Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Lately most of us have been caught up in the first anniversary memories of the pandemic… that became disclosed to us as a nation a year ago…changing our way of life  so abruptly that we were all captured in a tangled web of disbelief.

I have been searching my own memory box and want to share with you some events and feelings that enveloped me this time last year.

I remember I had gone over to stay with Mandy the second week of March, or as it came to be known… “The Week That Was.” When I left home that Monday I didn’t know that life would never be the same by the time I returned on “Freaky Friday.”

John was away on a business conference so I went to help Mandy get the kids ready for school each day and be there for them when they got off the bus…since Mandy didn’t get home from her teaching job until later in the afternoon.

I was also keeping Tigger, their precious dog,  company while coming up with ideas to bribe the grandchildren into getting their homework done early…so we could go to a park or get ice cream or eat out…something different each afternoon.

And then Friday the 13th arrived. When I met the grandchildren’s bus they were lugging cardboard boxes of school supplies…even the bus driver was helping each child get off the bus. I remember asking them what in the world was going on and Eva Cate told me their teachers said they might not be returning to school the following week…so it was a precaution just in case.

It this had been a mystery movie…it would have been where the audience heard the slow “death bongs of a grandfather clock chiming.” I knew then what was about to transpire. When Mandy got in from her school she glanced at me and slowly shook her head… but said nothing.

We had not even recovered from that news… when Mollie called and told Mandy Kaitlyn had called her…she and Tommy’s home and the B&B side had burned from a plumbing accident by a company sent to fix some pipes that afternoon .

John was getting in later that evening so I was headed home but we all stopped to see the damage…it was considerable. A real Friday the 13th tragedy.

When I got home it was dark…so I went to sleep setting my alarm to meet the neighbor gals for breakfast which we did on Saturdays…but nobody called or came.

When I called to check… I discovered my neighbors had been in quarantine all week.. they were telling me the store shelves were practically empty…but they would drop off some extra food until I could set up for the store to start delivering groceries for me.

I think it was actually that Saturday March 14 that the reality of the quarantine hit me…I was completely stunned. The impact of the life changes, about to reveal themselves, hit me full force.

And we were still pre-mask at that moment…with so much more to come.

But we did it…now with two vaccinations behind me…spring weather bringing beauty and blossoms to the lowcountry…with more help on the way…life is slowly bringing hope where once mixed emotions (that ran the gamut)  existed and even thrived… denial, depression, defenseless, devastation, defiant… along side determination, devout, disciplined, doable, and delightful.

So here we all are today, Saturday March 13, 2021…our first anniversary…how should we celebrate? Well…if this was a wedding anniversary it would traditionally be PAPER.

It is believed that paper is the traditional first anniversary gift because it symbolizes the blank pages on which you write the newest chapter in your life. … Paper, much like love, connects all of us together through time and space.

The new modern first anniversary gift is now the CLOCK!

The modern gift is a clock, which commemorates the passage of time over this important first year.

So until tomorrow…

Hopefully this has been my gift(s) to you over this past year of the pandemic…blog posts instead of paper…time to be with you each day over the clock.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

It is time to remember:

“Don’t tell people your dreams-show them!”

Wipe the dust off your secret dreams and make them come true now in 2021…life is too short to do otherwise.

More “pretties” abound….showing my dreams!

My first “baby daffodil!” (It is all of three inches)

The last “normal” family birthday party was Lachlan’s last year…our St. Patrick’s Day boy…Mandy brought Lachlan and Jake to my house and we had a Dinosaur themed birthday with clues to keep the boys running around the garden looking for them…it all lead up to the birthday presents and cake with dinosaurs…we didn’t realize then that birthdays would look different there after.

Yesterday afternoon my “She-Roe” arrived! My niece, Carrie, stopped by after teaching school to help me get my on-line banking app back on track.

It seems like my bank is always working on updating the on-line banking accounts and I end up not being able to pull mine again after they do this.

But like a fairy God-Mother with a magical wand… Carrie figured out the solution to the problem in under two minutes!

Carrie and I have both finished our complete vaccinations so we could talk without masks- so after greeting each other with masks…we threw them off…a wonderful symbol of progress among complete vaccination liberators… and for the first time in a year we got to have a thankful hug between aunt and niece saying good-bye…just celebrating being back together again.

And now…to everyone!

Dear Reader:

The internal conflict that goes on inside us (for way too long) in many of our lives… is the dilemma of how to fit in (with our peers when young, later our working colleagues, friends and even family) while being brave enough to reveal who we really are simultaneously.

Sound familiar?

How can we change the world if we are too frightened to reveal the “Velveteen Rabbit” deep inside…just wanting to be accepted for being “real” (in every sense of the word) through our own unique perspective?

I came across this important excerpt from Brene Brown on a list of life’s lessons in a televised discussion. It really spoke to me…hope it does you.

“There are so many terms we use every day whose meanings are gauzy, if not downright imprecise—which makes it hard to get your head around what’s really going on in your life. For example, contrary to what most of us think: Belonging is not fitting in. In fact, fitting in is the greatest barrier to belonging.

Fitting in, I’ve discovered during the past decade of research, is assessing situations and groups of people, then twisting yourself into a human pretzel in order to get them to let you hang out with them. Belonging is something else entirely—it’s showing up and letting yourself be seen and known as you really are—love of gourd painting, intense fear of public speaking and all.”

I re-read this passage over and over until the truth finally sank into my psyche. How absolutely true this is? If we have to change who we really are to be accepted by whomever we wanted to be accepted by, including society in general, something is wrong.

The bigger goal is discovering how we can be our “authentic selves” and still feel accepted in our environment …with an added sense of belonging in our daily life.

Brene Brown goes on to add:

The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance.

“Your level of belonging, in fact, can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance, because believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and imperfect. When we don’t have that, we shape-shift and turn into chameleons; we hustle for the worthiness we already possess.”

It took different people from different situations during different stages in my life to finally get me to the point where I saw myself more clearly as others saw me…and then I realized I still hadn’t played “all my cards” and it was time to “reveal my hand.” Only then when I became the “Velveteen Rabbit”...did I finally become real.

So until tomorrow….

If you have to pretend to be somebody you aren’t… to “fit in” ...drop out... and let your real self emerge…Now look around you and see new sets of people observing you differently…and openly…until that wonderful day when you rise …happy and content…because you finally belong.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday I did more physical work than I have done in quite awhile…Between tall rakes and big clippers…I started attacking the side yard…every time I would go to rake…it caught an underground root, so I would have to stop and cut it with the clippers and start again. I only have one relatively small section done but it looks so good…I am motivated to continue the project.

I will share photos with you as the work progresses this spring and summer! 🙂

As I pull into the house these days more blooms surprise me…spring has arrived unofficially in Summerville….but it feels very official.

Mandy and “Winnie” had a girls’ “beauty” day yesterday….first hair-cut for Winnie….Looking good girls!

Dear Reader:

As I was looking for a book to loan a neighbor I came across the anniversary painting that Anne did for me…located now in one of my “show-off” bookshelves…celebrating ten years of writing the Chapelofhopestories.com blog post.

What a day, that was, to celebrate last August 7, 2020…It was then I noticed the “Grace and Gratitude” bucket beside it…and Bingo! The light went on!

Every day, this year, I am going to write one headline on a strip of paper… cut from index cards with the date and my creative headline…so by the end of the year there will be a bucket filled with so much grace and gratitude that I can re-read them on New Year’s Eve as a reminder of just how great life was last year and continues to be. I am so excited!

Take yesterday morning for instance. Anne and I were exchanging books again and she said she would probably be by early so I just left her book on the white bench and she said she would leave hers there.

Sometime, right before 8, my phone buzzed that I had a text…then it buzzed again. Half-awake…I rubbed my eyes and stared at the message….“Warm Breakfast Croissant on Porch!” 🙂

Immediately I was wide awake…practically tripping over Pinkie the Robe to get out on the porch…sure enough wrapped in aluminum foil in a warm container was something that smelled so delicious…I grabbed the book and croissant. Happiness is!

I texted Anne to thank her immensely for the “surcie” and asked if she had made them ….she said “No” (Charleston Deli did) that her sister Kathy and her husband Steve were coming yesterday for a visit from Maine…and she was picking up some croissants to have for breakfast and got an extra!

Headline: Friend Drops Off Breakfast Croissant Starting Boo’s Day in the Most Generous Eatable of Ways!

P.S. (I had already eaten the other half by the time I thought of getting a picture!)  🙂

This act of kindness certainly started my day with a smile...and a smile is one of the most important gifts we can give each other…I find myself forgetting my worries when I get behind a mother and a little tyke in a grocery cart…who starts smiling at me and cooing…I start smiling and doing funny things to hear the child start laughing…no matter what was on my mind prior to this moment…it vanishes with the smile and giggle of a little child.

The smile is the most important gift (I think) God created on our faces…even with masks today…our eyes become our smiles when we add twinkles! Haven’t many of us gotten pretty perceptive of the mood of someone near us simply by the upturn or downturn of the eyes that have become warm smiles or lack of….

When I saw the following Natural Life message I knew I needed to make a comment on the importance of smiles…Don’t we always remember people who wear them like a crown… by saying something like ‘He or She always had a smile on their face”and it is remembered with great fondness.

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Do you remember when I bought two Encore Azalea bushes last fall… to finish out the line of plants across the front yard? I fell in love with the picture on this one and yesterday I saw where the first bloom is just starting to open….always a celebration day!

I am slowly but surely cleaning out the side area…want it to be a sanctuary for bird feedings, moon flowers, ginger shells, hanging plants and wild flowers this year…we will see how it progresses.

Lynn Gamache, our Canadian fellow post reader, created her personal headlines just recently to share with us…..

Headlines from Fraser Fir Farm today….March 10, 2021

Couple Married Nearly 52 Years Love and Appreciate Each Other More than Ever!

Son Living in Midst of Burma’s Political Upheaval Remains Safe Despite all the Tension, Turmoil, and Death

Granddaughter Turns 18 and Plans on Entering Nursing Come Fall 2021

First Tiny Daffodils Appear Under the Maple Tree in Our Garden

Thank you Lynn….prayers go out for your son’s continued health and safety!

Dear Reader:

I read this true anecdote in Guidepost last year that still tickles me whenever I get a question that I find difficult to answer. Yesterday Mandy brought Eva Cate and Jake to Summerville since their teachers were being vaccinated and they didn’t have school.

It was a gorgeous day…we went park-crazy…parks with playgrounds, parks with statues, parks with fountains and Hutchinson Square right in the center of town with a mini- tour downtown.

We had a ball…but more than once Jake, who at six, is a sponge for detailed memory questions, asked me some crazy ones that I had no idea how to answer.

At some point he asked me if it hurt getting old…his eyes were very serious…he must have picked up on the fact that my gait stayed about ten feet behind the rest of the family.

I thought for a second and responded…”No, Jake, it doesn’t…except when I look in the mirror. He just sagely nodded and ran off to find another statue to climb.

I have to agree with this funny observation on aging from author, Barbara Johnson:

I’ve reached the age where it’s harder to think of my body as a temple. It’s more like a building project that got out of control.”

Now back to the Guidepost story.

A popular psychiatrist was on a radio call-in show and things were going quite well…at first. Then a caller frantically began listing all the things wrong in her life…her husband was an alcoholic, her son in a gang, her unmarried daughter was pregnant and their house just burned down.

The talk-show host and the psychiatrist looked at each other in bewilderment….’Where to start?‘ Dead silence flooded the airways.Finally the psychiatrist blurted out…”God only knows.”

There was a moment of shocked silence, then people in the studio audience started tittering…the host started chuckling and finally even the woman on the other end of the line began gasping in laughter as she realized the seemingly flippant response was true.

Later the psychiatrist realized where that response came from Deuteronomy 29:29….when we are at wit’s end corner…when life appears to be a mystery with no answer…only God knows the answer!

So until tomorrow….

Humor is the prelude to faith, and laughter is the beginning of prayer. – Reinhold Niebuhr

“Today is my favorite day” (and so was yesterday) Winnie the Pooh

Headline: Fun in the Sun on a Beautiful Summerville Spring Day

The “Painted Rock Craze” must be alive and well in Summerville…Eva Cate found two…with address and message…one in Hutchinson Square and  at Azalea Park…she let Jake hide one while she found a new home for the other one. Lots of fun!

Dear Reader:

I had so many responses from you yesterday…that I knew we had to have an “Extra Extra” edition to Andy Stanley’s original idea of making our own personal headlines from the life we choose to share each day!

If you didn’t have a chance to read this inspiring message…go back one day (Post/March 8) and read it… then join us if you have a personal headline to share.

Without using names…I will choose samples from everyone who responded telling us something important going on in their life or simply a gratitude headline for being alive. I love all of them….thank you so much for participating!

And now…Here are some samples of your original headlines you created and shared…letting us know what makes your day happy and fulfilled. (Without getting bogged down sometimes with the media news that leaves us feeling utterly helpless on how to reunite our values of old together as a nation.)

Neighbor Returns Favor with Box of See’s Chocolates
Blogger Drops Off Pizza to Friend in Need of Encouragement
Ex-husband Texts Important Tax Info
CPA Congratulates Client on Well Organized Tax Documentation
Camellias Show Off Their Best Season Ever
Brother-in-Law’s Labors Produce Beautiful Swath of Daffodils
Woman Loses Sleep Writing Headlines

Oh what a beautiful morning!

Spring has Sprung

Love Abides…

Family expecting 10th great-grandchild in September.
Trip to Florida revived soul and banished depression.
Woman marvels at how a good marriage is such a gift at any age.
Joys and hopes are shared by being a part of a blogging friendship.

COUPLES KNOW THAT BEING SELF-QUARANTINED HAVE BROUGHT THEM CLOSER
MAN PRACTICES HIS “NEW” (TO HIM) GOLF SWING WITH WIFE’S CLUB AND DECIDES IT’S
GOOD!
DOG-BARKING IN NEIGHBORHOOD IS DEEMED “NORMAL” – THAT’S WHAT DOGS DO
COUPLE HIKING IN LINVILLE GORGE DISCOVER “HIDDEN” FIELD OF DAFFODILS
CDC SAYS PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD BOTH VACCINE SHOTS MAY GATHER W/O MASKS! (I think that’s going to be on the news tonight!)
MOUNTAIN CHURCH SAYS MORE PEOPLE GATHERING AT THE YOU-TUBE SERVICE THAN
HAD BEEN GATHERING IN PERSON PRE-COVID
SUN SHINES ALL DAY
PEOPLE PREPARE FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME TO BEGIN

*A special thank you for this headline:

BREAKING NEWS: BLOG SOLVES PANDEMIC’S BLAHS!

🙂

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

So until tomorrow….

At any time if any of you want to jump in with a personal headline for a day…please do! I will add them at the bottom of each post before signing off. Thanks for all the participation! Great headlines! They did put a smile on my face!

Today is my favorite day- Winnie the Pooh

As I walked around the yard yesterday…I noticed the azaleas have been popping out overnight…so many colors…they make my head spin. I am in love with nature right now! And the wonderful scents of tea olive bushes.

Two different pear trees…in the front yard and back…the blooms as they just start to open are so detailed and exquisite!

*I let Women’s International Day slip right by me yesterday but I hope every woman on earth recognizes that she has the potential to be a “SHE-RO” to someone else!

Dear Reader:

How many of you, like me and so many others, lament the news and headlines to such an extent that we find it harder and harder to even listen to the news or read the newspaper?

I keep waiting for all the conflicts, lies, distortions, terrorist groups, and chaos to “settle down.” For a day or two…I think it is and then it seems like someone or thing…purposefully stirs the pot again and I end up slumping in my recliner… shaking my head in frustration.

Will this climate of unrest and distrust of each other ever end?

If you have had a similar conversation with friends lately…you are not alone…in fact most Americans are desperately praying for a way to stay positive in lieu of all the craziness…so they can be there for family, children, grandchildren who are looking to them for reassurance.

God Wink. Yesterday was a beautiful day….I went to Mt. Pleasant to see Tommy and Kaitlyn’s on-going renovations… after being out of their home for almost a year to the day. (Their house burned on Friday, March 13, 2020) They physically returned last week.

I brought some house-warming gifts and met some of their “crew” (comprised of of work colleagues) all helping to put the pieces back together again.

Kaitlyn’s parents arrived (Butch and Susan Swicegood) and we took two of the little dogs, Pip and Atticus, to eat outside for brunch at the Post in the Old Village. We got a long wooden table in a warm lovely spot outside and had a delicious brunch.

By the time I got home I was pretty exhausted and still hadn’t written the post…and then a God Wink. Anne sent me a message she had been sent by a friend… from Andy Stanley, Charles Stanley’s son.

His voice became everyone’s voice…exactly where most of us are today and a wonderful solution for our unhappy quandary!

Don’t you LOVE THIS? No more pity parties for my worries…I am in charge of my own destiny with God leading me…so I can choose each day to write my own daily headline of gratitude.

HAPPY REUNION ONE YEAR AFTER LOSING HOME TO FIRE ON A FRIDAY THE 13TH LAST MARCH…TODAY CELEBRATING WITH LOVING FAMILY!

OR

BOO’S GARDEN IS ALREADY BLOOMING FROM LOVE LEFT BEHIND BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY… WHO ALL ADDED BEAUTY TO HER GARDEN!

So until tomorrow…

Now it is your turn….thank of a personal headline you would like to share with the world…to bring a smile to all who read it.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

It’s that time again…for my adorable gardening toadie frog to leap back in the spring wreath for another season!

Dear Reader:

One bit of advice I have heard on a continuous basis this past year, since the pandemic hit, has been the phrase…” One step  at a time”….slowly, steadily… progress at your own unique speed.

I found a slip of paper over the weekend on which I wrote this metaphor that was discussed, I believe, in some type of meditation class on-line. I jotted it down quickly so I wouldn’t forget.

It read:

...”It’s kind of like we’ve all been thrown overboard by life in the last year, agreed? We’re swimming toward the very distant shore of “normal,” absolutely exhausting ourselves, instead of inflating the life jacket of now, literally wrapped around our body. Normal won’t save us. Neither will a “new normal,” by the way.

We don’t have normal, but we have the present moment. As we surrender our expectations in the present moment, we are gifted with adaptability and endurance.”

After I read this…I thought to myself…I would add one more gift...creativity is alive and well…in fact it has never been in such abundance in so many different arenas of life as now.

In order to adapt our pre-pandemic businesses, jobs, and careers…creativity has become a sink or swim floating buoy that must be utilized as a guide for us “boat” operators or else we simply watch our dreams sink before our eyes.

In my everyday personal life…whenever I mess up directions or forget a particular event or activity I am supposed to be at…it is always because I got ahead of myself. Instead of paying attention to the driving directions…I think about the destination I am traveling to…and miss the turn or slam on brakes at a green light that has already turned red.

Over the past few days we have talked about risks, loss, and grief…all normal components of life. When I discovered this little story about handling grief one step at a time…I thought to myself that I need to sign up for this course at some monastery. I could still use help in staying in moment and not getting ahead of myself.

In her book, Riches Stored in Secret Places, Verdell Davis talks about moving through grief one slow step at a time.

She describes the monasteries of ancient Europe where “the monks walked the dark hallways with candles secured to the toes of their shoes, giving light only for the next step. 

Eventually she came to grasp the meaning of  light for the next step-as the monks walked, the light always went just before them…we are not supposed to know any farther than this for one reason….God is the light!

So until tomorrow….

In the darkest pit of despair, when God gives us the light to take only one step at a time, His message to us is still simply :

“TRUST ME”

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

As children didn’t we always love finding hidden alcoves or closets in grandparents’ or great-aunts’ attics…any small space in which to hide became a favorite childhood haunt.

There was something so alluring about the possibility of a novel entrance into a new world…conjured up in the magical wonder and imagination of a child’s mind.

John Muir, the great naturalist and journeyman, never outgrew his awe and wonder at nature and the hidden jewels and pathways within.

However…upon seeing this title poster…my thoughts went in a different direction. Summed up in two words the two pines represented different types of doorways…risk and regret.

As each of us follow our own unique paths through life we have some tough choices to make… based on a precarious balancing act of scales….one weighing in as risk…the other regret.

We have all heard pastors, motivational speakers, older relatives express similar sentiments about the precarious crossings in life in which we are asked to take a risk or live to regret lost opportunities.

The sage advice always ends with the conclusion that is better to risk and fail than regret never taking a chance at a life-altering opportunity. Moral of the lesson: Don’t die with lots of regrets.

Easier said than done…right? It we could just live our lives, in hindsight, wouldn’t it make our decision-making skills so much easier…to already know the foregone conclusion based on which choice we chose.

But that is not how life works….life is beautiful but it is also messy, confusing, and downright crazy.

Author David Nurse defined the two terms in this fashion:

” Regret is like a present wrapped beautifully that you are opening on Christmas Day…only to open the box and find there is nothing in it. So much promise, leads to so much let down. 

“Risk, even with pain of potential failure, fills that box and ensures that it is never empty when you go down to open up the gift You have produced five years from now, three years from now…shoot..one year from now.”

If you do nothing…the gift will always be empty.

As I have reflected on my own risk-taking skills in life…I realize now that they evolved in me over an extended period of time.

It is easier to be a risk-taker when you are the only one involved…but I remember thinking my risk-taking days were over when I found myself a single parent with three children…praying to stretch the budget through another month…there was little room financially to spare…to take risks.

But I was lucky…God wasn’t letting me off that easy. He sent guardian angels from Charleston Southern University to “talk some sense in me” that it was imperative that I get my Masters. The instructors reminded me that children grow up and move out…what then?

Economically…if I had my Masters I could supplement my income with teaching undergraduate courses, summer seminars, special programs, etc. I was told bluntly I couldn’t afford “not” to get my Masters.

In those days each course ran about $500 dollars I remember…I got ADK scholarships each year, used my tax refunds to set aside for one more course…family guardian angels went in together and gave me a “course” for my birthday or holiday.

It took awhile but I graduated the night after my oldest child, Mandy, graduated from Georgia Southern. Nothing is impossible when God sets you on His course! God doesn’t like seeing His children carry regrets with them instead of hope and success. He always find a way…if we let Him lead.

So until tomorrow…

Let us remember that the purpose of pain vs. the feeling of regret is part of our life’s journey…only we, with God’s help, can decide if the pain is worthier than the final regret. Prayers are needed in times like this…and even more so…staying open to the response.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Speaking of prayers…thank you for your prayers and well-wishes for the Clarkson family…Betsy…the family appreciated your spiritual contributions so much…They met with a cardiologist that mother/daughter both liked very much…and the doctor thinks there is an underlying cause for the high heart rate and subsequent residual side effects.

The cardiologist has a plan and Betsy will be meeting and undergoing some exploratory procedures to narrow down the diagnosis and future treatments throughout the month of March.

Another beautiful day in the lowcountry…..Honey and Mike went to Asheville for her birthday and out for dinner at their favorite restaurant… Hope y’all had you a wonderful time!

In the lowcountry…this was my daily viewing….

1.  Neighbors walking dogs or riding bikes are pulling up in my yard to ask where I got that beautiful planter….thank you Honey…historical Pine Forest Inn.

2) Little “Bliss” my favorite statue is so happy to be surrounded by blooming flowers again.

3) How I love my white camellias…they take my breath away.

4) My English daisies love their new home and showing off for the walkers and strollers on Rainbow Road

*I had to laugh….Tommy said that Pip, his assistant helper at work, is literally falling down on the job…sleeping through it.

“This is his new thing now. He forces me to put him on top of my desk on a pillow. Otherwise he wants to sit in my lap or next to me in my chair.” 

I stopped by Susan’s today and she excitedly told me she found a place for a Christmas succulent I gave her…she couldn’t find it a happy place where it would thrive and then remembered this adorable window she has at the top of one of the bathroom walls … it is doing beautifully now…Location, location, location!

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I told you my day would be spent in the garden… remembering my younger brother and the 21 years of life he was given on this earth. Not enough for those who loved his gentle, loving nature. I miss David every day of my life.

As I took this title picture mid-morning…I noticed the morning sun had formed the shadow of a cross right at the entrance to the garden…a God Wink or reaffirmation to spend the day in reverie…in harmony with nature in my garden.

Then I had the sweetest surprise …Anne had driven by and left a bag on the back deck table, apparently very early in the morning…Anne is a morning person…she texted to let me know to check on it before the day got too warm.

There was a novel by a popular author we are switching off reading…banana nut bread, and a copy of a devotional Anne had read and thought  would be appreciated  on this anniversary of my brother’s departure.

The devotional was titled  “The Poem of God” and it had a statement in it that Anne thought would be of comfort to me and help me understand the “Why?” questions that plague us following a loved one’s death…especially one at such an early age.

(Resource: The Book of Mysteries  – Jonathan Cahn)

The conversation starts off between a student and a teacher on a rock by a campfire…a poem is being read and the teacher asks if the student recognizes it…it is called the “Poem of God.”

The student replies he didn’t know God wrote poetry.

The teacher replies it is written in the scriptures…and the poem tells us that we are all God’s “Workmanship.”

The student shakes his head and mutters he doesn’t get it.

The teacher responds:

“You wouldn’t in English…but in the original Greek it says we are His “poiema” which means that which is made, something fashioned, crafted together, someone’s workmanship, as in a masterpiece.

“From poiema comes the word poem.”

The “Poem of God is “You”…it is “Me.” If you become His work.

You see, you can either live trying to make your life your own work, or you can let your life become His workmanship. A poem can not write itself or lead itself. 

So to become the Poem of God, you must let your life emanate from the Author of your life. You must let it flow out of the heart of God.

You must follow His will above your own, and His plan above your own. You must let His Spirit move you and His love become the impulse of all you do. Then your life will flow as it was meant to flow, with rhyme and beauty, and you’ll become His masterwork…the Poem of God. 

So until tomorrow…

Let your life this day be led and written by God. Move at the impulse of the Author and in His flow. Live as the Poem of God.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Anne added a note at the bottom of the copy…“Perhaps God’s Workmanship in David was complete.”

I also received the sweetest messages from many of you and Brooke called so we could remember David together…she was like another big sister to him and we three had many fun adventures together…David adored Brooke. It was so fun remembering the happy times together.

Lynn Gamach sent a very healthy hug from Canada and sweet  remembrance….thank you Lynn…thank you all.

As I stared at the early morning breezes blowing the blossoms on the flowers and the vines and stems from the plants…there was an almost harmonic, rhythm… like a tune or prose being played out right in the garden.

While yesterday I still mourned the loss of time for my brother… I should have realized he had already accomplished everything he was put on earth to accomplish..through his kind, loving presence that brought out the best in everyone he met.

When I later located this John O’Donohue (my favorite Irish poet) poem…I knew I was on the right track of thinking and remembering my brother’s gift of life.

Two different authors…the same conclusion. A beautiful God Wink.

Here is what I saw yesterday as the beauty unfolded while I continued planting, transferring pots and plants, watering, and finding my own soul’s rhythm of delight.

***A Very Big Shout-Out to Our Beloved “Mountain Mama” – Honey Burrell who supplies us with pictures of snow for us lowlanders to marvel at and spectacular mountain views for our hearts and souls.

Happy Birthday Honey! And many more…. There is no doubt that one day if we look up the words…kind, loving, or generosity in the dictionary …there will only be a two-word definition by each term-Honey Burrell!

* Now I need the Chapelofhopestories/blog readers to say a prayer for Betsy Clarkson (Crick) ….our ‘little” (next generation) Ya Ya….daughter of Libby who is going through an over-abundance of tests/procedures right now to try and balance out many of her vital  stat numbers…due to the removal of her thyroid and parathyroids- rare malignancy…a few years back

She has since been on artificial drug treatments to simulate what was removed…but lately this balancing act has faltered and the family could sure use your prayers that the medical staff can find the right proportions to get her body regulated again. Everything is a domino effect right now.

Thank you so much….her family thanks you from the bottom of their hearts.

Dear Reader:

All day yesterday I had my mind on a special friend’s birthday coming up Thursday…I was wrapping and packaging and getting the birthday gift ready to send. I was just waiting for it to stop raining before running to the car…it was very cool, chilly morning.

By afternoon the skies were brightening…I grabbed my jacket and the package and headed out the door. I have discovered that Ace’s Hardware store is the place to mail packages…the line isn’t so long and you can get in and out in a flash.

By the time I got home the late afternoon sun was really out…the sun’s rays reflecting off pools of water throughout the yard and garden. It was a little cool but just drop-dead gorgeous… the entrance to my garden was calling me.

I checked the extended forecast…a few chilly nights but sunny days and no rain…Hallelujah…I took the sofa pillows, chairs, and decorative flags back out in the garden to put up.

Today is supposed to be near 70 so if anyone stops by…just walk around to the back yard and garden…that is where I will be…for several reasons… besides planting.

Today I need to be somewhere special to have some quiet reflective time. It is the anniversary of my brother David’s death when he was only 21. I think how gracious God has been to me, even with tricky health problems…extending my life while David’s was cut so short…actually over before it got started.

Don’t we all have lists of questions ….those profound “why” questions ready to discuss with God when it is our turn to leave?…David’s early death is certainly high up on the list…right beside daddy’s early demise and mother’s loss of her hand after losing her husband. Why God? Why?

Author Barbara Johnson calls this visiting the Home of Bewilderment. She observes:

” When you’re in pain because of a loss or because someone is driving you into the Home for the Bewildered, you think you will never be normal again.

A heavy mantle of grief may enclose you in the thick  fog of despair, but tears, talking, and time will work wonders. 

One morning you will wake up and realize suddenly you’re not thinking about your pain. You will actually be able to hear the birds sing or see a fluffy white cloud drift across the sky. 

On that day you will have a glimmer of hope and begin to realize there is something more to life than your specific problem…as terrible as it is to you. 

To put it another way, the night of grief will end and as Psalm 30:5 promises:

JOY COMES IN THE MORNING

The intense pain will ease up. flatten out, and not be so encompassing. Scar tissue may remain from the hurt you suffer, but your deep wounds will heal.

So until tomorrow…

When someone says, “Life is hard,” ask him, “Compared with what?”

Reflection Moment:

Today is not just the anniversary (March 4) of when our family lost David…but my daughter-in-law Kaitlyn and her family lost her older sister Amanda on the same date.

Kaitlyn and I both lost our siblings…gone before their time…or perhaps more correctly…gone before our time to let them go.

I am sure, Kaitlyn, like me….has her list of questions too that she would love answered…those incredibly tough questions that always start with “Why God…Why?”

I hope both of us today can focus on the good times we spent with our siblings, not just the tough ones, and also be thankful for the time we had and the gift we were given.

Amanda and her two precious daughters… and the Swicegood family.

So until tomorrow…

This old slave spiritual still speaks to us when it asks….

” Lord, How Come Me Here?”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh