In celebration of women's groups........

I think I am still sort of in that "funk" I talked about yesterday.  Today I have been remembering a very special women's group that I was a part of for about 5 years.  I am so missing this group right now!  It was so sad when this group ended about 5 years ago.  This small group was usually about 8 women, and over the years, we lost a couple and gained a couple.  So I would say that there were most likely about 12 or 13 different women who at some point, were in this close fellowship.  We met to pray, support and listen to each other.  Once a year we would have a retreat - a time of closer and deeper prayer, fellowship and learning.  I learned so many things from this wonderful collection of women............things that continue to speak to me - years away from this group. 

*I learned to be totally honest and open.  And in that, I found acceptance and love.  What a gift.

*I learned that prayer really works!  We had these blue sheets of paper with our names listed and each week, we would take a new paper and write the prayer concerns of each person under their name.  And over the years, so many of these concerns where taken care of.  And these were heavy, important things.  I knew that this group of women took these prayer concerns seriously.

*I learned who I could trust and depend on. These gals were always there for me (and in fact, some of them are STILL there for me!)

*I learned to not take myself so seriously.  These women helped me to laugh at myself and also to understand more clearly, parts of my inner self - my personality. 

*I learned to see myself as Jesus sees me.  And to know more clearly, the plan and destiny that the Father has for me. 

*I learned that sometimes each person has a part of the message that you need to hear.  You need to be in the group to hear the entire message.

Yes, this helps me see why I miss this group so much!  We had such a good time together.  Our retreats include some memorable moments of their own.  Let's see -  The hotel where we had 3 fire alarms! (After the first 2 we didn't even leave our rooms for #3).  Then the next year we were at a different hotel and once again, there was a fire alarm.  Another gal and I figured we didn't need to leave the building - we were in the swimming pool!  We had incredible worship, even though we used CD's and some of the most intense prayer and ministry time that I have ever been a part of. 
There was also the time that I almost had the entire group of women ready to kill me because I purposely "destroyed" an art project they had worked on for several hours. These are precious memories to me.

My encouragement to all reading this (and to myself) is to find yourself a small group - NOW!  There is a reason that Jesus had his "inner circle" of disciples.  This was his small group.  And today I am seeing the void that is in my own life because I do not have this right now.  So finding (or creating) a women's group has moved to the top of my "to do" list!

Jesus, thank you for surrounding me with women when I most needed them.  Holy Spirit, you know exactly what I need right now and you know those women who need this kind of a group.  Jesus, would you bring these kind of small groups together - not only for me - but for the many others who are feeling alone right now.  Thank you that you are in the business of relationships.   And Jesus will you bless Pam, Diane, Jane, Kathy, Lynn, Becky, and Kay, and remind them of our wonderful little group.  Amen

Thoughts about my dad - part one

So I woke up this morning thinking about the receiver/transmitter word from yesterday.  The first thought I had was that the concept of a "receiver and transmitter" is really very old-fashioned.  I mean who even really thinks about a radio or stereo any more?  I remember my brother having a "receiver" and speakers for his radio when I was very young.  I also remember him "transmitting" over his ham radio.  Now its all cell phones and satellites and cable TV.  What was really on my mind was my dad. I realized this morning, that Tuesday would be my dad's 100th birthday if he were alive.  All this thinking about electronics was certainly a part of the reason I have had him so much on my mind.  So, I have decided to share more about my dad over the next couple of days, in honor of his birth anniversary.  Every time I begin to tell my family stories on this blog, I stop and wonder if my versions of these stories would differ from my own siblings. The only thing I can do is tell the stories the way that I remember them and trust that in them, there is truth. 

(This is my dad, Harry A. Johnson, in 1931)

My dad was born on a farm in a small town near the intersection of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota.  He was the 8th child.  I have already told a little bit of the story of his parents (see my blog post  "Modern Miracles").  He grew up working on the farm.  His siblings were quite a bit older than him, so some of them married and/or moved away from home when my dad was young.  He was especially close to his brother, Walfred, who was 20 years older than him. My dad was only 32 when his father died and Walfred was always like a father for him. I remember my dad talking about not being very happy on the farm.  He always told me that very early on, he knew that he did NOT want to be a farmer.  He wanted to go to school.  During high school he lived "in town" above a bakery and worked there to earn some money and go to school.  After his graduation he told his family that he wanted to go into "electronics".  Now my grandfather, still very tied to his Swedish ways, told my dad that he needed to stay at home and help on the farm.  He was sure that there was no future in these new fangled things like radios.  But my dad was determined to follow his own path.  I am sure that Jesus had a part in my dad applying for a job in Watertown, South Dakota, to be an appliance repairman.  My mom was a clerk in that Montgomery Ward store and remembers the day that she and her good friend saw the stranger come in to talk to the store manager.  She told me that he carried a bag that they thought looked like a doctors bag.  So they referred to him as "the doctor".   That bag held his tools and he was hired that day.  Wards would become my dad's home for his entire working career of 43 years.  The only time he wasn't working for them was during World War II.  And he met my mother that day.  Electronics were certainly my dad's life. One of my earliest memories was having a TV when we lived in South Dakota.  There was very limited programming and sometimes we could get a signal from somewhere and see a program.  But we had a TV!  We actually had a color TV in our house before there were any programs telecast in color.  I remember us all sitting around waiting for the NBC peacock to come on in color!  This was the early 1960's.  (We always joked that all we saw of the first color programs was my dad's backside because he would be hunched over adjusting the color settings in front of the television set.)  We had a "radar-range" oven also, before anyone had even heard of microwaves.  One of my favorite summer activities when I had "nothing to do" was to take the very large box of tubes and the big box tube tester.  I would sit for hours, finding the correct slot and plugging in those tubes.  Then flicking that switch and the tube would either light up or not.  Of course even the "bad" tubes were never thrown out.  My dad would always hang on to things "in case he needed them".  Nothing was "junk" to my dad. (When my siblings cleaned out the garage after my dad died, they all laughed when the only empty drawer on his tool bench was labled "junk".  Everything else was full!) These things were something that he knew that someday, he would use.  I am convinced that if my dad had been alive beyond 1985, he would have embraced the computer. He was always keeping up with whatever the new thing was in electronics and appliances.  I had a transistor radio in grade school and everyone in high school was jealous of my 45 record changer.  Yep, he knew about receivers and transmitters. 

What is so amazing to me about this part of my dad's story, is the strength and courage that he had to walk outside of what was expected of him.  He did not just go with the flow and stay on the farm.  He was willing to take risks and follow his heart.  What a blessing it is for me to remember these traits of my dad.  And it is such a blessing for me to see that these spiritual seeds have impacted my own children in so many ways.  I love that Yahweh uses everything to shape us and our lives.  I love that I can trust that the Holy Spirit will remind me of the ways that my ancestors were walking in their destiny.  And it gives me encouragement to step out and try new things.  To not be a "sitter" but to find ways to be a "transmitter". 

Thank you Yahweh for reminding me about my dad.  Thank you for allowing me to see and appreciate more deeply, the roots of my family.  Yahweh, it is so amazing to think about the ways that you have worked in and preserved my family.  Thank you for showing us all what we need.  Jesus, help us to continue to go deeper and to understand more clearly all that you are giving to us as your transmitters.   Amen

 PS -  I just had to attach my son Doug's graduation picture.  I can't get over how much he looks like my dad!   And watch in the next couple of days, for more of my dad's story!