She Stopped to Help, Would You?

I need to brag. I have very kind and compassionate children and I have much to learn from them. About a month ago my youngest and I were close to home, half-way across our island when she yelled, "STOP!" I slammed on the brakes and saw what had caught her eye. My daughter had spotted a fawn laying by the side of the road, injured.

Our little island is about five miles long and we often wonder why it hasn’t been re-named “Deer Island” since the population of deer continues to grow. I put the emergency blinkers on and we crossed the road to see what was going on with the little deer. It obviously had been hit by a passing car and left to die. Her eyes were open and she was still alive but was very hurt. We assumed she had internal injuries since was bleeding out of her mouth. She didn't make a sound, couldn't swallow water or move except for an occasional kick. 

By this time my tender-hearted girl was spilling tears. We were tired and a bit emotional after being on a  wonderful church retreat weekend up in Port Townsend where our theme was “restoration." This violent scene was not was we were expecting so close to home.

We were trying to decide what to do when finally a car stopped. A sweet Mom called 911 and we were told help would be on the way in a bit. Car after car drove by. A few slowed down to stare but most sped by. Shouldn't they have been even the least bit curious why we were petting a deer? Only one more car stopped to inquire if we needed assistance. A man cutting weeds nearby finally walked over. Apparently he sees deer get hit often because he showed zero emotion and asked us to leave because he didn’t want us to get hit by a car on his property.

We wondered how so many other people could drive by without helping. Not to mention where was the person who actually hit the Fawn with their car? (Do hit & runs not count if it’s a wild deer?) We seemed to be getting a first-hand lesson of the “Good Samaritan” parable from the bible... Sometimes when we see something that might require us to stop, do we? Do we walk/drive on by and assume it’s none of our business or that someone else will help? Do we slowly become desensitized and stop caring?

The emergency crew still hadn’t shown up, the sun was hot and I really needed to go to the bathroom, so I finally called my hubby to explain our predicament and see if he could come be of some assistance.

As my husband pulled up, so did another car. The man and my husband had a short conversation and then they came over to where we were crouched down trying to comfort the animal. The man was carrying a weapon in a case on his shoulder. Please note: I was NOT comfortable with this and quite shocked... (Although I am a meat-eater, I am not a fan of hunting. Although I am a conservative, I am not a fan of guns except on policemen.)

Long story short; the man with the gun (and two kids in his car) attempted to explain to my daughter that the deer wasn't going to live and that the wildlife people would administer euthanasia, my kind husband gently explained to our child that sometimes wounded wild animals can't be saved, we left (very sad), and the sweet deer's suffering was stopped...

I wonder what happened after we drove away since my husband saw the wildlife car pull up right after the deer was shot. Did the gun-carrying guy get in trouble? I wonder if her babies are surviving without her... I have a big heart for Mamas and their children.

I am no longer annoyed when I see deer. I remember the sight of my child trying to bring love and comfort to one of God's gentle creatures. I no longer want to use antlers in all of my decorating (like Gaston sings about in Beauty and the Beast.) 

I desire to have the heart of my daughter and the good Samaritan. I want to have mercy even when it's inconvenient and hope to follow the words of Jesus:

 “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37

Would you have stopped?

In His Grip, Jane

Picture sources:

Pinterest

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Gaston

And So it Goes...

My Daddy~Vaughn Dube' Story

This post is a little of this, and a little of that. Thanks for allowing me to ramble. My suitcase is packed for a Carver family reunion to the Great Lakes state of Minnesota. With Father's Day coming up it's made me think about my Daddy who passed away 21 years ago. I miss him dearly! He was an amazing man, loyal husband and fabulous daddy to three little girls (I was the baby.) He loved being a granddaddy too and would have loved my youngest daughter if he had met her.

Grandpa Carver with our first-born who is now 28!

The reunion we're headed to is in Minnesota, not because that's where his Dad is from, but because he likes it. My father-in-law is a retired Air Force Colonel, Boy Scout leader and Dad to three boys and a girl. We'll get to spend Father's Day with him this year! The last time we had a reunion the kids were little. Now all but one of mine can "legally" drink a beer and we have a lot of cousin catching up to do. The only bummer is that the weather is predicted to be rainy and low 70’s. NOT the hot, sunny, Mid-West lake vacation weather we had experienced and hoped to repeat.

I have put myself on balloon strike. Here’s why. I was given the job to buy balloons for the women’s retreat. The only ones available were graduation ones and then they flew up from the check-out stand at the grocery to the ceiling. Sort of funny, but not. This week I had helium pink balloons strapped in the back seat for the baby shower I was hosting. I hit the accelerator a bit too hard forgetting that my window was down half-way. Yes, they untied and flew out the window. Quite disappointing and I had to keep driving even though I wanted to stop and ponder what had just happened. I think helium balloons are now over-rated and at the very least please don’t ask me to be  in charge of them.

My good friend’s daughter-in-law is expecting and was in town so it sounded like a great reason to throw a party. Despite not having any balloons with helium (see above) I had fun decorating our home PINK with lots of tissue flowers and fun borrowed pennants. I tried my hand at a Pinterest project and everyone pitched in yummy brunch food. All the guests helped create an ABC book for baby Emmy and it seemed to be a hit. Expectant Mommies remind me once again how fortunate I am to work at a baby boutique. Throwing a party always motivates me to clean my house so that’s an added bonus. It’s still looking good two days later!

3D usually makes people think of art, but today it meant medical imaging. I had to have a diagnostic test today which saw something teeny tiny that needs a bit of future attention. I loved discovering a  friend from bible study was my nurse today. I had asked several prayer buddies to pray for me this morning and those prayers were answered. (I love how God is in the details and provided a warm and caring friend to calm my nerves.) I know food isn’t supposed to be a go-to for comfort, but oh the Pao’s donut I ate on my way home certainly cheered me up!

We looked at lots of homes for sale this week. We have some specific requests which apparently are difficult to combine with our price range: We’d like to SEE the water. We don’t want a huge yard to take care of, but our dog needs a bit of space. Location matters; closer to town but not too close to the traffic noise. Lots of light~I don’t want the yard to look like a scene from the movie Twilight. When the weather is rainy I still want light, not a canopy of trees. 

We discussed Pros & Cons. We tried to rank them and imagine living in them. It’s hard! We saw a couple really pretty homes with bad yards and pretty views with terrible homes. We saw a lot of ugly  interesting possibilities and one place that might be featured on a future Hoarders episode. The OCD part of me had a hard time looking past the mess to see the potential. I am so glad that God can see past MY mess and see MY potential!  

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

1 Peter 5:20

My retreat roomies!

The theme of our women's retreat was restoration. If we end up buying a fixer-upper, I will try to remember that restoration takes love and time but is worth it. I wish I could get the amazing couple from the HGTV show Fixer-Upper to fly here from Texas and take on a project!! Have you watched their show on Thursdays?

Photo courtesy of http://magnoliahomes.net/fixer-upper/

I’ll be out of touch and basically unplugged from technology for a week making family memories at cabin #17 at the Isle 'O Dreams. 

Photo courtesy of http://www.isleodreams.com/

And so it goes... Wishing all your Dads and/or husbands a Happy Father's Day and our USA soccer team good luck!

In His Grip, Jane

What I Learned in May

Happy June! The month of May is over. It was packed full of family events (a wedding and graduation) and ended with a very special church retreat.  I'm linking up with Emily P. Freeman of Chatting at the Sky. Here are 7 things I learned in May:

1. Invite your college-age daughter to a women's retreat. I didn't. She had to ask me if she could go! We had a fabulous time and it will have to become a tradition. She was totally a joy to have in our "house" and my girlfriends had great talks with her.

2. Slurry is a combination of a thickening agent like cornstarch, combined with liquid. I was watching The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network and she was making yummy blackberry cheesecake squares for a church potluck.

3. Fake Bake it is: Even if I sunbathe for a bit (with sunscreen of course~I had a Melanoma in my early 20’s) my legs stay white-as-snow. My friend recommended I try Fake Bake tanner and it seems to be a good, un-smelly way for me to show off my middle-aged legs in shorts or skirts now that boots and tights season is behind us.

4. Somewhere in my "wicked past," I must have done something good... (Taking liberty with the song from Sound of Music.)  In Proverbs 31:28 it says: "Her children arise and call her blessed." I have a LONG time before I can compare myself to the Proverbs 31 woman, and my children usually sleep in when they're home, but in the last several months I’ve had the joy of having at least two of my four children write me loving notes about how I've influenced them. I’m not bragging, I’m just delighted that God has orchestrated our relationship so that I can be a positive factor in my children’s lives. I’m such a grateful Mama for the way my kiddos are turning out. They are so cool~I’d want to hang out with them even if I wasn’t their Mom!! (They even forgive me for not inviting them to retreats. See #1.)

5. College graduation ceremonies are wonderful, and long... Our #3 child graduated from Whitworth on the 18th and it was so fabulous to watch him cross the stage as a Theology major. Having sat through three other ceremonies (two undergrad and one graduate), we knew the "drill. Tip: bring a book or I-Pad to kill some time as ALL the names are read. Do not try to watch netflix though~my hubby accidentally was charged by the minute for the "hot spot" he subscribed to so he could watch a movie. Busted...

6. Don't assume. I had two things go a bit sideways over the weekend while I was on a retreat at Fort Worden in Port Townsend. I assumed everyone at work had looked at the schedule I'd written covering my Friday morning shift. NOT. I received a phone call and discovered no one was at the store until 1:00. Boo. I hope we didn't lose too many customers. 

On Saturday night one of our housemates wasn't home when the rest of us went to bed so we left on several lights and assumed we had left the door unlocked for her. NOT. My poor friend came home and discovered she was locked out. She spent a chilly night sleeping trying to sleep on the porch because none of us heard her quiet knock. I am not a camper; I would have been pounding and crying... Double check is the lesson. This lesson of not assuming also applies to #1.

7. Girlfriends trump the beach. I can't believe I was at the beach and never made it down for a walk along the water. I was having so much fun at the house, going to town, and talking on the front lawn with friends that I never ended up going to the beach and yet I still left refreshed and happy!

What did you learn in May?

In His Grip, Jane