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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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Great Quote

I just read this quote by Ezra Taft Benson.

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ would take the slums out of people, and then they would take themselves out of the slums.
The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."


I love this so much. I know that I am flawed and terribly imperfect. I am selfish and human. But I have so much hope and faith that through Jesus Christ my nature can be changed. It is a lifelong process but one that I am so grateful for.

5 comments:

David and Debby said...

this reminds me of a funeral i went to a few weeks ago, for charlie call's dad. his brother told a story from his childhood when he was the only witness to an incident in his father's life. adrian was sitting at a table in the kitchen, and heard his father come in. Charley (that's how Charlie's dad spelled his name) came into the kitchen and put something in the garbage can (all his cigarettes). He said, "At least one of my children will not remember me smoking." adrian, who is a family practitioner has related that incident over and over to his patients who tell him that they can't change something. I have thought so much about what he said. Do we really believe we can change? I think it has to start with our own little seed of faith. we start to believe that we can change and improve and then Heavenly Father helps us the rest of the way. do you remember that talk from last april's conference--a story about corrie ten boon, who was approached after the war by a cruel prison warden during the holicaust(?). reread that story. it is great. it is all about forgiveness, which is the most difficult kind of change. thanks, becky.

Jason and Dana said...

I meant to comment on this for awhile. I really, really love this quote. It's amazing the difference Christ can make in people's lives. Thank goodness for missionaries.

abbynormal said...

Wow, Mom, I was thinking of that story about Corrie Ten Boon just earlier today. This is such a wonderful quote. All we have to do is go as far as we can by ourselves, and then have faith that we aren't going to be by ourselves to finish the job. Not an easy thing, but I'm learning that it gets easier with practice.

David and Debby said...

That is really a profound quote, that says so much. Here's what I thought when I read it: We really are here on the earth, subject to nature and the elements and to so many evil and misguided influences, the real effects of chaos, and we are expected to overcome it. The allowance of our exposure to this chaos is by design, to determine our response to its influence. It is all part of our test, for the purpose of our gaining experience and proving ourselves.

Obviously, we will make mistakes - we will hurt, but we will grow. To make this effective, we are essentially left alone with it - our creator and Lord does not generally intervene, does not do it for us. At the outset, for those willing to heed, He provided us a road map, an owners manual and consultation service in the form of scriptures, prophets, prayer, personal revelation, etc., and a support system in the form of family. He also provides us with a system of hope and encouragement via an atonement, a mode of recourse against our mistakes, a way to repair the damage, a way to learn from our mistakes without being damned by them. By taking advantage of this system, the animal in us, our course human nature is changed and overcome, as we learn to confront and bring order to the chaos. Thereby, our behavior gradually becomes less egocentric and more compassionate, as we sense the need to follow the Savior's example by helping others.

Leslie said...

I know I'm really late here, but I actually think it's more simple than that...as we focus on Christ, the power of the atonement transforms us into beautiful creatures (eventually gods).