Gideons’ International is an evangelical Christian
association founded 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Gideons' primary activity is distributing copies of the Bible free of
charge. I remember when Gideons had come
to my school to pass out palm-sized copies of the New Testament plus Psalms and
Proverbs when I was in junior high. Mine was red.
I thought it was great to take with me when I went to camp or
in the car. My small book had taking a
beating through the years, but I actually still had it in my possession until
just before the move to Oregon. I don’t
know why I didn’t bring it. My eyes can
no longer view the small print, but I would have thought I could have let Jenna
use it.
I know some states or schools have had a problem with mixing
of school and religion – though I don’t think passing out free scriptures is a
crime, some lawsuits were brought against schools for allowing Bibles to be
passed out during time that could have been spent in class. I don’t remember my younger sibs or boys ever
coming home with scriptures brought around by the Gideons. But on Wednesday Jenna brought home a small
New Testament/Psalm/Proverb combo that was the same size as the red one I had.
In Douglas County, it appears that most
people worship God in one way or another.
All throughout the county one can see crosses and signs – even
billboards that promote Jesus
Myrtle Creek has 17 churches – each a
different domination.
Probably 10% of all
of my posts (thus far) focus on whatever bizarre weather is taking place that
certain day, week or month. Since living
in Oregon, there have only been less than 10 posts that even mention the
weather. Most of my weather-related
posts are about the bizarre weather in Utah.
Overall
Oregon hasn’t had the extreme peculiarness that Utah’s weather seems to bring –
though there have been questionable moments – and never having lived in Oregon
before, I haven’t always known what is normal and what isn’t.
Having
spring start in February was surprising to me.
Needing shorts in February seemed unreal. I was upset that I had packed the majority of
them. This month it’s been regrets on
packing coats and hats in the shed. I’ve had need for them this month. Yesterday I actually shut all the windows and
turned on the heat.
Yesterday the wind
was blowing, and for the first time since arriving in Oregon, I felt like I was
in a trance due to the wind. I don’t
even think the move left me feeling as drained as I felt the entire day.
The
Myrtle Creek library had advertised for a volunteer board member, and I
applied. I dragged Roland to a meeting
last night. Apparently they’ve been open
to the public all along, but last night’s meeting was the first I had heard of
being invited to. The staff was really
excited to have someone from the public to represent the civilians. I think I would have attended before if I had
known
Turns
out that I was the only individual to put in an application, but I did not get
picked to be a member of the board. At
least not yet.
The library system
is in jeopardy. I’m having a hard enough
time dealing with the oddness of hours as it is. I can’t imagine not having the option of
being able to go to the library at all.
The idea of pulling the plug on the library makes me sad. I’m not alone. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be that
great of an interest for the amount of citizens involved. One librarian put it this way: “The library
system is on life support. As of now, we
honestly don’t know the outcome of the patient.”
I
want so badly for the library to live and grow more healthy and strong.
Jenna
is always asking us to take her to the church so that she can use the
basketball stand that is in the parking lot.
There are courts across the street from the library that she could use. There is also a park next to the library. And so we dragged her along so that she could
shoot baskets or hang in the park. We
didn’t think the meeting would last more than an hour.
I
don’t know if the weather was having the same effect on Jenna as it was on me,
or if something else was going down, but she appeared outside the library
window worried about the time for some reason.
When
we finally got out of the meeting, she asked if we would take her to the
school. We told her it was too late and
that we had to go home.
“But
I’ve already missed the buses,” she said.
“What
are you talking about?”
Somehow
(even though we had left the house two hours after she got home from school on
Thursday afternoon) she thought it was Friday morning. Our meeting at the library didn’t drag for
THAT LONG.
What
a weird turn of events.
