Precious Memories

This is a long post and just a story - with a scrapbook page at the end - so you may need to get a cuppa Joe and settle in!

There are so many things that my kids don't know about me. Nothing secretive -- just stuff I did when I was a kid that we don't ever talk about. My daughter was astounded to learn the other day that her dad and I used to ride motorcycles in college. And that we drove through a 3 foot deep running river in Canyonlands National Park (Utah) in our car - not knowing what was under the water -- and I can't swim! There was supposed to be a bridge.......
(That wasn't so smart, but we were adventurous in those early married pre-kids days!)
Her response: "Wow! I didn't know my parents were FUN and COOL!" Can you tell she is a teenager?
Lots of stories to tell. Sometimes I think we wait until it's too late to share things with those we care about.
There are a lot of things I would like to know about my parents' early days too. And "who is that in that picture?" Stuff like that.
I have put my scrapbooking aside for literally years. I was caught up when my daughter was a 5th grader. She is a sophomore this year.
So with the beginning of the Advent Season yesterday, I resolved to share a bit more, journal a bit more, and work more on my scrapbooking.

So a bit to share: This newly released set (Worship the Lord) by Our Daily Bread designs is a special one to me. I am a PK - aka Pastor's kid. When I was ten years old, my dad had two churches, one 30 miles away from the town where we lived and one 15 miles past that. We would drive each Sunday out to the first one, and then on to the second for a little bit later service. The second church looked exactly like the one in this set. There were a few more trees, as it was a heavily forested area, but it was this church. They were a very small congregation; most Sundays there were maybe 15 people there. But they were so welcoming and sweet -- and to my ten year old eyes: OLD. They were probably younger than I am now!
They didn't have a piano or organ player, so I was recruited. My mom was a piano teacher and had started me on lessons when I was four, so I was into my sixth year of playing by the time I got to this church. Every Sunday I would play the hymns at this church, and the people were so thankful to not have to sing a capella anymore! They loved my dad. He also had a great tenor voice and would sometimes sing special numbers.

My dad has retired. But I haven't. I have played piano almost every Sunday since then, even sometimes when I am visiting a church! And I still love it. I think there are very few hymns and songs that I don't know. I am not sure how many that would even be, but I know all the hymn numbers in three hymnals by heart. (I don't mean the music; I do not play by ear at all. I mean the #s - like "Joy to the World" is #125.....) Weird.

One of the hymns I used to play out there was an oldie, for sure: "The Church in the Wildwood." I can remember the marching sound of the chorus as it started "Come, come, come, come, come to the church in the wildwood...."

Once on the way to church, it was winter and snowing, and our car - a blue Pontiac Grand Prix (in those days a HUGE car) - broke down. My dad and I needed to get there! So, we hitchhiked. Back then it was "more acceptable," although a little girl and a big man in a black coat hitchhiking caught the attention of a policeman, who stopped and asked for ID. He wanted to know if everything was okay. I was having the adventure of my life - are you kidding!? Hitchhiking with the minister! We made it to the service - I have no idea how we got back home. Not a life-changing story, but one I remember, and it's a fun one to tell my kids.

So, in honor of that snowy day and the little church in Ash Fork, Arizona, I made this simple 6 x 6 scrapbook page. Nothing fancy, but lots of precious memories. The other side will be the journaling of a story about a ten year old piano player and her dad - their grandpa. I tore the music out of an old hymnal (I have a few of those around). The page looked just like that - I didn't have to dye it or change it at all, except to tear the edge and sponge around it to match the little church scene. Notice in the words of the hymn, "little brown church" -- and so it was.