They Were the Refuge

The key goes to the buyer in a few short days. The childhood home can no longer be my refuge. Its time to move on. But oh the memories!  The memories, the many good memories that pour forth from every room, even though the clothing, furniture and dishes are gone. As I move from room to room, I realize that these sweet experiences are now to be stored in my memory to draw upon and shared with my family to learn from.

My Father passed away nearly four years ago and my Mother passed away 3 months ago. My sweet sister and I have been cleaning for days, crying, laughing, and reminiscing. We laughed over the red cup with the micky mouse ears that we all wanted to drink from. We remembered mom's love for roses as we cleaned out the vases, especially the tiny glasses she put her sweetheart roses in. We cried as we found the hospital records at our sisters death over 35 years ago. 

And then there was the similac in a rusty old can pobably over 53 years old. In the family room were the heating vents where we would sit and read and stay warm on snowy days.  The corner bedroom was where Dad would drill us in math or reading facts. The corner of the closet under the coats was where I would hide and read in hopes of not having to do dishes! The old wax paper bags for our sandwiches now look quaint and endearing. The sewing machine with its many bobbin threads tells of many projects that mom did for us and with us. The closet once held the pheasants they caught and forgot about - two of them, filling the home with the smell of rotting birds. The kitchen counters were where we bottled many peaches from our trees. 

But the real value wasn't in those events or things. It was in the love of God and family that permeated everything Mom and Dad did. Everything they touched spoke of creation and love. The tools and crafts in the home created beauty, spoke of industry and provided opportunities for us to work together. This was especially true of gardening and sewing. Dad led out in planting a garden every year. From the faith that goes into planting a seed, to the responsibility of watering and weeding, to harvest and eating was all part of a joyous celebration for him. We didn't feel that way at the time, but his enthusiasm was contagious. Mom helped us choose fabric and patterns and taught us the joy of creativity. There was much of frustration in the learning curve, but her joy was also contagious. 

Most of all, most importantly was the love we felt in every one of the hundreds of times we came back to visit after being married and having eight children. That home was a refuge. No, THEY were the refuge. Their hearts were big enough to take in all of us, feed us pizza, put up tomato juice with us, and just plain listen. Mom was so interested in every thing we were doing and Dad always full of loving concern over our struggles. 

Growing up was good but there were very difficult times as well as relationship struggles. What I find most miraculous is how over time they created this refuge for all their children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Their rough edges became smooth and their example life saving. They grew into it year by year.

So as the home empties and I look at the empty kitchen where the tablel used to be and the thought came to my mind from Les Miserable - "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables." My Dad used to bring up that song. I felt the deep somber part of it today as I looked at that empty room. But my Dad would probably say to me today if he could, "Go enjoy the full tables you have now, Diane, and make those tables full of love and joy. If you learned it, then go live it." 

And if he said that, he'd be right. Everything that matters is in my mind and heart. I want to fill my children's hearts with the goodness and light that permeated every corner of that home. If they can find a refuge in my home and more importantly in me, then I will in part reciprocate what my parents did for me. That is a comforting thought as I prepare to leave that empty home soon, and create fulness in mine.

Gratitude is Universal

 God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trump. (Psalm 4:7)

And a shout and a trumpet it was! With gratitude and celebration we all met in the Colorado home of my daughter and her husband for Thanksgiving.  All of us. Everyone came together at their generous invitation. The table was filled with the traditional trimmings prepared by each of our willing hands. Seeing people I love serving and sharing with each other, and acknowledging God as the source of their blessings is truly a divine delight.

Thanksgiving Day is an American tradition - but giving thanks didn't begin in America. It is a common value and connecting point through religions, cultures and beliefs in all the world as well as the connecting point through the ages.

Consider these statements from diverse sources about giving thanks:

• "Abundance can be had simply by consciously receiving what has already been given." — Sufism
• “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”   -G. K. Chesterton
• "Sharing and giving are the ways of God." — Native American Sauk
• "Truly Allah is bountiful towards the people, but most of them do not give thanks." - Quran
• "If you cannot be grateful for what you have received, then be thankful for what you have been spared." — Yiddish Proverb
• “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”   -Cicero
• “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”  - Albert Einstein 

And consider historically and culturally these gratitude celebrations:

• Sukkot is celebrated by Jews around the world. Families build huts where they eat and sometimes sleep for the seven days of celebration which includes special prayers and holiday meals.  Wands of myrtle, willow and palms are shaken every day in every direction to honor the land's gifts. This yearly holiday celebrates the harvest and remembers the time of the Exodus when the Israelites occupied temporary shelters in the desert. 

• A Chinese tradition celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival.  It is also called the Moon Festival as it coincides withe a full moon in the eighth lunar month.  Giving thanks for the harvest and encouraging life giving sunlight are part of the ceremonies.  It is also a favorite time for matchmaking as this time of year is associated with fertility. 

• The Yam Festival is celebrated by the Ewe people of Ghana.  As the first yams appear and the end of the rainy season occurs, the celebration begins.  The festival is largely aimed at averting famine in the coming year and is marked by feasts, dances and parades. 

What if in addition to annual celebrations we created daily devotions of gratitude? What if throughout the day we looked for God's hand and expressed our thanks to any who have reached out in any way? What if we retired each evening recording with thanks what we saw and felt from God and others? Truly the profoundest ideas are fleshed out in the small moments of every day. 

Daily rituals form and shape who we are and how we think.  The prayers, praises, gratitude texts, a thank you phone call, the kind note and the verbal appreciation are all manifestations of this principle of gratitude. Is it possible that daily private gratitude rituals and expressions would create happier families, stronger communities, even global change?  If so this personal postive energy could move outward affecting all who come in contact with this new vibration; this energy could cause a climate change of our own souls that reverberated into the entire world in which we would eventually feel the temperature difference.  I'm just naive enough to believe that is possible.  I'm just simple enough to believe the glow and warmth of human gratitude can change the world. 

"Being grateful all the time isn’t easy. But it’s when you least feel thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: perspective. Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest most powerful way to effect change in your life — this I know for sure."  -Oprah Winfrey

A Tribute to my Mom

Its been a month since my mother passed to the other side of mortality. I've thought often about the concepts that came to me in the middle of the night - ideas of what to share at her funeral. I was given thoughts about her crown, her scepter and the kingdom - ideas symbolic of what she lived every day of her life so well.  The words I shared then are close to the following:

The week prior to mom's passing was sacred and miraculous. There were angels in the room. One of those angels on this side of the veil was my sweet compassionate sister Kathy who helped make those moments sweet, tender and sacred.  There was so much heaven was trying to teach me.  I hope the things I am learning may be helpful to you.  As she moved in and out of sleep for a week, the phrase repeated most often was "I love you. forever." If you are looking for a message personally to you - I'm delivering it in her words. "I love you forever."

 

I begin with the idea that mom is a queen. As one grandchild said, ""She is more queen than the queen of England." I will use the imagery of a crown, a scepter and a kingdom to try to convey what mom knew. Mom said: 

 

"To become a wife, then a mother, is the greatest blessing and honor of my life. I regard it as the highest holiest most sacred calling to be given me. to become a mother, is one of the most glorious gifts of all."

 

This is the crown - the crown of identity and moral authority.

.When I was raising many small children close together I often cried out for light.  What saved me was my mother's knowledge of God's Plan.  I KNEW my mom had something most precious. .  I knew it.  In those challenging days I would regularly show up at her house with my children, worn out and crying for love and validation. She poured her love over all of us and helped me get through many difficult days. President Nelson said: 

“No one can do what a righteous woman can do. No one can duplicate the influence of a mother. ... Women have a special gift for [communicating the love of Heavenly Father and the Savior to others]—a divine endowment. You have the capacity to sense what someone needs—and when he or she needs it.

This divine endowment of seeing and responding to needs can be found in what our family members have shared over time:

• A grandson said: "My favorite thing about grandma is that no matter what you are going through or however hard of a day you are having, grandma will make you feel like you are worth a million bucks."
• A daughter in law said: "She always makes you feel the center of attention..."
• A son said: "I love how Mom will always just sit and talk to you as if you were the only one in the the world! Doesn’t matter what she’s doing, she’ll stop and just focus on you and listening to you with such intent and excitement."
• A daughter in law said: "[She always] gave me a hug when I came through the door. [She] always make me feel loved and appreciated. "
• A grandson said:  “What I love about Grandma is how she has always expressed interest in what I am doing and what my current plans are."
• Last night a friend said:  "I always feel better after being with her."

In her humble way she focused on others. She was never a drama queen. She never had to be the center. It wasn't about her. She hugged, she wrote notes, she shared her famous onion bread, she listened, she really listened.

 

I remember calling my mom from the UN in New York to wish her a happy birthday.  I remember the stark contrast of the voices devaluing motherhood  in the hallways of the United Nations, while I talked with my mother who truly understood identity and put deep into my soul God's plan of love, family and motherhood. The contrast of her voice and their voices stands out clearly in my mind. She understood things that they did not. 

 

That is why I think sometimes the crown looks invisible. The power of mothers to teach the divine is almost hidden from view.  In a similar thread, one of moms favorite quotes is from "The Little Prince,"  "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye. " My Mom could see. What matters was visible to mom.  Her dance of identity came from deep within - she knew it, loved it and lived it. 

 

Lets add to the crown.  My mom had a scepter - a scepter of power from which she drew strength.

This scepter wasn't to rule others with. This is how she governed herself.  What do you do when the world is dark and full of deceit?  When your oldest daughter is dying? When life doesn't make sense?  When life is HARD! How do you gather the strength to be a queen? The answer is you don't rule others, you rule yourself.  This is influence. Mom didn't control people she disciplined her soul .

With what? What is this scepter? This is the scepter of gratitude.  This is not a shallow gratitude of "I'm so grateful for everything."  It was a profound gratitude to God because she knew she could trust Him. I used to think maybe it was naiveté. it wasn't. She made an intentional choice to be grateful. It wasn't just the teaching from Grandma Jean which she would often share, "If you can't say something nice -don't say anything at all."  This if more than a "just be nice" policy. It is a power and weapon to fight the darkness. It came from seeing Gods hand in all things. Mom always said, "God is in charge."

 

When you see God's hand everywhere, you realize you are part of something grander and greater than you can imagine.  And when you see that, you are filled with joy. My mom was filled with joy. 

 

Much of this was learned in the fiery furnace of Julie's health difficulties. Julie's health problems were complex. Julie had near forty surgeries and eighty two doctors, therapists and anesthesiologists. Pain was near constant. Answers were not there.  After she passed away at age 30 mom wrote: 

"I think of Julie as she continues to bless my life daily.  If I were an artist, I would paint her relieved of pain. She would be radiant, whole and well, experiencing great happiness and joy.  She would be surrounded by her many loved ones who have also gone on to the other side of the veil. .. .Faith is a gift. I fasted and prayed with all my heart and learned to turn it over the Lord. I did not always understand, but I knew He did. Hope is a gift.  Julie's hope was in the resurrection and its promise of a perfect and strong body.  Doctors could not offer solutions. Life's dreams of marriage, family and a normal life were not feasible. Still she developed hope. Someday, she knew it would be made right. ...Gratitude is a gift. Where others might have found it difficult to be thankful,  Julie expressed gratitude over every tiny little gesture performed in her behalf.... a trait developed through great heartache and anguish."

Mom took this compassion and faith with her to Baltimore where she served a mission with Dad. The first night they became completely lost in a maze of freeways and miraculously arrived through prayer. (This was before GPS.)  Another night they had a flat tire in the middle of downtown Baltimore in the night. Miraculously a man showed up and said, I have been sent to help you. My mom saw God's hand all through their mission. A granddaughter said:

“You have taught me so much about being a woman, being a daughter of God and a future wife.  You are my hero and example that I want to exemplify in my life. You have overcome some of the most bitter trials that life has to offer and yet at the end of the day; you are a radiant beam of sun giving thanks to God always. “

She trusted God, she danced the dance of gratitude with her scepter of power and majesty. 

 

Third thought:  With Dad she created a kingdom.  

Building a kingdom for them was to create a refuge and protection from the world - a haven from the world to teach the laws and covenants of God to their children. Mom wrote a children’s book:  "How a House became a Home." In its simplest form she was writing the pattern to creating a loving kingdom as she understood it from the raw materials of mortality. The last page is says "This is not the end."  I love that. It wasn't the end. The love and its surrounding kingdom lives on. Creating and loving is what the Gods do.  

Mom loved creation - appreciating God's beautiful landscapes, birds and nature. She loved to sew,  create a beautiful table, and arrange flowers. 

Their kingdom was not only for creation, but also a place to renew and heal.  It was a place of truth. It was a place of non-judgment. I marvel continually at mom's ability to not judge, reprove, or reject. One grandson said, “The thing I love about grandma is that no matter how dirty I was after working with Grandpa, she would still give me a hug.” 

 

On being accepting I think of a few weeks ago, we brought up something at the table. And she disagreed, or maybe I disagreed but we were all the better for it.  We each could learn from what the other could see. And like a hundred other things she didn't judge me for it. It was independent of the relationship. This is glorious. This is what would heal families, nations and our world.  unity wasn't agreeing with each other. Unity was to love each other and God.

 

Mom knew who she was.  Her crown of identity was secure. Her scepter of gratitude and joy carried her through the darkness and together with Dad, they build a kingdom - a haven.

 

So I made a list of things I could do to emulate mom, like be more grateful and joyful, make home clean & beautiful, and then I realized that isn’t it. I needed to go back a layer. My actions may be different as I apply the crown, the scepter and kingdom. It is what SHE KNEW about womanhood.  She was true to her mission.  A mission largely lost to and rejected by the world. I need to ponder to know more about this divine essential role and how it relates to the world I live in. It isn't just being more grateful and joyful. It's trusting God. It's seeing that God is in charge, letting the gratitude and joy flow.  Its taking the raw materials of my generation to build a haven and kingdom, a refuge city from the world. 

 

Of the 2000 stripling warriors,  scripture records, "We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

I do not doubt. My MOTHER KNEW IT. She knew the treasures of the kingdom.

 

She knew it, she loved it she lived it. She heard the music and danced the dance. She  laid it out  when she said all week, "I love you forever, forever, forever." 

 

As my niece and I sat on either side of Mom almost spiritual midwives and witnesses to an exit and entrance between the worlds, I had distinct and overwhelming and powerful feelings of joy and gratitude for her living true to her mission and God's plan. I felt a greater understanding of the power and gift of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ as it pertains to eternal family and the resurrection.

 

Thank you mom! Thank you for teaching us and still teaching us. For loving us and still loving us.  I thank God for his joyful plan and the gift of Jesus that makes it all possible.

 

 

 

  

Angels in the Room

There were angels in the room. I just spent one of the most sacred weeks of my life as my mom prepared to graduate from mortality with flying colors which she did last Friday. She gave grace. She loved. She made the choice to be grateful. She made the choice to feel joy. And she set the quintessential example of not judging. This was a week of love, saying goodbye and miracles. Just moments after her passing while pondering the goodness of her life, I felt a new distinct glimpse of understanding of the magnificence of the gift of Jesus which allows families to be reunited. It was a teaching from heaven straight to my heart. I am filled with gratitude for my mother's love and faith and God's mercy.  

 -facebook post 

Harnessing Intergenerational Power

As a young boy, my Dad broke a grocery store window, scattered hay on the floor of the neighbors barn and stole a crescent wrench. Years later, my Dad was known far and wide as a man of great integrity. How did this happen?

In my Dad's history he recorded the three instances: "The owner informed that the cost of the plate glass window in the Depression was about ten dollars. Prior to this time I had never even had fifty cents to my name. I could hardly hold my head up from crying as my father asked me to come and give him the details concerning this unfortunate event and accident. At the end, he said, 'Tom, we must do the right thing' and he located ten dollars for me to take to this store owner the next morning. ...you will never know how hard it was to take my father's last ten dollars at the bottom of the Depression to pay for a plate glass window that had been caused by my unfortunate negligence and caper."

After my Dad and his cousins pushed the towers of hay over, he says, "My father then instructed that I must ask Bishop Beardahl for forgiveness and promise never to do it again. Again the lessons of life, especially responsibility were beginning at an early age and were developing in my mind."

When the wrench was discovered, “[My dad] instructed me that I must go back and knock on the door, return the wrench and ask for her forgiveness for my stealing of the wrench... This was a terrifying experience to go this 70 or 80 year old stern, eccentric lady, admit that I had done wrong, stole her wrench, and ask for her forgiveness. I can remember riding my bike up and down Wilson Avenue..at least five or six times...." Then he wrote: "Oh, how thankful I am for my father's principles and teachings..."

This story is a treasure to me – and more powerful to me and my children than an entire book on honesty. I'm so grateful for my father's principles and teachings. And I'm grateful for his father's commitment to integrity. They teach me and my children with their lives and their words, with examples and stories. Blessed is the man or woman who has stories in their hands and hearts from their family history to give them direction, strength and purpose.

You harness intergenerational power when you

gather, share and protect your family history stories.

- Diane Fisher

Jesus of Nazareth Taught Radical Ideas

If following Christ means making mistakes and getting up again and again, seeking His word and  trying to live his teachings then I am a Christian. In my growing up years, it seemed simple. The instructions that went with Jesus of Nazareth at Sunday School were BE NICE. That seemed doable enough. Especially when people were nice back. 

But since then I'm finding Jesus meant to overthrow the prevailing cultural philosophies of then and now. He taught radical ideas.

What is radical? Overthrowing the current thought. Revolutionary. Dramatic change. As recorded in Luke 6 Jesus says:

32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them....

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

That is different than the prevailing thought.  Love those that don't love you. Love those against you. This is revolutionary and can see I haven't progressed very far. The difficulty I may have experienced in my life doesn't even begin to compare to the enemies of war torn countries, or the tragedy of crime, and needless loss of life. 

A second radical thought: I believe the distinct message I got in high school was the purpose of it all was to go out and earn money. Made sense. Food on the table. But Jesus taught in Matthew 25 that we are to feed the hungry, take care of the stranger, visit those in prison, visit the sick and if we fail to take care of the poor in this manner he will say Depart from me, and we will go into "everlasting fire." Taking care of the poor is not an alternative side event - it is a life focus. 

A third radical thought: Jesus is the only way to God. John 14:6 states: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

No eternal anything except through Jesus! And there is the most beautiful doctrine. Jesus of Nazareth encourages us to COME.  Come to Him. He offers rest. He offers peace. He asks for our faith and our repentance and offers the kingdom in return. He can do that because He paid the price of our sins. He died for us and intercedes in our behalf. 

He invites us to try this out. He invites us to Come. Again and again. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).He invites us to try out his teachings and follow His life and he applauds our sincere but clumsy attempts. 

I'm continually inspired by people who do just those things. They embrace His radical teachings and counter the prevailing philosophies of our day. I learn of Lebanese people who reach out to their Syrian enemies, and feed them and teach their children. I read of a grieving father who reaches out in love to the drunken teenager who killed his wife and children. I marvel as I learn of a loving librarian who talked to a gunman ready to shoot in a school.  She spoke lovingly to this young man and talked him out of the tragedy he intended to carry out. Lincoln appointed a member to his cabinet that had opposed him and spread lies about him. Corrie Ten Boom after experiencing the horror and degradation of Nazi concentration camps is able to reach out in forgiveness to one of her captors. And thousands, millions more examples of people who embrace this unheard of law of giving love for evil and turning towards Jesus of Nazareth, knowing that hope and healing can be found in Him.  

The results of these radical teachings? More love and less hate in the world. Light and life radiating outwards. Those who seek to apply the teachings of Jesus become better people. They are more kind, they see clearly. They let go of life destroying hate that shrinks the soul. And in many cases, the transforming redemptive power of love reaches out to the oppressive and offending one, causing them to change. These radical ideas bring miracles - the miracle each one of us individually so desperately needs as well as the world. I love these words by Shawna Edwards:

Jesus is a God of miracles

Nothing is at all impossible to Him

But I know this:

Of all His miracles the most incredible must be

The miracle that rescues me

The miracle that rescues you and me.

-Shawna Edwards

Re-Creating Self - Another Story

My soul is renewed every time I contemplate the story of Jean Valjean an ex-convict in 19th-century France. His story is told in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.  Not too long ago I saw the stage play and marveled again at this man whose life was changed by a priest who showed him kindness.  The priest feeds and gives Jean Valjean a place to stay for the night.  Valjean takes most of the priests silver and runs off in the night. When the police capture and return him, the priest tells the police that the silver was given as a gift and chastises Valjean for not taking the silver candlesticks as well.  After the police leave, the priest tells Valjean to use the silver to become and honest man. Instead of seeing himself as the world did, a dishonest fugitive, he now cries out "I'm Jean Valjean!" This declaration is prompted from the compassion and mercy of the priest and helps Valjean re - create a new life and identity. 

How do we re-create our lives? How do we deal with our past that is continually creating our present unless we mark it with intention and turn the ship in a new direction? How do we take patterns or concepts of ourselves that have not served us well, and make them the catalyst for progress? If we can't answer this question, it is easy to be stuck. Not moving. And we don't like that. One of my children pointed out that I needed to sort myself out. In my attempts to do that and in the philosophical and psychological traditional that continuing progress is possible, I recommend the following ideas for conquering, reframing and moving forward. Note here this is my list from me to me. If you find something valuable here, that is a bonus for us both. 

1. Identify the defining moments, critical choices and pivotal people in your life. (This idea is from "Self Matters," by Phillip C. McGraw, PhD.)  

Write these out and look carefully at your self concept that came out of these three areas. Rewrite any scripts to fit the new you. Negative experiences can be reframed to identify new values we want to live now, and personal power to act in new ways because of the understanding that experience, choice or person provided. 

I am so inspired by stories of people who have experienced difficult things and then draw out compassion and direction from their difficulties. The converse is also true. People, choices and moments that gave us positive identity and strength can be lasting personal signposts.

My Dad tells the story of a elementary school experience when all the children piled the desks and chairs against the door. When the teacher came in and asked who did it, one girl stepped forward and said "I did."  The teacher then said there was one honest girl in the room. On that day, my Dad decided he would be honest. He wanted to be known like Iris Thomas for being honest. 

2. Make a bucket list.

Oh the possibilities! The places you'll go! Setting an intention causes the universe to start aligning with you. 

3. Do something new - something out of your comfort zone. 

Yes. So I jumped out of a plane. I really did the skydiving thing a few months ago with some dear friends. I went for courage. I went for a redefinition of self. I came out of it with some instructions on redefining myself. If you want to add new things - you have to let go. But that is a post for another day.

4. Do something you have put off. 

One sad and bad pattern I am facing is organization and cleaning. I had a prior vision of myself as too busy and overworked and overwhelmed to live those laws. Now I face a personality of pulling stuff out, but not being able to put it back together. Simple tasks like cleaning the linen closet and the paper and card drawer and celebrating my finished successes are healing and renewing. 

5. Ask trusted people around you to tell you what they can see about you that you cannot. 

Yes. This takes a bit of reckless courage. When two family members told me, I was stunned. It was clear that I couldn't see it, because at first it didn't make sense.  From this came two paradigm shifts on how I view my life. This is a reckless act of courage I highly recommend. What I learned is a post for another day.  

6. Take time to be still. 

Still figuring this one out. So easy for some. There are truths and understandings that cannot come in the busyness of life.  My spots are the porch. Early morning. Mountains. 

So back to John Val Jean.  His life was being true to the vision of who he really was. It was continually realigning his choices with his new identity and the promises he made. It was launched by kindness.  What kindness can we do for others to help them launch into healthier paths? And what values can we fix our vision to as we re - create the truest version of ourselves? Those questions are at the core of our identity and the new story we create. 

"Another story must begin."

-Jean Valjean