.  I had to be at the right place at the right time to board the ship.  I had to obey the rules OF the ship.  I had to be ready to disembark.  Again, ALL of life tells us so much about truth! 

We’re spending Christmas with JJ in Norfolk.  He doesn’t have leave so we’re hanging out here.  We are the grateful recipients of the gracious hospitality of JJ’s pastor and church members who were SO supportive and loving to JJ during his time in Norfolk before this last deployment.  We are constantly being challenged by the life lessons God puts before us: the importance of loving the stranger and orphan becomes real when you give your child to the military or the ministry and trust that God will bring people into his life to encourage and pray for him.  

 

On the process of remodeling…

What is it about major decisions that get made unexpectedly? 

Suddenly we decided to do new windows, insulation, and new siding.  And then Gary decided to do some other things, like rip off the back porch.  So while I’ve been up in my garrett in the garage, typing merrily away with my space heater on “high”, Gary has been braving single-digit temperatures working outside.  This is NOT the best time to do all this work on the house, but for us, because of our travel schedule, it is the ONLY time. 

The main part of our house was built in 1897.  Two bumps (a new living room and a new kitchen) were added in the 1930’s, at which time the owner also resided the house.   When we bought the house it was painted a very dull orangey-taupe with rust trim.  U-G-L-Y!!!  Seven years ago I power sprayed the wood siding, primed it, and painted it with 30 year paint.  Our house looked great for a short time.  However ,we had absolutely NO insulation in the walls.  I’m not sure WHY the extreme temperature changes in Minnesota  make such a difference but since it can go from 30 below zero to above 100 degrees, it is hard on roads, people, and houses.   Within 5 years the paint was blistered and peeling and the house once again looked very ugly and I’m sure created the impression that we were careless homeowners.  Actually we were absentee homeowners who didn’t have to look at the house very often!  Luckily we live on a street that is only two blocks long so not many people pass our house.

When Gary ripped off the wood siding, he exposed all kinds of odd boards that showed other changes that had occurred over the years which had been hidden by the siding.   

 

 We’ve had insulation blown in the walls and it is SO obvious that things have changed inside.  Today I looked at the thermostat, thinking my daughter had turned it up.  Nope, it was still at 64, but the 64 felt warmer than before when the wind was whistling through the house.  Gary boarded up two windows, which look really ugly inside but those spaces will be covered up outside and only a memory.  

At this point in time BOTH the outside and the inside look quite, quite ugly!  But soon, hopefully by early next week, the outside will look great!  The inside will FEEL great but will still have a few places that will need finishing. 

Inside/outside-outside/inside – scars on the outside revealed when the outer layer is removed, ugliness on the inside that will one day be covered up…there are some powerful spiritual images here!  All of life tells us about God – even remodeling!  I’ve thought about so many analogies – how God patches us up from our mistakes and wounds and then covers us with His grace; or how vulnerability uncovers those patches and people see the “real me”; or how remodeling is a process and anytime during the process you wonder, “is this worth it?” which is similar to times we decide to change or God is taking us through some trial and life looks REALLY ugly yet if we wait it out and let the process continue, beauty comes forth!

We have relied on the help of others for this process.  Gary could not get this done himself.  He needs the physical help, the experience of others, and the tools and equipment of professionals.  Again – like life!  We need each other because we each have learned things that can benefit one another or we may have just the tool someone else needs.  

Francis Schaeffer once said that Christianity is true because it is the only belief system that lines up with reality.  But also the converse is true: reality lines up with Christian truth, as my insightful examples clearly illustrate!

 

Welcome to our blog!

Hi!  I am trying to enter the twenty first century with blogging.  A challenging prospect, to be sure!  My helpful coach was Ethan Demme, Math-u-see’s director of marketing and a VERY nice young man, who tried hard to communicate all he could in just a few minutes.  Alas!  It was too much to learn!  So I hope I can figure all this out and be a positive blog!