Boy Scouts Cross-Over Event - Here come the boys. . .

My husband and I went with our older son Ryan and two very excited fifth grade twin sons, on a weekend adventure called crossover weekend with West Linn Boy Scout Troop 149 to the Crooked River.

The twins were just so thrilled about this weekend as they start their years in scouts. They were so excited to be here and it may be one of Ryan’s last campouts with the Scouts. This was my first, though I wish I had gone before. Life in a larger family with younger children.

When we arrived that Friday night, it was pitch black and as we stepped out of our Astro Van, the twins immediately gazed up and noticed the stars.

“Oh, look at the stars,” Wesley said.

“I see the big dipper,” Mickaeljosef added.

Back to nature. And simple joys and the beauty of the outdoors. It felt so good to be there with them.

They were setting up tents by flashlights at about midnight and waiting in line to use the one portapotty for 65 people – this was no holiday inn vacation, trust me.

The fire light was glowing and the boys still full of energy.
I finally crawled in my tent about 1 am to the symphony of a snore fest. Okay, where were those earplugs.

After waking up [or did I ever sleep] on Saturday morning, it was amazing to see the beauty of the Crooked River along the high banks and the surroundings. Adult Scout leaders were flipping pancakes and simmering sausage. Boys were whittling by the fire and throwing stones into the river.

The weekend would be about nature. Flowing river. Dust. Great food. Enthusiastic boys. And no neon lights or computers or electronics. I loved that about it.
The crossover weekend is a tradition to initiate boys into true Scout hood. Up until now it has been Cubscouts and webelos.

I’m the mom here but the boys are on their own. At the beginning of the weekend, Wesley thought I was going to give him a hug and he quickly said, “no hugs mom.” And he is my hugging kid.

Another time during that first day, Mickaeljosef was stretching his hand back and forth after he and some boys had been wrestling on the banks of the river. I asked him if he was okay and he said, “I’m fine mom.”

The camping trip planners kept everyone busy on this weekend. New scout parents had to set up a tent that was missing parts we found out later. New scouts were going through various stations learning skills like whittling and building a fire. Earning badges. And learning life skills.

Seasoned scouts went away for a special project – to build a symbolic bridge for new scouts to cross over. I joined them to watch. Again, amazing what these boys can do, designing from scratch a bridge using only sticks and ropes. I finally figured out what lashing was.

As I watched these boys, I thought how glad I was that I came and that my boys love this, the outdoors. Nature. I wish every boy could come on an outdoor trip like this. No electricity, no I-pod, no high tech life.

After lunch, the new scouts and parents went on a five mile hike- two and a half up hill to the reach Chimney Rock. We all waited for one another along the way. No scout got left behind.

In the evening, all the groups were commissioned to write a skit of some sort, including the new parents, which we later performed in front of everyone at the evening campfire. The seasoned scouts used ketchup and mustard and other food items to simulate an operation. In true scout fashion. Our skit was a spoof on the tent we had to build. I was Diane Sawyer investigating the Scout master’s plot to forget parts to tents on purpose. You had to be there to get it.

Then the desserts, cooked over fire filled our tummies – peach cobbler, berry cobbler, chocolate cake never tasted so good.

The evening was capped off with the ceremony of walking along the candle lit path to the river where the crossover bridge was located.

Each parent there with their sons crossed together and it was total silence. The only time during the weekend that it was quiet.

Sunday was pretty much a packing day before chapel along the river and caravanning home, with a stop at a DQ along the way.

I thought I would have tired boys in the car. Instead, the twins, with a friend sandwiched between them, played their Nintendo DS’s.

Back to high tech city life and neon lights.

But the weekend was not forgotten. When the twins got home in the early evening on Sunday after we picked up their 6 year old brother Augustin, they got their Scout books out and began planning for next month’s campout and what badges they were going to earn between now and then.

Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch - A Day of Volunteering

TODAY, my son Ryan, 17, my son Mickaeljosef and I went with our church to Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch outside of Sisters Oregon for a one day mission trip helping to get the ranch ready for children.
Kim Meeder and her husband started the ranch in 1995 as a way to rescue horses and use it to help children, and Jenni Reiling from our church wanted to get church members involved in helping. Rolling Hills has come 14 times over the past five years.
It was a wonderful day planting flowers, getting flower beds looking nice, spreading bark chips, building a wall and so much more. A fabulous lunch of ribs and steak and salad was shared by all midway through the day.
I love sharing outreach times with my children. My husband had gone with our oldest two children and our church four years ago to Crystal Peaks and today was my turn. It is a neat activity to be outdoors with the kids, reaching out to help others.
I enjoyed hanging with the others, talking and sharing hearts and our journeys.
We had to get back a bit early as Ryan has Bible study and before we watch a movie with the kids, I just had to download the photographs . . .
It was a great way to spend part of Easter weekend. . . –thankfully I do not have to make the meal!

Out of Lake Oswego and Into Real Life

There was a boy who did not live with his dad, but he was able to call his dad, and he put his hope in being able to meet his dad, and his dad would say he would meet his son at a certain time and spot, but his dad never showed up.

The boy would just say, “Oh, it’s fine.”

“He kept blowing it off as unimportant. They learn to let it go,” says Linda Parker, who served once a month on Fridays for two years at Transitional Youth with the community group that her family is a part of, until Friday nights became unavailable. “They are just kids. They are out there all by themselves. Well, they have their street family. I think for us, this was a real need. The program is trying to do something impactful, just being there for them.”

She thinks about Roger.

“He would hang out with us and he would stay until the end and he would say the closing prayer. And then he stopped staying around at the end. He’s struggling right now. Many of these kids—no one cares about them and just us being there, communicates a lot.”

Kids asked Linda’s group, “Why are you doing this? Why do you come every month?” They are aware that someone is putting an effort out for them.

“We tried to make it clear we were there because they are worth caring about and worth serving. For the most part, they just want someone to sympathize. They are not looking for you to solve their problems. They really just want someone to listen.”

During the time that Linda’s group was helping at Transitional Youth, they were going through some transitions of their own. Some of the kids in their community group were graduating from high school and took off for college or to Torchbearers. Others were moving on to their last year of middle school.

But all grew in some way because of serving.

“The view of the world we received was much larger than that of West Linn and Lake Oswego. It wasn't that we were naive and didn't know what existed outside of our comfortable communities, at least for the adults, but we didn't rub up against it in our day-to-day lives so it was easy to dismiss.”

They kept going because they had made a commitment and they believed they were having an impact.

“We honestly believed God wanted us there and we felt the ministry was important. We see Transitional Youth as a viable opportunity for youth to get off living on the streets of Portland.”

They saw real life.

There was a young girl and young man pushing a baby stroller, with a baby only a few weeks old. They did not have a place to stay for the night. The mother of the young parents had kicked them out and the brother of the young parents would not let them stay at his place.

“As they left the building, it was still a question mark as to where the couple and this little baby would spend the night. The girl was meeting her case worker the next day, but having dad in the picture might alter what kind of help they qualified for. The image of that little baby, so innocent and helpless, with parents that were children themselves, stayed with me. I still think about it. There is so much hurt and hopelessness out there and only God can provide peace. If in any way we reinforced God's love to the kids of Transitional Youth, it was worth all the effort we made over the two years.”

Youth come to Transitional Youth for a warm meal and for friendship and camaraderie and support. And to find a listening ear.
“Through our interaction with them, we looked to plant some hope, and that's what Transitional Youth offers.”
---


This story was first published on the Rolling Hills community service page at:
www.rhcc-compassion.blogspot.com/2009/03/out-of-lake-oswego-and-into-real-life.com

Book Q &A with Angry Conversations with God author Susan E Isaacs

Donald Miller, Blue like Jazz author, will introduce Susan E. Isaacs and her new book, Angry Conversations with God on

Friday, April 3 at Evangel Baptist Church, located at 2830 NE Flanders in Portland.

The Q & A event starts at 7 p.m. nd is sponsored by Imago Dei.

The spiritual memoir by Isaacs was just released by FaithWords -

Here is the publisher's description:
Disillusioned, disenfranchised, and disinterested in anything churchy, Susan Isaacs knew of only one thing to do when she hit spiritual rock bottom at age 40. . . . She took God to couples counseling.
In this cuttingly poignant memoir, Susan Isaacs chronicles her rocky relationship with the Almighty--from early childhood to midlife crisis--and all the churches where she and God tried to make a home: Pentecostals, Slackers for Jesus, and the über-intellectuals who turned everything, including the weekly church announcements, into a three-point sermon. Casting herself as the neglected spouse, Susan faces her inner nag and the ridiculous expectations she put on God--some her own, and some from her "crazy in-laws" at church. Originally staged as a solo show in New York and Los Angeles, ANGRY CONVERSATIONS WITH GODis a cheeky, heartfelt memoir that, even at its most scandalous, is still an affirmation of faith.

Home by Marilynne Robinson

I just finished savoring Home by Marilynne Robinson – wow, what a great book. I had read Gilead, Marilynne’s Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction in 2005 and Home was the follow up novel. It examined home as a place to return to, home as a place in the heart – really asking the question – what is home and where is it and do we have a home? The rich narrative that Marilynne writes in, how she draws you into the lives of her characters, the way she portrays faith are all reasons I love her literary work.
In one way or another, every character in Home is searching for the answer to the question of what it means to come home. Glory is 38 when she returns to Gilead, Iowa to take care for her dying father, pastor Robert Boughton, a widowed father of 8 children. Glory’s wayward brother Jack also finds his way back; however, his homecoming is marked with awkwardness as reflections of a difficult past resurface. Glory has not seen Jack in 20 years when he left Gilead with his scandalous reputation. Jack and Glory bond while taking care of their father, but Jack relapses into bad habits which affects their father. Glory continues offering grace to Jack, trying to get him to stay, but he worries the other siblings will not be as understanding as some will be making their way home to see their father before he passes away. Grace and forgiveness and what it means to come home are strong themes here, and the question of whether home is ever the same once you leave and return is always in the back of one’s mind.

I hope you stay sick, Mom

So, we go on our annual Spring Break trip to Cannon Beach for three days and stay at our usual Sandcastle Condos where we celebrate my sweet brown eyed youngest son’s sixth birthday. During our first two days, we swam in the pool, soaked in the Jacuzzi, ran on the beach, looked for sea anemones, flew Frisbees, boomerangs, kites, rode bicycles along the ocean waves, ate at Mo’s, watched old movies, savored crab and melted butter. Had amazing weather during the first two days.

Then the third day it rains, and I get sick (okay, so I timed it well). But, it was the stomach kind of sick. And, it was not fun. My just turned 6 year old also got sick but not as badly. I felt so miserable Friday and just wanted to erase the day and sleep it off, but then I could not sleep which made it even worse.

I had been sick with a different kind of illness a week before, and had canceled everything for two days, and so I thought I was immune to getting sick again so soon – though we did expose ourselves to my sister’s family before we left for the spring break beach trip, and they had all been sick. Yes, stomach flu.

I felt a little bit better upon returning from Cannon Beach, and continued resting on Sunday, hoping to start the week off freshly. And not sick. I was definitely still weak.

On Sunday night, while tucking my kindergartener into bed, I tell him that I hope I am totally over being sick as I just did not like feeling so badly.

His response?

“I hope you stay sick, Mom.”

I look at him with a question on my face as he chuckles a little.

“Why don’t you want me to feel better, Augustin?” I ask.

“When you’re sick, you stay home with me. And you don’t go to meetings.”
Man, I love the way children are so honest.

On Monday, he had his wish in a way. I had a fairly normal day, though not going 100 percent, definitely getting work done, but later in the day, I felt a bit weak. Perhaps I did too much.

Then I snapped off from my neck my small gold cross that my mom gave me when I was 16 years old and a new believer. It was in my bedroom which was still a disaster from returning from the beach, and truth be told, is far from organized even without having to unpack. I just had to find that gold cross.

I had the entire family helping me and I offered a prayer – and a reward. Five dollars. Then 10.

We cleaned under the bed – not a pretty picture—and we took everything off of dressers and cleared off the nightstands. Nothing.

When interest waned, I upped the ante to $ 15. That helped get the kids back to the room. My husband the engineer was trying to recreate the scene.
“Which direction were you facing when your necklace snapped?” he wondered again. I had first told him the wrong direction, and when I rethought about it, I showed him a different way I might have been looking while changing clothes.

“Okay, then the cross could have flown in the air that way,” he suggested looking toward the closet, while one of my 11 year twins dashes in the direction in which he is pointing.

“I found it, I found it,” Wesley exclaims as he runs toward me with the tiny gold cross.

It was on the carpet right next to four boxes of delayed decisions and laundry baskets piled up and pictures to be filed. I was extremely grateful to have my cross found, and I quickly gave my son the reward money.
Honestly, that cross is so small and my room so needing organizing that I really was beginning to wonder if we could find it, but I knew it had to be in the room.

Earlier, I had canceled going to a writing meeting I was looking forward to attending at church. I was feeling a bit of a relapse – and I lost my cross which I just had to find before going anywhere -- so, my youngest got his way: I stayed home.

But only partially because of me being sick.

Western Seminary's Heart Talk Writing seminar was Great

I was able to help at Saturday's Heart Talk Writing seminar and it was such a neat day of connecting and inspiration. My highlight was meeting author Robin Jones Gunn, the keynote speaker - her stories - we have so much in common . . . and I also was able to have a few moments to share with Bev Hislop, the Women's Ministry director at Western. . . it will be fun to see how God continues shaping the journey...my heart is to connect writers. . .

The Power of Narrative- Christian Scholars Conference info

As I mentioned at last night's Rolling Hills Writers Connection meeting, here is additional info about the upcoming Power of Narrative-Christian Scholars writers' conference in Tennessee that I plan on attending-the first part of this is simply cut and pasted from http://csc.lipscomb.edu/ -

Christian Scholars’ Conference 2009
The Power of Narrative
June 25-27, 2009

Lipscomb University is pleased to host the 29th annual Christian Scholars’ Conference, June 25-27, 2009, under the theme, “The Power of Narrative.” Plenary speakers Billy Collins (US Poet Laureate, 2001-2003), Marilynne Robinson (Pulitzer Prize Winner, 2005), Hubert G. Locke, and Barbara Brown Taylor will stimulate dialogue on the intersection of faith, academics, and narrative's captivating quality. Paper and Panel sessions highlight the conference, bringing together fellow academics for collaboration and dialogue. We invite you to participate!


I love Marilynne' Robinson's novels Gilead and Home as well as Billy Collins' poetry and I recently began reading Barbara Brown Taylor's book, Leaving Church. All very literary work which reflect their Christian values, but not in a cliche-type of way.

As a writer, I want to be challenged and stretched and going to conferences with excellent writers and speakers is so inspiring.

Rolling Hills Writers' Connection Monday March 9 at 6:30 pm

The next Rolling Hills Writers Connection is Monday March 9 at 6:30 pm at Rolling Hills Community Church in the future bookstore. The every-other month meeting is for encouragement, inspiration, connection and ideas. Bring a short piece to read if desired.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Cornelia

A hard act to follow...Reflecting on Saturday's Oregon Christian Writers Conference

Being a part of the Oregon Christian Writers Conference Saturday in Salem was wonderful. I felt honored to be there as one of the workshop leaders, but trust me, it was hard to follow The Shack author, William Paul Young, who was the keynote speaker of the day and also led the workshop just before mine.

I had the chance to meet Wm Paul Young between sessions and noted his segment on identity really hit home. Identity is a theme in his book and life as it is in mine and I am guessing many other people’s lives.

I asked him to sign my daughter Rachel’s book (Rachel had it with her in Germany where she was in Bible School and she shipped it home along with other books to lighten her load to go to Austria, where she is in her second term of Bible school). William Paul Young has the philosophy of not just signing books but personalizing every single one of them. He wants to send the message to people that they matter. To him. And to God. That powerful message is found in his book, The Shack.

The story behind The Shack is powerful in and of itself. How he came to write it. How he came to publish it. How it has gotten into the hands of 3 million people worldwide. How he did not set out to become a New York Times Best-selling novelist. How God’s hand is entirely in William Paul Young’s story and the success of his book.

And that is the part that I took home. So many times we strive and we worry and we plan and we do all these things to make ourselves successful, and then we add a little prayer asking God to bless us. Bless our ideas, bless all we are doing, thinking to ourselves, it is God’s will. But, William Paul Young’s message was one that said he finally came to a point in his life when God was the only identity he had. When he emptied himself and his own desires and gave them completely to Christ.

Then, God gave him this story, The Shack, which was originally written for his six
children.

And God used it – and is still using it - in the lives of millions of people.
William Paul Young shared the letters he has been receiving from people who have been affected by the book. People whose lives have been turned around. People who have returned to Christ after reading his book. People who have found God for the first time. People who have returned to the church and a relationship with Christ after having felt burned by the church. People who have discovered mercy and grace and peace and love for the very first time. Or again.

Yes, it was a writers’ conference I was a part of Saturday. But, it was more than that. It was a time of inspiration and renewal in personal lives. It was a time of connection. It was a time of refreshment.

I enjoyed seeing so many people from my church. I enjoyed seeing old writer friends and meeting new ones. I went away with inspiration to write more deeply and transparently and from the heart.

And, to pray. And to trust God for all things related to the pen. And to life.

[Note: photo courtesy of Julie McDonald Zander]

The Shack Author is Keynote Speaker at OCW Conference where I am leading a Workshop on Freelance Writing

I am leading a workshop on Freelance Writing at the Oregon Christian Writers Winter Conference, Sat. Feb. 28 in Salem, Oregon, where the keynote speaker for the event is The Shack author William P Young!! I am so looking forward to meeting him -- his book really impacted my life.

Here is the internet link to Oregon Christian Writers- This is the first time I have led a workshop with the organization. The web address is:

www.oregonchristianwriters.org

Next Rolling Hills WRITERS CONNECTION Meeting

Just getting the word out to Rolling Hills Community Church members about our next Writers Connection Meeting and it is now listed online- here is the information!!

Writers Connection Meeting
Monday, March 9, 2009 6:30 PM

6:30-8 PM in the Future Bookstore

All writers are welcome for connection, inspiration, encouragement.
If you would like, bring something short to read for feedback.

Questions? Email Cornelia at corneliaseigneur@comcast.net
For more information, visit: www.corneliaseigneur.com.

http://www.rollinghills.org/writers-connection-meeti