Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

I really feel that I have been in some kind of time warp this past week. It was a week ago yesterday that I stopped by to check on Mollie and left with everything calm and cool.

Three hours later the family got the text saying it was time to head to the hospital and it has been a roller coaster ride ever since! Then add a snow/ice storm that doesn’t melt, sleepovers. another stomach bug- there hasn’t been a dull moment!

So when Donna and Sam sent me these photos of home the alluring scene of serenity is calling me back home. Thank you Vickie, Luke, Donna and Sam for taking the photos.

But how lucky I have been to be in Mt Pleasant and been treated to 5 Star accommodations- fantastic meals and a personal bed heater in the form of Eva Cate, ( Of course the stomach bug hit both children but such is life!)

Yesterday Ya Brooke texted to let us know her granddaughter had arrived- exactly one week after Eloise! We are so excited about he girls getting together as they grow.

Welcome to the world Emma Grey!

So you see the happy surprises continue! I am finally keeping Eva Cate today while Mandy returns to school- a scenario that was supposed to take place last Wednesday!

I will be glad to wear some different clothes for sure when I get home tomorrow.

So until tomorrow Thank you Father for family- I would hate to go through life without it!

…And for what this “time warp” brought! Happy One Week Birthday Eloise!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Neighborhood Igloo and snowmen

Dear Reader:

Tommy sent me this link a friend sent him and it is so beautiful it took my breath away..as you discover when you click it on.

It is a video showing the snow falling ever so beautifully on the relics of the original entrance to the famous Pine Forest Inn….now President’s Circle in Summerville.

This snow will also go down as the longest lasting one … at least in my memory. The lake outside John and Mandy’s home is still frozen. It has become a popular place to throw snowballs. Even little Jakie has gotten into it.

We tell each other ‘ Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’ but with this rare snow one would be hard pressed not to see how exquisite it is and how fragile. It is the fragility of it all that creates the ever- lasting memory!

The sun was just starting to set when I took this picture of the old oak tree with the hanging Spanish moss dangling with ice and frost. For the beauty of the world.

It appears big brother Rutledge has the magic touch getting his little sissy Eloise to sleep.

Day 4 and you see why roads here are still scary!

So until tomorrow … the snow is slowly but steadily leaving- take time to memorize the sheer moments of beauty.

“”Today is my favorite day! Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

My little walking partner and my neighbor Vickie’s beloved pet of 17 years, Maggie, died peacefully during the night Thursday.

Our daily walks won’t be the same without the third Grand Dame of the team! When neighbors would stop to speak and pet Maggie we would laugh and say that the oldest Grand Dame ( Maggie) could still leave us in the dust.

When strangers petted and talked to Maggie Vickie would always quickly reveal that she was old and deaf. Yet Maggie always sensed our every move while walking and turned her head to check on us as if she could hear us talking.

When Vickie texted me yesterday to let me know Maggie had passed as she lived- quietly and peacefully- I thought that she was a lady to the end.

Vickie said she already missed having someone to talk to- even though she knew Maggie had been deaf for the past few years -I responded that the five senses are over-rated- Maggie heard Vickie through her heart!

So today I picture a young Maggie romping in the snow hearing the sound of icicles falling from roofs and trees, birds singing, and three Grand Danes solving all the world’ problems on their walks.

So until we meet again Maggie- hear all the new beautiful sounds of your new home!

It is still cold outside and still beautiful with the sun’s rays reflecting off the ice. And inside it is “toasty” toe warm!

Here are some more photos from snow day 3.

And our newest little princess Eloise was just happy to be home with all her family!

Even though this is the first day cars are attempting to get out…there is still a different stillness about snow. It is so serene it restores the soul.

So until tomorrow… Let us appreciate the sound of silence when it falls around us!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Don’t you love it when seemingly bad circumstances turn out to be a memorable occasion?

We all hoped that Walsh would be able to get Mollie and Baby Eloise home Wednesday morning but it was not to be. He and the boys barely made it to John and Mandy’s and he was visibly shaken.

Even if he had made it Mollie would not have been released- Eloise was given the clear on the Strep bacteria but was a “little yellow” ( jaundiced) and so ended up getting rid of the IV in exchange for the mask and lamp for 24 hours.

Her brothers thought she was cool – a superhero!

Mollie sent me this picture of her coming home outfit! Our little snow angel! She has put up with a lot in her short stay.

You can only imagine the excitement of all the grandchildren Wednesday afternoon when they woke up from their naps!

It was one of the most beautiful snows I have ever witnessed… and to spend it with family was priceless!

One big spend the night party!

While I am in Mt Pleasant Summerville received the most accumulation of snow. Vickie took this picture yesterday morning.

* So happy- just heard from Walsh and they got Mollie and Eloise and got back home safely! So relieved and thankful! 1:15 Thursday!

There has been so much excitement and drama since New Year’s Eve- I think we had better hold onto our hats- 2018 looks like it is going to be quite a ride!

So until tomorrow… Thank you God for my family and our newest addition- Eloise!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

The scene from the back porch with dangling icicles was such a gift of beauty!

Dear Reader:

Eloise will be heading home today barring any inclement weather – she contracted a bacterial strep during birth and is on a tiny IV for her antibiotics! 

She is doing great and hopefully  can get home before any wintry weather.

I  have some beautiful pictures of the frozen ponds around Mandy’s home – will save them for when I get home- which will also depend on the weather

There is a good chance that there won’t be a blog  Thursday- John is taking my old phone in today and setting up my new IPhone the children got me for Christmas – cleaning out and  starting over.

So until I write again soon- I hope everyone is staying warm – safe and sound!

“ Today is my favorite day” winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

New Year’s Eve I spent several hours with Mollie and the boys…Mollie didn’t think anything would happen Sunday because she said Eloise was calm and peaceful. (Now we know she was just resting up for her journey.)

So when I left around mid-afternoon Sunday I really didn’t give the impending birth much more thought…at least at first.

But about 5:30 I was going through town on my way home and saw what only could be described as a magical ‘winter wonderland’ in Hutchinson Square. All Christmas decorations were gone and only the purest little white lights were adorned over all the trees and some bushes….benches, statues. It was so tasteful and beautiful I couldn’t get the scene out of my mind.

I found myself turning around and heading back with my Iphone in hand. I knew my power was just about gone but if I could just get one or two photos taken that showed the serenity of the park that drew me back to it…I would be satisfied.

As it turned out I was able to get two shots…the first was of an oak tree covered in white lights seemingly looking up to heaven. I stood under the tree as darkness began descending and shot my pictures through the branches to the lights and stars slowly beginning to appear.

As I looked up into the twinkling eternity I said a little prayer. God, if You are ready for Eloise to join us now…we sure are ready for her to come. Tonight would be just perfect…or even tomorrow…but soon…okay?

I glanced down at some emails on my IPhone and saw a couple from Cindy Ashley. She had shared a verse from Mary Oliver’s Devotions at Christmas (we both love this poet) on listening (and thought of me) and once again…I wondered if a God Wink was forming.

I ask you again: if you have not been enchanted by
this adventure-your life-what would do for you?

And, where are you, with your ears bagged down
as if with packets of sand? Listen. We all
have much more listening to do. Tear the sand
away. And listen. The river is singing.

I went and sat on a nearby bench and just listened to the trees swaying and a few raindrops pitter-pattering down…the park looked so magical late Sunday afternoon under the deepening darkening clouds. A time when anything was possible.

Was Eloise about to begin the greatest adventure of her life...was this verse responding to me concerning my request from God? Was the river singing to her tonight to start her new life?

When I got home we had a bonfire going next door…an oyster roast. It is so wonderful having young couples on the street again…what fun! Luke helped me get “Big Red” inside…not an easy task…but not one stem broke…quite miraculous!

The fireworks had already started when I came inside to charge my phone…it was low but something was urging me to check my texts…and there it was….Mollie’s water had broken, Walsh was on his way home from work, Mandy was checking in…it had started.

The miracle of life. Later I discovered that I wasn’t the only one thinking the baby might be coming on the brink of a new year….Honey had put a request in on a stone …a ritual they have in their church for prayers…and Stephanie just had a gut feeling that something was going to happen New Year’s Eve.

Walsh was right…He and Mollie have been so blessed with each of their children coming on a special holiday…Father’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day…and New Year’s Eve. Special indeed.

So until tomorrow…And the child that is born on the Sabbath day is Bonny and Blithe, and Good and Gay. 

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

A Christmas or perhaps New Year miracle! Vickie gave me this cactus a few weeks before Christmas and assured me it would bloom over the holidays. She said she had several and it would be one less plant to drag into the garage when the temperatures dropped near freezing.

I warned her….this gift was the gift of death. I have tried caring for cacti before with no luck…most of the time the blooms just drop off before they even hardly open. I think I over-water…I just haven’t been able to get in the rhythm of this particular plant’s needs.

Fearfully…I finally conceded and took it and put the cactus, filling up with buds, on my porch while we were still having a constant warm front…but then as we know Old Man Winter decided to enter the lowcountry on Boxing Day and hasn’t left yet. (Along with the New Year…another new cold front is descending on our little semi-tropical region of South Carolina. When it gets down in the teens and the highs in the 30’s…Big Red and Christmas Cactus have got to go inside.)

I took the cactus in before Christmas and put it in the front den window that gets the morning’s sun rays…gentler and diffused. So far it is working.

Another reason I chose to start the New Year talking about a Christmas Cactus is the symbol for which it stands…longevity. Really, really longevity and the secret behind it.

Here is an excerpt from a blog author, Kathleen Keeler-A Wandering Botanist– telling about her Christmas Cactus named Junior that she has had for over fifty years…fifty-three years to be exact. Unbelievable! (*Do you hear that “Big Red”?)

Kathleen starts her story in 1961 when her family was moving to Ohio from upstate New York. As they were packing she noticed the Christmas cactus in the kitchen window and told her mother that they must take it too…her mother just shrugged and handed it to her.

Four years later Kathleen took a single rooted branch from that plant to college with her in a 2″ pot.  The plant was small, and she, an inveterate namer of things, called it “Junior”.

It is amazing Junior survived the college dorms and being knocked over constantly and fed  coke sometimes instead of water…but it did survive…and continued to survive.

The secret behind a Christmas cactus’ longevity according to Kathleen. *Junior was last a seed 170 years ago!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it potentially immortal? Perhaps. Old age from the aging of tissues is one of the great mysteries of life. For some species getting old is not much of an issue. The really big marine clams are an animal example of living things that don’t deteriorate with age. Plants like Junior grow new leaves and new roots so none of the actual plant is 170 years old. Perhaps that is part of the secret

The whole story and the beautiful pictures of Junior growing up are found in the blog post below…just click on…a truly miraculous story for the first day of 2018. A great short read!

A Wandering Botanist: Plant Story — a Christmas Cactus Named Junior

So until tomorrow…The idea of longevity and the new year 2018 is very appealing to me and I suspect, many of you. Let us all wish each other …not only a long life but a quality one as well. A year spent listening, hoping, relating, caring, smiling and all the other “Words for a New Year” forth-coming.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I spent Saturday night at John and Mandy’s to keep the grandchildren while they went out (last “date” before work starts again) and then stopped by Mollie’s and stayed awhile since Walsh had to return to work and she was home with both the boys. I had a wonderful time with all the grandchildren.

As I stared at each of them…I thought 2018 will bring my grandchildren another year older….as well as, hopefully, their Boo Boo. Eva Cate will be eight, Rutledge, seven, Jakie, four, Lachlan, three, and Baby Eloise not quite one…it appears. Boo Boo will just be…older! (Hallelujah!)

All the grandchildren are still playing with their Christmas toys and loving it…especially Eva Cate with her Barbie doll house and Rutledge with Rick Ranger. Eloise better decide to come on before Lachlan takes all her hair accessories away…especially her Clemson bows. Jakie is ready for his toy put before him.

When I got home around three…there was a black top hat and a box that said VIP…filled with New Year party favors…a candle to “toast’ the New Year by, along with other aromatherapy creams….unbelievable…and it was from Stephanie…my teenage babysitter… now still wonderful and caring with a beautiful daughter of her own!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! So thoughtful Stephanie.

*You aren’t going to believe this….go back and read the first line of the blog. A Christmas or perhaps a New Year miracle! Now scratch out Christmas….and read ‘perhaps a New Year miracle!’ Miss Eloise is on her way!!!!

I got a text from Mollie telling me her water broke a little before six last evening…that Walsh was on his way….it is now 7:15 p.m….the boys are being picked up at the hospital by Dickey and Barbara and taken home with them to Isle of Palms…I am planning on heading out first thing in the morning and will probably be in Mt. Pleasant until Wednesday evening… I had already planned on keeping Eva Cate Wednesday since Charleston teachers return but not students.

And I am dying to “set my eyes” on our latest princess…Eloise of Dingleland! Walsh reminded me that God’s Winks are still going strong (like Mollie’s contractions) First Rutledge was born on Father’s Day, then Lachlan was born on St. Patrick’s Day and now Miss Eloise is knocking on the door to New Year’s Day…but we will take New Year’s Eve gladly…close enough… and the finish line for Mollie finally!

It is going to be a wild, crazy “ride”….what a fantastic way to start 2018! Life should always have an element of unpredictability about it so we never get set in our ways. As soon as I hear…you will! So excited! Packing between typing!

***She’s here!

Eloise arrived at 9:27 last evening amid fireworks, bonfires, and firecrackers announcing her arrival…not bad for a princess! She weighed in at 8.1 lbs (I am sure it was that last sugar cookie that took over to 8) and 21 inches. She is perfect and wonderful and the best Christmas gift of all!

 It is almost 11:00 and I know I am going to have a hard time sleeping tonight but I need to be up and going early tomorrow morning…to see my fabulous fifth grandchild…second grandaughter….Eloise!

It looks like Eloise is posing…Mollie texted me this morning to say that she was waiting to see me…and I am getting ready as fast as I can!

*Excuse (in advance) any typo’s or crazy blog posts over the next couple of days…my mind will be on little tiny babies and counting toes and fingers. Welcome to the world Eloise…Welcome to 2018!

Go Tigers…we now have one more Clemson fan to cheer you on…Eloise!

Go Clemson!

*Don’t forget to say “Rabbit”…in all the excitement I almost did! May only wonderful blessings be bestowed on one and all.

Dear Reader:

Quinn Caldwell (“All I Really Want”) in his Christmas devotionals talks about the “miraculous’ sighting of a “glory.” People who travel a lot on airplanes have a better opportunity to have witnessed this optical phenomenon and it is always breath-taking.

A glory is made of sunlight scattered back toward you. It’s much smaller than a rainbow, and it’s made by light scattered from the droplets of a cloud, instead of falling raindrops. It has to do with sunlight being bent and scattered back at the viewer.

Before the days of air travel, people spoke of glories they’d seen while mountain climbing. The same conditions – the sun behind and a cloud ahead – can also cast your shadow onto the mist. Then it’s possible to see a glory around the shadow of your own head. That type of glory is called a brocken spectre. The glory is round, like the halo you sometimes see around the sun or moon, and it comes in muted rainbow colors.

Quinn goes on to make this powerful observation:

“What we have to scale a mountain in a rainstorm to maybe see, Jesus wears all the time because he scaled a cross in a firestorm. When he did it, it changed everything. The author of Hebrews claims that because of what Jesus gave up and what he refused to give up. because of what he let go of and refused to let go of, because of what he sacrificed and because of what he refused to sacrifice, the whole universe bent around him forever. 

His gravitational pull is now so strong that there is nothing in this world or the next, not even light itself, that can encounter Him without being reflected, refracted, or rerouted into a new and more beautiful course of life. 

This all leads to an amazing opportunity awaiting us in 2018!

“We can hurtle into next year at the speed of light, just as we did this year, just the way we usually do…without any direction…or we could also do this: 

“Become glory-fied. How might we let our life become part of the beauty that crowns that baby in the manger/ how can we let our course be bent, slowed, refracted into something more beautiful than we can ever have managed on our own?”

So until tomorrow: Let us ask Jesus to bend our lives like His brilliant light… sending us off in a new direction…shining like glory.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my amazing blog readers who have stuck around a lot longer than I ever imagined. You don’t know the feeling I experience each day to awaken to my blog friends’ comments, laughter, and “Ah-ha”  moments. It is so much more fun going through life together with others.

May you all have the most wondrous year – in 2018….and may blessings fall down upon you. Thank you for your support and love.

Some new “Word of the New Year” responders:

Gin-g chose CARE because she remembered her mother instilling that in her a child and she continued doing so up until her death. She did a good job because all of us who know Gin-g think “Care” should be her middle name.

Janet Bender said she has two words…because they go together. Solitude and Relationship. She wants to carve our more time to be still and listen…building a personal relationship for our Creator to guide her along the right path.

Linda Carson’s word is still SMILE: (Linda does have the sweetest smile in the world…perfect with working with cancer patients…it is what drew me to her almost ten years ago when I first met her!)

I also want to keep my word.  Its the one gift that I was given that has always come fast and freely.  It may not be the prettiest but it is heartfelt and most usually returned.  I smiled at a little girl being carried by a parent  and she was looking at me with big eyes observing the world from her perspective.  When I smiled, she smiled back and it made my day!  Such beautiful innocent little faces.  Thanks for getting us all thinking and feeling blessed everyday.  Happy New Year!  Linda

Dear Reader:

Have you ever noticed that when one light goes out in your house…inexplicably other light bulbs often “pop” at the same time?

It is as if there is some kind of conspiracy among light bulbs…a time when they meet in darkness and whisper that they are all going to “pop” and go out when each one is turned on the next day.

Yesterday my adorable neighbor Luke came over to help me get four lights burning again…within a few hours all went out. My hall light, my “Happy Room”  recessed light (this required a tall, tall ladder) and both porch lights.

It was while Luke was switching out new bulbs for the “dead” ones on the porch that memories of my high school days came tumbling back ..dating and the front porch light.

We moved from North Carolina to Laurens, South Carolina (Located in the Piedmont region) when I was turning fourteen and entering high school…Ben was in his junior year.

When it came to lights and mother…we could go without a light bulb in a lamp or ceiling light until she could get to the store or send Ben, who was now driving, to the store for new bulbs… but she never let the front porch light  go out on our home on Barksdale Circle in Laurens.

Some of the reason, probably, was being a single mother with three children… she wanted the security of the front porch light on…but as Ben and I began staying out at night more with meetings, performances, sports events, practices, dating, etc. in high school mother came up with a new rule…an iron-clad new rule involving the porch light.

On week nights everyone had to be home by 9:30 and on weekends…11:00. Mother always told us as we left to go here or there that the front porch light was only staying on until the curfew deadline…after that lights were out and we were on our own to get back in the house.

Oh…Ben and I each had a key…but the lock on the front door was sketchy at best…even in broad daylight it took a lot of twisting, turning, pulling and pushing at the same time to get it open. It was much easier to get someone inside to open it than to try it yourself.

The penalty for being late was a different chore for each minute we were late so we knew if the light was off and we had to first find the key in our pants pockets or (in my case) my pocketbook and then try to fit the key in the lock and then open it in the dark…we were going to be doing lots and lots of chores.

Our worse fear (more than extra chores) was not being able to get in and mother opening the door…this time she would turn on the light and there we would stand with an arrested mugshot  expression on our faces.

I always pictured mother sleeping once the light was turned off the front porch (after a missed curfew…like a clueless teenager) but now as a mother and grandmother…I realize that mother never slept when we were out at night…until we were safe and sound back home. Then the porch light stayed on the rest of the night.

*If there was an emergency situation, car failure, or late pick-up by another parent…we had to find a phone and call…no ‘and’s, it’s or but’s.

As much as we siblings hated the front porch light rule as teenagers…I realize now that my love of light, lamps, and lanterns all stem back to this period. The front porch light shining bright in the darkness meant security…someone cared enough to keep the light on for us…and if we disobeyed the rule…we had to pay the penalty of temporary darkness until the light once again returned. 

Isn’t our relationship with God closely tied to that of our parents as children and adolescents? The light is always on during each dark night and remains on as long as we do what is right and expected of us.

Even if we mess up occasionally…and we find ourselves lost and fumbling for the key that will unlock the light again…we know we are not alone fumbling in the darkness. There is Someone on the other side of the door Who will re-open the light for us…again and again…because as God’s children we are loved unconditionally.

So until tomorrow…We all think about the beauty of the radiance of the sun light and our love for it…but what about moon light…Aren’t we all asked, at some time, to be the one to provide the light in the darkness for another?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* A full moon is expected for the first day of the new year…Monday…maybe Eloise will be drawn out of her nice, warm cocoon by the pull of the Old Man in the Moon. We will see.

Over Christmas I put up decorative little white lights around the mirror in my bathroom…It was supposed to be more for a festive effect than anything,  but I soon realized that little diffused white lights take about ten years off one’s face…it is so much easier to look in the mirror in the mornings than with four light fixtures beaming back at you. I have created an illusion that sure makes my morning brighter.

Wasn’t it so wise of God to make sure that we can’t see our own faces as we go about our daily lives…just the others around us? That way I live quite happily in my delusional but satisfied state of being.

Both Sue Anne and Honey, said they wanted to keep their ‘Word of the Year’ another year too. Sue Anne said that she just couldn’t make it through life if she didn’t have FAITH.

Honey said she was talking to her daughter Ashley and told her she was trying to think of another new word for this year but all her feelings pointed her back towards HOPE. Ashley, wisely, told her mother then she should stick with hope. *Ashley’s right Honey….”HO” ney and “HO”pe go together like two peas in a pod…it just fits.

Anybody else? Ready to change or stay? Share your thoughts with us.

John and Mandy gave themselves a wonderful Christmas present…an overnight getaway to the Biltmore House Inn and tours of the house and grounds. They were glad they had reservations because the crowds were immense and it was bitter cold. Nothing, however, can take away from the awe and wonder of this Vanderbilt castle….they even braved the elements and took the roof tour….looking out over the frozen ponds.

Dear Reader:

Rutledge adopted an elephant for Christmas and applicably enough…he is named Rutledge in his honor. He lives on the Kenya Wildlife Reserve! So cute…just like our Rutledge with the same great memory!

Maybe one day Rutledge, the Clemson Tiger, will get to meet his namesake, Rutledge the Elephant…as long as he is from Kenya and not Alabama! 🙂

Yesterday as I was watching a talk show (Kelly and Ryan)…Oprah was on talking about her most recent book…

From her conversations with well-known philosophers, theologians, well-respected authors on her own television show….(Super Soul Conversations)…Oprah has selected (what she calls) snackable bites of wisdom that are easy to consume and remember.

One quote I heard (from this quick video sample of tidbits of spirituality to help us through the day)…came directly from Oprah, herself. It basically said that the “Three most important words aren’t “I love you”…even more importantly, it is “I hear you.” 

*Listen to the five quotes below…everyone of them I want to set to memory…so I can pull them out as needed

AHA quotes from Oprah’s The Wisdom of Sundays book – YouTube

And Oprah is right…There is no way to truly love someone completely if we can’t hear them…if we can’t hear what they are really telling us. Listening comes before loving. And now I realize that  “A-ha” moments are never new thoughts that spin out of space and magically land in our brains…An “A-ha” moment is when we have made a connection with something we already knew…we simply had never connected the dots to complete the entire thought!

Oh…I love it when a thought completes itself!

So for me…I need to stick with “Listening” as my word for 2018 too. I am still a novice and still learning…I have ‘miles to go before I sleep.’ (Anybody else needing to stick with theirs, too?)

So I re-lit my “Listening” candle I made last year (yesterday) as a symbol of my continuance with this word and the new understanding it brings.

So until tomorrow…

Let’s all join the growing movement to care more about what the other is saying and less about our response back…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Today is also my “baby’s” birthday…Tommy or as he is nicknamed… “Deduction Dingle.” Tommy and Kaitlyn are leaving today for Chattanooga to visit Susan and Butch, Kaitlyn’s parents, and her adorable nieces over the weekend.

Tommy… I will have your annual birthday present ready when you return…(a jar of brown and silver) from the day after your birthday last year until today…amazing how loose change adds up so quickly! We can never stop that tradition. *And look…this year I couldn’t even get the lid placed on…Too much change was coming out the top…a good sign!