"To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." ...Ephesians 4:22-24
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Saturday was hot, I was wilting, but on a bench at a yard sale, I spied a 1948 yearbook from the high school (now middle school) down the street.
Always when driving or walking past, I imagine that suddenly it's 1940 (or 1950) and 'see' teens standing out front in all their vintage clothing finery, holding books and laughing. And now I have actual faces to attach to those spiffy clothes:
These 'kids' (who are still living) will turn 86 this year(!) On the more somber side, I spent Sunday afternoon finding obituaries online for those who've left us.
I've many genealogical-minded friends who positively love researching their own relatives from long ago. Me? Eh. I never do that. I prefer looking up strangers online from old yearbooks.
(Oh, the scandal, right?)
People tell me I should care more about my family tree and how--by learning that Great-Great Aunt Matilda was a quirky eccentric--it will help me understand my own eccentricities. Or because Uncle Ichabod was an introverted writer I can then understand why I'm one.
Hmm. Well, maybe.
But what I know? For the past 22 years (especially) God has poured His heart into making me more like Him. He's shown me how to better use my gifts and helped tear down the tall, dreadful structure inside which I'd built unto myself.
And He's had a rough time of it. Trust me.
So basically, all credit for any good within me goes--first--to God. Second, to the wonderful teachers He arranged for me, not just teacher-teachers, but to each of you (and others) who've helped round my unbending, like-concrete corners.
Anyway, we're all different--and that's ok. It's ok if you love genealogy and it's ok that I, instead, collect old yearbooks, stare at the faces and imagine how these teens lived and loved. That, online, I spend hours discovering what I can.
We cannot all go to the same places. Life would be too limited, boxy, that way--there were reasons for the Tower of Babel departure, after all.
Personally I come from a long line of folks who believe there's only one way to think and be. And truthfully? The Internet has played a huge part in setting me free from that. The Internet and God and Grace and you.
And to all of you I say, thanks.
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"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." ... 2 Corinthians 5:17
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Yesterday I was saddened to read that Jackie Burroughs (Aunt Hetty) of Road to Avonlea passed away back in 2010. Tom thinks I already knew this, but if I did, I'd forgotten--and felt bad all over again.
I can't even explain how much I loved this show. The stories, the characters, the Victorian decor, the clothes, the hair and-----
Well, here's a short Youtube video of interviews on set during their final year.
I'm thinking it's time to get out my Avonlea dvd's again. It's been a few years.
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God is pouring his heart into you, I like that. Yes, we are different and that makes life and friendships interesting, and that is part of the fun of visiting each other's blogs, learning about new things.
ReplyDeleteI love what you did with that local high school yearbook - looking people up in the obituaries. I enjoy seeing what happened to those previous generations - where they lived, moved to, worked, died, children, hobbies etc. That generation did so much good. I'm still a fan of the 50-70s. I love it when a TV show I like is set in that era. Right now it's Endeavor on PBS.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy genealogy immensely - my own and helping others. Now with the DNA access, it's even more open - people are finding long last family including parents and siblings they never knew they had.
When you mentioned that Jackie Burroughs died I felt a twinge of pain in my heart. I miss seeing this show. Aunt Hetty and her sister (can't remember her name) were such great people. Thank you for mentioning this - I need to find a way to watch it again. I haven't thought of this series for a long time.
What a great post to remind us to look outside of ourselves. Life isn't all about us is it? Yesterday I read the obituaries in the newspaper for the first time in years. I really enjoyed, (does that sound awful), reading about the lives of these people I had never met. These were actually stories about each person, not the "just the facts" type of obituary. I hope my life is read about by a stranger someday and it says that I loved people and was generous, but most important, that I loved God with all of my heart.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
What about if you love both? I love to look at other people's pictures, whether online or in person. I'm not just talking about scenery, but their family members. I have some old High School yearbooks too, including my parents'. My mom is 86, so she would have fit right in in the yearbook you have. My dad, who died in 2012, graduated HS in 1936. I love to listen to radio shows from then and music, too. I've done a lot of genealogy research also - just love history.
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