DANA'S DISCOVERY (standard:Inspirational stories, 2352 words)
Author: Ester	Added: Apr 28 2003	Views/Reads: 3776/2458	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Dana finds that there is more to a Christian life than just playing church.

DANA'S  DISCOVERY By Ester 

The social had been a wonderful success.  With happy relief I slumped
into a chair and leaned my head against the cool wall.  It had taken 
three months of careful planning and brainstorming to come up with a 
very unique and memorable senior gala.  There was a conscious effort to 
include enticements for the guys as well as the girls.  Everyone had 
come and, I believed, had a great time. 

Designing group activities was my forte.  It was an unusual talent that
had turned into an exciting business.  Quite an accomplishment for a 
young woman not yet out of college with a communications degree.  In 
fact, balancing studying and business was a bit more at times than I 
could handle.  On those occasions, Mom had stepped in and done the 
foot-work, the most time-consuming part of an activity.   In two years 
she had helped out half a dozen times, usually around exam times. 

Faithful Mom!  She was my mentor, my guide, my sounding board and my
cheerleader.  Anna, my sister, was my business manager.  Mom just 
couldn't believe that people either couldn't or wouldn't take time and 
effort to plan their own outings and parties.  It just wasn't that 
difficult to her.  Now you know where my talent came from!   However, 
she was thrilled that I could have my own business, make a profit and 
love what I did.  Overhead was low.  A phonebook listing, business 
cards, a computer, a phone line and lots of word of mouth advertising, 
was all I needed.  Living at home while attending college saved lots of 
money.  I helped out at home still, financially and with chores.  That 
didn't amount to much after school bills, but I tried.  The folks 
didn't tolerate any foolish or lazy ideas. If you share the house, you 
share the work. 

The six of us shared a comfortable old two story house that had been
completely re-plumbed and wired a few years before we bought it.  Oh, I 
haven't mentioned my twin brothers yet.  They are sophomores in high 
school.  There was plenty of room for all of us.  Each of us has our 
own room upstairs, with a ‘parlor', dining room, large eat-in kitchen 
and den downstairs. The attic was where my office/study area was, along 
with the guest room. 

Dad had an office a few miles away where he did career counseling.  An
awful lot of people can't decide what they want to do with their job 
lives.  He makes a living helping them see their abilities and desires 
point them in the right direction.  He is the pride of our home.  While 
Mom takes care of all the comforts of home and ‘feelings' situations, 
Dad steers our bunch down the road of life's training ground.  While 
giving out lots of hugs, cheers and encouragement in everything we do, 
he also has certain ideas of behavioral expectations that are quite old 
fashioned.  A lot of people are surprised at his narrow stand, but no 
one can doubt the genuine love that radiates when we are together.   
We've always known our folks were there for us no matter how good or 
how bad we had been.  A friend once commented that Dad was so nice to 
us that he probably never punished us very hard.  Boy! Was she ever 
wrong!  While the whole family celebrated memorable accomplishments, 
there were consequences to every wrong doing.  A private meeting with 
Dad in our folks' bedroom (where the paddle was kept in the bedside 
drawer) or in his study for stern lectures and instruction, was not 
pleasant.  After the punishment, though, all was forgiven.  As much as 
we disliked those times, we knew beyond any doubt that we were still 
loved, and there was a certain comfort in that. 

Mom was our life-line.  She kept all of us on our schedule of activities
and chores, made sure we were prepared and everything we needed ready 
for us; with a smile, no less.  Of course, she had a strong backbone 
herself.  Otherwise, she could not have accomplished all she did and we 
probably wouldn't have either. 

Church attendance was expected, Sunday morning, Sunday evening and at
least one church activity during the week; visitation, youth tine, 
Bible study or Wednesday evening.  Dad taught the junior high boys and 
had them eating out of his hand.  Mom was head of the Ladies' 
Missionary Group.  My brothers and sister went to the youth meeting and 
I went with Mom and Dad to Wednesday service.  Even though we had no 
choice, we loved our church and activities there.  The people were an 
extended family to us.  Church attendance was an outward activity that 
reflecting the closeness to God we found in our daily, personal 


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