Recompense

The last days of summer have arrived.  I usually never look forward to the end of summer, but I always watch for those final days.  There is a turning in the air that is just slightly presented. To some, it may be barely noticeable; but the turn is something I have always noted. For me, the end of summer is usually dreaded; other years, like this year, it is mostly welcomed.  This season, however, it does come as somewhat of a surprise to me that I am already welcoming fall and winter.  With all the rain and cool temperatures we had in June and July, it caused a very late start to summer, and when the warm August days finally came, I didn’t think I would ever want them to end.  But my busy schedule and work load, has caused me to think differently.

This year, it certainly hasn’t been the lazy days of summer which one reads about in novels, and for which I always strive.  With me working a new job, my husband’s hand injury, and my son out of town so much of the summer, most of the work load on our acreage fell to me.  I always do the gardening myself, as well as most of the mowing, so that wasn’t unusual; but the haying; fence building and repair; etc., combined with working a new job, almost put me over the top.  Trying to help someone else with their yard work on my days off, left me mostly feeling like I was drowning, fighting to come up for air. With all that has needed to be done, I have simply felt that I have no time for anything. Sometimes it feels nothing is done quite as well as it should be, because there is just too much to do.

I found a bit of recompense when talking with family one day about why I couldn’t attend an event.  My niece commented, “Man!  You work hard!”  I laughed to myself at her comment for the appreciation it seemed to invoke. This niece has always seen things that others often do not. Her discernment from a little girl has more than once brought me untold comfort.  Just a simple observation she cared enough to state, yet it buoyed me with a strength I will always remember.

The other sign that the end of the summer is here, is the county fair.  Yep, it’s come and gone.  Thoroughly enjoyed once again, but a part of summer that is now behind us.  Matt placed with a Grand Champion in his 4-H project, and I took a red and a white on two of my 3 entries.  The rodeo was our highlight, as it is every year. We went twice, both nights spent with good friends that made it even more enjoyable.

We are now busy getting fire wood chopped and stacked; the hay is all baled and safe in the barn.  I continue to water, I continue to mow, but I know those jobs will become less and less frequent the later the season gets, and as we begin transition into the days of fall.

My garden earlier this summer.

My garden will have most of my attention now, though it didn’t produce as in years past; mostly, I believe, because of the wet spring that continued through early summer.  If summer holds a while longer, though, I will have lots of tomatoes, a little corn, and I am praying for my cucumbers!  I will have plenty of potatoes and carrots; and I am sporadically tending to my few green beans.

This summer we didn’t get a chance to go “huckleberryin’”, but summer brought us for the first year, cherries off our tree, and we had lots of raspberries, too.  We lost a cat, but we gained a horse.  No heat wave, no hurricanes or earthquakes, no drought that was so prevalent in so many parts of the country.  Actually, we had mostly beautiful, peaceful days - so much to be thankful for considering other parts of our nation.

As I look back on our summer days that seemed like a whirlwind all our own, I am certainly thankful for all we have been given. And though sometimes I complain, I am quite certain “no time” is better than idle time….just as long as I can come up for air, or land on a “buoy” from time to time.

Do You Know Him?

I was the first one out the door of the ice cream shop; anxious to get home as it was getting late and I had to get up early the next morning to go to work.

As I waited for the others to follow me, I noticed a large woman in the parking lot. There she was lumbering toward me, walking from side to side.  Even before she spoke to me, I knew I was her destination, and I knew she was very, very drunk.

My son had promoted to his 2^nd to last rank in Civil Air Patrol, and I had taken him and a few of his friends to ice cream to celebrate. There were 8 of us in all: 5 teenagers and 3 moms. This was a very public location, so it was clear we weren’t in any danger.

“Can you give me a ride?” She requested as the others joined me to see what it was she wanted. 

“Where are you going?” I asked her.  She didn’t know, she mournfully told me. 

“I don’t know anyone here.  I have no place to go”, she explained through feigned tears.

“Well, how will we know where to take you then? Besides we have no room in our cars,” I explained. We had two automobiles, but it was true we had limited seating.  Still, even though these were mature teenagers and knew the lesson well, I did not want to teach them it is ever ok to give a stranger a ride.  I was going to hold my ground on this one.

“Where are you from?” one of the girls asked her.

“Montana,” she answered, “and I know no one here.”  “I’m Blackfeet!” she proudly exclaimed.

“I will call you a cab to take you to the woman’s shelter”, I offered, “but we can’t give you a ride.”  No, she whined.  She did not want that.

Matt’s friend, S, continued.  “We want to help you.”  She told the woman.  “Where have you been staying?” The woman clearly did not want to tell us anything about herself.  We finally were able to get her to tell us the name of the location where she wanted to go and where she had been staying.  But she didn’t know how to get there and honestly, neither did we. I told her, I would call the name she gave us and see if they would come get her.  Meanwhile one of the young men with us, tried to quietly and nonchalantly trick her into giving him the large beer she held in her hand.  He knew it was not wise of her to drink any more.  It didn’t work.  “Noooooo,” she exclaimed, “this is my beer!”  But I was proud of him for trying.

While I was trying to get the phone number of her destination, she began to get more belligerent. But S. continued, “Can we pray for you?” she asked. 

“Why are you doing this?” The woman kept asking.  “Are you trying to trap me?” 

“We want to help,” was the continual answer the kids gave.  

At one point the woman looked at the young lady that so much wanted to help and told her.  “I think you are probably a real….” insert expletive here.

“Hey”, I said as softly as I could. “Don’t say that!  She offered to pray for you.”  I was so proud of this beautiful young woman for her offer, and for a moment, though I know she would never admit it was so, I saw hurt flash in her tender eyes.  Only for the split of a second, the little girl in her became the more obvious part of her and I wanted to protect her. But even more, to her credit, she handled the name-calling well, considered the entire situation and she came out of it laughing.

“I’m drunk,” the woman said trying some what of an apology. “Don’t judge me.”

“Yes, we know,” another of the young women stated.  “But we aren’t judging you for that; we just want to help you.”  We were able to converse with the woman for awhile during this time, and she told us she had once wanted to be an EMT. 

“He’s an EMT!” my son’s girlfriend proudly exclaimed as she pointed to him, and the connection gave us another entrance to the woman's guarded heart.

As I was on the phone getting the phone number, S. began to pray for our new “friend”.  S. placed her hand on the woman’s arm, while the other kids gathered round and a few of them also gently placed their hands on this Native American from Montana.  S. smiled as our Blackfeet friend pulled away, but she continued to pray.

“Do you know Him?” S. asked as she finished her prayer.

“Jesus?!” exclaimed the homeless woman, “I love Jesus!  I accepted him when I was a little girl.”

I had finished my phone calls by this time, and had found out what I needed to know. 

“Someone is coming for you.” I told her.  “It is best if you wait here for them. You will be safer if you sit in that chair for awhile while you wait here.” Therein was another issue: her safety. She was still a woman alone on the streets, regardless of how tough she seemed.

I wish I could say this story had a happy ending.  It does not. And as drunk as this poor woman was, I doubt she remembered any of it the next morning.  As we got into our cars to leave, she threw her beer at my car in anger. But we had already done what we could; it was all we could do. Actually it was the best that we could do. We could only pray…make a few phone calls, and pray.  There was no where we could take her, and I was not about to demonstrate in front of these kids that it is ever ok to give a ride to a stranger. 

Nope; no happy ending.  I only write because of the extreme pride I have for these kids in taking the time to witness and pray for this homeless woman.  I write also out of sorrow.  My heart breaks for this woman that had once accepted Jesus; who once had a desire to be an EMT; who is Native to this great land, but who at least at this time had become a homeless drunk.  There was a partial sweetness to her that more often turned to vicious rage and my heart breaks for her. Still, I am so thankful and proud of these kids, for not letting the viciousness dissuade them from ministering to this woman.  For doing whatever they could, as small as it was, to help. They were safe in numbers, and they were safe, though it was late, at a public location.  They did the right thing in praying and in attempting to share the Word of God.  They were obedient to what their hearts told them, they were merciful in their prayer.

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

I pray God’s Word penetrates the heart of this Native woman and the right help for her will soon come.

Awesome County Fair

To those that know the situation:  I received word last week that our letters have been effective! The county fair board has made the decision to change their alcohol policy back to the way it was previously.  All alcohol will only be served in contained areas.

It is so encouraging to see we can have a voice in situations in our community if we will only speak our concerns. It is a lesson for us in local politics, state politics, and federal as well.  I have seen it time and time again.  Don't ever let anyone tell you that it is no use, no one listens.  Wrong!  It is the means by which our nation works. Pray, then write, then pray some more. Stay involved!

I appreciate our fair board.  (I am avoiding exact location for the sake of  some degree of my own anonymity on this blog.)  But I would encourage all of you that know of the situation and felt apprehensive about last year's changes to once again support our fair.  Please show support and appreciation for them listening to the citizens.

By the way, you can also buy your rodeo passes at the fairgrounds this year.  Another awesome change.

I love my fair!!  Yes!  It belongs to me!

This link is my post about last year's fair before experiencing the problems that caused me to write a letter: http://jan-butterfliesandrainbows.blogspot.com/2010/08/alls-fair.html

Yep!  It still belongs to me!  ;-)

AAAAGH Politics!! And Fireworks!

After watching the Republican debates on Fox the other night, I found myself very excited about some of the candidates that are running.  It was, in fact, a very inspiring debate.

The next day I was on Facebook and noticed a question and statement from an organization that I had “liked” at some point during my Facebook wanderings. I knew it was a conservative group, promoting conservative dialogue. They seek support from other Facebook members and people “join” to demonstrate their opinions and allegiances.

While I don’t usually comment on these types of posts, the question they proposed was simply too tempting for me. I thought it would be fun to enter the discussion.  Fireworks?  Um Umm!  I received some of my own.  Below is the question; my initial response to the question; and then the comments that followed simply because I expressed an opinion that was different than some of the other “members”.  Let me know what you think!

Question:

“Last night's debate had some fireworks! T-Paw and Bachmann, Santorum and Paul, Romney and everyone, and Newt's "Gotcha Question." Did you get to watch it? COMMENT and let us know who you're supporting at this point and why!”

My answer:

“Most all are awesome candidates....3 did not belong there: Ron Paul; Mitt Romney; and John Huntsman. I am leaning toward Rick Santorum at this point because of his understanding of the need to support Israel, his position on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, his pro-life commitment, and his many years of consistency on all his stances. Ron Paul, in truth, is barely a conservative and definitely not a Republican (which btw he admits, saying running as a Republican is the only way he can win)...his true colors are beginning to show and hopefully the American people are waking up to his antics. Newt's comments about the media made my day! Fireworks! Yeah! The American way! I'm excited to see Gov Perry and Gov. Palin enter the race!”

Responses from my post: (I didn’t think my post sounded harsh; I didn’t mean for it to be.  I was only expressing my feelings about the debate like the question asked us.)

“Wow Jan... I guess if Rick Santorum is your definition of a republican then W was too? LAME... You neo-conservatives are losing ground because of real defenders of Liberty like Ron Paul. Good riddence. Neo-cons RUINED the republican party. The old guard of the Republican party is on the way up and you guys are getting put back with the Liberals where you belong. Good Riddance!”

“@Jan, Palin? Cmon really.. hey lets put my niece in the running she's got about as much experience. Talking a good game is one thing, she can't walk it though mark my words, shes a side show.”

“Jan...no disrespect...but I'm glad there's only a few like you on here who are against Ron Paul...the majority are waking up and taking notice at what a true patriot he is!”

“Jan, it sounds like you want to live under a Fascist religious theocracy. Are you familiar with the US Constitution?”

“@ Jan...you really need to do better homework...pretty sad you believe all that drivel you just wrote.”

“Jan, first please read the Gospel of PEACE, it's in that little black book collecting dust in your attic, second, read the US Constitution, you can find that online or your local library, while you're there do a little research on Thomas Jefferson, he's that dead guy who wrote the Declaratin of In Jan, independence, then read the republican party platform, then come back and tell me who's more conservative”

A day or so later, my post was long gone, never to be found again, but I noticed a couple of my attackers making comments again on the page.  I know I shouldn’t have done it, but….I did it anyway.  I placed a follow up post where I knew they would be able to read it.  Here are my comments to them:

"Aw...my attackers...nice to see you both on here again...where I can get in a response to the name calling I received. Apparently some of you that support Ron Paul don't support free speech. I thought this was a forum to express our feelings about the debate. I did just that and was called everything from a neo-republican to a fascist. Warned to read my Bible that was collecting dust in attic...and then warned to read the Constitution (which by the way, is posted on my wall) Also, my Bible isn't in the attic collecting dust, but it is always readily available to me and I read it daily...it is also written on my heart. Finally, I was only quoting Ron Paul, himself...he is the one that said the only reason he was running as a Republican was that it was the only way he could win. It would cost too much money otherwise. Look it up. It's fact. So who is the real RINO? He said it, I didn't...yet you choose to attack me over it. Apparently free speech is another issue that should be left to the states, huh? By the way, look up that quote by Abraham Lincoln that Rick Santorum quoted. We have moral obligations as a nation. "States don't have the right to legislate that which is wrong."  I would really like to see Dr. Paul quit hiding behind States Rights in order to promote his liberal agenda..ie...legalizing marijuana and heroin, gay marriage....etc.

Bring on the arrows! or snowballs* or whatever weapon you might choose. Oh and America IS an exceptional nation...we just need to work to keep it that way. Dr. Paul just doesn't seem to get that.”

* “Snowballs” is a reference to the fact that Paul supporters attacked Sean Hannity with snowballs last winter after an interview with Ron Paul.

Response:

“Jan, your whining. I visit Liberal forums all the time and I get called names all the time. Doesn't phase me and I don't whine to them about what they call me...your weak”

My final response.  (Yes, I really do know better!  ;-) )

“Nope, not whining, just proving a point about Ron Paul and his supporters. I would expect to be called names on a “liberal forum”, but surely didn't expect it on a Tea Party forum...well maybe only from a few of Paul's supporters ...I've seen it happen before .. :-) Thank you! Now I can add whining and weak to my list from someone with Ron Paul's face.”

There were some additional comments to my final post, but the comments really revealed at least one persons radical ideology, so I won’t post it here. Clearly, there was never any discussion about the comments I made regarding Paul's policy and facts I presented. No mention of any of the issues I brought up or Paul's voting record or anything he stands for; only attacks on me and later (the comments I haven't posted) a diatribe on how we should all be peace makers, ending with someone finally admitting I have the right to express my opinion even if its wrong. Thank you! I agree!

The truth of the matter, I think we should dialogue about these issues once in a while.  It reveals so much.  How do we learn if we try to hide everything under the rug and pretend that “there are two things we shouldn’t talk about…politics and religion”? I’m sure you have heard that old saying about the two topics to avoid.  In my opinion, those are two things we should definitely be talking about.  Presidential candidates?  Yes, we should be talking about them!  We need to know exactly for what they stand.  Hopefully, there will be a few people that take the time to verify the facts that they read and hear and then dismiss or learn more about the candidate.  That’s the American way and that is what will help us get the right candidate. We should stay off of “band-wagons” until we are sure it is a safe place to ride.

In the mean time, I guess I continue to blog….Correct me if I’m wrong; but isn’t blogging supposed to be about expressing your thoughts and hopefully creating dialogue which will cause people to think. My next post will likely be about some of the radical statements Ron Paul made during the debate. Like blaming America for the war in Iraq. Oh I know; that shouldn't surprise me...he is after all one of the original "Truthers".  Paul has been emboldened by his continued support and he is now revealing his true anti-Israel, anti-American beliefs. Honestly, it was down-right scary.  Stay tuned…or not.  I'm sure there will be Fireworks!  ;-)

More Country Songs for the Heart

I'm Only Jesus

by

Tim McGraw

Bobby's got a duster '79
bottle of Jack and a 45.
Points it at his head
and he starts to cry,
to proud to ask me to save his life.

Billy's in a limo
on the upper east side,
playing Russian Roulette
with the long, white line.
His wife gets a call at 3 am
saying Billy ain't never coming home again.

She asks me why?

And I said,
"I sure wish you'd believe
that everybody's free
and I'll help you if you ask Me to.
I gave every star a name
the sunshine and the rain
but I can't decide the road you choose.
That's up to you,
I'm only Jesus."

Johnny had a good job
rackin' it in.
Caviar parties
with his well to do friends.
Something was missing
from his perfect little life.
He threw in the towel
and he called Me one night.

Betty was an orphan
like so many kids;
they taught her in school
that I didn't exist.
She had every reason not to talk to me,
but every night before bed
she got down on her knees -
just to tell Me hi!

And I said,
"I'm sure glad you believe,
cause everybody's free
and I'll help you if you ask Me to.
I gave every star a name
the sunshine and the rain
but I can't decide the road you choose.
That's up to you.
I'm only Jesus."

"Hey, you're all the same to Me!
Everybody's free
and I'll help you if you ask Me to.
I gave every star a name
the sunshine and the rain
but I can't decide the road you choose;
that's up to you.
I'm only Jesus."

I'm only Jesus
I'm Only Jesus

Gotta have Jesus to see the light
Gotta have Jesus to hold you tight
Gotta have Jesus to talk to me
I gotta have Jesus to set me free