Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

There are few people, around the globe, that haven’t heard of Prince Harry and his soon-to-be American bride Meghan. There has been much fanfare leading up to the royal wedding tomorrow…for some maybe too much fanfare. (In fact some of you might be lamenting right now….“No…not here on Chapelofhopestories.com.’ Come on Becky!”)

What can I say? I am a hopeless romantic at heart and you certainly know I am a huge reader, lover, and supporter of fairy tales. This romance definitely has all the ingredients needed for one. It started out as a “Once Upon a Time”  chance meeting (blind date)… and we all hope it will end up “Happily Ever After.” This old war-weary world can certainly use a little more romance and a lot more love.

However, this story, I discovered from GuidePost, isn’t about Harry and Meghan…but it is about the Queen (Elizabeth) and a prediction that comes true after much time has passed…with many twists and turns along the way . Curious? Start reading!

Source: GuidePost/Mysterious Ways (“Mum Knows Best”) – author” Sheila Brady

Mum called me into the kitchen the minute I got home from school.

“Sit down, Sheila,” she said. “I want to tell you something.”

She was so stern that I sat up straight in my chair. I was 16 at the time. Maybe she was about to impart some special life wisdom now that I was almost an adult. Ev­eryone knew my mother gave the best advice. All the kids in our neigh­borhood came to see her whenever they had a problem.

Mum fiddled with the pearls at her neck and smoothed the wrinkles in her plaid skirt. Finally she spoke.

“Sheila, I want to prepare you,” she said, “for when you meet the Queen.”

The Queen? I almost burst out laughing. Was this some kind of joke? But Mum wasn’t smiling.

“The Queen of England?” I asked. There was no other queen it could be. Mum was an Anglophile—she loved nothing more than a good cup of English breakfast tea and a feath­ered wedding hat. My brother had even taken to calling her Mum. The name stuck. But we were as far re­moved from royalty as you could get. We lived in upstate New York. Dad was a refrigerator repairman. I was the youngest of 11 kids in a big Catholic family. Why would I need to know how to meet a queen?

You’ll need to be dressed proper­ly, of course,” Mum continued, obliv­ious to my shock. “Go to Harrods department store in London. Tell them you’re going to meet the Queen. They have people on duty there who can help you shop for just that occasion.”

Mum went through more particu­lars. She sounded as smart and practical as always. How in the world had this crazy notion gotten into her? She was a totally down-to-earth person! Before I could question her, she got up and started supper.

We never mentioned the conversation again. She never brought up meeting the Queen to any of my siblings. After that, she simply went back to giving me advice I could actually use.

I’d long forgotten about the whole thing by the time I moved to New York City after college and became a marketing consultant for a publishing company. Eventually, I started my own business. I couldn’t have done it without Mum. Although she’d never been in business herself, she knew all the keys to success.

Even after Mum passed away, I re­lied on her wisdom. I even passed it on to others. Like Sarah, a young English girl about 20 years younger than me, whom I met through work. She’d lost her mother while still in college, and I tried to help her the way Mum had always helped me. Sarah married a young man named Alistair, who worked for the British Foreign Office, and she asked me to give her away at the wedding. She moved to England, but we stayed in touch.

Sarah had been married for 10 years when I got a call from her. “Alistair’s been appointed British ambassador to Zambia!” she told me.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” I said. “Congratulations!”

“Don’t congratulate me yet,” she said. “We’ve been invited to a private meeting with the Queen. I have absolutely no idea what to wear.…”

Mum’s face rose before me, as calm and serious as it had been that day in the kitchen. Somehow Mum had known. The advice hadn’t been for me.… It was for Sarah!

“Sheila? Sheila, are you still there?” Sarah said.

“Yes, sorry, I’m here,” I said. “Here’s what you need to do. First, go to Harrods.…”

Sarah called me back the next week and told me all about her private meeting with the Queen. “It was just as you said,” Sarah said. I couldn’t help but feel as if Mum had been listening in on our conversation, no longer stern but smiling.

Years later, I got an e-mail from Sarah. Alistair had been promoted to Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps. “One of his duties is organizing royal garden parties,” Sarah wrote. How Mum would have loved that! I read the next line of Sarah’s e-mail, though, and almost fell off my chair. I had to read it twice, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“Sheila, how would you like to be our guest at the next party?” Sarah wrote. “What do you say…would you like to meet the Queen?”

That’s how I wound up at Buckingham Palace in London one sunny afternoon in June. Dressed to perfection in a black dress with a polka-dot jacket and matching hat. And the string of pearls that had once be­longed to Mum. I took a deep breath as Alistair approached me in the Royal Tea Tent, a petite woman by his side. I tried to remember everything I’d been taught all those years ago.

“This is Sheila Brady,” Alistair said. “My guest from New York. Her  Majesty took my hand in her own. “How lovely,” she said.

Lovely indeed. Just as Mum had always known it would be.

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So until tomorrow….I love it when the Universe winks at us and opens our eyes to all the surprises still left to come.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*What fun Anne’s “groupies” had (that’s us) last night at the The Little Cottage Community Cafe listening to the Old Tickers’ Band.Wonderful, fun music that brought back a lot of nostalgia among all of us. When I got there my two all-time favorite couples from church already had a table and I hopped right in.

Bob and Joan Semle, Dee and Mike Lesko…so happy y’all were there! Fun band, music, refreshments, and friendship…it doesn’t get much better than this!

Look what I pulled up next to when I parked at the cafe…what a beauty from the past! And speaking of simple beauty…is there anything more beautiful than a daisy in a clear vase of water…simplicity at its best!

Dear Reader:

I recently read a short reading from Awakin.org called “Death Connects Us to Life” (Somik Raha) which made me think about the connection between the beginning and ending of our lives as a perfect circle…we don’t have one without the other. One is a first birth to join the family of humanity on earth, the second birth is to return Home from whence we came…both celebrations. The author shares these thoughts…

Growing up with monastic teachings around the impermanence of life, I got the opportunity to apply them when my grandmother passed on, followed by my grandfather in quick succession. I told myself that it was only the body that had died. Their souls were eternal and therefore, there was nothing to grieve for.

Only years later would I realize that I had short-circuited my feelings of love toward my grandparents. That I had to allow those feelings to find their expression in an authentic way. By not giving myself that space, I had numbed myself to my own feelings.

It would take many years of heavy lifting for me to realize that death connects us to life. Our own life. It is an opportunity not just to remember the impermanence of our lives and reflect on our purpose of living. It is also an opportunity to feel the well-spring of love and gratitude in its fullness through the process of grieving.

Perhaps it is for this reason that ancient cultures prescribed a cessation of normal work for a period of time that was proportional to the depth of the relationship with the departed one. During this time, they would receive the full support of their communities in creating a space where they could safely connect to the fullness of their feelings. They were thus allowed an opportunity to get to true acceptance, and not just intellectual acceptance of the transition of  a loved one.

A sign of the kind of acceptance we have arrived at is whether we are feeling wholeness or fragmentation by the loss. Wholeness comes from true acceptance of every feeling that emerges within us in relation to the one who is no longer with us. Fragmentation is what results when we are afraid to feel the sadness that has resulted from the departure. Fragmentation traps us into searching for that love in every space except where it can be truly found — in our own hearts.

Wholeness, on the other hand, allows us to absorb the essence of the love we felt for the departed one and make it a permanent part of our being. That absorption frees us from fearing our feelings and roots us in joy and gratitude for having been touched, however briefly, by another life.

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Death was certainly understood by our “ancients” (set aside time for bereavement) who came before us much better than modern man today  who has a tendency to shorten the funeral time/bereavement as much as possible…in the anxiousness to return to work, a ‘normal’ routine, and try to put the loss behind as quickly as possible.

(Or as the author commented….we only allow ourselves a ‘fragmented’ slice of sorrow….not committing ourselves to the ‘wholeness’ of feeling the grief of the loss of the physical presence of our beloved in its entire depth.)

Yet haven’t most of us experienced what happens when we don’t fully grieve for a loved one that goes before us. We go along our regular lives saying things like “It was a truly a blessing when she passed” and other similar axioms about terminal illnesses…only to fall apart, months or even years later,  when someone happens to orally phrase a familiar expression of that loved one….Suddenly we find ourselves sobbing like a child. Grief can not be compartmentalized….it must be felt wholly.

I think when grandparents were still a part of the family… to the extent that the children and grandchildren all were involved in the last days of caring for a loved one…death did seem more natural than dying in care facilities or hospitals somewhere else. The unknown is more frightening to a child than the reality of the natural process of birth and death.

I loved this one response/comment to the reading by a reader, Sheetal, who described his own family togetherness during his mother-in-law’s last days.

“We witnessed a very celebrated death of my mother-in-law  recently. She was diagnosed with a  sudden cancer and she decided on no treatment. She said we would do prayer circles at home and she would love to see her loved ones once again.

In a month’s time she passed away, the whole month we celebrated each and every day. There was so much joy! And when we would discuss death with her and say “Mom we will miss you” she would reply saying ” You are still attached to the body…but I am leaving it…soon…soon my children.”

We cried and laughed together before she passed away. No mourning after that. We lived each feeling fully with her. I think that’s what taught us to deal with her passing with ease and peace.

“We learned that no death is “untimely” since we think in linear time. But its nature’s way, God’s time when we leave this earth. In this life we are all sitting with a boarding pass, not knowing when the flight will take off.”

So until tomorrow…I love that last statement…what a wonderful metaphor! We each hold our life passport tightly, clenched in our fists, until one day…when we are told it is time to board our last flight.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I was so sad that due to all the heavy traffic congestion in Charleston (stemming from the closed Wando Bridge) that I couldn’t attend Jakie’s end of the year performance in downtown Charleston. I was all ready to drive over until one ‘snap cable’ changed my plans, along with thousands of other motorists’ daily schedules and lives…which according to the news report yesterday afternoon will last 3o more days. Patience is definitely being tested with many end of the year events being challenged by the obstacles to get there.

John sent me a video however and I had to laugh. Last year Jakie got stage fright (in the two year old class) and put his hands over his face peeping out between his fingers…for the entire performance.

But glance at Master Jakie (in his yellow shirt this year) he was loving the attention and applause…quite comfortable in the limelight surrounded by all his adoring girlfriends (just two boys in the whole class.) What a difference a year makes!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZLBR2nZ0gLpBWXkk2

Dear Reader:

Today we hear the term “Random Acts of Kindness” so much that, perhaps at some point, we forget kindness is more than just a random act; it can be a spontaneous thought turned into immediate action. All hesitations disappear concerning ‘Should I’ pauses and are replaced by “I must do this‘ actions.

Anne is my most spontaneous friend….for awhile we got really good at spontaneous suppers, lunches, and day adventures together. A lunch or supper invitation would arrive half an hour before the meal or, perhaps, a trip somewhere in the lowcountry we both wanted to see.

One is always taking a chance at ‘last-minute’ invitations…obviously they don’t always work out…but when they do…they are always more fun and memorable. There is an aura of anticipation about doing something unexpected and un-planned that adds an extra layer of excitement.

This holds true with acts of kindness also. Some of you might have already seen this endearing act of kindness on one of the CBS News channels or Facebook but I just discovered it through an email by a kindness website (KindSpring.org) I am a member of…and it really touched me.

Random Math Teacher Turns NYC Subway into Classroom for Struggling Dad

This photo of two subway passengers sharing a moment of compassion is going viral for all the right reasons.

Corey Simmons had been taking advantage of his lengthy New York City train ride to study up on mathematics. His son, who is in the third grade, was having trouble with fractions- so Simmons took it upon himself to relearn the formulas.

But considering it has been almost 30 years since Simmons had to do elementary school math, he was having trouble with some of the problems. As he was studying on the subway, however, a man sat next to him and asked what he was doing?

Simmons explained how he was trying to relearn fractions so he could help his son in school. The other man then said that he used to be a math teacher and he would be more than happy to help Simmons.

A nearby subway passenger named, Denise Wilson, overheard the exchange, snapped a photo of the two men and posted it to Facebook.

“Simmons asked the guy to quiz him and everything he got wrong or was confused about, he broke it down and corrected him,” says Wilson. “By the end of the train ride, Simmons had a better understanding.”

Though the math teacher left before anyone could catch his name, Wilson was struck by how inspiring the interaction had been.

“I started tearing up, Wilson told CBS. “It was just one person helping another, and I thought that was beautiful.”

This spontaneous act of kindness touched me on two different levels…that Simmons demonstrated that the stereotype of African-American fathers living in the projects is wrong. There are caring fathers there…just like everywhere else in America.

Secondly, that a stranger picked up on the cues for help from another stranger and without hesitating… offered it spontaneously…no fanfare or motive, other than that of genuine kindness.

So until tomorrow….These examples we see and read about of everyday kindnesses should be lead-ins for the daily national news…not squeezed in the last two or three minutes of the program. These are down-to earth, root examples of how people should behave…much better examples for our children than what they regularly see and hear… sadly.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Isn’t it amazing what just one day of scattered showers can do for a plant? Remember yesterday I had planted my lavender plant and watered it…but it still looked pretty droopy. At 7:00 last evening…this was the same plant after Mother Nature had watered it.

I remember Lisa (HollowTree Nursery) telling me that this (picture below) was called a “Swamp” Maple…I got it, along with, the Japanese Maples, but planted it behind the garage apartment ….where hardly anyone goes but now with the tree house complete hopefully more activity will occur and more people will see it.

It has struggled somewhat with this drought…since I forget about it too…back there in the farthest corner of my back yard. But when I walked there last evening…I noticed this pinkish color starting to form on the leaves…not red, much lighter. Could it be…did I get that lucky? Swamp Maple….perhaps something else…only time will tell…and if , I am so lucky, that it is something else….I will shout it out to you! Stay tuned!

Dear Reader:

I remember that benchmark moment in my life, when I realized intuitively, that anything said about me and/or my life should include the word JOY after I am gone. Over the years sometimes I have even made a note to myself to remember a particular line of scripture about joy from a sermon or talk.

I don’t feel that I am being an unrealistic “Pollyanna” or naive in doing so. I have certainly had my fair share of loss concerning loved ones, physical, mental, and emotional obstacles, moments of sadness and despair…but none of these components of life to date have changed who I am internally…and it is because of one essential truth revealed to me.

That eternal understanding unveiled itself before my first breast cancer surgery… I should hold God’s Hand and use His strength to see me through my health challenges…and that strength was JOY. I should never lose my joy.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” — Nehemiah 8:10

In Daily Devotionals‘special Mother’s Day message Sunday…several lines of scripture dealing with joy was the theme. So many of us have been blessed with mothers who sacrificed so much to ‘make us happy’ but even more importantly teach us how to live in joy…no matter the circumstance.

Gin-g has talked about the difference in the two words several times to me when we have been together and we both agree that happiness is a short-term circumstance, whereas joy is imbedded in us and is long-term…a joy that lasts a life time.

Daily Devotionals added this insight between the two words:

Joy is more than happiness. The word happiness comes from the root hap, which means “chance.” Where happiness is circumstantial, joy is not.

Joy is an unshakeable confidence in the truths of God despite circumstances.

When our children see absolute certainty in the life of one who knows God personally, they are impressed and drawn to know Him themselves.

If we want folks,like our children,to believe in God we’ll need more than a pasted-on smile of chance happiness. We’ll need to model the life of a person living in joy.

So until tomorrow…I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. — 3 John 4. 

We hear parents, including ourselves, saying popular refrains like “We only want our children to be happy.” I think what we want is for our children to feel a peace, a joy that God is leading their lives and they only have to keep the faith to follow.

Yesterday was the perfect time to plant the lavender plant the Turners gave me…just in time for a predicted lengthy week of showers. Now that weather prediction does fill me with joy!

Rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. — Joel 2:23

Jay and Walsh surprised their wives with breakfast under the cabana Sunday morning for Mother’s Day! It was also Walsh and Mollie’s sixth anniversary…they got married on a Sunday, May 13 on Mother’s Day. Both Marcia and I couldn’t think of a better present for that occasion! We were filled with joy!

Mollie sent some more shots from Fripp Island / Mother’s Day/anniversary

There’s a shingdig going on this Thursday and our gal Anne will be one of the fiddlers ‘shingdigging’ along. So if you live in the Summerville area…come on out and have some fun.

Dear Reader:

The craving started Saturday afternoon, while I was watching A Chef’s Life with Vivian Howard, on PBS. She was talking about heirloom tomatoes and how her body was craving a tomato sandwich (like the kind she grew up with) on white bread with Duke’s Mayonnaise…and a dash of salt and pepper. She then proceeded to eat one with her mom and dad. My mouth was drooling.

She was talking about how many tomatoes lose their flavor today because they are shipped in refrigerated containers and cool/cold tomatoes lose their flavor immediately… the texture goes mushy.

She was in search of heirloom (or as she called them  ‘Old Timey’ tomatoes like she ate as a child.) She remembered she would always break out in a tomato-induced rash…but she figured it was a small price paid for what is her favorite food by far.

She had Mary Vaugh and some of the other great local cooks show her how to can tomatoes and make the best tomato pie around.

By the time the show was over I was crazy-craving  a plain tomato sandwich. But I had not stopped to pick up any bread (I love Captain John Derst’s Good Old Fashioned‘ ‘yella’ bread.)

I had gotten some tomatoes at the open air market on Edisto before I left but no bread…I knew I had a little bit of Duke’s Mayo left in the fridge and plenty of salt and pepper. (I actually had made a batch of spaghetti earlier in the day so I consoled myself with that for supper.)

Then yesterday, Mother’s Day, I had a yummy breakfast with John and Mandy and the children…leaving with a delicious-aroma’ed lavender plant…the car smelled so good. I stopped by Tommy and Kaitlyn’s house to see the best dog babysitters around…Butch and Susan. Everyone was getting ready for the Dingle Five’s arrival later in the afternoon .

*My favorite thing is looking at the grandchildren’s’ artwork for their mother…. by Eva Cate and Jakie!

I arrived back in Summerville around 2:30….went immediately to the open air market, picked up two more tomatoes, got my bread (thank goodness they carry Captain Derst’s bread…. the cashier told me the customers voted on which bread to carry to go with their tomato sandwiches and it won hands down.)

I still had a bag of Uncle Ray’s chips, some tea in the fridge…I was set. Happiness is….I finally satisfied my craving…it was just as good as I had dreamed about for 24 hours!….

So until tomorrow….When you are really craving something…do something about it. I figure it is my body telling me...”Life is short…eat that tomato sandwich girl and smile!” (If something happened…that would be my first regret at the Pearly Gates…Doggone it…why didn’t I go get the fixin’s for my tomato sandwich!)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I came back to lantana popping out everywhere and blooms galore welcoming me back home.

Walsh and Mollie with another couple and all their children went to Fripp Island to spend Mother’s Day…the wildlife and natural habitat is what draws people to this native island. They sent some pictures of their surroundings….so pretty.

I smiled as I left John and Mandy’s heading out late yesterday morning….at the message on the community billboard…good advice and I got my phone calls from Tommy (JFK airport) and Walsh (Fripp Island)….thank you children for remembering mom today. And big brother, Ben, for his call.  Kisses and hugs to all!

Dear Reader:

You just never know when a blog is going to jump out at you anywhere, anytime. I must admit I never saw this one coming…and Jennifer didn’t jump out…she just held out her hand and introduced herself…telling me that she had been a student in my eighth grade social studies class…South Carolina History…in this sweet, quiet voice I recognized instantly.

Jennifer was one of those students that a teacher wishes she could clone and reproduce. Sweet, quiet, studious, industrious, appreciated stories and learning and was diligent (always going the extra mile) in all her curriculum studies.

After assuring her I certainly recognized her (hardly changed much since 13)  I added that it was me who was shocked that she still recognized me…after all these years!

Mother’s Day and Teacher Appreciation Week usually occur around the same time, in May, so I thought it was even more of a ‘God Wink’ that Jennifer appeared just as I entered the store.

The first thing I noticed was an  employee getting more flowers and moving them from one shelf to a table where customers were grabbing them up fast for Mother’s Day. It was while she was walking my way with a flower in her hands that she smiled, introduced herself with a “Do you remember me?” and we hugged.

She remembered me, the class, and how much she enjoyed it. In fact she said, still proudly after all these years, I won a blue ribbon for the best South Carolina Notebook. “It is the only blue ribbon I have ever won.”

By then my eyes were misting and I did remember her outstanding SC Notebook…because I would place the honorees in a big glass cabinet in the main lobby/forum of the school so everyone, students, teachers, visitors, etc. could see the winners. (Hers stood out from the others…so organized, neat, and artistic.)

Jennifer said that the blue ribbon wasn’t all she won. I had put a shiny new silver dollar in the winning envelope too and she still had it, also.

Jennifer told me that she was a teacher, too… now at William Reeves Elementary in Summerville. She taught third grade…which studies (what else?)  South Carolina History. It is her favorite subject to teach and her students’ favorite subject to learn…because she tells them lots of stories about our “Palmetto State.” At this point I got choked up again because I could actually see my teaching continuing to live in others classrooms via my students, turned teachers.

*Her work at Publix is a second job she works… on some weekends, holidays, and summers.

Wow! A full-time teacher and she works another part-time job…now do you see why I wanted to clone Jennifer years ago and even more so now. What an amazing young woman!

God let me see how the past is still living through one of my special students yesterday and hopefully far into the future. It is the best Mother’s Day Present of all! Thank you God and thank you Jennifer for pausing your busy life, for a few precious minutes, to speak to me…a gesture that made my day ever so much more special!

I know how blessed and lucky I am in this season of my life….and I am filled with gratitude…it overflows!

Happy Mother’s Day to one and all!

So until tomorrow….Thank you God for peeks into the future based on precious moments from the past. It is a rare sighting…which opens our eyes to Your Magnificent plan for us.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday the Dingle Five left Dingle (which I am sure was sad) to head to Dublin…they are spending the night in a very nice hotel (Conrad) for their last evening in Ireland…a treat for themselves. They will arrive in Charleston at 5:30 this afternoon. No doubt exhausted…but full of stories, pictures, and memories to last a lifetime.

When Kaitlyn sent Susan and me these pictures of the hotel…I asked her if it was hard leaving Dingle…and she responded with “It was super super super hard to leave Dingle” with no less than 12 sad emoji’s following.

I loved Susan’s motherly advice to Kaitlyn’s sad response:

“Everyone must have a place of dreams and love…enough so… it draws them back.”

Dear Reader:

I’m back! And as I have thought about our time together on this retreat….I remembered how I had four blogs’ worth of stories, adventures, and legends from the mid-winter Pawley’s Island Ya retreat…this time, however…is definitely different, but just as fulfilling.

Speaking of “fulfilling” for once we didn’t make our usual dinners, casseroles, desserts, etc. but relied on the King’s Market on Edisto Island to supply us with what we needed. They make delicious chicken and squash casseroles….as well as, tomato pies. Why cook and drag the heavy cooler out of the closet?

We made a run one night for hot dogs and hamburgers, had our birthday casserole the first night for Brookie and Libby…made pimento cheese, chicken salad sandwiches, along with BLT’s… our big night out (the last one) was at Ella’s and Ollie’s...believe me we didn’t lack for food. So this time when we cleaned out the refrigerator on the last day…it was a cinch…we had estimated just the right amount for the time spent.

One reason we weren’t traveling out as much was that family and friends were coming in. (Plus Jackson is just six weeks out of her second knee replacement, I came down with a summer allergy/chest congestion situation, in fact everyone was just in need of a spring tonic…labeled ‘Doing Nothing’… while just loving being together.

On Monday the beautiful Veronica (Brooke’s daughter-in-law arrived with Caleb (or the little “Boogie Boy” as Brooke calls him and his little sister, Emma Grey (born a week to the day after Eloise) *...They don’t know it yet…but they will soon be best friends! We all wanted to hold her and play with Caleb…he had more grandmothers that he knew what to do with…but took us all in stride…just playing and playing on the beach!)

Tuesday…we had a wonderful surprise…one of our closest friends (Lura or “Tura Lura” as we all called her) texted me to say she had read in the blog that we were at Edisto and she was there too. Jackson, Brooke, and I were in her wedding…the summer after our sophomore year and haven’t seen her since. So, did we ever, have fun reminiscing about that first wedding we were in as bridesmaids. (Remember that was the one where mother insisted I have my hair put up for it….) Lura brought pictures and what memories came flooding back…we were nineteen-year-olds!

*From left to right…Jackson, me, and Brooke)

And now we are all together again! Love you “Tura Lura!”

I had given this little book to Brooke back in 2006 after doing a lesson on it for a Sunday School class I was teaching at the time.

In this story Mooch (the cat) wants to give Earl (the dog and best friend) a special gift for his special day. But Mooch can’t think of anything Earl needs…he has everything! Then Mooch gets an idea…if Earl already has everything…why not give him “nothing?”  But where in a world filled with so many things…could Mooch find “nothing?”

Mooch remembered people said there was “Nothing on television“…but Mooch thought there was a lot of everything on TV…Then the cat heard someone say they had gone shopping and couldn’t find “anything” ….there was ‘nothing to buy’…so Mooch tried shopping. But the cat found many many things.

Finally Mooch sat on a pillow and stayed very still (like cats like to do) and by not looking for it…Mooch found nothing. The cat wrapped up a big empty box for Earl and when the dog opened it…he asked (puzzled) “But there is nothing in it?” “Nothing but you and me and our friendship” replied Mooch.

The story ends with both of them sitting close to each other and just watching the snow fall…they had found everything by finding nothing. And that is exactly what we Ya’s did this time…

Libby and I found “nothing” by watching a “Simply Orange Juice“commercial together. You might have seen it. ‘Sometimes “Simply” doing nothing at all…is the best thing to do.”

Fetch with Man’s Best Friend | Simply Orange® – YouTube

Libby has the funniest expressions by far…she is NOT a morning person and doesn’t want chit-chat before she has her first cup of coffee. Tuesday morning, as she was emerging from her bedroom..I told her the breakfast casserole was ready…she waved her arms dismissively at me and said: “I can’t talk…I can’t eat yet…because I’m still “coming to myself.”

So until tomorrow…Maybe, in a nutshell, this retreat in early May, was a time for all of us to simply “come to ourselves” leaving  rested and relaxed!

Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Instead of balloons for the birthday gals…I picked up beautiful flower baskets…a lovely tradition to instill for our future birthdays…natural colors that lasts all summer! Every morning the two baskets brightened up the front porch!

*Brookie and I with our Ya Ya pendants on!

I promise to catch up with email and text messages- just been feeling a little under the weather…my sweet doctor ordered me a Z-Pak (antibiotics) and called the prescription into the pharmacy so I could immediately pick it up upon my return. I got started last night…my doctor is the best…she knows this stuff turns into bronchitis quite easily with me due to my low hemoglobin side effects from my cancer medicine. Hopefully this will  knock the chest congestion out  before it finds a home for the long haul and/or laryngitis sets in.

*Have gotten so many fabulous photos from the Dingle Five…incredible landscapes, photos of them paddle boarding in Dingle Bay….way to go!…and making friends with some of the locals. Will work in a collage of photos for tomorrow’s blog.

Dear Reader:

We have had some wonderful romance going on in our neighborhood. Luke and Chelsey decided to forego a formal wedding and instead go camping and exchange rings…saving their money to go to Hawaii for their honeymoon.

They went up in the mountains around Table Rock looking for just the right place to exchange rings and found it with a set of two beautiful water falls. They said their exchange of vows and then they exchanged rings…a situation that fit their life style best…private and romantic…accompanied by their two adorable dogs…Chloe and Barley.

Here is a young couple who knows what they want their future to look like and are willing to work hard to get it…and save money along the way by just being themselves…lovers of nature and the great outdoors. Vickie and I took a card over Sunday to help them celebrate their new marriage with a dinner out in Hawaii.

Congrats to two great neighbors! I hope you make the best memories in Hawaii to last a lifetime.

When I found the following story I thought how Luke and Chelsey have their priorities straight in life but what a cost it is for those who don’t give their best now for the future later.

Building Your House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow.

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So until tomorrow…Every day give every aspect of life your best because the only person you shortchange if you don’t…is yourself.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

We have been preaching brevity over longevity when it comes to talks and speeches….weight of prayers over length…well, this little story made a big impact on me. I hope it does the same for you.

“The Balloon”

(Find Happiness)

Once a group of 50 people were attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He started giving each attendee one balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.

Sometimes later these delegates were let into that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written on it within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for his/her name, colliding with each other, pushing around others and there was utter chaos.

At the end of 5 minutes no one could find their own balloon. Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker then began, “This is happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is.

Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness; you will get your own happiness. And this is the purpose of human life…the pursuit of happiness.”

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So until tomorrow…What a great lesson…I will always remember that story every time I see a balloon now. Since the story was so short today…take advantage of the extra minutes and have a talk with God, walk in a garden, go kiss your spouse and perhaps give her or him a balloon…make the most of the moments you have been given.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

I love this little anecdote…on the miracle of prayer…with emphasis on the weight of prayer…not its length.