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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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Maggie Rae VanderLouw's Special Day

Our mission president encouraged us to take a few days away to attend a special family event.  So yesterday, we drove South across the border, and then about 6 hours East to Spokane, Washington,

 where today, our beautiful granddaughter Maggie VanderLouw (center, all white) was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost by her dad, Ray.

Then, per our family tradition, we assembled our mock-up Celestial gate... 

...and Maggie added her signature to the gate, symbolizing her qualification for entry into the Celestial Kingdom.

For those who are not LDS, our doctrine stipulates the ordinance of baptism by priesthood authority as the gateway into into The Kingdom of God, or the Celestial Kingdom.   Baptism is symbolic of rebirth, available to those who thereby accept Christ as Savior and commit to follow Him throughout their lives, repenting as often as need be, to allow the saving grace of His atonement to work in their lives.  We believe, and invite all to come unto Christ. 

2 comments:

RebeccaV said...

Such a fun, special day!

Susan said...

Bishop and Debbie, I was so glad to see you set your blog up so we could get on and follow your experiences in Canada. We always loved you and your family and as Denver called Bishop, Thunder Dave, we will never have another Bishop like you. May the Lord bless you in his service. Can't wait to keep up on your mission.
Susan