Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

This past week has brought about an unexpected change that has affected Linda and I, simultaneously … but from two different perspectives. We have discovered (once again) together that change, at the very least, is unsettling.

Just like the title picture (on this coaster that Linda made) it is hard for us mere mortals to see the truth in change. We all get to some mystical chronological age in the way we think and see ourselves in the world. Because this personal worldview is pretty well established at a certain age…it is always a shock when we look in the mirror…and our appearance doesn’t match our inner “me” age.

In the Christmas book (A Christmas Pearl) that I shared with you over the holidays the deceased maid of the household, Pearl, returns to help out the family in crisis. Even though chronologically (earth time) Pearl is way over a hundred years old….she tells the matriarch of the home that in the next world you get to pick your age….and she picked 48.

That started me thinking…if I got to pick the age I wanted to be eternally…what number would I pick….probably late thirties or early forties…an age where we have lived long enough to learn enough life experiences…without gravity’s victory established over our body yet.

And the “inner me” (mirror-less) still thinks this is what my physical appearance should mirror…because it is what I still feel. It is always a shock in the morning to gaze in the mirror and see a sexagenerian staring back at me. How did this happen?

(My response should be….”By the Grace of God“… considering the health challenges overcome to arrive at this age.)

Earlier in the week I got an email from my “bestest” oncology nurse and friend…Linda. She wanted to lessen a shock she was sure I would feel towards a change coming soon to their office.

Even after reading those few lines…I could already hear my heart pounding….letters were starting to go out to inform patients about the change and she didn’t want me to hear it second-hand. By now my mouth was completely dry and I was finding it hard to swallow.

Please Lord…I silently prayed…please don’t let it be my oncologist is retiring. He wasn’t….( thank you God) but he was making a change to another building that could provide more service options related to cancer treatments.

Linda said she had been assured that she was, also, part of the change but it was too early on to know any definite specifics. Obviously the “limbo” period is hard on everyone involved.

Our emails started looking more like a ping pong match…bouncing back and forth. I wanted assurance that I would still be seeing my “one and only” oncologist (as well as my closest medical supporter/friend for seven years-Linda) and not different doctors/staff on any scheduled office visit.

Once I realized that everything would be pretty much the same…an office with patient rooms and the same doctor…my heart slowed down and I resumed swallowing again.

The trust factor between any doctor/patient relationship is critical, of course, but when you are dealing with cancer…”little c”…there are no permanent guarantees over the victor in the final conflict. All the doctor and patient can do is concentrate on the small victories for each battle… while searching for new “weapons” continuously to use in potential future attacks.

(Pictures from 2012 – chemo) Linda and Mandy and myself. )

Both Linda and I are participating in the women’s Bible Study on the prophet Jeremiah. Because I am retired I can take the noon class on Tuesdays while Linda takes another evening class on the weekend.

This past Tuesday morning (before my class) she emailed me and said a God’s Wink had just popped up on the day’s devotional in Jesus Calling and the message connected directly to some lessons from Jeremiah…and even more directly to our situation.

Jeremiah lived in a time when many citizens of Judea had forgotten God and had begun worshiping different idols. The study question asked us what “idols” in our every day lives were deterrents for us… to achieving a closer relationship with God?

In Jesus Calling…I saw my “idol” quite clearly…and for both Linda and I …it was a wake-up call to what we were experiencing with the professional/medical change affecting us both.

Here is an excerpt from Feb. 17’s Jesus Calling devotional:

“…Remember you worship a living Deity, not some idolatrous, man-made image. Do not fear change, for I am making you a new creation, with old things passing away and new things continually on the horizon. I want you to embrace all that I am doing in your life…finding your security in me alone.”

“It is easy to make an idol of routine, finding security within the boundaries you build around your life. Don’t try to force-fit today into yesterday’s mold. Instead, ask Me to open your eyes, so you can find all I have prepared for you in this precious day of Life.”

Oh no….not the “idol” of routine. I love my daily routine… lunches with friends, gardening, walking…haven’t I worked a long time to be able to spend my days enjoying the simple things in life?

Yet… I do see how it is easy to build fortresses around our daily routines….moats to keep a sense of security within…only to discover that we can only control so much…outside factors, beyond our control, are always at work. It is just a matter of time before something in our lives are changed… outside our domain…workplace or home.

It is then that God shows us that we, too, must change within and keep growing with the changes that enter our lives. Growth is never easy…but eventually the newness of change fades, alongside the earlier fear. Now change is the new normal.

So until tomorrow Father…let us depend on You to steer us through the new unknown until it becomes the old familiar. Always remembering Kermit’s famous line: “When you’re green you grow…when you’re ripe…you rot.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Monday Mollie, Rutledge, and I went into the gift shop… Simple to Sublime so I could buy two copies of this book (above) for Rutledge and Eva Cate. I also left their names so the author, Cherri Prince, can sign both stories for the children. (She will be at Simple to Sublime from 5-8 this Thursday February 19.)

I love the idea behind this publication. In a quick nutshell….the Easter Bunny finds out from his grandmother that once…a long time ago…there were seeds for lollipops that the Easter Bunny dropped off before Easter. If all went well…the seeds, once planted, would appear on Easter Sunday.

These special seeds didn’t need sun or water…only kind acts performed by little “planters.” The more kind acts done before Easter Sunday…the better the chance that the lollipops will spring up early Easter morning.

I will get Rutledge and Eva Cate to come over a few days before Easter and the “Boo Boo Easter Egg Garden Hunt“… to read the book to them and send it home to their parents…. Then…each child will plant the seeds and mark them (two packets of seeds and markers come with each book.)

They will, also,be given different ideas of acts of kindness they can do for family, friends, and even strangers. Each time an act of kindness is done…the lollipop seeds grows taller.

(*I will have a special lollipop “patch” added to the garden this year. It will be covered Easter Sunday until the hunt begins.)

This will be a nice addition to the traditional Easter Egg Hunt…a creative and wonderful life lesson idea. Kindness begets kindness begets kindness.

…………………….

I discovered another cute story written about a grandfather and his three year old grandson…who, also, plant some unusual seeds. It is called “Buddies.” (Maggie Stuckey)

One day a grandfather and his little three-year-old grandson decided to plant the spring vegetable garden together. At first all went well. The three-year-old’s little fingers were just right for placing the tiny seeds in the ground.

But soon the sun grew hot and the little boy grew bored…especially when he discovered what they were planting.

“What are these seeds?” the little one asked.

“Beets” said Granddad.

“Yuck…I hate beets!”

“Okay…then let’s plant some zucchini instead!”

“Ugh! I really hate zucchini!”

“Then what would you like to plant little buddy?”

“Umm…how about DOUGHNUTS!”

Just before the grandfather spilled the beans that there was no such thing as a doughnut seed…he stopped himself in the nick of time. Looking down at the excited little face…he said:

“Wait a sec. I have to go inside to get just the right seeds.”

Grandfather returned with a handful of cheerios. Grandfather and his little “buddy” planted the “seeds” in a special corner of the garden.

Weeks passed and then the real seeds began breaking through the ground and growing taller each time grandfather’s little “buddy” came to check on the vegetable garden.

The little boy was so excited he forgot his dislike of the different vegetables. For awhile it seemed that he had even forgotten all about the doughnut “seeds.”

But one day little “buddy” remembered and asked, “Granddad, what happened to our doughnuts? How come they didn’t grow?

Granddad paused a moment as if he had given this a lot of serious thought and replied: “Well, you know, doughnuts are tricky. Some years when you plant them, you get lots of doughnuts.” He sighed heavily. “But other years, all that comes up are the holes!”

…………………………..

So until tomorrow….as adults let us never forget the importance of play and imagination in our children…tempered with kindness and compassion.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

 * The Ya’s and I are off to Pawleys for a true mid-winter (burr!) retreat! No matter the weather, however, inside the beach house, it will be cozy and our friendship even warmer. This year will be a particularly comforting get-together with several health issues behind us. Here’s to 2015 and good health!

Dear Reader:

When dementia attacked mother….it did so gradually and subtly. At seventy she attended a cousin’s reunion and I later got a telephone call from one of the cousins asking me if something was wrong with Lucille. She seemed quieter than usual and repeated things a lot…asking questions over and over.

I remember hanging up the phone with a knot in my stomach. Mom’s cousins had just confirmed what I was suspecting but had been afraid to accept consciously. Something was wrong with mother.

About twice a week mother would cook supper for me and the kids…something we all looked forward to….mother, with one hand, could out-cook anybody I knew. She was unbelievable…today she could have her cooking show on the cooking channel…called something like “No Excuses…Everyone Can Cook.”

Now, however, the meals were not up to her standard of “yummyness”…she was forgetting to put certain ingredients in different dishes and her selection of side dishes became quite odd.

Mother was pretty much a meat, potato/rice, and green vegetable cook….topped off with delicious biscuits. Suddenly now…there might be a hamburger steak, some cold beanie weenies, and a banana. I could see the kids’ faces fall when they got to the table and saw the strange concoction of side dishes.

We never said anything to mom….but I found myself suggesting more and more that I would fix something or pick up something on the way home. Mother seemed relieved.

She played bridge once a week with Dee Dee and some women from the Presbyterian church. Now she made excuses every Tuesday as to why she couldn’t play that day and gradually became more and more reclusive.

The “call to arms” for me arrived, once again, in the form of a telephone call. Mother’s world had dwindled down to her driving to the beauty salon, once a week to get her hair fixed, the grocery store, and church. If she needed to go to the doctor, dentist or any other professional or medical appointment…I would take her after school.

One afternoon when I got home…her car was missing. That was strange…mother did all her running around in the morning…when it was less crowded. As I stepped in the house…the phone was ringing. It was Rene Harris. She had been at the grocery store and recognized mother….wandering around the grocery parking lot. She couldn’t find her car and was beginning to panic.

She told me she was following mother home. Rene is so wonderful…both cars pulled up and Rene quickly hurried over to mother to start grabbing grocery bags and making her smile with her tales of losing things herself and had mother and me rolling with laughter taking the groceries in. I will always remember the special kindness Rene showed my mother…and me.

Soon after…it was mother’s suggestion (when she woke up one morning not knowing where she was) that we start the paperwork for Presbyterian Home. In the initial interview…it was obvious to everyone that mother was struggling with her memory. The only room, however, they could give her was upstairs…rather far from the cafeteria.

We took it…so she could get in…but it was a struggle. Thank goodness…one of her “neighbors” looked out for her and took her to meals with her. Six months later mother suffered a stroke and ended up in the Alzheimer’s wing at the back of the “home.”

I think I might have told some of you that this was the time I was the angriest with God I have ever been. The stroke affected her right arm…she had lost her left hand to bone cancer…and now her right hand and arm were crippled by the stroke.

“Why God…I remember crying out…why couldn’t you have let the stroke affect the left arm/hand…since it was gone anyway…why her right hand? Hasn’t my mother suffered enough?”  I was furious!

God is a “Big Boy” I learned and He can take it. Mother had to learn how to speak again and hold utensils in order to feed herself independently. Mother was, also, now resigned to a wheel chair and never walked alone again.

It was during this trying time that the occupational therapist suggested that I make mother a ‘memory book.’ Put pictures in it of her parents, pictures of her and siblings when they were young, then older pictures, pictures of her and her husband, pictures of us as children and now adults. Later…once she got the immediate family connection down…I could add cousins and extend the family.

Mother adored her memory book (title picture.) The only time she would really get upset was if it was removed from the side pouch on the wheelchair and she couldn’t find it. The memory book became her last link with reality.

On the first two pages I listed all of us inside a hand (which I thought was symbolic since she raised all three of us without one) and the story of the bumblebee…which I always thought was her story.

Mother opened it so many times…the writing gradually smeared but this is what it looked like:

Then I began adding some special pictures for mother….of days gone by…happy days…

Mother struggled for over a year and then died from pneumonia in November of 2000…she would have been 81 on her birthday in December.

As usual… with watching a loved one struggle physically and mentally ….her death brought mixed feelings of sadness and relief from me… for her… from the world of confusion and physical restriction that she had been forced to live in. Now ( I knew in my heart) clarity had returned and she was with my father and brother David…again.

We took her body back to Laurens for burial (beside my father and brother.) It was the most beautiful day….a slight chill…but sunny with the bluest of blue skies.

I handed our minister the story of The Bumblebee and asked if he would include it in the service. We were all under a tent for the graveside service….as Rev. Cushman began telling the metaphor of mother doing the impossible…raising three small children minus a husband and hand…like the bumblebee flying… It was then it happened…some flying insect landed on my head.

Since I am allergic to most insects….(walking and flying)…I remember freezing…scared to even turn my head. As soon as Rev. Cushman finished the story…the insect flew off.

It wasn’t until later that the incident took on new meaning… when Walsh called me after he got back to college at Appalachian State and excitedly said…“Wasn’t that cool, mom….the bumblebee flying in and landing on your head until Richard finished the story?” I think Me-Mommy just wanted to see us one more time and say good-bye, don’t you?”

I couldn’t reply…I was too choked up with the realization of what had happened….mother had given me her last gift. Her reassurance that she was fine now….no longer hampered by the loss of a hand or confusion…she was free at last to fly. She had done the impossible on earth…and now all new possibilities of happiness awaited her. Quite a gift!

As I told this story to friends over the next several weeks and months…I began receiving all types of bumblebee jewelry as mementos of this event. In fact…just a few months ago…Linda Carson gave me this memento.

So until tomorrow…as the story says….”Remember this when you’re losing faith or hope…God’s proof that the impossible can be.” (A.S. Waldrop)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Mollie and Rutledge stopped by yesterday…and we went looking at new baby items….I took Rutledge out in the garden since he always wants to be “outshide.” Maggie, my neighbor’s hound dog, howled and howled and Rutledge thought it was hilarious. He began to howl back and got so tickled he fell down.

Dear Reader:

This picture of the valley and town of Hendersonville from Mt. Pinnacle….Honey and Mike’s home… is truly worthy of this line ” the valley of love and delight” …lyrics from the wonderful song… “Simple Gifts“/”Tis’ the Gift to Be Simple”/”Lord of the Dance”

Take a moment, before we go any further and read the original two stanzas written for the melody (in Shaker tradition) and then listen to Judy Collins sing the two stanzas…I can assure you that it will be the best two minutes spent today.

* Elder Joseph Brackett (Jr.), composer and lyricist/Traditional Shaker/folk spiritual (dance music)

Simple words for a simple song that defines the simple life.

LYRICS:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

Simple Gifts Judy Collins – YouTube

This article from the New York Times brought home, once again, that all the fears of financial “mobility” for retirement years can evaporate if one enjoys the “simple gifts.”

New York Times – “For Some, Tis A Gift to be Simple”- Ron Lieber

Last month, I spent a day in a library for the first time in over 20 years. I was there to work, but I appeared to be the only one doing so. Everyone else lolled about as the rain fell outside, helping themselves to the endless shelves of newspapers and magazines or browsing the newest fiction.

My work brings me joy. But as I looked around at the older patrons especially, I was overcome by a single emotion: jealousy. It had been too long since I’d sampled the simple but profound pleasure of losing myself in the stacks. I wanted to feel it again.

That craving stayed with me, and it helped me recognize how important some research from the June issue of The Journal of Consumer Research could be for helping many Americans find peace of mind as they contemplate their retirement savings.

The lead article reported that older people often draw as much happiness from ordinary experiences — like a day in the library — as they do from extraordinary ones.

…the article concluded by saying:

…Plenty of people won’t have the money to go to faraway places or pay to jump out of airplanes. Low-cost extraordinary experiences may well be nearby, but there ought to be much comfort in the evidence that everyday things that cost little or nothing can deliver the same amount of joy.

A garden. The elaborate meal that emerges from it and the spare time to invent the recipes. A return to a neglected musical instrument. All-you-can-consume subscriptions to Netflix and Spotify, with watchlists and playlists that stretch on for years.

As for me, I’m merely middle-aged. But I’m almost positive that the first thing on my retirement wish list will be a brand-new library card.

………………………………..

So until tomorrow…if we are willing to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary to find peace and happiness within… then don’t sweat the “small stuff”…God will take care of “retirement.” And no matter where we dwell…we can all live in the “valley of love and delight.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* As I mentioned earlier I arrived at Walsh and Mollie’s around 11:00 yesterday to babysit Rutledge….Walsh was working and Mollie was being given a baby shower by her co-horts at work.

I took Rutledge a new (big boy size ) Big Brother t-shirt and a book about being a big brother. He is so into the baby right now…he pats Mollie’s stomach and kisses the baby. He is really interested in anything to do with the baby entering their lives.

Here are some pictures that show what I mean:

                                                       Rutledge and I played “trucks” all afternoon after he woke from his nap….I don’t mean to be ‘braggin‘ but I can make just about any truck noise you want now…from cement trucks to dump trucks….I can make up a sound for any and all…and Rutledge can fill in with the others.

  Rutledge has suddenly decided he wants to potty on the potty…one minute he is dressed and the next he is pant-less. Likes the idea better than actually performing…the timing is not perfect but hey, if he’s interested…might turn out to be a good thing.

*I left Rutledge dancing to Count Vampire “stomp” dance for the number 11. We had a good time, didn’t we Rutledge? Stomp, stomp, stomp!

* Honey sent me this picture of “Boo” she saw in a vet’s office…too funny!

Dear Reader:

By now most of you know that I am fascinated with words…especially new words….give me a new term, like “possibilitarian,” and I am happy the whole day with all the new “possibilities” that this word implies.

A couple of days again I finished reading a book by Madeleine L’Engle called the 40-Day Journey….a series of devotionals and thought provoking messages…I got to my last (40th) devotional -each ending with questions for “ponder”- and realized that we had made a complete circle.

  The first scripture was…  under Biblical Wisdom:

” And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:14.”

As I read on… L’Engle had written a powerful  poem called simply “Word” to bring closure to her little book of devotionals.

Word

I , who live by words, an wordless when

I try my words in prayer. All language turns

To silence. Prayer will take my words and then

Reveal their emptiness. The still voice learns

To hold its peace, to listen with the heart

To silence that is joy, is adoration.

The self is shattered, all words torn apart

In this strange patterned time of contemplation

That, in time, breaks time, breaks words, breaks me.

And then, in silence, leaves me healed and mended.

I leave, returned to language, for I see

Through words, even when all words are ended.

I, who live by words, am wordless when

I turn me to the Word to pray. Amen

………………..

Haven’t we all gone to God in prayer, at some point, and discovered that our words, too, had “broken down” …but that it was okay?

We understood, intuitively, that God, already, understood our needs and wants (without one word uttered from our mouth) and a sense of “silence and adoration” hung in the air… bringing us the peace, the answer, we sought so desperately?

I re-read this piece of prayerful prose several times and then went to the final question based on it.

Why is “the Word” the perfect metaphor for Jesus, his coming, his work, and his meaning for us?”

Why, indeed, I thought. I understood the connotation of the “Word becoming flesh“…in other words God becoming flesh, human, though Jesus, His Son, living among us… but if I defined the “Word” as scripture I didn’t have a nice tidy answer to this question.

So I went on a search to find meaning to an old word for “The Word.”  I found it.

The phrase “Word of God” means more than the printed words on a page. God is a communicator and has been speaking into the human realm since the beginning.

He speaks through His creation (Psalm 19:1), through ancient prophets (Hosea 12:10;Hebrews 1:1), through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13;Acts 16:6), through Scripture (Hebrews 4:12), and through the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:9). We can learn to know God better by seeking to hear Him in every way that He speaks.

As John was writing, at the time he was writing, he had a special challenge. He was writing for Jew and Gentiles…so he had to choose his words carefully…so they would not be mis-translated.

The meaning he chose for the “Word” (personification of Jesus Christ) was logos.

By starting out his gospel stating, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” John is introducing Jesus with a word or a term that both his Jewish and Gentile readers would have been familiar with. The Greek word translated “Word” in this passage is Logos, and it was common in both Greek philosophy and Jewish thought of that day.

(And then I found it…the new “word” and its meaning that I now understood for the Word…the meaning that made sense to me and brought this piece of scripture back home to me with new meaning…

In the Greek worldview, the Logos was thought of as a bridge between the transcendent God and the material universe.

 (Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Bible-Word-God.html#ixzz3RizXtqL6)

…………………………..

I had it…the “Word,” personified as Jesus Christ, was the bridge between God and man…arriving in human “flesh.”

My personal light bulb came on…..an idea I could completely wrap my mind around. Jesus is the “bridge” in our everyday lives and each day we are invited to cross it…to see God’s Presence on the other side, returning to live it on our side.

Our personal bridge to Christ takes the form of prayer.

I won’t forget this personal “aha” moment and the importance of taking time to discover new meanings of the “Word.”

I would like to leave you with a powerful quote from Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved novel: A Ring of Endless Light. In this excerpt little Suzy is pouting because she asked for something in prayer and didn’t get it. Her wise mother intervenes with:

“Prayer was never meant to be magic,” Mother said.

“Then why bother with it?” Suzy scowled.

“Because it’s an act of love,” Mother said.

So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for steering us in the right direction to understand your “Word.” Thank you for being the “Bridge” for us in our everyday lives.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* I had a wonderful Valentines…keeping Jakie and Eva Cate for Mandy and John to have some time just to get out by themselves for awhile yesterday afternoon.

Today I will get to keep Rutledge while Mollie goes to a baby shower given to her by the gals at work. A wonderful Valentines weekend!

When I arrived at John and Mandy’s yesterday…Eva Cate greeted me with flowers and a card…and on the card…she had written Boo Boo in pink…the first time she had written it…a landmark in growing up. I was thrilled! Here are some snapshots from the day.

Mollie sent some pictures of Rutledge spending his Valentines eating a cupcake…can’t think of a better way to spend it myself.

Dear Reader:

I took this picture when Jackson, Brooke, and I visited Honey and Mike in the mountains last October…fog was descending on “Honey’s” mountain on this late fall afternoon ….it was so beautiful it took my breath away.

I imagine Peter, James, and John felt the same way when they followed Jesus up a mountain and then suddenly saw him transfigured…with this amazing light, not only surrounding him, but pouring through him…and not just him… but also the prophet Elijah and Moses, himself.

The scripture reads: (Matthew 7: 1-8)

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

“Listen to him.” That is the commandment God has given us…sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it…all we have to do is stop and listen to Jesus, the Son of God…the light on top of the mountain. Don’t we all wish it were so?

I read through several different interpretations from Biblical scholars on the symbolism and meaning of this strange journey to the top of a mountain where suddenly the ancient prophet, Elijah appears and then Moses, all the while a strange but powerful light transfigures the whole scene.

My favorite part of this whole story is God’s proud announcement of His Son’s sacred heritage….“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Even now, with both my parents gone…the greatest Valentines gift I could get would be their approval…that they were “pleased with me.” Since I never knew my father…and have no memories of approval or disapproval from him at such a young age…I only have memories of mother and she did give me the approval I needed, the love I needed, to be successful in life.

I always dreaded the day when I would enter the Presbyterian Village (Home, then) and mother wouldn’t recognize me. It never happened…sometimes she couldn’t recall my name…but I knew it was I whom she was waiting on each afternoon in the wheelchair…by the light in her eyes when I appeared.

At first the light in the apostles’ eyes were probably filled with fear and also confusion…when they blinked and looked again…and Jesus was now standing alone…minus Elijah and Moses.

Of all the different interpretations of this event called “The Mountain of Transfiguration” ….one stood out for me.

Before Jesus….Elijah told of one to come, Moses symbolized the Laws and Commandments needed to guide the righteous. With the coming of God’s Son, however, things had changed. From this point on…Grace…has arrived and nothing would ever be the same again. Amen. What a gift Jesus brought man!

I know I have told this anecdote several times…but I never forget it. The story goes that the great thinker/theologian, C.S. Lewis went into a library to get a book and overheard a heated discussion among some of the most influential theologians of the time. What made Christianity different from other world religions? They shared many similarities…

C.S. Lewis grabbed his library book….but paused beside the discussion table on his way out…and said simply, quietly, humbly….”Grace.” He left the library and a stunned silence followed.

We are the only religion, or relationship with Christ, that can say this…the idea that we can be forgiven of all our sins and loved unconditionally…is found nowhere else.

I found this story on sermons.com and loved the metaphor between it and the Mountain of Transfiguration.

Before he was a NASA astronaut and commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight, the one that never landed on the moon but miraculously made it back to earth, Jim Lovell had already experienced being “lost in space.” As a Navy pilot out on a routine nighttime flight, his aircraft suddenly lost all of its navigational systems. Miles away from his ship with nothing to guide him back to the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La, Lovell decided to go completely dark. He turned off all of his cockpit lights and peered out in the utter blackness of the sea.

Soon he spotted a wrinkle of glowing water. The “glow” was created by the churning of the sea in the wake of the huge carrier. Tiny bioluminescent sea creatures — jelly fish, crustaceans, shrimp, even worms — that had been frothed to the surface of the sea glowed and gleamed a clear path through the dark waters directly towards the ship Shangri-La. Lovell, like Hansel and Gretel following breadcrumbs, simply followed that radiant glow until he found his ship and a safe landing.

………………………….

So Happy Valentines Day…and until tomorrow may the “grace” of God (the most wonderful gift of all) be with you throughout your life journey!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I bravely went to get my taxes prepared yesterday on a Friday the 13th. And from now on…I will hunt until I find another Friday the 13th to go again. I got the largest refund I have received in several years….found out it was due to turning 65 (65 and still Alive!) in 2014. South Carolina must appreciate we “mature citizens”…as my state refund doubled from the prior year.

My car flew home with my mind flying even faster….to share the ‘good news’….”death and taxes”….I am always so thankful to be able to show up at the tax service office each year…and each year I am warmly hugged by the administrators. I’ll take a Friday the 13th tax day any day…because I am still alive to appear and left “shining in light” myself! Hallelujah! Amen!

Valentines at the Dingle-Turner Families:

 * Kaitlyn sent me these Valentines pictures….the one with Rudy is an older one, of course…but Rudy remains in our thoughts and prayer.

Moving on to Eva Cate and Jakie’s home….(Jakie is getting so big it is harder and harder for big sister Eva Cate to hold him!)

Walsh and Mollie sent these pictures from past and present… making squeezable Valentine “applesauce treats” for Rutledge’s Valentines Party…

Dear Reader:

Excuse me if today’s blog is short…but so is the last of the warm weather for awhile…and I hear the ‘sirens‘ luring me outside even as I type…before the wind changes direction…coming in from the north bringing Old Man Winter with it.

Yesterday was truly my Winnie the Pooh “favorite day.” The doorbell rang early and it was FedEx delivering my “Life is Good….Live and Give t-shirt! (Just in time for Valentines!)

As FedEx was leaving UPS was arriving with my “special” medicine which helps allow me to live and give…and yes…life is good.”

I got out early in the garden, got caught up on some correspondence with family and friends and then met Anne for lunch at Oscars. Ran in the grocery store on the way home and picked up some logs for the fire….I am ready…come on Old Man Winter…do your thing and then please leave…I am so ready for spring!

*(I heard one of the ‘television groundhogs’ got fired from his job for forgetting to mention all the feet of snow to accumulate in the next six weeks….at least we don’t have that problem in the lowcountry.)

When I got home I built a barricade to keep Lucy in the kitchen on the B&B side since Jack Frost was coming a’knocking…I love Lucy but I don’t love cat hairs on carpet and furniture….so I figure if she just stays on the kitchen linoleum I am pretty safe and it is easy to clean up.

On the way to lunch I stopped by Ginger Snaps (love that store) to let Kay know another little “Dingle” will be here before we know it. Started getting some ideas for our newest addition to come.

Then I made one last stop to see Samantha…at Simple to Sublime…it was great to get caught up since I haven’t seen her  before Christmas…between bronchitis/laryngitis, frigid weather and babysitting….time has gotten away.

But sweet Samantha always stays the same. News flash! * I will be gone next week but Samantha is having a guest author Thursday the 19th from 5-8… and the children’s book that she wrote sounds adorable. Samantha is saving me a couple of copies for the author to sign…it is all about a lollipop Easter Hunt…based on planting seeds and doing acts of kindness.

*Copies of the book are available now in the store.

*This year there will definitely be a “lollipop” addition to my Garden Easter Egg Hunt. Too much fun!

I think I mentioned to you that I am taking a Bible Study course on Tuesdays. The study is on the prophet Jeremiah. There is a lot of emphasis about not putting all our worldly “chickens” in one basket…or as the video narrator would say “safe havens” or “false idols” for comfort and security. We should be open to new opportunities and changes.

Isn’t this the hardest thing to do though…when we finally find our niche and are so happy in it? Anne and I were talking about just how blessed we each are in our lives…to a large degree because we have been fortunate enough to live long enough to “retire” and leave so much stress and “deadlines” behind.

We each have pursued new hobbies…gardening, art (for Anne) travel, making time for friends with lunches, babysitting (for me)…should we feel guilty for being happy for something we dreamed about and yearned for so long?

I do believe that simplifying my life has definitely added to the quality of it….de-cluttering has been my greatest achievement in recent years…physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I realize now that once we start giving possessions away…the freedom to do other things multiplies….a simple life can be enjoyed and shared simultaneously.

Here are some of my favorite thoughts concerning the benefits of a ‘simple’ life!

*Source (10 Ways to Live Simply in 2015) Duane Elgin

1. A choiceful simplicity means staying focused, diving deep, and not being distracted by consumer culture. It means consciously organizing our lives so that we give our “true gifts” to the world—which is to give the essence of ourselves. As Emerson said, “The only true gift is a portion of yourself.”

2. Simplicity means to feel such a strong sense of kinship with others that, as Gandhi said, we “choose to live simply so that others may simply live.”

3. Simplicity means that the way we live our lives represents a work of unfolding artistry. As Gandhi said, “My life is my message.”

4. Simplicity means taking charge of lives that are too busy, too stressed, and too fragmented. An uncluttered simplicity means cutting back on trivial distractions, both material and non-material, and focusing on the essentials—whatever those may be for each of our unique lives.

5. As Thoreau said, “Our life is frittered away by detail. . . Simplify, simplify.” Or, as Plato wrote, “In order to seek one’s own direction, one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life.”

……………..

So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for the simple life. A life in which we find time to enjoy all Your Blessings…while giving back a portion of ourselves to others.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Kaitlyn put this on Facebook:

 Rudy made it through surgery! He’s very groggy, down one anal gland and a tumor, and wearing this terrible cone but doing ok!  Please keep the prayers coming for good results on biopsy results. 1 week. We love you baby boy. Thanks Mimi and Boppy for being good nurses.

Rudy and his “cone”!

 Kaitlyn later sent these pictures….Tommy had sent his Clemson t-shirt for Rudy to wear following surgery and then last night when Kaitlyn and Tommy went out to eat they stopped at Pitt Street…Rudy’s and Atticus’s favorite walking haunt….and this beautiful sun was setting…a God Wink for getting Rudy through the surgery.

Dear Reader:

I think the word “nature” should be a verb, as well as, a noun. We should all take time to “nature” each day…for our body, heart, and soul. Especially for healing…

I am typing with a “crick” in my neck….massaging with one hand while typing with the other….but it is a wonderful “crick.”I literally fell asleep on the deck this afternoon in a chair with no place to rest one’s neck and head.

But that gorgeous sun beating down on my face around 1:00 yesterday afternoon felt so good…. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I kept justifying to myself that we are supposed to get at least 20 minutes of sunshine each day …instead I got about 45 minutes and woke up with the crooked neck. It was definitely worth it.

All God’s creatures seemed to be so happy…living in the moment before Old Man Winter returns….the birds were chattering away, one mother wren is building a nest in a bush by the deck, the yellow jessamine got its first bloom, three oriental solar lanterns arrived today (for the children’s trees) and they soaked up the solar energy along with me.

The pansies all perked up with their little smiling face…and then the strangest thing…as I woke up and got myself oriented again on the deck…(amazed I had slept so long)…I started hearing a “popping” sound. It seemed to be coming from the back section of my back yard where only the tall pines are located.

“Pop”! Pop”! I got up and strolled back where the trees were…searching for a pesky squirrel chewing on pine cones, perhaps, and throwing them down or maybe the noise was coming from some kind of bird high up in the trees…but I saw nothing…”Pop”! “Pop”!

I came in and searched the internet for “Popping Pines” and then I found it. “Pine cones make that noise as they open.” Apparently a lot of pine cones were opening at the same time. That was a new experience for me…or perhaps I just never stayed in one place long enough to hear it before.

Just as I was about to leave the internet and “Popping Pines”…a link to a Easter Story about Pine Trees showed up. Another “aha” wonder of nature….

Ever noticed the Pine tree crosses on Easter Sunday?

Pine trees start their new growth in the weeks before Easter.
If you look at the tops of the Pine trees two weeks before,
you’ll see the yellow shoots. As the days get close to Easter Sunday,
the tallest shoot will branch off and form a cross.
By the time Easter Sunday comes around, you will see that most of the
Pine trees will have small yellow crosses on all of the tallest shoots.

I love legends about roses helping cushion Christ on the cross or daisies showing the Wise Men where the manger with the Christ baby is located…and now yellow crosses forming on pine trees for Easter. The mysteries of nature and imagination of man coming together to spiritually renew our faith.

The pictures of nature restored mine yesterday….filling me with smiles and gratitude.

So until tomorrow…get outside today before Old Man Winter returns and just go “nature” around….it will help keep your faith and disposition in check during the chilly days ahead…again.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Libby emailed yesterday to say that Betsy had another “episode” while picking up one of her daughters yesterday from school. Betsy has been assured that her condition is not life threatening…but she has discovered it is certainly life-altering. Please continue to keep Betsy in your prayers and thoughts…as doctors continue to work finding the right levels of medication for her.

Today is Rudy’s big day….he has surgery in Chattanooga…I know Kaitlyn and Tommy will be glad when it is over…and then, of course, will come the waiting game for biopsy results. Thank you for your heartfelt concerns….so many people have gone through what Kaitlyn and Tommy are going through now… and have expressed their sympathy …it’s tough. Thanks to all of you.

Rudy graduated from law school right along with Kaitlyn and Tommy!

Dear Reader:

This line in the title, many of you recognize, from one of my favorite poets…Emily Dickinson.

Even though I am certainly not a recluse, like Dickinson, her time spent writing, imagining, and gardening do hit a similar chord with me. She created a world within a world where she could live in perfect harmony with her imagination and creativity.

The Dickinsons were a well respected family in Amherst, MA…the father and son squires, her mother….a well-known cook of fine foods… and her little sister Vinnie…a beautiful child who outshone shy Emily in beauty and personality. Emily appeared the be the “nobody” in the family.

Emily, however, had a secret…she knew down deep that she was somebody. She wrote about it  in the following lines…

“I’m nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody too? Then there’s a pair of us…don’t tell! They’d banish us, you know.”

Ironically….we don’t remember Emily’s parents or siblings today…only the recluse who lived in an imaginary world upstairs in her bedroom… writing poetry through her unique lenses on life.

Emily was by all definitions, an early “possibilitarian” before the movement became popular here in the nineties.

In this excerpt from Poetry for Young People…Emily Dickinson…(edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin) the question is posed….why did Emily write?

… We may never know for certain. But we do know this: Emily Dickinson chose to spend day after day in the same hourse, doing the same things-ordinary, seemingly unimportant things-for she seemed to know that there are wonderful “possibilities” in the most ordinary life if we just take notice.

Emily only saw six of her poems published in her lifetime…but her sister Vinnie found 879 poems in a bottom drawer of Emily’s bureau…little books, each sewn together by hand. More would be discovered…in her lifetime Emily had written more than seventeen hundred poems. She died at 55.

……………………………..

I wish I could say I thought up the word “Possibilitarian” (after reading Emily’s poem on dwelling in possibilities.)..but it wasn’t until I became enamored of the artist Kelly Rae Robert’s whimsical mantras in a gift store in Summerville…that I first heard the word in her artworks.

The example (title picture) of one such angelic creature… encouraging us all to “Tell Your Story” hangs next to my computer…right in front of my dolphin.

One day I googled the artist to see about ordering some more artworks as gifts for friends (after the gift shop closed) and that is when I discovered (to my amazement) that a whole new “Possibilitarian” Movement had started. After reading the description…I happily realized that possibilitarians were my kind of people.

Here is an excerpt from Robert’s website (she also has a blog) on what makes a possibilitarian…read and see if you are one too!

You Are A Possibilitarian If....

If you …

: Believe in practicing courage, every single day.

: Believe that kindness changes everything & love always wins.

: Believe that we are all part of something beautiful, something bigger than ourselves, something deeply, profoundly, surprisingly … good.

: Believe that success has everything to do with who you are, not what you do.

And you also …

: Want to live from the center of your life outward — a place where from which you can radiate and live a whole life, not a half-life.

: Understand that our dreams don’t necessarily belong to us, but serve as important tools, belonging to the world.

: Have overcome the odds — big odds, small odds, private odds or public odds — and still have a full heart. And hope.

Then you are most certainly A Possibilitarian. (Side effects may include honesty, creativity, tenderness & inspired action.)

– See more at: http://kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com

You might also recognize yourself in these five situations…if you are a Possibilitarian.

1. When you open your eyes each morning are you filled with excitement about the possibilities that fill your day?
   1. Are you excited about your life and the things you are doing?
   2. Do you know that sometime during your day the impossible will effortlessly be made possible?
   3. THEN YOU MAY BE A POSSIBILITARIAN!

1. Do you find yourself changing channels when the news comes on because it is too negative?
   1. Do you understand that you create your own reality and life?
   2. Do you decide what your truth is for yourself without some anchorman telling you, “That’s the way it is?”
   3. THEN YOU MAY BE A POSSIBILITARIAN!

1. Do you always look for solutions to enhance an outcome?
   1. Do you have faith in the process of your day knowing all answers you seek will arrive?
   2. Do you believe that there are no problems-only solutions to enhance outcomes?
   3. THEN YOU MAY BE A POSSIBILITARIAN!

 1. Do you enjoy hanging out and bring around uplifting people?

1. Do you find that you like to listen to inspiring conversation or listen to inspiring CD’s from your favorite mentors?
2. Do you find yourself overjoyed and excited when someone else succeeds?
3. Do you love working together to create abundance for everyone?
4. Do you love to read inspiring books?
5. THEN YOU MAY BE A POSSIBILITARIAN!

. Do you practice kindness in others knowing that if you share kindness it will bring about more kindness in the world?

1. Do you practice becoming the best you can be?
2. Do you mind modeling this lifestyle for others no matter where you are?
3. Then you are more than just a Possibilitarian…
4. YOU ARE A LIGHT IN THE WORLD

 …………………………..

So until tomorrow…Father help us all see the possibilities in every day of life we are given to be kind to our fellowman.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Tommy called me to update me on Rudy…he does have a tumor which requires surgery this Thursday…then a wait to get results back…probably next week sometime.

Please keep our Rudy in your thoughts and prayers….

 Brooke’s eye continues to improve and this surgery, to date, has been much easier than the earlier one. Brooke wants to thank everyone for their concerns, messages of hope, and prayers.

Honey sent this picture of all four of the dogs….Tarshie has two and Honey and Mike two…all asleep at the same time…looks like bunk beds on the sofa.

.

Dear Reader:

It has taken me a lifetime to realize that what one generation of parents bestows in wisdom on the next (in a continuous cycle) is true. “You have got to love yourself…before you can love another…wholly.”

Personally I think this is the number one cause for broken relationships covering the spectrum of dating, to separation to divorce. Too many people enter relationships for what the other person can bring to the table…to make up for self-perceived deficiencies in certain areas of his/her life.

Perhaps one potential spouse is out-going and social whereas the other partner feels insecure in social settings… but would like to be able to relate in these situations…while leaning on the other.

Or perhaps one partner is confident and accepting of challenges while the other dwells in insecurity and fear of change. These changes can take the form of financial, professional, social, creative, nurturing or even happiness-seeking obstacles that stunt one’s desires… while becoming wholly dependent on the other to provide all these personal entities.

There is such a thing as two people completing one puzzle piece…but “wholly moley” …is it fair to place one’s  “whole” personal happiness on another person…particularly a person you profess to love? That’s a lot of stress on a body!

Yet…it has taken me a lifetime (to date) to feel “wholly” accepting of who I am. I think, biologically, the world would come to a halt if we all waited until we were “wholly” accepting of who we are before entering a relationship with another.

I don’t think, as a mere mortal, that I will ever achieve “unconditional love” for me by me….but I must admit that I have grown in my affection for “Becky” and we get along pretty good now. I am more tolerant of the “being” inside this rather battered exterior I still live in…and I know now that a smile can still turn the world upside down…( even after gravity -and life- has pulled most of the rest of  the body parts… way down.)

I have learned my life journey’s hard knock lessons well…one being that as long as I put my trust and love in God (over man) that there will never be an ending to His love. Trust will never be broken and happiness, like healing, will flow like a fountain from within me.

The responsibility for happiness in our lives falls directly back on us. God gave us everything possible in this unimaginably beautiful world, to make us happy.

Our Creator has ‘known us before we were in our mother’s womb and set us apart‘ for becoming the “child” of God we are destined to become. We are the complete package… with all the tools and talents needed… embedded in us. No assembly required.

So until tomorrow…Let us remember…that  in this month of love, of valentines, of hugs and kisses…to accept ourselves first, as we are (strengths and… weaknesses included) and then accept others as they are, also…not as we want them to be. That is the love we all seek while awaiting a love far greater in another time and place.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* The photo title picture is still the same red and (and now white)planter of poinsettias I got the first week in December….the green poinsettias has completely turned white as if they know it is Valentines now. Ten weeks and they continue to bloom…adapting as they go. I felt the flowers were a good metaphor for today’s thoughts.

And look at the pink (valentine colored) poinsettias I left on the B&B side…watering occasionally when I go check on things over there…I leave the temperature on 55 and apparently the poinsettias love this environment. (Bought them right before Christmas.)

Rudy left today with Butch and Susan (Kaitlyn’s parents) to return home to Chattanooga to let the family “vet” check him to see what form a blockage (currently causing him problems) has taken and then what procedures will be needed to remedy the problem.

Kaitlyn’s family and ours appreciate your thoughts and concerns for our “Big Boy”( Rudy)…As all of you animal lovers know…who have had a pet for a “lifetime”…it is an anxious time for all who love him.

Atticus (left) and Rudy (right)…Atticus was agitated last night wondering where his best friend Rudy has gone.

Tommy said that Susan and Butch called (while going through Atlanta) to say that Rudy had gotten agitated too. Tommy said Rudy always gets agitated when they are driving through Atlanta…Tommy said he didn’t blame him…he did too!)

* Jackson wrote this concerning yesterday’s blog on daisies…

Boo- your blog today really hit close to home. When I was in junior high, there were many, many girls named Linda (including my best friend). I asked my parents if I could change my name, and thank God they said no. I wanted my first name to be Daisy!!! Can you imagine me as Daisy Lynn?

(After I got this we talked on the phone and were dying laughing…she could have only been a country singer for sure with that name….I wanted to be “Gidget”…)

 “Our country singer is in the middle”….Come what may…thank goodness we don’t have to return to Junior High in this life with all the insecurities it brought…I will take my chances with what is ahead thank you!

* If any of you fantasized a name change growing up…do share…we can all get a chuckle or two on this still gloomy Tuesday…come on sun…you can do it!