Page 10 - Sanger Herald 12-28-17 E-edition

Lifestyles
SANGER HERALD • 2B • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017
A life 'Wondering Around God'
Sanger
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
When Elva Anson was a little girl growing up in Reedley, her mom contracted gallstones and nearly died.
Her dad wanted to call the doctor, but her mom waved him off. “No,” she said. “I think it’s getting better.” Instead, Anson’s mother opted for a higher power. “I believe God can heal me,” she said.
And he did. Or so it would appear. The gallstones dissipated. Anson’s mom recovered after convalescing at a “healing ranch” not too far away.
Anson described her mother’s illness in her new book “Wondering Around God,” by Emidra Publishing of Fair Oaks, Calif. In it she chronicles her upbringing as a pastor’s daughter in the central San Joaquin Valley and the role that scripture played in all aspects of her life.
Yet, even as a little girl, Anson wondered about everything. She thought often about how stuff fit together and how she fit into a world where she was expected to do the right thing. Always.
“I separated God from Jesus,” she wrote. “Jesus loves everyone, especially children. I could talk to Him and He listens. I was afraid to talk to God. I saw Him as the powerful rule maker and punisher with a deep, scary voice like thunder.”
Anson said she discovered sin early, when she damaged one of her books and lied about it. And she and some other kids played doctor. Her faith was strict. Later, it wouldn’t allow her to watch movies or wear lipstick.
From "Wondering About God"
Elva Anson grew up in Reedley and worked in Sanger. She came from a very religious household. Here she is pictured with her friend Darlene.
we have learned from each other,” she wrote in an email.
A couple passages stood out. One could’ve been a line from a “Leave It to Beaver” episode. Elva was with a friend named Joyce who demurely turned down a request from some boys to play in the mud driving tractors. Elva offered to join the boys. “The boy looked at me disgustedly and said, ‘I know you would.’ I got the message. I needed to learn how to be coy and attractively feminine. That took awhile.”
Another passage involved the lipstick debacle. She and her good friend Darlene were confronted by their fathers and Darlene’s stepsister. All had their Bibles and ready references to 1 Peter, likely the part that reads, “Don’t be concerned with outward beauty.”
“I had read these scriptures many times,” Anson wrote. “It seemed clear to me that these were different people in different times.”
The reporter can be contacted by email at nemethfeatures@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
To get an item into the calendar, email details to nemethfeatures@gmail. com or call Mike or Sharon at 559-875-2511.
For the Blossom Days Festival on March 3, the Sanger Chamber plans to announce the first- ever Blossom Queen. Nominations are currently being accepted. Details, 559-875-4575.
The Sanger Comedy Club presents Rudy Ortiz, Chris Estrada, Anna Allen, Patric Polac and Curtis Tavor III Jan. 6 at Sofia’s Restaurant, 1028 N St. Tickets are $10. Doors open and dining room is open at 6:30 p.m. Comedy starts at 8 p.m. Host is Ty Martin.
Motion Matters Physical Therapy at 1132 Academy Ave. Suite 101 has hired Ben Fox as its physical therapist. Fox is a Fresno State graduate and attended Sanger High. He is a former track and field athlete who competed at the collegiate level. He has participated in many major sports and is experienced in their rehabilitation, according to a press release. His doctoral project at Fresno State involved Achilles tendinopathy. Details, 559- 876-1191.
AMVETS will bring back its chili dogs from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 10 at 812 K St. Everybody who’s anybody will be there. Come early. It’s popular. There will also be kraut dogs, mustard dogs and Frito boats. The meals will be served the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. Details, George 559-286-5667.
The New Sanger Democratic Club plans to meet at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 16 at Me-N-Ed’s Pizzaria, 2616 Jensen Ave. Details, 559- 977-5956.
The Sanger Eagles’ taco nights will resume Jan. 15. Prime rib dinner is 6 p.m. Jan. 20. Cost is $30. The location is 225 J St. Details, Jim Batten 559-875-6820 or Denny Noller 559-392-1936.
The Sanger Community Task Force meets at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 16 at the Sanger Eagles, 225 J St. Details, 559-250-6433.
The Sanger branch of the Fresno County Library has a lot going on. Diabetes Prevention Classes are from 6 to 7 p.m. Jan. 3, Feb. 7 and March 7. Come Play with Me is every Friday for children up to 3 years old.
own way, keeps no record of wrong is not easily angered.
Definition of Faithfulness: keeping faith; maintaining allegiance; constant; loyal – (faithful friends), showing a strong sense of duty or responsibility; conscientious, accurate; reliable; and exact (a faithful copy).
Next Week: Part 2 — Resolutions 2-5
Pastor Sam Estes is city advance director and facilitates the Sanger Community Task Force that meets the first and third Tuesdays every month. He can be reached at pastorsam51@gmail.com.
In fact, when she did decide to wear lipstick with a fellow parishioner while attending Fresno State, the act created a scandal that nearly tore her little church, the Full Gospel Tabernacle, apart and sent her father, the pastor, packing.
Faith is but a lens through which Anson tells her story. It’s ever present. But her life and the decisions she makes as she grows up to be a very strong and independent woman are the result of her continued questions and doing the right thing — often no matter what the cost.
This led her to break off a couple engagements and leave a religious college after the first year. She went to Fresno State and became a teacher, moving to a place a couple of blocks from Wilson School in Sanger where she worked.
Later, after having three kids and marrying a nice guy named Everett, she continued her schooling and became a licensed marriage family therapist.
“I felt wild, reckless, free and very much at peace with the world,” she wrote near the end of the novel. “Sometimes ... I feel like a bird that has been let out of its cage. Strange! I don’t feel chained by anyone any more. I have let go of trying to be good or to please God. Instead, I pray each day to show Christ’s love wherever I go.”
Her story resonates. While it features elements and place names familiar to the people of Fresno County and California’s Central Valley, it also describes a young woman coming to terms with prejudice, racism, World War II and the inconsistencies of high- handed morality.
Independent of location, her story also spans an era of profound change — one that required an individual to question her surroundings and the beliefs and practices of those around her. Often, she went to the source, which was her faith. And through it, she interpreted her responses to what life handed her.
Anson said early on she accepted much of what she learned without question. But later, she learned some decisions were difficult. One involved breaking off a relationship with a man considered the perfect mate by her parents. She didn’t feel the same as he did.
And she was right. She later met the love over her life. “Everett and I have been married 62 years. Because we are very different from each other,
Author discusses 'Wondering Around God,' loving life and feeling wild, reckless and free
I was raised in a family where many things were black and white. I don’t think I questioned much as a child. I remember how shocked and even scared I felt when my friend, Joyce whispered in church, “I don’t think there is a God.”
There was a lot of fear of questioning.
I always loved life and learning. I tend to see the beauty in people, nature and challenge. I am lucky to have been born school smart. The lipstick thing actually catapulted Darlene and me out of the church. I
10 New Year’s Resolutions from the Wisest Man Who Ever Lived — Part 1
All New Year’s Resolutions basically fall into three categories.
They deal with: 1. Things to make us look better and live longer. 2. Things to make us have more. 3. Things that will help us to get along with everyone.
I call them perpetuity, prosperity and peace. I believe we can find an answer in God’s word for any question or situation of life if we would just look. So, what is there in God’s word about New Year’s
was well known in Reedley at the time. When we walked down the street after that incident, we actually saw people point and say, “Those are the girls.” It didn’t help to have my parents having church problems at the same time.
Visitors packed the church the night the accusations occurred. My Dad was preaching in Dinuba, because the Dinuba pastor had already left for the Sunday School Convention. The Mennonite Youth choir was singing at our Sunday night service.
resolutions?
Well, they are not called
New Year’s resolutions, but I don’t think you could do better than Proverbs Chapter 3. Read the following excerpts and see the benefits of adopting this set of New Year’s resolutions set forth here in this third chapter.
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. (Perpetuity, Prosperity) ... you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man ... He will direct your paths ... will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones ... your barns will be filled
My mother was in charge. The church service ended.
Darlene’s family and friends were angry. Unfortunately, some of them never went to church again. I was spinning, trying to make sense of life that had become unfamiliar and challenging. I think I was more focused on survival than faith. As I got used to my new life, I was driven to get answers about faith and life.
My faith had been my anchor. I felt uncomfortable and disoriented without it.
I never considered
myself progressive. I considered myself a searcher, open to learning. I wished I could recapture my simple childhood faith in life and in God. I was amazed at how much I didn’t know. I lost my fear of questioning and over time I was able to see the Bible in new ways.
I was 80 years old when I decided to write this memoir. It wasn’t easy to write. I didn’t want to die before I finished it. It is my sixth book. “How to Get Kids to Help at Home” was still selling when the
publisher, Moody Press, Chicago took it out of print. I revised portions of it for the secular market and published it again.
Feeling wild, reckless, free and at peace with the world happens when I travel with Everett or when I am at the ocean alone or with him. At those times, I say to him, “Isn’t this wonderful! Nobody knows where I am.” I guess it is the relief of not having to be an example. Maybe it is the feeling of being free to be myself, not owned by anyone.
So now let’s go back up to verse three and start with principle No. 1.
Resolution 1. LET LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS NEVER LEAVE YOU verses 3-4
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Love and Faithfulness: Let these two qualities be the guiding lights in our lives, in everything we do. These must be foundational to all we do. Definition of love from I Corinthians 13 – Love is patient, kind. Never envious, jealous, proud, doesn’t demand its
Sanger News & Community Calendar
PASTOR’S CORNER
to overflowing, and
your vats will brim
over with new wine
... you will go on
your way in safety,
and your foot will
not stumble ...you
will not be afraid;
when you lie down,
your sleep will be PastorSamEstes sweet ... the LORD
principles that we should live by in order to have long life, prosperity and peace. Some of these are rather simple. In fact, all of them are simple to talk about. But when it comes to putting them into
will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
Solomon starts off this third chapter with a very matter-of-fact statement. “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.“
Then he gives very specific details of 10
practice, it becomes more difficult.
I sincerely think if each of us would adopt these principles and conscientiously live them out in this coming year that it would change our lives. I’m not talking about giving lip service to them but conscientiously live them out. Every day make it a part of your life. I believe that it will change our lives.