Donna's Journey

This morning, in the quiet hours, long before the rays of the sun illuminated the earth with its bright and cheery rays, I began my day. I rolled over to watch my husband struggle to sleep, startling and resuming his breathing a=every few seconds. No wonder he awakes tired and tends towards afternoon naps. It is called obstructive sleep apnea.

I arose and changed another laundry load, pulling fresh smelling whites from the dryer and hung up shirts. Then placed a load of wet towels in the washer. Our water line to the refrigerator ice maker had leaked, but providentially filled a bucket. The last time we had a leak it destroyed my floor, buckling it. In fixing the errant line this time, my husband had to clean up water on the tile. So, with the heat of summer I thought I ought to wash them before they sour. I delayed the starting of the washer, as soon, my husband arose, I knew he wanted a hot shower, and while he did, I made him breakfast.

Before the sunrise, we knelt in prayer, he gave me a kiss and a hug, descended the stairs to the driveway, and drove off in the darkness of the before twilight morning. He was going to pick up his older brother, Larry, and drive to Washington today. This will be a time to share with Larry before Larry leaves for his mission to Cape Verde in September. I know Roger will be back tomorrow evening, but as I waved, tears filled my eyes. I hate separation and the empty bed. Thankfully his brother Larry is with him, to give him driving relief to rest along the way of their 15 hour drive today, and 15 hours back tomorrow.

I needed to be here. Here with my family, to care and see after my children. Jeremy will have all four wisdom teeth removed tomorrow. He needs me here. I will gladly serve him. Mary is ill and she needs me here. I will gladly serve her. James is here, I will enlist him in the caring. So, here I am, to nurture and care for my family. I stand beside my husband in caring for this family, though he may be physically far away.

I found my mood bolstered in reading A Holy Experience this morning. Ann Voskamp writes of her faith and life on the Canadian prairie, with her soybean farmer husband and homeschooling her six children.
The music on her site has refreshed me, her words have been edifying.

The sun is up and now I start a Joyous Journey of a new day. “This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.” Psalms 118:24

Last night I opened four boxes of books from my sister-in-law. Inside those boxes were a real treasure. I wrote about it on my Called to Liber blog, in Shelf Life Revisited.

I just read this article from Huffington Post “Is a Woman in Labor a “Person”? New Assaults on Pregnant Women’s Civil Rights in a NJ Case,” by Louise Marie Roth which my friend shared on facebook. OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, we are back to the “Doctor as God” syndrome…

Before you read further, I do understand we living in the “Fullness of Times” and I believe great miracles in medical science are inspired. However, that does not give doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies an unquestioned carte blanche seal of approval. Science in and of itself is amoral, meaning, it is neither good nor evil. How it is used, and what world view controls it that determines its morality and appropriate use.

The courts have it both ways now. The unborn child is merely a fetus in their mind and has no rights when it comes to abortion, because of the right of Choice of the mother. Yet, the fetus has rights as an unborn child is an individual when it comes to birthing practices that benefit the doctor and hospital.

Mothers of conscience, who are trying to protect their unborn child are being labeled by medical personnel as uncooperative.

Moms, We need to use technology to our advantage! If we have great experiences with doctors, dentists, school personnel, we need to blog about it. If on the other hand you experience outrageous arrogance, over management etc. we also need to let the world know, so others can make informed choices.

After reading about what happened to this woman I feel moms need to take MP3 recorders with them and record the meetings, and procedures for posterity. Ask for the medical records and challenge them with proof. If medical staff have unfairly blighted your name in the records, have them clear them, and then report the medical staff for fraudulent reporting. That is fraud plain and simple. There are far too many doctors and hospitals with God complexes. Notice I did not say all. In the case, of the woman in New Jersey, I feel pride became a factor. Medical and legal staff protected each other and refused to admit their wrong doing. Her competency as a parent was only questioned because she did not want to give the hospital and doctor a blank check, by signing documents,”just in case!” This happened in a hospital with a high interventionist c-section rate. She was within her rights. That was abuse and malpractice to the hilt.

I remember 40 years ago today, I was a 14 year old girl returning home from an awesome summer vacation. I remember the day as much as I remember 22 November, 1963, even though in 1963 I was only in 3rd grade. Today is the anniversary of the first man to walk on the moon. That day in November was the day President Kennedy was assassinated.

In June of 1969 mom, Linda, my little sister, and I left Honolulu to fly to my brother’s wedding in Chicago. My sister and I were bride’s maids at my brother’s wedding. Mom, Linda, and I then traveled to grandma’s in Decatur, Indiana, then we traveled to Ontario to visit my cousin Connie, then to Montreal and visited the Expo. Then we turned south to Niagara Falls, then to Creamery, Pennsylvania to visit mom’s sister, Grace. While there I remember going to New York City. I visited the Empire State building, walked barefoot in Greenwich Village/Washington Square, and toured Radio City Music Hall which fascinated me. We toured Valley Forge and Gettysburg, and went shopping in New Hope. Then Mom, Linda and I visited friends that had moved to Washington DC area. Then back to Indiana to my Uncle Jon’s in New Haven. We were left there and dad picked us up for the rest of the trip.

With dad we drove to Richmond, Kentucky to visit his older brother Hubert. We visited Berea College, Boonesborough, Swam in the Cumberland River, and stayed at my uncle Hubert’s cabin on Cumberland lake. There I learned to water ski. All the cousins came and visited. We went into Somerset and stayed with dad’s oldest brother, Herbert. We drove down to Knoxville and stay with dad’s sister, Aunt Polly, and her family. Then off across the United States on a long trip home.

There were so many experiences that summer that would have been huge and memorable for any young girl. I delve deeper into that in my own personal history. Anyway, as we drove across California, I remember that dad pulled off at some remote restaurant and bar. There we ate and watched the the first moon walk. Memories…

40 years ago in the heady wake of the Gemini and Apollo flights, people imagined we would be living in a Jetson like world by now. It did not happen. They said we would be suffering from Global cooling. Did not happen. They said we needed zero population growth and that slowed the birthrate to a point where with immigration, today we are barely at replacement value.

Technology can be a blessing and a curse. There are days I would like to terminate my BlackBerry, get rid of my facebook, twitter, and gazillion other outside things and move to a secluded mountain valley. Then I do not. However, I do cut back, prune my time, and concentrate on the living. I feel like a circus master with a whip, snapping “Back! Back!” to the encroaching technology. Yes, I am going kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I see technology as a tool. Though many have all kinds of technology and use it, I feel that it is used as entertainment, way too often. I am sorry, but I personally do not see the best use of my time in online socializing, gaming, and movies. Yes, we all need recreation, but recreation and entertainment are not the same thing. Recreation should renew us and re-create vital energy, not mesmerize us and marginalize our relationships.

Somethings we had 40 years ago:
jets
war
cars, trucks, buses, trains, Jeeps, semi trucks…
high rise buildings
phones, TVs, radios, and stereos
dishwashers
washers and dryers
hot and cold running water, showers.
Immodest clothing of bikinis, mini skirts, halter tops
Man on the moon…

Some things we did not have:
Cell phones (electronic ball and chains)
PCs
internet
HDTV
Cable TV
steam cleaners
Clothes has not really changed much.

We are as far from a Jetson world today as we were then. We went from global winter to global warming, to change. My georgic roots are calling…

18 years ago, I was happy to kow that number five was alive. I lived in Littleton, Colorado and was in the minority having a large family. Now, 18 years later, my fifth child is now an adult. He towers over all of us, but his older brother Adam. We had shrimp scampi and filet mignon tonight to celebrate. He did get his eagle papers in on time. So, it is a good time.

I now have two minor children left at home. It will be another 3.5 years before the next becomes an adult. Our universe is contracting and expanding at the same time. As our family at home grows smaller, older siblings have married and started their families. Jeremy will wait, as he plans a mission in a year.

A little over a year ago,my daughter Jennifer married Alan Walton. The day after he proposed to Jennifer, our family had brunch at his family’s home in Provo. We arrived at the foot of their picturesque driveway and needed to be taxied to the top in their suburban. The driveway was a steep narrow driveway about .2 of a mile, lined with trees that crowd the sky, and leave the road a path of snow and ice. Their home is up a hillside with a gorgeous view of the entire valley. They affectionately call their land on that hillside plateau, Walton’s Mountain.

I love the beauty of the drive up that hillside in spring, summer, and fall. I have arrived at the top in time to see deer scamper up the treed slope and disappear. In spring the trees blossom, in summer they give their fruit. In fall the colors change. It is beautiful in winter, quite romantic really, until your car gets stuck 80% of the way up and you have to carefully back down. Ah, they are gracious and ready to transport visitors to the top.

The other day as I drove down the driveway, after dropping Mary off to play with Sarah, I spied a mother quail, followed dutifully by little ones, crossing my path. It is almost like a nature preserve.

Life on Walton’s Mountain is different too. The living room is an almost story and a half library the entire length of the room, with a piano dividing the room in half, with a cozy sofa arrangement at one end of the room. Though the technology is there too, it is clear that this family loves books too. Walton’s Mountain is a peaceful place, a beautiful place, a place of learning, and a place of family.

Last night my living room filled to capacity, every chair filled, some sat on the floor, others took their babies in arms and paced on the front porch, just outside my window, so they could view the presentation and hear what was being said. One mom arrived with a lovely bouquet of long stemmed white roses for me. A tender gesture.

I have given similar presentations before, but usually in large halls, classrooms, in small intimate gatherings, and even one on one. Here I could speak to each woman eye to eye. There was a powerful and humbling feeling to be among so many mothers that wanted something better for their daughters. I could feel the kindred spirits. Some seemed to bubble over as they shared the unique experiences about how they found out just that afternoon and how they knew they had to be at the meeting.

They asked excellent questions in the Q and A session. Fresh green grapes, veggies, home made chocolate chip cookies, and fresh water awaited these women, after the Q and A. They went to the kitchen and I witnessed joyful communication among the kindred spirits.

This morning when I checked my email, several women had emailed about wanting to come but finding out too late, or being too far. By afternoon there were three presentations booked, including one in Idaho, and the opportunity for another event. Kindred spirits, are coming together. I then added the presentation overview and the event list to the website.

You are cordially invited to a free presentation on 15 July 2009.

Theme: The Hope Chest Journey: A Call to Beauty and Grace

* A Hope Chest Journey: Then and Now

* Mapping your a Hope Chest Journey

* Creating a Vision Resource Binder to enrich your journey

* Building a supportive community

Presenter: Donna Goff
Time: 7-9 pm. One hour presentation followed by Q&A, mingle time, and refreshments.

Location: Orem, Utah. Directions by RSVP only. Space is limited so send RSVP and request for directions along with your phone number to donna@princessacademies.com

Those desiring a presentation in their area, please contact me and send your phone number.

Wow!. I have my missionary name tag. I have had my orientation. I even got to be the person stationed at the help desk, my first day. I have about 50 hours of self study DVDs and training to work through. I need to be ready for September when I will be helping in training about 100 students every hour to do family search indexing. Meanwhile I need to learn New Family Search and a lot of other things. I already learned a lot today. Ready or not hear I come!

I received my call in June. Last week Sunday I was set apart to serve as a part-time service missionary at the BYU Family History Center for one year, as a patron assistant. I serve on Sundays only. Presently they are open the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month.

Today I begin another journey. A journey as a missionary supporting patrons needing assistance. I have done a lot of family history and love it. I have sooooo much to learn.
Well, out the door I go and off to BYU!