Bluegrass & Loar Part 2

Last week I posed the question, “Can Lloyd Loar’s memory be rightly honored through a Bluegrass Festival?”  In order to sort through this question, I need to give thought to several things; the first being, “What is the history of Bluegrass?”

As settlers migrated into the Appalachian Mountains around the 1700s, they brought their musical talents and traditions with them.  Some brought instruments from their homeland, such as the fiddle, others engineered “instruments” from whatever they had available.  For years, their songs of life on the farm and in the hills echoed through the remote mountains, but no further.  Big stages, instrument amplification and glitzy clothes weren’t even heard of.  Family and friends simply came together for fellowship anywhere there was space to gather and music was often their common ground.

Mountain music was also greatly influenced by African-American slaves who brought their harmonic blues and the banjo to the region in the 18^th century.  With the emergence of mail order catalogs, instruments such as the “mountain” dulcimer, autoharp, guitar and mandolin soon became popular in Appalachia and set the stage for string bands.

With the invention of the phonograph and radio, in the early 1900s, this “mountain music” filtered into the homes of the rest of the world.  While many refer to what developed as “mountain hillbilly music,” one of its most influential pioneers,

Bill Monroe characterized the genre as: ‘Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'.  It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist.  It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound.’”

Bill Monroe, a Kentucky boy with Scottish roots, was born on the farm into a musical family.  By “default,” Monroe grew up playing the “less desirable mandolin” while his two brothers played the fiddle and guitar.  After his mother’s death, when he was 16, Monroe lived with his uncle Pen who played the fiddle.  Love for many of the traditional fiddle tunes was now in Monroe’s blood.

After having played with several bands, at the age of 28, Monroe formed “The Bluegrass Boys” in 1939.  This band is recognized as having “created the definitive sound and instrumental configuration that remains the model to this day for what is known as Bluegrass music.  In Bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; this is especially typified in tunes called breakdowns.  This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment.  Breakdowns are often characterized by rapid tempos and unusual instrumental dexterity and sometimes by complex chord changes” (http://renoandharrell.com/content/short-history-bluegrass-music).  Monroe became know as “The Father of Bluegrass.”

Mountain music, a “simple” farm boy playing his mandolin and the development of “Bluegrass music; what does all of this have to do, if anything, with the musical genius, Lloyd Loar?

Stay tuned for week three of Bluegrass & Loar.

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

Bluegrass & Loar

A few months ago, I was notified that I’d won two weekend tickets to a Bluegrass festival held at a beautiful country resort.  It seemed like a great opportunity to relax, hear some good music and to collect more “behind the scenes” information about the workings of Bluegrass festival venues.  So… we headed out in our motorhome to take advantage of having won the prize!

I’m not unfamiliar with the time and energy that goes into organizing and directing large events and it was obvious that the director had worked her tail off:

• Contacting sponsors for financial support
• Collecting many raffle prizes from local businesses
• Arranging for accommodations at a beautiful resort area, in a multimillion dollar lodge
• Booking internationally and nationally recognized bands
• Hiring “the best sound man out there” to provide the equipment and skill “necessary” for the amplification of the “new” Bluegrass styles
• Etc., etc. etc.

We appreciated the opportunity, enjoyed our stay and met some wonderful people.  In fact, being there helped us in our journey of considering how we can rightly honor Lloyd Loar in his hometown.

Last winter when I began to plan for the first annual Lloyd Loar’s Hometown Bluegrass Festival, other than scheduling a few bands for stage shows, inviting jammers and listeners and getting the word out to the Bluegrass audience, I had little idea of what this festival might look like.  I never felt a need or desire to mimic what is already happening out there in the festival venue.  In fact, it seemed that this was to be different, but I didn’t really know what that meant.  I’m still not totally clear and I’m ok with that because I realize that it will evolve over the years into its own entity, if allowed.

It wasn’t long ago that someone responded to being introduced to my idea of a Bluegrass festival in honor of Loar saying. “I’m not sure that Loar would be honored.”  At first it ticked me off.  “Why wouldn’t he be honored to be remembered in his hometown for what he contributed to music?”  The more I thought about it, however, the more I began to realize that they were probably correct in their statement.  While Loar was known as a very kind man who had country roots, Loar was not a Bluegrass musician and it is not likely that he would have been impressed to have been recognized as a contributor to “hillbilly” music.  Loar was a very polished, highly educated and classically trained musician who was driven to “amount to more than a farmer” (http://interwareralloydloar.blogspot.com/).

The majority of Bluegrass music fans are lower to middle-class country folk, many of whom are farmers.  While they may be aware of Loar’s name and his contribution to the development of the mandolin, most aren’t aware of and likely wouldn’t appreciate his perception of their “status” in this world!

I’d be in error if I didn’t consider, “Would Loar be rightly honored through a Bluegrass festival?”

Stay tuned as I share a series of articles focused on sorting through these important questions:

• What is the history of Bluegrass?
• Who was Lloyd Loar and what did he represent?

• What is the focus of our place, Marigold Meadows?
• How can these things rightly fit together to maintain that?  Or can they?

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

The View From Caldania’s Cupboard

Before we built The Martin House, the “famous” pie-baking spot was in our smaller log cabin.  I thought it’d be fun to turn this cabin into a little farm store of sorts.  My desire for opening the store was to establish a prominent spot where I could chat with visitors at our festivals about activities and life at Marigold Meadows and to encourage interested parties in their pursuit of a more self-sustaining lifestyle.  Considering that Caldania, our calico barn cat, likes to head up from the barn to visit festival attendees, we named the store “Caldania’s Cupboard.”  I decorated the store with old garden tools, wooden boxes, seed and feed bags, hung herbs to dry, etc.

During our recent fall festival, I demonstrated how to dry herbs, make herbal tinctures and oil infusions and I offered items that would likely guide conversations in the direction of sustainability:

• Organic heirloom garden seeds from Baker Creek
• Free Baker Creek Seed catalogs
• Country Wisdom Bulletins from Storey Publishing
• Free Storey Publishing catalogs filled with sustainable living resources
• Honey and bee’s wax
• Herbs and spices
• Vinaigrettes, muscle rub, bath salts and hand & lip balm that I make from herbs and oils
• Eggs from Marigold Meadows
• Herbal tea blends that I make

While I have no desire or time to start a business, neither am I in a position to simply give away costly items to hundreds of people; so everything that I made available was offered on a “suggested donation” basis.

During the two weekends of our fall festival, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet literally hundreds of people.  It wasn’t uncommon for some of my visitors to be on a mission for the homemade pie, consequently conversations with them were short before they headed for The Martin House!  There were others, however, who simply needed someone to encourage them in taking their first step toward a lifestyle of self-sufficiency.  What a blessing it was to encourage them to consider what that first step might look like for them.  I also had opportunities to visit with several like-minded people.  If it was as uplifting and encouraging for them as it was for me to visit about our interests in gardening, preserving foods, raising livestock, etc., I accomplished all that I set out for!

The view from Caldania’s Cupboard was simply breathtaking.  I wish you could have seen it!  From the east window, teamsters were demonstrating how to work horses in the fields.  Seemingly with little effort, the horse drawn plows overturned the earth in preparation for next year’s crops.  A bit of smoke wafting into the west window and the rhythmic clanging of metal drew my attention to the other side of the store.  Fanning the flames for their forges, the blacksmiths were busy hammering out horseshoes, harness hooks, etc.  Between customers, I sat on the porch of Caldania’s Cupboard weaving a rug.  Across the meadow a cooper worked painstakingly to shave the top and mold the staves for a barrel that he was crafting.  A “colonial” lady arose from her weaving frame to attend the soap that she was processing over an open fire.  Yet another was gracefully spinning wool from her llama.  Along with the enticing aroma of homemade pie, gentle strains of music drifting from the Martin House porch added to the calm of the meadows.  While soaking all of this in, I spotted a family walking across the pasture after visiting all the barnyard critters.  Two of the children were holding hands with their dad.  The other two were laughing as they skipped alongside their mom.  Tears flooded my eyes as my heart overflowed with a feeling of fulfillment. 

There are two rocking chairs on the porch of Caldania’s Cupboard.  Maybe next year, you can come join me!  I’ll make you some tea and we can take in, together, all that’s going on around us.  I’m sure you’d agree that there are few places in this world with such a view.

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

The Douglas Center

Sometimes, in the midst of all the work and whirlwind of activity, we just need to lighten-up and be silly!  That’s what we did this past weekend at Marigold Meadows, during our fall festival.  Our good music friend, Ernie Douglas often has fun teasing and giving us a “hard time,” so we decided to “get even” with him and loving dedicated our outhouse in his honor.  My brother, Art asked me to write a little ditty that could be read publicly and presented to Ernie at our Saturday evening stage show.  I thought you might get a kick out of it!

The Douglas Center

Dedicated to Ernie Douglas

10.12.13

We’re dedicating another building here at Marigold Meadows!  As you may know, we are very thoughtful about naming our buildings after someone who has contributed to that particular building in a significant way.

Last week during the dedication of our new kitchen, our friend, Ernie Douglas expressed his disappointment that we’d not named a building after him.  We got to thinking about his feelings of exclusion and realized that he’s right.  Ernie has always been “Johnnie on the spot” here at Marigold Meadows.  Ernie has a love for the “performing arts” and has “shared his talent” with us year after year.  We’ll never forget the year that he received a standing ovation for performing, “Moon Light Serenade.”  There’s absolutely no one who can “make music” like Ernie!

Ernie is a great inspiration for the rest of us to, “go for the gusto!”  He encourages others to be a part of his “performances” and he’s always willing to “fill-in” whenever there’s a need.  After all these years of sacrificing his precious time and his “straining” efforts for our events, his commitment to “hang in there until the paper work is done” still amazes us!  Rain or shine, we can always count on Ernie to “put on a good show.”

Ernie’s commitment and dedication to Marigold Meadows has encouraged us to dedicate this building, where he has “given of himself the most,” in his honor.  We could think of no one else who better deserves this “high position.”  Ladies and gentlemen, we dedicate this “throne room” to our friend, Ernie Douglas.  From this day forward, it will be known as, “The Douglas Center of Performing Arts,” in his honor.

Thank you, Ernie for your “generous contributions”!  It is our sincerest desire that you’ll always remember this dedication as the ultimate “Royal Flush!”

You’re the greatest!

The Crew at Marigold Meadows

Most of them knowing Ernie, the crowd nearly rolled on the ground laughing and Ernie accepted his “reward” in the manner in which it was intended, with loving fun and silliness.  His response…. “You really shouldn’t have.”  I truly mean, you really shouldn’t have!”

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

Are You Wearing the Right Underwear? Part II

For those of you who accepted my challenge last week; why all the discomfort, guilt, embarrassment and feelings of inadequacy?  Where are we instructed under the New Covenant that we must practice such legalism in order to be true worshipers of God?  Worship means to “prostrate oneself” before the one being worshiped.  While the Spirit of God may occasionally throw us to our knees, true worship does not include ritualistic activity at a specific time and designated place whether that is in a basilica or at our devotional spot at home.  Worship is showing reverence to Him in every conversation spoken and every thought considered, no matter the outward circumstance.  Worship is not something performed under specific conditions, but is a move of the Spirit that can not be resisted.

Jesus declared, “…, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... A time is coming, and has now come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:21 & 23). 

While there are still a few nagging rituals lingering in my life, the majority of them have been stripped away.  Considering that my spiritual approach is foreign to most in the “Christian” arena, I’m often strongly judged for my lack of compliance to the general expectations.  Sometimes the judgment is verbal, often it is not.  Facial expressions are worth a thousand words!   Luke speaks of Jesus describing such self-righteous indignation;

 

"Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:9-14). 

Thinking that we must practice specific rites and perform certain rituals in order to be right with God is what Scripture describes as “setting up idols” in our hearts.  When we live by these kinds of laws, we’ll always feel as though our efforts are never enough!  They are considered “idols” because our focus is on attempting to fulfill them rather than on the One whom we desire to worship. 

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry” (Ezekiel 14:4).

While our attempts may be genuine, the God who created the sunflower to track the sun is not impressed with our efforts to follow the Law.  Not only has it already been proven that we are not able; He gave His Son to death for this very reason!  When we continue in our efforts, we are ultimately proclaiming that what Jesus did on our behalf was not good enough! 

Those who claim to live by the Law and demand that others do the same, must then realize that they don’t get to pick and choose which Laws they want to follow.  So, while you are out shopping for the right underwear and getting circumcised (Gen 17:13-14), the rest of us will be enjoying the fulfilling spontaneity to worship God with a circumcised heart (Romans 2:29), according to how His Spirit leads us.   

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:4 & 6).

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

Are You Wearing the Right Underwear?

While I never examined sunflowers closely, I’ve admired their beauty from a distance and enjoyed eating and feeding their seeds to my feathered friends.  Last spring I planted some.  It was exciting to watch them go through each stage as they developed their huge heads.  While studying about when and how to harvest sunflower seeds, I learned of the flower’s many marvelous traits.  There is one, however, that, to me, is simply astonishing; this sun-seeker literally turns its face toward the sun as it moves across the sky throughout the day and then drops its head at the end of the day as the sun sets!  I continue to be awed by the Creator’s work!

I’ve always considered myself a “son-seeker”.  I worked carefully at following what I believed to be the movement of the One whom I worship and I labored for years to worship according to the acceptable rules.  However, there were often these irritating questions in the back of my mind:  

·        Why do I feel guilty if I don’t do it? 

·        Why do I felt inadequate when the results aren’t what I expect? 

·        Why does it often seem contrived, even in my most sincere efforts? 

·        There’s no doubt of my willingness to surrender my life for the purpose of offering life to others; however what is it about how I go about doing so that just doesn’t seem right?

In time, Father helped me to understand the importance of these questions.  He brought me to a point of realizing that I had been taught to worship as though I was still under the Law.  Under the Law, even the minutest details regarding worship were laid out by God and no variation was tolerated.  Even the kind of underwear that was to be worn during worship was explicitly commanded (Leviticus 16:4).  While the ancient and fearful rites, if performed incorrectly resulted in judgment and death (Leviticus 10:1, 2 Samuel 6:6), the followers of Jesus need not have such fears.

You may not even realize that you are trapped in such constraining legalism; therefore, I challenge you to consider:

1)      Why are you bowing your head, kneeling and singing praises when your “spiritual leader” tells you to?  Try not doing it when everyone else is.

2)      Why do you go to worship in a place where you are surrounded by all the “spiritual” trappings to worship?  Simply stay home this month.

3)      Why do you wear certain clothes when you go to this “place of worship”?  Next week, why don’t you wear your chore clothes?

4)      Why do you read the Bible and “pray” daily?  Set it aside for a week.

I’ll check in next week to see how it went.

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

Martin House Pie

My sister-in-law, Marcia bakes the best pie in the Midwest.  People come from all around and stand in line just to buy a slice of her pie.  She doesn’t sell her pie, but has a suggested donation of $1.00 to help recoup some of her expenses.  Needless to say, she’s losing money!  Why, you can’t buy a slice of store-bought, junk-filled pie for less than $3.00!  We’ve tried to encourage her to increase her suggested donation, but so far she hasn’t budged.  Sadly, most people want something for nothing so it never dawns on them that paying only a $1.00 is ultimately taking advantage of Marica’s generous heart.  It is a rare customer who offers her more.  Seeing that her expenses are increasing annually, Marcia conceded to letting me make a little sign to help people understand, in a fun-loving way, how much goes into a slice of pie.  I titled it,

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IT’S WORTH?

Customer: How much is your pie, ma’am?

Martin House Baker: Well…. Let me see:

·       We hand-picked each piece of fruit in the hot scorching sun.

·       We washed, pitted and peeled each fruit by hand.

·       We hand-mixed all the filling ingredients.

·       We rolled each layer of pie crust until it’s paper thin.

·       We chopped and hauled loads of wood for the oven in the frigid cold.

·       We baked 80+ pies, in the heat of the day, over a wood burning oven.

·       We hand-carried water to wash the baked-on stickiness of pie plates.

·       And… we emptied nearly every ounce of love that is in us into each and every mouth-watering slice of pie!

Why, I don’t know….what would you say it’s worth?

While her customers may still not get the message, Marcia’s greatest reward is the fun that she has baking for others and watching them enjoy her labor of love!  She’ll quietly and humbly serve you a slice of her labor and never think to ask, “What would you say it’s worth?”

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

The Martin House

It’s a great feeling to see the end result of something that you’ve invested a lot of blood, sweat and tears into.  That’s what we are experiencing today here at Marigold Meadows.  We are putting the finishing touches to our newest addition, the Martin House.

My sister-in-law, Marcia loves to bake pies.  In fact, she’s known as the “pie lady” in our neck of the woods.  We don’t live in the west, so I guess you’d say, “Her pies are the best in the midwest!”  During the festivals that we hold at Marigold Meadows, she bakes pies in a wood burning oven and sells them by the slice.  While the rest of us might like to think that people attend our festivals to watch demonstrations of age-old skills of sustainability and/or to listen to our music, I’m thinking that a good number of them come just for her pie!

Previously, Marcia baked pies in a wood-burning oven that holds only four pies at once.  Needless to say, it took a while to bake the 80+ pies that she bakes in one day!  Additionally, the little log cabin that she worked in over the past seven years is really too small for her and her helpers to work efficiently.  In order to make her work easier and quicker, brother Art spent most of this past winter building her an oven that will bake 16 pies at one time and designing a larger cabin!

Last spring, Art, Gary & I went to Sandridge, a nearby forest to cut pine trees for building Marcia a larger cabin.  What an experience!  I’ve helped to down trees before, but never in a forest!  For several days, “our” little corner of Sandridge was humming with chain saws, winches, a little Ferguson tractor, pondering out loud, grunts, groans and sounds of frustration, as well as, a lot of laughter and cheering.  While it was exciting, it was also hard work and downright dangerous!

While we hoped to use our draft horses for pulling the logs out of the woods, our Spring was so wet that we had to keep putting off getting into the forest.  Running out of time in order to get the cabin done before our fall festival, we decided to use Art’s trusty ol’ Ferguson for that purpose.

One of our music companions, Gene Martin lives near to Sandridge.  Gene, who is in his 80s, was so excited about what we were doing and wanted to help in some way.  As it turned out, Gene had a type of lift that was perfect for loading the logs onto the trailer.  So, whenever we were ready to haul more logs home, Gene faithfully showed up at our worksite.

Once we transported the forty-some, seventy-five foot trees the thirty miles to our property, we began to prepare lumber for the new cabin.  Using his mill, Art sawed while Gary & I cleared away the slab wood, carried lumber to the building site, etc.  For the last three weeks, the saws have been buzzing and the hammers ringing at Marigold Meadows.  It didn’t take long for the word to get out about what these three “crazy” people were up to.  Before we knew it, there were car-loads of people showing up to see the progress!

While Marcia isn’t too verbal about her appreciation and excitement, she shows-up every couple of days to see the progress and to take pictures.  The smile on her face tells it all!

• She now has more floor space for herself and her helpers to move about.
• They’ll all be cooler while they work.  With the new oven having been built into the wall, its heat stays in the wood room behind the kitchen.
• They’ll be able to serve pie not only over the counter inside the cabin, but through a serving window to the outside, as well.
• They no longer have to carry the dirtied pie plates to the old washtubs outside the cabin.  While there is no running water, the new cabin is complete with three sinks and a drain!
• With lots of countertop space, she and her helpers will no longer be bumping elbows while they work!
• And when the work is done and it is time to store everything away, with all the cupboard space that she now has, Marcia will never wonder where it is all gonna go!

I think Marcia is more than pleased and we’re anxious for Gene to see the end result.  Won’t he be surprised when he sees that we’ve named the new cabin in his honor, “The Martin House?”

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

The Logo

This week my writing time has been spent on designing and sketching.  I’m working on a logo for our Lloyd Loar’s Hometown Bluegrass Festival.  I wanted my design to be unique and descriptive of Lloyd Loar, yet clear enough to use on letterhead, t-shirts etc.  While color and highlights, etc. will greatly change its appearance, I thought it’d be fun to explain how I developed my design and show you what it looks like, so far:

1)      Considering that Loar was the genius behind the acoustics of many instruments, I needed to include an instrument in my design.  Since Loar is best known for his engineering of Gibson’s F5 Mandolin, I chose to sketch an outline of it.

2)      The original F5 has “The Gibson” written on the head; I wrote “Lloyd Loar” on the head of my design, instead.

3)      Our festival is located in Loar’s hometown, Lewistown, IL.  I took advantage of the space on the fingerboard (neck) of the mandolin and placed the word “Hometown” there and “Lewistown, IL” just under it.

4)      The F5 has two sound holes, one on each side of the body’s front.  I scrolled the word “Bluegrass” to fit the shape of one sound hole and the word “Festival” to fit the other.

5)      I liked what I had designed so far, but something was missing.  My design looked somewhat “empty”.  Obviously, I didn’t have strings on my mandolin, but I was concerned that they’d be too much.  I wasn’t sure how to incorporate them and still use the neck space for wording.  Studying my design, I began to see that the strings could be drawn so that they appear as though they are extensions of the letters in the word “Hometown”!  I gave it a try and I really like the effect!

While the logo is still evolving and the scan doesn’t show the strings real well, here it is so far!  What do ya think?

 Loar%20Logo.rtf

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

The Power of a Little Wren

It is human tendency to give ourselves far more credit than we deserve.  We habitually see ourselves as more powerful and wise than we really are.  I often wonder what it will take for us to truly understand that:

None are so empty as those who are full of themselves.

~ Benjamin Whichcote

When we are attentive enough to recognize it, Father often demonstrates, through His creation, our weak position and need for wisdom.  He used the power of a little wren to teach my brother, Art such a lesson!

Art loves nature and has a tender heart toward God’s creatures.  One day while weed-whacking around the clothes-line pole, he noted a wren’s nest, full of babies, on the ground!  Uncertain why they had fallen to the ground, Art assumed that momma wren had cleverly crafted this little home in the hollow of the pole.  Concerned for their well-being, leaving them in the nest, Art ever so gently returned the little ones to their secret place.  The next day, his curiosity got the best of him.  He wanted to see if the little family was doing ok.  Grabbing it with both hands, he pulled himself up to eye-level with the pole.  As if peering through a telescope, he closed one eye and positioned the other to the end of the bar.  In defense of her little family, Momma wren darted out of the nest and nailed the perceived predator right in the eye!  The power behind that tiny, protective momma was so forceful that it knocked Art to the ground.  Holy Smokes!  When Art shared this story, my heart went out to him.  How startling and painful that must have been!  Yet, what keeps coming back to my mind time and again is this: a strong, grown man was forced to the ground by a tiny wren!  I can’t think of many better examples of being knocked-down to size!

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall

(Proverbs 16:18).

Being humbled, no matter the tool used, is always painful, but the lessons in dying to ourselves are necessary.  Why?  Because “…with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2) and according to Proverbs 8:11, “wisdom is more precious than rubies”.  In fact, wisdom is so invaluable that in finding it, we find life and favor from our Lord (Proverbs 8:36)!

So…, how do we find this wisdom?  What is it that we are to be looking for and how do we know when we have found it:?

1)      The Lord gives wisdom when we search for it as if searching for a treasure (Proverbs 2:4-6).

2)      The wisdom given by the Lord is not “wisdom” in this world’s estimation.  The wisdom of God is coming to an understanding of the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:5-6, 9:10).

3)      We know that we have found it when we come to understand who God is and who we are not!

Wisdom is standing before God, with all pretenses removed, and humbly admitting that in His presence, we are nothing!  Wisdom is being in that place where we can say with genuine humility, “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him (Psalm 8:4).”  Pride simply does not exist in this place!  Nothing compares to this wisdom!  That is why we are instructed to seek it above all else!  In fact, Father’s hatred toward pride and arrogance is so fierce and His desire for us to find wisdom is so passionate that if we don’t get it the first time, His next tool just might be a pileated woodpecker!

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

Hide And Go Seek With God

One of our turkey hens has been sitting on 11 eggs for a few weeks now.  On August 15^th, Gary’s and my wedding anniversary, she gifted us with two poults.  The next day, she hatched two more.  She now has quite a job on her hands.  She desires to stay sitting on the remaining eggs, yet is trying to keep an eye on four active little ones!  Yesterday, when we went out to see if there were any new arrivals, the babies had found their way through a hole in the coop and were playing in the grass!  They marched in and out of the coop, trying to decide, “Is the grass truly greener on the other side?”  In the meantime, momma paced nervously from the eggs remaining in the nest to the edge of the coop where she could see her babies.

Just a few days ago, I saw a beautiful, but likely hungry hawk in the woods near the barn.  Last spring, villainous coons destroyed our entire chicken flock, except one!  While it was fun to watch the baby turkeys playing, Momma turkey is obviously aware of the dangers that her babies face when they are away from her protection.  I knew that we needed to do something quickly to make sure that the babies remained under her wing.

As I pondered the situation, I was reminded of the many times in my life that I had one foot on each side of the fence; playing in the green grass, yet staying near enough to my Protector to be assured that He was still there.  Not unlike the turkey poults, I really had no clue of the dangers lurking around the corner, just waiting for the right moment:

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

As much as she may have felt compelled to do so, momma hen could not venture into the dangerous territory to rescue her babies.  She was penned-in.  Consequently, her babies were able to get out of her sight and were a predator to come; momma peering through the coop would have been no help at all!  Our Creator, on the other hand, is so powerful and sovereign that there is comfort in knowing that we can’t get out of His sight.  We cannot go any place where He is not present.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, You are there.  If I make my bed in the depths, You are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast (Psalm 139:7-10).

We can be assured that when we wander off into the enticing tall grass,

He knows where we are.

But, like a “game” of Hide and Go Seek,

He will come “looking” for; and “find” us.

And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10).

And He will provide protection from the predators who are watching and waiting while we play.

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart (Psalm 91:3-4).

A “game”?  How dare I call it a “game”?  Are you retorting, “Playing where the predator can snatch us is not a game”? 

While it may not be a game in the way in which we understand games, if there is no person, nor power which shall ever be able to overturn those whom God has chosen, isn’t evil only a pawn in God’s hand?

 (John 10:27-29).

I’m not saying that we should all go out and purposefully “play” in evil territory; however,

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8: 38-39).

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

The Power of a Loose Tongue

We’ve all been disappointed when others have failed to live up to our expectations.  Our tendency is to be angry, resentful and condemning.  Oh, but what opportunities to reflect the love of Jesus!

I was made aware of a situation where some family members were upset with others because they had failed to attend their annual family reunion.  In situations like this,

We have two choices when it comes to how we portray someone to others:

to shed the best light possible on the person we are talking about

or

to make their life, with details that we do not know or understand,

our business and shed a bad light on them in the face of others.

In this situation those two options would look something like this:

·        lovingly and positively putting them in a good light:  “I haven’t talked to them so I don’t know why they are not here.  But, I’m sure that they have reasons that are important to them.”

·        hatefully and arrogantly putting them in a bad light:  “I guess they think that what they are doing is more important than family.  We don’t need them here anyway.  We’re the ones who are doing the right thing by being here!”

Unfortunately, the latter option was chosen in this situation:  One family member was so upset that he blurted out something hurtful about the missing members in front of the entire crowd and immediately wished he hadn’t said it.  Another family member took it upon himself to get on the phone to find out why the missing members weren’t there and then proceeded to share with those in attendance the “poor excuse” that the black sheep had for not being there!

I’m not writing about family reunions, necessarily.  Instead, I’m writing about the power of a loose tongue.  I hope that my response to being made aware of this situation can be helpful to those who find themselves in any situation where they have an option to build up or to destroy another person.  Here was my response:

While I’ve missed a lot of family reunions, I have been at some.  At those reunions there were other family members who were not there.  It never dawned on me to be upset with them because of that.  Why would I be upset?  I don’t get that!  It never dawned on me to call them and ask them where they were.  While I may have missed seeing them, I never considered it my business to know  where they were or why they weren’t there.

We are all at different places in our lives as a result of the various experiences that we’ve had, how our personalities deal with things, what’s important to us, etc.  Because of this, we all respond to situations differently (attending or not attending family reunions is the example at hand) and we deserve that right.  No matter what our reasons are and whether others agree or not, those reasons are important to that individual.

·        Maybe they weren’t there because there is something/someone at the reunion that troubles them and they are not ready to deal with it yet.  Isn’t that ok?

·        Maybe they weren’t there because physically or emotionally it is too much for them.  Isn’t that ok?

·        Maybe they weren’t there because they woke up that morning and said, “You know what?  I don’t feel like doing this today.”  Isn’t that ok?

Whatever their reasons, those reasons are ok in my eyes.  In fact, their reasons for not being there may be healthier than why some people feel a need to be there!  Regardless, according to His Word, it is our responsibility, as God’s children to cover what we perceive as another’s offense:

Whoever covers an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:9

Shedding the best light on others in every situation helps to build them up and prevents division not only between you and them, but between them and others.  Shedding a negative light on others breeds destruction first and foremost in our relationship with our Creator (Isaiah 59:2 & Matthew 5:23).  In addition, it breeds destruction of not only that person, but between you and them and between them and their relationship with others. 

“The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eats it fruit!”

Proverbs 18:21

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845

I Just Can’t Get to You

I was visiting with our grandson, Dominic on the phone the other day.  Dominic, who is five, had all kinds of excitement to share.  It was so fun to hear his stories.  Living hours away, Dominic has yet to visit our new home.  I told him that I missed him and that it would be really neat if he could come to visit us and see his horse friend, Wonder.  When I asked if he thought he might do that some day, Dominic quickly and emphatically responded, “No.”  “Oh, why not,” I asked?  “Because you live far, far away and I just can’t get to you,” he asserted sadly.  My heart sank.  In Dominic’s little mind, Grandpa and I are alive, we are out there somewhere, but no matter how badly he wants to, no matter how hard he tries, he could never ever get to us.

Dominic’s mindset reminds me of where my heart has been numbers of times in my relationship with God.  While I’ve trusted that He is alive and “out there somewhere,” it seemed that no matter what I did, I just couldn’t “get to” Him.  Hours of prayer and intense study of His Word not only seemed fruitless, it activated further frustration and deeper longing.  I’ve heard it said that God is within us, so I even spent a great deal of time trying to be still in order to find God within.  The harder I tried the more questions developed.  The confusion and frustration was over-whelming at times.  Those around me didn’t seem to understand.  My questions were irritating to more than a few.  On one hand I was warned to stop asking all these questions and simply trust; on the other hand many admitted that they were also disturbed by the allusive answers to such questions.  Consequently, they’d rather I keep the questions to myself.  I suppose I could do that, but… something inside of me compels me to ask:

While it might be humbling to admit, who of us really “knows” God?

Isn’t there great pride and arrogance in assuming that we can?

• Can we possibly know and understand the One who brings both life and puts to death, who both heals and wounds (Deut. 32.39) and who sets both blessings and curses before us (Deut. 30:3)?
• Are we capable of understanding the One who “make(s) peace and create(s) evil (Isaiah 45:7)?
• How do we rectify that evil and good come from the mouth of God (Lamentations 3:38), yet evil does not dwell with this same God (Psalm 5:4)?
• What do we do with a God who is Love (1 John 4:8), yet brings evil upon those He created (Amos 3:6)?  Why do we blame evil on another when Scripture clearly reads that it comes from the hand of God (Job 2:10)?

I’ve heard the standard answers.  Dare I say that I’ve “left no stone unturned” as I’ve deciphered the “supporting” Scriptures many times, but when the rubber meets the road, the supports are quite shaky and there seem to be no reasonable answers.  How dare I challenge God’s Word and question God?  Some would go so far as to question my “Christianity”!  Let me give you a Scriptural example of a person who dared to do such a thing.  In doing so, I will also give you an example of those who give all the “pretty,” prepackaged answers, but fail to honestly ask the questions.

In his effort to understand God, Job went so far as to question and accuse God.  Job’s friends, on the other hand, mouthed knowledge, but it was not living knowledge of the God whom they claimed to honor.  In their piety, they would never, ever consider questioning God.  Instead, they simply accepted and trusted in what they had been taught.  As much as we might want to believe and portray that we are “good Christians,” the reality is… this is much more risky than questioning and accusing God.   Why?  Because, while God left Job to wrestle in the confusion and frustration manifested from his genuine desire to know and understand his Creator, Father’s heart was touched by Job’s hunger for Him and answered his prayers.  On the other hand, God was angry with Job’s arrogant friends who assumed they had a handle on their Creator.  In fact, He would not even hear their prayers (Job 42)!

I realize that the questions are unsettling.  I understand that the seemingly inconsistent Scriptural references can be more than we want to consider.  But… it is necessary.  While the wrestling may never bring clear answers in this life, it seems that it is necessary preparation for the next.  Wishing I or someone else could help you through the process?  I will do everything in my power to make it possible for my precious Dominic to get to us, but neither I nor anyone else can give you the answers for “finding” God, any more than Job’s friends could help Him.  We all have to go through our own process of questioning and searching.  I can assure you that, as much as this long lonely road seems fruitless at times, our Creator declares,

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me, (Jeremiah 29:13).

Whole-Heartedly,

Bonnie

P.S.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/.  You may also contact me at:

             Bonnie Jaeckle

             In Search of the Whole-Hearted Life

             Diagonal Progress

             505 Jefferson St.

             Diagonal, IA 50845