Harvest Time at the Farm

It's harvest time at the farm. I'm older now, about nine I think. My uncertain fingers grasp grapple with husks and silk as my brothers cut and scrape the corn off the husks. Some of the canning covering the end of the table in the front yard are empty, but not for long. We take turns scooping the corn into the jars. After awhile I put several filled jars on a cookie sheet and, carefully balancing them, carry them into the house.

A blast of heat hits me as I enter the kitchen. The galvanized boiler on the back of the blackened kitchen range bubbles and smacks. Flames leap from the stove as Mother lifts the lid and shoves in more wood. Sweat drips off her forehead, stray hairs straggle from the bun on the back of her head.

All of sudden she burst into song. "Oh, it's hard to be a Christian. Oh, it's hard to be a Christian. Oh, it's hard to be a Christian day by day."

I stare at her. Well if it's so hard be a Christian, why bother?

I've often looked back at that memory. I understand now what she meant. Sometimes it is hard to keep persevering, to keep on when everything inside wants to curl up and quit. Sometimes I'd rather have the quiet rest -- that place of intimacy and love I experience in my quiet times. I want to hear My Lord's whisper "I will give you rest." And He does.  Except the other times are there, too.  I only wish I knew how to put the two together.

I have a feeling Paul struggled in this area, too. He writes in 2 Timothy 4:10, "And for this we labor and strive." Colossians 1:29 says, "I labor, struggling with all His energy, which works so powerfully in me." Paul is laboring, but because he's in partnership with the Spirit of God, there's also rest and strength.

When we can't hang on any longer, we can cry out.  He embraces us with mighty love and in His right hand is power and strength and mercy and grace. Our God is near to each of His children in their struggles.

He's not there just for the crisis. He's present for the dailies and the plain hard work of just living.

Everybody Loves a Story

Everybody loves a story and telling stories is what I do best. It’s the heart of what I love most, conversing with my family, writing, speaking--even teaching writing which comes naturally, because I don’t teach mathematics or physics.

Twenty-four weeks out of the year you can find me teaching Writing Your Life Story classes for the continuing education department of Portland Community College. The classes meet at the Tigard Senior Center two days a week on Wednesday and Thursday mornings and I love teaching them.

The stories my students write have taken me around the world and back again. I’ve tasted a bit of what it’s like to be a prisoner of War during World II, to travel as a stowaway from Turkey on a ship to Canada in the early 1900’s. I’ve even flown to Pakistan to hunt snakes. I’ve lived in Washington D.C--watched our president and first lady in a parade waving as they were escorted through the streets, experienced a dust storm on a farm in the Midwest and discovered what rationing was like in the great depression. I’ve done these things all in one morning because the students in my classes read their stories out loud.

My students get to help each other make one another’s stories better too, and I get to help. Our Writing Your Life Story class is a highlight for all of us. Everybody loves a story and everyone can write one. And I’ll tell you a secret. You’re the only one who can write your life story because only you know what happened, because you lived it. Because you did, you help others experience it too. Isn’t that the neatest paradox?

Everybody loves a story and now you know why I’m writing this blog. This winter and spring when I teach my classes, I’ll take you with me and you’ll be encouraged to tell your stories to others. Maybe even write them the way the students in my classes do. So welcome aboard to Everybody Loves a Story. If you’re interested come along.

I’d even like to invite those who have no desire to write their story but want to write fiction and non-fiction. I’ve done both of those and although I write mostly in the Christian arena, good writing is still good writing. And Everybody Loves a Story.