January 07, 2021

SHAKEN by Pamela Mytroen


SHAKEN

 

In keeping with January's theme, I dedicate this piece to a member whose words in writing and in person embodied InScribe’s mission. She, like InScribe, continues to inspire me. 

 

For Bobbi:

 

Bobbi knew her place in a salt-shaker. While she may have been more comfortable hiding quietly, she surrendered her heart to Jesus, and allowed Him to shake her. 



     In her upside-down, unsettling       moments, she poured herself out in a generous pinch of thirst-creating, truth-preserving, hope-enhancing salt to her world. 

 


     Throughout membership and contest coordinating for InScribe, I leaned on Bobbi to answer scads of questions. Emails flew back and forth, mine often heavy with desperation, hers always brief with just a question or a little comment that clarified things. Between the cracks and crevices of numbers, graphs, and spreadsheets, Bobbi sprinkled the salt of encouragement. One of her last comments to me was , “One day at a time, Sweet Jesus.” She practiced that daily dependency on Jesus for everything from balancing the InScribe books to pacing herself through another hard-to-breathe day. With that little phrase, I knew her faith was still real, practical, and a light to me in the midst of deadlines. 

   

Salt is a tricky thing to get right. Too much and it’s revolting. Not enough and it disappoints, leaving flavours hidden. 

Thirst for Living Water

But Bobbi had a knack for seasoning her words with just the right amount. It made me long for more of her wisdom, her wit, and her grace. Just like salt creates thirst, so our words should be seasoned with faith, hope, and love, moving our readers to yearn for Living Water.



Bobbi’s words challenged the reader. She told stories simply and with an almost uncomfortable honesty. Salt can sting in an open wound, but also heals. If you’ve heard her podcasts based on “The Reluctant Care Giver”, or read her book by the same title, you would recall her unpredictable and somewhat chaotic journey with her mother as she tried to place her into assisted care. The way Bobbi tells it left me laughing and crying at the same time. She listened to God’s voice, at times turning her car around and for reasons unknown to her, driving to her mom's place. As a result of letting God lead the way in the puzzling maze of dementia, she was able to partner with her mom, and her nontraditional "method" resonated with many caregivers, professionals included. Her simple faith still challenges me to be radically obedient, like her.  

 

Salt also kills bacteria by sucking the life-water out of its environment. Before refrigeration, salt in abundance, not just a sprinkle, was required to preserve meats. Jesus called us the salt of the earth, (Matthew 5:13) possibly because it is our duty to preserve goodness in the dirt around us. While our eyes burn from the stench of hatred, greed, and injustice, we are called to prevent moral decay by packing a lavish portion of His life-giving, healing words around the muscles and tendons of those with tender faith. Perhaps He expects us to share such savoury words that they "suck the life out of" society's slimy salmonella-infused lies, and cure carnal rawness with pure Spirit. Bobbi wrote essays for our Fall contest. Her words challenged deceptive norms, and confronted ideas that threaten the value and dignity of human life. She wrapped salty truth around every paragraph of every piece, and injected a briny veracity into her books and presentations. She helped preserve the standards for which InScribe stands.  

 

The humble salt-shaker - in a myriad of shapes and colours - brings us all together at the table as we lean in and seek salt, or some variation of it. We as blood-bought believers are that salt. We are all diverse, viewing life through our own upbringing and culture, and even interpreting current laws differently, but Jesus' forgiveness and His call on our lives pulls us together into the cozy confine of the shaker. Bobbi, with her grace-seasoned spirit, often stepped out of coziness to share tidbits of truth. 

 

Our InScribe family, and no doubt Bobbi’s more intimate circle of her own family, are missing her these days. We are tasting the salt in our tears. May that be a reminder to learn from her, and to be willing to be shaken. Shaken right out of our comfortable shaker. 


May we, like Bobbi, sprinkle a little truth into everything we write, to create thirst for the eternal Spring. 

Like her, let us flavour our stories with a daring dash of hope. And let us pack a briny brightness into every sentence of every story to nudge our readers as they take one more step  - "one more day at a time, Sweet Jesus" - across the gulf of darkness and into the Light.  


 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6 NIV). 

 

 

    

 

 

  

 

 

14 comments:

  1. This was so beautiful, Pam. Everything you said about Bobbi - and about salt - is so true.

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  2. Wow Pam. Such a testament to who Bobbi was and who we are to be as salt in this world. Your words challenge me as did Bobbi's. You too have share a lot of your saltiness in your writings and as a friend.

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  3. Such a tender, and truthful testament to Bobbi, Pam. Thank you. And Amen to creating thirst for the eternal Spring as she did so well.

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  4. Sodium is acorrosive metal. Chlorine is a poisonous gas. Put them together and you get salt. We can't live without the right amount in our systems. Likewise, oxygen is a corrosive gas. Hydrogen is an explosive gas. Put them together and you get water. We can't live for long without it.

    I also miss Bobbie Junior. I had the privilege of meeting her and Connie Ingles at a restaurant a few winters ago. What an ugly-duckling experience that was to meet those two swans.

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  5. This is so beautiful a tribute, Pam, for so beautiful a lady. Bobbie leaves such a big hole for so many of us.

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  6. Yes a very well said tribute and Pam the word that stood out to me was not salt, but we are BLOOD BOUGHT. Yes, Bobbie will be missed by family but also by her friends, like us. She was a great lady.

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  7. Thanks Pam for that well-written piece. Bobbi certainly was a much needed ‘preservative’ in our lives. She was honest, witty and above all faithful to her family as well as our Inscribe membership. I only met her once in person, though I too exchanged many emails with her regarding finances. I will cherish her memory and know we will meet again.

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  8. What a beautiful tribute to Bobbi as well as an encouragement to the rest of us, Pam. Thank you for writing it.

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  9. Thanks for this beautiful tribute to Bobbi and a metaphor of how her life was like salt. I too will miss her faithfulness as treasurer and wisdom in sorting out financial questions. Our loss is heaven's gain.

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  10. Hi Pam! You know how to weave a story together, my friend. Thank you for this wonderful tribute to our Bobbi. Now I miss and love her more.

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  11. Oh My, Bobbi was just such an integral part of what Inscribe has been to me over the years... she was always there, a rock with a very human heart. Your words and comparisons about her being Salt... a healer, a truth-teller, a faithful, close follower of Christ (focused on the essentials, what mattered - turning her car around in response to the Spirit's leading...), so gracious, all the time in whatever situation - she just made it better, like salt. This goes right to my heart, Pam. Thank you so much for writing, and honouring BOBBI with your gift. Hugs.

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  12. When I opened your post to read I noticed hat Bobbi's name was at the top of the sidebar of archived contributors. That's the thing about writing and publishing - your voice lives on, continuing to enrich the lives of readers.Thanks for writing about Bobbi.

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  13. Thank you everyone for your comments here. They are all another Rose in Bobbi’s memory.
    Pam

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  14. Thankyou so much Pam for this wonderful dedication to Bobbi, so true about her honesty and authenticity in her Christian walk. She was very special and sorely missed.

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