It's All Written Down!

I'm back at my quest of reading through the Bible.  I will finish...I will!  As I ended with Numbers, I read something that I had never noticed before.

In Numbers 33:1,2 it says, "Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.  At the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey."  Then it goes on to tell us each stop made along the way and what happened at these stops. A history recap.  This got me to thinking of the importance of journaling our events.  I am not very good at this discipline, but with the convenience of texting and instant messaging, I wonder if this will soon become a lost art?

My mother gave me a journal on paper that my great-grandmother wrote in 1899. (see picture)  This was a year before my grandfather was born!  After getting their crops planted, my Great-grandfather, Great-grandmother, and Aunt headed West in a covered wagon with the final destination being Denver, Colorado. They left on May 1 1899 the journal says.  My mother tells me that Grandpa's family loved to take trips out West. I also have pictures of them beside a Model T in later years with my grandfather and his brother and sister in tow.  On this covered wagon trip, however, they journeyed for three months and returned just in time to get their crops harvested.  Now that was some vacation!

You would think the journal would be a riveting account with lots of dangers and such, but it is an account of a rather normal everyday life.   There were times of dust storms and heavy rains but for the most part it was fairly uneventful. They would cross a river or a railroad almost daily and my great-grandmother would say that great-grandfather would shoot a rabbit or catch fish for dinner. She does document each town they camped in and some of the interesting things they saw along the way.  Perhaps some day I will map their trip out!  That would be interesting.

She also crocheted small baskets like this one in the evenings and sold them for $.25, her journal says.  She also worked on her Crazy Quilt and sold it along the way.  Never hurts to have a little extra income! (Guess that is where I inherited my crafting desires!) I treasure this journal even though it isn't that exciting by anyone else's standards because it gives me a glimpse into my history and a view into the everyday life my great-grandmother lived.  My mentoring question for we women is this...what kind of written treasures are we leaving for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to read?  Even if we don't think we live that exciting a life they will be thrilled to know about it, just like I am with mine! Won't it be weird that then dishwashers, washing machines and coffee makers will be antiques!  YIKES!