History Chick

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 (NIV)

Perhaps it was a reward for a week spent doing things at work I don’t like because this weekend was all about the part of my work I enjoy. Friday night, husband and I went to an exhibit opening at our local history and science museum, the South Florida Museum. I joined as a member last Fall inspired by an extraordinary exhibit of Clyde Butcher photographs. The walls were alive with huge black and white photographs of Florida scenes, particularly of the Everglades. I wanted to be able to go back and see the pictures again before the exhibit closed so joined receiving a pass to go to the museum as often as I like. Now, I get invited to their special events and exhibit openings. The display that replaced the Butcher photographs is of Seminole Indian art in everyday artifacts such as clothing, beadwork, buttons, hats and dolls. A researcher who specialized in the tribe’s textiles was giving a lecture as well. I enjoyed the exhibit a lot. It is full of color and very imaginative. The lecturer had a lot of interesting photographs of artifacts and some good information about them, but was not very skilled in communicating. I learned a lot, but was glad when his talk was over. It did inspire me to go back and see the exhibit again now that I know more about the collection. On Saturday, I attended another lecture. A scholar from New England came to talk about Westward Expansion to the teachers I work with the in teaching American History grant program. His talk was entitled Myths and Realities of the West. We learned about Native Americans, reasons settlers went west, the difficulties they encountered, impacts of settlement on the environment and how the west has affected the images and beliefs we have as Americans. He taught from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon and was such a good teacher that the day just flew by. He had a great visual presentation, games and activities for participation and wonderful stories that kept me on the edge of my seat. We also studied photographs and paintings for symbolism and clues about the past. I hope that when I do programs in our community, people feel the way about me as I did the Saturday lecturer and not the Friday one! Though it made for a short weekend, I enjoyed the day with its reminder of why I do what I do when I’m not helping in Employee Relations, Citizens Review or Teen Court! The History Chick was happy. I am also happy when I set aside time to study my Bible and see how God’s Hand has been at work in people’s lives since the beginning of time. Over and over, He rescues, saves, restores and heals common people. If He did it in the past, I know He will do it again. That fact gives me great peace. Something even more valuable than the best historical lecture!