The Gift of Life

August 16, 2012

As many people who are adopted have a yearning to find their birth parents and know where they came from, so do many, like me, who search their family trees trying to make sense of "who am I" and "where did I come from."

I began this blog nearly two years ago as an avenue to tell my story, to leave a legacy to my children as to what their mother was about and what I stood for.  It was my way of wrapping my arms around my fellow travelers and giving them the hope and faith that oozed from my being.  It's been a journey of self-discovery and a work of love...

My blog has reached the ends of the earth and I have been surprised at how many have sent emails letting me know about much my blogs have meant to them.  I am but an instrument as I sit down at my computer.  I pray that God would guide my mind and fingers as they whirl across the keyboard.  Often times, "I" have an idea of what I want to write and God has other plans.  I am obedient ... what is that new saying out now?  I am second?  Well, anyway, I have been second for a good number of years and find contentment in having it that way.

My most favorite place in the entire world is Lake Minnewaska located in Pope County Minnesota.  I spent seventeen years walking the shoreline and communing with nature there.  All I have to do is shut my eyes and I can see the restless waves splashing on the shore.  The sound of gulls and loons is music to my ears.  This will always be home to me and it is where I will have my ashes scattered.  It was the beginning - for me, but not for my great+great great-grandparents who came before me.

Many a day, I would carry a bag filled with books, paper, pencil, letters, notes, and snacks down to the beach.  My mother would drop me off either early in the morning or on her lunch hour.  Sometimes, I would ride my bike.  The solitude welcomed me and awakened a spirit that was deep inside.  I would roll out my towel and rub on some Baby Oil with a little iodine in it.  Talk about boiling the skin!!  I'm glad that pale is the new tan!!

My trips to the city library kept me well stocked with avenues to new adventures.  I was a dreamer - a visionary - a soft spoken young lady - a loner.  I loved to read and scribble notes to myself.  The world was a small place there where I grew up ... I wandered about in my own little Eden, singing, dancing, and communing with Mother Nature.

The following lines were written by Mrs. W. F. Dougherty, in 1907 of her first vision of Glenwood twenty-four years previous, (1883):  “Travel back with me then, if you will, four and twenty years, when weary and travel-worn from a trip across the plains, through humdrum villages and uninviting scenes, suddenly there burst upon our view a scene of such transcendent beauty, a vision that held our eye, entrance as of Paradise to earth let down.  There, in the valley below us, nestled a little village, threaded and dotted here and there with winding stream and lake of shimmering hue; while stretching as far as human eye could see, lay Minnewaska, with her crystal waters sparkling in the sunshine, vying only with the arching heavens above in ethereal blue.  Protected on either side by wooded hill, from whose sides gushed forth the  of living waters, murmuring brooks, and whispering trees, songs of birdsafloat the breeze; these were thy charm.”

Can you picture where I spent my childhood days?  The land that my father's family helped settle?  Coming from the illustrious land of Norway, they must have felt right at home.  At whatever point one opens my blogs, it is my hope that my Readers will be able to quiet down and rest in my words no matter what their circumstances.  Reading my blogs - from start to finish or every now and then - is to exist for a time in my world.  Did my gift come from those days spent on the shore or did it come from those who graced this country as pioneers?  I would like to think both ... maybe it was my own precious gift for me alone from my Heavenly Father.

As I write, I sink into the rhythm of waves rolling in ... I walk towards the light speaking truth or, I should say, truth as I know it.  From the first of my blogs, I have felt free and my being has soared.  There is a freedom in the written word ... a freedom to reflect on my own experiences and delve into my own gift of life.  I have reached a time where I am comfortable in my own skin.

I wish I was the woman I am now when I was seventeen, but that is water under the bridge.  It takes living life to grow and create the substance of personhood.   It took walking the road of life, making mistakes, and celebrating successes to become me.  I choose not to second guess where the Lord has taken me ... Who knows, He may not be done yet and expect I may have many more life's experiences ahead of me!!

What started out as a cool, shady day has turned into a sweltering hot afternoon!  Even the trees are beginning to suffer from the drought.  I certainly won't have any trouble finding weeds/grasses for Fall bouquets!  The little trees I planted are still alive - I took off all the leaves which helped with the stress of the heat.



I was no accident ... the place I was born was no accident ... my heritage was no accident ... my walk, no accident.  I was given the gift of life ... and, in the end, my story will be what I did with my days and the people I met along the road of life!

Miss Dottie declares this to be a day of celebration for the gift of life that we've all been given.  We're here not by mere chance but for a purpose.  Discover yours before it's too late!!

Always remember you are loved and prayed for ... ya you!!

“For you have heard my vows, O God; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name” (Psalm 61:5).

“That I might live for God” (Galatians 2:19).