Wednesday Medley

1.  On November 28th, 1995, President Bill Clinton ended the 55 MPH nationwide speed limit that began in 1974 as an energy saving measure during the Mid-East oil embargo.  If you are old enough to remember this (I sure am) did it make you happy?  Do you have a heavy foot when driving or does 55 MPH sound good to you?

It made me very happy. I do have a lead foot and try to stay at 5mph over the speed limit…most of the time. I do go 20 or 25 in school zones. This is all with good road conditions. I do not have a lead foot in the rain, snow, or sleet! I slow way down.

2.  You are home alone on a rainy/snowy Sunday afternoon.  What Christmas movie will you watch?
Home Alone or Miracle on 34th Street depending on my mood.
3.  What is something you have tried that you will never try again?
Liver and Onions. I only tried it because I was served it and out of appreciation to our hostess I ate it all trying not to gag.
4.  Today is National French Toast Day!!  Will you have some?  Do you like French Toast?
I do like French Toast but will probably wait to have it for a weekend breakfast sometime.

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5.  The Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center will be lighted today, as will the one at the White House in Washington, D.C.  Do you have your tree up and is it lighted?  Have you ever been in New York City or Washington, D.C. to see the trees all lit up during the holidays?
I’ve only been to one Christmas tree lighting ever and that was in Seattle several years ago. No tree at our house yet. We will probably cut one down at our son’s or in a National Forest later this month.
6.  Tell us something random about this week of yours.
I have started Christmas decorating pulling out all the Christmas bins. It’s been interesting and fun finding new spots for old things at our Country Bungalow. Some things have been moved a few times to find the best location. We are still in the midst of painting so some decorating will have to wait. When our EWK (Eastern Washington Kids) were here last Friday Addy and I opened up her Little People nativity set for her to play with at Baba and Gramps’ house until Christmas.
Linking up with Terri in Florida for Wednesday Medley.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ 12

Our Pop’s Story continued…

This is our Pop’s story dictated verbally by him a few years ago. I’ll be sharing excerpts every Tuesday. When I add to his story or explain a photo I will Italicize my words. Our Pop’s words will not be italicized. Our mom does not come into Pop’s story until “Tuesdays With Moisi ~ 9” even though I’ve posted photos of her before #9. I have very few photos from our parents’ life in Russia and Persia. At the end of my Tuesday posts I’ll add links to all the other posts.

The next day we went to the city of Guran in order to buy the wedding necessities.  When we were there, Nadia’s father pulled me aside and said, “Moisi, since we’re here in the city why don’t we make a quick trip to the doctors and have you checked out as to whether you can father children or not.”  I was again so embarrassed that I was looking for the proverbial hole to jump into. I answered, “Listen, if you’re not willing to accept me the way I am, let’s just forget about the whole thing and go back home.” (Ironically we had nine children – more than anyone else in my family). The fact that I was thoroughly offended got through to him and he backed off.  And so we bought the necessary supplies for the wedding and went to work on the preparations. We were married sometime in July but I am not sure of the exact date.

The very first Sunday after our wedding, we were on our way to church.  We had to pass the Baptist church to get to the Molokan church. As we came abreast the Baptist church, Nadia said, “Let’s go in.”  I declined saying that we should go to the Molokan church. We literally stood there for an hour arguing as to what church we should attend.

We finally ended up just going back home.  Why the argument? I was told I was to be the man of the house.  I was told not to forget the religion I was brought up in with its traditions.  I was told that if I attended the Baptist church, they would pressure me to be baptized and that would seal my doom.  So I was afraid of attending that church. Our first years together after marriage were not too pleasant because of our  disagreement over religion. Nadia’s faith was personal while mine was not.

We lived in Iran for four years after our marriage – two years in Rakhmanabad and two years in Teheran.  Our marriage improved somewhat in Teheran because I worked Sundays. This allowed Nadia to attend the Baptist church which blunted the sharp edges of our disagreement.  I worked first for the American military and then for the Russian military as a mechanic. Lastly I worked for a brick factory also as a mechanic.

Somehow when my parents filled out their legal papers coming into the U.S. they chose September 13th as their marriage date. We celebrated that day and our mom died on my parents’ 70th wedding anniversary, September 13, 2013.

This photo was taken a month before our mom left this earth.

Frozen Mosaics

We tossed a heavy rock into the middle of the pond to test the ice. It just gave a big thud when it landed there.

We found some new lighting features to help the dark corners of this room.

I made that simple needlepoint ages ago when we were first married. We are warm and cozy in our country bungalow despite the freezing temperatures last week. We’ve had a few days well above freezing now and enjoyed some blue skies and sunshine today.

I’ve started some Christmas decorating in the midst of Dear’s painting projects. Have you started any Christmas preparations?

Thank you to Angie for hosting Mosaic Monday.

Oh, Come, Little Children

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Oh, Come, Little Children

Oh, come, little children, oh, come, one and all,
To Bethlehem’s stable, in Bethlehem’s stall.
And see with rejoicing this glorious sight,
Our Father in heaven has sent us this night.

Oh, see in the manger, in hallowèd light
A star throws its beam on this holiest sight.
In clean swaddling clothes lies the heavenly Child,
More lovely than angels, this Baby so mild.

Oh, there lies the Christ Child, on hay and on straw;
The shepherds are kneeling before Him with awe.
And Mary and Joseph smile on Him with love,
While angels are singing sweet songs from above.

Words: Christoph von Schmid, 1794

A friend of ours faxed me the music and words for O Come Little Children in the Russian language. I learned this song by heart in Russian and it’s been fun to sing it this week. We have started the Advent Season and I’ll be posting Christmas Music for the rest of the month. Some of the words in Russian translate different than the English version.

Preparations have started at our Country Bungalow for Christmas. In the midst of it all Dear is still painting so some of my decorating will happen later. We gave Addy the Little People Manger set and we opened it up together on Friday at our 2nd Thanksgiving. We’ll keep it at Baba and Gramps’ house for her to play with when she comes to visit. She gives us such joy. We will treasure the Christmas memories we make this year being close by. A few Christmas Cd’s and other favorites are playing at our bungalow today. Good music with truth spoken helps to prepare my heart and mind for this most wonderful time of year. “You give me everything I need”.  “Look Up Child”.

Quotes of the Week ~ 5

“Well, that was life. Gladness and pain…hope and fear…and change. Always change! You could not help it. You had to let go of the old and take the new to your heart…learn to love it and then let it go in turn. Spring, lovely as it was, must yield to summer and summer lose itself to autumn. The birth…the bridal…the death…”

~Anne of Ingleside, L.M. Montgomery.

“Go forth today, by the help of God’s Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life—-come poverty, come wealth, in death—come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord’s.  For this is written on your heart, ‘We love Him because He first loved us.”

~ Charles Spurgeon

This quote by C.S. Lewis comes from Mere Christianity

Most of us find it very difficult to want “Heaven” at all – except in so far as “Heaven” means meeting again our friends who have died. One reason for this difficulty is that we have not been trained: our whole education tends to fix our minds on this world. Another reason is that when the real want for Heaven is present in us, we do not recognize it. Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.”

I added a C.S. Lewis quote this week because yesterday was the anniversary of his death. He died the same day as John F. Kennedy 55 years ago.

On the lighter side…or heavier.

“When you are overweight, no matter how wrinkled your jeans are when you pull them out of the dryer they will be smooth as silk when you put them on!” ~ ellen b.

The photo I chose for the top of this post this week was taken a few years ago when my friend Heidi and I were reunited with our friend Alice (in the middle) from our single years. Alice made the remark that we were “partners in crime” some 35 years previous to the time of this photo. Alice lived in San Francisco and would travel to L.A. to spend time and we would escape to San Francisco and spend time with her. Alice died on Tuesday and we were so shocked and saddened to hear that news. Alice’s death prompted a long phone call between Heidi and me. Keep your friends close…

On the same day that Alice died, we received word that a lifetime family friend passed away, too. George was the youngest member of a family that was dear and close to our family from my parents days in Persia. Our hearts are heavy. Praying for George’s family that they will find comfort and peace with the Lord. I don’t have a photo of George. We saw him recently at our Pop’s funeral. He made the effort to come even though he was ill and suffering. He was also at our mom’s funeral and gave a sweet tribute. Rest in Peace, George.

 

Thanksgiving Medley

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?

I like a full beige plate with a touch of orange and gravy on top of the turkey, stuffing and potatoes. It’s the combination that I enjoy. If I was going to single out one item it would be the candied yams with marshmallows on top. Bottom left photo.

What’s the happiest Thanksgiving memory of your childhood?

I have no memories of Thanksgiving in my childhood. It took my mom a while to catch on to the holiday after immigrating from Persia. In my teens and college years there was always a Russian Baptist Church conference held on Thanksgiving weekend and the conference rotated from the Russian Baptist church in Los Angeles, Hollywood and Sacramento. There was a full church meal for Thanksgiving during the conference. I’m thinking we had a few Thanksgivings at my sister Vera’s house. Our very first Thanksgiving as a married couple everyone was out of town and we had no where to go so we went to a restaurant. That was weird. We had a few Thanksgivings at Dear’s parents’ home. The first turkey I helped prepare was when I was pregnant with our first son and we were in Arrowhead at Dear’s brother and sister-in-law’s home. That broke the ice and we eventually hosted Thanksgiving consistently at our house. When we moved to Washington State we had a couple members of my family fly up every Thanksgiving weekend to spend with us.

Who is the most consistently grateful person you know?

I would have to say our daughter-in-law, Laura.

If you could thank one person today—near or far, living or dead—for their influence on your life, who would that person be?

I’m going to say my little babushka Vera. All my personal memories of her are positive. She lived with one hand and never let that hinder her and she prayed consistently for all of us. She embroidered with only one hand and I treasure the things she made for me. She would tell us not to go out at night because nothing good happens in the dark. Ha! I’ve used that admonition more then once.

Who’s one person you’ve never thanked for their contribution to your life, but would like to?

Mrs. Nicolaus, my 1st and 2nd grade teacher. She was someone who believed in me and was kind and encouraging. She also recommended I skip a grade which I did. I think it was 2nd grade that I skipped but maybe it was 3rd grade since I have no memory of my third grade teacher. Top photo ellen b. is on the top row on the right. In the bottom photo I’m the second from the left with the curly hairdo.

Tell us something random about your Thanksgiving week.

I was on the phone yesterday for my Medicare supplement plan that seems to have fallen through the cracks and I noticed that the deductions were not being taken out of our checking account. For some reason I was dropped as of November 1st. Oops, no Bueno. I think we got it straightened out now and I’ll have coverage again on December 1st. Yikes.

Thank you to Terri for Wednesday Medley.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Friends!

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ 11

Our Pop’s story continued…

This is our Pop’s story dictated verbally by him a few years ago. I’ll be sharing excerpts every Tuesday. When I add to his story or explain a photo I will Italicize my words. Our Pop’s words will not be italicized. Our mom does not come into Pop’s story until “Tuesdays With Moisi ~ 9” even though I’ve posted photos of her before #9. I have very few photos from our parents’ life in Russia and Persia. At the end of my Tuesday posts I’ll add links to all the other posts.

 

The photo above of this group of Molokan leaders was taken in Los Angeles in 1933 before my parents immigrated to the U.S. It is not my photo. I believe they were walking to the church in the photo below to dedicate it’s formation from three separate churches.

After church on the first Sunday that he was in our village, Nadia’s cousin came up to me with a note.  It read “I want to meet you and talk with you.” I knew immediately who it was from. And so I trudged up the road to where he was staying – my knees barely supporting me.  We greeted each other. Almost immediately he said, “Let’s take a walk. I want to discuss a few things.” Then he launched into what he wanted to talk about. “I’ve heard that you are not really a good candidate for marriage.  In addition, I’ve also heard that you are not able to have children. And children are definitely a blessing.” These words made me so uncomfortable that I wanted to jump into a hole in the ground and pull the hole in after me. I answered, “I don’t know what the future holds.  All I know is that I love Nadia and I want to marry her.” I think it was then that he understood that I was determined to see this through. What about the wedding details was his next question. (Molokans do these things differently than Baptists.) I answered, “That is an issue we’ll discuss with my parents.  But one way or another we love each other and we definitely want to get married.” With that, our conversation ended. I went home and ate lunch. After lunch Nadia and I met in the fields. When I saw her smiling face my heart jumped with joy because her smile signaled her father’s acquiescence. Both sets of parents then met each other and discussed the details of the upcoming marriage, namely who was to do what and how it was to be paid for.

The first order of business was the engagement ceremony. This was to be done according to Molokan custom.  It was hosted by my parents at their home a few days later in the evening. The ceremony was basically a prayer gathering of invited guests, asking God to bless the upcoming marriage and then ending with a reception.  And so the guests came, sang, and offered messages of encouragement based on Biblical teaching. After that all took place Nadia and I made our way to the center of the room where hands were laid on us and we were to be prayed for.  To begin the actual prayer ceremony, Nadia and I asked that all in attendance would pray for us – specifically that God would bless our marriage. We then knelt and the Molokan pastor prayed for us. He was a gifted orator and his prayer was a shining example of that.  To such a degree that one of the Molokan prophets jumped in response to the inspiration of the prayer. But this jumping was specifically not to be allowed according to the agreement reached by Nadia’s father and my parents. Jumping was anathema to Nadia’s father – a staunch Baptist.  As soon as he heard the thump of the jump, he reacted immediately. “Up, Nadia! They’ve lied to us. Let’s go!” Nadia was ready to do so but she was firmly held down by my mother until the prayer was over. When it did end, Nadia, her father, mother and all their invited guests left for her aunt’s home.  As he was leaving, Nadia’s father kept repeating that he was deceived – the decibel level of his voice certainly not being on the low end of the spectrum. Only the guests of my parents remained. I walked outside and was so distraught that I seriously contemplated leaving this whole disastrous scene by taking the first means of transportation out and never coming back.  As I was standing there thinking about it, I happened to notice the position of the moon. It was just on the horizon. I had never seen it so close before. And then I felt a hand on my shoulder and a quiet voice in my ear, “Moisi, whatever you are thinking – don’t do it. Go to Nadia’s aunt’s house and be with Nadia. Her dad will calm down eventually. Everything will be OK.”  It was the voice of John Federov. I took his advice and went to the house, walked in and was greeted by a high level of commotion. The decibel level of Nadia’s father’s voice had increased significantly but his message remained the same – “They lied to us. They didn’t keep their word.” The others in the room were trying to calm him. I saw Nadia sitting on a trunk crying. Nadia’s mother went over to her and scolded her, “You got us into this and you’re the one crying about it?  Shame on you!” That made Nadia cry even more. I went over and sat next to her and began crying myself. After a while Nadia’s father did calm down. They talked him into going back to the festivities which were just beginning when we got there and it all ended without further incident.

In 1933 the First United Christian Molokan Church was dedicated in their new building on 3rd street in Los Angeles. I believe 3 congregations combined to form this church that was called “Big Church”.

In l941 the First United Christian Molokan Church relocated to Lorena St. in East Los Angeles. The new church looked a lot like the photo above. This was the location that our family attended and that we became familiar with. Now the new location for this church is in La Habra. Our grandfather was a preacher/elder at this church after he immigrated to the U.S. There are several Molokan churches in California and some in Oregon, Arizona. Each church has it’s own signature. Many traditions are the same and some are becoming more different from each other because there are no governing bodies or conferences amongst them. Each location is autonomous and as older members die off things change. I’m guessing Big church got that nickname because it was one of the bigger congregations. Some Molokan churches follow a prophet named Maxim and they are “Jumpers”. Certain members in the church when becoming “spirit filled” jump in response. Other Molokan churches don’t jump. As  a young child in the church I was always shocked and mesmerized by these jumping episodes, usually occurring at a crescendo or certain stanza of a Psalm being sung. I’ll share more about Molokans and Russian Baptists in later posts and about the small group of Molokans who broke off from Big Church to form Kern Avenue Church.

Thanksgiving Past Mosaics

We had an early Thanksgiving this year when all of our kids were on this side of the mountains in October for our annual family hunting adventure. This Thanksgiving Day Dear and I will lay low. On the day after Thanksgiving we will try deep frying a turkey and have some fixins to go with it with our Eastern Washington kids. Our Canadian neighbors celebrated Thanksgiving early in October. What are the rest of you doing for Thanksgiving this year? Guess what? We mailed out our Christmas cards and letter already including a Thanksgiving greeting since we needed to send along our new address to family and friends. I hope no one minds getting a Christmas greeting just before Thanksgiving. I’m thankful to have that behind me now.

Linking up with Angie from Letting Go of the Bayleaf for Mosaic Monday. Thank you Angie.

Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven ~ Hymn

Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven

Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring!
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me His praise should sing?
Praise Him! praise Him!
Praise the everlasting King!

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To our fathers in distress!
Praise Him still the same for ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless!
Praise Him! praise Him!
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Fatherlike He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows.
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Praise Him! praise Him!
Widely as His mercy flows!

Frail as summer’s flower we flourish;
Blows the wind, and it is gone;
But while mortals rise and perish,
God endures unchanging on,
Praise Him, praise Him!
Praise the high eternal One!

Angels, help us to adore Him;
Ye behold Him face to face:
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace!

Words: Henry Francis Lyte.

Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven is a Christian hymn. Its text, which draws from Psalm 103, was written by Anglican divine Henry Francis Lyte. The hymn is frequently sung in the United Kingdom and was used in the 1947 royal wedding of H.R.H. the Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Weekend Roundup~T

It’s time for the Weekend Roundup hosted by Tom the Backroads Traveller. This weeks prompts are…

1. Starts with “T.”
2. A Favorite.
3. “T”all.

Starts with “T”: Thanksgiving Table

A Favorite:

The trees in our front yard in the morning sunshine.

“T”all:

Tall trees on the trail loop.

Parting shot:

Perched a’Top the tall tree hanging on with it’s talons.

So we are soon entering Thanksgiving week here in the U.S. Lot’s of T’s associated with a Traditional Thanksgiving meal with Turkey and trimmings. We had an early Thanksgiving with family back in October and this time around we will have a small gathering and try a deep fried turkey on Friday since our son has to work on Thanksgiving. I have a fresh turkey ordered to pick up on Wednesday. No out of town guests are coming this year. What are your plans? Are you cooking or are you invited out?

Thank you Tom for hosting and travelling to show us so many cool sites!