JG's 75h Birthday Interview

 Today is June Gail’s 75^th Birthday. In honor of her life and the impact that it’s made on mine in regard to opening the world through travel, I’ve conducted a 75^th birthday interview for you all to get to know her a bit better. Enjoy! And today, thank the people in your life who have made a difference.

 

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If your birthday is in July, then why is your name June? Because I was named after my father who was a Junior, so he was called June or Juney—that’s what my mother called him. I was supposed to be born in August 😊.

 

What is your favorite color? Blue

 

What is your favorite flower? Pansy

 

What is one of your first childhood memories? I don’t remember a lot. But I remember when Sherrie was born. I was five. We wanted a brother. But we liked what we got.

 

Tell me about a family vacation you remember. Most of our family vacations were to visit family in NC. But we went to NYC on the train. We went to a Broadway play and to a Yankees baseball game and we took a cruise on the river and ate at the AutoMat. And then on the way back we stopped in Washington DC and took an all-day tour.

 

How many years did you teach? 35 and a half

 

Did you have an all-time favorite student? No. I think every year that I taught there were students who were favorites, but I don’t remember any of them now. 

 

What are some of your favorite Bible verses? “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thine ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) And the 23^rd Psalm. And John 14—let not your heart be troubled.

 

What are some of your favorite songs? Oh don’t ask me that one. I’m not going to answer it 😊.

 

What caused you to want to travel? I’ve just always enjoyed learning about new places. You study these places in school but you really don’t have any real knowledge until you’ve actually seen them. And we don’t have much history in the US.

 

Where is the first place you ever traveled? When I was in college, I went on a cruise to the Bahamas for three days and I took trips to Niagara Falls, Michigan, Kentucky, and Hawaii. And I went to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. And then my first trip to Europe was a 21 day trip and we went to about 9 different countries—a bus trip! I was twenty five.  

 

What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled? Probably Switzerland or New Zealand…even though it was so long of a trip! I think the fiords in Norway and those big waterfalls were pretty. And then seeing the Great Wall of China was a really amazing thing. I’ve been into a lot of Cathedrals and they’re all pretty.  But I don’t understand how they got all the materials to build them so long ago! How they got the stuff for the stained glass windows and the high parts of the building. And the organs! It’s just so amazing.

 

Where do you want to go next? I would like to go to Egypt or Morocco. I would like to go Glacier National Park. And back to Niagara Falls. And to other National Parks. I’d like to go back to Alaska, too—to Denali.

 

What advice do you have for young people today? Get a good education. Get out and see the world. And remember to do things for other people.

 

Is there anything else you’d like to say to your fans? I don’t know that I have any fans 😊. But. I think it’s important to maintain your friendships with your neighbors and your church friends and your family. 

Beggars

 Last night during German Night, my table mates and I got into a discussion on beggars. What got us started was seeing a beggar in Passau with a red Viking umbrella. Either he found the umbrella and took it or a cruiser very generously gave away something that wasn’t theirs to give. (Viking provides large, red golf umbrellas to passengers on rainy days.)

 

One of my table mates shared the story of how he had been scammed at a subway station. After that, he became wary of beggars. 

 

Another table mate shared the story of how she and her son once bought a homeless man a meal but all he took was the coffee. 

 

My aunt shared the story of how she provided a homeless Veteran with a meal coupon and the money to buy the meal. He was proud to be able to walk into the restaurant and pay for his meal. 

 

I listened.

 

Then I must have gotten distracted because the next thing I knew, table mate two was saying, “I don’t care if they use the money to buy wine. If wine is what is going to keep them warm and help them make it through life on the streets, then so be it. Who am I to judge what they do with the money?”

 

I could tell that table mate one was not impressed with this answer, so he shared a story of a time when he thought he wasn’t scammed—when he saw a teenage girl at the grocery store begging for her parents who were sitting in a beat up car.

 

His wife then piped in and said that one of her friends keeps water and granola bars in her car so that whenever she encounters a beggar, she has something to give. 

 

This is such a tough subject. Do we give money? Do we give food? Do we give both? And how much? 

 

Do we make eye contact? Do we look the other way? Do we speak? Do we ignore?

 

Do we trust that the person really needs the help? Do we look with skepticism from all the stories we’ve heard? Do we think that a person’s situation is based on their choices? Do we take into account addiction and mental illness?

 

Table mate two said we should do as Jesus would do. Table mate one said that Jesus knew people’s hearts and who was and was not worthy. 

 

So we finally all agreed that everyone must do what they feel is right…and then we ate our German desserts. 

 

God. Help us to know what is good and right—how to be good stewards of our resources—how to act in the ways you would act—how to best reach people with your love…especially those who need you most. Amen. 

A Racist Tablemate

 If you are an introvert, or an introverted extravert, then a Viking River Cruise might not be for you. Don’t get me wrong, you will have a good time. And you will be well taken care of. But you will be exhausted from people time at the end of each day and you will not be able to eat alone for the entirety of your trip. Hopefully, though, you will make friends and begin eating with them so that conversation can move beyond small talk. But until you make friends, expect to answer these questions over and over again:

 

What’s your name?

Where are you from?

Is this your first Viking Cruise?

Where have you traveled before?

What do/did you do? 

 

Thankfully, JG and I have made friends with three couples, all from the pre-extension in Budapest. For my birthday, we all sat together at a table for 8, but for most meals, it’s just six of us.

 

Before we solidified our meal partners, though, JG and I ended up at a table with a somewhat awkward couple. At first, I thought everything would be OK because the wife was a teacher, and she loved Harry Potter. But then we started talking. She explained that she was moving from sixth grade to fifth grade and that she was hoping that this year would be a better year. 

 

Long story short, she was moving from a diverse inner-city school to a mostly white suburban school. She was moving from a poor area with students from apartment complexes to a rich area with students from houses. She didn’t say it flat out, but it was clear that she was happy that all of her students were going to be white. It was also clear that her husband was glad, too. He didn’t like “those Afghans” that they “dropped” into her classroom. 

 

I was so surprised when the husband made his loud, exasperated comment about “those afghans” that I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was so taken back by the couple’s disdain for diversity that I was speechless. I realized that I was in the presence of people very much living under the protections and expectations of American white privilege. And it disgusted me. 

 

Oh God. You created all of humanity in your image. Help us to see people as people and to celebrate and appreciate the diversity that each nation and culture brings. And God? Help me to have the courage to speak the next time I hear and experience blatant racism. Forgive me for all the times I have remained silent for fear of someone not liking me or whatever other fear may take hold of my heart. Help me to argue for Your love and Your justice. For You are good and right. Amen. 

The Medicine Is Working!

 A few weeks ago,

I posted about beginning a journey with a new anxiety medicine.

In case you read that post and were wondering:

I think the medicine is working!

 

It’s weird.

And difficult to explain.

I’ve always only experienced the world through my disordered eyes,

So it’s hard to know how “normal” feels.

But I think I feel more normal these days.

 

There have been at least four specific instances when I’ve thought,

“I think my medicine is working.”

 

One was last week’s random sleepless night.

My thoughts were everywhere.

I worried about death and dying.

I worried about my trip.

I worried about next school year.

I took a trip down memory lane.

But I didn’t get stuck in any of those worries.

I felt them, and then I put them aside

And moved to something else—

Like calling in a prescription that needed to be filled.

 

Another was unearthing and beginning to go through stuff a decade old.

A few years ago, I’d placed all of my SC WMU files in a box because they were too painful to go through.

Last week, I was finally able to look at them again

And I came to this conclusion:

I did some really good work during my three years there.

It’s taken a long time to own that.

 

Another was preparing for this year’s European vacation.

(Yes. It feels weird writing that! 😜)

I don’t know why anyone would remember this,

But last year I was so full of anxiety during trip preparation that I could barely function.

This year?

I had my worries about luggage and safety and international travel

But I didn’t get stuck in the worries.

I felt them, and then I put them aside

And moved to something else—

Like figuring out which shoes I wanted to pack.

 

Finally, things didn’t go completely as planned at the airport on Tuesday.

Due to weather and flight delays,

There was a very real possibly that we were going to miss our connecting flight to Europe.

I was concerned about what we’d do if we missed our flight,

But I didn’t freak out.

“We’re on adventure,” I said.

“We’ll figure it out as we go.”

 

So, yes.

I think my medicine is working.

I think this may be what normal feels like.

There are still doubts.

There are still worries.

But I can put them aside and move on to something else.

I can function rather than be completely paralyzed by fear.

 

And for that,

I am grateful.

 

Amen.

Sleepless Night

 One of my friends once told me the story of how she ordered plane tickets to New York City in the middle of the night—

While she was asleep!

 

Well, I wasn’t asleep last Wednesday,

But in the middle of the night,

Wide awake,

I reserved two seats at a rooftop restaurant in Budapest, Hungary!

(My aunt and I leave for European vacation tomorrow).

 

I don’t know why,

But I couldn’t sleep that night.

I wasn’t anxious.

I wasn’t sick.

I wasn’t worried.

I just was just full of energy that wouldn’t subside.

I tossed and turned.

I tried to clear my thoughts.

I let my thoughts randomly wander.

And, as one often does in the middle of the night,

I even gave permission for my thoughts to go to all the dark places that I usually try to avoid—

Past mistakes, past failures, past relationship blunders, past hurts, current struggles, etc.

 

In the pain of those moments,

I apologized.

I confessed that I was sorry for all the ways I went wrong,

All the errors I made,

All the ways I wounded people,

Then I heard a little voice saying,

“Your sins are forgiven, child.

You were doing the best that you could do.”

And I cried.

 

As I did during one of the darkest nights of my soul,

I imagined Jesus standing in my door frame,

Walking to my bedside,

Taking my hand,

And letting me cry.

But these were tears of joy and relief,

And I couldn’t have been more grateful.

 

I’d like to report that I went to sleep after that.

But I didn’t.

I stayed up the rest of the night,

Joined Walmart+,

Ordered some stuff,

Dealt with a USAA fraud alert,

Cleaned out my email inboxes,

Cleaned out two bathroom drawers,

And, yes, reserved a place at a rooftop restaurant in Budapest 😊.

 

God: Thank you for being with us at all times and in all places—in the middle of the night in North Carolina, and on vacation in Budapest. And thank you, God, for recognizing that we are each doing our best and for forgiving us when that best goes wonky. Be with all who can’t sleep—for too much worry, for too much adrenaline, for too much pain, for too much work. Grant rest and peace today, God. Amen. 

Joyful Purpose

 Last Thursday, in an unprecedented summer burst of energy,

I decided to clean my room and studio.

Both needed work that I’d been avoiding for weeks,

But for some reason, that day, I was ready for the task…

Until it started.

 

I quickly found myself in tears trying to get rid of things.

If I can remember where something has come from,

Then I don’t like to part with it.

Things remind me of people and

People are so very important to me.

I think of people from throughout my life every day,

And every day I believe that those thoughts are prayers for light, love, and everything good.

 

So there I was, age almost 46, surrounded by stuffed animals,

Trying to get rid of them,

But holding on all the same.

Then a friend said something that I will never forget:

“Just because you remember who gave you an object doesn’t mean you have to keep it forever. Giving you that gift brought THEM joy and receiving the gift brought YOU joy. Sometimes, that joy is enough. And sometimes, it can be time for you pass that joy onto someone else who will like the object as much as or more than you.”

 

Those words made so much sense to me.

And they helped me pass along a carload of things that I’d been holding on to for too long.

I’m happier with a less cluttered room and studio.

But I still have a long way to go.

 

I didn’t get another burst of summer energy until yesterday,

When my mom, aunt, and I worked in the garage for about five hours.

We gave away a carload,

And we threw away much more. 

Again, we still have a long way to go,

But we’re making progress.

And I’m able to look at giving things away in an entirely new light.

 

Don’t get me wrong.

Even as I write, I’m looking at a D that a formerly close friend made me.

We lost touch years ago,

But I still think of and pray for her every day because I see the D.

And that won’t change.

I won’t get rid of everything that reminds me of the people I love.

But I can now let go of some things because I understand that they served their purpose and that it’s time for them to move on.

God: Help us to know when to hold on and when to let go. And help us to be good stewards of our time, space, money, and objects. Amen.

 

Come To Me

 In yesterday’s gospel passage from Matthew 11, we read,

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

…

 

What’s interesting about these comforting words is that they come shortly after Jesus has spoken some other words to the crowd:

“For John came neither eating nor drinking and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

Do you hear the impossibility in Jesus’s words?

Do you hear how the learned religious leaders of the day saw what they wanted to see?

John was too righteous. He had a demon.

Jesus wasn’t righteous enough. He was a glutton and drunkard.

To them, there was no win.

Nothing was good enough…

Except for their understanding of the law and the prophets…

Which Jesus, time and time again, declared had become too complicated.

 

…

 

I was talking to a friend about new church-starts the other day.

She said that a lot of new church-starts are very specific about what they believe and what they don’t believe,

Who they are targeting and who might want to find a church home elsewhere.

She said that when churches make a clear stance on one issue,

They are also making a clear stance on others.

When churches open their doors to one group of people,

They are also closing their doors to others.

I find this image sad.

But it’s true.

We don’t do well sitting with people who differ from or disagree with us these days.

Instead, we tend to go to opposite sides of the table and argue about how the other is bad or wrong.

 

…

 

THEY are too righteous.

THEY are not righteous enough.

Nothing is good enough except OUR understanding of the law and the prophets…

I wonder Jesus would say to us today.

 

…

 

Oh. That’s right.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

And my table is big enough for all of you.

Amen.

 

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I had a hard time rolling out of bed yesterday.

My alarm woke me from a sad dream where I was having to say goodbye to people I once loved.

I was weary from the dream.

I didn’t want to get up.

I didn’t want to see anyone.

I didn’t want to go to church.

I simply wanted to sleep and hope for a better outcome to the reality of the dream.

Maya The Tin Art Apprentice

 After cutting and placing your tin,

You should take a picture or walk away for awhile so that when you come back, you can be sure that you like it.

After deciding that you like it,

You should tape the tin in place.

When starting the nailing process,

You should pre-drill a hole with a masonry nail before driving in the finishing nails.

When driving in the finishing nails,

You should drive them in half-way in case something has shifted and you need to make a change.

If you are happy with your final design,

You should drive the nails fully into place.

If a nail goes crooked,

You should use pliers to gently straighten it or pull it out to replace it. 

When you finish your tin-art piece,

You should feel proud and display it.

 

Such is the process that I went through on Tuesday

As I hung out at our booth during the Lillington 4^th of July Celebration.

The day was uncomfortably and extremely hot,

And we ended up losing money by being there,

But I got to see some friends,

Test my hand at a new quilt square pattern,

And introduce my favorite 7-year-old to this hobby that has become my pasttime.

In the end, I deemed the day okay.

 

During the hottest hours of the day,

When no one was visiting the booth,

I decided to pass the time by making a quilt square.

I picked an ambitious design with ambitious pictures and colors,

And I worked on the square for hours, only to realize 

That the pieces didn’t fit together well and

That there were too many gaps and imperfections for the square to be sold.

Still, I allowed the focus of hammering to take away the disappointment of the day, and

I drove the nails half-way into place,

Made some adjustments,

And then began the process of driving the nails fully into place.

But the nails didn’t want to move with a plastic table as the hammering base,

And it was making a lot of noise.

So I stopped.

 

But then Maya-My-Favorite-Seven-Year-Old took over.

She picked up the hammer and began banging the nails into place.

She’d drive one crooked,

Pick up the pliers,

Woman-handled the nail back in place,

And then keep going.

She did this for a long time,

Until all the nails,

(And it was a lot of nails),

Were in place and the piece was finished.

 

Maya then decided to sell the piece to the vendor next door.

She asked for $5.

He gave her $10.

She was thrilled.

I was too.

She pocketed more than 1/5 of our profit for the entire day!

But how could I not be proud of a little tin-art maker in training?

 

Tuesday was a long, sweaty day.

It was full of false hope and let-downs.

But Maya came.

And her spirit and determination changed everything.

 

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Speaking Our Truth

 It’s freeing to speak our own truth.

It’s empowering to take off our filter and just shoot straight from the hip.

And shooting is very often what happens,

Because unfiltered words, more often than not, end up as weapons.

 

We make fun of people.

We talk down to people.

We insult people.

We blame people.

 

We take harsh, us-against-them stances against people.

We place ourselves in positions of power.

We deem ourselves superior to all others.

We call people names.

 

We shoot our word-weapons when we are enraged or despondent.

We shoot when we’re not thinking of, or don’t care about, consequences.

We shoot to get a rise from those who are listening.  

We shoot, quite simply, to make people laugh.

 

While it hurts, quite literally, to stay quiet when enraged or despondent;

While it is difficult to think through the consequences of our actions;

While it is less-invigorating to not aim for a rise from our audience;

While it is not as fun to refrain from saying mean things to make people laugh;

 

Maybe we SHOULD be more careful with our words.

Maybe we SHOULD leave some things unsaid.

Maybe we SHOULD allow some personal truths to remain in the confines of safety rather than the public’s eyes.

Maybe we SHOULD be more careful not to activate and normalize the dark impulses of the mind—both conscious and unconscious—by allowing some things to remain quiet.

 

We are free.  Yes.

Especially as white Americans, we are free.

We have the ability to exercise that freedom with our words.

We have the opportunity to demonstrate that freedom through our actions.

 

But we are free in Christ, too.

And freedom in Christ doesn’t trump Christ’s command to love God first,

And to love our neighbor as ourselves second.

Freedom in Christ doesn’t free us to shoot straight from the hip.

 

So today I pray that we will know when to speak and when to remain silent.

I pray that we will know how to speak our truth in ways that are freeing for us but not damning for others.

I pray that we will know and remember God’s ultimate truths for life and

I pray that we will not get hung up on issues that change with time, circumstance, and culture.

 

God: Life is difficult. Knowing you and living into the fullness of who you’ve called us to be is difficult. Searching out truth and speaking truth and not being a stumbling block is difficult. And yet. You Are. Help us to see You—to truly see You—as much as You can show of yourself—and help us to have the courage to follow you—even when it’s hard and goes against all human inclination—even when we must admit that we’ve been wrong and that we need forgiveness. Forgive us, God. Restore us. And open our eyes that we might see. Amen.