Fear Not, Stand Firm, And See

That's how I started off our memory work for my class last week. It gave my students three pretty "visual" phrases to help them memorize their verse. And they did a good job! Our lesson that week was on the crossing of the Red Sea. The Egyptian army behind, the deep waters of the Red Sea in front, what to do? And then Moses says to the people in Exodus 14:13:

Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which he will work for you today.

In yesterday's lesson, which finally came together by afternoon, we wandered around the desert for awhile. At each of our "stops" we were reminded of this verse. No water. No food. Enemy army. Absentee leader. Grumbling. Complaining. An impossible conquest... "Fear not, stand firm...."

We never stop learning those lessons. And hopefully my students are set on a life course to remember what God promises. Fear not. Stand firm. I have one boy who is shall we say very lively. Some weeks I become VERY exasperated! However, this week when I asked who remembered the verse from last week, he whipped the whole thing off WORD PERFECT. His background is pretty rough and he only comes to church on Wednesday night for class. I pray that the Word will transform his life!

And we are seeing God work for our family as well. Linnea phoned yesterday to say that she got her "dream job" at the school where she's wanted to work! We are so happy for her! So she will be moving this summer and beginning a "real" full-time job! Praise the Lord!

Our "Gramma's House" project is moving ahead as well. We had a WONDERFUL trip to Minnesota the beginning of the month. Entertained the neighbors for dinner one evening and my cousins for Sunday dinner. Hopefully, the beginning of many more meals together!

AND Will got a job in California, and Andrew comes home for the last two weeks in May!

Farming, as it used to be

The family photo album has given me a first-hand look at farming and farm life less than 100 years ago. How quickly that lifestyle has gone! I'm not so sure it's been for the good, either. I heard yesterday that we spend less of our income for food than any time in our history. But I bet we're paying more for health insurance and drugs than any time in our history. I think I'd rather pay more for food.

If I could remember how to put these into a slide show it would make it easier to look at!

I found it very interesting to see WHAT they thought was worth photographing. They didn't have much money, but they recorded very everyday events!

 Must've been pretty proud of that stack of hay. I think this photo is from 1913. Even a wooden wagon.

 Huge stacks of corn cobs!

 Not sure if this is Sweden or America or even who this man is, but the horses look good!

 Out for an afternoon. Looks like something from Little House on the Prairie! My great-grandmother with a couple of great-aunts and a great-uncle (or is it my grandfather?)

A threshing machine?

So happy about the new calf!

 So many hens!

 I noticed several photos of family members holding kittens, cats and puppies. They loved animals!

 Is he plowing? Looks like about four horse here.

 This dog does this in several photos. These great uncles think they look pretty good. And "Mamma" is peeking out the window!

white hens now

 Ah, ironing in the fresh air! No need to be near the plug!

 The family all poses with their berries. Not sure what they are, but they're pretty proud!

 I wonder who's in charge here?

 Love these horses. Looks like they're off to work!

 Add some pigs to the sheep, cows and hens!

 More sheep

 And pigs

Grass-fed cows

Talk about diversified farming!

So teach us to number our days....

I haven't blogged in a month. Nearly 5 weeks. There are so many things going on in my head that I just don't know what to blog about. I do manage to communicate a bit with friends and family on Facebook, so I'm not totally out of the loop. But I must say, I do love hibernating in the winter! Here are some of my many thoughts consuming me/us:

• the opportunity to buy family property in Minnesota
• how much?
•  when?
•  financing?
•  retirement (if and when)
•  a trip to Minnesota to try to figure out some of this
• organic gardening and mini-farming because of Minnesota land opportunity
•  archiving family photos and letters
•  Andrew onboard the USS Ponce
•  William moving to California
•  Linnea debating what to do next year

 As the oldest grandchild on my mother's side and one without children at home AND one who lives near enough to make regular trips to Minnesota, I have become the family archivist. On my last trip, I brought home four very full photo albums to scan. I have been scanning off and on all week, have scanned over 200 photos and I'm just a wee bit over half-way through the first album of which the oldest photo is from 1889. Most of them have dates written on them, but I am beginning to distrust some of them.

Back then the photos were small and one could just put those little black sticky corners on the page to hold each photo. It didn't matter what size the photos were. Some pages have as many as nine photos on them! I crop, enhance and save each one. I am really getting to know these ancestors!

One thing that struck me as I flipped through all four albums: the brevity of life. In this photo my grandfather is second from the right. The photos archive his and his siblings lives as well as my mother and her siblings and cousins. I see photos of  their childhood, graduations,  courtship, wedding, children, and funerals. The cycle continues with the next generation, and the next. The albums go up to about 1990, when the aunt, whose albums these are, stopped gathering photos.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Dancin' Queen, well, maybe not

We've joined a dance class. Yes. I got Dennis to go. Amazing. My friend Joanne and her husband had been going and she suggested that we join. After all, we go out afterwards sometimes, Dennis should enjoy that.

We did the first session of 10-11 weeks. Den said he dreaded every Friday afternoon, but he's such a good man he knew his wife was having so much fun that he hung in there.

Next session came around. He decided we could do it again!! And now, he says he's enjoying it himself! We have a very small class. We dance with each other, and our teacher keeps saying, "Men, take the lead!" Kind of a marriage class, too. ha!

Pictures to follow when blogspot decides to cooperate!

Playing Gramma



Her baby is playing the piano.



This is what I do on Monday evenings. Helen comes over for a few hours while her mom and dad go to a class together.

The whole family gets in to baby time! She loves this book, There's a Mouse in the House. A little paper mouse with a long yarn tail fits through little slits in each page.

She goes straight for that book when she comes!

Jenny Johnson 100 years

 Gramma would be 100 years old on January 26, 2011. I've been scanning, printing organizing and archiving a couple hundred old family photos. In these few weeks I feel like I've been getting to know these ancestors like I never knew them before. It's almost like a time travel experience. I see my grandmother and grandfather and their siblings, my mother and her siblings and I feel like I am their contemporary. They are so lovely young and fresh. Reminds me of the scene at the end of the old BBC Voyage of the Dawn Treader where King Caspian is "dead" in the water and Aslan's blood makes him a young boy again. A picture of resurrection. So these "elderlies" have been resurrected for me! Even the ones who are still alive.

I posted this before I was finished.

Just have to say a bit more about this Gramma. She is the youngest of four. Her mother died when she was not a year old yet and she was raised by a neighbor. Her older siblings were raised by an aunt up the road. She married very young and had seven children in nine years. All in the '30's. Her husband left her (she probably refused to go with him!) and she raised the seven alone, with the help of the "village". Sometime during those years she met The Master. As she followed Jesus she continued to teach and train those seven children to know and follow Him. I am so thankful that she was so special to me. I still wish I could talk to her and ask her things. I'm thankful for my mom and her siblings who continue to be such a wonderful source of spiritual encouragement to me. Never let us think that the role of a godly mother is not a great one!

The Kings Speech - Official Trailer

Friday night I went to see this movie. Ever since I've been reading and watching what I can find about George VI and this period of history.

Besides the main story, that of the king's stutter, the movie portrays with more detail than I ever realized or knew about the abdication of Edward VIII. We all SAY he abdicated, but we never really think about how it came about and what that impact was on George VI and the nation at the time.

Super movie! I highly recommend it. Don't be scared off by the R rating. A series of words in one scene is what gives it that rating. Rather funny, if you ask me.