Of Thankfulness And People

A very, very long time ago -- back when I was a young thing on the youth committee -- I wrote a poem. As I recall, we had a Thanksgiving supper for our parents and planned a short program for afterward. I'm not sure how I got the job, much less the inspiration, but I wrote the following poem and doled out the parts to my group of fellow youth. Each narrator fit the description of the person in the part of the poem that they read. I came across it recently, and it made me laugh remembering. Thought I'd share it here this Thanksgiving week.....

      * * * * * * * * * *

Of Thankfulness And People

I've been listening to people, 

and what I hear is strange.

It seems they never like themselves, 

they always wish for change.

"I wish I was like Susan," 

I heard Rebekah say, 

"She always does the nicest things, 

helps others on their way!"

It seemed I'd no more turned around 

'til I heard Susan sigh,

"Rebekah always does things right, 

I guess I just won't try!"

The next complaint to reach my ears 

came from the lips of Jim,

"Don is so good at leading out, 

if only I were him!"

I looked at him in shocked surprise, 

for Don had just confided,

"Jim sure knows how to listen well,
sometimes I wish that I did!"

I looked around at others 

and scarce believed my ears.

It seemed they all would wish for change 

to be more like their peers --

"I wish that I would talk more." 

"I wish that I were quiet."

"If only I were bigger."

"I must go on a diet!"

Amazing this, the very thing 

that one would wish to change,

The other has and doesn't want, 

it all seems very strange!

The more I heard, the more I thought, 

and scratched my puzzled head.

"The things each has are very good, 

why wish for change?" I said.

I got my friends to help me think 

and figure this thing out,

Why people wish to change their ways 

and what it's all about.

"You know," said one, "If all were 'Dons' 

just visualize the mess -

"We'd end up in a sorry state of fighting, 

I would guess!"

"I'm glad there's 'Jims' to listen!"

" 'Rebekahs' sure are nice!"

"You know, I think each one of us 

adds our own bit of spice."

And there, I think, is when I saw 

what really is the key,

And that, my friend, is this, 

(and I'm quite sure that you'll agree).

It's when I learn to thank the Lord 

for just the way He made me,

And do the bit that I can do 

with each small gift He gave me.

It's when I learn to thank Him for 

the folks He's placed around, 

To do the things that I can't do

 that happiness is found!

I hope you'll find as we have found

 that this is really living,

We're ALL important and for that 

there should be great Thanksgiving!!

An Un-typical Day

For one day, I gave eight children the pleasure of telling an adult how it's done. 

I sat in the big, important desk chair. 

Sixteen sets of eyes looked

 to me expectantly. 

I dug back in the archives of my 

Math Memory. 

I dusted off words like

"molecule" and "solar system".

I answered questions from people

 with waving hands. 

I read Charlotte's Web

and practiced my "Uncle" voice. 

I hung my coat on the hook on the wall. 

I carried my lunch like a child again. 

They called me Mrs. Eicher. 

I was a substitute. 

I was a substitute. 

They called me Mrs Eicher. 

I carried my lunch like a child again. 

I hung my coat on the hook on the wall. 

I read Charlotte's Web 

and practiced my "Uncle" voice. 

I answered questions from people

with waving hands. 

I dusted off words like

"molecule" and "solar system".

I dug back in the archives of my

Math Memory. 

Sixteen sets of eyes looked 

to me expectantly. 

For one day, I gave eight children the pleasure of telling an adult how it's done. 

Tidbits

Yesterday it was 63 degrees and sunny most of the day. I hung out laundry and trimmed my mint patch and went on a walk with just a light jacket. This morning it was 27 degrees and my morning drive looked like this...

Hello Winter! 

I can't say that I'm ever ready for you

But I must admit, you are pretty.

It feels like a cozy, curl up with a blanket and a book kind of a day. Sadly, I don't have a book; maybe a nap would work too? I did listen to a book last week -- Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. It is a heartbreaking fictional story, based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals -- in which Georgia Tann, director of a Missouri based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country. Be prepared to not be able to stop once you get started.

I don't really have anything thrilling or noteworthy to talk about but I thought I might just scribble down a few bits and pieces of general interest with no particular rhyme or reason.

* * * *

I like to sew. However, I don't particularly like to cut the items out that need to be sewed. Even more particularly, I don't like when it's been months since you've sewed a dress for a growing daughter and it's necessary to re-measure things and tweek patterns, etc. Worse yet is when you've done all of that, sewed the dress, and the try on session reveals that it just doesn't quite fit right. If there's anything I do hate about sewing, it's needing to rip things all apart and re-do them. Ask me why this is all fresh on my mind.... Sigh.

* * * *

Cooking is forever a thorn in my flesh. I complain about it way, way too much. In an effort to cut out my daily pleas for supper ideas, my longsuffering husband implemented a plan and exhorted me to stick with it.

He even printed me up

these nifty little lists

It actually really does help to have a plan, since the biggest part of my cooking struggle is deciding what to cook. My problem now is getting the children to fill out the list for me. It's actually rather funny. For all that my husband and I are opposites, in this area we are so much the same: we're terrible at sticking to any kind of a plan. When we come up with a new plan around here, pretty sure our children just smile because they know it won't last long.

* * * *

This fall our church started having "small groups" again. (We're split into groups of 4 or 5 families + some singles and each group does something together every other week or so.) I have really been enjoying our group. Our gatherings have been very informal with a small snack and lots of children playing loudly. What I have loved most though, is listening to each other briefly tell our life stories. I keep wondering to myself what would happen if we did this more? So much of who we are is shaped by our childhood, our family, the community we were raised in; things we often know very little about even after attending the same church for years. It's been so interesting and illuminating. 

* * * *

A blog that I follow recently wrote a post tilted Notes From An Untrendy Person. It made me chuckle and think of several pictures I snapped recently and sent to my sister. One of them was this one taken at our local Wal-Mart, with this message -- 

"And we used to hunt high and low 

for long socks!"

The other was a picture of a homemade baby dress some etsy shop was selling for forty dollars, made from the exact pattern I used for my own little girls back in the day. I'm not sure what I'm waiting on? Quite sure I have some of those vintage dresses stored away in a tote in the attic....

* * * *

I really should get off of this cozy chair and try to get something else accomplished. Besides, it's past lunch time and I'm hungry. Also, I need to decide -- if the sewing is this evening, and I take three children with me, do I stick to the meal plan for tonight or deviate to something more suitable for less people? I tell you, the need to eat is just a major complication in this life. 

Got any tidbits of life you'd like to share? I'd be happy to listen...

A Book Recommendation For Hank Fans

Do you know Hank? If so, this post is for you.

I didn't grow up on Hank the Cowdog. I think I may have heard of him before I got married but it wasn't until Isaac was around Charles' age that he became a permanent part of my life. When Chris discovered the row of audio books at the local library, it wasn't long until they began making a steady stream through our doors...er... tape player.

I don't even know how to describe the books for those of you who aren't familiar with them? Back when my blog consisted of little snippets for blog posts, I wrote this little Hank bit about warm paws.  I roll my eyes over the silliness of the stories sometimes and I get weary of repeated listening but mostly, we all enjoy a good Hank The Cowdog story as a family. And, as Eicher tradition would have it, our children are experts at their own renditions of choice passages. The most hysterical to listen to are Isaac and Charles's. I will throw in this disclaimer here -- there is a bit of "language" included in the books that I am not overly fond of. As a whole, they are quite entertaining and wholesome.

Some time back, I listened to an interview of the author, John R. Erickson, and ever since then my fondness and appreciation of the Hank stories has increased. You can listen to the interview here. In my opinion, it would be hard to find a more humble, down to earth man than John R. Erickson.

Several months ago, I discovered that a new book was coming out titled "Finding Hank". The purpose of it was to give the author a chance to answer all the many questions he has received over the years about his writing. I decided it was a book this Hank loving household needed.

Our copy arrived in the mail last week and we have been thoroughly enjoying it. It is a lovely, hardcover book with lots of pictures and intriguing behind-the-scenes stories and facts. We've all spent lots of time looking through it and sharing the stories we've read. I love to watch Charles poring over the pictures.

These two pages are his favorite, with the pictures of the characters and the map showing all the places in the stories. 

 The book is divided into five sections, grouping the questions into different categories, which makes it easy to find any answers you might be looking for.

Probably a favorite section is part three, where John tells what inspired the characters and places in his books. There really were real life dogs that inspired "Hank" and "Drover" and many of the other characters were inspired by one or several people or animals the author knew.

If you have Hank the Cowdog fans in your life, this book is a must read!  You can buy it here or look it up on Amazon or in your local bookstore. I don't get anything out of this, I just thought you all should know.

One of my favorite quotes in the book comes from John's answer to the question, "Are you famous? Rich?"

"Am I rich? Hank has been a good dog and has brought me a comfortable standard of living, and I feel blessed for that. But what makes me rich is that I've been married to the same lady for fifty years, I've got three children and two dogs who like me, I have a clear conscience, and I sleep well at night. 

I'm doing what I want to do and I find meaning in it. Could a billion dollars bring something better than that? I doubt it."

Now that's the kind of attitude about life that I can get behind!