Heroes on the Way to Heaven

02/19/2005

Heroes on the Way to Heaven
By Jennie K. Hanson
Hope Lutheran Church
Floodwood, Minnesota
February 19, 2005

It’s always nice to hear your obituary before you die, don’t you think?

Thank you for asking me to speak at your special Ladies Luncheon.

I’m sure we all enjoyed the delicious lunch and want to thank the gals who prepared the meal.

When Grace Autio asked me to be your guest speaker today, I wasn’t sure what I would talk about, and then it came to me to talk about the people in my life who have had the biggest influence on me.

Like most of you here, there have been many people in my life that made a difference.  And later on in the program, I’m going to ask you to share some of your heroes with those sitting around you.  I’d like to have everyone share their heroes, but that probably wouldn’t be possible, so we’ll do in small groups or partners instead.

How many of you came with someone you know?  I’m sure you don’t know everything about that person, though so I hope this will be fun and interesting.

Definition of a Hero = A figure of great strength and ability,    A person admired for his or her achievements and qualities. A main character in a literary or dramatic work.  A main character in another person’s life.

When most people think of a hero, they probably think of someone famous.  But most real heroes don’t consider themselves heroes at all.  They will say that they were just doing what had to be done at the time with no thought of being a hero.

This is especially true of our soldiers in time of war.  They defend and protect our country and each other without worrying about themselves.  They will give their life for each other, not because they are trying to be heroes, but because it is the right thing to do.

MOM:  I was blessed to grow up in the best of times.  I was born in 1945 and grew up in the 1950’s.  That was before television and indoor plumbing.  We did have a hand pump in the kitchen, but had to haul the water out after it was used.  We had to take turns taking a bath in an old metal tub in the kitchen by the wood stove.

I really don’t know how my mother did all the work she did in those days with 5 kids to raise, and living on a farm, but times were good.  We never knew if we were poor or not because everyone was in the same boat.  We always had food on the table and good times.

Mom would bake bread at least once a week and then fry some of in on the top of that old wood stove.  That was the best bread I ever ate.

But the things I remember most about my mom were the bedtime stories she would read to us from Christian storybooks.

I specially remember one about a Spelling Bee.  The kids were down to the last two kids and the teacher asked one of the kids to spell, “B-E-L-I-E-V-E”.   The kid didn’t know how to spell it, so the other kid whispered it into his ear.  But he spelled it wrong on purpose so he could win.  I’ll never forget that there is a “L-I-E” in believe.  And we should never lie to get our own way.

Mom had a “Never say Never.” attitude.  She wouldn’t allow us to use the word “Can’t” either?  She instilled the attitude that if you wanted to do something, you could do it.

She never let us get bored either.  If we said we were bored, we had to do some work.  But, she also let us play a lot.  We used our imaginations to build indoor forts, and make messes.  Yes, we had to help clean up after, but that made it fun too.

Mom would also pray our prayers with us every night and at mealtime.  I don’t ever remember her “wearing her religion on her sleeve”, but we all knew she had a very strong faith and she wanted us to have it too. , and it showed in how she raised us kids.

Even when she had her stroke and was dying, her faith came through.  She was more worried about others than about herself.  She made sure we were all praying for our Pastor’s wife, who had just had surgery, than for herself.

I thought mom was really out of it right after her stroke and when she was lying in the intensive ward of the hospital, so I asked her if she knew what was going on and after every question she would just say “Ah, ha”.
I asked her if she knew her sister Irene was there and she said, “Ah, ha. “
I asked her if she knew her grandchildren were there, and she again said, “Ah, ha.”
This went on for several questions, so I just thought she was agreeing without knowing what she was saying so I finally asked her if I could have $1000.00 from her checking account and she snapped back, “What are you going to need that for?”

After her stroke, Mom had to be in the Cloquet Memorial Hospital Nursing Home.  Almost the whole time she was there, she was determined that she would walk again.  Every time I would come to visit, she would beg me to bring her walker and then she knew she would walk.  I would tell her that she couldn’t walk, but that would make her mad, because she was so determined, so finally after about 4 months I brought her the walker.  Of course, it just sat in the corner and she couldn’t use it, so that must have been very disappointing.  It wasn’t long after that that she died.  People said to me that she must have given up, but I knew different.  She didn’t give up, she just made up her mind to die and that is just what she did on April 30, 2004 after 5 months in the nursing home.  What a lady to die with such dignity, knowing that she was going to heaven.

DAD:  My dad was also a wonderful Christian man.  I sometimes wonder how I was so blessed to have such wonderful, Christian parents?  I guess it’s because their parents were Christians, too.

My dad was also very hard working and enjoyed his kids a great deal.  He would read to us at night, too.  I especially remember the poetry he would read to us.  He even wrote some poems about our family over the years.  I guess that’s why I love poetry to this day.

So I thought I’d write a poem about the ladies of Hope Lutheran.  So here goes:

There was a woman’s group from Hope.
They have so many things to do, but they cope.
They’re lives are in a tizzy,
Sometimes they’re so busy,
But they will never give up or come to the end of their rope.

Dad spent his last night on this earth in Church.  He had gone to the Sunday School Program in Cromwell, and died of a massive heart attack in his own bed the next morning.  What a loss, he was only 65 years old.

I used to think that he was old when he died.  But now when I am almost that age, I realize how young he really was.  But, he knew where he was headed.  He would always say, “We are not on this earth for long, so do the best you can and believe in God.”

Some of you may know that I grew up on a farm in Northeast of Cromwell.    This was no ordinary farm, though.  My dad’s brother Einar and his wife Dorothy and their son Carl lived right across the road, and my Dad’s mother, (my favorite Grandma) also lived across the road.  We were like the Walton’s, all living and working together to make a go of life.

Dorothy and Einar were a special couple.  They weren’t able to have children, so they adopted Carl in 1953.  Boy, was this a special time for all of us.  What a blessing for them and for all of us.

They are my heroes they too would always pray for me.  Bedtime was always special when we got to stay overnight at their home.  Dorothy would kneel by the bed and have us say our prayers and she would always pray for us too.

Having a grandmother living right across the road was also a blessing.  She made the best cooking and cakes.  We had a lot of great times in that little 3-room house.  My mother never had to worry about us kids on the farm, because there were so many adults to look out for us.  She also knew if we did something bad.  There was always someone to correct us and keep us on the right path.

My Grandma is my hero because she cared so deeply for us.  She even made each of her granddaughters a “Log Cabin’ quilt.  I still have mine to this day, even if I couldn’t find it this morning to show it to you.  But I know it was all hand-stitched with love and lots of prayers for me as she was making it.

     One of my favorite times on the farm was when the guys would be working out in the hayfields and the women and kids would bring lunch out to them at noon.  Then all the work would stop and we would sit out under a big tree for shade and eat the homemade sandwiches, cake and kool-aide.  The kids would be running all around and the grown-ups would be talking about whatever grown-ups talk about.  We never knew, and I guess we didn’t care either because we were too busy chasing each other or eating lunch.

Another real hero in my life was my dear Aunt Irene Bolstad.  I spent several summers living with her during college and also as a kid I would spend a few weeks living with her in Afton, Mn.  She helped me realize that I could set goals and then reach them.  I guess it was then that I decided to become a teacher.  I also had the opportunity to attend a Billy Graham Crusade with her when I was about 13 years old and went forward to give my life to Christ.  I had some great times with Irene and her 9 kids and we always knew where her faith was and where it would take us.  She is still an inspiration to me and we even got to teach school together a few times when we both were subbing in Floodwood.

Did you know that my grandfather, John Tveit, helped build this very church that we are in today?  He designed and built these rafters and I think supervised the main construction along with Pastor McDermid.  (Show Cross Pastor McDermid made)

My Grandpa Tveit was quiet, loving man.  I don’t remember too much about him playing with me, but he did teach me how to cut an apple in half. (Show Apple)

Oh, and one time he hammered my fingernail by mistake.  He was helping my dad build our new barn and I guess Î got too close and he was pretending to hit my fingernail and actually did.  He sure felt bad about that.

I don’t think my grandfather ever got mad.  Even when there was an infestation of armyworms and one dropped out of a tree into his coffee cup, he just picked it out and kept on drinking his coffee.

My other heroes include the pastors I have had, the times at Bible Camp, and the people I meet in daily life.

February is also the month we honor our nation’s leaders such as the presidents, etc.  I have always been patriotic and sometimes I feel have I have been made fun of because of my patriotism.  But that didn’t stop me.  Once many years ago when they suggested we don’t say “Under God” in the pledge of allegiance, so, I told my principal that if we couldn’t say “Under God” then I wouldn’t say the pledge at all!

I know that most of our countries leaders had and have a strong faith in God.  We need to pray that it stays this way.  I don’t think a country without God can last.

Heroes are all over.  They help us see the world as a better place and encourage us to be heroes to others.

We all need to be heroes to the people around us especially the younger kids and youth.  They need all the help, prayers and encouragement they can get.

To help us do that in our church, we have started a Prayer Partners program.  Each child in our Sunday School is paired up with an adult and they keep that partner all through their Sunday School years and I hope even beyond.  (Show the Prayer Partner list) This is just one way we can help them on their road of life.  We hope and pray it makes a difference.

I even met a hero at a rummage sale.  I went to a rummage sale in Cromwell and I saw a silver ring for sale.  It was one that had “W W J D ? “ printed on it.  (show ring) So, I said to the guy selling it, “ I know it means What Would Jesus Do?, but I think of it as What Would Jennie Do?, and he looked me straight in the eye and said, “Shouldn’t that be the same thing?”

Now before we go on our way, I’d like you to turn to someone next to you and share your thoughts about someone who has been or is a hero to you and has helped you on your way to faith.

Before we sing our closing Hymn, I’d like to give you a gift to remember this day and the heroes in your life.  When you see it, say a prayer for them and ask God to bless you and yours now and forever. The Heart stands for God’s unconditional love for us and the red color represents how He shed his blood and died for our sins.
Let us pray.

Thank you for coming and have a safe trip home.
I AM ONLY ONE,
BUT I AM ONE.

I CANNOT DO EVERYTHING,
BUT I CAN DO SOMETHING.

WHAT I CAN DO,
I OUGHT TO DO;

AND WHAT I OUGHT
TO DO
BY THE GRACE OF GOD
I WILL DO.

BLEST IS THE PERSON WHOSE WISH AND CARE
IS JUST TO BE HAPPY ANYWHERE.

THE LUCK THAT I BELIEVE IN
IS THAT WHICH COMES WITH WORK,

AND NO ONE EVER FINDS IT
WHO’S CONTENT TO WISH AND SHIRK,

THE MEN THE WORLD CALLS LUCKY
WILL TELL YOU, EVERY ONE,

THAT SUCCESS COMES, NOT BY WISHING,
BUT BY HARD WORK, BRAVELY DONE.
I Carry Some Stuff In My Pocket
By Jennie K. Hanson October 27, 2002

I carry a rock in my pocket
A simple reminder to me
That the Lord is the rock of Salvation
And that’s as simple as simple can be.

I carry a spoon in my pocket
A simple reminder to me
That the Lord feeds my soul and spirit
And his love is given to me.

I carry a knife in my pocket
It’s sharp and the blade is true
It cuts through all the baloney
And has sharpened a pencil or two.

I carry a coin in my pocket
It’s a nickel with a cross you can see
I carry it as a reminder
That the Lord has died for me.

I carry a tool in my pocket
In case there’s something to fix
It’s often come in very handy
When fixing needs to be quick.

Now you may think I’m a little weird
That the things I carry are with me
Are just things anyone may have
But their meaning is more than you see.

The things I carry in my pocket
Are only here on this earth for a while
They remind me that God is the answer
And will be with me along every mile.

So, Again I say:

I carry a rock in my pocket
A simple reminder to me
That the Lord is the Rock of Salvation
And that’s as simple as simple can be.

We Don’t Know What the Future Holds,

But, We Know Who Holds the Future.