Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

I emailed Anne yesterday and told her that the story in the blog today centered around the central theme of hot tea and its symbolism to learning… Would she mind letting me use one of her teacup paintings for the title picture?

Instead Anne sent me this little note about her obsession with hot tea, photographs, and paintings. She feels about hot tea like I do about light…a moth drawn to it.

“Well, you’re in luck since one of my “special-teas” is TEA! HA!  Empty cups, full cups, glass, china, reflected, steaming… you name it.  Painting, photographing and drinking tea just does something for me. I guess it’s just in my DNA? Here are four painted and four photographed “tea-sers” for you…”

“Keep Your Mind Open…a Story” (Bob and Fran

German)

A long time ago, there was a wise Japanese Zen master…people would come from far and wide to seek his wisdom and advice. Most pilgrims wanted to be taught and enlightened.

One day, an university professor showed up at his door. He came off as aloof, arrogant, opinionated, and used to dominating intellectual conversations.

“I am a highly educated person and have come to see if you can teach me the way to enlightenment,” he asked in a curt tone.

The Zen master simply smiled and said he would like to have this discussion over hot tea. As soon as the tea was hot the master poured his visitor a cup.

He poured and then poured some more as the tea got closer to the rim. But still he didn’t stop. He kept pouring until it began to spill over on the table.

Finally the visitor could not restrain himself any longer and shouted,  “Enough! You are spilling the tea all over everything. Can’t you see the cup is full and will hold no more?”

The master stopped pouring and looked at his guest. “You are like this tea cup, so full that nothing more can be added. Come back to me when the cup is empty. Come back to me with an empty mind.”

What an important lesson and reminder to us. We don’t “know it all.” (Jeopardy reminds me of this every night) In fact the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. This story did remind me of a true incident I witnessed at a conference meeting one year while working at the district office.

Soon after “standards” entered the public schools with assessments becoming the major emphasis on learning recognition (sadly)…Dottie Connelly, Kathy Kinary, and I went to Tampa, Florida for a standards conference.

At one of the workshops…the presenter warned the teacher/educator participants not to try to force-feed too much information, too soon, to their students…just to be able to check it off as having been “covered.”

She then went and got an empty glass and a water pitcher. She said that too many times she had seen teachers trying to “cover” a certain number of standards within a regular classroom period. After awhile glazed eyes were staring back at her as the clock ticked down to the bell.

The whole time the presenter was speaking she demonstrated what was happening by continuing to pour water from the pitcher (symbolizing the amount of standards that needed to be covered during that class time) into a drinking glass. (symbolized by the student)

Like the Zen Master…the water soon began pouring over. It reminded me of the little boy who asked to use the bathroom because his head was ‘running over‘ and he needed to empty some of it.

The presenter then asked us…how can educators get all the water from the pitcher into the glass…the light came on in all our eyes…the teacher would have to stop at intervals, check to see if her students were understanding a particular thought or standard, then let them drink it in, (work with the knowledge presented)thus providing space for more water…more learning.

I later demonstrated that same thought back at one of our district office meetings. “To cover” means...to put something over something else to hide it. By having to cover so much in so little time…were there too many “hidden” problems lurking underneath the cover of standards in student learning?

These days it is so wonderful to have time to actually pause, ponder, and yes, assess, information in my own mind…before looking forward to learning something else new. I think most teachers do become “lifetime learners”…and we always hope we instilled this our own children and students.

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I found these three little (series) of books on GuidePost (The Tearoom Mysteries)…they are very light reading but the scenario reminds of the new owners of our own tearoom…from Maine, cousins and a history tied in with their grandmother’s teachings and historical teacups.

I love my pansy hanging basket by the glass bottles…such beautiful colors…I can hardly wait for another sunny day to see the sun light streaming through the bottles onto the pansies…cloudy today.

But our newest addition to the family always brings a ray of sunshine to everyone…no matter the weather. Mollie sent this picture yesterday. Tomorrow I am going over to keep her while Mollie and Walsh get out and take care of some errands and other things they need to do…a great break for both..

Eloise is our little cup of tea!

Dear Reader:

Isn’t this resurrection fern on the oak tree gorgeous? I saw it on my walk last Thursday.  My own little resurrection fern, lodged in my Bradford tree, bit the dust, during the snow/ice storm. (And no, I did not throw it out but it looks pretty dead to me. Will wait and see if it miraculously does resurrect.)

I came across a devotional Friday (“You Bring God’s Kingdom to Earth -Randy Robinson)  that made me pause and re-think the meaning of the term…the Kingdom of God. I have always just considered it another term for Heaven…but in this message…the thought behind the term was re-defined…with more input from us.

…”The way we live indicates whether we are abiding in His kingdom. The proof of His kingdom doesn’t come on Sunday morning when the congregation is watching. It comes during the week when we are alone. It is not about how loudly it is declared, but how soundly it’s lived. The real measure comes in the quiet times. 

…When discontent and discord rules…the Spirit withers, the kingdom of heaven is not present. Even so, it is still near. It’s just a matter of changing our mind and renewing our spirit.”

This devotion once again reminded me that I am in control of my own resurrection on earth…by my thoughts and by how I live my life here. The Kingdom of God isn’t  just in the next world…it is in our world as evidenced every day in our lives with what we do and don’t do.

The closer we come to following in God’s footsteps the closer we come to understanding what God’s Kingdom should look and feel like…using all the senses within us.

Yesterday I helped create life…at least in the plant kingdom.

My pansies never recovered from the winter storm so I thought I would go look at the Flowertown Garden Center to replenish the barrel with new pansies or flowering ornamental cabbages! The owner had neither. She explained to me why the pansies and cabbages, known for their endurance during a typical winter (especially in the lowcountry) didn’t make it this year.

She said it was the aftermath of the snow and ice that killed them…if it had stayed frozen day and night it would have been better…instead it would start to thaw during the day and then freeze again each night… repeatedly. (Just too much for them to acclimate and endure…they didn’t have time to  keep adapting each day and night.)

So I ended up at Lowe’s and Home Depot…coming back with snap dragons and (imported) pansies. They sure look pretty. There is a weather debate going on right now whether the National Weather Center or the Farmer’s Almanac is predicting correctly…the Farmer’s Almanac has us getting another winter storm in early February…meaning within the next week or two. We will have to see who is correct.

To be on the safe side…I planted all the pansies in the barrel but left the snapdragons in the pot so I can just remove it and bring it in if we get more long-lasting frigid weather…but for right now I will just enjoy them!

On the fence going in to the Flowertown Nursery…a colorful mural covers the entire length of it. I even found a painting of “Sammy” the cardinal and a saying that I really love.

So until tomorrow…Planting my snap dragons and pansies did bring me happiness and in a sense…I did create…or if not create…at least encourage life by planting the flowers in the barrel and simultaneously providing beauty to others who walk or drive by. I plant what I hope the Kingdom of God will be filled with…and more.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Honey’s daughter, Tarshie, shared her favorite Christmas present from 2015 on Facebook recently. An heirloom from her grandfather’s Pine Forest Inn. A woman contacted Honey about making the pendants from broken   pieces of plates with the Pine Forest Inn insignia on them. (she had found) Honey said yes but wanted one for the girls in their immediate and extended family..

Isn’t it beautiful?

Dear Reader:

Half-awake I slowly walked down the stairs yesterday morning into my “Happy Room.” I blinked my eyes slowly and then rubbed them…the beautiful lights from the early morning sun’s rays, peeking through the shutters, created a dazzling prism.

I reached into my bathrobe and pulled out my iPhone quickly snatching the moment before it disappeared. It was as if fairies had flown into the room and sprinkled magical fairy dust all over this one section of the den, lighting it up in beauty.

It was then I remembered…Tiny Tinker Bell! Tinker Bell did it! Ever since Lucy, Anne’s sister who lives in Connecticut, sent me “Little Tink” (three years ago) to come reside in my garden, after a  visit to it, “Miss Bell” has disappeared on at least three occasions.

(If you have time…and didn’t read the first mystery about where ‘Lil Tink’ was found once before…here is an earlier blog with another disappearing mystery in it.)

“In Search of Tinker Bell”…The First in a series of Magical Moon Gate …    (August 11, 2016)

Lance, my lawn maintenance fireman at the time, rescued “Lil Tink” from being “smushed” under a concrete bench while cutting the grass…Eva Cate had helped look for her and was so happy…that I let Eva Cate take her home and put her in her new fairy village she was building. Over time “Lil Tink” disappeared again.

Then wouldn’t you know, while snowed in at Mandy and John’s a few weeks ago…I went outside to take a picture of the frozen lake and almost slipped on the ice. I steadied myself by their fence and looked down at my feet to check on the ice status and there…lying on top of  a patch of ice was ‘Lil Tink.’ Talk about a God Wink…this little fairy is only about two inches tall…how I found her really is a miracle!

I went straight out to the car and put her in one of the change holders on the console. There was so much on my mind when I got home, after more than a week’s snowed-in hiatus, that I forgot all about her while unpacking. When I did remember and went back out to the car…she had disappeared again.

Three days ago…my iPhone fell off the car console and lodged under the front seat…while feeling around for the phone…who do I pull up but “Lil Tink.” (“Two birds with one stone.”)

So I cleaned her up again…and decided to bring her inside to reside with me until spring arrives. I placed her in the Norfolk Island Pine planter…since it is miniature…it will provide a miniature forest for the fairy. (She must like her new home…providing beautiful prisms of light in my “Happy Room” on special occasions.)

*Tinker Bell really must be magical…she has survived being crushed under a cement garden bench for months, almost ripped apart by a lawn mower, frozen in ice and snow, and hammered with an iPhone falling on her on the floor of my car. (Just looking at her…you would never know what she has endured…it will be interesting to see how long ‘Little Tink’ stays put before she is off and flying away to new adventures. You go girl!)

Since we have spent so much time discussing the beauty around us…I loved Jo Dufford’s comment on the purity of the snow covering up the ugliness beneath it.

“...As cold and interrupting as that snow was a few weeks ago, it was so beautiful. It covered all the unsightly things with a blanket of white beauty. I couldn’t even see all those leaves in my back yard. Growing up we sang a song in my church which included these words: “Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” What a neat thought that God’s love can cover all our imperfections and make us beautiful too.”

Bill Dingle and I share a “God Wink” with the timing of the blog…We Can Live Above Our Circumstances (Daniel and the Lion’s den)…Bill wrote:

I just read this post. On the day you wrote this I shared a message at Auburn Heights Church entitled “Where’s your Face? ” about focusing on Jesus instead of our circumstances. LOVE you! Our family prays for you often.

So until tomorrow…”All you need is faith, trust, and a little fairy dust.” (And some beautiful sunflowers!)

My two items of “happy beauty”…magical light and sunflowers

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Since we were talking about the Pine Forest Inn the other day…I wanted to share the remains of the entrance to it still standing today. So gorgeous in the spring and in the wintry snow storm earlier this month.

Dear Reader:

Maybe it is just this time of year…or the fact that a lot of changes and unforeseen circumstances have taken place since New Year’s Eve…but I find myself wondering about time and remembering mother and my aunts lamenting the speed of time and warning me that “Just wait…one day you will understand where we are now…The older you get, the faster time seems to go.”

I am there now.

Libby has five grandchildren and calls them her “Fabulous Five” or “Fab Five” affectionately. So now that I have five grandchildren I started thinking about what would be a good name for my “crew.”

I looked up descriptive adjectives starting with a “f.” I could one “up” fabulous with “fantabulous” but that seems a little snarky. I kind of liked the “fabled” five…but then that depends on what kind of fable results from their lives…good or not so good. The right word hasn’t jumped out at me yet….though “fascinating” comes close, because each and everyone of them has their own unique, ever-changing personalities. It truly is fascinating to watch them grow up.

The Ya’s spend a lot of time (when we get together) talking about time . For awhile it seemed that we were in a middle-aged stationary status quo… just waiting on our Social Security checks to add onto our S.C. Retirement checks.

After finally getting to this important benchmark in state retirees’ lives…health issues, ranging from annoying to aggravating, to adversative started cropping up more regularly.

We have learned that the adage “Time flies faster when you’re having fun” doesn’t “fly” either…whether good times or bad times…time marches on.

According to Philip Yaffe (“Why does time go faster as we get older“) this universal time problem does have to do with benchmarks. Here is an excerpt that explains it better…

Yaffe, after reading lots of articles on time passage, did what he realized he should have done to start with…take a pause and ponder it in his own mind. He came up with two words to help explain this particular time phenomenon.

…“Finally, I decided to sit quietly and ponder the matter myself. This turned about to be a wise decision, because I think I found the solution. It’s really quite simple. It all has to do with “anticipation” and “retrospection.”

When anticipated, each new significant event seems to be excruciatingly far away. However, after the event, we regularly look back and exclaim. “Did it really happen that long ago?”

Our first love, our first heartbreak, driving a car, landing a job, marriage, having children, etc. When we look forward, all these milestones seem impossibly far in the future. However once achieved, how quickly they recede into the past.

The older we get, the more milestones we have to look back on. So the farther and faster they appear to recede. So if sometimes the clock may seem to have stopped, the calendar always continues racing ahead.

If accumulating milestones is truly the secret of the accelerating years, what do we do about it? Basically nothing; we just have to accept it. However, this is not necessarily a negative. True, the good things are coursing away faster and faster into the past. But so are the not-so-good things.

The story is told of the biblical King Solomon. He once called his wise men together and presented them with a challenge. “Find me a cure for depression.” They meditated for a long time, then gave him the following advice. “Your Majesty, make yourself a ring and have engraved thereon the words: This too shall pass.” He had the ring made and wore it constantly. Every time he felt sad or depressed, he looked at the inscription, which tended to lift his spirits.

“This too shall pass.” Indeed, it shall. Whether positive or negative, nothing in life lasts forever, even if it sometimes feels as if it will. We are certain of this because we know even life on earth itself doesn’t last forever.

The author concludes that based on his age now…he probably has two or maybe three decades of potential life left… “However, the years are accelerating, so when it does occur my most probable reaction will be: “What! Already!”

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

It is hard for me to believe that at one time I was hoping to be around to see my first grandchild born and now I have five beautiful grandchildren, my own wonderful children and their amazing spouses…life is so good. So my last thoughts will probably be…not “What? and Already?” but “Thank You God for the Time Bonus.”

I, also, want to pause and recognize some of your comments you have written in this New Year…there is so much talent out there among all of you. This one, today, is from Mev Shieder. It was so lyrical…soothing to mind and heart.

Mevelyn Fraser Shieder Happy news–successful eye surgery! My lamentations over hearing problems are quickly drowned out by thanksgiving for vision which is still capable of seeing the beauty all around us! ‘Tis true “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” but eyes define “what” we see while our heart determines “how” we see it. We are so blessed by all of the beauty your “happy heart” sees and your loving heart shares with us

*Yesterday and Tuesday I spent a lot of time working in my garden with all five grandchildren’s trees. I added rich potting soil, cow manure, water, and pine straw. It felt like I was tucking each grandchild in for their long winter’s nap. Then I added either a pink or blue ribbon on each one’s tree. Some of their name plates are getting weather-worn but Anne offered to repaint the names this spring when they begin to blossom again. So sweet. By then I should have Eloise’s new name plate too!)

*In the meantime I do have a photograph tree…will be adding on more branches until we get a photo of everyone with our newest family addition.

EVA CATE

RUTLEDGE

JAKE

LACHLAN

ELOISE

So until tomorrow…”This too shall pass”….winter will leave and spring will come. There will be blossoms on all the grandchildren’s trees. So much to look forward to…right now…as well as the future.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Another beautiful day yesterday (didn’t start out that way but ended up that way)…a perfect day to extend my walks from my neighborhood of Miler to adjoining neighborhood… Tea Farm next “door.”

And speaking of doors…this was my first “happy beauty” of the day. I love the new trend to brighten up front doors with bright colors to make the house “pop.” This home was especially pretty because the magnolia trees seemed to create its own frame for the photo.

My goal was to walk down my favorite dirt road in Tea Farm…a winding road that feels like a country road with beautiful homes on either side…W. Walker. The town has offered to pave it for years but each time the residents, living on this lovely, tree-lined road, turn down the offer …they want to keep it a dirt road. (And I am so glad they have!)

There is one particular house I am watching go through an unprecedented renovation (total renovation) It was one of the Tea Farm buildings that was renovated into private residences following Dr. Charles Shepard’s death. A neighbor was walking two dogs on W. Walker as I was taking pictures and she pointed out another building that looked like a plank house…it is actually a huge shed to hold every single brick and artifact from the home in it until it is ready to be replaced.

(Apparently when renovations started the new owners discovered that there were some foundation problems and they would have to start from the bottom up.)

Dr. Shepard, a Charleston chemist, became the first man to grow tea successfully in the lowcountry. He bought 600 acres of land from Summerville to around Middleton Plantation for his experiment. This huge plot of land was called the “Pinehurst Tea Farm” or simply “The Tea Farm.” 

Today we have camellia bushes and tea plants left over from this experiment in the Tea Farm neighborhood…in fact Dr. Shepard is credited, as a plant enthusiast, with introducing the camellia to Summerville. Tea hedges lined the drive in his gardens. *Depending on the season…a walk through Tea Farm is the most wondrous aroma awakening you can have from all the tea plants.

Afternoons (when the weather was good) one would find Dr. Shepherd giving “Tea Talks” at the magnificent inn known as the Pine Forest Inn. Once President Theodore Roosevelt stopped at the inn to tour Dr. Shepard’s operations. Unfortunately production stopped upon his death on July 4, 1915.

Honey Salisbury Burrell’s father, Thomas Salisbury, once owned the Pine Forest Inn…later turning it into a boarding school when the creation of  “super highways” took tourists away from Summerville and directly to Charleston.

*I love this postcard from the ‘Golden Age of the Inns‘ as it is remembered in Summerville History. *(Thanks for this wonderful book …Margaret Kwist, Eleanor Randall and Virginia Cuthbert Wilder.)

One part of the renovations called for a new roof with new materials to exactly match the old tin roof on the “tea farm” house…but preserve it better. This picture doesn’t do it justice since the sun was striking it turning it into a flaming color…but it is gorgeous!

What a wonderful day….”happy beauties” mixed with Summerville history…for this old history teacher…days don’t get much better. Or as the lyrics say in Sheryl Crow’s popular hit…”Every Day is a Winding Road”:

So until tomorrow:

Everyday is a winding road
I get a little bit closer
Every day is a faded sign
I get a little bit closer to feeling fine

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

…And now Summerville has evolved from producing the first commercial tea under Dr. Shepard to being the birthplace of sweet tea…we love our tea in Summerville!

(Monday while I was getting my eye zapped with Brooke…Minnie Mouse was finally being recognized with a place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame) Maybe all this recent “girl power” finally thrust her in the limelight. Mickey Mouse was the first animated character to win a spot on the Walk of Fame for his 50th anniversary.

Minnie had to wait on her 90th anniversary…but that’s okay…she got there.

Minnie Mouse is finally getting a star on the walk of fame.

The polka-dot bow wearing mouse is being honored upon her 90th anniversary in entertainment with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, joining long-time paramour Mickey Mouse and other beloved Disney icons like Donald Duck, Tinker Bell, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, and Kermit the Frog.

Honey sent Eloise the cutest little Minnie Mouse outfit…perfect timing…she will be in it before we blink. Thank you Honey…adorable!

If Minnie Mouse just made it in with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame…can Sleeping Beauty be far behind?

Dear Reader:

Well everything went great with the eye surgery yesterday morning… which was really more of a “zap” moment with a laser machine than actually surgery. I was quite relieved…Brooke and I celebrated with chicken biscuits from Chick Filet.

Brooke brought me beautiful flowers which certainly brightened up “The Happy Room” but in reality it was Brooke’s presence that was the real gift…the gift of time and friendship. We had so much fun catching up and laughing…which extended into yesterday’s visit…Brooke and I kept laughing over the silliest things in the waiting room.

It was the only laughter in there…but I did notice that instead of getting annoyed glances…most people looked like they wanted to be part of the fun and not just sit there bored while staring down at their iPhones. There is actually great beauty in the freedom of laughter. It is infectious!

After Brooke left I decided to put on my “special” sunglasses and take a walk…out in the warm sunny day. It felt so good to just breathe in and out the fresh air…particularly after being crammed in the waiting room wondering how sick someone might be sitting next to you …Everyone is so paranoid now with this flu epidemic that just a cough from someone sends fellow patients grabbing tissues and slumping down in their sweaters and jackets…fearing another kind of an “infectious” possibility that isn’t funny.

As I was climbing back up Old Country Club Road…I noticed a beautiful arrangement (title photo) in front of Jean Rogge’s home. I realized that just seeing the arrangement made me smile…made me happy….my happy beauty of the day.

Jean and I know each other from teacher organizations that we both belonged to at one time…Jean is just like her front porch floral arrangement and her lovely brick home. Both are stately, gracious, unpretentious, and the epitome of good southern manners and personalities.

I started thinking that on the days I walk I am going to find at least one “happy” item of beauty to write about in my Happy Box. Soon…I will be able to see a pattern of things that make me happy.

I love this description of beauty by John O’Donohue.

On these bleak, rather colorless days in January, I think we all desire to see more color, more beauty around us in nature…we miss it. And O’Donohue is right…”When we experience the beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming.” 

Shirley Dixon sent me a story she thought I’d like…some of you might have received it too…it reminded me of a couple of similar stories I have heard from different cultures…but the story reminds us how limited our vision is and why we need to rely on God with His limitless vision to steer us in the right direction.

Once upon a time…there was a King, who had a male servant who, in all circumstances,  said to him; “My king, do not be discouraged because everything God does is perfect, He makes no mistakes.”

One day, the king and his servant went hunting and a wild animal attacked the king. The servant managed to kill the animal but couldn’t prevent his majesty from losing a finger. Furious and without showing gratitude, the King said:  “If God is so good, I should not have been attacked and lost my finger.”

The servant replied, “Despite all these things, I can only tell you that God is good and everything He does is perfect… He is never wrong.”

Outraged by the response, the king ordered the arrest of his servant. While being taken to prison, he told the king again: “God is good and perfect.”

A few days later the king left alone for another hunt and was captured by savages who used human beings for sacrifice. On the altar, the savages found out that the king didn’t have one finger in place, so he was released because he was considered not “complete, an “imperfection“…certainly not  good enough to be offered to the gods.

On his return to the palace, he ordered the release of his servant and said: “My friend, God was really good to me. I was almost killed but for lack of a single finger, I was let go.”

But I still have a question: “If God is so good, why did He allow me to put you in prison?”

His servant replied: “My king, if I had not been put in prison, I would have gone with you, and then I would have been sacrificed, because I have no missing finger. Everything God does is perfect, He is never wrong.” 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

*Thanks Shirley for sharing this story…a lesson we all need to remember.

So until tomorrow…The longer we live and can look back on the pieces of our past (that never seemed to fit at the time) the more aware we are that our life’s puzzle is being completed one piece at a time…until every piece is in place…only then can we see the conclusion and purpose to our journey.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

How many times have we heard the expression” Never mind” or said it ourselves? Probably a lot. Like most expressions that start out one way…human nature can take it and twist the original meaning towards polar opposites.

Originally this expression employed mind in the sense of “care about something,” a usage dating from the late 1700s. When it was and still is used in a caring tone…it comes across like this definition:  Disregard that; don’t worry or bother yourself about it.

Sincerely said…it is a nice gesture of dismissing something that might be too much trouble for someone else…even yourself. But when sarcasm is added it comes out completely different.

Case in point: I was at Bi-Lo and a young girl was being trained as a cashier. You could tell she was nervous and was making some mistakes that required things like re-inserting the card and calling a manager over to delete the mistake. The man in front of me checking out was kind and considerate and didn’t add any more stress to the situation.

But this wasn’t true of the woman (now) in front of me. I had actually let her go ahead of me because she was huffing and puffing and staring at her watch. I was in no hurry…so I told her to go on. She nodded dismissively and didn’t say anything else as she took my place.

When the gentleman was asked to put the card in one more time…the woman in front of me “blew a gasket.” (Originally this term referred to a gasket that blew due to too much pressure inside a bottle) She bumped the man (still trying to check out) as she started shoving her cart  past him.

The manager was trying to calm her down and said they would be right with her to no avail. She shrieked at the manager and young cashier “Never mind!” I am late for an appointment and there is no excuse for a delay like this. You need to train your employees before they start work to avoid situations just like this.”

The manager offered to check her out at Customer Service…but she was way too worked up now…“I said NEVER MIND! It’s too late now…and pushed the cart with all her groceries in the middle of the aisle blocking everyone walking by and stormed out.” Her last comment was “Never mind that I have a life too and need to be somewhere too.” (2nd definition) Especially not, considering what was just said.

I, along, with the manager tried to console the new cashier…she had finally gotten control of herself by the time I checked out.

I was trying hard not to judge the other woman’s inappropriate outburst…but again she had choices and this particular situation could have been handled so much better than the spectacle confrontation that ensued.

While the sniffling cashier was checking me out (Thank goodness I had cash for one of the few times in my life)  I decided to counter that woman’s “Never mind” with mine. I told the girl not to get upset over this incident…”Never mind that the woman was rude and hurtful…we don’t know what might have preceded or provoked this outburst… I feel 99.9% sure her anger was mis-directed at you. You were not the instigator but unfortunately the target. You were (virtually) and unknowingly “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“You are doing a great job…don’t let one customer get you down.”Gratefully I heard people in the line behind me consoling her too as I left the store.

I didn’t realize that “Never mind” is used in different cultures and in more definitive positive ways.

Bob and Fran German discovered the difference in this expression in Thailand…there it is called “Mai Pen Rai.”  In the Thai language, it literally means “to put it out of your mind…it’s not important.”

One day they witnessed just how sincerely the people of Thailand mean what they say when they use this expression. Fran tells this story:

“Several years ago we were standing in front of a shop in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand waiting for a friend. A public bus had stopped near us. Behind the bus was a young man on a motor scooter. He couldn’t stop fast enough and his scooter slid on its side.

To our horror, he and the scooter slid under the bus. Of course, the driver had no idea of what had just happened and the bus pulled away. The young man then got up, brushed himself off, righted his scooter, said “Mai Pen Rai,” smiled and went on his way!

This outlook is built into the culture of this 95% Buddhist country. But we know first-hand that it can work everywhere else also. It’s up to us and the choices we choose.

So until tomorrow…the next time the cable man is late, someone cuts you off in traffic, you accidentally delete something important off your computer, etc. just say “Mai Pen Rai” and put it out of your mind. In the end, in the big picture, it really wasn’t that important.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Brooke is the epitome of how “Never Mind” should be used. I told her that my eye doctor said I needed to have my eyes “zapped” again and she asked when ….I told her…and here she is…to drive me to the surgery center today.

When I told her I was sure some neighbors could take me and she had her new granddaughter to keep…she said “Never mind”…I am going to take you.” So “Never Mind” to what others may say or do…have friends like Brookie and you never are alone.

As we waited for supper to warm…Brooke and I had a glass of wine and watched the new moon form…the South Carolina crescent moon…how beautiful it was.

(Seeds of Faith: Lesson 1 Daniel in the Lions’s Den- painting)

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I was reading a chapter in Cheri Fuller’s book…Trading Your Worry for Wonder and one line jumped out at me. ” You can live above your circumstances.”

This particular story happened to be about a woman, named Nancy, with breast cancer who was trying to come to terms with her initial negative prognosis. While driving home, with her mind in turmoil, trying to take in all the doctor’s words…she absentmindedly stopped by her mailbox to pick up the mail.

The top envelope was from some ministry she had never heard of but it had the words “ You can live above your circumstances” on the front of the envelope. When she opened it she first saw a sketch of Daniel in the Lions’ Den. He was looking up and the lions were around and below him.

This caption was attached at the bottom of the drawing: “Fix your eyes on Jesus no matter what your circumstances.” 

Right after the story of Daniel and the Lions’ Den was the story of Jehoshaphat. As she re-read the story…another line jumped out at Nancy: “We were powerless and didn’t know what to do.” (That was exactly how she felt…so she kept reading.

Je·hoshʹa·phat is king of the two-tribe kingdom of Israel. He lives at the same time as King Aʹhab and Jezʹe·bel of the northern 10-tribe kingdom. But Je·hoshʹa·phat is a good king, and his father Aʹsa was a fine king too. So for many years the people of the southern two-tribe kingdom enjoy a good life.

But now something happens to make the people afraid. Messengers report to Je·hoshʹa·phat: ‘A large army from the countries of Moʹab, Amʹmon and Mount Seʹir are coming to attack you.’ Many Israelites gather at Jerusalem to seek God’s help. They go to the temple, and there Je·hoshʹa·phat prays: ‘O  God, we do not know what to do. We are helpless against this large army. We look to you for help.’

God listens, and he has one of his servants tell the people: ‘The battle is not yours, but God’s. You will not have to fight. Just watch, and see how God will save you.’

So the next morning Je·hoshʹa·phat tells the people: ‘Have trust in God!’ He then puts singers out in front of his soldiers, and as they march along they sing praises to God. Do you know what happens when they get near the battle? God causes the enemy soldiers to fight among themselves. And when the Israelites arrive, every enemy soldier is dead!

(My Book of Bible Stories) JW.org

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Nancy remembers feeling the same sense of being completely overwhelmed as Jehoshaphat’s army and crying out ” OK, Lord, I’m powerless against this situation and don’t know what to do, but I’m determined to fix myself on You.”

Immediately my own memory turned back to that night of May 29, 2008 when I realized that my own diagnosis and health situation demanded more than I could give it….my words weren’t “I’m determined to fix myself on you” but they meant the same thing.

“Tell me what to do!” I remember, urgently, begging God that night before the first surgery…”I honestly just don’t know what to do?” and I was answered with “Hold my hand.”

Upon reflection now…putting my focus first on God, above all the other imminent problems associated with the diagnosis…was the key factor, I believe, in starting this ambiguous  journey on the right foot…with God leading me…holding my hand…while I squeezed back and held on for dear life.

And what a dear life it has been and continues to be…challenging me daily to be a stronger child of God.

So until tomorrow…”Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him and expect help from Him, He will never fail you.” -George Mueller

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Eloise’s Japanese Maple is planted, all snug as a bug, and smiling now in the sunshine and warmer temperatures…watered it good today since it finally warmed up.

Dear Reader:

Mollie’s mom, Marcia, flew down from New Hampshire to be with Mollie and the family with the arrival of Eloise to help out. (Next time Marcia…get  a contract that defines the term “help out.“) She and Mollie had talked about all the things they wanted to do with the boys back in Pre-School…and at that time… in the balmy weather.

The balmy weather quickly reverted back to frigid weather. But still everything was good. They even packed up the whole family to go visit Marcia’s sister, Sue, and her husband who ‘half’ their year up, since retirement, between Vermont and Fripp Island. Still going good…until Sunday night and then Rutledge came down with some kind of virus.

So their trip had to be cut short and now Rutledge was home so all their plans for daily trips and excursions halted. Just about the time they thought they could get Rutledge back to school to free up some time…Lachlan came down with the same “bug.”

Three times Marcia, Mollie, Eloise, and I tried to get together during this past week…but conditions just kept deteriorating. Yesterday was Marcia’s birthday…so we were praying Lachlan and Rutledge could return for the last day before Marcia was to go home. Not to be.

Mollie texted me yesterday and said that the whole family was at the doctor’s office…Rutledge and Lachlan both tested positive for flu…Rutledge on the tail end of it and Lachlan right in the middle. The concern was Eloise…didn’t want her to catch it. Mollie and Eloise tested negative…so they plan on quarantining themselves as much as possible in the bedroom this weekend until Lachlan is past the contagious stage.

Marcia was the errand girl, besides being Nana,  while Walsh was at work….picking up groceries and prescriptions. It was a stroke of luck in one sense that Marcia was there at such a critical time…but it was certainly not the bonding time for Marcia, Mollie, and Eloise that they had hoped.

Since Mollie and I had already planned to take Marcia out to lunch for her birthday yesterday…I “kidnapped” Marcia and between errands…we did stop for lunch. It was a beautiful day…finally the balmy day Marcia had looked forward to all week. (She said the weather here this past week was no different than New Hampshire.)

And speaking of…I told Marcia that her birthday present from me was right on target…and she would see the humor in it. (especially after this past week of illnesses)

I had ordered her one of the “homesick” candles…the New Hampshire one that contains indigenous smells from her home state. She just laughed…she said she was definitely a little homesick and her husband Bruce was ready for her return too…but she was glad she was able to be there in this “bug” crisis. Walsh and Mollie are too…not knowing what they would have done without her.

I told her that I had read an article about ‘getting off the stage’ and, instead, ‘sitting in the audience as an observer‘. Marcia laughed and said that was what she was ready for…no more drama on the stage just observations from the auditorium watching…

Sometimes in life we do have to be a player in the drama but many times we can avoid the stress of too much drama by choosing to be a member of the audience over being a member of the cast…or perhaps watching a movie instead of being in it.

Bob and Fran German term this decision-making call a “stay out of the fray” move.

” The choice is much healthier and can be more satisfying to merely watch and listen to the story unfold…staying calm and cool. Try being the “observer” more and more. It can be a positive step forward to a pattern of making stress-free choices and an overall calmer demeanor.”

Most times this good advice is easier said than done…but we also realize that most of us can cut down on drama participation by stepping back and giving ourselves time to observe.

So until tomorrow….Father help us know “when to fold and when to hold” when it comes to helping or advising others around us. It can feel like a tightrope sometime…but we always know You are our safety net.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

“High Five” and back at you Eloise…she is hanging tough and we all pray she gets through this flu season safe and sound. Such a little cutie bug!

Rutledge, at four, is such a little man now…He took himself upstairs, ran a hot bath and climbed into bed taking a long nap. Maybe he is going to be a doctor when he grows up.

Look at the cute “Happy Bag” Marcia gave me…There is “Hope” the Owl and a Happy Box where I can write one happy entry each day for all the blessings I have.

My first “happy” entry Marcia… was having a chance to get together with you on your birthday while you were still here. So much fun…just getting out and catching up on each of our lives.

Dear Reader:

The past couple of days have been filled with medical appointments…and I am glad today is a “freebie”…any day that I don’t have an appointment is a good day for me.

In one waiting room I overheard a receptionist talking on the phone to someone saying that she sure missed the janitor who normally came in and cleaned up at night…apparently he had the flu and had been out a few days. She was telling the caller that if he didn’t get back soon she was going to have to start dusting the waiting room area before starting work.

I then heard her giggle and she responded with something like: “You are absolutely right…how does so much dust accumulate in a place where all the people do nothing but wait. Go figure!”

I found myself smiling while flipping through the magazine on my lap. She was right…I wasn’t doing anything…everyone else was staring down at their iPhones or at the television set. Yet, it was apparent that dust had settled in from the early morning rays coming through the glass entrance…dancing merrily along shimmering as they fell on to the tables, chairs, rugs, and floors.

I remember as a child one time wondering if a person stood perfectly still and did nothing…if he/she would age. Today, of course, I know that answer…that, not only would they age…but faster than everyone else because the muscles would atrophy and since no part of the body was being used…everything would start failing…outwardly and internally.

Life is about movement…the more we move and stir the dust the better off we are. It is the way our bodies were made to carry us through life.

Tommy and Kaitlyn picked me up from the airport when I returned home from Ireland a few summers ago. I had cleaned and cleaned before I left so I could return home to a nice, sparkling, fresh-smelling house. It was not to be.

I had left the air-conditioner on… but at a high level so it wouldn’t cut on much to save energy/money, the windows had been closed and locked…so I returned to a hot, dusty, stale-smelling house…all that trouble for nothing. And no one had even been there.

The house looked like, smelled like, and felt like like a dusty, rusty old museum. It didn’t smell like home. It was as if when I left I took all the energy of the house with me and all that was left was a facade of what once was. The “Happy Room” was very unhappy!

It took me a few days to get the house and me back in the routine of daily life again…to let the dust blow back in from the movement of people coming and going…not just stale dust from nothingness.

So until tomorrow…Isn’t sparkling dust, falling with the sun’s rays so much more natural than layers of old dust caught in a dark corner? Humans were made for light and life…returning to dust only when life is over.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I love this last stanza of the poem “Still His” about remembering the person our Creator originally made…not the one molded by others after birth. Diane Peacock came up with the idea and her friend, a noted poet, Laura Lauzon, wrote the poem.

We forget the original artist.
We forget the one who formed us from dirt,
who had his hand on us first,

who placed his original print
on the underside of our soul.
We are more than decorative.
And if we took time each day
to tip ourselves over
we’d see the engraved print of his finger
standing in relief, marking us as his,
marking us as godly original.

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Two Happy Birthdays Today!!!.…my wonderful nephew Lee and Mollie’s especially loved mom… Marcia! I hope both of you have a wonderful day surrounded by those who love you and many others who wish you well on this special day!

*Ambika, our “darling from Dubai” shared this picture she took on a road trip where she saw God. Beautiful Ambika!