Lessons learned from canoeing

Lesson #1. Do not take a new and inexperienced exchange student out on a canoe with a loose camera in the boat.

Lesson #2. Give longer canoe sailing lessons to said exchange student before handing him the sail controls during wind gusts.

Lesson #3. Wear whatchamacallem thingies to secure glasses to face when taking a supposed fun and easy canoe trip down a higher than usual (almost freezing cold) river while camping.

Lesson #4. Do not hit rock after successfully negotiating shallow rapids (we were informed they were a "low 2" on a scale of 1 (calm pond) to 6 (certain death) on white water difficulty ratings--see #7). Note: said exchange student present, but not to blame.

Lesson #5. Stay out of range of other club wielders, er, paddlers when trying to beach canoe.

Lesson #6. Associated with #4 and #5, learn teamwork with other members of the crew.

Lesson #7. Do not tell other passing canoers about your woes while you are still dripping, ESPECIALLY writers of canoeing and kayaking columns for over ten years.

Lesson #8. Make sure roads to pick up point have not been closed.

Lesson #9. Do not pass by daughter waiting dutifully to pick us up where she said she would because we didn't recognize her without glasses.

Total damage: camera, watch, two pairs of glasses and one pair sunglasses, painful bruise over left eye, severely damaged dignity, sore shoulders from carrying canoe half a mile, confirmation of Julie's unstated thoughts that her mother (responsible for all except #2) really belongs on slapstick comedy team.

Gains: Wisdom (maybe), experience, recovered paddles and shoes, dry camera (foresightedly (amazing) sealed in a ziplock bag) with partial visual record, basic paddling lesson from experts, experience taking apart and drying out cell phone (HaHa benefited most from this).

It might also be said that we saw spectacular vistas of Mount Rainier and flower bursting alpine meadows, deep silent woods, and sunshine lighting the leaf tips and sparkling the waters on several hikes. Eric and Bruce had a lovely 20 mile, uneventful but spectacular overnight hike from near Paradise down to Silver Falls, while we spent 1.5 hours trying to start a campfire with damp wood so we could eat something. We also learned that vegetarian hot dogs taste horrible, and that vegetarian patties have egg in them, and that our poor Hindu (non-meat and non-egg eating) exchange student from India is a good sport about all that. We returned home grubby, ready for real food, eager to sleep comfortably, and most importantly--alive! Most unforgettable lesson learned--respect Mother Nature!

She's not a toddler anymore....

A couple of weeks ago we went camping with Julie. Just for a day or two while she went to a printmaking workshop at a museum in the vicinity. Nowadays I mostly see her as a sensible, hardworking, creative person, and a good teacher, but every once in a while the old saucy twinkle still appears in her eyes as she shares a joke or plays a trick on us. She comes up with the funnest ideas for Christmas--the silly
string in our stockings last year
was a blast and added a lot to
the enjoyment of the holiday
(and then there's the boxing
gloves...)

Although, it wasn't actually Julie's idea to pose with the statue--she is just graciously humoring one of her mother's inexplicable whims.




She has always been interested in sports
and taking care of her body, having lately
taken up preparing for and participating
in triathalons. She has even managed to
envigle her non-sports participating
brother into joining her when she goes
biking. Several of the blogs I read are
written by moms with little guys at home,
and I remember those days well, but I
marvel almost every time I see her what
a competent, good, and (mostly) together (nobody's perfect) adult this scrappy
toddler has become.



I always used to get a little upset
when my mother still saw the little
girl in me, but now, realizing how
much I still enjoy the glimpses of the
Julie-that-used-to-be, maybe I'll cut
my own mother some slack! Recalling
the little Julie in no way diminshes the
pleasure I feel in knowing that I had
some small part in helping her become
the amazing woman she is.

If it wasn't so sad, I'd be funny....

Anyone who knows me knows I am pretty committed to exchange students, and to learning from and enjoying the differences between us. These are wonderful kids and being able to host them for a year (if we can) is an amazing opportunity. They are not perfect by any means, but who is?

So I was really burned recently when I heard of a family, after saying they would, changing their minds and dumping a student--because he was Muslim and might do something scary. This is not to say there are no scary Muslims--but the vast majority of them are as appalled by the scary ones as we are appalled by, say, skinheads, the KKK, or, more historically, the Inquisition (all of whom could be considered Christians by people who are unfamiliar with us).

Having hung around with a lot of Muslims lately, I just had to laugh when I thought of some of the scary things I've seen them do......

Develop secret weapons--explosives, I think.

Target practice.

Mingle inconspicuously with the natives so they can become entrenched in our society. (Guess which ones are Muslim).

Spy out the weaknesses of our power grid.

These guys seem to be the ringleaders. Code names are Larry, Curly, and Mo.

Probably anyone who reads this blog is already a generous and understanding person, but I just had to vent!!!

It's all a matter of perspective.

EAT A LIVE TOAD

FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

AND NOTHING WORSE

CAN HAPPEN TO YOU

ALL DAY

What do I know of the Lord's goodness?

I found myself in the interesting position, not too long ago, of bolstering the faith of an earnest young Muslim whom I admire. His faith had been questioned by a high school science teacher. The initial question was about why violence and suffering are in the world, but as communication progressed, it became clear that the REAL question was whether there is a God, and whether you can trust Him despite all the overwhelming evidence that skeptics dig up to shake our faith. After some thought, and bearing in mind that the Lord is perfectly capable of sorting out religious differences and the state of our hearts, I sent him the following:

Why do I know there is a God, and that He cares about me and everybody else? For one thing, nature is beautiful, not only is it beautiful, but the beauty is integral to function. If everything happened by chance, good and fine, but did it have to be beautiful--from rainbows, sunsets, snowflakes and the piercing beauty of the stars, from the tears that come to my eyes when I see the Grand Canyon, from the fragrance and variety and loveliness of flowers and the peace that comes into my heart when I climb to mountain meadows--why is it beautiful? Surely nature could function without beauty--certainly man has made a lot of functional items that aren't beautiful.

Another reason is that evil has not triumphed over good. So many horrible things happen in the world. Tragedy, disaster, agony, destruction, war, disease, filth--and yet there are always people who try to do good. In the face of overwhelming evil or just creeping apathy, you can still find Victor Frankl's, Mother Teresa's, Albert Schweitzer's, J. R. R. Tolkein's, and many, many lesser unknown people who make the world a better place. One would think that evil would have destroyed them and everything good long ago--evil has certainly tried!


On a more personal level, I know God exists and cares because I have felt that love. Looking back, I know that during some extremely rough spots in my childhood, I was not alone--I was being watched over. The rough spots weren't taken away--for what purpose I don't know (perhaps I developed compassion, courage, and strength I would not have otherwise had)--but I wasn't left to suffer alone. This is not something I can prove, but I know it nevertheless. That's a big one, but too often to count I have had smaller evidences that someone is watching over me with deep understanding and caring. I have had prayers answered about how to deal with my children, how to resolve arguments, small exquisitely timed "coincidences" have given benefits out of proportion to the actual event. I have received insights into health problems, and life changing events have happened in response to prayer. One small example (I have more, but this will do) of the type of thing I am talking about is a morning when I was, as usual, rushing around, harried and irritable, trying to get things done and I couldn't find my glasses. I was unkind to my then middle-school aged daughter and sent her to school on foot (late) and with anger. Within 2 minutes of her leaving, I found my glasses UNDER the dining room table. I got in the car (now that I could see to drive) and found Julie, picked her up and drove her to school. When she saw me, she just smiled a big sunshine-filled smile and told me with total satisfaction, "I prayed for you. I knew you would find your glasses". Not only did I find my glasses, but I learned (again) the worth of prayer, I learned (again) that God really does care, I learned how much my daughter loves me and could see past my shortcomings and how sweet she is, and I learned that I could learn a lot from my daughter. God can get a lot of mileage out of finding a pair of glasses!

Another reason I know that God exists and cares is because I know my Grandmother loves me. This is not as straightforward as it sounds, because she died of disease, heartbreak, exposure, and starvation in the aftermath of World War II and left my mother an orphan at 8 years old (and me, obviously, unborn). Yet I have had experiences that not only make it clear to me that this wonderful woman is alive, but that she is joyful, knows me and loves me, and is in God's care. This is not something I can put into words and explain, nor can I prove it by scientifically accepted methods, but the experience is sacred to me and very real.

The final reason I know that God exists is because when I follow His counsel and guidance most closely, I become more than I can without it. The best way to put it into words is to say my soul expands. I reach higher levels of understanding, love, service, and ability, I feel greater joy and peace. I find purpose in my life and the energy and intelligence to accomplish it. One example, out of many, is that I have become an exchange student coordinator--and apparently one (so I'm told) that makes a positive difference in the world. Something that gives me great joy. I also believe this is something that God wants me to do--and I am overjoyed that I can serve God by doing something that is so personally rewarding. You should know that I had really (really) poor social skills most of my life due to the hard experiences in my childhood--so having the ability to connect with people and students is, to me, an unexpected and almost miraculous skill/talent--a gift from God that has expanded my soul and my abilities.

Perhaps there are more reasons, but this seems sufficient to accomplish my purpose--which is to provide an alternative viewpoint to the skeptics and give you, perhaps, a platform from which to find your own answers--although I suspect you already have some.

Eternal Youth

The realization has been growing on me lately that, despite a secret belief that I was going to be an exception to aging, I was mistaken. Sure, there were a few grey hairs here and there, but not enough to be alarming. The need for larger clothes could be attibuted to having babies, not age. More prominent laugh lines around my eyes (do I have to call them "crow's feet"?). I need bifocals (bifocals?) now. Damage caused by my klutziness takes longer to heal--but klutziness is not the problem it used to be. There's more, but ....well.... enough said. In any case, interesting observations but nothing serious.

Even Julie's becoming a teacher (who? my little girl?)








and Nina's dastardly deed of turning me into a mother-in-law didn't really shake me out of my rose-tinted delusions.








But the worm has turned. I can no longer fool myself. Importing teenagers and pretending to be one myself in order to insulate myself from the ugly truth just isn't going to cut it anymore.






Who would have thought that such completely wonderful, kind, thoughtful, and good people as Nina and Nathan would be the responsible for this? On Mother's Day, Nina, although wishing me a happy Mother's Day, also chose this day to make the announcement that I was going to be a grandma early next year! They can prove it. Now I ask you, is this kind? Is this thoughtful? Do I look ready to knit baby booties and go all gooey-eyed over a squirmy messy little bundle of trouble? No, I do not.

Not only am I not ready, but they obviously aren't either. Why, just yesterday they were goofing around, going to public school, spending money unwisely (organic shampoo?), and getting into food fights.



So, how does all this relate to eternal youth?



I guess, with all my focus on the physical processes, I forgot the joy. Who would have thought that I would have these four awesome kids? Who would have thought I would get the chance to be part of these four individuals who have become their own person, do stuff I never even dreamed of, are responsible adults and all round good human beings. And now, after the (ongoing) privilege of being their mother, they are increasing in numbers. Through marriage, and through birth. If I'm going to get wrinkles and grey hair, it stands to reason I have a shot at being a grandparent too, but I hadn't realized that the joy would be so great that it is sacred.

To paraphrase slightly, "the greatest is love". I am surrounded by it, and part of it. If that's not eternal youth, what is?

Part III - All i need to know in life I learned from Lord of the Rings...

More words of wisdom...


"Between us, there can be no word of giving or taking, nor of reward; for we are bretheren."












"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."











"Go to the armouries of the Citadel,' he said, 'and get you there the livery and gear of the Tower. It will be ready. It was commanded yesterday. Return when you are clad!' It was as he said; and Pippin soon found himself arrayed in strange garments,"