Marching to the Beat
Mom always said that she and Dad raised us kids to be independent. If independence means that we think for ourselves and don't follow the crowd, then they succeeded. You might say that we each march to the beat of a different drummer. But being different isn't necessarily intentional, and it isn't always easy. I've often identified with Kermit the Frog, who sang "It Isn't Easy Being Green." But I noticed that even Kermit usually made the best of whatever his so-called life had to offer.
My siblings and I were the only kids we knew who lived in an apartment in a hotel. We worked in the family business, even when we were very young, because we were needed. My first cooking experiences were not on a kitchen stove, but on the flat grill in the Mary-Etta Cafe. Since we didn't have a yard to play in, we spent long afternoons in Fairbury's beautiful parks, and my family went for extensive walks in the country long before hiking became popular. We may not have had a yard, but we kept two horses, Ginger and Bob, at Crystal Springs, where we spent a lot of time caring for them, riding them, and training Bob to pull a buggy-- but that's another story.
As a child, I didn't care if the clothes I wore were or weren't in style. I loved hand-me-downs! Mom even let me wear clothes that clashed. As I think back, I sometimes wish she hadn't let me wear such unique ensembles to school.
Dan often rode his bike to the City Park in Fairbury, where he would climb the tallest tree, sitting up there for hours, just reading or daydreaming. If he wasn't back in time for supper, I rode my bike to the park and called to him, up in the treetops, to head on home.
As a preschooler, Laura patiently followed Mom or Dad (or me) all over the hotel building. When she walked with Dad, she held onto his expandable key chain, which was always clipped onto his belt. When she pulled the chain so far out that she reached the end, he knew he had to slow down. Laura was able to help out long before she started to school. She wasn't too young, even at the age of three, to place a sprig of parsley on each dinner plate before it was served to a waiting guest.
Reading was a passion for all of us. We practically haunted the public library in the summer, and spent hours reading.
We learned Bible stories when we were very young. We were never too busy for church activities. As children, we attended Sunday School and church nearly every Sunday; we loved VBS and Junior Choir, but Saturday School confirmation classes, not so much. When we got older, we rarely missed youth group. Dan and I were "regulars" at the Anchor, the local Christian coffee house. We both became passionate about singing Christian music. We all learned to love God and trust in Him, even when times were hard.
Now, as adults, we have each taken different paths. Dan moved his family far away from Nebraska, to southern Illinois, so he could be a broadcast engineer and producer for a group of Christian television stations. He and Pat chose to home-school their three children. Dan has been a music minister in his church, and even preaches on occasion. He and others in his family have taken numerous mission trips to many places, in and out of this country.
Laura married young; a few years later, as a struggling single mom, she went to college to become a medical assistant. Since then, she's worked in an opthamologist's office in Hastings. She married a firefighter, who is now the fire chief, and helped raise two step-children after their mother died. She loves her children and grandchildren and pets passionately. She and Kent have enjoyed several trips to exotic places. Laura has overcome much adversity in the past and in recent years, and is stronger because of it.
And me? Bill and I were married while I was still attending college. I worked extra hard so I could graduate after only three years, because Bill was anxious to move to Michigan. I taught in Lutheran schools for several years, but chose to work only at part time jobs when our girls were young. Now, when most public school teachers my age are thinking about retirement, I feel like I'm just beginning. I love my job teaching young children who have a wide variety of abilities. I make time to play the bass in church, and write a blog. Bill has started new businesses and invented new technology, and travels all over the world because of it. Sometimes, I get to go with him. Besides all that, we provided foster care for several children, and we've adopted two wonderful children who are now seven and fifteen years old, similar in age to the grandchildren of many of our peers.
I guess that our adult lives are no more typical than our childhood was. I wonder if anyone's life is truly "typical." Regardless, we all keep marching to the beat, attempting to keep our eyes firmly "fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." (Hebrews 12: 2) He's not really a drummer, but He might as well be.
My siblings and I were the only kids we knew who lived in an apartment in a hotel. We worked in the family business, even when we were very young, because we were needed. My first cooking experiences were not on a kitchen stove, but on the flat grill in the Mary-Etta Cafe. Since we didn't have a yard to play in, we spent long afternoons in Fairbury's beautiful parks, and my family went for extensive walks in the country long before hiking became popular. We may not have had a yard, but we kept two horses, Ginger and Bob, at Crystal Springs, where we spent a lot of time caring for them, riding them, and training Bob to pull a buggy-- but that's another story.
As a child, I didn't care if the clothes I wore were or weren't in style. I loved hand-me-downs! Mom even let me wear clothes that clashed. As I think back, I sometimes wish she hadn't let me wear such unique ensembles to school.
Dan often rode his bike to the City Park in Fairbury, where he would climb the tallest tree, sitting up there for hours, just reading or daydreaming. If he wasn't back in time for supper, I rode my bike to the park and called to him, up in the treetops, to head on home.
As a preschooler, Laura patiently followed Mom or Dad (or me) all over the hotel building. When she walked with Dad, she held onto his expandable key chain, which was always clipped onto his belt. When she pulled the chain so far out that she reached the end, he knew he had to slow down. Laura was able to help out long before she started to school. She wasn't too young, even at the age of three, to place a sprig of parsley on each dinner plate before it was served to a waiting guest.
Reading was a passion for all of us. We practically haunted the public library in the summer, and spent hours reading.
We learned Bible stories when we were very young. We were never too busy for church activities. As children, we attended Sunday School and church nearly every Sunday; we loved VBS and Junior Choir, but Saturday School confirmation classes, not so much. When we got older, we rarely missed youth group. Dan and I were "regulars" at the Anchor, the local Christian coffee house. We both became passionate about singing Christian music. We all learned to love God and trust in Him, even when times were hard.
Now, as adults, we have each taken different paths. Dan moved his family far away from Nebraska, to southern Illinois, so he could be a broadcast engineer and producer for a group of Christian television stations. He and Pat chose to home-school their three children. Dan has been a music minister in his church, and even preaches on occasion. He and others in his family have taken numerous mission trips to many places, in and out of this country.
Laura married young; a few years later, as a struggling single mom, she went to college to become a medical assistant. Since then, she's worked in an opthamologist's office in Hastings. She married a firefighter, who is now the fire chief, and helped raise two step-children after their mother died. She loves her children and grandchildren and pets passionately. She and Kent have enjoyed several trips to exotic places. Laura has overcome much adversity in the past and in recent years, and is stronger because of it.
And me? Bill and I were married while I was still attending college. I worked extra hard so I could graduate after only three years, because Bill was anxious to move to Michigan. I taught in Lutheran schools for several years, but chose to work only at part time jobs when our girls were young. Now, when most public school teachers my age are thinking about retirement, I feel like I'm just beginning. I love my job teaching young children who have a wide variety of abilities. I make time to play the bass in church, and write a blog. Bill has started new businesses and invented new technology, and travels all over the world because of it. Sometimes, I get to go with him. Besides all that, we provided foster care for several children, and we've adopted two wonderful children who are now seven and fifteen years old, similar in age to the grandchildren of many of our peers.
I guess that our adult lives are no more typical than our childhood was. I wonder if anyone's life is truly "typical." Regardless, we all keep marching to the beat, attempting to keep our eyes firmly "fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." (Hebrews 12: 2) He's not really a drummer, but He might as well be.
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