Calvin
hauled fifteen pieces of bow wood to the church so the boys could each pick out a piece. He is helping ten or twelve young men make long bows. Not only that, he and Brent, another scout leader, are helping the boys find work so that they can each earn $100 to pay for their supplies.
It's an ambitious project to be sure, but he's helped several scouts make bows and black powder rifles before, so it's not an uncharted ambitious project.
Friday evening Calvin and I went to the temple. Because of life's distractions and demands, it seldom seems convenient to get to the temple, but the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding" (Philippians 4) is one of the sweet rewards of getting there.
We ate at a little off-the-beaten-path Italian place afterwards. Calvin had lasagna and I had chicken parmigiana - and, albeit much smaller, eating out is a perk to going to the temple too.
Calvin has a little goal card on the top of his
dresser that says:
No swearing
No road rage
Treat others nicely
It has sat
there for a couple of months now. And
while I regularly clear off the rest of his dresser – bullets, pliers, gum,
toothpicks, receipts, ticket stubs, insulin caps – I leave this paper. It's good for a man to have his goals in front of him. He also set the goal three weeks ago to make
me feel like a million bucks. He is
succeeding. Another goal he set a few
months ago was to read the Book of Mormon daily. He has only missed a few days. The cap on his striving-to-be-a-better-man was making the grandkids’ bow this week.
He started it Thursday night. He
made it from a strip of cedar and reinforced it with rawhide. Friday night after we came home from the
temple he went out in the shop and worked on it until 3:30 am. painting the
sun, moon, and stars on it. When I asked him why he chose that design he said, “So I
can teach the grandkids about the 3 degrees of glory while I teach them how to shoot. The bulls-eye is like the sun. I'll teach them to always
aim for the sun and celestial kingdom.”
And as if that weren't enough . . .
. . . the man eats his stinky sardines in the shop instead of the house.
(Dear Readers,
When blogging first began, I used to return a comment on every comment you left. After a couple of years and writing pages and pages of returned comments, I discovered most of you were no-reply commenters. Which meant all of the return-comments I wrote went into the internet black hole and you never saw them. I felt like Amelia Bedilia and quit return-commenting. It's bothered me ever since that when you comment it appears you are ignored. No more. I will return-comment in the post's comment section.
Thank you for being such faithful readers.
Your neighbor,
Jane)
14 comments:
That about made me cry as I read about Calvin and his bows for his grandkids and why he painted those emblems on them. SWEET. Those are some lucky grandkids. You have yourself a fine fine family there Jane. I am always so impressed with the things you do together and the fun you all have. Such special memories you are passing down.
Calvin is the best! Hands down the best. If nobody else calls that vest someday - I do!
Oops - that was me (rachel), not Maddie. The vest would drown her. :)
She would also think that was a morbid comment. It's not. It's just practical. I'm saving Calvin the problem of finding something to give me someday.
Lisa, your comment was so kind. Thank you. We definitely have our rough edges, but we are grateful to be family and that smooths a lot of things out.
Hahaha Rachel. Your comments made me laugh, and while I'm awake and coherent at 4:00 am, I'm not usually laughing. Thank you for making me laugh so early in the day.
The vest will definitely need an owner that can appreciate it. He won't even take it off long enough to go to the cleaners. It's a relic.
OH! Can we move into the branch so Nathan can be by his side? And can he never leave so the other three can be there too?? Calvin is a good man supported by a good wife and I love you both.
Rachel's vest request is too funny.
Aunt Rachel's request reminds me of the Three Amigos: "Can I have your watch when you are dead?"
I just love you guys! I'm now trying to imagine what a goal of making someone feel like a million bucks would look like, I should adopt this goal.
Melanie, the branch would most definitely love having Nathan, Dane, Reed, and Owen in it. And you and Katherine, of course.
Abe, Three Amigos has been helpful on so many occasions. Remember when Ty used My Little Butter-Cup as a talent on stage and won? Ty winning a voice competition is no small feat and I think it's directly attributable to Three Amigos.
Jill, making someone feel like a million bucks to me looks like not getting frustrated at requests like stopping by the mailbox, being more thoughtful like clearing the table and carrying empty jars to the storage room without me even mentioning it, saying little things that let me know I make his life happier because I'm in it, and doing the little things like sharing his Snickers Ice Cream bar even though I already ate mine. Amen.
Those bows are awesome! I will send my scouts right over. 'Course mine might be a bit younger than those he's making them with but still. ;) The sardines in the garage would score points with any girl! Heck, he even moved up on my list, just because he was willing to do it. :)
This whole comment section made me laugh. As did you replying to no one for years. What a great YM leader.
I used to be much better at commenting, but the incentive of getting a response is so great, I find myself typing without a single witty thing to say.
I will say,however, WOW to Calvin's dedication and willingness to serve. Homemade longbows indeed! That is awesome. Oh, and the stinky sardines out in the shop instead of the house. That too.
Janae, how is that baby girl doing? Will she want to make a bow, too?
Ande, did you want the vest? I could make Santa dolls and dress them in it ;0)
Marie, I'm so glad to hear from you again! So glad.
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