Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Lately I have realized that before we begin any project or process in life we need to re-check to see if it is right side-up, or facing the front, not back, or even identified correctly before we begin a new passage in life. In other words, “Look before we leap.”

This way of thinking started with the Ya’s shadows sitting on the bench Thursday evening with the sun going down at our back elongating our silhouettes across the sandy beach at Edisto. At first glance everything looked the same, in the same order, and identity.

It was only with a second viewing that the truth revealed itself. The order from left to right was backwards and, at the last minute, we had switched seats. It was like staring at a negative off an old photo from a camera. Isn’t this a mistake we sometimes make in our zeal to jump into life with just a quick glance? We are looking at life upside down… and end up going round and round in circles?

From Simple Abundance… author,Sarah Breathnache, envisions how this common mistake, made by us mere mortals, is set into place.

...”Here’s what I think happens. Just before we come to earth to begin this life, we are given a photograph of our future of the Divine Plan- to get us excited about the great adventure ahead. As the photo pops out of the celestial camera, we’re in such a hurry to get on with our life, we grab the negative instead of the photograph.”  

“Now we’ve got the pattern of a fabulous life, but the perspective is reversed. What’s white looks black. What’s black appears white. We’ve got the big picture, but it’s backward.”

…”So we cry when we should be laughing, are envious when we should feel inspired, experience desperation instead of abundance, do it the hard way instead of the easy way, pull back instead of reaching out. and worst of all, we close our hearts so we won’t get hurt, when opening them is the only way we’ll ever know joy.”

So until tomorrow…“How many times have we waited for God to move for us, when in fact, God is waiting to work with us? Today, take the negative of your Divine Plan and let LOVE develop it so that you can begin living the life for which you were created.”

It’s time to move forward!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Delight of the Day: When I first got home Friday afternoon and glanced around at the garden I noticed some beautiful yellow day lilies….they seemed to all be standing so straight and tall. It wasn’t until that evening when I took the time to examine them a second time that I realized they were Lazy Susan’s that had just popped out! So beautiful! (Love my jar lantern Libby!)

*Eva Cate is reversing light and darkness dressing she and Jakie up in cool sunglasses. I get a feeling this is the beginning of many dress-ups for Jakie. Hang in there Jake! This, too, shall pass.

The two sets of cousins bumped into each other at the SC Aquarium, took a second look, and decided to have a spontaneous pool party! Loving on you my little darlings.

Dear Reader:

“Nostalgia is defined as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.”

Jackson loaned me her tractor she received when she was five years old. Doesn’t it bring back wonderful memories? My brother David was the tractor “man” among us siblings and he was quite territorial about it. But still…. when the “cat’s away the mice will play” always worked. At least long enough for me to get to drive it a few times.

The grandchildren are going to love driving it! Eva Cate can definitely reach the pedals and Rutledge’s legs are probably long enough  to push the pedals …we will check it out the next time he comes.  Thanks so much Jackson for the loan….I will take good care of it!

Nostalgia took another (more recent) avenue this year. Look below at one of the gift exchanges… Jackson had discovered and brought for each of us.

It is artwork remembering October 4, 2015…the date of the “1000-year flood.”  It is magnetic and can be placed on the object of your choice….I chose my refrigerator where I would see it daily. The award-winning artist said this about the symbolism.

“The background of this artwork is unique, as it resembles the flood water and the beauty that came from it. The floodwaters were horrific, but beautiful at the same time as it brought out such “Beauty” in so many people. (Artist: Ansley Coleman Grier)

None of us missed the irony of heading back to Edisto Island with another storm (Collin) meandering around this time. But we certainly weren’t going to let that stop us …the best thing that ever happened was Jackson being with us and not at home during the “1000 year flood.”

We had an opportunity to reflect on Jackson’s son, Matthew, and his “magical” wedding all within a few months of the flood. Jackson said, from her vantage point now, the flood will probably go down as the benchmark that proved to be the catalyst that forced her hand to make a decision that would have occurred any way in time…while saving lots of money by not having to pump it into an old home that was constantly needing something new.

The loss of personal items was the hardest but new poignant family stories and photos are quickly filling in the family archives of memory.

Once again we realize life goes on or as Ferris Bueller so aptly quoted at the end of his movie (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off):

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

A hand-made nostalgic quilted memento of the orange moon rising above the Blue Ridge Mountains on Matthew’s Magical Wedding Night. (Thank you Mary Lee!) A gift to Jackson.

We have been going to Brooke’s retreat home for so many years it too is now an important benchmark on our calendars. This year I took time to find the beauty right in Brooke’s own back yard, side yard, front yard….we were surrounded by it without having to leave. Even the egret in the front yard (the first morning we were there) was a welcoming sign we believe.

The funniest gift was (as advertised on television) “The Grabber” since Libby has problems dropping items in the kitchen because of her broken wrist from skating….but laughing aside…we all saw the practicality in the gift and want one. Our birthday gal!)

*Jackson gave it to her for her birthday (being Libby’s room-mate for a few months after the flood and heard all the glass breaking).

The beach was so beautiful our last night as if Edisto had dressed up well to tell us good-bye….the memories are already turning nostalgic and will continue to do forever.

Until tomorrow….each year we count four Ya’s….we know has been a great year with more in waiting like the waves!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delight of the Day: A sunflower field we discovered leaving Hollow Tree Nursery.

Dear Reader:

On our last evening at Edisto on our Ya retreat….we came out of self-imposed “retreating” long enough to down a drink, watch the ocean, and have our annual photo made by the prettiest, sweetest young lady we met on the beach.

We definitely see a developing pattern (which we have assured ourselves is not due to age) wherein every year when Libby moves forward in age (on her birthday) during our summer retreat…we move backward in the number of times we leave the beach house for any reason.

Dressing up to go out is disappearing, as well as many side trips….the only thing that lures us out is, mainly, food….not to eat out, as much any more, but bring back.

Libby said we had certainly slipped into  the “S’s” period of life. No longer is the beach get-away an “R&R” (Rest and Relaxation) retreat but we brainstormed perhaps a “Slug and Slumber” retreat.

We sleep, nap, watch a little television, eat and talk within the perimeters of Rest In Peace. We all agreed to stop bringing so many clothes (we always thought we needed to bring more in case of doing this or that)…Since we aren’t doing this or that...all our outfits are definitely not needed.

If we keep heading in this direction….I predict before Libby has too many more birthdays we will have one long “Pajama Party.” It is our healing balm to our more hectic lives in the other world outside Rest in Peace. A place these days to “cocoon” (gather strength) and enclose ourselves in the safety and security of old friends. Best medicine of all.

Libby was the heroine who got a broom and scissors to cut away all the foliage and knock down spiders crawling all over the best home sign on Edisto (Brooke’s.) Did I mention SPIDERS made our “S” list this year? We knocked them down only to return to larger webs the next morning….yuck!

So continuing along some of Libby’s “S” memories of this year’s retreat (shadows, sisters, slumber, slug, spiders) is also signs. Originally I thought of doing the “Doors of Edisto”….but it is hard to get to many front porches without practically knocking on the door, so with help from the other brainstorming Ya’s it changed to beach home signs. 

Jackson drove while Brooke and I looked for signs….we went on a lot of dirt roads and into the marsh area that I was not familiar with…just beautiful. Here is a “Small Sampling.” (Click to enlarge)

How many people were able to identify us from our “shadows”? I started looking and got confused, asked Brooke and Libby and they were a little unsure….because we realized that after the “shadows” picture (wasn’t that a great idea…..Jackson spotted the chance opportunity and we got the photo made with seconds to spare. A minute or two later the sun sank and there were no more shadows to be made Thursday evening) we had changed places on the bench and weren’t sitting in the same order. As you can see below.

The first confusing thing is that shadows place objects (us) in reverse. Secondly….Libby and I switched places and Brooke and Jackson. Got it? Answer: L to R

Libby, me, Brookie, Jackson (think Jackson might be holding her hat)

So until tomorrow….Isn’t life sometimes like shadows? One day we feel strong and confident and good in our skin….and, suddenly, all it takes is for a single shadow to form and instantly we feel completely “opposite”-weak, timid, and undesirable. Shadows are sneaky things….we must remember that what we see is not what we see.

“Today is my favorite thing.” Winnie the Pooh

Tomorrow….the Shadows of the Summer Sisters continue (Part Deux)….life always shows us that even when we retreat from it….life has a way of pulling us back in….lot of pictures and fun!

*Since I was away last week at the beach I didn’t have an opportunity to get a Charleston Skirt Magazine.….I am on the hunt tomorrow! We are so proud of our Kaitlyn being Number 1 in the category of Seven Females Who Have Earned Their Very Own Place in the Sun. Go girl!

* Tomorrow there will be beautiful delights of the day from Edisto Island in the blog…but, for today, Anne sent me these beauties from her yard and garden while I was away.. How about you? Got a “pretty:  to show off….a delight of the day.…send it in and it will be added to the blog posts throughout the week!

Thanks Anne for sharing. Mandy shared these photos of Jakie swimming….looks like a little old man delightedly floating round with his hat on and belly out.

And I realize that soon I will blink and Mandy and friend will be cruising down Jungle Road (at 35 m.p.h.) at Edisto…Tempus fugit.

.

Dear Reader:

I’m coming home and isn’t returning home after a fabulous week of old friendships really hard? Part of me wants to see home again to make sure the flowers and garden are okay and the grandchildren up and running around,  but there is always a bittersweet side of coming home again too. It means we have to leave the ones we all love and the face the daily routine of problems called life. .

While at the beach I sleep like a log. We all do. It is something very comforting to know when we turn over and remember where we are in the middle of the night…that we are with old, dear friends. It is like someone putting a blanket over all of us and peacefully falling back asleep…content and happy. No boogie man could possibly be lurking around….the Ya’s are too much for any such critter!

It always takes me a day or two to re-adjust to home and myself in it. We find ourselves calling each other to make sure we all got home safe and sound….really to just hear each other’s voice again.

After a couple of days the memories slowly dim and we return to a wonderful life that we all love too…just different. It is something about being able to only be in loved ones’ presence for a limited amount of time that makes it more precious in our sight.

But what really helps me…as the “historian” and  blog “scrap booker” is that I get to re-live the time with priceless photos and short stories. I am the lucky one.

So until tomorrow….Let us savor times with good friends and family because all of life is precious in our sight.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delight of the Day:

Dear Reader:

I loved this phrase (blog title) that Kate Wolfe-Jenson used in her latest message about understanding value in giving to others. I have always felt somewhat guilty if I were not involved in some big project or mission when it came to philanthropy. It has only been as I have grown older that I realize it is the individual daily acts of kindness and giving that can be one’s highest achievement, defining who we are as a person.

Kate Wolfe-Jenson:

You are enough

You are enough. Are you enough for everything? No. Are you enough for anything? No, but you were never meant to be alone. We are social creatures and we do ourselves injury when we fly for too long solo.

You do not have to do this alone. You do it best when you ask for help.  For now, know that what you have to give is a sorely needed balm for an aching world. Being all that you are out loud is the start of the recipe and will lead you to your own healing as well.

Sometimes we think “out loud” means grand gestures and huge, flashy MISSIONS THAT NO ONE CAN MISS. Well, sometimes it happens that way. More often, though, it’s the daily acts – the little steps – that become the dance and gift of your life.

 Move towards compassion

You already know all this and are already doing it. I am just here to remind and encourage you. Step by step we express our deepest souls and move towards compassion for ourselves and each other. We are throwing our hearts open wide, taking in more and more. We are moving beyond the limits we try to put on love and letting it transform us, our lives and our world.

…………………………….

I have already learned how a bottle of water and a cookie can turn someone’s life around when they are down and have nowhere to go. When I hand them the sheet with the locations of free meals each day of the week and pantries they can go to for staples….some look at Anne and me like we just gave them a million dollars.

It is getting hot sitting out in the DSS parking lot now each Wednesday afternoon…but just when we think we might start melting….the most luscious breeze begins to blow and we know we are right where God has put us.

So until tomorrow….”Step by step, row by row, look our the garden grows and God’s children with a bottle of water and a cookie.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delight of the Day:

Dear Reader:

I smile with pride at my four grandchildren’s trees growing taller and broader….from right to left….the green maples is the oldest and tallest (Eva Cate) then the beautiful tall red maple is Rutledge, the distinctive different colored maple is Jakie, and then another little Dingle tree that resembles Rutledge’s tree…a dark red maple.

Photos and pictures of our loved ones hold such joy in our memories…that one can’t put a price on any of them. This was a lesson learned in the following anecdote that touched my heart.

THE SON

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart, and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.” The young man held out his package. “I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.”

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.”

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home, he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. “We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?” There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.” But the auctioneer persisted. “Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?” Another voice shouted angrily, “We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!” But still the auctioneer continued, “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?”

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. “We have $10, who will bid $20?” “Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.” “$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?” The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, twice, SOLD FOR $10!”

A man sitting on the second row shouted, “Now, let’s get on with the collection!” The auctioneer laid down his gavel. “I’m sorry, the auction is over.” “What about the paintings?” “I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!”

God gave his Son 2000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, “The Son, the Son, who’ll take the Son?” Because you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

– Author Unknown –

……………………………

So until tomorrow….We all have different pictures or visions of Jesus in our minds and that Jesus becomes Who we think He is….a friend and savior when we finally meet him.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delight of the Day:

Dear Reader:

As you already know I am settled in at Edisto Beach as you read the blog this morning. I have provided some short anecdotes, one each day, for you to read while I am gone.

I will be returning Friday and Saturday’s blog will be filled with adventures from the previous week. Rejoice in each day as it comes your way.

This story is one of my favorite stories because it provides the best, understandable, analogy between God appearing in human form and a “a-ha” moment….a lesson learned on Christmas Eve night.

The Birds Knew…

Now the man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge. He was a kind, decent, mostly good man, generous to his family and upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus story, about God coming to earth as a man.

“I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite and that he’d much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed, and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later, he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window.

But when he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They’d been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window. Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it.

Quickly he put on a coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs and sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted, wide-open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow.

He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn. And then, he realized, that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of someway to let them know that they can trust me – that I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how, because any move he made tended to frighten and confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

“If only I could be a bird,” he thought to himself, “and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm . . .  . . .  . . . to the safe, warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand.”

At that moment, the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells – listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

– WRITTEN BY PAUL HARVEY –

So until tomorrow….Let us ask for and receive faith with our eyes and hearts wide open….it is all around us if we just see life on a different level.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Since it it Tuesday it is safe to show this now. I got one of my talented friends from church, Mary Lee, to make me a small quilt hanging  of a  beautiful golden/orange full moon coming over the mountains for Jackson as a keepsake/memento of her son Matthew’s wedding. Hope you like it Jackson!

 Delight of the Day:

*Libby birthday bouquet from Boo’s Garden In the back-drop one piece of a little branch from each grandchild’s Japanese Maple. All four different colors.

Dear Reader:

A piece of advice given one of the main characters in Karen White’s latest novel is “to quit running in circles.” A good piece of advice for all of us.

If we think about it…the sun always rises in the east and sets  in the west….we don’t wake up to crazy circles of light and darkness. Yet we humans can find ourselves in self-imposed circles for fear of continuing our life journey with all the unknowns that lie within it. The familiarity of running the same pattern around and around and seeing the same sights and people make us feel somehow secure…but, unfortunately, we never complete our dreams and life journey to fruition.

In White’s latest novel (personally, I think my favorite) there are circles forming on top of circles….especially circles of secrets that threaten to undermine the main characters’ threads of hope for stability.

But don’t we all get a big surprise when the truth wins out and the world keeps circling, the birds keep singing, the sun rises and sets, and we realize that we finally are free to continue our own personal journey through life, to leave our self-imposed circle and get back on the highway of goals and dreams to be fulfilled.

In Flight Patterns Karen White uses the pattern of bees as an analogy to human flight patterns. It is most interesting and a couple of bits of information about the bees made me pause and remember mother’s funeral again.

According to some folklore, White writes, the bee shape is the pattern shape of our souls. Other ancient cultures, like the Celts, believed that bees were the messengers from this world to the next and vice-versa.

At my mother’s funeral in November of 2000, I gave our pastor, Rev.Richard Cushman, the little anecdote to read about why the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly due to size of its wing span proportionate to its head/body. But nobody told the bee. so it just flies anyway

Mother managed to raise three children, as a single parent, and work as a secretary, minus one hand lost to bone cancer. She didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to not be able to do it…she just flew with the situation….she flew higher than the angels.

At her funeral, just when Rev. Cushman began the story of the bumblebee, one flew in under the grave site  tent and came to land right on my head. . At the time I didn’t know what it was but I felt something and was scared to swat at it for fear of being stung. It sat right there until the service was over and then flew away.

It was Walsh who called me, upon getting back to college, to tell me how amazing it was that (1) a bumble bee in November was still flying around and (2) that it chose me to land on. He felt sure it was Me-Mommy checking on me before departing.

So you see why this book brought back personal memories and why it has endeared itself to me accordingly.

Remember last year….Karen’s book, that many of you read, was “The Sound of Glass.” From this book I bought “sea glass” chimes for my garden as a memento of the story.

One of the favorite of all the Ya’s was White’s novel,  Folly Beach, in which the plot took us back to WWII and German submarines off the coast with lots of fascinating history that I had never heard. It was in this book the origin and significance of bottles trees was mentioned and all the Ya’s immediately got some for themselves and each other.

Yesterday the Public Library offered a tea with Karen White, author of Flight Patterns which I attended. It was beautifully organized with vendors selling paintings and jewelry that were mentioned in the novel. I wore my bee bracelet. (One of many bee gifts given by wonderful friends upon hearing mother’s story.)

Limoges (Chinese china) plays a large role in the story and as luck would have it….Anne had some pieces in her family that she had painted and was asked to bring her artwork to the tea. Karen White, herself, bought several packages of the note cards containing assorted patterns of Limoges china from Anne.

I had time to tell Karen about mother and the “bee” connection in her story and she was so sweet listening to my personal take on the book’s importance to me. Everyone had a fabulous time. Karen is witty and charming and talented all rolled up into one. What you see is what you get! Memorable Experience.

***Brooke called to say that the internet is down at the beach so if I don’t respond or if there is a technical “boo boo” while I am away this week chalk it up to computer monsters. Will be back on Saturday “live” with lots of stories no doubt.

Look who stopped by to see Boo Boo before leaving for the beach this week? Mollie and my precious Rutledge and Lachlan! Mollie was trying to get some of the items to me for sun protection I ordered from her before I left.

Too sweet. Please check Mollie’s facebook and pop-ups for her products on “Beauty Counter Momma.” They are for everyone and since I have to be so careful about any skin product these completely safe (no chemicals ) are perfect for me. Have a great week!

Dear Reader:

The photo, above, of the long-leaf sun flower, is a good example of success gone astray. The blooms aren’t as heavy as the regular sunflower bloom and the stalks, not quite as tough, but, if left alone, it too, will grow too tall to sustain its own weight. (That is the day I walk out in the garden and see it drooping over like a weeping willow. The sunflower blooms with their faces in the dirt or mud.)

So I now know to keep it pruned throughout its growing season…so as to avoid this annual catastrophe. You would think, Mother Nature, in all her wisdom, would intuitively let the plant know when to slow its growth pattern, but, for whatever reason, it never gets the stop signal in time not to destroy itself.

Aren’t we, as humans, guilty of the same thing too many times? We start gaining some success, whether in  finance or notoriety, and decide if a little is good, more must be better. Too late we realize our folly.

It always come back down to wants and needs. How much do we really need to be content in our lives?

On HGTV, a lot of time is given to the new popularity  of “Little Homes.” The commercials show young people starting out or retirees slowing down… saying they want to spend their lives traveling and seeing the world, not tied down to a big mortgage which ends up consuming their lives and relationships.

In the commercial, one young man says: “We are the generation who are redefining what success looks like.” 

I think once we get over society’s interpretation of what a successful life looks like,,,,big home, lots of cars, big vacations, etc. and look inward to what defines “success” for us….we can start life anew.

In Walking on Water Madeleine L’Engle recalls an important conversation she had with a trusted spiritual adviser and friend, Canon Tallis.

“I was deeply grieved about something, and I kept telling him how woefully I had failed someone I loved, failed totally, otherwise that person couldn’t have done a wrong that was so destructive.

Finally he looked at me and said calmly: ” Who are you to think you are better than the Lord? After all, He was singularly unsuccessful with a great many people.” 

That remark, made to me many years ago, has stood me in good stead, time and again. I have to try, but I do not have to succeed. Following Christ has nothing to do with success as the world sees success. It has to do with love. “

So until tomorrow….how many times do we have to hear it over and over again to realize that LOVE is what life is all about, period.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delight of the Day: 

Today I will be at the tea given for one of my favorite authors, Karen White, and her latest book, Flight Patterns.

Anne has been asked to bring some of her artistic wares to sell, including new note cards and a special painting of a specific china pattern used as the backdrop for White’s latest novel. I will be wearing this bracelet. A hint of all to come on tomorrow’s blog.

Dear Reader:

With summer’s arrival most of our thoughts turn towards the beach and  ocean. It is something about watching waves roll in that sooth the soul. Perhaps it is some ancient magnetic pull from when life began or the comfort and security of knowing that the waves will continue to roll in just like the sun appears in the east each morning and disappears in the west.

In the world we all live in, filled with such turmoil and rapid change, waves are a constant in a world that doesn’t have many “constants” in it. The ocean is something we can count on to be there year after year after year with the same waves rolling, rolling, rolling back home to the shore.

Monday the Ya’s head to Edisto for our summer retreat and no doubt we will make the trek to the beach so we can watch the waves aimlessly roll in and let our problems drift away. The ocean has a way, like the stars, of making our daily problems diminish until they are no longer “giant” problems but just “little” problems that don’t deserve all the attention we have given it.

I love to watch the older children making those last minute decisions (I remember making) as the waves come pounding down….do I jump over or dive under? Immediately one knows if the right decision was made. Either you come up past the wave or you are able to catch it in time to jump over it before it forms into the mighty “crusher.” Or we are taken down and thrown around by a wave we never saw coming until it was too late.

Problems in life are like the waves, aren’t they? Sometimes it is better to dive under the wave and get to the “root” of the problem thus avoiding its mighty impact. Other occasions, if we can see the problem ahead of time, we can hurdle over it before it has had time to grow larger and take us under with it.

Some days the ocean seems downright balmy….hardly any waves lapping against the shore. And don’t we all go through “blessed” periods of peace when life seems to settle down and we can float calmly without the worry of a problem crashing down on us?

But other days the ocean is “choppy” and the waves, for as far as the eye can see, continue rolling in so quickly one hardly has time to catch their breath before getting hit with another wave. Unfortunately we have all experienced these extended periods of problems that seem determined to take us under and keep us there.

Like Donald Davis, the famous Appalachian storyteller, told my eighth graders one time, “If you don’t have a problem, you’re dead.” Truer words were never spoken. From the time we take our first breath until we take our last, life is filled with problems.

It is our decision-making skills that we learn going through life on how to handle the next wave of problems that determines the success of our lives. It is always our response to our problems that define who we are as a child of God.

I am quite sure most of you know the following  anecdote taken from the  novel “Tuesdays with Morrie” titled “The Littlest Wave” but, for me at least, I need to be reminded of it ever so often.

Tuesdays With Morrie…

“I heard a nice little story the other day,” Morrie says. He closes his eyes for a moment and I wait.

“Okay. The story is about a little wave, bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. He’s enjoying the wind and the fresh air — until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore. “

“‘My God, this is terrible,’ the wave says ‘Look what’s going to happen to me!’”

“Then along comes another wave. It sees the first wave, looking grim, and it says to him, ‘Why do you look so sad?’ “

“The first wave says, ‘You don’t understand! We’re all going to crash! All of us waves are going to be nothing! Isn’t it terrible?’ “

“The second wave says, ‘No, you don’t understand. You’re not a wave, you’re part of the ocean.’ “

I smile. Morrie closes his eyes again.

“Part of the ocean,” he says. “Part of the ocean.” I watch him breathe, in and out, in and out

 …………………………….

So until tomorrow….Isn’t that the secret of life with all its problems? We are all part of the universe and play an important role… as in one little wave among a big ocean. Alone, we are nothing but together we are ONE connected to everything else in the universe. I find that very comforting.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

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