Singers

Last night Emily and I were at WinCo when I noticed a family over by the vegetables. The mom and girls all had skirts on and long hair which is quite unusual so I was furtively glancing at them and every time I did, one of them was furtively glancing at me.

Finally the mom came over and asked if I'm Dorcas "Smuckers" who write in the newspaper. It turned out that she was none other than the mom of the Hanson Family Singers. We talked for a long time and connected in a number of areas.

Wayne and Leslie Hanson are a Catholic family with seven children. They sing at all kinds of venues, from various contests to the "Opry" in Creswell to the Lane County Fair to nursing homes. In December, they all wear Victorian outfits and carry little lanterns and sing acapella Christmas carols, from 25 to 40 engagements in one month.

A while back their youngest son, Daniel, age 12, got into yodeling and won the Western Music Association's national yodeling contest. His parents don't have a TV, so they had to go to a friend's house to watch their son perform.

Mrs. Hanson listed some of the awards they have won and the opportunities they've had, and said, "We have found that if we honor God, then he honors us. Our girls showed that you could wear modest clothes and sing the "Ave Maria" at the talent show at the Lane County Fair, and still win second place."

She also said something that the faded-jeans, shirt-tails-out, forgot-to-shave Christian groups ought to hear: "I tell my kids, 'You honor your audience by dressing up.'"

My gift is not in music, but I have found, like Mrs. H, that there is a deep hunger in our culture for a simple, Godly, family-oriented, down-home, old-fashioned message.

Quote of the Day:
"Bless the hands that prepared the food so they can prepare more and more."
--Steven, who puts his own twist on traditional Mennonite prayers