Category Archives: Something to Remember

I was asked to say a few Words

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I was asked to speak at a meeting of about 120 church members in January. It’s not something I’ve been asked to do before and not something I am particularly comfortable doing. I wasn’t sure that anything I had to say would be relevant, but I said I would and so I did. I’m saving my words here because they reflect a little on my life and this is my family history blog (well, sometimes it is family history; sometimes it absolutely is not). I was asked to say something about how ministries of the church had had an impact on my life –  or something like that…

I have been a member of FUMC for more than 30 years. During that time, my life has taken a few unexpected turns and at least a few of those surprises were the result of the ministries of this church.

About 12 ? years ago, I got a call from Cathy B., who leads the ESL program, asking me to please consider helping her. She knew several teachers would be absent from the next English as a Second Language class and was afraid she would be the only teacher. ESL was not on my radar and I don’t think Cathy and I had ever had a conversation about ESL. But I told her I’d come and at least be a warm body. The students kindly helped me and I had a great morning. Cathy asked if I wanted to come back and I did and I still do.

When Cathy explained the ESL program to me, she told me that yes, we teach English, but teaching English is not the most important thing we do. The most important thing we do is to provide a place of welcome – a place where our students can find friendship.

Teaching ESL has given me many gifts:
– The first to come to mind is the gift of Joy. There are no bad days.
– My nest was emptying at the time of Cathy’s call – teaching ESL gave me a new direction and sense of purpose.
– The world has become a much smaller place to me; but my circle has grown ever larger. I view the news and world events with different eyes and ears because of the people I have come to know.
– I was sick a few years ago and I wasn’t able to teach for about a year and a half. My students prayed for me; sent me emails and cards and gifts and carried me in love. What a gift! And when I returned, they were so protective of me!
– When I was sick I had a lot of time to talk to God and I would tell God how much I wanted to get back to my students. Cancer really messed with my brain and there were a lot of things I just couldn’t do – or do well: follow directions, make plans, organize ideas… Thank goodness Cathy B. prepares all the lessons and I just have to show up and teach. When I was well enough to teach – I could! It was my little miracle that this part of my brain still worked. The gifts of joy and purpose returned to me and helped me continue to heal.

I have also seen how the ESL program has had an impact on students – not just things like improving their English, or making friends, but changes of heart. It is not that uncommon to have students in a class who are from countries that share a bad history.

There was the student who told Cathy, “I have never liked people from X. In my country, we do not like people from X. But I came here and I met a friend. She is from X. Now I know that I do like people from X.”

Another student told me, “In my country, they tell us that Americans don’t like us. Christians don’t like us. But I come here and I know that is not true.”

You may not know that many of our students are temporary residents here and return to their home countries. I believe that the welcome our students experience here leaves a mark on them that they carry with them wherever they go when they leave us. We don’t know how God may be at work in and through them.

And I have to tell you that I believe our ministry of welcome is more important now than ever before.

I also want to mention the Mercy and Justice book discussions that I have participated in over the past couple of years. Cathy S. has chosen well when selecting books and has created a safe space to learn about and discuss sometimes difficult or uncomfortable topics. I have been challenged to examine my opinions and biases and how I fit into systems of justice and injustice. At some point, the challenge is to do more than read and discuss, and more than once this year, I found myself putting on my walking shoes and sunscreen and heading over to the Capitol to let my feet do the talking – not something I expected to be doing at this time in my life and something I clearly would not have done without my reading/talking/walking companions.

On January 29, 2015, our ESL class had just let out and we were cleaning up and saying our goodbyes when a large group began to trickle in from a rally on the steps of the Capitol. This is common during legislative sessions. It was apparent that this was a large group of Muslim Texans and, as we do, we greeted them and pointed them up the stairs to this room for their lunch and meeting. I didn’t know until after I left the building that this group had just been subjected to a threatening and hostile encounter during their rally. School children had been heckled while singing patriotic songs; a woman had rushed the stage and grabbed the microphone from a speaker; hateful words had been hurled at them. I was so glad that we were in the building to give them a warm greeting.

On January 31, 2017, I joined members of FUMC, other people of faith, and other concerned citizens on the south steps of the Capitol where we linked arms to form a circle of protection around our Muslim neighbors as they held their Muslim Capitol Day rally.

I can assure you, I did not see that coming.

 

Breezes of Joy

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A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the taste of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked. ~ Anais Nin, Diary of Anais Nin

One of the gifts given to me by cancer was singularly ordinary moments experienced as pure and simple joy. These moments came most often sitting on our back porch, just looking out at the back yard and the greenbelt beyond and seeing and feeling what was there. A bird at the feeder. Butterflies at a flower. A symphony of birdsong. A soft breeze with a particular cool lightness. And I would smile. And it felt like joy.

My weirdest experience of this was at the dentist’s office. If you are going to have a stem cell transplant, your dentist has to give the okay. I was sitting in the examination room waiting for her to return with my paperwork and I was overcome by a sense of happiness. I don’t know why. Nothing had transpired between us to make me feel joyful. I hate going to the dentist and procrastinate for years rather than going for annual checkups. Not exactly my happy place. So why was I happy? I have no clue. But in that ordinary moment, a smile and a glad heart were my response.

Years have passed now, but these unexplained and unanticipated moments of joy still visit me now and then. I was moved to write this because it happened a few moments ago. Just sitting on the back porch, watching some wispy clouds move through a blue sky, partially blocked by the leaves and branches of the trees in our back yard. A few butterflies circling each other or hanging on a limb, looking more like a leaf than a butterfly. Then a light breeze, with just a slight coolness touched my face and it felt so good. What could I do but smile at the moment and soak it in?

A few minutes later, I looked through the daily devotional book I’ve been using this year – a gift from a friend when I was in the hospital for the transplant. I didn’t read it then, but this has been the perfect year for it. I flipped back through the book for pages I have dog-eared and stumbled on a page with the quote used at the beginning of this post. A poetic response to little moments of joy.

Here is the full devotional for June 29, The President’s Devotional by Joshua Dubois

A Visit to the Capitol – Past and Present

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One Friday morning in July, I paid a visit to the state Capitol. There were some important bills being heard in committee that day, so my friend M F and I headed out to do our civic duty and register our opinions. 

After completing our task, we walked around a bit to reminisce. We both worked at the Capitol years ago, but not at the same time.

Portraits of all the former governors of Texas hang in the rotunda. I stopped for a photo with my favorite former governor and asked Ann to haunt the building as needed during this “special” session. 😉

Many years ago, I worked during an interim for Senator Lindon Williams (R-Houston). My father-in-law helped me obtain this much-needed job and I was thankful to have it. I’m trying to remember the exact chain of events… I think I first worked at a preschool during the year between college and graduate school. If that is correct, I must have worked for the Senator during the summer after my first year of grad school. Since it was a part-time job, it’s possible I continued to work into the fall.

Since I worked during the interim, there was not a lot of excitement. I mostly did filing and answered phones and worked on mailings. Sometimes there was nothing for me to do except be a warm body in case the phone rang or someone came by the office, so I think I even did a little crafting. I have a vague memory of two specific Christmas decorations and being in that office. Maybe I just brought in some of the Christmas crafting I was working on to show the Administrative Assistant. I no longer remember.

The walls of the lowest level of the Capitol are hung with “class” photos of former members of the legislature. Below, Senator Williams is pictured right there above my hand.

M F worked for Senator Farabee – fourth from the bottom right above Senator Williams. On his left is Senator Lloyd Doggett. When we eventually joined the church we now attend, I remember that he and his family sat up in the left side balcony of the church. Lloyd Doggett is now a U.S. Representative from Texas. He recently held a town hall meeting in our church Family Life Center. I served as a hospitality representative from the church to assist those in attendance. Getting to sit in on the town hall was a nice benefit.

The Texas Capitol has been remodeled since the time of our employment, but M F and I wandered around, looking for the familiar. M F pointed out that many original features of the building remain although functions have changed. An etched window above a door still identifies the Treasury Office, for example, even though that office is no longer in the building. Even the hinges on the doors are beautiful and detailed. M F has a framed rubbing of one.

It was nice walking around the Capitol with a friend who once worked there and is also a history buff. She didn’t mind at all that I wanted to walk around the grounds on this very hot day to see the newest monument – The Texas African American History Memorial. It traces the history of African Americans in Texas from the 1500s to the present. M F could name several of the figures without reading the plaques! Impressive! My knowledge of Texas history is limited. I didn’t arrive in Texas until I was a junior in high school, so I never studied Texas history.

The center of the monument depicts Juneteenth in Texas: June 19, 1865 – when African Americans in Texas received the news of the end of slavery.

The monument was unveiled November 19, 2016. It is really quite impressive and moving – especially recognizing that black slave labor was integral in building the Capitol building that sits behind this monument. It is unfortunate that a “White Lives Matter” protest was also scheduled on the Capitol grounds the morning of the unveiling (the group insisted it was a coincidence) and there was also a counter protest to the protest. 🙁

We were getting really hot, so I didn’t take the time for a photo of the back side. This video provides some compelling close ups and a view of the back.

It was also my first time to view the  Tejano Monument. It didn’t draw me in emotionally in the same way as the African American History Memorial, but it is well done. I especially like the setting of the statues on the native granite boulders.

I posted some of these photos from my day to Facebook and several friends chimed in. One friend said her great-grandfather’s photo also hangs in the lower level where I stood by the Senator’s photograph. Another friend worked for Lloyd Doggett. Another friend said her aunt was friends with Lindon Williams and she remembered talking to him. She thinks her aunt tried to get him to fix a speeding ticket for her, but it didn’t happen. She paid her ticket herself. I felt like we were playing a game of 7 degrees of Lindon Williams!

I haven’t spent much time at the Capitol since I worked there – just a couple of tours with out-of-town friends or a school field trip. This year, however, I have had occasion to visit several times.

1/16 -MLK Jr. March. 1/21- Women’s March.

     

1/31- Standing as a Peaceful Observer to protect Muslim neighbors on Muslim Capitol Day.  2/25 – No Ban, No Wall rally. And there have been a couple more.

  

I am thankful to live where I have easy access to my state government and can participate in a variety of ways in the democratic process and the vibrant life of this community.

We have a beautiful Capitol filled with history. It is well worth a tour and a celebration of the diversity that makes Texas, Texas.