May 14, 2010
All day yesterday I kept thinking I was missing something – missing someone’s birthday that I should remember. But – it was a busy day, filled to the brim, and I didn’t go look at my computer list. I missed calling my friend Lucy to tell her happy birthday. Bummer.
Lucy and I have known each other since we were about 8 or 9 years old – when we traipsed off to our first year of Assembly of God summer camp. She is the one who taught me to play the ukelele one year at camp when we were teenagers – and she has always made me laugh. We went to the same college together – agreed it was best to have other roommates – but became part of the foursome of friends knows as the four musketeers. Our lives took far different turns and we didn’t keep in touch as well as either one of us might have preferred – but now is not then – and I missed an opportunity to say ‘Happy 65th!’
So – I called this morning – left a message on an answering machine. I truly believe that at our age we should have ‘birthday months’ not just birthdays – but I still feel awful that I missed calling on 'the day'.
The masher I am featuring today is the one that is the segue for the Parable about the Five-year plan, which I shared a couple of days ago – a lesson from my friend Cathie.
The masher was from a gal in Montesano named Linda Taylor. The masher is special because it was from the Shaeffer Logging Camp – and the Shaeffer family is a huge part of logging history in Montesano…and the masher is also special to me just because it came as a gift from a friend – and it has an added benefit of triggering applicable messages for my parables talk.
It definitely reminds me of the treasure of friendship. As we walk through the journey of life, we share the journey with various people for various reasons – and various seasons. While we may not always stay in touch the way we’d like, our friendships help mold us. I am grateful for the many women – and a few men – along the journey who have become friends. They – and the memory of time shared and growth experienced together are treasures.
Because this masher was used by the cook in a logging camp, it reminds me that God has work for all of us to do. Work as an occupation, where we rub shoulders with others and get to be his light in a dark world, and work to do for Him. Not because he needs us – but because we need the tasks for fulfillment and growth. We need the constant awareness of being connected to the One who is the vine – and how better to feel connected, than to have the privilege of partnering with him in what he is doing in the world….
It reminds me also that a potato masher is an intentional tool – and we are called to be intentional in our Christian walk. May it be so.
I am so enjoying your 'Potato Masher Parables'. Thank you for sharing them with us. Lucy taught me to play the ukulele in my dorm room one evening. I never knew her birth date. I agree with the birth months idea! I must send her a message of congratulations. Hooray for us! We did it! We are now officially too old to die young! Keep up the good writing...Genny
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