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!

 

Not content with sitting anymore!

This is a very old picture of our house.  The same house we have lived in since 1978 - which is when this picture was taken.  We were in the process of moving in when this was taken.  I had a somewhat surreal experience today.  I was walking back to the house after getting the mail at about 3:00pm on a Saturday afternoon.  When I reached the front sidewalk by our house, I just stopped.  The neighborhood was totally quiet.  There was not a sound from any direction.  There were no children, no bikes, no kids playing.  There was not even any lawn mowers or people working on their houses or cars.  Simply quiet. The mark of a "changing neighborhood".  Not the way some might think - but simply aging.  Now, to be fair, there are some children in our neighborhood.  In fact, right next door.  But they are not home much.  In the immediate 12 houses, the two preschoolers next door are the only kids under the age of 16.  When Gwen started kindergarten, there were 15 kindergarten kids picked up at the bus stop right in front of our house!  And that was just one of many stops in our neighborhood.  How times have changed.  I miss the noisy play of the kids riding bikes and skateboards up and down the block.  I miss the laughing and the running and the fun.   I loved to sit out front and watch the action on the block.  Some of my favorite memories are of that time, sitting!

Which brings me to today's revelation.  Today I was thinking about this year at work.  Both families that I work for are in the process of moving into new homes.  And both homes are undergoing renovations.   I am sure that Yahweh will be speaking to me about this in the coming months.  He is in the business of restoration projects!  But then suddenly I heard the words "You are not a sitter".  At first I just kind of thought, "No, I'm not a sitter, I am a nanny".  (Since I was thinking about work, this made sense.)  But then I realized what Yahweh was saying to me.  He was actually giving me some very important direction for my life.  And I love the way that he often speaks to me in word plays.  Then Jesus went on to give me some further direction.  I am not to be just a receiver, I need to be a transmitter.  This is actually what Yahweh wants for ALL of us.  We should not just be receiving from Him, without giving out.

Today's message is DON'T BE A SITTER (JUST A  RECEIVER ) BE A TRANSMITTER! 

I looked up the word transmitter in the dictionary.  Once again thanks to Websters online dictionary, I found that a transmitter is a necessary component of communication that broadcasts or sends out, to be received by others.  The second definition was, something that amplifies and modulates what it receives into a meaningful sound that can be interpreted. 

Yep, Jesus wants us to be transmitters of all that he is putting into us! We each need to take in everything that Yahweh is speaking to us, through His word, through others around us, through teachers.  But then we need to let the Holy Spirit in us, be the one that amplifies and/or modulates what we have taken in.  In that way our sharing with others will be understood and meaningful. The mistake that I have been making (and many others make) is to just be content with SITTING!  We just take in and take in.  We have learned to be good receivers.  But we haven't gone to that next level and learned to be TRANSMITTERS!  It does take practice.  We need to let the Holy Spirit remind us when and what to share.  But we need to be expectant and willing.    I am thankful for this blog that has allowed me to get some practice in being a transmitter.  And I will look for more ways to broadcast the amazing things that I have been receiving.

Yahweh, thank you for speaking to me in such a personal way.  You know exactly how to get my attention.  Jesus I love that you speak into my life and give me direction and guidance, even when I am not really asking.  Help us all to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit giving us directions and encouragement to share. Help us to remember to not just be SITTERS.  Give us your desire to be transmitters.   It is so neat that your plan is to use us as your transmitters!  You are a great and wonderful God.  Amen