I had the opportunity to "email interview" someone very close to me for this month's guest post (yes, I know it's overdue), but I hope you enjoy reading this blast from the past into the life of my Mom, Deb.
1. I loved my childhood, growing up on a farm near Fairchild. Outside games played with my brothers and sisters, included games/activities like sledding/skiing, basketball, softball, volleyball, and touch football. The whole family even played touch football one Thanksgiving in the snow. Croquet was also a family favorite for all. The harder the course created, the more laughs and fun we had. My brother even made a tennis court at the end of the apple orchard one year. Even my Mom bought a tennis racquet.
Games I played with my sisters included horse, with tails made of twine; cow, which was played on hands and knees, picking grass with one hand and stuffing it in the bottom of our shirt. The person playing the farmer would milk by pulling the grass out. I remember playing in the woods north of the barn. There were many young trees close together and my younger sister and I would tie twine from one tree to another to make rooms in a house. We took cardboard boxes, setting a second box on top at an angle, cut out windows on both the upper and lower levels, made a ladder to the upper level for the paper dolls we cut out of catalogs from J.C. Penney, Sears, Wards, and old pattern books from Fairchild Farmer's Store that we glued on tablet cardboard to make them stand up. We also took orange paper, that my aunt had given us that was used to separate x-ray film where she worked, and made wigs.
My bike became my horse, car, motorcycle. I took sticks of all sizes from the woods that were straight and that had two limbs attached that would look like arms, these were my siblings and I gave them names. Besides the usual games of dolls, cowboys/Indians, school, church (played with old bulletins) etc., TV gave me ideas for games to play. Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea was one of these. The upstairs was the submarine, halfway down the stair steps became the water, and of course, the downstairs was the ocean. As a family we also went to Humbird Pond or Hatfield for swimming or more like "wading" fun. Sometimes played Flinch on a Sunday afternoon. There are so many more games I played and had fun. Most of the time I played by myself and never ran out of ideas. I just ran out of childhood.
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2. I like all kinds of music. Some folk, country, hymns, pop from the 50's to 70's, Jesus music from the 60's and 70's to the contemporary of today. My five favorite artists, that's a toughie...to keep it to five. Chris Christian, Karen Lafferty, Gary McSpadden, Al Denson, and Christine Wyrtzen. Why? Because I like them. :) I like their voices, style of music, and the way they sing.
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3. I picked up the guitar because I couldn't get a drum set. Back in the spring of 1967, I was looking in the Sears, Wards, and Penney catalogs at the drum sets. I wanted one real bad, but my Mom said I wouldn't be able to earn (at that time $100 for a set) that much money in the summer to get one. Since I had a little savings, I started looking at the electric guitars. I did not like the looks of the acoustic ones. I showed one to my Mom and she said I would need an amplifier and I said I could play around on it without one. But after thinking what she said, I decided to look at the acoustic guitars and all of a sudden they didn't look bad so I ordered one. Guess I really wanted something in the way of a musical instrument. Used just about all of my savings which was around $30 at that time. (But I have a drum set now...since early 2000.) :)
I've played in nursing homes in Fairchild and Black River Falls; churches in Fairchild, Alma Center, Black River Falls, Augusta; and for weddings. Pastor Calvin Carey had an Evangelism Explosion class for the 3 churches he served and they put a program together where they presented the Gospel at a few churches. I got to go along as the special music and sing one of the songs I wrote. A short while later the same class went to WEAU TV-13 in Eau Claire and taped an hour long program that was aired a few weeks later. I sang two of my songs for that program. Pastor Carey later started a music group named, "Spirit's Commission", which he asked me to be a part of. While I only sang with the group a little, which was mostly Christian Country, I would mainly share a song I wrote and also do a piano/guitar duet with a friend, who was also part of the group. Was told my style was more of a folk type. Also played guitar at Grace Bible College for our travelling women's group named H.I.S. (Hallelujah's In Song). I played a classical guitar piece, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", as the women sang.
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4. One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 41:10, "Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (NASB) I wish I could say I have arrived in trusting the Lord, but I haven't. I'm continually needing to turn my fears over to Him. He is my awesome Creator who took nothing and made this world and everything in it. Everything is in His control. Nothing I own belongs to me, but to Him. Every talent, ability I have is given to me by Him. I can accomplish nothing without Him. My very breath is only because he grants that to me for the present. I own nothing, He owns everything. Without Him, I am nothing.
(Debra was a stay-at-home mom for many years and enjoys spending time playing her guitar and being with her animals,)
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3. I picked up the guitar because I couldn't get a drum set. Back in the spring of 1967, I was looking in the Sears, Wards, and Penney catalogs at the drum sets. I wanted one real bad, but my Mom said I wouldn't be able to earn (at that time $100 for a set) that much money in the summer to get one. Since I had a little savings, I started looking at the electric guitars. I did not like the looks of the acoustic ones. I showed one to my Mom and she said I would need an amplifier and I said I could play around on it without one. But after thinking what she said, I decided to look at the acoustic guitars and all of a sudden they didn't look bad so I ordered one. Guess I really wanted something in the way of a musical instrument. Used just about all of my savings which was around $30 at that time. (But I have a drum set now...since early 2000.) :)
I've played in nursing homes in Fairchild and Black River Falls; churches in Fairchild, Alma Center, Black River Falls, Augusta; and for weddings. Pastor Calvin Carey had an Evangelism Explosion class for the 3 churches he served and they put a program together where they presented the Gospel at a few churches. I got to go along as the special music and sing one of the songs I wrote. A short while later the same class went to WEAU TV-13 in Eau Claire and taped an hour long program that was aired a few weeks later. I sang two of my songs for that program. Pastor Carey later started a music group named, "Spirit's Commission", which he asked me to be a part of. While I only sang with the group a little, which was mostly Christian Country, I would mainly share a song I wrote and also do a piano/guitar duet with a friend, who was also part of the group. Was told my style was more of a folk type. Also played guitar at Grace Bible College for our travelling women's group named H.I.S. (Hallelujah's In Song). I played a classical guitar piece, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", as the women sang.
~+~
4. One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 41:10, "Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (NASB) I wish I could say I have arrived in trusting the Lord, but I haven't. I'm continually needing to turn my fears over to Him. He is my awesome Creator who took nothing and made this world and everything in it. Everything is in His control. Nothing I own belongs to me, but to Him. Every talent, ability I have is given to me by Him. I can accomplish nothing without Him. My very breath is only because he grants that to me for the present. I own nothing, He owns everything. Without Him, I am nothing.
(Debra was a stay-at-home mom for many years and enjoys spending time playing her guitar and being with her animals,)
