Chapel of Hope Stories

(gerdasmitart) Psalm 59:15

“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and thou shall glorify me.”

Dear Reader:

Good Friday is definitely a day filled with paradoxes. Trouble and human suffering take center stage but do not leave victorious….God reigns instead. He delivers His Son, Jesus, into His waiting arms.

*You might recognize the artist’s name (title painting) from “Matt’s Story” a couple of days ago. Gerda painted St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope. Since that story was published I have contacted Gerda to tell her about the power of her painting and we are now friends. She has given me permission to use her paintings for the blog which is so generous. Her own story is amazing and one that will ‘be coming soon to a blog near you’… (Called Chapel Of Hope Stories.)

Today’s powerful story originated out of Jo and Colby’s visit last week…one that Jo told me orally and then left a journal sampling of the story for me to read. After hearing the highlights of one little girl’s ordeal of strength and courage I told Jo it was definitely an Easter story….because out of the ashes a little “Phoenix” arose to change other people’s lives through her own.

Meet Reese Burdette….a little eight-year-old girl who will steal your heart away. Now meet Pantene, her favorite dairy cow, who came to visit her, last June, at John Hopkins Children’s Hospital….a magical and amazing moment for both friends.

How they both came to be together for this photo might take some explaining…or as Paul Harvey used to say….It’s time to tell the “Rest of the story.”

Two years ago, over Memorial Day Weekend, Reese and her sister Brinkley went to spend the night with their grandparents at their farmhouse. Sometime in the middle of the night, Patricia,(grandmother) thought she heard a small cry and then she smelled smoke.

She woke her husband and told him to go to Brinkley’s room and get her while she went to Reese’s to check on her. Brinkley was fine and removed quickly by her grandfather to safety. Patricia, however, walked into a flaming inferno, as soon as she opened the bedroom door. Heroically she fought her way to the bed, got Reese, and they too made it outside.

The fire department was on its way and for a few minutes….it looked like everyone had miraculously survived this scary incident. Reese was talking excitedly about the fire but suddenly both she and her grandmother started having trouble breathing.

By the time the firemen arrived they knew that both Patricia and Reese needed serious medical treatments fast…they were taken to a hospital where they were immediately air-evacuated-Patricia to the Washington Medical Burn Center where she would stay for two months and Reese to John Hopkins Children’s Hospital where she still receives treatments today. Her new home became known as PICU-Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Reese’s burns covered 35% of her body but the most damaging problem dealt with her burned lungs from smoke inhalation. She would be put into an induced coma for four months. The amazing staff at PICU became very creative in altering some standard machines’ function to accommodate Reese’s individualized needs. Even so Reese lost her foot/leg to poor circulation….(Today Reese refers to her prosthesis  as “Leggo.”)

Justin and Claire, her parents, spent the first three months sleeping in the waiting room while she was in the coma. The slow head shakes and discouraging prognosis they continuously received from various doctors left them “at a loss for what to pray for.” 

Finally they decided to keep it simple: “Lord, please give us hope.“

This day would prove to be a spiritual turning point in their lives. Right after making the decision concerning their prayers for Reese…a nurse walked up to them and introduced herself, “HI, I’m Hope and I will be assisting with Reese’s surgery today.”

(I have a strange feeling that when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his execution….finally resigning himself to God’s will, not his own…..I have a suspicion that the conversation ended later with “Lord, please give me hope.” )

Jo and Colby kept chanting a number while telling the story 662.…it was the number of days Reese has been away from home and her dairy cows….because you see…last Friday, March 18, a really “Good Friday” Reese went home. The whole community turned out to welcome her home again. All the students at her elementary school gathered along the streets yelling her name.

A photo session/family portraits was taken before their departure at the hospital and Reese’s AuntLaura who has (prolifically) chronicled her niece’s amazing ordeal and story summed up Reese’s character with this astute observation.

“As she sat on her daddy’s lap (for the first time in seventeen months) her tiny fragile hand inside his big. strong one, she noticed a tiny cut on his hand. She picked up her daddy’s hand, with her own, burnt, scarred hand and placed a gentle, healing kiss on the tiny wound. She was just mimicking something he’d had done to her hundreds of times in the first eight years of her life.

This moment, so full of raw tenderness, offers a tiny microscopic view into the beauty being raised from the ashes in the lives of the Burdette family.” 

Jo…I can not thank you enough for sharing this poignant, heart touching story with me to share with all of our readers. Someone, like Reese, restores all our hope in humanity.

So until tomorrow…”Lord, give us hope.”

” Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I emailed Jo Dufford with some questions of family relationships and Reese’s homecoming….Let me share with you a little bit more information concerning this precious child.. You can also google her name and several articles and videos will immediately pop up.

Reese is my great niece who lives in Mercersburg, Pa.  She spent 662 days in pediatric ICU at John Hopkins after the fire.  She went home on Friday (still on a ventilator and dialysis so still a way to go) to a big welcoming with purple banners and ribbons, school children standing beside road and yelling,” Love You, Reese” and the fire trucks leading their car through town (about the size Summerville once was).  They had a small bit on  last Thursday on the ABC national news.    

They allowed many things at JHH to try to boost Reese’s spirits.  One was they brought her and all her machines to an open area behind JH, and her dad brought a large truck with Pantene, her pet cow, to see her.    

She got home in time to celebrate her 9th birthday on Sunday.  Even her doctor came for the homecoming.   Thanks for thinking of her because she is definitely a miracle child.  Even her many doctors said it was more than they did, and even said her recovery so far was a miracle.   

Dear Reader:

I have realized that with Matt’s story and Reverend Kenneth Brown’s story, as well as Ambika’s today, what connects all three is the amazing “anchor” of hope that manifest itself in a little chapel in the North Carolina mountains. Mind-blowing!

Ambika actually crept into my life and consciousness very quietly. Several years ago I got a comment one day about a blog post I wrote from someone named Ambika….her feelings and thoughts were quite deep and I began to look forward to her comments as they began to appear more regularly.

This went on for several months until I finally stopped and asked  about her name one day….it was so pretty but quite different. That is when Ambika shared her story and connection to the blog and indirectly to St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope.

According to Hindu origin…..the translation of the name Ambika means, “mother and compassionate.” The name also refers to  the “Moon goddess.” It was just about the time I planted my first moon garden in the backyard that we started corresponding and I remember thinking “Wow! Now I even know someone connected to the moon.”

Ambika told me she was originally from Bangalore, India but had moved to Dubai. I stopped reading for a moment to filter that information into my brain….excuse me…Dubai?

She was studying at Krishna Devaraya College of Dental Sciences and the exams and workload were very difficult. She was feeling down about herself and her future … so one day she started searching for “hope” on the internet and lo and behold….my little blog pops up. Chapel of Hope Stories.

Now really…what are the odds of this happening?

Tommy was studying for the BAR at this time so I could really empathize with her about a degree that boils down to one major exam…no matter the scholastic requirements accomplished up to that point. One test that either opens doors to a new future or quickly slams shut if unsuccessful….a tremendous amount of stress.

Ambika continued to follow the blog,  sharing her personal views and comments and then we finally “met” electronically. She shared her dreams of being successful in the dental field of study and future career, finding the right man, marrying, and having a family.

Guess what? Everything she hoped for….has come true.  A few weeks ago I mentioned something about Mollie and Walsh being tired because one or the other of their little boys kept getting up at night. Ambika responded quickly that she could relate completely.

She would love to be able to just rest and sleep for a long, uninterrupted period….she admitted that she didn’t have time to read the blog as much lately because Ajay wasn’t sleeping through the night either.

I emailed back and teasingly reminded her of her earlier dreams and hopes a few years back…and now they had all come true. Sleepless nights will pass and Ambika will look back and remember that bonding time as a very special time.

So until tomorrow….God works in mysterious ways when it comes to connecting us to the right source at the right time here on earth to help all of us through difficult times.

*I told Ambika that I hope to live to see the day when she and her family open the door to St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope and discover home is waiting.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

From New Zealand to Gadsden, Alabama, St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope once again brings hope and faith to another pilgrim -named Reverend Kenneth Brown… by providing him the guidance he needed to make a life-altering decision.

I have talked twice to Rev. Kenneth Brown on the phone and both times I am a better person for the conversation. He and his wife, Margaret, are truly inspiring.

One time while visiting St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope, myself, with Honey, we looked for cards left behind with people’s names and contact information on it…perhaps accompanied by a line of scripture or an explanation of the effect of their visit to the chapel on their lives. A story waiting to be told.

Suddenly Honey held up a card….with Kenneth Brown’s name and contact number at a church in Gadsden, Al. I don’t remember exactly what he wrote but it was something to the effect that he had made a life-altering decision during his unexpected visit to the chapel.

At the time he was pastor of a small, aging congregation that to some older pastors might seem like a “cushy” job. But not to Rev.Kenneth Brown. He wasn’t ready to ride out into the sunset yet….God was letting him know that he still had a purpose and goal left…only Rev. Brown wasn’t sure  exactly what that was.

He and his wife were discussing this on their way to Winston-Salem for a Baptist conference when suddenly he saw the road was closed ahead….rock slide. “Oh no” he thought…we will never get there.”

There were detour signs and more detours signs and before he knew it…(like Kenneth told me on the phone a few days ago) he was as “lost as a single snowflake in a snowstorm”….everything looked the same to him while completely unknown simultaneously.

Somehow (we all know how) he ended up in Trust, North Carolina at St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope. The decision he and his wife had been discussing prior to the detours was concerning him leaving the little congregation to do something to help the greater community of Gadsden…. To open and run a soup kitchen for the hungry.

The recession had hit and unemployment was sky high in this poor area of Alabama. For Kenneth…it was a “no brainer”…these people and their families needed physical and spiritual food to get them through this financial crisis. His wife Margaret supported his decision whole-heartedly.

The decision took “root” at the unexpected visit to St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope. He heard the voice clearly now and knew what his new mission in life should be. The rock slide was the best thing that happened to him….Trust God to send a powerful detour to steer His children in the right direction.

When I first called the number on the card that Kenneth left behind several years ago….I was told he was no longer at this church (North Highland Baptist Church) but was kindly given the telephone number of the Way of the Cross Ministries.  Rev. Kenneth Brown took over as head director in 2009.

I caught him just as he had finished feeding the masses that day. I remember shaking my head in disbelief at his “conversion”  story from his visit at the little chapel of hope.

Three days ago….when I called again…I “hit” him at the same time and it was as if no time had passed since our last conversation except for the amazing growth of this soup kitchen which Kenneth is quick to point out….doesn’t serve soup but meat, two vegetables, bread and dessert.

This past year The Way of the Cross Ministries served almost 60,000 people. Approximately 300 people eat lunch there each day. His wonderful wife, Margaret, is head of the kitchen crew, they have eight loyal “board members” who have the preparation and serving process down “pat” -accompanied by over 200 volunteers.

When I asked how he got so many volunteers…he replied simply “God sends them to us.” We have never gone wanting for them.”

In response to a question I asked concerning the length of time he plans to stay on as Executive Director of the Way of the Cross Ministries Soup Kitchen…he said until the day he doesn’t show up…which means he has moved on to his Glory. The same goes for his wife Margaret. He admitted that they were both “workaholics.”

I am providing a link that will give you more information on this amazing “soup kitchen” and an email address for you to contact Kenneth Brown if you feel so inclined to leave a message or even give a donation under this subtitle on the page.

How to Volunteer – Way of the Cross Soup Kitchen

So until tomorrow…When God calls…let us listen and follow.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

God sent me an angel yesterday with a brownie in hand by the name of Gin-g. She couldn’t find my blog yesterday and was worried something was wrong. A couple of days ago…this happened to Johnny Johnson and he emailed immediately asking if something was wrong.

Mover over “Big Red: I do believe the new “health o’meter” is the blog. I feel like a lighthouse when I get your concerned emails over the absence of a blog showing up on your computer….you check to see if the light is still on and the operator still typing.

I don’t know why some of you experience a lapse in the blog…it goes out every day around 6:00 or a little after in the morning….it’s a mystery to me. But thanks for checking on me in the process!

Gin-g….you notice the brownie (in the photo) you brought me yesterday is 1/2 a brownie….temptation won out….must take the photo quickly now before there is no brownie! Yummy! (PS Thanks for all the help yesterday moving Mandy’s work desk from the garage.)

Rutledge’s first love…Cinderella! Not bad, huh? He was the only little boy at his girl cousin’s (Madeline) birthday party….he was surrounded by all the “Princess” guests. Didn’t bother him a bit…but he was only attracted to the ‘older woman’….sat on the floor beside her….as she posed with all the guest princesses…he’s in everyone’s photo from the party.

John emailed this photo of Jakie flying the coup ( or nest) with his first “big boy” bike…with a little help from big sister, Eva Cate.

(Painting by Gerda Smit)

Dear Reader:

Since Easter is all about hope and its resurrection in all of us, through the sacrifice of Christ, I thought for the next few days that I would share how St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope has brought much hope to those who hear about it…even if they never get to see it.

This is Matt’s story with his gift of hope arriving from this special little chapel (Beverly Barutio built for pilgrims like himself in search of hope and faith) in the form of a happenstance photo on Facebook .

About a week before Christmas of 2012 I received an early Christmas present email from a Matt Oliver. He was looking for the owner of St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope and mistakenly thought I was that person….(after discovering the blog.)

He was excited about a painting he found depicting St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope and wanted to share  a copy photo of the painting with me electronically… he had found it on Facebook.

This was Matt’s original first message: December 15, 2012

Hi There,

I have recently acquired an artwork which I have tracked down to being a picture of your chapel. If you’re interested I’d love to email you a photo of the painting.

If you would like me to send you the photo, can you please email me with your email address. 

Cheers, Matt

……………………….

I remember how excited I was….such a wonderful surprise….especially at Christmas. A God Wink for me!

I wrote Matt back and explained that I was not the owner and who was….Beverly Barutio. I told him about the blog and how it came about and then I shared with him a little about her story and the creation of the chapel as a thank you to God for more time on earth. (I, also, told him how excited I was to see the painting.)

The next day (December 16, 2012) I received an email with two photos attached….one of the chapel which hangs on his bedroom wall…”as an inspiration” and the same photo of the painting he found on Facebook by Gerda Smit.

I had asked him (in my first response) if he had ever been to St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope and his reply astounded me…particularly.as to his whereabouts.

“Hi Becky”

 “No, I have never been there, or seen it. The artist, Gerda Smit, posted the picture on facebook about a week ago. I saw it and it just spoke volumes to me, that no matter how tough things get (been going through one of those phases) the reason we believe is hope. 

Hope for a better life when we pass from this world into the future. I guess I could say hope is why I have faith. In a world where I am bombarded by the requirement for absolute proof every day, having faith can be challenging, yet I know the moment God shows himself and provides the absolute proof…then there will no longer be a need for faith. 

Anyway, back to the picture. After securing the purchase I asked where the chapel was located…thinking that it may be some small chapel nearby that I could go and see. (Perhaps just to contemplate inside.) Gerda Smit said it was St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope in North Carolina and that she painted it from a picture she found on the internet. (I just did an internet search to put the pieces of the puzzle together.) 

So there you have it, a tiny chapel seemingly in the middle of nowhere, now hangs on the wall of a house literally half way around the world, in the North Island of New Zealand, where we have another wonderful summer’s morning and promises of more sunny weather on the way! A white Christmas is something we’ll never see here. 

Hope you enjoy the picture, and never underestimate just how important a tiny chapel may be. 

Thanks, Matt

…………………………..

Isn’t that an amazing story of how this little chapel is reaching people far and wide? Life is truly about hope and faith….and these two attributes are universally accepted by  all people living on earth as gifts from God which take many different forms….including the form of a little chapel.

I pulled up Gerda Smit’s paintings and they are fabulous! She was once selling her paintings and doing quite well financially when she received a diagnosis of extreme chronic fatigue. She can no longer produce the same quantity of paintings that she once did….and now just, mainly, paints for herself and as a gift to anyone perusing her artworks.

After grieving for the “old me” after her diagnosis….she now says:

“Thank goodness for painting (it is always patiently waiting for me.) My paintings are the breath of my soul. In every stroke you will find me.”   (Here is a link to Gerda’s playful and soulful paintings.)   

Testimony Tuesday with Gerda Smit! – HKC News!

So until the next story of hope tomorrow….Keep the faith….it will take us far.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Today I have a wonderful collection of St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope memorabilia (paintings, coasters, notecards) ….through friends as tokens of friendships and lovely gifts. The vast majority have come from Mike and Honey….plus the Summerville MS Society for telling stories at their annual Christmas luncheon and friends like Sam and Donna Clark who visited the chapel and made a photo of the cross.

Mike and Honey had a local artist do this original pen and ink sketch of St. Jude’s for my birthday that the first year of the blog…2010. Wow!

I love my new basket of petunias….they make me smile every day on the way to the mail box. One symbolic meaning for the petunia reads: According to some sources, petunias are also a symbol of not losing hope. What an appropriate thought to end the blog on today!

Dear Reader:

I think all of us were glad to see a little rain fall yesterday morning…to help wash some of the pollen off our roofs, cars, steps, and everything else imaginable….including us.

Honey sent me two photos (from yesterday) to show how crazy the weather can be in the NC mountains this time of the year….it started out with snow and ended up with beautiful blue skies.

I was over at Mt. Pleasant yesterday visiting Lee and Vikki  and catching up on family news. I met Tommy and Kaitlyn at their place off Coleman and later met up with Walsh and Mollie and the boys for lunch at Taco Boy. It is always so nice to have an opportunity to be with family. We missed Mandy and John and the kids but they were having fun at a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.

We ended the day with the “Peanut Dude” a.k.a. Chris Bible and bags of boiled peanuts. (In fact for every sentence I type I am munching on a boiled peanut…it is going to take me a long time to type the blog tonight) Tommy just sent me a link to a cute article on Chris Bible and the number of ways he has found to use boiled peanuts in food…including pizzas.

Peanut Dude on CBS This Morning

While talking to Kaitlyn she mentioned her sister, Amanda’s recent passing, and immediately Chris Bible stopped what he was doing and grabbed one of his books… pulling her aside to autograph the free copy for Kaitlyn’s two nieces who have just lost their mother. He is a special person.

In his book for children with rhyming verses Chris’s peanut character wakes up one morning feeling sad that he doesn’t seem to have everything other people do. That night he has a dream  that tells him to stop and make a list of all the things he is thankful for….his gratitude in life.

My mind was  no longer focused

on what I did not have.

Instead, my mind was focused

on all that I DID HAVE!

In his book Chris suggests that parents get their families to play the Alphabet Gratitude Game….taking turns thinking of something (that starts with each letter of the alphabet) and share with other family members.

Chris “hit it on the nail”….When we stop comparing our lives to other..concerning  what we don’t have and instead concentrate on what we do….we realize how lucky we are and only then can we be  filled with gratitude.

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day….Here are a few photo shots from Taco Boy, a local brewery- Edmund’s Oast-a brew Pub on Morrison Drive and photos of the Pitt Street park and bridge….just beautiful…that we took the dogs on to play.

Information of Edmund’s Oast-Brew Pub-http://edmundsoast.com/

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Master Rutledge at Taco Boy…he kept putting his pan on his head…looked like Johnny Appleseed….Tommy took shifts walking Lachlan around. .

Near the entrance to Edmund’s Oast…there is a wall with this picture and script…popular place for photos….

The Pitt Street Bridge is so beautiful…even on an overcast day.

What a day to be filled with gratitude for family, friends, and future acquaintances!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Last year I was so excited about this time of the spring season (It’s officially spring right now!) with my “Passion Vine” blooming away during Holy Week.

I read all kinds of ideas and suggestions how the vine got its name from the “crown of thorns” appearance in the bloom to the leaning tendrils morphing like the whips used on Christ at the crucifixion.

Some writers really embellished and stretched the truth quite a bit to make more connections than plausible or even possible, but overall  they were all interesting stories.

Little did I know that the real story would have to wait a year.

After sharing many exotic blooms (“Oh no! Not another photo of the passion plant”!)  one day in late summer….I went over and was smiling at the vine, now climbing over the tall side fence, and suddenly my expression turned to one of pure horror.

Hundred of these yucky-looking wormy catepillars were gobbling the vine, with all its blooms, as fast as they could. I tried spraying some bug spray but the next morning…the vine that once was… no longer was ….I mean those catepillars had eaten it to the core.

I told Anne my horror story and a couple of days later she called to let me know that the same thing had happened to her passion plant. We decided it must be one of those years when certain bugs or insects emerge and destroy everything. Just our luck, we planted it the wrong year.

So I yanked the pitiful looking bare vine out of the ground…it was too painful to watch. Smart Anne….left hers alone to see what Mother Nature might do to intervene at some point.

What would I do without my magazine articles in the waiting room at my oncologist’s office? There was an article on the Passion Flower on my last visit…nothing much said about the Biblical connection….but warning potential buyers about a certain strange phenomenon.

Butterflies adore the Passion Flower Vine….so much so…that they lay their larvae in it (after getting all the nectar) ….It takes a little while but one day the larvae turn into lots and lots of wormy catepillars. Which (if left alone to do what nature intends it to do)….eat all the blooms along the vine. They then turn into butterflies and the cycle of life continues….their own “Resurrection.”

The article warned not to yank the vine up by its roots….because the next year it would grow back from its roots. Anne-1; Becky-0.

The title photo today is my neighbor Jane’s passion plant….Ace Hardware sold the last one to her while I was in Mt. Pleasant Thursday….but if any of you readers would like to have one of these beautifully blooming plants….ACE Hardware is expecting more this Thursday! I will be there!

I did get another type of butterfly plant that Vickie (across the street neighbor) told me about when I bumped into her at the hardware store last Friday. This one won’t eat itself but just provides a snack and a place to rest for butterflies.

I am going to sign off now…..Have you ever gotten cramps in your hand where it distorts and twists your fingers and thumb….very painful. I over-did it yesterday cleaning out my garage…and I am paying the price this evening while typing.

I pulled all this junk out plus I filled up two other garbage cans full of “stuff”….some of it was very heavy stuff!

Ernie is coming tomorrow to haul everything in the pictures off and Larry and Webb Bailey are coming Monday morning to haul off some stuff left over from the renovations last summer….and then…and then…the nasty old garage will become a butterfly...Boo’s Potting Shed!  Yeah! Yeah! Ouch! My thumb just disappeared again.

So until tomorrow…When in doubt….Leave Mother Nature time to do her thing…she does know what she is doing!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Anne…you will be very proud of me…I did not throw this pitiful rabbit away…one ear keeps falling off and one eye has disappeared…but from a distance my Easter Bunny looks pretty good. I can empathize, after all I look better from a distance too!

Dear Reader:

Rebecca….the English derivative of the Biblical name Rebekah means literally “secured.” For a person who has spent far too much of her life seeking “security” here I discover I have been “secured” the whole time.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Rebekah at the well and her subsequent marriage to Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham sent several servants and ten camels to Nahor, his land of birth, to find a wife for his son Isaac. It played out like this:

It was getting towards evening when he came to the town of Nahor.

There was a well outside the town, and Abraham’s servant made his camels kneel there, beside the well.

Then he prayed, “God of my master Abraham, be kind to my master today! Help me find a wife for his son Isaac. Look, the daughters of the townspeople are coming to get water. I will ask one of them for a drink. If she says, ‘Please, drink, and I will water your camels too,’ then I will know that she is the one you have chosen.”

Before he had even finished praying, Rebekah came out to the well with a large clay jar on her shoulder. She was very beautiful.

Rebekah went down to the spring and filled her jar with water.

Abraham’s servant hurried to meet her. He said to her, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

“Drink, my lord,” Rebekah said, and quickly she lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

And then she said, “I will draw water for your camels too.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Abraham’s servant watched her without saying a word.

Was this the one God had chosen to be Isaac’s wife?

(Resource:Children’s Bible Stories)

Rebecca was indeed the chosen one by God and returned with Abraham’s servants to become the wife of Isaac and a big “root” in the lineage of the Christian faith.

Lately I have felt more like Rebecca than ever….i have a sprinkler system set up to keep most of the garden flowers/plants watered but every day I have to water the plants on the porch and the front and side yards….especially the hanging baskets….so I leave water containers along every section of the yard.

Most of them are in the form of empty gallon milk containers….and like Rebecca I secure them, not balanced on my shoulders, but balanced between my two hands and arms. It is a daily chore unless we have rain.

I love looking at Rebekah garden statues, water fountains, etc. Perhaps one day I will have one in my garden.

Names do matter….what others call us and what we call ourselves matter. Most of us, throughout our life span, will go by many different names….nicknames (affectionate and some not) “Daddy” or “Mommy” or “Aunt” or “Uncle’ ….perhaps we are someone’s “Schmoopie” or grandchildren’s “Boo.”

Jesus’ name means “Savior.” It pretty much sums it up doesn’t it….”The rulers of this world have often called themselves great, conquerors, dictators, bold, magnificent, and the like. The Son of God is content to call Himself Savior. Those seeking salvation may draw near to the Father with boldness, and have access with confidence through Christ. It is His role and His delight to show mercy. “For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him” (John 3:17)

…”The name “Jesus” has eased our wearied consciences and given rest to our heavy hearts. The Song of Solomon describes the experience of many, when it says, “Your name is oil poured forth” (Song of Solomon 1:3 . Happy is the person who trusts not merely in vague notions of God’s mercy and goodness, but in “Jesus.””

Adapted from The Gospel of Matthew by J.C. Ryle (Chapter 1).

…A name many of us have chosen to add to our identities is the name “Christian.” We also have  a name older than those, sweeter than the ones croomed to us at bedtime, deeper than the ones that cut us to the quick. That matters more and tells the truth of us better than any other. It’s the name God gave us in the womb, and every morning since: Beloved. Let’s try to live up to that beautiful name. (All I Really Want-Q. Cadwell)

So until tomorrow…God, the name you gave me is the only one that really matters. It would be hard to top “Beloved”  but let me, a mere mortal, try: “Yours.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I sent Rutledge and Eva Cate a photo of their “Lollipop seeds plant and lo and behold…a lollipop stick is starting to grow!” They must continue to do Kind Deeds so the Lollipop Seeds will keep growing into one big lollipop by Easter.

Dear Reader:

Yesterday, the idea for the “body and soul’ relationships we discussed in the blog came from a chance meeting of turning the television station to PBS, which was showing short video clips of Wayne Dyer’s most popular messages. (I am still in shock that he is gone…after fighting cancer successfully he died of a sudden heart attack in August of 2015.)

One anecdote that he told dealt with our acceptance of others we deem “different.” The problem never lies within the child/adult but in the perception of people who come into contact with him./her. It is our response that defines our true character.

• I researched this story to make sure it just wasn’t another half-truth anecdote that had been embellished over time….it was verified by the father and other witnesses at the ball park as actuality.
• When we recognize the “sweet somethings” in every human being, regardless of race, gender, political affiliation, social status, religious preference, etc we get a glimpse of “unconditional love.”
•  “Perfectly Imperfect Sweet Somethings”-Shaya’s Story

At a fund-raising dinner for a Brooklyn school that caters to learning-disabled children, the father of one child was expected to give a speech extolling the dedicated staff’s work.  Instead his opening remarks shocked the crowd of parents and teachers. He cried out: “My son goes to this school, which teaches that everything God does is done with perfection.  But where is the perfection in my son Shaya?  My child cannot understand things as other children do. So tell me, where is God’s perfection?”

The audience, shocked by the man’s anguished question, hushed.  A few people coughed nervously as the father continued:  “I believe that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection He seeks is in the way people react.”  The father then told about the afternoon he and Shaya walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.  Shaya asked, “Do you think they will let me play?”

The father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team.  Nevertheless, Shaya’s father understood that if his son were to be chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging.  So the father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play.

The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates.  Getting none, he took matters into his own hands.  “We’re losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning,” he told the father.  “I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning.”  Shaya’s father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly.  A team member told Shaya to put on a glove and go out to play short center field.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.  In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya’s team scored again and now, with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was up to bat.

Would the team actually take a chance on Shaya to bat home the winning run?  Everyone knew it was all but impossible because Shaya didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it.

Yet as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact.  The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed.  One of Shaya’s teammates came up to Shaya so together they could hold the bat and face the pitcher.

Again the pitcher took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly.  As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the bat and together they hit a slow ground ball.  The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman.  Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game.  Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.  Everyone started yelling, “Shaya, run to first! Run to first!”

Never in his life had Shaya run to first.  So now he scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.  By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball.  He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, still running.  But the right fielder understood what the pitcher’s intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman’s head.

Everyone yelled: “Run to second! Run to second!”  Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. Just as Shaya reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, “Run to third.”  As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming:  “Shaya, run home!” Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate, and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders.  They made Shaya their hero, as he had just hit a grand slam and won the game for his team.

“That day,” said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, “those 18 boys reached their level of God’s perfection.”

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So until tomorrow…Let us all strive for God’s perfection in our imperfectly clumsy ways….”Jesus knows we are weak…but He is strong”….He will keep pulling us closer and closer to perfection as long as we just keep swinging the bat.

*Thank you God for this little anecdote that filled my heart to capacity.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I went over to Mollie and Walsh’s home yesterday afternoon to help watch the boys while Mollie packed. She is taking the boys to Washington, D.C. to have a family birthday with Lachlan and his cousin Madeline with their grandparents.

We picked up Rutledge at pre-school, (Lachlan had stayed home with Mollie as part of his birthday gift)….a day with mom. We took the boys out for ice cream, to watch the ducks, and play at the house. Pizza was ordered and when I left….one was down and one was up….not bad. God speed tomorrow and safe travels- Mollie, Rutledge, and Lachlan. Happy Birthday Lachlan….who by the way has some strong Temple genes in him….watch the first birthday picture of Mollie, on her first birthday-in the wagon- and the present day one of Lachlan.

Dear Reader:

*Pardon the last minute insert but at 3:56 yesterday afternoon the number of views rolled over to 50,000. This blog reminds me of the tortoise and the hare….some bloggers have picked up that number in a few hours or days….but my blog isn’t about winning a race…it is about observing life as a beautiful stroll, taking in all of God’s beauty while holding His Hand and listening to His guidance.. (From Nov 25, 2015 until March 16, 2016)

For many of you who have joined us just recently and those who have been faithful viewers from the start…I hope the past few days have given you a “schema” (as educators like to say) a foundation for the events leading up to the creation of this blog or reminded you of earlier stories.

It all began with a beautiful, memorable wedding in 2008 (Mandy’s at Edisto) then an abrupt diagnosis of breast cancer, a not  encouraging prognosis pertaining to the adversary, years of various treatments, and a gut-wrenching search for something for me to leave behind that would give credence to my  existence.

An answer to my prayers arrived in the form of a friend and a chapel, a blog,  a two and-a-half year storytelling contest between myself and the fictitious Scheherazade, an annual family/friend “race for the cure” to give back to others, and the discovery of an inner joy that can’t be diminished by time.

If, at any point, I had given into the idea that it was too ‘late’ to do this or start that…the blog would never have been created. Every time a new time-line hurdle appeared, I just went on and made my plans. Let the chips fall where they may.

As I return from past memories (from the last few days) until the here and now….I know that our “homework” this week for our new Sunday School study on insecurities and God’s role in us… is just another God’s Wink.

If you would take a moment to read the verses below (that match  the verses in the title photo from Psalm 139)….you will come to  Verse 16: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!… which means HAPPY BIRTHDAY LACHLAN…..the cutest little leprechaun around. One year old today! Sending smooches and kisses….”Top of the morning to you” Little men with hats….they take after Dad with that captivation. When Walsh was little it is hard to find a photo of him without a hat on….all kinds and shapes.

Dear Reader:

These days I don’t look on life as a race…in fact I am quite content to just “meander” along its paths.

I am in no hurry to reach the finish line….there are still “mountains to move” and oh the places I still want to go.

I am doing much better at avoiding and/or not getting stuck in the dreaded “waiting room”…Instead I am off to find my “Wizard of Oz”….God in the usual and unusable places in life.

What became one important aspect of my journey with “little c” was the Susan Komen Race for the Cure-held annually at Daniel Island. Tommy called me in 2009 and asked if I would like to walk with him- he had already paid for two entry forms.

All mothers know, that if we are still breathing, we jump at the chance to spend time with adult children and this was a very special time. Tommy walked very slowly so I could keep up and we proudly finished the “race” together. At the same time we had a chance to talk and catch up where he was in his life and what was going on in it….savored moments.

By the next year, 2010…other family members said that they, too, were interested in participating….Miss Eva Cate had arrived on the scene so she too rode in her carriage….Lassie, Doodle, Carrie, John and Mandy joined in the fun too (Walsh and Mollie let Tommy and I stay at his condo  on Daniel Island since they had a wedding or something else that weekend and surprised us by decorating it in pink.) A few other friends of Tommy joined us….our team was called something like the Dingle Dawdlers because we only got registered at the last minute. But we had a ball!

By 2011 everyone showed up I think ….family and friends. Mollie had all participants over at her place on James Island….the title photo picture is one example of the cute decorating she did. Since the blog was up and running for about a year, by then, John suggested we call the team “Chapel of Hope Stories” and perhaps draw attention to the blog. If anything, the race just became more exciting as more people joined on to walk.

This was the year of the pink glasses….oh how I loved them so….but sadly they got lost somewhere in the celebration afterwards and never reappeared. I, also have never found them on-line either. Besides being pink they had dangling pink star earrings hanging down…so cool. “Everyone” wanted to try them on.

It was also the 2011 Race for the Cure that brought a writing contest to share personal stories about this disease. Little did I know that Tommy had written an essay and sent in for submission which was later published. As you can imagine…it is in my “Little c” Scrapbook…whenever I am feeling down…I re-read it.

In our family, we seemingly talk in in two particular cliches when we refer to our mother’s breast cancer. We say “it is what it is,” and we always try to keep things “in perspective.”

While there may be some who might belittle the oversimplification of what is an extremely complicated situation, those two small, seemingly innocuous statements relegate themselves in a rarified meaning. They give less an explanation, but rather lead us to acknowledge that although she maybe identified as someone with cancer, cancer is not her identity.

Mom is a survivor, not a cancer survivor, and certainly not a cancer victim. There is nothing more certain in this world to me than the fact nothing will beat my mother. Her legacy will remain on this earth long after she is gone, long after those reading this are gone.

My certainty of these truths stems from the fact that our mother never opined why she came to her current situation. Instead her first instinct, as a life-long educator, was to figure out a way to pass on her knowledge and wisdom.

As a teacher storyteller, she knew her greatest gift in the  world would continue to be through story. After a chance meeting with an old friend, Mom had an epiphany in which she decided her goal would be to beat Scheherazade’s record of 1001 stories in 1001 nights from “Arabian Nights.’

Therefore, she challenged herself to tell an uplifting story each day for 1002 days. The attempt would be to give back all that she has learned in her well-lived life. To pass on her wisdom to future generations, to pass on wisdom to her grand-daughter Eva Cate.

As fate would have it, this quest that started on August 31, 2010, will end on the anniversary of her initial surgery May 29, 2013. Like Scheherazade, Mom’s journey will not end after 1002 days. She will live on and so will her stories.

To support and be a part of our mother’s journey, visit chapelofhopestories. com

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Tommy’s publication has probably been the greatest gift of all. To be able to glimpse into your offspring’s psyche to see what he is thinking is a priceless gift….one I will treasure all my life.

*I am happy to report, as of March 16, 2016 I am still here, still writing the blog and God has worked in “miraculous ways” to keep me keeping on….there must be something left I need to do before changing addresses.

The Race for the Cure grows more important to me each year I participate and to have such loyal family members and friends continue to support me and the cause is completely overwhelming…I feel strongly in giving back to others who are and will travel this difficult road with hopefully new treatments and options available to them. As the years have passed so have the team photos changed…babies are toddlers, toddlers are pre-schoolers, pre-schoolers are real “schoolers.” Sunrise, Sunset.

So until tomorrow….Never say never when facing an obstacle because only God knows when our struggles are over….until then “fight like a girl” and never stop.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I decided to include the Race for the Cure after Jo and Colby gave me these gifts yesterday….a “little c” necklace and candle. Love you girls! I wore my necklace all day and have it on as I click away.

*This has also been a day of change for both Bekah and Jackson….Bekah is a proud first time homeowner while Jackson watched her family home taken down yesterday….but like Bekah, Jackson is happily setting in to her new abode. Changes are a part of life…it is how we deal with them that defines us. Bekah and Jackson are handling the changes remarkably well!