Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Monday night I turned the station to Hallmark to listen to Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas program with her husband Vince Gill. I was not disappointed….a wonderful program of old Christmas songs and new ones….with a sprinkling of familiar nineties Christmas tunes…my most favorite being “My Grown-Up Christmas List.” 

Quinn Caldwell (All I Really Want...) talks about the important role of Santa Claus to children and what he can teach them about faith in God. Caldwell feels sure God loves old Santa…after all He represents everything good and loving about the Christmas season too. If some people carry Santa too far…it is a problem with the people…not Santa and certainly not God.

Caldwell lists what Santa does:

“Teaches kids about dwelling in mystery, shows them something about wonder, encourages them to believe in things that are impossible and yet too beautiful not to be true, hones their capacity for trusting in miracles, and finally…shows them that you don’t get every single thing you want in this life, but with our God, you will eventually get the one thing you really want…what you so desperately need at the very time you need it the most.”

How good or bad have we ‘adult children’ been this year? How would we rate ourselves on a scale of 1-10? Don’t we still get tempted and easily distracted by shiny things and tend to wander off the given path we are on?

“Yet God loves us so much that even when we wander from Him He refuses to let anything-not distance or our distractions, not danger or disinterest, not our fractiousness or foolishness, keep Him away from us. 

How about this? It’s not about how good or bad we are. Christmas is about how good God is!”

In the beautiful lyrics from the song “My Grown-Up Christmas List” …in which Amy Grant added an additional verse  in 1992 (original lyrics by David Foster) the message is one of adult understanding that there is no gift under the tree that is as important as God’s love for us.

Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies
Well I’m all grown up now
And still need help somehow
I’m not a child but my heart still can dream

So here’s my lifelong wish
My grown up Christmas list
Not for myself but for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end, no
This is my grown up Christmas list

As children we believe
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely wrapped beneath the tree
But Heaven only knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal a heartached human soul

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend…

*(Kelly Clarkson brought this song back to the forefront of popularity when she sang it on the American Idol Christmas special in 2003.)

If you have never listened to this song or the words…do yourself a favor …take a minute and listen now…and if, for any reason, you can’t pull it…find another way to play it and then just listen…it will set the tone for chilly Christmas season day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wti5UAKcS_c

So until tomorrow…I think we can all agree with the stanza (sung by Vince Gill) that this is our “Grown-up Christmas List.”

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end, no
This is my grown up Christmas list

* “Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*An early morning Christmas observation while eating breakfast

I realized yesterday, that no matter where I sit I get to see another part of my Bradford Pear and throughout the course of the arc of the daily sun…it appears different colors under the sun’s lights…from my den to my dining room. What a beautiful piece of art, a wondrous Christmas gift God bestows upon me every day…

And speaking of art…Mandy and Eva Cate  put up two of Anne’s Christmas paintings from the past on the Christmas tree…a wonderful addition!

*Gin-g stopped by with three C’s….a candle, cookies, and a Christmas linen…so great to see you Gin-g and fun to get caught up! Thank you for all you do!

Dear Reader:

Besides my fingers doing the Christmas shopping this year on-line …my mind is trying to remember how I can pull old wreaths and left-over Christmas items from the past and put with other items around the house for a “new” look. With no car and a foot mobile restriction…finding items as physically close to me as possible is this year’s name of the game for Christmas.

K.C. had taken me to Tuesday Morning after I got back from my appointment last Friday with Anne…to see about looking for a wreath. There it was, only the last day of November, and practically all the wreaths and other decorations were gone…I couldn’t believe it…really?

And then Pinterest came through for me…a picture showed up of a rustic-looking piece of wall decor propped up against a wall with a wreath attached to it. It was gorgeous. Hummm…I had the wall decor from the other apartment but I didn’t have an extra wreath beside the two for the side doors that match.

But something lead me over to the other side and deep inside a box in the closet was the wreath pictured above…it had been out in the garage for awhile and the birds had tried to eat the “fake” berries….but hey, why not? A “rustically used” wreath with a rustic wall hanger. It worked.

K.C. and I looked and looked for a burgundy bow to spruce up the two green and cream berry wreaths without any luck.

Then Sunday evening K.C. called all excited…she had gone in a Family Dollar Store and found just the right shade of burgundy ribbon to make two bows for the door wreaths and two small painted wooden signs (in burgundy and green) that spelled out Noel. Perfect! Beautiful bows, K.C.!

It is such a wonderful feeling when old objects are brought back to life again…when something mundane is turned into something exquisite. And it is even more rewarding when we surprise “the pants off” someone with it! It should always be someone who can use a little unexpected delight!

For the past three years I have left poinsettias on all my neighbors’ front porches on December 1 with a little anonymous jingle. This past Saturday was December 1 when Tommy, Mandy, and Eva Cate came to help me decorate for Christmas. It made me sad that my wheelbarrow wasn’t filled with poinsettias as usual… I remembered that it took a couple of years before one neighbor caught me sneaking around and the word was out who the “poinsettia” person was. Still that was fun!

Aren’t there so many people out there at Christmas time that could use a “shot of wonder, a bit of beautiful mystery” in a parcel left  by the door? We need to put as much thought into the surprise gift as we do our children or grandchildren’s stockings.

Maybe it could go to the quiet bus boy at your favorite restaurant, the tired looking sales clerk, the kind-hearted mailman/woman, or the sympathetic policeman who helps you understand the procedures of a theft.

Once we come up with the gift idea…we have “to trust that it has the power to crack open a frightened heart, improve a bad day, or make someone believe in miracles again.”

So until tomorrow…Let us always trust when we offer friend or stranger a gesture of kindness we have made an “opening, even a little one, for God to enter.” (All I Really Want-Quinn Caldwell)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Nature is surprising me with my Bradford Pear!

*I found several of Joan Turner’s original Christmas note card paintings and put them all together…the excitement is building…what will this year’s painting look like?

Dear Reader:

As a child I heard the old expression “The best things in life comes in small packages”…especially from my grandmother since I was always complaining about being the smallest kid in my class through elementary and junior high. It was a quote of personal endearment but as a growing adolescent I still pouted because the other girls were starting to wear bra’s and fitted clothes while I was still stuck in the children’s clothing section through about eighth grade.

This year I am getting a little creative about some of the presents I am giving (with the packaging) myself…the element of surprise is what makes Christmas fun! You will have to wait until Christmas is over for me to reveal the secrets. When you are stuck at home with no car and a “bum” foot …creativity becomes a necessity!

Since the birth of Christ…God continues to show us just how creative He really is! In fact God loves packaging historical events in any way but the expected. Our God loves the Unexpected….here are some examples from a Faith/Gateway newsletter article titled  “Surprise Packaging” excerpted from Devotions for Christmas)

To start with…. the biggest surprise for the children of Israel was in the delivery of the “man” chosen to lead them…this world-altering event was not expected… by any stretch of the imagination.

“The children of Israel were anticipating the coming of the Messiah, and they had a certain image in their minds. They were awaiting the arrival of a military leader who would show up on the scene with a lot of fanfare. They were expecting someone who would demand attention and respect by His very presence. Can you imagine their confusion when the Christ child made His humble entrance into the world?

The Son of God entered our world clothed in the flesh of an infant. God’s plan to redeem and restore His people began with a newborn’s cry. It was the ultimate surprise gift.

Scripture is full of God’s choosing to wrap gifts in mysterious ways. From the heart of a king hidden inside of a shepherd boy to the Messiah in a manger to angels disguised as strangers, He is full of beautiful surprises. Let’s not miss a single one of them!

It’s so easy to get caught up in appearances. We make snap judgments about people, about events in our lives, about the reasons why something seems to have happened. But when we do that, we can miss out on the best gifts. That grouchy neighbor could end up being a lifesaver, or that loss of a job could be an opening to a new path… “

So until tomorrow…May we always take the time to take a second glance at somebody or some situation…because if we rely solely on first impressions…we might miss out on lasting ones.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I wanted to share an important moment with you that centered around a conversation I had yesterday morning with a mailman I had never met who brought a package to my front porch.

I saw him coming and started limping as fast as I could to get to the front door (leading out to the porch) to see how heavy the package was so perhaps he could help me with it if needed.

It was light, however, and I took it from him and casually commented that Christmas probably isn’t his favorite season with all the additional hours and weekends mail carriers end up putting in each year.

He looked directly at me and said, ” I love Christmas and I certainly don’t mind the extra hours because I know when I finish up each day I am going home to people I love…and that is all that is important.”

He continued…”I was in the army for 20 years and stationed overseas a large part of that time…believe me I pulled a lot of extra hours on active duty but in those situations I didn’t know where I would be going after “work” or even what “home” would look like from day to day when we moving out each day.I had nothing to look forward to…except for surviving another day. 

“So you won’t ever hear me complaining about the hours…I am so thankful for this job, my country, and especially my family…I have Christmas every day.”

(He then noticed that I had left “Little Big Red” and a couple of other plants from the porch on the steps to get rain water and I was trying to put one back on the bench when he stopped to help me with it and all the others….amazing…I let him know he made my day…and he did! Packaging in the form of a mailman…the best ever!)

So to answer readers’ questions on when or where I find ideas for stories each day…you just discovered my secret. I receive God Winks in all shapes and sizes…a wonderful gift!

The Turner family used another type of transportation to see all the lights at the Christmas Festival of Lights…the train that circles the festival…always fun….it really gets everyone in the Christmas mood.

*Inside the “box car” on the Christmas train Advent Calendar on December 3, is a note remembering my younger brother’s birthday. David, I miss you every day and will always remember you for your kind and gentle manner.

Rutledge and a classmate, Maggie Lynch(Sarah Bailey’s little girl) went to see The Nutcracker this weekend. Eloise was content to enjoy the treats of Christmas present.

Dear Reader:

This little Advent Train (I picked up about three Christmases ago) remains  the “hit” of the Christmas season when the grandchildren come to visit. It is the first thing they run towards. There is something alluring about opening drawers or boxes to find out what is inside…the suspense of Christmas is always the best time.

When Rutledge was here a couple of weeks ago…before Thanksgiving even…he wanted to know where “that secret train was”…so he could open the drawers inside. We humans are drawn to the unknown….curious as to what is inside anything blocking our entrance.

Waiting on Christmas through glimpses from an Advent Calendar (with compartments closed except for one particular day) is pretty much how we live our lives…only we are too busy to stop and consider this observation. We wake up each morning wondering what the day holds for us…will it be a good day or not, will it bring a fun surprise or a disappointing let-down, will a particularly trying situation in our lives be solved or more complicated on this day, will personal relations between the people in our lives be reconciled or continued in a strained atmosphere?  What will the day bring us?

If we are lucky we get a fraction of a second glimpse into the meaning of our lives and for just a moment everything is clear, life shines brighter…but alas, it never lasts long enough to capture the glimpse of the meaning of life for us living out out daily lives, stored in our memory boxes. Life returns to a seemingly random pattern of crazy, puzzling increments.

There is a reason why each of our life stories require pauses instead of letting us read the last paragraph before our “book” is finished. Life doesn’t make sense until the daily acts of life we live come together in a pattern that is impossible for us to decipher until the last piece…the last sentence has been written.

Faith…it is faith that keeps us in our own story…  day in and day out And it is when we pause long enough to get a glimpse of the pattern of the design we are achieving step by step that we realize how important the pauses are in our life….in fact they are the benchmarks in our life. There is a wide diversity of pauses. Yesterday brought several pauses into my consciousness.

My neighbor Luke picked up my Christmas tree for me this year and got it set up and placed in my happy room Wednesday evening. Then yesterday Tommy and Mandy (and Eva Cate) paused from their daily routines to come help get the lights on my tree and trim it. Tommy cleaned off the mantle and got the large wreath and all the boxes and tubs of Christmas paraphernalia lugged over to my side to decorate.

And within that one pause of generosity of time…came many other pauses created out of it…pauses of bursts of delight, pauses of patience (always when putting on the lights) pauses of laughter, and pauses of friendship as Debbie Baker and her daughter, Julie, came bringing supper…a wonderful pause to reunite Mandy and Julie again…they grew up together!

The culmination of all those pauses yesterday was a house that became a home for the holidays. Christmas arrived on a rainy, blustery day with the warmth of family and friends inside…exactly what Christmas is all about!

Tommy, Mandy, Eva Cate, and my four grand-dogs all arrived at the same time….crazy, chaotic and wonderful…just what Christmas decorating should be!

Mandy, Eva Cate, and I took a lunch break for the girls to go to the tea room…Eva Cate loves going there and guess who we found….Doodle, Lassie, and Carrie. What fun!

We returned home to finish trimming the tree and Mandy finished trimming the mantel that Tommy had cleaned and placed all the Christmas decorations on for me.

 Eva Cate helped her mom sweep up after all the decorating and get everything placed back again….this mother- daughter team of elves worked hard all afternoon!

But they also managed to have some fun along the way!

And the End Result: Our Christmas is ablaze with beauty and love!

So until tomorrow…Let’s remember that God is revealing Himself in slow-random-seeming increments…just little glimpses here and there of the story whose end He only knows. It is our job to pause and look for God in the most “usual” (not unusual) places that exist in our daily world. It is where we will find Him!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Kaitlyn and Tommy’s dogs (Shatzi and Khaleese) made it in a local magazine edition (Lowcountry Dog Magazine) on adopting older dogs. If you are a dog lover, especially an adoptive dog lover, you will love this article.

Lowcountry Dog Magazine- Dec/Jan 2019:
https://issuu.com/bjfoster74/docs/lowcountry_dog_magazine-_dec_jan_20_332249ddb4e733

*There was one table and one tray that had to be left alone yesterday while decorating for Christmas….the “All In” Clemson flag and planter… and the Mary and Honey Clemson vases and candle tray. (I will be the first to admit I am superstitious when it comes to Clemson football…nothing can be moved until the last game is over….which I am hoping will be in January! Way to go Clemson last night!!! Love my Tigers!)

Dear Reader:

Welcome December…the month of memories and joy! What is it about Christmas that brings past memories to the forefront faster than any other month? There really is something magical about this time of year. It is also the time when churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike tend to experience strong spiritual longings.

There is a deep yearning in all of us (as creations and children of God) for an experience to be fulfilled greater than anything our imaginations can conjure up in our minds. It is a time when our hearts demand more happenstances than our brains…we want something extraordinary to happen…something that changes our lives forever…something like time with our Creator.

All we have to do is create enough time and room for this to happen this month …enough room for God to show up and wish us all a “Very Merry Christmas!” Perhaps December’s slogan should be “Make Room for the Creator… Who made Room for Us to be Created!” 

*Don’t forget to say “Rabbit” today. The combination of spirituality and magic this month shows up in the first of the month “Rabbit” photo. I discovered little Tinker Bell in last year’s Christmas’s little fir tree plant while looking over last year’s decorations (how it survived without watering I don’t know) so I placed little rabbit next to the most popular fairy….a combination of magic, luck, and the true essence of Christmas.

Lucy, one of Anne’s sisters first sent me ‘”Little Tink” (Tinker Bell) for my garden several years ago. It got to be an on-going joke between us where I would lose Tinker Bell next. Tinker has ended up under cement benches, in a bird’s nest, and now in last year’s little Christmas fir tree planter. Here is an excerpt from the email I sent Lucy!

I was pulling out some Christmas decorations from last year and noticed a little fir tree planter someone gave me for Christmas…it had been left out on a table in the back room and forgotten…no water…little light…yet it was still alive. And guess who was in it…Little Tinker Bell…she must have scattered her magical pixie dust over the plant to keep it alive.

I have come to the realization that Little Tink never gets lost…but my memory does…still she manages to find a way to help me find her again every year. Doesn’t God do the same for us? We get lost along our journey but God makes sure we can find Him whenever we need Him! (God has the best built-in GPS…ever!)

Anne took me for my doctor’s appointment yesterday. We were just ‘clicking’ along having the best time catching up until we turned off I-26 and got on 526. There had been a wreck and we were stuck in a slow-moving mobile “parking lot” that put us back about half-an-hour.

Miraculously we had left early so we ended up only being about ten minutes late…it pays to leave early for appointments these days (with lowcountry heavy traffic a “given.”) One never knows what the roadways will surprise us with… on any given day.

Even on frustrating ‘stuck in traffic’ days God continues to have a sense of humor. A jeep pulled ahead of us and as we read the phrase on the back of his vehicle we had to laugh….”No Problem…with Problem spelled upside down.!

When we did get to the Comprehensive Wound Center in Mt. Pleasant we had another “pleasant” surprise! A representative from the medical company Organogenesis ( PSST! Quite the cutie!)  had come to observe the amniotic membrane being placed in the wound. (I believe I was the first patient to try this new procedure…lucky me.)

Wayne (representative) told Anne and me that this was the newest medical technology out there for my kind of wound. The membrane is a living membrane. Affinity stores the product in its fresh state, retaining its native tissue…the process avoids the extremes of heat and cold which can cause tissue damage or loss. It is the only fresh amniotic membrane that is not dehydrated or frozen.)

It  allows the fresh amniotic tissue allograft to maintain its structural viability for 42 days…longer than ever before. It is stored in this “fresh state”…(at least the color red works for December!)

So until tomorrow…Let us never forget that December is the month for miracles, especially as witnessed by the birth of Jesus Christ. And every day miracles continue to be witnessed by people like you and me… For me…seeing modern day medicine as another miracle  is bringing hope to many of us who would have had a much more difficult path to follow with breast cancer and severe wounds… only a short time ago.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

It is hard to believe that November is coming to an end, the last day of the month (30), and tomorrow December arrives! To be quite honest…the days, since the original Mohs surgery, on October 9 are hazy now. The individual days throughout the past two months have been a continuous stream of appointments…preparations for appointments, getting drivers for appointments, resting after the appointments…in fact October and November seem to have been just one big appointment extended over intervals for almost two months.

My mind still works at the same pace, prior to the Mohs surgery, (ready to jump up and go at a minute’s notice) but now these days, it stops immediately and the alarm system goes off reminding me that “No…you can’t go hop in the car and run this errand or that errand (no car) or go to this or that entertainment (foot up)…or hop around in a store for longer than a hop in and out and back on the recliner with the foot up.” 

This month is going to be particularly hard because I love decorating for Christmas. Since many of the decorations are split between the two apartments it is hard to direct someone helping as to where this or that wreath is or box of ornaments are and what they look like. I just always knew where to look and/or the places to check. Needless to say…it is situations like these that are the most frustrating.

But then I have to make myself stop and take a step back. EXHALE!

Whew! Everything is all right…I am alive, I am blessed beyond words, and Christmas will come rather I am running around decorating or sitting in a recliner with my foot up. It will come.

I keep reminding myself that our heart is known by the path we walk… not the marathon of circles we run around…especially at Christmas. What I miss the most are the sounds and smells of Christmas. Luke got my Christmas tree Wednesday night and left it in its stand for some of the family to trim it this Saturday when they come.. When he returned (with a most delicious chili from his wife Chelsey)…he commented on how wonderful the room smelled…that Christmas pine smell.

This comment made me sad…I have been on chemo for so long my sense of smell is almost gone…I can’t smell Christmas in my house anymore. Still I do feel great joy and love the world for it…while great sadness has taught me to understand the world better. Being a Libra I know the scales will eventually balance again in my life.

My first instinct as I look around the den with all its nooks and crannies is filling it in with something “Christmas Wonderful” like…toys, books, soft blankets, Christmas goodie treats etc. My life is pretty small but I can still dream big dreams…and for me faith and hope lie in the corners of life.

Every day we walk (or in my case) reflect among subtle possibilities …the dreams of something that change one’s life’s aspirations. Our questions might be big but the best answers are the short, simple ones.

One sense that has sharpened with time is listening (My word of the year for the past two years)…After two months of more solitude than I have spent with myself for a long time, I can now distinguish the shape of silence that encircles me. This total silence reminds us that the “world is larger than the events that fill our days.” (* Kent Nerburn/Small Graces) 

So until tomorrow…while we are alive until we die we are all following the light and what a beckon of hope and faith it is to all of us.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Lassie ran me over to the Charleston Cancer Center yesterday to pick up my next month’s supply of medicine. On the way back we decided we both wanted to go to our favorite tea room and pick up their wonderful chicken salad to take home and eat for lunch. Like the name of the restaurant it really was “Time Well Spent.”

I forgot my iPhone so Lassie took some pictures for me inside…it was so joyous to be around beautifully decorated Christmas dining rooms and hear the joy and mirth of people feeling the holiday spirit. Thank you Lassie for that much-needed treat of sight and sound.

Dear Reader:

When I came across this beautiful story about a ninety-six year old kindergarten teacher who has touched so many lives throughout her entire life using a magic mirror…my faith in the human spirit  was lifted. This is the story of Betty Peck…one of the most marvelous human beings you will ever meet.

The phrase that runs around the mirror leading out into the garden says:

“Thank you for every magic moment that makes it possible for me to stand here and to feel how truly wonderful I am!” (Whenever a child is feeling sad….Betty would put her arm around their shoulders and lead them to the magic mirror…it worked every time as she had the child repeat the words after her.)

To share her beliefs and to offer them as a gift to
parents and teachers, Betty wrote a Kindergarten
Creed:

I bring the gift of myself to this celebration of life
we call the kindergarten. I come each day to be refined,
smoothed, and tempered, for I hold in my hands with
wonder and gratitude the future. The seeds of the future are
in the oneness of all nature, all people in tune with the divine
to be found in our hearts that I give through the joy and
beauty of love.”

For over fifty years Betty Peck brought five-year-old children into her secret garden…and provided all the seeds needed for them to blossom into amazing individuals. Today many of these students have never forgotten that extraordinary teacher…some have written books about her and told her story. In fact her first class of students are now in their 70’s and return for reunions with their grandchildren and some great-grandchildren.

She started teaching kindergarten in one school until she realized that  time and place restrictions differed from her vision of what the kindergarten experience should be like…

so she left. Then one day another principal approached her:

Well, Imagine!

In the early 1970s, Marv Steinberg, a principal of
nearby Oak Street Elementary School (where Betty’s husband, WillysPeck,attended as a child) approached Betty to start
a kindergarten. Betty said, “I won’t come unless my
door opens into a garden and I have a built-in oven for
baking bread.” He replied, “You may have anything
you want. I love your philosophy and everything you
do. I want you to do it all right here in my school.”

“What an endorsement! It was so exciting. Well,
imagine! I wish every teacher could be told this, that
they could do what they felt was right.” At Oak Street
School, Betty organized her kindergarten room around
the four corners of the Earth. There was a place
for the sun, the moon, the garden, and the kitchen.
Connecting the children to nature was accomplished
in every way. Dressed in a traditional dirndl (a white
blouse belted with a full shirt), Betty had several
dresses fashioned for each season.

She taught science with an indoor garden, to
reflect what was happening outside. And on the back
wall of the room was a beautifully painted tree. The
children would attend to the tree, depending on the
season, adding fall leaves or spring blossoms, and every
Thursday was garden day.

The child who worked the hardest would be granted a crown to be king or queen of ecology for the day. And the crowned child would
have the honor of passing pieces of fresh-baked bread
to everyone. May Day was always special…with the promise of more seeds to plant.

Her classroom also had a “Cinderella” rug which
held the “Mother’s Lap,” a comfy large chair where
Betty would sit and tell stories, the children all seated
around her in a “moon boat” or crescent shape. And
many of the children would dress up in silks and
colored cloth for story time. There was a natural
rhythm and routine to each day. And at the beginning
and at the end, the children would be greeted or sent
off with a hug while Betty sang good morning or good-bye to them.

Today videos/films document Betty’s fullfilling life…an example of a life-time learner at its best.

Last year, after Betty’s popular and well-known husband Willys (Saratoga, California) died a fund was started to build a bench with both their statues sitting on it…an amazing couple comprised of two amazing individuals.

So until tomorrow…Let us thank God for the Betty Peck’s of the world who touch so many lives throughout their own and set a high standard for all of us to follow.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Cindy Ashley stopped by with some souvenirs from France and a book she thinks I will like…soon I will have my own “”foot up” library! Loved the opportunity to catch up Cindy. Thank you so much for everything including your time!

*Susan Swicegood told me to thank everyone again for their prayers for her brother Rusty…He will return this Monday to his doctor to find out the results of his surgery and other tests….keep those prayers coming. They are most appreciated!

Dear Reader:

Thank you for all your prayers…yesterday I got to put WV (my wound vac machine) on the “Midnight Train to Georgia”…at least as far as Atlanta. (From where it came!)

(Actually the nurses came and got all the components of the wound vac machine and are sending the whole thing back for me. Hallelujah! Joy to the World!)

Now that I am off the gurgling machine and all the inconveniences of lugging it around with me 24/7 I know that I would have been terribly disappointed if I had been suited up with it again yesterday.

There was some discussion between the nurses and doctor about the next step but Dr. Edwards thought it was fine to proceed with the next stage of the skin grafts…building more “bridges” in the wound. I have to go back Friday to get another “piece of the puzzle” put in and then after that it looks like my appointments might settle down to a once-a-week routine instead of two. Another victory in my on-going battle!

On the way home…everything looked brighter, more beautiful than on the way there (I was very nervous.) I felt so many problems lifted off my shoulders…I felt joy down in my heart. I had just read a devotion that brought out an idea I hadn’t contemplated before. Basically it said that …“Maybe we need to quit letting our circumstances get between us and God and instead let God get between us and our circumstances.” 

In the excerpt from  Speak to the Mountain (Mark Batterson) …Batterson says ” Maybe we need to stop talking to God about our problems and start talking to our problems about God.”

Even in my my recent situation…I should have known my problem would have a solution…perhaps not the one I wanted at the exact moment that I wanted it…but still it basically comes down to our faith…Who do we think is bigger: Our problem or God?

So until tomorrow…If God was your answer then rest assured your problem will be handled…in God’s time.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Susan Cadwell has a “Big Red” succulent, in the form of a cactus, I gave her for her birthday ten years ago. When she moved to Conway she took it with her and when she moved back to Summerville this past week-(her birthday week)…guess who came with her…”Big Cactus!” She sent me this picture.

Vickie, my marvelous neighbor, took me to my appointment yesterday and, then, we rode around the neighborhood, on the way home, admiring the beauties of fall before us.

When we got to the house Vickie helped me unload some groceries from the car and then took a picture of me feeling bathed in pure joy. A taste of freedom…no attachments required, needed, or wanted!

God was and is bigger than my problem…Thank you God for continuing to hold my hand through each drawn out procedure and teaching me patience along the way.

*I knew it was going to be a good day when the mailman arrived at 7:45 a.m…. rang the doorbell and was heading back down the road when I opened it to find some mail and packages left for me…one of which was Louise Penny’s latest book. I texted Anne immediately to let her know today was “P” Day…Penny’s latest detective story with our love, Armand Gamache! *”Little Big Red” enjoyed spending the night inside I do believe!

*Also the Swicegoods thank you for prayers for Uncle Rusty…the operation is over and he is home awaiting more information on what additional procedure might lay ahead.

Dear Reader:

Intuitively I knew as I glanced at the fence from the back deck yesterday morning that I was probably seeing the last morning glory blooms for the season…a cold front is approaching with temperatures around the freezing mark at night…so the late fall flowers that have been holding on tenuously will probably ‘let go.’

The two different colored- morning glories (holding on to each other) as if for comfort touched me. Suddenly one story and observation by Archibald Rutledge (from his book Life’s Extras) came flowing back to me.

He had visited a neighbor’s cabin to see if he could help since the family was going through troubled times. On the way to the cabin Rutledge noticed that “the rhododendrons were in blossom.” He commented: “There may be a more beautiful flower, but I have not seen it…to look at this wondrous flower and not to feel that God exquisitely designed it with precision and nobility of purpose is to me incredible. “

When Rutledge entered the cabin carrying food and other provisions he noticed on the humble mantel a small bottle that functioned as a vase. Inside it was a sprig of rhododendron blossom. Rutledge politely commented on its beauty.

The young hostess looked back at him and said, “I don’t know why but to have it there helps me. It ‘minds me of God.’ 

Rutledge commented on this response (that he never forgot) by saying:

“I have always loved the eloquence of simple people. What they say, coming from the heart, often goes straight to the heart. ‘It minds me of God.’ I never see a rhododendron without remembering that, and are not all of life’s extras reminders of the love and the yearning compassion of God?”

How true…don’t we find God in the simplest things throughout our daily lives? I will never forget the sight yesterday of the two morning glories holding each other…knowing their time to bloom is coming to an end…but also knowing what beauty they have given me/everyone since early spring…a lifetime of beauty.

So until tomorrow…As we apply these words of wisdom to finding God in simplicity…let us keep this thought through Advent and Christmas…keeping it simple this year by putting God’s “presence over presents.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Today I return to the Comprehensive Wound Center to see how my foot did this week without the Wound Vac machine..I am praying that the wound did well and I can return the machine…that would be a wonderful early Christmas present.

Some more photos of the back yard in its waning stages…there is so much beauty even in nature on the way out…one last glorious hurrah!

Dear Reader:

This upcoming week is a very special week…. (the last week of November) The calm before the storm. The Week that is.

It is exactly one week before Advent starts next Sunday December 2 and runs through December 24. One week…until the pressure begins, the stress follows and suddenly like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland we find ourselves feeling like we are falling into a deep black hole where time has run out for us preparing for Christmas.  We are “late, late, for every important date…no time to say hello or good-bye.”

 We have let the commercialism of Christmas pull us into thinking that spending money is Christmas…when actually Christmas arrives in the form of loved ones…parents, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. It arrives in the form of a little baby born in a manger. It arrives in the form of strangers who need our help.

I heard something yesterday that made me reach over and pick up a pen to write the statement down…I don’t think I will ever forget it…a true Christmas gift for me and anyone else listening who caught the magnificent significance of the remark.

I was watching the Coach Dabo Show and every week he highlights one of the many coaches on the Clemson team. This past week it was Mike Dooley who went from coaching tight ends to administration (working with high school relationships and recruiting… to being the man in charge of transportation)…a huge job!

He told Coach Dabo that one of his pastors said something one morning (in the pulpit) that has stayed with him ever since…and made him aware of the amazing power and responsibility each of us has on others throughout our lives. This is especially important to him while working with young men… teaching them not only about football…but life and how to be the best person they can be.

Remember…There are more people who are going to read YOU than ever read the Bible.  (Wow! Wasn’t that powerful!??)

I think my most important Christmas goal this year will be working harder on the image I am leaving with people I know and love…and even those I have yet to meet. The nice thing about a legacy is that it is always on-going until the day we take our last breath…so we can change it at any moment we choose.

As much as I am so ready to be back on my feet normally, walking normally…this physical setback has provided me with the most glorious gift of all…time. This year my fingers will do the walking…shopping for loved ones…I won’t be out fighting the crowds or running around from place to place trying to fit everything in with the exception of the most important thing…Christ.

The best gifts will be from family and friends helping me put up some decorations, my tree, and even this will  be toned down  a degree or two. Most of all…just visits…this year I will have time to just sit and talk with friends I haven’t seen in awhile…the best time spent at Christmas.

So I am calling the week before Advent… Exhale Week. I will take a deep breath and exhale away ridiculous expectations of a perfect Hallmark Christmas (no such thing) and instead breathe in the gift of now…not some date on a calendar…but truly strive to bring the symbolism of Christmas into my life every single day of the year.

And if I tend to be a little “bonkers” now and then and surround myself with other “bonkers”… it is just me being me…after all shouldn’t we, everyone, be Bonkers about God and Christmas!

So until tomorrow….Let us remember to keep walking forward along our path and not try to find our way back home…back home is always in front of us.

*I just received some sad news from Kaitlyn and her mother, Susan, concerning Susan’s younger brother, Rusty. He has been undergoing a lot of medical tests and was home for Thanksgiving but has had to return to the hospital…a tumor taken from his bladder has come back as cancerous and now one kidney isn’t working.

Obviously the whole family is worried and I know they would appreciate prayers for Kaitlyn’s Uncle Rusty as he awaits more information on his condition and especially this morning as he faces surgery. From experience I know you are some of the best ‘prayer warriors’ around and I, also, know the power of prayer firsthand from all of you. Let’s share it now with the Swicegoods. Thank you.