Miss Ann Says

Category: faith

• a silver bracelet, a buffet and bread

  Posted at 6:23 pm by missannsays, on August 16, 2012

  My aunt died this past weekend. She had taken a terrible fall last November and after months in the hospital and rehab she had gone home. She was doing quite well when other health issues would get the best of her. She fought the good fight but her body could only take so much. My heart is broken for my uncle, cousins and their families. She will be missed. My aunt and uncle and I shared something very special. We had the same wedding day – June 14. I was actually the flower girl in my aunt and uncle’s wedding. To be honest, I don’t remember that event because I was only 4 years old. I have however seen many a photo and for many years I had a small silver  bracelet that my aunt and uncle had given me on June 14, 1958.  I have fond memories of looking at it in my mom’s jewelry box and her saying “that is yours”. When Bruce and I were planning our wedding we picked June 14 as our date. Mainly because his mom had always joked that she would put the “flag out” when he got married. Thus June 14 being Flag Day seemed perfect.  So on June 14, 1980 Bruce and I were married and that silver  bracelet given me by my aunt and uncle was passed along to my flower girl, Bruce’s niece.

   

  On another note, the “Ho Chi Minh” has a new home. (See 5/26 blog) This past Friday my daughter and I met at my parent’s house and loaded the “Ho Chi Minh” into her car for the journey to PA. Last evening she sent me a photo of the buffet fondly called the Ho Chi Minh proudly displayed in her dining area. It seems perfect that it has been passed along to the next generation.

   

  Lately I have been pondering this whole concept of remembering.  The thought that keeps coming to mind is communion “do this in remembrance of me”. A simple cup of wine and a piece of bread. Such ordinary every day items used to remember the greatest sacrifice ever made. And maybe that is the point it is in the every day that we remember.

  Posted in daily life, faith, memories, relationships | 0 Comments | Tagged little things, telling the next generation

• Epic fail or was it???

  Posted at 3:47 pm by missannsays, on July 16, 2012

  I taught Sunday School yesterday and near the end of the class one of the 4th grade boys commented “is this story about the same  Abraham who helped settle things with the black and white people?” At first I wasn’t sure what he meant and then I realized he was talking about Abraham Lincoln. What?? Really I just taught this lesson on Abraham and Lot. I made sure we found the “story” in the Bible – “Genesis  chapter 13- big number 13, verses 1- 18 –  little numbers 1-18” I commented that I was reading it in story form but the same story is in the Bible. After the class was over, I thought the whole class was an epic fail. I mean I read the story, we acted it out, we did this fun through the soda can game, we threw marshmallows and we had lively discussion about each part of the lesson. A fun time was had by all but he thinks the story is about Abraham Lincoln. The more I tried to figure out where I went wrong, I realized something. He got the lesson. According to the curriculum, the lesson aim is “to help kids learn that God wants us to be peacemakers”. I also had another thought I have no idea what the kids are learning. My responsibility is to be prepared, to faithfully present the lesson to the best of my ability, to love my students and enjoy our time together.  So as a word of encouragement to parents and teachers, don’t give up because they may miss the facts but they may be learning the lesson.

  Posted in faith, kid stuff | 2 Comments | Tagged kid stuff, telling the next generation

• Go,Dog,Go

  Posted at 11:32 am by missannsays, on July 9, 2012

  Two weeks ago while running errands with my mom I had stopped by her home to pick up something that she wanted at her “new” home at the assisting living facility. I had left the front door open and gone upstairs to search for the item. I wasn’t sure if it was in one of the few boxes still in the house or if it was in the many boxes in my garage. As I turned to exit the bedroom there was a dog standing there.  A pit bull. I screamed. He wagged his tail. I pretend to like dogs but I am very cautious with dogs. So I am “saying go home doggie, go home.” I am waving my arms and he is acting like he has found a new friend. I finally “shoo” him outside but he is all happy. He thinks I am playing. I try to reach for his collar to see where he lives but at the same time I am remembering every headline I have ever seen about “pit bull attacks someone”. I am also thinking if this dog bites me my mom will try to get out of the car and she will fall and I can’t do this, give me a break. So this scenario is running in my head. And my mom is in the car watching and smiling. My mom’s home is on a very busy street and even though I am afraid of this dog I don’t want him to get hit by a car.  So I decided that just leaving is best thing so I lock up the house and my new friend Mr Pit Bull is still right there. I again encourage him to go home. He isn’t listening. I open the car door to get in and you guessed it Mr Pit Bull jumps right in my car. My mother is laughing I am on the verge of tears because  I am afraid of this dog. I yell at him to get out and he finally does. I jump in and lock the door. My mom is still laughing and I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry. It was good to see my mom laugh but I couldn’t have been eaten by a pit bull and my mom could have fallen and…. I have a vivid imagination.

  “His thoughts said, I dreamt a distressing dream last night….His Father said, When did I promise to give strength and grace in a dream of the night? My grace is for that which is, not for that which may never be.”  His Thoughts said…His Father said… by Amy Carmichael

  Posted in daily life, faith | 0 Comments | Tagged little things

• what if…

  Posted at 1:08 pm by missannsays, on July 4, 2012

  This is really a continuation of my last post – Respect in the Real World -4th of July & book club.  At book club, one comment that was made more than once last evening was “I wonder what I would do if…?”. I don’t think we can know what we would do in any given situation until we are in that situation. Projecting what we hope we would do isn’t necessarily helpful. I feel knowing what we believe, what we cherish, what to us is not negotiable is of utmost importance. But until we are in a situation we can’t know what we will do or how we will react.

  I remember hearing a story about Corrie ten Boom about what if…. I don’t remember the whole story but the part that has stuck with me and I tried to instill in my own children went something like this: Corrie had asked her father “how will I know what to do when _____happens? How will I get through_____”. Her father told her a story. “When we are going on a journey by train when do I give you the ticket?” Corrie responded “when we start the journey, when we get on the train.” Her father stated “And God will give you what you need when you need it. He will give his grace when you need it.”

  I have a vivid memory from September 2001 of sitting on the floor of my living room with my daughters and sister and asking them “Where do you think daddy is right now?” And they answered “in heaven”. I said “it is time to plan a memorial service”. And then I said something like this “I have no idea how we are going to get through this but if a week ago someone had told me we would have to go through what we have already gone through, I never would have believed them. God has gotten us through the last week and we had moments of sadness but we also had moments of peace and even laughter. And He will give us what we need when we need it.” And He has.

  Posted in books, faith, memories, September 11 | 1 Comment | Tagged following Jesus, prayer, September 11

• Where I am today

  Posted at 10:31 pm by missannsays, on June 20, 2012

  I am writing this blog while I am sitting in a library.  Which isn’t an unusual thing for me, I love libraries. What is unusual is where the library is. The library I am sitting in is in Holy Cross Monastery.  There are no voices to be heard because it is after 9:00pm – the Great Silence has begun.  Until 8:30 tomorrow morning there will not be idle chatter or cell phone calls or deep conversations. In the morning, there will be bells tolling, monks chanting, and delicious food being served at breakfast. Holy Cross Monastery is a beautiful 110-year-old monastery overlooking the Hudson River.  It is situated right across the river from the Vanderbilt Mansion.  There is a certain feel of the building and the big black doors that remind me of my fifth grade field trip to the cloisters in NYC.  The chanting of the monks also reminds me of visiting the market and the cathedral in Chester.  Chester is a walled city in the north of England.  My mother’s hometown is Chester, England. The summer between my fifth and sixth grade year I would spend 6 weeks in England  visiting my grandfather, great-grandmother and my “cool” uncle.  My “cool” uncle was only 10 years older than me. He was into popular music and “cool” stuff.  Once when he visited my hometown of Waldwick, NJ he was mistaken for one of the Beatles. He was the right age, had the hair cut and the accent but he wasn’t John, Paul, George or Ringo.  He was actually chased down our street by a group of young teens.  My cool rating went up.

  My dad would join us in England for 2 of the 6 weeks.  My dad loves history so while he was in England we would visit “every castle in the whole country” or so it seemed to a 12-year-old girl.  My dad would read all those little signs on items in museums and cathedrals and castles.  It would make me crazy but now I get it.  As my dad always said,”travel is wasted on the young”. I am grateful for those experiences but I didn’t appreciate the significance of them at the time.

  I was also reminded today of another experience that I didn’t fully appreciate at the time.  While sitting on the porch today sipping coffee with a fellow workshop attendee, I realized her coffee cup said “Desmond Tutu”.  Years ago, a friend and I preformed a liturgical dance at a service in the Newark Cathedral.  Reverend Desmond Tutu was the keynote speaker.  It amazes me that I had that opportunity. Just wish I had appreciated it at the time.

  In case you are wondering why I am at a monastery.  I am attending a writers workshop.  Actually I am hanging out with some terrific people who someday I will be able to say “oh I knew __________ before they were the best-selling author.  We were at a workshop together”

  Posted in daily life, faith, memories | 3 Comments | Tagged friendship, little things, prayer

• Respect in the Real World – Flag Day

  Posted at 10:16 am by missannsays, on June 14, 2012

  Today is Flag Day. It is also my mother’s 80th birthday. My “book club” friend’s birthday. Fifty plus years ago on this day I was a flower girl in my aunt’s and uncle’s wedding. A few years ago my nephew was wed to his true love on this day and they are expecting their first baby. And last but not least thirty-two years ago today, Bruce and I got married in a little white church in New Milford, NJ. Bruce’s mom had also said she would put the flag out the day he got married. Thus we picked Flag Day as our wedding day. That reason and  it was a week after the recital – can’t get married before a recital – too busy. In the days after September 11, 2001, there were flags flying everywhere. I remember commenting that Bruce would have loved seeing that.  I am grateful for the 21 years we shared and look forward to seeing him again when eternity comes.

  I have been pondering the flag the last few days. Thinking about why I am so moved when I see the flag, thinking about what it stands for. I think for me it is a symbol of who we are 50 states made up of millions of people trying to live and thrive together. And we had a small beginning of only 13 colonies and people were willing to give their all so we could be the United States of America and some still give their lives for our freedoms. I am proud to be an American. I love my country. I am saddened that so many of my fellow citizens and non citizens are out of work and out of hope.

  When you look at the rest of the world, we are a young nation. I remember being in England with my girls and there was a poster “rulers of Great Britain” going back thousands of years. I pointed to the last couple of inches on the bottom of the poster and commented “this is how long the USA has been around.” I think of the USA as a teenager. And teenagers think they know it all. Teenagers sometimes make impulsive choices and throw out traditions that they will miss as they get older. Teenagers don’t listen well to older and wiser counsel.  The teenage years don’t last for long and then the real world knocks at the door and you have to take care of yourself. The web site About.com Homeschooling states: “Called the “Stars and Stripes,” or “Old Glory,” the flag is one of the most complicated in the world. No other flag needs 64 pieces of fabric to make. The current flag has 13 red and white alternating stripes (representing the original 13 states) and 50 stars (each star represents one of the states of the Union) on a blue background.The American flag has also changed designs more than any other flag in the world.”  Sounds like us – complicated and changing. Happy Flag Day.

  Posted in faith, memories, respect in the real world, September 11, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged respect, September 11

• Driving home in the light

  Posted at 11:06 pm by missannsays, on May 23, 2012

  I like when I get home from church on Wednesday nights and it is still light out. At 8:00pm in the winter it is dark but this time of year the sun hasn’t set yet.  It seems like I have more time. Once while I was teaching a kindergarten ballet and gymnastics class a concerned student stated “Miss Ann, I think you have kept us at dance too long because it is dark out”. After a quick lesson on the concept of changing the clocks and reassuring her that mom would arrive to pick her up at the regular time, class continued.  A side note: when I was in Alaska, the time change and the extended hours of light were annoying. I never knew what time it was. But usually I enjoy the extra hours of daylight especially when I am driving home.

  When my daughters were young, they would come to the studio after school. And depending on the day they may stay until I finished teaching or Bruce would pick them up and take them home. One Monday evening, Bruce came to pick up the girls and my youngest really wanted to stay. After some “discussion” she did go home as planned  which was good because the experience I had on the way home would never have happened if she had been with me.  It was in the late Spring so it was still light out and I was glad to be driving home in the daylight.  My route home that evening was Route 208 North, over Skyline Drive and then around the reservoir heading towards Greenwood Lake.  There isn’t usually traffic that time of evening. Unless it is in the winter and there is snow this is a pretty boring drive. So imagine my surprise as I rounded the curve and there is a car stopped on the side of the road and a woman is standing in the lane waving her arms. I drive around her and then pull over to see if I can help. I know nothing about cars but really felt I should stop.  Well, this is where it gets interesting. She says she has run out of gas.  There is a gas station just a little further down the road so I say I can go get her some gas.  The only problem is she has no gas can and no money. I only have a few dollars in cash but offer to go buy a little gas. I do notice that there are random items on her backseat a hose, tape, clothing but I don’t think that much about it.  Sometimes the stuff on my backseat may make people wonder. Anyway, I head to the gas station but the gas attendant won’t let me borrow a gas can so I can purchase gas.  I finally talk him into letting me borrow the gas can and promise I will bring it right back. I don’t remember what I said but I do remember the rest of the evening. When I get back to her car, we put the gas in and the car still doesn’t start. And suddenly the woman burst out “I can’t do anything right. I was parked over by the reservoir, trying to kill myself and I ran out of gas”.  My first thought is “Oh my, I am in way over my head”. Think, think…

  Another car stops to help but I have a weird feeling about the guy so I inform the guy that we are okay and I offer to drive the woman home. “First, I have to return the gas can and then I will drive you home.”  I drive to the gas station, return the gas can and then tell her I need to call my husband.  This was years ago so there weren’t cell phones.  There was a payphone.  I call Bruce and say “I stopped to help someone and she was trying to commit suicide and you need to get her some help”  So he suggests calling our pastor but I remind him that Pastor Steve is away.  think, think… I ask him to go on our second line and call friends we have in Ringwood and ask them to call their pastor. So I am on one line waiting for Bruce to call friends on the second line and this woman is in my car.  And it is getting dark. Long story short, I tell the woman I haven’t eaten dinner and we go to MacDonald’s where my friend and her pastor are waiting to help. My friend’s pastor speaks with the woman, suggest that she seeks professional help and offers to pay for her to go to counseling.  She can’t believe that someone will pay for her to get help.  He gets her contact information and says he will call her tomorrow. And then I drive her home. The whole evening was like an out-of-body experience. As I drove home I was totally humbled. I don’t usually stop when I see someone stopped on the side of the road. I usually pray for someone to help them but this particular time I guess I was the one that was supposed to help.

  Posted in faith, memories | 0 Comments | Tagged following Jesus, little things

• Just look at me

  Posted at 11:13 am by missannsays, on April 25, 2012

  “Just look at me” or “Just watch me” are two phrases I have said many times while teaching little girls ballet.  That was my career path for 35 years – I taught little girls ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and even a little gymnastics. It was great fun and very rewarding but there were times that it could be frustrating. One of things that I taught my dancers to do was how to turn without getting dizzy. Little kids don’t mind getting dizzy but if you want to be able to perform a combination or routine you can’t be dizzy after your turns. The technique is called “spotting” or “snapping your head”.  The technique involves focusing your eyes on one spot and then turning your head quickly so all your eyes see is that one focal point. It takes concentration and practice.

  The annual recital is the main event of the year.  It is the icing on the cake. It is one performance that involves the months of training and weeks of rehearsal to learn a “dance”.  As I used to tell my high schoolers or “big kids” as they are known, the littlest ballerinas or babies can just walk on stage in their pink tutus and the audience loves them.  You however as “the big kids” have to really know what you are doing. The hardest group to get to understand this is the early elementary age – the 6 & 7 years old.

  A few years ago I had a class of beginner ballet students that really knew their dance. They were a great fun group of kids. There are classes that you think “oh, my. I am so glad their costume is cute and the music is good because they have no clue.” That wasn’t this group. They knew what they were doing. Well, they knew what they were doing until dress rehearsal and then they fell apart. They couldn’t get it to together at all.  I mean at all.  They were so distracted that I finally had to close the curtain and let them do the dance with no one watching.  I kept pointing to my chest and saying “Just look at me. If you just look at me, you will be fine”  It was so frustrating.  The next day while I was driving to the recital I thought about the whole bizarre incident and why it was so hard for them to do the easiest thing of looking at me.  The Lord reminded me that He tells me that all the time “just look at me”.

  Today my very personal God reminded me again. My devotional reading from Jesus Calling states: “MAKE ME YOUR LOCAL FOCAL POINT as you move through this day. Just as a spinning ballerina must keep returning her eyes to a given point to maintain her balance, so you must keep returning your focus to Me.  Circumstances are in flux, and the world seems to be whirling around you. The only way to keep your balance is to fix your eyes on Me, the One who never changes. If you gaze too long at your circumstances, you will become dizzy and confused.  Look at Me, refreshing yourself in My Presence, and your steps will be steady and sure.”

  Just what I needed to hear today and in a way that spoke to me. I am grateful for the reminder.

  Posted in faith, kid stuff | 1 Comment | Tagged following Jesus, little things, telling the next generation

• not an ordinary week

  Posted at 8:13 pm by missannsays, on April 20, 2012

  On Friday April 13, I had to call to see if I had jury duty. The recorded message stated that I had to report to the Orange County Courthouse in Goshen on Monday morning at 10am. Great I should know by Monday afternoon if I am picked for a jury and then I can plan the rest of my week. I had basically left my week open. I figured I may need to “tweak” the timing of errands with my mom or Wacky Wednesdays with the kids at church but no problem. Piece of cake.

  The phone rang and I looked at the clock radio – 1:00 am. The voice on the phone asked for Ray and I said you have the wrong number. I got back in bed and my cell phone rang. I stumbled down the hall to answer it and the caller id said Northern Los Angeles,CA – weird but I answered. “This is dispatcher # whatever with Life Alert. May I speak to A.V.H” “Speaking” ” We have had a Life ALert activation from M.C. and have dispatched paramedics to her location” I call my mother and the police answer. My mom has fallen and they were transporting her to the hospital. I get dressed, wash my face, brush my teeth, shove the jury summons in my purse and drive the almost 30 miles to my childhood home. A phone call from my mom’s neighbor informs me she is at the emergency room with her. I thank her for being there and say I will be there in a few moments. I walk into the ER at around 2am.

  My mom doesn’t know how she fell. Okay that is troublesome. “Mommy, why were you downstairs in the middle of the night.” She doesn’t know. Not good. After x-rays and a CAT scan, it is determined that she has broken her arm. The ER doctor wants her to be admitted for observation since she has a bump on her head and is confused. I am relieved that it is not worse. I am watching the clock because I have jury duty. I am not a big fan of hospitals. I never feel comfortable. I am always sure that I haven’t asked the right questions, or been concerned enough or seemed capable enough. It is like I am in a foreign country and I don’t know the language or the customs. I feel the same way about the court system so knowing I have jury duty is not helping. I leave the hospital around 5:30am so I can go home, take a shower, call my sister, and figure how am I going to get out of jury duty.

  I don’t want to be a “no-show”. I realize I have a civic duty and I am mindful that they could issue a bench warrant for not showing up. Plus my sister is a judge and she is running for a new position and it would look bad in the newspaper if I am a “no-show”. This is how my brain works probably from watching too many courtroom dramas and a vivid imagination. Long story short – I am excused from jury duty because of my family emergency. They will postpone my service. My sister is impressed that I went. She comments “that most people would have been no shows” I share my bench warrant fear – not likely she says. I mention about not wanting to do anything that would look bad in the newspaper she thanks me and chuckles.

  I learned a few of things during my “not an ordinary week”:

  • God is always in control. A friend emails me that she thought she saw me driving over the mountain around 6am as she was driving to work. She figured that wasn’t good so she prayed for me, my mom and my dad (he is in a nursing home).
  • The sweetest sound in the hospital are the chimes signaling a baby has been born.
  • Telling someone your name and offering to open their water bottle one day may lead to the privilege of praying for them the next day.
  • Saying thank you to the people who are caring for your loved one makes you grateful and them smile.
  • A china tea-cup,a beanie baby, a wash cloth and towel can make someone feel safe and cared for.
  • Just being there is the most important thing.

  My mom spent 4 days in the hospital. She is now at a sub acute rehab facility. The problem is she walks with a walker and now has one useable arm. Next week will probably not be an ordinary week either and that’s okay because this week I heard the chimes of new life, I was humbled to pray with an elderly woman and I was reminded of God’s faithfulness.

  Posted in faith, relationships | 1 Comment | Tagged following Jesus, little things

• K.I.D.S. club

  Posted at 2:54 pm by missannsays, on April 7, 2012

  “So the next generation would know, and all the generations to come -Know the truth and tell the stories so their children can trust in God.” I have the privilege and awesome responsibility of teaching K.I.D.S. Club on Wednesday evenings at Warwick Valley Church of the Nazarene. K=kids, I=investigating, D=discovering, S = Scripture, Club = fun & friends.  K.I.D.S. Club is also known as Bible Quizzing. I have included a brief explanation of Bible Quizzing but I really want to share is some “kid answers”. First the explanation, the Bible Quizzing program for the Church of the Nazarene is a 6 year curriculum for first through sixth graders. Year 1 is Genesis, year 2 is Exodus, year 3 is Joshua, Judges &Ruth, year 4 is I & II Samuel,  year 5 is Matthew, year 6 is Acts. The program is Bible study and then quizzing – multiple choice questions with quiz boxes.  The children are competing against a level (bronze, silver, gold) not against each other. Every child receives a ribbon and treat bag. At WVCN we meet once a week for our Bible study and then 3 times in the year we meet with other churches to quiz.”Hiding God’s word in your heart” is the emphasis.  Since last September we have been studying the book of Matthew.

  This past week I decided it was important to review the events of Holy Week since it is Holy Week. Our review didn’t make it through Holy Week. I read the scripture in Matthew 21 about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  We discussed the donkey and what is a colt and how kings ride into cities. Then I asked “why do you think the people laid the branches on the ground for the donkey to walk on?” Eager hands go up, waving back and forth. I picked a child to answer and he says “because it was Palm Sunday”.  I make eye contact with my friend and fellow teacher and we smile. Another one of those great kid answers that you need to take and steer in the right direction towards the correct answer.  I spend a lot of time on Wednesday nights steering answers towards the correct answer. I spend a lot of time answering questions that have a very loose connection to the subject manner.

  Sometimes I don’t think we cover a 1/4 of the lesson but it isn’t really about a specific lesson. It is about life lessons.  It is teaching my “students” that God loves them unconditionally – there is nothing they can do to make Him love them more or less. This was week it was naming each one of them individually and saying Jesus died for you. It is teaching that not everything can be explained and that God is big enough for their questions. Teaching that God can be trusted, that He is good and teaching that if you could understand everything about God He won’t be God. It is teaching them that they will have to decide who they will follow as their example of the way to live.

  Recently when we were “studying” the events in Matthew 14 (John’s beheading), I said “what can you tell me about John?”. Many eager hands  and smiling faces – “he was Jesus’ cousin”, “he wore camel-hair clothes” “he ate weird stuff” and “he was a Baptist”.  Good answer but he wasn’t a Baptist, he was the Baptist.  That kid answer makes me laugh and what I wanted to say but didn’t was ” Right, John was a Baptist and Jesus is a Nazarene” 🙂

  Dr Wes Stafford in his book Too Small to Ignore- Why Children are the Next Big Thing tells the following story. “Late one evening D.L. Moody, the premier American evangelist of the 1800s, arrived home from speaking at a meeting.  Emma, his wife, was already asleep.  As her exhausted husband climbed into bed, she rolled over and murmured, “So how did it go tonight?”  “Pretty well,” he replied. “Two and a half converts.” His wife lay silently for a moment pondering this response, then finally smiled. “That’s sweet,” she replied. “How old was the child?” “No, no, no,” Moody answered. “It was two children and one adult! The children have their whole lives in front of them. The adult’s life is already half-gone.”

  Posted in faith, kid stuff | 0 Comments | Tagged following Jesus, telling the next generation

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