What Does the Oregon Trail Have to Do with 2021?

 When the U.S.A. was  a young nation opportunities arose to move west and start new lives.  One  of the most popular ways to do so was to use  the 2,170 miles route known as The Oregon Trail.  Traveling the trail was a revelation to the pioneers. When they started on the journey they were laden with overburdened  Conestoga wagons, Prairie  Schooners or carts pulled by oxen, mules or horses.   A family's worldly goods, which included items such as a piano,  wooden bedroom furniture, mattresses, stove, tools, hundreds of pounds of food, along with pots and pans accompanied them as they set out to go west. 

Buoyed by faith, hope  and adventure they started off easily from Independence, Missouri to Oregon's Willamette Valley.  As they journeyed west  things became more difficult as they encountered mountains and swift rivers or streams.  When their heavily laden carts started up these summits these conveyances became  almost impossible for even the sturdiest animals to pull. People started to discard items to lighten the load. The heavy ornate beautiful  piano may have been the first to go. It was not needed for life. Sure it was nice to have, but unnecessary. 

Grandma’s heavy walnut dresser might have been next to be abandoned. One could put clothes on a nail if need be. The goal was to make it over the mountain or to ford a river. The wagons must be lightened if they were were going to be able to complete the trip.  Eventually the trail was littered with cast off worldly goods. These cast-off goods  became a stream of revenue for some enterprising folk. Some things had to be sacrificed in order to reach their new homes. 

We’ve weathered 2020.  Many started last year burdened by heavy appointments, deadlines, crowding on trains, planes, congested highways and rushing children from one activity to another.  As we traversed up and down 2020’s trail we learned there were things without which we didn’t know we could live. We’re still breathing without having attended a sports game.  Church became a virtual experience which allowed us to attend  any where we chose from around the world. Visits to museums ceased, but we learned new ways to satisfy our curiosity. Thank God we live in the internet age.  Gyms, and salon services closed down. We had to  exercise at home and shampoo our own hair. Birthday parties, graduations all came to a screeching halt. The term drive-by became associated with joy and not death.  We found that what we thought were essentials were actually extras, luxury items not needed to sustain life.

Restaurants closed,  but we still had to eat. Therefore many people learned to cook and bake.  Those jobs we ignored such as grocery workers, truck drivers fire and police  were suddenly essential to our well being. 

We found out that school and colleges could go on, with innovation and for some with difficulty, at home. Even flying here and there to  attend a conference or attending a concert could be expedited using differing computer platforms. In order to give ourselves a fighting chance we had to make choices and deem what was really essential to live a productive and decent life.

Like the pioneers before us let’s make sure that what we are carrying into 2021 are necessaries and essentials so we can not just make it but thrive in this New Year.  We still have mountains to climb in 2021, but  like the pioneers on the Oregon Trail, we have a better idea of what’s necessary to make the trip. Keep the Faith! Share love and kindness!  Happy New Year to all of my Family and Friends. 

Are You Feeling Lost? Stop and Hug a Tree!

I’m not a big outdoors person. In fact my last real hike was one I took with my University of  Washington botany class to the 6,000 foot level of Mt. Rainier in Washington State. That was  well over thirty-five years ago. I have almost no chance of getting lost in the forest or wilderness because I don’t go there. However I do know that if I ever go again and get lost I should, “Stop and hug a tree!” In other words stay still and let  myself be found. To keep going after one is lost is to invite more danger. 

Right now a lot of us feel lost. Our anxieties have many of us literally walking around in a daze. What can we do about this? We need to stop! Acknowledge that we are lost and don’t know what to do. Yes, find that tree and hug it. I’m not talking about any tree. 

Stop and hug a tree that offers hope. It is for many an ignominious tree.  Not exactly the tree that person might choose.That word ignominious means disgraceful, or mortifying, but it is a tree of safety.

You may ask Patricia , what is the name of this disgraceful tree. It is call the tree known as  the cross of Calvary. It’s the tree where Christ died. Stop trying to find your way in the wilderness of this life by yourself.

It has been made very plain to us, to me, that this world, in all its’s confusion is just moving to more confusion. Stop and hug that tree. Accept the fact that God can find you there.

There is  another interesting survival technique. People are taught that if they hear a search plane to go to an open area and lie down to make oneself bigger.  The experts say it is easier to be seen if one is laying down on the earth than standing  straight up.  Laying down is a sign of submission too.

After you hug the tree and hear help from the air lay down. Get down and submit your heart to the Finder, the God of heaven. Rescuers teach children, in particular, is that when the rescuer calls out, to answer whoever calls.  This is so important in submitting to God. Once God moves on your heart, answer God by calling out in surrender to God, "Here I am." Knowing that God is  near is what calms my anxiety and I know this thought can calm yours too. 

Don’t feel frustrated.  For peace of mind and heart  take these simple steps.

1. Stop

2. Hug the cross of Christ. Embrace the fact that Jesus died for you. 

3. Answer here I am. Accept that Jesus offers you a precious gift of forgiveness. 

4. God, The Rescuer,  will make sure you are found and put on the right pathway. 

A little background on the phrase,  "Stop and Hug a Tree"*

"Jimmy Beveridge, the 9-year-old Spring Valley boy who became lost in February, 1981, while on a trip to Palomar Mountain State Park with his parents and two brothers. Two hundred volunteers eventually became involved in the effort to find the boy, the largest search ever conducted in the history of San Diego County."

  “Hugging a tree” is an idea that Ab Taylor, a retired tracker for the U.S. Border Patrol, developed in the wake of the search for Jimmy Beveridge.

* This particular article was printed in the Los Angeles Times. 

By GORDON SMITH

FEB. 14, 1985 12 AM

Looking for Peace in All the Wrong Places

Only Ninety-nine dollars?  Well of course I needed that fire engine red Cuisinart  stand mixer with the 500 watt motor. I had a ten dollar stand mixer. however it couldn't be used for a long time and couldn't  do any heavy duty mixing. I'd left my Kitchen Aid mixer in Seattle when I  came to Philadelphia. I did my research on whether or not this Cuisinart could do compared to my Kitchen Aid mixer. It passed muster with the reviewers.

Driving out to the store I was excited to be able to get this mixer at a great sales price. I picked up a few items as I made my way to the appliances. When I got there I looked and looked and couldn't see the mixer. I went back and forth up and down the aisle. Could they have put it in another place? There was a Kitchen Aid mixer for three times the price I was willing to pay, but no Cuisinart mixers. Perhaps they sold out of them. I went to my phone. I looked at the ad again . It said that one could purchase the mixer in the store or online.  I  thought, "Well  it sure isn't in this store."

I went to Customer Service to ask about the mixer. Alas the line was way too long and I had a another appointment. I decided I'll call back or order it online. I don't have time to wait.
When I finally got home from my appointment I went online to go to the website. As I clicked on my email to the site I saw something I hadn't seen before.  The store advertising the mixer wasn't Sam's club. It was B.J.'s,  another  big box store on the East Coast.  Then it all made sense. I was looking in the wrong store. My frustration as to why there were no more mixers wasn't the store's fault. It was my thinking that the store had something they weren't selling.

Isn't this what is frustrating some us in life? Like the old song says,  ".. looking for love in all the wrong places." If I need peace and calm I am not going to find it at the bottom of a bottler of vodka. If I need comfort, eating a dozen donuts may taste good, but they  will not wrap themselves around me to comfort me. However if food is the go to for relief it will wrap itself around me in other ways.  I am personally finding  another way for  thwarting the effects of a number of life's ills. I am looking to the Word of God. 

Don't knock it if you have never tried to do this.

When I need comfort in the time of my grief. I turn to Psalm 23. The words, The Lord is my Shepherd brings calm to my soul. When I need reassurance that God is protecting me I turn to Psalm 91. This tells me that even in the most harrowing of circumstances God is protecting me. Now of course  you don't have to believe me. I must ask,  do you really want to be like  I was, walking up and down the aisles of the wrong store looking for a fire engine red mixer mixer that's not there? If so, carry on. If not,  start looking in the right place.

Don't Discard Your Future Provisions!

One sunny Seattle morning while I was washing dishes I was looking  through my kitchen window.  I saw a little girl waiting on the corner for her big yellow school bus. She carefully  opened her brown paper lunch bag. She  peered inside the bag and pulled out  a sandwich. I thought that she must be hungry and that she was going to take a bite. Instead she unceremoniously pitched the wrapped sandwich into the bushes in front of my neighbor's home. Then she propelled another item into the bushes and then a third thing. With no need for the bag it was catapulted into the greenery. 

 I thought, someone is going to question what kind of parent sends their child to school with no lunch or lunch money?  You see, that carefully  packed lunch meant nothing to the that little girl. Unwisely, that young girl threw aware her future provisions.  Maybe she had just eaten breakfast. She never thought she might be hungry in a few hours. Children are like that. Plus, the child's action caused the parent to be unjustly vilified. 

I wonder if we do the same thing about God and eternity. Right now we are satisfied.  During this part of our lives we have all we need. There’s no need to think about our souls and the future, or life or death. 

It's amazing that even  great stars like Prince, Michael Jackson, Sonny Bono and the immensely wealthy billionaire Howard Hughes  demonstrated  that their inevitable futures just looked too far off for them.  I say this because none of them had wills. It's like  eternity snuck up on them like that lunchtime was going to come for that child.  

 Right now many are taking what God has given us, and tossing it away. God has provided the precious  gift of  eternal salvation  and peace with God through the Birth, Death and  Resurrection of Christ.  Even though it's free many discard the gift. 

Then like that little girl, it's lunchtime and we have nothing.  That lovingly wrapped sandwich  was discarded during her time of fullness.  Human beings are funny like that.  Everyday we get closer to that final stop, to be blunt our death, when time for us is no more.  All of us  will have a day of reckoning for our souls.   Please  don't stand at the corner of life waiting and  tossing important  God  given  provisions  into the bushes. Take a moment to consider,  salvation which is a way to peace with God.  Salvation and  security are yours,  if you don't toss them into the bushes.

Steps to Peace with God

Admit your need. (I am a sinner)

Be willing to turn from your sins. (Repent)

Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose from the grave.

Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive him as Lord and Savior)

If you would like more information don't hesitate to  leave a comment or question on this blog or contact me at tricianew12@gmail.com

Bring Back My Old Life!

When our four sons were very young we would take long road trips from Washington State to visit our East Coast relatives.  It was a great way for our children to see the wonders of this great country. To break up the long distance, for three or four nights we'd stay at different hotels or motels.  

 Our children were generally well behaved  playing  games such as Slug Bug or even the Quiet Game.  As the day wore on we  would start looking for a place to spend the night.   On my insistence  my husband Winston would go into the rooms to make sure they were  acceptable to my standards before I would agree to stay at the designated place.

One late afternoon, on our return trip to Seattle, as he was going through the inspection ritual,  a little voice piped up from the back seat. " I don't want to stay at anymore hotels I want to sleep in my own bed," said the exasperated child. "I understand, we will soon," I replied.  For some reason the trip coming back home always seemed longer than the trip going. It was exciting thinking about seeing the relatives and being on the East Coast. On the way back to Seattle, I declare the coast moved further west.

I thought of that scene this morning as we head into the 16th or 17th week of  restrictions and the recommended  social distancing.  We don't want to do this anymore. We want to go back to the familiar. we want our old way of life. We want to live the way in which we've been used to doing.

 What has occupied my thoughts is that for some there is no going back to the way it was previously. People's worlds have shifted. People I know have lost loved ones. Their world will never be the same. Some people have lost their jobs permanently. Their world will not be the same. High school seniors have had their world changed beneath their feet. They cannot go back.

 Some elders have been dragged kicking and screaming into the tech age. They soon learned in order to connect with people they had to get up to speed with Facebook and Zoom.  While many of the younger people have moved on to  Instagram,  and my latest addition, WhatsApp. No, we are not going back to what used to be before this worldwide crisis. Even the behemoth Amazon will never be the same. They learned in this crisis that the delivery business is a beast that they can't conquer at this time.

I believe we are going to need to focus on how we move forward in this world. I believe we need to decide now what are the essentials  we need to lead productive and helpful lives. Hopefully people come out seeing that relationships are more important than material things. I am hoping that people come out with a renewed understanding that faith in God is more important, especially when times are challenging. I hope we come out as more compassionate people. We've watched our medical professionals, First Responders, truck drivers, grocery stores, bus drivers  put us first even when they were putting their lives on the line. Some of them did not make it even as they served the needs of the public I hope we  come out of this crisis with more grace, compassion and kindness than when we  went into it.

Yes, like my very young son who was tired of the journey and nightly stops sleeping in different  beds, we want familiarity.  However just like our  long journey home to Seattle, we may have a few more days, or weeks to make it to the other side of this crisis.  

Take care of your family and friends, we will make it!

This beautiful photo of Mt. Rainier was taken by a former colleague Valerie Grimm.

The Power of Connections

Talking  to my sons is always enjoyable to me.  Joseph, my third son,  drove me back from a doctor's  appointment to my second son's, Winston's home.  We talked about his family and his job. He told me about an issue he was having with one of the sub-stations he manages. There was some shrubbery near this station that needed to be cleared back. However the property was under the domain of another agency in the same county.  Joseph explained that he had called people in the other agency several times, but could never get a response. After a couple of months of trying, still no one would return his calls.

 I told him that I actually knew one of the high level executives in the agency he was trying to reach. The person’s spouse and I are good friends and former colleagues too,  We socialize together when I am in Seattle.  In fact I had lunch with that person’s spouse  a few days previous to our present conversation. I told Joseph the person’s name.

Well to make a long story short, Joseph called the person.  After months of frustration, in a few hours what he needed to get done was scheduled to be done in a few days. Right away I thought of the power of connection.

You see Jesus told his disciples that since they knew Him, God in the flesh,  that  the only thing they had to do was ask God, the Father for what they needed.  The invitation is open to us who believe on Jesus Christ. This is not magic or conjuring up or begging God for things. This is taking the Word of Jesus Christ and using it for the work we need to get done. If we are Christ’s disciples  we are passing up a great privilege. Like my son  Joseph, we can keep working at it on our own and getting nowhere. The other option is we can take Christ at His word and approach God the Father to obtain what we need. I am taking this lesson to heart. I will go to God in prayer and ask God in the name of Jesus to grant my request How about you, what will you do?  

John 16:23-24

3 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my

 Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.

 Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

Don't Social Distance God!

A group of friends and I entered the swanky Daniel’s Broiler on Lake Washington. This very handsome looking white man walked by our group. All of a sudden he stopped and kissed me. He said, “You’re very pretty.” As you can imagine I was stunned. Today, I might call that a death sentence because he might have transferred the coronavirus  to me with that uninvited kiss. Then, I was too shocked to say or do anything.

 If you know me you may wonder why I didn’t hit him.  Fortunately for him violence is not my default action. My family and friends understand  I’m very protective of my personal space. My family is the kissy type, I am not.  I’ve been trying to overcome my aversion to the practice. This Covid 19 crisis has  impeded my personal growth. Maybe I, like, Michael Jackson’s glove, was just ahead of my time.

Some cultures  do welcome this affectionate greeting. Today that practice has been upended. The custom of kissing cheek to cheek with friends and family is no longer safe. Videos of  new ways to greet each other proliferate on social media. Touching ankle to ankle, or bumping shoulders in creative ways makes for hilarious viewing.

 While we think of news ways to do old things the beginning of the  verse in Psalms 2:12 says to adhere to  “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry..” God is giving this command. The son refers to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In 2020 during this COVID-19  crisis is this verse still applicable. Indeed it is!

Kissing the Son is a sign of submission. The King, God, is on His throne. If one will not kiss or submit to the King’s Son one puts one’s life in danger. In order to kiss  a person you have to get up close and make face to face contact. It’s a pretty intimate act.

God wants us to make individual contact with Jesus Christ. There is no Social Distancing with God.  No one else can kiss the Son for you. It’s very simple. You just do what millions have done before you . How do you kiss the son in 2020? You submit your will to not be your own king.  Say, Lord Jesus you are the King and I submit to your authority. You let God sit on the throne of your heart.   In the Great Scroll of Isaiah 45:23 it states, “ Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me. Everyone is going to end up saying of me, ‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God!”(Message Bible)  Have you kissed the Son. Unlike the man who kissed me without permission God gives us an invitation and command to Kiss the Son. If you haven’t kissed the Son yet, I invite you to do so now.

 Kiss his son, or he will be angry

    and your way will lead to your destruction,

for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Psalm 2:12

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