Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

There is a rarely used word in our English dictionary lurking around our consciousness that defines another level of our “humanness, our existence. As strange as it might seem to include this word/definition into a Valentine’s blog….it actually fits quite snugly.

The word is ALCHEMY. There are two definitions available….one dating back to medieval times concerning a chemical process and the other a metaphor that deals with our transformation of being human, being present, at a higher level of awareness.

One definition says: Alchemy is the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. During this time the term was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold.

Today this medieval practice is a metaphor for a “seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or a combination.”

In a sense Valentines Day is an “alchemy” of humans bravely transforming themselves “into gold” for another’s awareness. In other words,we are making ourselves and our affections available to another.

“We are giving our heart to another in a “seemingly magical process of transformation and creation.”  

In Awakin Weekly last month one article was titled: Presence: The Quality of Consciously Being Here by Kabir Helminski. The author talked about the “magical” process we go through to bring God’s Presence into our lives to the point that other people can hear and feel God through us. Like the chemists of old…we are turned into gold.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

“Presence signifies the quality of consciously being here. It is the activation of a higher level of awareness that allows all our other human functions – such as thought, feeling, and action – to be known, developed, and harmonized. Presence is the way in which we occupy space, as well as how we flow and move. Presence shapes our self-image and emotional tone. Presence determines the degree of our alertness, openness, and warmth. Presence decides whether we leak and scatter our energy or embody and direct it.” 

The author clarifies that “Presence” is not just a physical human attribute but is God reflected through the human being. When we are wholly present for others we feel freed from separation, from duality. We are truly one in the spirit.

On this Valentine’s day let us give the most precious gift we can to our loved ones….a gift that doesn’t necessitate buying cards, chocolates, or flowers. Our gift of “gold” is simply being “present” for those we love.

So until tomorrow…let’s visit friends or family, make telephone calls, email, text…whatever our choice of communication needed to let others in our lives know we are “present” for them….a constant valentine.

Happy Valentine’s Dear Readers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Susan sent me a picture of my adorable Valentine niece, Ady Grace….so pretty! Happy Valentines Ady Grace!

*As I was cleaning out my pocketbook yesterday a slip of paper with some writing on it fell out….as I re-read it I then remembered what it was and why I wrote down. Friday as we were driving around Kiawah Island….we started talking about how the land looked before construction and development moved in back in the early seventies.

Brooke and I saw the virgin beach and forest one time through a home-town friend of her’s who was working on the first stage of the development in 1972… We will never forget seeing a deer romping in the surf. It looked like what it must have appeared to the Native-Americans and now….wow!

Honey commented that her daddy often said “Always buy land’cause the Good Lord will make more money but He ain’t making no more land.”  (Honey’s sculptor of her daddy)

Dear Reader:

Thursday Anne and I had a spontaneous lunch at Baker’s Pond for some delightful barbecue! Anne was dropping off a church member near my neighborhood from a quilting session and stopped by to ask if I had eaten lunch yet….I had not and had even left a message for her asking if she wanted to grab something for lunch. (Meant to be!)

While we were waiting to order, a young man, named Jimmy, told us his amazing story about how he was walking again when a year ago he was in a wheelchair for ALS. He is of course, still fighting the disease but for almost one glorious year he has been able to leave the wheelchair and walk around by himself again. He praised God every day for this miracle for however long it lasts.

He was so uplifting he had everyone inside the barbecue diner smiling and nodding their heads. A true God’s wink when one gets the feeling that the timing was meant to be….to meet this inspiring young man. Anne and I were amazed.

Prior to the special lunch rendezvous…I had gone to Timrod to return a library book and look for another novel to read. I started chatting with the volunteer on duty and she told me to get a ‘Summerville Tea’ fan…they were being given out by the town. (I got a couple more to give the Ya’s next week….keep it in your pocketbook, girls, for those “hot” moments that besiege women of a certain age.)

I didn’t realize that tea comes from a special camellia known as Sinensis. No wonder southerners love our tea so much…a winning combination of two of our favorite things in life: camellias and sweet tea. I, also, learned that this plant and the tea extract is good for preventing uterine cancer….I feel better already about drinking my tea. Tall, cold, sweet,,icy….with a lemon. Ah…life is good!

When we were at the Hollow Tree Nursery a couple of weeks ago Lisa showed Anne and me some tea leaves growing and told us about the origin of the Sinensis camellia. I find it quite lovely that something as refreshing as iced tea comes from such a beautiful plant and even helps fight certain cancers.

While researching the name of the specific camellia plant that produces tea,  I discovered a funny little folksy article from a North Carolina newspaper on the southerner’s love and loyalty to this drink. The writer has decided that the serving of sweet tea from the un -sweetened tea divides the south from the north more accurately than the Mason-Dixon line. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sugary…Tommy Tomlinson

“More than a drink”

People divide the South from the North at the Mason-Dixon Line, but I’ve always thought the real marker is the sweet-tea line — the point where, at the next diner north, they don’t have sweet tea ready to pour. I’m not sure just where the line is. I feel sorry for those poor souls up above it. But one thing’s for sure: The Carolinas are on the good side.
And over the years, in this part of the world, sweet tea has become infused with meaning.

It’s more than just a drink. Sweet tea is our alchemy — our gift of making something special from humble ingredients. (Just like barbecue, conjured into glory from the cheapest cuts of meat.) Sweet tea is our love offering, poured for family and neighbors and even the guy trying to sell us new gutters. And at its most basic, sweet tea is a cold blast on a hot day, like a dip in a river from the inside out.

We have been drinking sweet tea down here for nearly two centuries now, although the tea of the early 1800s doesn’t much resemble what most of us drink with cornbread and greens. Back then, the tea was green tea, and it was served as an ingredient in punch — spiked with champagne or rum, and sweetened with sugar and cream.

By the early 20th century, most people in the South drank black tea imported from China or India. (All types of tea come from the same species of tea plant,Camellia sinensis; the different types of tea come from different varieties or how the leaves are processed.)

Cookbooks had recipes for basic sweet tea, but people still drank it mostly in punches. The two big events that converted the South to the sweet tea we know today were Prohibition, which got rid of (most of) the nation’s alcohol, and ice delivery, which gave people a way to cool down a big glass. By the 1930s, sweet iced tea was as common at the Carolina table as salt and pepper shakers.

………………………….

Having Summerville, our beloved hometown, share in the history of sweet tea just adds to the charm of our town and the abundance of sweet tea pecan pies and sweet tea fried chicken dinners available.. You name it we can put sweet tea in it.

Southerners are actually downright spiritual about their sweet tea….calling the method of making it the “Trinity” Sweet Tea Method…mixing water, tea bags, and sugar together. No two pitchers ever taste the same because it depends on how long you boil the water,  the temperature when poured, the number of tea bags used per water and when you add the sugar. Just remember the ice cubes and lemons….a southern woman who doesn’t have both can be shunned for eternity.

So until tomorrow….Just remember: There’s no magic formula to making tea, because sweet tea is about people. That’s the magic part.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

These cute pig statues caught our attention before going in to eat…especially the black and white hog with pearls on….we kept remembering there was something about pearls and swine in scripture….Anne later found it and sent it to me…definitely not uplifting!

“Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you” Matthew 7:6

After barbecue Thursday I was off yesterday (Friday) with Debbie Baker, Gin-g Edwards and Honey Burrell on an adventure to Kiawah. Even though it misted in intervals we didn’t let a thing like weather deter us….lots of looking around stores (not as much buying….it is February after all and we are still digging out from Christmas.)

We walked around The Sanctuary and warmed up in front of the big fireplace there in the bar. And speaking of bars…we ended up at the Ryder Cup Bar for lunch. It was packed in there for such a cool, wet February day. The view of the ocean from the restaurant is spectacular. We all got a yummy lunch and could hardly keep from yawning all the way home.

We did stop at the Tree House nursery on the way home….so many beautiful garden displays..In my parallel life I would decorate my garden with the whole shop. Gin-g and I decided to ring the gigantic chimes out front from the shop….In actuality the bells rang for all of us all day, because we were together and sharing smiles,laughter and most importantly…memories!

We passed many signs today as wandered around John’s Island and Kiawah, but this was our favorite sign! Tommy was such a special person….glad to see his name lives on with his passion for family, friends, and the game of golf. What a mentor Tommy was for young people interested in the game. There was no better role model for our children!

I had a wonderful surprise last evening…I discovered a FedEx package on my porch and it was a Ya Ya Plaque from a former Erskine College gal who thought of Libby, Jackson, Brooke, and me when she came across this message. How sweet! Thanks Mac for your thoughtfulness and kindness. We love it!

Dear Reader:

By happenstance I came across this little “ditty” by Dr. Seuss while surfing the internet yesterday and immediately I put on the brakes. It spoke to me quite loudly.

I feel like I am just settling into my last birthday with five months in and seven more to come until I need think about another benchmark. (After a certain age…I think all birthdays turn into benchmarks which say: “I’m still alive!”)

This “train” of thought pulled into the railroad station named for a book about just this subject…growing older with more humor. The station is named:

This New York seller/ best author self-proclaims the mystery and power of getting more awesome. It’s like Cook has read all our minds concerning self-doubts on aging, disconnecting between who we feel we are and who we see instead in our reflections. Most importantly the author retains her sense of humor throughout.

Here are some sample observations/excerpts from the book. Can anyone relate?

“Flipping the Switch”

The thing about life is that it sneaks up on you.

Especially if you’re as good at denial as I am.

So there I was, reinvention to the left of me, reinvention to the right of me. Reinvention is the story of my own life. It’s my passion, my life’s work. I wrote my first novel in my minivan at 45. At 50, I walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the movie adaptation of my most well known book, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack.

I’d gone on to write thirteen novels, turned Must Love Dogs into a series. Reinvented my publishing career and become a New York Times bestselling author under my own steam. I’d even written my first nonfiction book, Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention (without getting lost along the way), to share everything I’d learned on my own reinvention journey that might help other women in theirs.

I was strong. I was invincible. I was—.

Getting older by the nanosecond.

As Dr. Seuss said, “How did it get so late so soon?”

A milestone birthday is on my horizon and I’m not sure what to make of it. How to deal with it, or even if I want to. What it means. What it could mean.

Further complicating things, if I’m really honest with myself I don’t like how I’m feeling physically, not to mention what I see when I forget to look away and accidentally catch myself in the mirror. And given the way the years are flying by, the startling disconnect between who I am on the inside and the stranger I see reflected back at me doesn’t seem likely to get better.

And, oh, those existential questions. Who am I? What am I here for? What do I want my life to be? What do I want to look like? (Okay, maybe that last one isn’t quite existential.) Wouldn’t you think we could ask and answer these big questions once, or even twice, in our lifetime and then shift into cruise control?

I’m old enough to know the signs: It’s time to get my act together.

Again.

As I ponder some more, I realize that what I really, really want to do is figure out how to grow awesome instead of old. How to shine on, and hopefully on and on and on. And because the comment I hear most often from my readers is, hands down, OMG, you’re writing my life, I figure that if I’m struggling with all this stuff, I’m not alone.

So let’s do this. Let’s figure it out together.

Defining Midlife

Just so you know, my definition of midlife is anytime from 40’s-on-the-horizon until we die. I have absolutely no intention of ever calling myself part of whatever the next category is. Upper middle age? Lower old age? Endlife?

So for the purposes of this book….our stage in life will be called…”Forty to Forever” Stage.

……………………….

We only have to go in a book store and walk to the Self-Help section to realize that we, Americans, apparently need a lot of help to get through life… Help on relationships, aging, raising children, buying a house, maintaining a home, grooming pets, eating right, drinking right, taking a vacation,  yoga and meditation., etc…you name it….someone has “freely” given their advice about it.

So this “Forty to Forever” gal just wants to look as good as humanly possible given the genes God gave me for as long as I can. (In other words I don’t want to scare myself each morning when looking up from brushing my teeth.)

The most important thing to me at this age, personally, is staying independent. I love my house, my garden, my friends, my lifestyle and my greatest fear is losing this wonderful stage in life that I feel I worked so hard for all my life.

As much as I love socializing and being with friends….I need my solitary time too… to walk, talk, garden, read, and muse about life. Being a senior “groupie” doesn’t appeal to me at all….but never say never…I also understand now that the key factor to independence in life is good health. God, thank you for giving this precious, priceless gift back to me for as long as my life-line is meant to be.

So until tomorrow… my new mantra is “Growing older is mandatory; growing up is optional.”  I’m off on a new adventure today with three wonderful friends to explore new things….my favorite slice of life!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Johnny, Jackson said to tell you that you can also find a happy place in forty large trash bags that she now calls home. Jackson and her son, Matthew, have been going through their home… saving what can be saved….everything is in forty bags.

The items inside each bag  have brought back happy memories of the history of their home and the large role it has played in their lives. It was their “anchor” for many decades.

 Yes, you can find a happy place in your “home” even if “home” is forty trash bags. *Jackson, this gives new meaning to the expression “Forty to Forever.“

Dear Reader:

You might remember me telling you about my incident (in a couple of earlier blog posts) in the fourth grade with explorers and explorations. I wanted the teacher, Mrs. Persons, to point out all the unexplored lands on the map (one day) so I could go explore them. She glared at me and said that the whole world had already been explored and then she let the map roll back up against the wall with a loud snap!  End of discussion! (Mean teacher!)

Every time I discover something new, these days, that I didn’t know before (that even existed) I whisper to myself….“See! See! You were WRONG, Mrs. Persons….every day I can explore and discover something new!”

As I continue exploring the frontier of my own cancer, the unknown, with this new drug I am pioneering, I realize I am exploring unknown territory for others to, hopefully, follow one day. My exploration didn’t turn out the way I imagined it as a nine-year-old child in geography class….but it is just as rewarding and exciting.

I had a comment from Johnny Johnson yesterday in reference to loving our home’s imperfections which got me thinking about our personal home explorations.

I know what you mean!!!! We did a complete remodel of our home that took nearly a year to complete due to some structural work included. After it was complete, I couldn’t find anything! It didn’t feel like home! I just didn’t feel comfortable! Now with little things settling in and relocating everything, the house is finally beginning to feel like home again. A door that makes a certain noise, the sounds the new Fridge and dishwasher makes and so on. It’s nice, but it has taken 6 months to feel like home again. Odd what the little things do to make you feel comfortable, and knowing where everything you use in your home is located really is a big deal!
I hope you have your fire going today, Mrs. Dingle, it sure is cold out! But hey, it’s probably the last couple of weeks of cold weather before Spring begins to show up. Got to love the low country!

Johnny’s remarks reminded me that our homes are the perfect examples of the combination of the five God-given senses we have been given… all coming together. Think about it. Everyone’s home has a certain smell which identifies the people living there. Certain foods that are cooked become so ingrained in our memories that we can almost still taste them. We can change material things, like furniture, but the house still reflects our basic personalities.

It is the sounds of our home, like Johnny pointed out, that really identifies the house structure as our home. For a long time during and after my first rounds of cancer treatments, I slept on the sofa in my Happy Room. I couldn’t lie flat down on my back…I felt like I was choking…I needed lots of pillow to prop up on (So sleeping, for me was in a  semi-sitting position.)

It was during this time  I came to recognize all the sounds of my home that I didn’t hear way back in my bedroom at night. The refrigerator was the biggest one. At first I jumped when the motor started up , out of nowhere in the middle of the night, but soon I came to recognize a pattern with the sounds.

The pattern consisted of seven short ‘pelting’ snaps…and then the fridge would give out a long moan. All would grow silent until the pattern started again. I, soon, realized I could chant:

“Lions and Tigers and Bears….OH MY!” (repetitively )

We soon grow accustomed to our own home’s odd night noises….but isn’t it funny that when we spend the night in another house….we are sometimes kept awake by the night sounds of that house?

When I spent the night at Walsh and Mollie’s last weekend, I took a flashlight to bed with me and after giving Lachlan his 2:00 a.m. bottle…explored the noises in more detail. It was raining so some of the sounds were made by the rain hitting different objects outside in the dark, then there were the refrigerator sounds, and Rutledge talking to himself in his sleep (“No! No! No! No! and shaking his head back and forth.) I discovered two year olds are “No’-ers” …even when dreaming.

Yesterday as I was typing this blog….I looked out the window and thought I saw the most beautiful butterfly I had ever seen….only to discover, upon further exploration, that the “butterfly” was actually the first two Formosa blooms this winter…. They were just angled so as to resemble a butterfly.

The camellias and azaleas are just as happy as they can be….both blooming away….you would never know it has been below freezing the past few nights.

After exploring Affordables Tuesday afternoon, I stopped by Ginger Snaps and Kay had a sea glass chime (hanging from her ceiling) that looked like it had been the model for Karen White’s book cover…I told Kay about it and she said she would sell if for fifteen dollars…“Sold!” I responded excitedly. It is so happy in the garden!

(With all the wind we have had lately…the new sea glass chime is having a real work-out… it sounds so beautiful!)

So until tomorrow….Try not to let a day go by without discovering something new in life. It doesn’t matter if it is big or little…the point is to just keep learning and growing!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I picked out a Valentine bouquet of flowers for myself a couple of days ago at Publix… because I just wanted to…and put the rest of the red Valentine lollipops in a jar tied with a pink ribbon….again, because it just made me happy. Discovering what makes us joyful is a very important thing to learn! For me….Flowers, Flowers, Flowers (and a little bit of chocolate doesn’t hurt either.)

Dear Reader:

Yesterday was “tax” day for me. In trepidation I carried all my “stuff” in my bright yellow folder to the tax service I use. I knew taking money out of my annuity to pay for the home renovations last summer was going to “get me” since it was all counted as additional income….the question was just how badly?

As it turned out I do have to pay some ‘greenbacks’ to the federal government but I am getting triple over that amount from the state back. Hallelujah….Love you South Carolina!!!!! Whew! I survived another year physically and ‘tax-ably.’

(My accountant grinned from ear to ear as I did my happy dance around the room! )

While I was waiting to be seen I picked up a magazine called Coastal Living. Under “Letter from the Editor”….(Antonia) I read a great message that ‘hit home’ for me. Here is an excerpt from the page….

“My son once visited a friend’s beach house. He returned full of accolades for the place. ‘It was unbelievable, ” he said, ‘ Perfect in every way. Impeccable! Not a thing out of place.’ Then he hesitated. “Mom, Can we make sure our home never looks like that?”

Antonia understood perfectly what her son meant. She made the observation that as much as we think we want a home that is perfect…deep down we love the fact that it’s not.

She went on to comment on all the idiosyncrasies in her home…a back door that only opens and closes if you know the right push, or the wall-paper along the stairwell that still sports a tiny hand-print outlined in black magic marker by her then creative four-year-old who thought she was Picasso. Neither of these imperfections need fixing as far as Antonia is concerned…they add charm and personality to the house.

So I have decided to share my imperfections that make me happy too.

Right now my Happy Room looks like a hospital for plants…I pulled in Big Red and the poinsettias to weather out the cold front this week inside. I really like having them and will miss them when they return to the porch.

My kitchen is beyond outdated with the same light blue vinyl that was there when we bought the house in 1982. The cabinets and shelves have been painted but there is not a piece of granite to be found or even a backsplash….just the same cheap, er…excuse me extremely inexpensive vinyl.

There is also not a speck of stainless steel to be seen….but I like that since I can put photos of my grandchildren on the frig….magnets still work! It’s not outdated…just shabby chic….at least to me. (All the burnt vinyl is covered up with tiles and decorative big spoons)

One cool thing the original builders did do….was add a built-in veg/ meat-cutting area…..with all the signs of the Zodiac….and my Libra “scales” are right on top reminding me “Moderation in all things.”

Does anyone remember that creepy movie with Julia Roberts….Sleeping with the Enemy?  Her husband was a psychopathic perfectionist who went into an abusive rage if all the can goods weren’t stacked evenly at the same height in the cabinets or if one towel or dishcloth wasn’t evenly hung. (That guy was really nuts!)

Anyway I think about that all the time while I throw my towels haphazardly over the rack holders to hang as they please. (Unless I have company and then I do take a little extra time to even them up a bit)

My Happy Place….  the blogging room stays borderline slipshod….translated… unsettled. I like that word for almost but not quite chaotic….living on the edge. My problem is books…I read so many and am always looking for a passage to put in the blog….so I am surrounded by my happy friends for easy maneuvering.

I found this poster on-line the other day and smiled…I actually had a wooden block with this message on it when the kids were small and company dropped in unexpectedly….it saved me from apologizing for the mess so much. (It fell one day and broke)

Like Antonia, my house has more than its share of idiosyncrasies…most of them in the electric field. To turn on my den lights, for example,  I have to turn one switch up, the next one down, wait five seconds and turn the first one down and up quickly. Whew!

When Tim put in a saloon swinging gate for me to separate the kitchen from the laundry room…it couldn’t swing both ways because of the kitchen cabinets….so if someone is out on the deck and comes in….they have to pull the gate/door towards them, not out….I have heard several panicked calls from guests (who might have indulged in a little too much wine) and thought they were trapped forever in the laundry room.

So until tomorrow…Sometimes I daydream about replacing the old carpet, fixing up the other un-usable bathroom, getting rid of popcorn ceilings and adding new lighting fixtures …but then I wouldn’t have my perfectly imperfect home. Besides….I have enough of everything. I have life.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*’I must be late for a very important date‘ – somehow I missed that Affordables had come to town…the really good one…like the one at Pawleys Hammock Shops that I love so much. To celebrate my good fortune with my tax service I went in and hit the 50% off winter sale.

The owner/and sales ladies were so nice….another Becky/owner ..and I am thrilled they have opened in Summerville.  (The bag in the picture is mine….loving it!) If you haven’t been, go check it out!

*Prayer Alert: Amanda, Kaitlyn’s sister is in ICU with dangerously low blood pressure. Please keep her in your prayers, along with her loving family. God please be with Amanda and her family as we pray for healing and a new “health-over.”

Dear Reader:

I started thinking the other day if  Anne Herbert started a whole movement called “random acts of kindness” to counteract the random acts of violence and hatred that seemed to dominate the news, then why shouldn’t we make a conscious effort to make joy dates for ourselves to counteract worry days?

February is going to be an easy month for joy days….day adventures, lunch with friends, mid-winter Ya retreat at Pawleys and my two “sister” cousins coming to visit. Actually, however, we don’t have to wait until some planned “joy” appears on our calendars….the spontaneous daily moments of joy can appear at any time.

For instance, yesterday turned out to be so nice…sunny and comparatively warm. So much so, that I got my latest mystery book and plopped down in the sun on the deck. It felt SO good….I could feel myself purring. I didn’t get much read…but just lying in the sun and feeling the warmth on my face was pure joy! A date with myself that boosted my spirits with all the good Vitamin-D surging through me.

Kate Wolfe-Jenson says this about the continual battle between joy and worry….

Joy is waiting for you. She stands there, shyly, shifting from foot to foot, ready to grab you by the hand and run out to play. You, so full of things to do, so weighed down with responsibilities and weariness, often plod right by without seeing her.

Stop.

Let go of all you carry. Let joy take you by the hand. Feel her energy tingle up your fingers, across your shoulders and into your heart. Close your eyes for a moment. Breathe. Relax.

Now open your eyes and take in the world with its astonishingly beautiful colors. Notice the way your head balances regally at the top of your spine. Hear the hums and beeps and swooshes of modern life around you. Here you are, relaxed, alert, and waiting for what life and joy may bring you.

There may be monster-voices, at this point, that grumble about your aches and pains. They may moan that you haven’t been getting sleep, that your finances are a mess and that the world is in uproar. Don’t bother to argue. They are scared and hurt, those voices. They puff themselves out large so you will notice. Sometimes they drop so many tangled balls of trouble in your lap, you think you won’t be able to move. Steady on, dear one.

Joy is waiting.

……………………

I have decided that every time I feel a worry monster creeping into my psyche…I am going to pick up my Mary Englebreit (Enjoy the Joy Calendar)   and plan a joyful moment or event for myself and/or others. The idea of being joyful really irritates those worry monsters…so let’s do it!

I am keeping my JOY calendar in my Boo Boo pail in the corner of my bedroom…so every time I start worrying about the “Boo Boo” mistakes I have made or might make….the calendar comes out and I spend my time planning joy instead of worrying needlessly.

So until tomorrow….”For the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh 8: 10)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Look at these two pictures….OMG! Jakie is a clone, a “mini-me” of John….unbelievable, adorable but unbelievable. The acorn just doesn’t fall far from the tree…it is an exact replica…it is the “mini-tree.”

Dear Reader:

What you gotta love about children the most is their unabashed demonstrations of sheer joy! It is one of the greatest joys of a grandparent to simply watch them grow.

Rutledge insisted on pushing Lachlan in the swing. Instead of pushing up and down, however, he pushed ’round and ’round…to the point that Lachlan was starting to turn a light shade of green.

Kaitlyn and I told him to slow it down….At that very moment, the plans were to put the boys in the wagon and head down the street a-ways with the dogs and children…hoping to wear them out. Rutledge promptly lost interest in the swing and took off….leaving poor little Lachlan in a visual blur of unwinding circles.

Both boys survived the episode without giving it a second thought. A brother’s code of loyalty.

Thanks Tommy and Kaitlyn for helping out this weekend with Shift 1….to enable Walsh and Mollie to get away for a weekend. Shift 2 (me) is eternally grateful for the help, the same with Mandy, who came in as the extra resource shift Saturday afternoon/evening. The family all came through to make the weekend as enjoyable as possible for the little ones.

I “hung” with Rudy for a little while before Shift 1 left….we are born ‘hanger-on’ers’….aren’t we Rudy?

Tommy and Kaitlyn had just been gone a couple of hours when Mandy arrived with supper for all and an extra pair of hands for getting the boys in pj’s and settled in for the night.

Eva Cate and Rutledge play wonderfully together…the children sense how special a cousin relationship is. There is definitely a family resemblance running through the gene pool but in other ways they are like night and day. Rutledge can eat 24/7 while Eva Cate exists off “air” as Mandy laments…the child who is rarely hungry… who would rather play than eat. She is the eldest and the only girl….so the Queen reigns over her boys (brother and cousins) with a firm hand as to her status.

Lachlan went down for the count around 7:00 and did pretty good…just one 2:00 a.m. bottle and then back to sleep. Rutledge slept with me and we  got up at 6:30. I was so hoping we would see some snow flurries for the boys’ sake but we were stuck with a cold, rainy day.

Everything went well and Walsh and Mollie were home by 2:30…having had a great time…with sunshine and temps in the fifties. Who would have “thunk” it?

Little Rutledge, who was so excited about them coming home,  fell asleep about an hour before they arrived…the reason for him not being in the photo. I know he woke up happy!

Kate Wolfe-Jenson wrote a beautiful tribute to joy using lilies…a wonderful metaphor about learning to live with joy and dispelling our worries

Consider the lilies

Really I mean—consider them.

I chose to draw lilies this month because of the shape of the flower. I made joyful marks as a creative experiment and many of them reminded me of lily petals. Drawing connects me to a subject. I spend time with it, looking carefully, considering…The lilies became our teachers.

Look at those tight, smooth buds. They are just as tight as we are when we are holding ourselves and our troubles together, making sure we look composed and complete on the outside. Then the plant stops putting up a front, makes room for joy and magically, those petals swoop out and celebrate life—freckles showing, stigma and stamens waving right out where everyone can see them.They are unabashedly themselves. Consider the lilies.

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So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for providing the “lilies of the field” (and family) who help dispel the worry and give us the courage to make room for joy.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I think I might have invented a new expression due to a “Freudian” slip. We have been talking lately a lot about “random acts of kindness.” When my brother stopped over the other night we started talking about a recent incident that happened to him that was an example of a “random act of kindness.”

But…instead of saying “Kindness” I said “Congress.” I was about to apologize for the verbal mistake…but then stopped, repeated the phrase again, and decided that the newly devised expression ” A Random Act of Congress” might indeed be the new benchmark summation for the state of the union problems!

Dear Reader:

Isn’t it interesting to see how the pendulum swings from social change and mores between gathering and scattering?

In the sixties we saw a movement (hippie/flower children) to eradicate war, live and love simply in a type of socialistic commune environment. Everyone would live together, work together (some cases love together) sharing food, clothing and shelter.

By the 80’s big corporations and greed dominated the new “yuppy”generation. The new rules of society had shifted to climbing the corporate ladder, as fast as you could, while stepping over others to get ahead. In 1987 the movie Wall Street became synonymous with the word “greed”… The infamous line by Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) started being repeated over and over by big business proudly.

Gordon Gekko: The point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

Today that 1% of the rich and powerful Gekko boasted about back in the eighties’ Wall Street movie has continued to grow stronger….now controlling much more than fifty percent of the country’s wealth. The middle class is quickly disappearing from the horizon and poverty is higher than ever.

It goes back to the idea of gathering and scattering….when we go through “gathering” economic periods whereas the focus of life is getting more of everything for yourself as fast as you can, for as long as you can, economic upheavals magnify.

This earth was created to be shared by its inhabitants….not dominated by a few. We were to scatter the seeds and share the produce. If you are like me, on a “down” day, you might wonder how God can watch children suffering from lack of the basic necessities of life? Where is God in all this?

It is then I have to remind myself that God is not the problem…we are. We have everything we need on earth for everybody to have enough to eat, drink, wear, and live.

Relief organizations and government agencies agree that there is plenty of food in the world to feed everyone. The problem is not a lack of food but a lack of accessibility to the food. With enough food in the world to feed the entire population, the fault does not lie with God. Rather, the fault lies with the corrupt nature of man. Instead of acting as trustworthy stewards of the world’s resources, nations and individuals often hoard food, mismanage resources, and squander money instead of seeing that people are fed.

When I first read the words on this poster by Anne Herbert I had to pause and examine them.: “Do less; have less; be more.”  After pondering for a few minutes I think I got it…at least my interpretation.

We need to “do less” in terms of everyday self-absorbed busyness, “have less“… by being content with what we do have, and “be more”  to others we meet along our path through life.

This short little video (3 min) on children’s responses to world hunger really moved me. Out of the mouths of babes…

Kids Respond to Child Hunger – YouTube

So until tomorrow…Let us remember that life “isn’t about me” but about how I interact with the rest of the world’s “me’s (others) to scatter the abundance of goods given to all of us on God’s good earth.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* While at Dollar General I found a few little decorative garden items that I added to the deck…they might not have the same longevity as the little statues at nurseries but hey, if we are living for the moment….I can get at least four replacements and still be under the nursery garden costs. (one snail and two birds of “scripture.”)

Dear Reader:

From the time we all heard the story of “The Little Engine That Could,” we have had the mantra ingrained in us that if we just try hard enough and keep a positive attitude, “I think I can,” success will come.

The reality (we have all learned as adults) is, of course, that sometimes, as hard as we try, success doesn’t come, instead failure reigns supreme. It is in these moments that we have to step back and realize that a road block has been put up along our path for a reason.  We are heading the wrong way. With determination and faith…we must try something else….go a different direction.

According to Paul Shoemaker, the world is not divided between the can’s and can’t’s but it relies on the  “Can’t Not Do’ers.”   (Source; Awakin Calls/Paul Shoemaker)

Here is an excerpt from Shoemaker’s talk on becoming change-agents in this world.

…Most recently, Shoemaker came out with his first book — Can’t Not Do. “Can’t Not Do” is a catchphrase for the urge that captures the heart of effective social change agents—explaining, in their own words, their passion and drive: “I can’t not do this.”

“It’s not that I can do this, it’s that I can’t not.” “I could not imagine not doing something about this issue.” After decades of experience in the nonprofit sector, Paul says, “We need more people in the game, committing for the long-term to that one cause, one challenge where they feel they can make a real dent.

History has proved that if enough people hammer away long enough at a social problem, we start to change our world for the better. And the amount of positive change one human being can help create today has never been greater.”

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My “I can’t not do this” is the blog. I was terrified at first that I would run out of things to write about….now I can laugh at that fear, but it was quite real and scary in 2010 when I first started. Like ‘manna’ from heaven….God continues to provide the food for thought I need to set the table (blog post) each day. He has never left me without nourishment filled with new ideas.

So until tomorrow….Father help us all find that one passion in life that we simply “can’t not do” without. Then hold our hand as we follow the path to become whole with the universe.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* As you read this blog today I am off to Walsh and Mollie’s home to keep Rutledge and Lachlan for the second shift. Walsh and Mollie headed out Friday for a weekend getaway in Asheville. Tommy and Kaitlyn took the first shift…picking up the boys from pre-school and keeping them last night.

Now it’s Boo’s time…the second weekend shift begins. I will have the boys today, tonight, and tomorrow until Walsh and Mollie return. It will go fast with two little ones scampering here and there. Mandy is bringing Eva Cate over and some Chick Filet this afternoon to break the day and let the cousins play.

Now where is that copy of “The Little Engine that Could?”

Dear Reader:

I had you for a moment, didn’t I? Perhaps you thought (for a fleeting second) that Ole’ Boo had her a man hidden around somewhere….sorry to disappoint…as of this day in time my romances are lived vicariously through novels.

And the  nice thing about romantic relationships in books is that you don’t have to answer the world’s most annoying question “What are we having for supper tonight?” or pick up after a man… following the trail around the house.

When the story is over, you just close the book….nice and tidy…(you can even return it to the library or pass it on to another) no complicated relationship endings. (“It’s not you, it’s me” translated “Me tired of you.”)

I did, however, observe a special relationship that probably won’t come around again until another El Nino winter comes to stay.

“Once upon a noon-time dreary”  as I looked out my window (by the computer yesterday) I suddenly realized I was seeing something pretty special…”knocking, knocking at my (noggin) door.”

One of my azalea bushes was beginning to bloom and right behind/above it was a tall magnolia bush/tree covered in pretty pink camellia buds and tiny blooms. Azaleas and camellias intertwining their blooms together. All I could think of was the (paraphrase) scripture….”And the lamb shall lie down with the lion.” A quite extraordinary phenomena.

Every day I thank God for my home renovations and especially, the new windows that open to let the outside in….I have seen more of nature this fall and winter than ever before in my life…and so many of my observations take my breath away. “For the beauty of the earth.”

I put  my rain jacket (with my hood on) to check  my new camellia bushes (make sure they hadn’t drowned) and look what I discovered….one new bush was unfurling its blooms.

Following the theme of ‘random acts of kindness” yesterday I picked up some fruit and, also, turkey club sandwiches from Continental Corner. Then I dropped  it off at the Judsons (Jack and Connie’s) home. (When I was going through the many different cancer treatments initially Connie faithfully sent me an inspirational card every couple of weeks for years.)

I bought another angel of love for her and took the sandwiches and fruit to her lovely home. A nurse was with her (she is just getting over a fall and pneumonia) but her spirits were uplifted…she is such a gentle soul. Jack gave me a tour of the house and I fell in love….it was filled with creative decor….I understood now why Connie and I are so much alike; we are ‘whimsy women.’

Yesterday I returned a book to Timrod Library (a Sarah Addison Allen) novel- she is one of my favorite authors and decided to also drop off two more of her books as donations to have (plus the latest Karen White book I just finished.) It feels, sometimes, like giving a child away…but books should be shared, not hoarded.

In both incidences I was filled with “sympathetic joy” and realized, once again, that giving and receiving is truly a spiritual symbiotic relationship. Now back to Brooke and the pocketbook. LOOK!

I am just blown away!
All credit cards, medical cards, ID, and cash and change!!
Thank you to the honest, kind, and compassionate person who turned it in.

After leaving Timrod, I decided to visit my special friend, Samantha, at Simple to Sublime. Just walking by her front window to enter the shop makes me happy. And look what I bought….the perfect pocketbook for late winter. (Guys…  great gift for your wife or sweetheart…under twenty dollars! Gals…Go check it out for yourself!)

So until tomorrow….Don’t let the rain stop you from enjoying the beauty of nature….rain just make the plants sparkle in their being.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh