I hate pain, I love Healing

I hate Pain.

When family and friends and especially progeny are hurting I always want to fix. It disturbs me that it is the nature of life that we grow stronger with struggles, along with growing in appreciation of what is pleasant and a blessing to the peace of our life.

I am here right beside you if I know of your pain. My supplications go to the highest heaven and the greatest God to be revealed and to intervene. Yet the intervention sometimes comes after the strenghthening work is accomplished, and the dead branches are stripped away from my life. And yours sometimes. That is when I feel impotent. I realize . . . I am. My power is in submitting to God.
Not in myself.

Wedding Anniversary for Flavel and Evelyn

60 years ago today Flavel and Evelyn got married, with plans to leave civilization of Minnesota and be Missionaries in North Dakota.
Today, all of the children and grand children and great grand children know who the Lord is, and most know Him personally. And we serve wherever we are.
Also today, on this anniversay, Brother Chuck and neice Jo are headed for Yellowknife, NW Territiories, Canada for four months of service to a church needing an Interim Pastor, Peggy is filling an Obligation in Kenya, Vangi and family are serving in Japan, and some family members are separated by fewer miles than that in the continental North America.

The legacy is travel. The world is small to the family of Flavel and Evelyn.

Blessings on all who are separated, by 25 miles, 2500 miles or 12000 miles.

Grand Grand Kids

First of all there was a box of playclothes and costume stuff, and the kids got to the bottom before I got the camera!

The pictures speak for themselves.

Back home from the Park and ready for Naps.

At the LAKE Two Harbors.

So I caught Arly looking when we were at Two Harbors. That is Burlington Bay in the background. It was about 80 degrees there, but 95 in Danbury, so we spent the second to last day of vacation at the North Shore.

ND Pics

Chuck with my fish at the Arch
Chuck At Cass Lake Golf course

Chuck Fishing the Leech Lake / Kabekona Bridge

Chuck Fishing the Lake Andrusia Mission Bridge

Me at Metigoshe

Chuck at St. Michaels Bridge

Chuck back at the ARch

Walkabout North Dakota style In Minnesota first

This is me, Mona, and Chuck and the Picture was taken by Dean.

Well I know a vacation is supposed to be fun, and guess what it was. At 11:00 a.m. on August 3, 2009 Chuck and I stopped in Albany, Mn on the way to North Dakota for our first 9 holes of chase the ball. It was great weather.
After this we stopped at Charlies Cafe in Freeport for Caramel rolls, in remembrance of Dad, who stopped there every day when he was the track inspector for that section of the Great Northern Railroad.

On to the Evansville Cemetery to stand and pray at the temporary resting place of our sister and parents. We had decided to have three goals for each day. We will pray for those who need encouragement, pray with those who want to have the knowledge of Jesus Christ in their life, and pray for healing for those who request it.

We went to the Hardware store to buy our fishing licenses and ended up praying with the owners.

Then we visited and stayed overnight with sis Mona and Dean in suburban Erdahl. Mona is a great cook and we sang for our breakfast!

The next morning we went on to the Arch on Pelican Lake at Ashby and I caught a bass. Chuck was bummed because he is the great outdoorsman. That called for celebration so we went to Ruby's cafe in Ashby and had a caramel roll. (Do we have a theme?) And of course coffee. And met a missionary from somewhere sitting in a coffee clutch of 6 women.

On to the north. We went north out of Ashby to go to Cass Lake. On the way we missed Moll's becasue the trees are tall now. But we had decided we were not turning around if we missed something. Up through Perham, and backroads over to Menahga where we used to deer hunt. Stopped at Chuck's for Groceries for lunch.

Thought of Marty Giese as we passed by his church in Park Rapids. We stopped and Chuck ran into connections from Africa. Then Marty showed up and invited us for a fish fry for supper (dinner for you city folk), and put us up overnight. Great time of prayer and fellowship. I loved hearing about their old stories of Mo-kah-um.

The next day we encouraged a lady at the gas station, and then went on to Walker and fished on the bridge between Leech Lake and Kabekona bay. Chuck caught the biggest fish and we met Tommy and Jennifer, and Annabelle, and were blessed by being able to pray with them.

On towards Cass Lake. Chuck saw a golf course so we stopped for nine holes. Chuck found a memorial bench with the name Bill Ross, the son of one of dad's great mentors, and my spirirtual example as a child, Selam Ross. Selam was the only non family member who showed up for my college graduation. When we were done golfing Chuck said we should get on to Cass Lake. I told him we were already there! So we stopped and ate supper.

Then we went fishing at the Mission Bridge. No luck. Beautiful sunset. On to Fosston for the night. Tomorrow we get to North Dakota.

But first, Cabela's in East Grand Forks. Then a trek to Devils Lake where Chuck doesn't really comprehend what he was seeing in contrast to what it was like as a kid. But when we get to Churches Ferry and see the water there it started to sink in. On the way we stopped at a Garage sale and bought some stuff and prayed with the seller too, for her family.

On to Rugby the geographical Centre of North America, from the south tip of Mexico to the northe tip of the tundra. Pictures and food and then up to Dunseith. Not pleasant in Dunseith so on to Bottineau for a stay at the Super 8. Chuck met Frankie from Belcourt at the Walmart, and also an exwife of the sister of a classmate from St. John.. Chuck remembers everything.

Next morning on to Metigoshe to fish, but first of all a garage sale up by the lake. Good stuff and the lady of the couple had spent time as a missionary in Ghana. She has been a church music leader in Fargo for 35 years. or more. We prayed with her before we left.

On to the fishing store to buy licenses. Oh by the way it has been raining and cloudy all the time in North Dakota. So we went down to the bridge. Chuck started getting his gear together, and I put on a red and white daredevil and made a cast. I caught a 7-8 lb northern on the first cast. Then another three pounder, 20 inches.

We watched a man teach a flyfishing casting class. He was most excellent.

Then we went to look for the Dunseith Alliance Mission. Couldn't find it, so headed to Upsilon.

Went by Leo and Lorraine Haas' place and stopped to find Larry there. He invited us for supper. Then his wife came home and seconded the motion. Brother Carl from Andover, Minnesota was also there for a wedding. Great Spahgetti meal, with two adult daughters, one boyfriend and two grandkids from another of their children. We prayed and ate and prayed and were blessed and went on our way to Upsilon. On the way we stopped at Gravel lake and fished in the rain. No luck. Then we went to Upsilon and fished in the rain until almost dark. No luck.

Then on to St. John. Betty Davis had no lights on, and we drove around town having memories. We ended up at Ducky Laroque's where Jim Davis family used to live. That was a fantastic time of fun and catching up on when we were kids. Then we prayed with them and left blessed out of our socks.

Off to Rolla to find a motel. We both voted no. This was about 11:30. We kept going and finally ended up in Devils Lake at about 1:30. Super 8. Both Haas' and Ducky had invited us to stay overnight. But this way we could sleep in.

The next morning we went fishing on the St. Michaels Bridge on Devils Lake. The boaters were catching, but we weren't. We finally gave up and went to Fort Totten. They have built new roads so things looked different. We finally headed for Jamestown, and I saw the road to Wood Lake Camp and Belchers. So we turned there and then Chuck remembered where Jab's farm was so we went there! We found Carol who was the wife of the person he worked for. This was old home week for them too. We fixed her garage door on the quonset and then had coffee! Then prayed and on the way south. But we went north first, then down 20 to 200 and over to Cooperstown where I knew the pastor of the Free Church. He was not around so we went golfing until dark. Most excellent Course. Then off to Fargo for the night to pick up Arly's coat she left there earlier in the week.

Next Morning off to Minnesota.

Stopped at Fergus Falls so Chuck could Skype with Peggy. While at the motel, I talked with a man who compared himself to Job. He was not exaggerating. His wife died two years ago because of conflicting prescriptions. His house burned down on Monday, and his two cats and three dogs perished in the fire. We prayed with him for his encouragement.

Then back to Ashby and the ARCH. Chuck caught three bass keepers. At 4:00 we left the lake, stopped for ice, and at 8:00 we were back in Maplewood. Chuck ate the bass for lunch the next day, the 10th.

More Pictures to follow.

Duluth and Two Harbors

First DAY of Summer 2009

It is also fathers day today, and some nearly record high temperatures were experience in Duluth Superior Saturday.

I love my children, who are now adults and carving their own way through this world.

They are my daughter, Gianna, and my son, Andrew, whom I love, and with whom I am well pleased.

I love my grand children, and enjoy that they are so honest about their feelings.

I love my Son-in-law, who is a great father to his children, and a great husband to my daughter.

And I love my son's significant other, for being such a beneficient rock for my son.

And I love my wife who made this all possible.

Happy Anniversary

I love being able to say "Happy Anniversary." Happy is good. Anniversary is for celebrating.

To be married thirty six years means I must be kinda old, but my mind is playing tricks on my body, or is it my body playing tricks on my mind.

We are still learning about each other. Nothing stays the same and we grow in understanding and caring and affection.

This is all I will say about this subject in a public forum.

Obligations greater than time.

It seems like we always are having to make choices. That is not so hard when you greatly desire something, and the other choices which are left are not desired as much. And money, or lack of it, forces us into sometimes less than adequate decisions. But what really bugs me is that I only have so much time. The only thing that is mine to really give is my time. Having a job is great, and having a great job is really great, but it uses time. Time with kids, and grandkids, and friends, and old relatives who are dying, and young relatives who are living, and who knows, they might be dying too.
This weekend we went to a funeral of an aunt on my wife's side. I had not seen her cousins since one was an usher in our wedding. Here I am older and grayer, and 5'8" and he is a little younger than me and 6'7" and we got along famously. Another one did not recognize me even sitting with my wife his cousin in the family funeral room.
Their mom was great. She had her funeral all planned out. So it was like she was there.
But that took all weekend. The funeral was in Orange City, Iowa on Saturday, and we started in Danbury, and had to go to Duluth and Back and then down. It just takes so much time.
And next weekend I have a nephew graduating from college, and we are having a day with the grandkids, and both of them are super important to us. Grandkids will win every time, but it still is a choice. So I look forward to eternity where we will be able to fellowship. But in the meantime I only have 30 or forty years left if I am given a long life. Ten years if the averages hold true.
Really short when you think about it that way.
Got to get busy if I am going to finish what I have in my mind.

A Day for Play

St. Louis River Bay with an Ore Boat headed for Missabe Taconite Dock -

The Foreground are Superior Grain Elevators

The Big Falls at Gooseberry Falls State Park.

Looking Eastward from Silver Cliff -

The Encampment Tunnel entrance in the center of the picture.

Arly searching for Agates on Superior's Shore at Knife River.

Wave Spray on the East side of Stoney Point between Knife River and Duluth.

Religion

I have been challenged to think on the meaning of being alive, and whether or not we are but "goo by the way of the zoo", and what religion has to do with making life better.

So a couple of hundred years ago, an infitesimally insignificant amount of time in the existence of the universe as scientists now date it, there was a guy who said "Let's see, there is a three foot tall anthropod here, and a three and a half foot tall anthropod there, and a four foot tall anthropod over there, and they become progressively more erect, so therefore they must be evolved from each other." He was a poor little kid who actually had the wherewithal to sail around the world, and got this evolution idea while in the Galapagos islands. I know that is oversimplifying, but that is the pigeonhole in my head. And I don't even care. It doesn't matter to me if animals evolved. It doesn't matter to me what religions want me to think. What matters is that I have or don't have a relationship with The Creator of the Universe, not the way it was created.

Religon is 1. Human's rules to get along, 2. Human's attempts to reach god, 3. Human's attempts to control other people.

Christianity has been pillaged and raped and converted into a consumerism in Western Culture of Right Wing Reactionary Political Action or Left Wing Social Liberal liaissez faire. People go to church meetings to get their needs met once or twice or three times a week. I wonder if most North Americans know Jesus Christ know Jesus was a dark skinned Jew?

What about Islam? A lot of rules to follow for a chance to maybe go to heaven. Killing an infidel gives you a better chance. Being a martyr gives you an even better chance.

Where is Nirvana.

What does that have to do with Love.

Why are Turkish Christians considered traitors just because they are Christians.

The Churches of the first century in Revelation are all from Turkey.

USA is doomed, just like the Roman Empire, unless we quit being such arrogant, elitist, empire building, self aggrandizing, others diminutizing snobs.

Oh, and by the way, the "scientific method" evolved out of Christian Universities, I might even assert "Protestant" Universities established for the free pursuit of knowledge. Remember Galileo, excommunicated because of the flap of the world being flat?

How many of the most respected Universities in the world were founded by Christian Churches, such as Harvard, Brown, Yale, Georgetown.

Easter - What ?

Sunday - 10:26 a.m. I have been ill with strep the last 4 days. My natural immunity usually takes care of this but I guess there has been too much stress in my life the last year or two, so this time I used the fruit of the mold to ward off the icky little bugs. Right now is the first time I have felt even since last Wednesday.
So being under the weather, and not wanting to spread it to others, and being too weak to do a six hour morning list of Easter activities with the Danforth Community, where we now usually are to be found on a Sunday morning, and after listening to various news commentators on TV about the meaning of Easter and Passover, on the same day this year, and Religion, I feel like I must comment on my thought.
Passover is the celebration of a horrible event in Egypt during which the Jewish firstborn males were saved from death, while the non Jewish died. Being firstborn in our family, it gets very personal. Had I lived then I would have died. This is an historic event, as well preserved in tradition and writings of antiquity as is Babylon and the Wonders of the Ancient World. About 3,500 years ago.
Easter is what Christians celebrate. About 2,000 years ago Jesus, the Christ, an innocent of any sin, suffered a horrible death of crucifiction. But here is the difference. On the first day of the week after Passover Saturday, he rose again. Now no-one is mandated to die any more. Of course if you don't want to accept that gift, that is up to each person, but it is there for you. Jesus said the greatest commandment was to Love God, and the second commandment, To Love Our Neighbor as Ourself.
There is a problem with Jesus, according to Joe Stowell, MBI, and RBC ministries. The problem is that he said he was God. And that he was the only way to God. Jesus did not say, every other religion is full of all bad things, just that if it is God you are looking to have a personal relationship with, Jesus is the one way. The fact is, the Prophet Mohammed did not say he was God, Budda nor Confucious did not say they were God, Joshua, Elisha, Elijah, nor Moses nor John the Baptist said they were God.
If I did not believe that Jesus actually rose from the death in a human body and then ascended to heaven, I would follow Buddhism. The tenets of oneness, and peace, and love all make sense if there is not a supreme being over the universe.
But because I believe there is a supreme being, because nature cries out that it is so, and then believing there are realms of existance that are not apparant to our five senses, and with not understanding why the most intelligent persons as we measure it only use eight percent of their brain power, I look for this supreme being to send me a message. And on the first Easter he proved he was God.

I love my Wife, my Kids, my Grandkids, and my Kid's partners.
They are all wonderful people. And we don't all believe the same thing about God.

Catch up

I am such a bad blogger. But I have found out now that I prefer Blog to facebook, for what I want to say. So today, through the day i will catch you up.

Help

Gianna,
How do I do the new thing you showed me on blogging?
Dad

Summer Vacation 2008

Summer Vacation
By
George French

I had a fun summer vacation. We planned a vacation trip to the National Grasslands west of the Badlands west of Medora, North Dakota, at Buffalo Gap.

Monday was Labor Day, the first day of September. We packed up our tent, ground cloth, gear, sleeping bags, folding chairs, mattress pads, blankets, pillows, cookstove, dishes, food, clothing and reading materials. We started out on Tuesday and left our apartment at Sandstone at 10:00 a.m. We got to Fargo, NoDak about 2 p.m.
And after a short stop at Hobby Lobby and Barnes and Nobles were on the road again towards Bismark. We got to Bismark about 6 p.m. and it was sprinkling and the weather forecast was for showers. So we were rained out the first night. We walked over to a nearby restaurant for supper, then strolled for a couple miles around the Capitol grounds.
Wednesday we woke up and headed west. I was not feeling the best, and thought it might have been something I ate the night before or being dehydrated, since I have had that issue before. We got to Dickinson and stopped at the local grocery store for our perishable food items and ice for the cooler. This was about nine a.m. When we got done shopping Arly took a look at me and said, you look funny, we are going to the hospital. I was feeling so poorly that I did not even put up a fuss. So by ten we were in the emergency room. By the way they treated me and the questions they asked I could tell they were suspicious I was having a heart problem. So there I was, in hospital gown and BVD’s (Hanes for you younger folks) being prodded and poked and looked at in my eyes, ears, nose and throat. My BP was normal, temp 99, no out ward signs of infection, no pain at all (which was strange, because I usually have a pang here or there). So I wait because I could hear they had more urgent cases in the ER with me, but finally a Dr. comes in. He does a bunch of neuro exams, and finds I have a twitchy right eye, which told him my left inner ear gyroscope was on the fritz. So he goes away and in comes a nurse to do an ekg strip, and a hemo guy to get my blood. Then about ½ hour later the Doc comes in again to tell me I passed, not dehydrated, no heart problem, no hidden infection, and all I need to do is take Dramamine Meclyzine formula for the next six days. Well I had psychological relief from the news but I was still dizzier and spacier than a hoot owl. So The Doc said I would be ok so we headed towards Medora, 37 miles away. As we pull into town about three in the afternoon it starts to rain, continuously, with occasionally heavier showers. So we find another motel room for the night. That worked out ok. On TV it said that we got down to 35 that night with occasional patches of frost.
The next morning we went to Beach. We saw a cowboy riding the range checking out his doagies for fall roundup. The fog was below the tops of the Buttes, We had Breakfast at Rose’s Café. The best meal of the trip. I don’t know how she stays in business. Arly’s Omlette was big enough to serve four. My Haminex was likewise of enormous portions and proportions, meat as thick as Dad’s thumb, with a load of spuds, and a grain car of bread and some of Kenya’s finest to wash it down. Over easy. Dark toast, Strawberry preserves.
So we decided to go to eastern Montana, which was a mile away, and then go south to Baker. Cow country par excellence`!
We had to stop and take a nap cuz we was so plump and the sun was warm. I was still feeling dizzy so Arly was Driving.
We Turned left at Baker and headed back into North Dakota. This was about 79 miles after we had brunch. We came across a ghost of a town that had seen its better days. Manmouth had 10,000 souls in its prime and was the railroad cattle shipping center for three states, Montana, SoDak, and NoDak. It had Sandstone Buildings, and brick buildings, and not much else. We stopped at a store that sold rattlesnake skins and dinosaur bones, paper and clothes, and antiques. That is where we found out about the new NoDak Hillbillies, even without hills. It seems that some of these folk have got so much so fast from the boom that the young folk have to tell grandma, that she needs to deposit them $50,000.00 checks in the banks, cuz they is only good for so long!

Arly bought something. I had to hike around town to find the only public loo open. Nice little Bar, clean and friendly.
We were thinking that since the sun was out maybe we could camp. We headed southeast to Bowman.

Another nice prairie town, but again it started raining. We went north to get out of the rain. It started raining more. Went by the highest point of NoDak, White Butte, and it was raining. Got up to Belfield, and it quit raining but the wind was forty mile an hour from the W/NW and it was aboot 50 degrees. We decided God was telling us to “git oot o’ here” so we hoisted our sail and blew back to Bismarck, 80 miles east. So we did. And ate at a little Italian place I liked that starts with “W”, but Arly didn’t have as good food as me.
So Friday Morning after our commune with God we felt we should go back to Sandstone and finish starting our business.
I am still not feeling well, though I am not feeling sick, either. Sort of a weird limbo.
And that is my summer vacation.

St. John Memorial Day ramblings

I got overextended physically on Saturday, again. The 20 mile bike ride for the first ride of the year probably did it. Running at 9 – 12 mph. So I dehydrated a little and got déjà vu, all over again.
So Sunday was a do nothing day until four o’clock when we went over to see Pat and Arlin and their family that was up at the lake.
We were over there when the tornado hit Hugo.
Today we watched Christmas shoes, a movie with Rob Lowe and other big names, which was great and made me cry and think about the dash of my life, which brought me to St. John. As a result of that movie Arly just asked me if I was doing what I want with my life, or was I just doing what I had to do to pay the bills. She is encouraging me to think in a way I haven’t since college.

So I started thinking of St. John, North Dakota, where I did really grow up. I adapted to change. I never thought of myself as a white man until age 14. That realization was rough on me. My culture in me is Metis/Ojibway. The culture around Danbury, for the oldtimers, is Ojibway/logger. Flavel Merton Ray French had a lot of Ojibway in him, though not by blood. Arda Roy was my scoutmaster when I started Boy Scouts. But Dad was there a lot. We met in the Izaak Walton League building. They called it a Cabin, but it was really a conventional built building that was a club house for grown up men. It was right across the street from the elementary school. There was a Mounted Moose Head over the door as you walked in.
St. John had a history of development. We had a tennis court with a basketball hoop across the street. Then there was the MBA Hall where the community activities were held, with Dances every Friday night. Dad was the cop who had to keep all in order. That was tough when the “toughs” from Belcourt and Rolla would meet to duke it out on Main Street in St. John.
We had a Veteran’s memorial park where every year on Memorial day until I was 16, I would play taps. When Chuck got old enough he would play, and I would echo. Then Gussie got in on the act too.
The WWII and Korean Vets would be there in uniform, proud of their country, and missing the fallen comrades.
All the Boy Scouts would be there too, and would parade with the Vets to the memorial.

Last night on TV WCCO replayed “The Last Flagraiser”, the story of Chuck Lindberg from Grand Forks, North Dakota, who along with his company of Marines were tasked with raising a flag on the mountain on Iwo Jima. 70,000 marines started to take that island. Over 7,000 died, over 20,000 injured, was the human cost directly, but none of them ever forgot. Chuck was one of the people who raised the first flag. The famous picture, and the Marine memorial, are the second flag raising. Chuck is the last surviving flag raiser. That happened on February 18, 1945, slightly more than five years before I was born.

Joe Jeannotte is a real marine from St. John, North Dakota, now a police investigator in Chicago. Maybe retired in the last couple of years. He was my hero as a kid. He was a Sea Scout in St. John. Think of it. Mike Wanschaffe, Commander, started a Sea Scout group in St. John, North Dakota, 1500 miles from the Pacific, 1500 miles from the Atlantic, 1500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and about 1400 miles from Hudson Bay. But they were shipshape.

We salute all Veterans and service men and women. Including Jacob Flavel French.

Wacky Week

The state legislature published a picture in the weekly session review of March 31, 2008. The caption was regarding the capitol grounds covered with snow from a March snow. It stated that it was the last snow of the season. Soooo wrong. Another snowstorm came on April 1, that covered the north land. Virginia received 32 inches. Danbury received 7 inches. Then this week, on April 10th and 11th Danbury got 17 inches and this tapered off down towards the cities.

Bad news this week. Arly's cousin Keith Carlson died in a farm accident near Sunburg, Mn. He was caught up in an auger on a feed mill powered by a tractor with a power take off. The Funeral is Tuesday. Life is now. We need to plan for the future, but We need to live now, for now is our destiny.
Grief is greater when we are closer.

Arly and I are moving to Sandstone this week. Enough of this being apart.

Pat and Arlin helped yesterday with their trailer. Arlin Got stuck in the driveway in the remainder of the 17 inches of snow, about 12 inches of icy heavy snow. He got out by disconnecting the trailer, using four wheel drive to go through the woods, going out on Hayden Lake Road on the bare tar, and hooking two chains together, and pulling the trailer backwards up onto the road.


I feel, therefore I am.
I am, therefore I feel.

I am blessed, therefore there is a Blesser.
There is a Blesser, thereby I am blessed.

I am, therefore I exist.
I exist, therefore I am.

PS

I see so many deer each day, it is commonplace and I didn't remember to post it!

Birthday Turkeys

Well if it isn't one thing it is another.
This week it has been Turkeys. The week started with me seeing turkeys on the way to Danbury on Sunday. Plus one eagle out by St. Croix State Park. Then on the way to work Monday there were big flocks, including a flock crossing the road precisely where I hit a deer with my car 18 months ago. They were actually following the deer trail. There were about a dozen.
So that afternoon I went to the cities to Maya's birthday party. Met mi esposa and stuck around in the Heavy Snow Warning zone so long that we could not get to Danbury that night, so we stayed and slept in the BIG CITY.
Roads were slippery and wet on Tuesday. It takes about an hour and a half to drive, when you stop for gas and coffee, from New Brighton to Sandstone, from the driveway to the desk.
Without hope in our life, what is the point? Of Anything?
Without hope, does beauty exist?
Eagles are beautiful to me. But why?
Sunsets are beautiful to me. But why?
With the Ropes of the Past We Ring the Bells of the Future. (Evansville Senior Class 1968)