Last night, I emailed all of you my recollection of our experience with Valerie. Mom read it this morning and reminded me of some points I had forgotten, and expressed some valid thoughts about Valerie's intent in the episode. So I edited the piece and am posting it below. This should go into everyone's Book of Great Lessons Learned.
Mom and I were recently in Washington DC for a podiatry seminar. While there, we of course got together with Abby and Matt, Crystal, and Valerie. One evening, Matt and Crystal had gone back home to Broadway, but Valerie stayed with us in DC. So we went out on the town to see a few things. At the end of the evening, Mom and I, along with Abby, and 10 year old Valerie were traveling back to our hotel on the DC metro train. We were sitting in separate facing seats in one end of the car, Mom and I facing Abby and Valerie. I heard some commotion over my right shoulder, and looked back to see a slender, somewhat unkempt black man, working his way throught the crowd, loudly soliciting a quarter so he could "get off the subway" (you have to have an exit ticket to open the exit gates). The man appeared to be a vagrant, and as is typical in those settings, everyone was ignoring him. As I was contemplating what to do, I turned around to see Valerie already holding out her hand to the man with a quarter in it. He stopped in his tracks and with a puzzled look on his face looked down at this child who was offering to help him when no one else would. He said, "are you sure honey?", seemingly taken aback by her charitable offer, "Don't you need that for your lunch money? Are you sure you don't need it?" Seeming reluctant to take money from a child, he asked her this several times. She just nodded and kept holding her hand out, and he hesitated for several seconds, scrutinizing her face and staring into her eyes. By this time, we and everyone else on the train were entranced by this scene, anxiously waiting to see what would happen next. Then all of a sudden a smile came onto the man's face as he reached down into his sock, pulled out a dollar bill, and announced, "Here's how God works little girl, Here's how God works," and he took her quarter as he gave her the dollar bill, and ran out the door. That was the last we saw of him. Valerie just kept smiling as we all sat there with our mouths open. Pretty good lesson that man taught us all that night.
Valerie also apparently learned something well. Later that evening, just kidding around, I held up a $5 bill and said, "Here's how God works Valerie," expecting that she would just get a good laugh out of it. But, I think she saw an opportunity to play into the joke, and maybe recapitulate the principle as she ran over to me, snatched the 5 from my hand, and gave me her dollar bill. We all got a good laugh out of that and I had to let her keep it since she had been such a good example to all of us earlier and had then punctuated the night's lesson of how Hevenly Father recognizes our charitable deeds. In her case that night, that recognition was twenty-fold. Of course, we won't always see immediate compensation for our good deeds, but I'd say that night, Valerie did pretty well.
Dad
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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4 comments:
Valerie has always had such a tender heart for people. I could tell story after story in which she has shown absolute love for fellow man. Sometimes I tell you, it is as if she just not see "poor" or "shady" and she has never seen racial lines. I have always tried to show her that every single person in this world is of value and I suppose it is one lesson that I know was a good one as well as one that she is learning...
She really is a sweetie.
Dad,
Thanks for sharing the story. It's the perfect example for the institute class Alex and I have to teach tonight about Mosiah 2.
It's true, "that's how God works". There's absolutely nothing we can ever do to keep up with the many blessing the Lord pours upon us.
"Even if we should render all the thanks and praise which our whole souls have power to possess...and even if we should serve him with our whole souls, yet we would be unprofitable servants".
His mercy and generosity is really incomprehensible. Our quarter will never be returned for less than a dollar, and many times for much, much more.
Thanks for being such a good example to all of us, Valerie!
OK, I'm stupid. Sorry for missplelling your name Valerie.
Grandpa
I figured out how to edit the post, so I went in and corrected all the misspellings. It was a good exercise, so I won't forget how to spell your name any more Valerie.
Grandpa
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