Motorcycle Marriage

My absolute favorite season of all our years together,

is the motorcycle season.

You logged thousands and thousands of miles through a dozen states

on a half dozen bikes with this scared, brave farm girl hanging on behind you.

We met good folks who ride, who used to ride, and who want to ride.

The only questions were "Where ya been? Where ya goin'? How d'ya like that Harley?"

You got me safely through wind, rain, hail, heat and cold;

 we snuggled in tents, spit bathed in convenience stores, and cooked corn on the motor.

You walked around with scripture passages taped on the back of your helmet,

so I could memorize on the way.

You helped me remember crazy stuff that passed through my brain,

so I could write it down when we stopped.

You took me out of my comfort zone

and gave me a chance be someone else.

Crazy as it was --- I loved it!

I love you, too.

Thanks for the memories.

Thanks for the adventures.

Happy Anniversary!

EVERYTHING I KNOW 

ABOUT MARRIAGE

 I LEARNED ON A MOTORCYCLE

·       LEAN TOGETHER INTO CURVES – IF ONE RIDER LEANS THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THE DRIVER COULD LOSE CONTROL OF THE BIKE AND CRASH.  THERE ARE MANY UNEXPECTED CURVES IN LIFE.  LEAN TOGETHER.

·       USE THE “FAST FOOD DRIVE-IN WINDOW METHOD OF COMMUNICATION” – SPEAK CLEARLY, USE AS FEW WORDS AS POSSIBLE, REPEAT WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD FROM YOUR PARTNER TO INSURE YOU UNDERSTAND.

·       PACK LIGHT – KEEP IT SIMPLE.  PAST AND PRESENT BAGGAGE CAN SLOW THE RIDE AND EVEN CHANGE YOUR DESTINATION.

·       HAVE A COMMON DESTINATION – YOU WON’T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT A GOAL.  AND IF YOU DON’T AGREE ON WHERE TO GO, YOU’LL NEVER GET ANYWHERE.

·       STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES – OR WILDFLOWERS, RAIN-SHOWERS, PINE TREES.  DON’T BE SO SET ON YOUR FINAL DESTINATION THAT YOU CANNOT ENJOY THE PRESENT.

·       DON’T OVERREACT – WHEN YOU GET A BUG IN YOUR FACE YOU CAN’T SCREAM, FLAIL YOUR ARMS AND STOMP.  BE CALM.  SMALL IRRITATIONS ARE NOT LIFE CHANGING, BUT COULD BE IF YOU OVERREACT.

·       KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT – THE MORE YOU TALK, THE BIGGER THE CHANCE OF EATING A BUG.

·       TELL YOUR PARTNER YOUR PROBLEMS, NOT THE OTHER PEOPLE ON THE ROAD – THEY CAN’T CHANGE A THING OR HELP YOU SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

·       TRUST YOUR PARTNER – DEPEND ON HIS SKILL AND EXPERIENCE.  HE DOES NOT LIKE BUMPS ANY MORE THAN YOU DO.

·       ENJOY THE REWARDS – WHEN YOU ARE HOT AND TIRED FROM THE JOURNEY, KNOW THAT RELIEF IS AHEAD.  SOMETIMES, THE ONLY REWARD WE NEED IS JUST A LITTLE RELIEF.

INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT &  HARLEY DAVIDSON

RECORDED BY TED & RENEE FLOYD

AUGUST 28, 1999

Local News

I love newspapers.

I like sitting in my easy chair and pouring over every word-

then I usually forget it all.

Wednesday's highlight here in Mayberry, North Dakota
 is the award-winning local newspaper. 

The key word is local.
L O C A L.
There's not one word about Washington.
Not even one.

I imagine that it's much the same as it was 50 years ago -

 wedding, baby shower, and anniversary invitations

School and senior dining menus

Columns written by a local state legislator,

a former newspaper editor,

and one written by the same lady for 40 years.

Everything in it is local-everything.

But the best is the goings on in this and three other 

surrounding small communities.

It goes something like this:

Llew and Gundrun Odegard went to Buelah 
last weekend to visit 

Omar and Marlene Jorgenson.

Sophie Torkildson spent a couple of days in Fargo

with Alf, Selmer, and Lila Olson.

Erling and Heide Hodenfield attended the lutefisk supper

at the Lutheren Church

with Arlie and Nelsie Gundersen.

OK.  You get the idea.

All these descendants of Norwegian Homesteaders

 give me a feeling of being in a foreign country. 

 I guess it kind of is.

But did you know that: 

Merle, Marlys, Marlene, Marsella, and Madelyn Murschel,

along with Loren, Livie, and Lyle Loken

all attended the 
Knudson - Knutson Wedding

in Hettinger. 
 The couple honeymooned in Bismarck.

Actually, reading these most informational news notes 
helps me learn 

who's who, 

who's related to who, 

and why they weren't in church on Sunday.

If my hometown Texas newspaper had similar articles, 
it might read something like this:

On Saturday, David and Mary Ann Smith 
drove 100 miles to go shop at the mall 
and ran into John Don and Carol Sue Jones 
at Sears.

 The Jones' saw Charlie and Susie Black 

in the food court
 and talked about how you have to go out of town
 to see everybody. 

The Blacks chatted with Joe and Kathy White 
at the gas station 

on the way home.

 The Whites waved at Jim Bob and Linda Brown 

as they passed the Sonic.

 Everybody else stayed home and visited in the

 Walmart parking lot. 

They just barely got there. 

Any resemblance to actual persons is purely coincidental. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Wonderful Mothers

Happy Mother's Day

to all you WONDERFUL Mothers out there!

Yep!
That's what it said.

I just read it on Facebook.

WONDERFUL!

But....

what about all us who were and are less than wonderful,

just doing the best we can do?

Like me - just trying to figure it out as I went along.

Certainly NOT wonderful.

Ann Voskamp of One Thousand Gifts fame, 

expressed my feelings about Mother's Day perfectly

 and much more eloquently than I ever could.  

To read her blog post, Why Mother's Day is for the Birds, click here.

Yes, it really is a Hallmark holiday and a profitable one, too.  

Because - 

Not every mama is honored.

Not every woman is able to become a mama.

Not every mama is a mother by choice.

Not every mama still has her children.

Not every mama is worthy of celebration.

Not everyone has a mama around.

My Grandma was just a tough, plain-spoken pioneer woman.

By the time I knew her, she had buried her husband and six of her 13 babies.

She had also raised five grandchildren when their mama abandoned them.

When I asked how she did it, she said,

"It hurts, but it won't kill you."

Her faith was like her life - plain and strong.

She washed, and she ironed, and she cooked, 

and she cleaned, and she made soap, and she sewed,

 and she drew water from a well and she mothered as best as she could

......and she planted flowers.

When my second baby was born with a death sentence - 

a genetic one - I wanted to know about Grandma's babies.

She wasn't around for me to ask, 

but she came to me in my dreams,

and I found comfort that I could get through it too.

She was around again, when that girl died at 18, 

once again offering her comfort.

My own Mama, the classic farm wife, 

was struck with cancer when her baby was still a baby,

 in days before chemotherapy, radiation, counseling, or support groups.  

They cut her from belly button to back bone, took out the cancer,
 sewed her up, and sent her home.

She recovered and cooked and cleaned and washed and ironed and sewed

and gardened and canned and painted and mothered as best she could

.......and she planted flowers

 Even as a 50 year cancer survivor, she never totally got over the fear.

And until her dying day, she regretted regretting having a baby to take care of
when she was so sick.

But she taught me all those wonderful homemaker skills for raising my family - 

I cooked and I cleaned and I washed and I ironed and I sewed 

and I mothered as best as I could figure out how

...and I planted flowers.

This precious, awesome daughter of mine

has turned the bad mothering she grew up with into good,

and the good into better.

She cooks and she cleans and she washes clothes 

and she's a soccer mom and she homeschools

and she teaches science and she teaches Bible Studies

and she teaches Holy Yoga and she's a wonderful mother

and guess what?

.....she plants flowers too.

Yes, let's celebrate the wonderful moms.

But let's also celebrate and encourage those (like me) who 

don't have a clue what to do with a baby,

the one's with mother hearts and none to mother,

the sons and daughters without a mother,

and the grandma's doing it again. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Plant Some Flowers

May Day 2013

May Day -

 a much anticipated day

 here in our little North Dakota

 town, because

it marks the opening of the 

local greenhouse.

Never mind that the temperature was 23 

when the sun came up this morning.

or that it snowed yesterday.

The conversation was all about the weather.

"Do you think winter is over?"

"Mmmmmm.......Maybe."

"This winter was hard."

"It was different".

"As tired of it as we are, 

I can only imagine how you Southerners must feel."

"I hope it's over."

It's a warm breath of fresh air.

It's a double dose of Vitamin D.

It's a hope for warmer days.

^{"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD.}

^{"They are plans for good and not for disaster,}

^{to give you a future,}

^{and a hope."}

^{(Jeremiah 29:11)}

"Oh, don't put those pansies out today, 

they might go into shock.

It'll be warmer tomorrow."

Happy May Day!

Follow ME

It was Palm Sunday.
The children waved palm branches and sang, "Hosanna".

The choir and the congregation sang "Hosanna".
"Hosanna in the Highest".

We were instructed to greet one another with the question,

"What does it mean to follow Jesus?"

Most all - young, old, wise and wiser had it

 -the deer in the headlights look -

you know - "I've never thought about it before".

The next question was -

"What does it mean to keep His commands?"

Not the Ten Commandments - 

HIS (Jesus') COMMANDS.

And then there was the convicting statement that,

we I read them, study them, memorize them, look them up in Greek,

and discuss them in a group.

But do we I obey them?

So I did what I do best.

I opened my Bible

and read the red

(you know - the words of Jesus).
Then I marked His commands.

and I made a list:

(Matthew)

Repent

Follow Me

Rejoice

Be glad

Let your light shine

Be reconciled

Make friends with your opponent

Make no oath

Turn the other cheek

Give to him who asks

Love your enemies

Pray for those who persecute you

Do not lay up treasures on earth

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven

Do not be anxious

Seek first His kingdom

Do not judge

Follow Me

Follow Me

Heal the sick

Raise the dead

Cleanse the lepers

Cast out demons

Be shrewd as serpents

Be innocent as doves

Do not fear

Do not fear

Do not fear

Come to me

Take my yoke

Hear

Receive

Take courage

Come

Hear and understand

Deny yourself

Follow Me

Do not be afraid

Learn

Be on the alert

Be on the alert

Watch and pray

Do not be afraid

Go

Make disciples

Baptize them

Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you

(Mark)

Repent

Believe

Follow Me

Be cleansed

Follow Me

Hear

Do not be afraid

Be still
Go in peace
Be healed
Arise
Come away
Rest awhile
Only believe

Take courage

Do not be afraid

Listen to Me
Be opened
Watch out
Be Aware
Get behind Me, Satan

Have faith in God

Forgive

Be on your guard

Do not be anxious

Pray

Keep on the alert

Be on the alert

Be on the alert

Watch and pray

Go

Preach the gospel

(Luke)

Do not fear

Be cleansed

Give to everyone who asks

Love your enemies

Do good

Lend

Do not judge

Give

Do not be afraid

Only believe

Take nothing for your journey

Deny yourself

Follow Me

Follow Me

Carry nothing

Heal the sick

Say, "The Kingdom of God is near"

Ask

Seek

Knock

Hear the word

Observe the word

Do not be afraid

Do not become anxious

Beware

Be on your guard

Do not be anxious

Repent

Repent

Enter by the narrow door

Do not take a place of honor

Invite the poor, crippled, lame, blind

Be on your guard

Forgive

Forgive

Hear

Permit the children to come to Me

Follow me

Do not be misled

Be on your guard

Keep on the alert

Do this in remembrance of Me

Pray

Rise and pray

(John)

Come

Follow Me

You must be born again

Believe in Me

Do not be afraid

Believe

Do not grumble

Do not judge

Sin no more

Keep My word

Follow Me

Let not your heart be troubled

Believe Me

Ask anything

Love Me

Keep my commandments

Keep my word

Let not your heart be troubled

Abide in Me

Love one another

Go

Bear fruit

Love one another

Remember

Ask

Receive

Take courage

Follow Me

Follow Me

Follow Me

So......

Do you I consider yourself myself a follower of Jesus?

Do you I keep His commands?

Mess of an old woman that I am,
 I stir up the courage to say like David, 

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;"
Believe

"Try me and know my anxious thoughts;"
Do not fear

"And see if there be any hurtful way in me,"
Repent

"And lead me in the everlasting way."
Follow

(Psalm 139:23-24)

Because,

"Not everyone who says to Me,

'Lord, Lord'

will enter the kingdom of heaven;

but he who does the will of My Father 

who is in heaven."

(Matthew 7:21)

Believe

Repent
Do Not Fear
Follow


Preach the Gospel

First Day of Spring

Today is the

FIRST DAY OF SPRING

Spring -

 the season between winter and summer

life and hope

digging in the dirt and planting petunias in pots

walking in the park and four wheeling in the pasture

Spring -

 tulips and irises and (ahhh) lilacs 

neon green leaves on mesquite trees

and shorts and sandals and warm sunshine

bobbin' robins, singing mockingbirds 

and scissor-tails slicing the warm air.

Spring -

 wildflowers and bluebonnets on the road side

yellow and pink cactus blooms

and daises.

Except in North Dakota

where we've had three storms this month

and there's still three feet of snow covering everything spring.

The first day of SPRING?

I guess it's spring time

  somewhere!

I found this quote today:

"Despite the forecast,

live like it's spring."

Lilly Pulitzer

I bought some daises for the dining table.

Even in our coldest days

there's still hope.

Weathering the Storm

In North Dakota,

We KNOW the storms will come

and we prepare

with hats and coats and gloves 

and benches in our mudrooms.

We tell ourselves it's ok to have more than one pair of boots.

We lay big rugs at the doors,

where we stomp three times

and toe tap twice to get the snow off when we come inside.

Our pantries and freezers are full of food

 just in case...

there's no electricity

or we can't get to the store

or ...just in case.

And when the storm ends

and the sun shines,

we make paths, and clear our drives

with brooms and shovels and snow blowers that we bought on warmer days,

because we knew the storms would come.

Then we clean up after the storm,

piling the snow anywhere,

even in the street.

And we laugh and play

and make the best of the storms aftermath

as if snow is normal

which it pretty much is.

Jesus told us in John 16:33

that storms (troubles) will come.

(Not might - WILL)

Storms of life have lots of different names-

illness, death, divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, job loss.

If you haven't had a storm, thank God,

but know that 

according to Jesus, stormy days

 are in the long term forecast.

Proverbs 6:6

Reminds us to consider the ant

and her wisdom in storing up for the winters.

So be prepared.

Make sure the Ephesians 6:10-16 armor

is not just in your closet,

but worn daily

to protect you when the storms of life blow.

When this storm was in North Dakota,

it was "sure a bad one"

with nothing more than serious

"Do Not Travel" warnings.

But now that it has gone through Minneapolis and 

headed for Chicago and the east coast,

it has a name:

Winter Storm Saturn.

I wonder when we started naming storms?

Psalm 30:5 encourages us that

storms (weeping) may last for the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

So hunker down in the storm

like our little south of the border friends

and remember that you'll be

resting in springtime blooms 

 - maybe lilies of the valley - 

 before you know it.

 I think it's also fine to dream

 of warmer days and sunnier places

when you are in a storm.

Don't you?

I hope you are warm and cozy wherever you are.

Thanks for stopping by.