tapmyshoulder

This afternoon, as I was ironing curtains, I started thinking about my Grammy Brown and how she used to let me iron for her (I think she was just getting some free labor out of me, but I digress!).  Grammy Brown instilled in me the proper way to hang out laundry (“hang the “unmentionables” closest to the house so the neighbors won’t see them!”  I really don’t think that Audrey Wentzell cared about my grandmother’s unmentionables!!)

As usual when I begin thinking, my mind hops all over the place.  A walk down memory lane began.  I remember going over to Louise Kangas’ home to watch her iron and soon she would bring out some of Dick’s handkerchiefs or dish towels for me to iron (I think she thought those would be safe with a young girl and a hot iron!).  My trek down memory lane took me up Lovejoy Hill to the Moro’s house!  Oh my goodness!!  The stories that could be told from that home! Rae Jean was so patient with three giggling girls hanging out in Angie’s room!!  John would come home from a long busy day and find Naomi, Angie and I in the living room playing games and of course, giggling.  Rae Jean and John never ever made Naomi and I feel as though we were not welcome.  The Moro family was just an extension of the Horne family!

My “walk” took me down the hill to Audrey Byron and Bea’s house.  One year, Naomi and I decided to do a community newspaper (even back then, Naomi wanted to be a journalist!)  Here were these two elderly ladies, probably with a list of things they wanted to get done and in walks two kids from up the hill wanting to interview them.  And guess what??  They gave us their stories!!  Bea’s news was about her pets; she loved her cats and Zsa Zsa, her dog!  After the interviews, Audrey and Bea would serve refreshments to the roving reporters.

A little further down Dickvale Road, lives Edie Porter!!!  Who doesn’t love “Speedy Edie”!!??  Naomi, Angie and I would ask Edie if we could be dropped off last on her bus route.  We loved racing to the back seats on the bus after everyone else had been dropped off.  Edie would try to hit every bump for us so we could become air-born on those back seats!!  Here Edie had been driving kids all day, but she would always make our trip home from school a fun one!  She probably just wanted to get home and put her feet up but she loved us kids and would do anything for us.

You may be wondering….”What on earth is Terry rambling about?!”  Some of you may work in a pre-school, some of you are stay at home moms, some substitute in the public schools, some work with the children at your church.  All this rambling is just to remind you that “you’re being watched”.  Grammy Brown, Louise, Rae Jean, Bea and Audrey, and Edie probably never realized how they enriched the lives of the kids they came in contact with.  Here I am at 29+ and I remember all of these ladies with such love and fondness.  I have such great memories from the ladies that I watched while I was growing up on Lovejoy Hill, Peru, Maine!!  Thank you, ladies (Grammy Brown, Bea and Audrey, you’re remembered with love!)  Naomi, Angie and I are better women because of you!!

Titus 2:3-5 

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women  to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

I think I may be an Israelite!  No, really, I do!  Lately, I feel as though I keep going back to visit my “pile of rocks” just like the Israelites did.  When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, God commanded that one person from each tribe was to pick up a stone in the middle of the river.  After they crossed, they were to pile the stones to create a memorial.  When future generations saw these memorials, they would ask the meaning.  This would give the Israelites a chance to tell of the miraculous crossing and how God had saved them.  This would also show that God was, and still is in control.

So often, I take my eyes off from my Heavenly Father and I begin to look at the situation or circumstances around me. And then things go down hill quickly.  I’m finding though, by going back to visit my “pile of rocks”, I see how God was in control all the time.

A week ago, Sarah decided to drive down to Massachusetts after she left work.  Her shift was over at 11:00 pm and it’s a 4 hour ride from Mexico, Maine to Attleboro.  That would mean that she would arrive home around 3:00 am!! Well, guess who started worrying!!?? And then I felt a tap on my shoulder!!  “Terry, let’s take a walk back to your pile of rocks!!  Do you believe I’m in control of everything???  Even your children??”  Yes, Lord, I know you’re in control.  I remember other times that I’ve worried about Sarah driving and You’ve been faithful in keeping her safe.  And even if you choose to take her Home with you, You’re still in control!

Last night I dreamt of Naomi again.  Today I’ve been thinking  about her passing….and then I get upset….and then I get angry!  Uh oh, here comes that tapping on my shoulder!!  “Terry, we’re going to visit your pile of rocks again!!  Do you believe that I knit Naomi together?  Do you believe that I knew the number of hairs on that head of hers?  Do you believe that your days are numbered? (Ps. 39:4  Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered how fleeting my life is.) And then I remember that God is in control when I feel that things feel out of control.

Just like the Israelites, we face many, many situations that seem impossible.  How can I ever do _______ (fill in the blank)?  There have been many times that I’ve thought “How can our family ever be whole when someone we love so much is gone?” or “How do we go on?” or “Where is God in all of this?!”  And then we see Him working…and healing…and waiting patiently for us to see His hand in these situations.  I’m not asked to understand this, just like the Israelites weren’t asked to understand how the Jordan River split in two to allow them to cross!  I’m only asked to trust!  And to obey!

Do you have a pile of rocks?  Can you go back to visit them when you lose sight of Who is in control?  Can you tell your children/grandchildren about what your pile of rocks mean to you?  Take a moment and think back to when you saw how God did something miraculous in your life. It doesn’t have to be something huge like the crossing of the Jordan!  🙂  Sometimes it’s the little things that make me realize that God is still in control!!

Gotta run….my OCD nature wants to stack my rocks in a neater pile!!