Family Night at the School

Value obedience and love. He did not look rebellious, standing there with his hands to his eyes and his head pressed against the glass. He was only seven and had dashed away from home in only knee shorts, a Tee shirt, runners with black socks and a black baseball cap perched up on his head as he peered in through the school door windows. He arrived at the school when there had been a family seeking information from the custodian regarding the family night activity. Austin had stayed behind when they left, between the two sets of doors, just waiting for the doors to open in fifteen minutes. He then had thirty minutes more before show time. "How lonesome he looks" I thought as I sent a text on my phone to his parents telling them I would bring him home. Thirty minutes ago, he had left the house not aware that his family had other plans tonight and had explained to the other children that they were not going to attend. Panic struck Mom and Dad when they found he was gone. It was dark and cold outside, maybe 44 F. He ran down the dark path past the two blocks of houses, some decorated with Christmas lights that lit his way. Then, he came to the to the dark, duck pond swollen with blackness, not even a moon out to reflect its light and the sun had faded from the sky a good hour ago. As I walked up to the door of the school, he turned around and looked up at me. I held out my hand and he came sweetly and obediently with me to my car. As his grandmother, I told him how worried we had been and how dangerous it could have been. He replied with his own impressions of what was happening. He expressed concern about getting there on time and told me that the last time his family had attended the school’s family night they were late and missed the movie. He told me about school and about the little girl who chases him at recess. He went on and on all about school as we rounded each corner. As we pulled up in front of his house, his dad was waiting on the porch for him. As he hopped out of the car, I told him I loved him and he said “I love you too, Grandma." He closed the car door and walked with a spring to his step all the way up to his father. I know that I gained a new love for that little boy that night because of how sweet he was to me when I stretched out my hand. In my mind, peace and understanding span all of the chasms of disobedience.

Walnut Trees

Value Service: One day, we found out there was a neighbor giving away walnuts from the trees in her yard. We decided to take 4 of our grand-children, so we loaded the them into our vehicle and headed down the street. As we went to the door, Natalie came out and we were told again that we could pick or knock down what we wanted out of the tree. The trees were huge and the bottom branches on the first tree were over 10 feet above the ground. The second tree had lower branches. Not seeing any walnuts on the ground, we were discouraged and decided to allow the eldest to try climbing the tree to see what he could do, but the remaining walnuts were far out of his reach. In spite of being disheartened, we enlisted everyone's help to provide a service by filling their bags with leaves that had been knocked off the tree by previous harvesters. As the six of us started picking up the leaves, we found walnuts lying under them. They had been pressed into the lawn by other visitors and were temporarily hidden from our view. “I found one,” came a cry from one of the children. “Here is another,” someone called out. So, we learned the value of service and the blessings that come from that service. We returned home with more than 2 quarts of walnuts, stories of climbing trees, picking leaves and visiting with the owner and of course, our stop for an Oreo McFlurry. We were able to experience the physical rewards, as well as the reward of feeling good in our hearts for doing a service.

Listening to the Spirit

Value Listening to the Spirit: On Friday morning, I packed the car with a skirt and a jacket for our day trip and an evening area reunion, the thought came into my mind to take my rolling brief case. For this trip my case carried my medicine, my IPad, my Dell laptop, address lists, note pad, word search book and extra pens. Often, my husband and I were known to carry the most unusual things with us, “just in case.” “No, not that heavy thing,” I thought. The thought came again and it was so strong, I followed the prompting and put the case in the car. After a full day running errands and visiting family, we finally arrived at our potluck supper reunion and were having a wonderful time laughing and talking with old friends. Then, out of the blue, a young man approached and asked if I had some Benadryl. A young adult had just ingested something that had given him an allergic reaction. I had what was needed, not an EpiPen, but an antihistamine that could help with a minor reaction. I value conscious listening to the positive promptings of guidance to do good things in our lives.

2014 Class Reunion

Value Friendship: There is nothing so lasting as a friendship. It can span the decades of time and come back full circle to that one we call friend and time is so good to us. It erases wrinkles, changes our shape or color of hair and gives us the genuine heart to heart that we once knew. We can mingle in that hour or two or three and then know that if we don’t meet for another decade, we will find friendship still waiting to meet us again down the road. This time is has been 25 or 50 years since we have met some of these friends but we are welcomed with a smile and that hearty laugh that we would know in our sleep and the years melt away. We chat about kids, things we like to do, trips we have taken, and where we live. Lastly we shared our aches and pains if we talk that long. Thus, we find that we are all so different yet we are all so alike. Tributes go to the individuals who worked hard to locate classmates by phoning, using the internet, local libraries, historical records and relatives. Then, tributes go to those who gathered the bios and put them together in a book (even adding a forward) and our pictures in a slide show. Tomorrow, we meet again and we’ll talk about things that happened back in the day, the news, the clothes, the shoes, the hair, the town, etc. We’ll all remember what it was like “back in the day.” It is always so sweet to us to remember only the good times in our past.

Young man & $50.

Value Honesty: Walking into the grocery story behind William, a young man of 10, I was startled when he stopped suddenly. There at his feet lay several bills folded in half and crumpled. He proceeded to pick up the bills and took them to the clerk at the checkout counter. “Someone lost this money,” he said. The lady took the bills and his father's phone number, and told Williams that if the money was not claimed in 30 days, the money was his. William felt good about his experience in the grocery store and it was a platform for further discussions where honesty is a virtue that needs to be taught.

Renee and the ladybug (Asian beetle)

Value Learning: I was out in the back yard with a three year old the other day when she discovered a lady bug. It was a beautiful September day and the ladybug was not red but it was orange. She had it between her fingers and was trying to see what it was doing. When it fell onto the grass, I found a leaf for it to crawl upon so that we could be gentler. It crawled off the leaf and onto her arm. She patiently let it crawl and I again brought the leaf under its body so that we could change its location. After a few minutes it dropped again into the grass and we decided that we should let him play. We talked about the lady bug and the things it would eat and spoke about its life. What a delightful learning experience for us, together, as we celebrated the value of learning – the value of learning about nature.

Definitions

VALIANT: according to the Miriam-Webster dictionary states: "having or showing courage : very brave or courageous. Examples of VALIANT She died last year after a valiant battle with cancer. Origin of VALIANT Middle English vailant, valiant, from Anglo-French vaillant worthy, strong, courageous, from present participle of valerto be of worth, from Latin valēre to be strong. First Known Use: 14th century." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/valiant VALUES: In the Miriam-Webster dictionary it states: "something (as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable...Example: No one can deny the value of a good education. Origin of VALUE - Middle English, worth, high quality, from Anglo-French... participle of Latin valēre to be of worth, be strong. First Known Use: 14th century." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/values

Acknowledging Valiant Values

Value Values: For many years, I was fascinated by the word VALUES and the fact that many people teach VALUES in their churches and in their homes. I was taught at an early age the value of knowledge, honesty, fairness, gratitude, work and sharing. When there was something good or something that I revered or held dear, I would try to find out how it's meaning played a part in my life. Changes in my life occurred because of someone's fairness, generosity, or tolerance shown to me. I remembered those times by recording those experiences in my journal. Those special times came from a kind word, a warm smile, a gentle touch, a bird's song, or from silence when a clear voice spoke to my heart or when I felt a prompting from God. The purpose of this blog will be to find choice values in everything that I see, hear, experience and live. As I write about it, those values will become more vivid in my mind. I want to acknowledge the kindness of those who have made a difference in my life and in the lives of others. I want to give recognition to youth who have learned, at a young age, to make values a part of their lives. I want to make VALUES a VALIANT part of my life now.