PERSEVERANCE

I think we would all agree that today’s society is one of instant gratification.  Living in this time of instant gratification I wonder if we have forgotten the understanding of perseverance.  The 2014 muzzleloading season was a great hunting season for me.  I was blessed with a small buck and a doe.  The buck was that of instant gratification.  I had not been in my blind over an hour when he appeared.  I took the shot and he dropped no more than 20 yards from where I shot him.  The doe was my personal lesson in perseverance.  I had been in my blind for a little over four hours and it was nearing sunset.  I was just about to pack up my gear when I saw the doe appear.  I watched her for a short time before she was in range.  I took the shot and saw her dart out of the clearing toward the woods.  I knew she was going to have to be tracked in the dark and this would be my first experience at tracking.  I text my husband and let him know I was going to need his help.  With coats on and flashlights in hand, we started the tracking adventure.  It is amazing how much different the woods look at night and it is very easy to lose your sense of direction, so we used trail tape to mark the blood trail.  We would track for a while and then lose the trail.  My husband was encouraging and told me we had to keep looking.  It was getting late, cold and past dinner time.  We lost the blood trail at least four different times and each time I would take a deep breath, sigh and think we had lost the deer.  Again , my husband was patiently encouraging and that is when the topic of perseverance came up.  He said that word kept coming to mind and that is when I got the idea for this blog post.  It took us over four hours to find the doe.  Once we found her that was not the end of the adventure as we then had to get her out of the woods.  My husband cut down one of the small trees and we tied her legs to the tree.  Each of us grabbed an end of the tree and started the trek of hauling her out.  It was a good thing we had left the “bread crumbs” of trail tape or I am afraid I would still be out there wandering around tying to find my way back.  That day of hunting in God’s outdoor library was over an eight hour adventure.  It was a great adventure filled with patience, teamwork, encouragement and PERSEVERANCE!

1 Corinthians 9:24  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  (NIV)

Galatians 6:9  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (NIV)

The Campaign Trail

My adventure this week takes me back several years ago to the political campaign trail.  I thought this would be a good time to reflect on this adventure since it is the week of the 2014 general election.  Most who know me and my family know of our connection with former President Bill Clinton. Before I lose any readers, let me say that regardless of how you may feel about his political leadership or his moral standards, Bill Clinton helped a man I deeply respect and miss, my Papa Jack Burns, Sr. 

My Papa Burns had worked his whole life in the coal mines around Hartford and as a result developed black lung.  Several attempts at applying for his black lung benefits were unsuccessful.  My Uncle Wendell "Buddy" Burns knew an attorney, Bill Clinton, who was retained to represent my Papa in his case to receive benefits.  Clinton represented the case successfully and my Papa received the benefits he so greatly deserved.  

As a result of Clinton's representation of my Papa, many of my family members campaigned for Clinton in his bids for Congress, Attorney General, Governor and President.  I have many memories of attending campaign rallies and nightly political discussions at our house.  While many of the campaign memories are good, some are scary.  I remember rocks being thrown at our house and our car windshield being broken out by a thrown rock.  It seems there has always been and always will be violence associated with politics.

When I was a senior in high school I was selected by the Hartford American Legion Post to attend Arkansas Girls State. Bill Clinton was serving as governor at the time.  I was appointed as the Girls' State Governor's administrative assistant and spent the day in the Governor's chambers at the state Capitol where I once again was reacquainted with Bill Clinton.  As soon as I introduced myself as Terri Burns from Hartford, he immediately recalled that I was Jack's granddaughter.  Today I proudly have a display in my office of political memorabilia including personal letters, campaign stickers and photos from those campaign days. 

As a librarian I understand  and respect the influence and power of the written word.  I am so honored to be Jack Burns, Sr.'s granddaughter.  

The excerpt from the book "My Life" reads:  "He was about five feet four inches tall and couldn't have weighted much more than one hundred pounds.  Jack was an old-fashioned man of quiet dignity, who was severely damaged by black lung.  He was entitled to the benefits, and he and his wife badly needed them to help pay their bills.  In the months we worked together, I came to respect both his patience and his determination.  When we won his case, I was almost as happy as he was."

The written words by former United States President Bill Clinton in his book "My Life" sums up my Papa, the man who was Jack Burns, Sr.  

 Clinton, William Jefferson.  2004.  Random House. New York, New York.