Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

I finally was able to get out in my garden yesterday and my mind felt so refreshed and clear!

It is amazing what two days (of spending outside time with nature) can do for body and soul.

On New Year’s Day….8000 people from around the world took the challenge of trying to simplify their lives in 21 days…the time, experts say, it takes to break a habit. It was called the KindSprings 21 Day Simple Living Challenge.

Audrey Lin (Awakin Call Garden of Simplicity) attended the weekly conference and wrote an article summing up ideas from people around the world (calling in) about their desire to simplify their lives.

The speaker used the metaphor of a garden as its theme towards achieving simplicity….and some of the ideas resonated with me as a “wanna be” gardener….who, nevertheless, just loves her garden of grace and serenity.

“Garden of Simplicity”

…” Three core elements of simple living stood out: simplicity as an “inside job,” a heightened awareness of nature, and our relationship to material possessions.”

“Simplicity is an inside job,” Mish <speaker> began. “For me to have simplicity in my life, I think of my mind as a garden. I have to weed it constantly. When I weed it, I make space for buds of awareness to grow… de-cluttering my mind. From there, everything flows. For me, simplicity starts with taming my thoughts, breathing deeply, and coming from a place of stillness.”

“For me, simplicity is the knife that cuts through the complexity and takes me into the aliveness of a living universe.” Duane Elgin’s words pierced the air, crystal clear. “

“Small moments of attention can bring about the genuine, down-to-earth delights. When we pause and take notice of our biological existence, each moment of connection may just unearth a symphony of eternity at our fingertips.”

“Where do I find aliveness? It’s in my relationships, my creativity, my contributions to other people, my connections with nature. That doesn’t cost anything”

The author summed up the participants’ search for simplicity by concluding:

...” as one idea or experience seeded many others, it was apparent that a resilient garden of simplified living is being tilled across the globe— one possession, one act, one thought at a time.” 

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When we simplify our lives by de-cluttering them we actually are freeing ourselves to time spent doing what brings us the most joy….creating, giving, and spreading seeds of “surcies” around the world. (Keep spreading those “surcies” Anya and Ambika!)

So until tomorrow…let us all heed this bit of advice:

“ There is a beautiful saying: ‘The more you have, the less you are. The less you have, the more you are. Either you flourish, or the material around you flourishes. The more you possess outside, the fewer opportunities you have to spend on internal growth.” (Shared by Meera-ba-India)

 “Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* I began the task yesterday of pulling fallen dead branches off plants in the garden, cutting dead stems off specks of green growing from within the pots where life is spreading, and simply shifting things around…sometimes we just need a shift, a change… to open up a whole new look on life’s situations.

Honey added this butterfly (made from spoons) to the “bucket of beauty” before we left for Magnolia Cemetery…when the sun hits it from a particular angle… it seems to light up, to glow…one small change to a situation and a whole new perspective emerges!

* Rutledge is doing so much better….you blog readers are good…thanks so much for your prayers. The ENT doctor had to do a lot of suctioning but was able to clean out and repair everything without further surgery. Walsh and Mollie are breathing easier tonight. Again thank you for your comments, thoughts, and prayers! It worked!

Honey’s been hacked! The hacker told emailers that she was on her way to Singapore (perhaps with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope?) She spent all day trying to resolve the issue and she does have a new password now so it is safe to email her…. like me, her past communications are a distant memory.

But like Honey told me last November….“Don’t let anyone steal your joy!”

Dear Reader:

Guess where Honey and I went yesterday? To historic Magnolia Cemetery! This is a photo I took of the marsh area right off one section of tombstones, statues, and grave markers. The sight was just beautiful…peaceful and serene (and very cold!)

I knew some famous people buried there…lots of governors and politicians (Legares, Rhetts, Maybanks, Simmons)…but discovered others…closer to home. We also discovered that Magnolia Cemetery, rich in South Carolina history, was surrounded by other cemeteries equally fascinating….Bethany…filled with German heritage….and St. Lawrence…with Irish. (Magnolia seemed to be open to everyone -regardless of their home country…but mostly upper middle and elite)

Magnolia cemetery was constructed in 1850 and today contains just under 100 acres…I was about to say it really is a “living” museum…but somehow it sounds inappropriate.  I think I will change it to an ‘outdoor’ museum of fascinating facts and tidbits.

Yesterday I read an article on cemetery decorations from different periods of history and their symbolism…so I looked for these different motifs (representing numerous time periods) and found several examples while touring the cemeteries..

But before I show them to you…here are a few trivia factoids that you might find interesting…

 “History of Gravestones”

The term gravestone emerged from a Jewish custom in which the visitors to a grave used to place stones at the head as a way to honor the deceased.

Gravestones are also known as grave markers, headstones, and tombstones. In earlier times when there were no cemeteries, people used to have burial plots near their family homes.

These graves were usually marked with rough stones, rocks, or wood, apparently, as a way to keep the dead from rising.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that public cemeteries came into acceptance. (Colonial markers were rather scary since the Puritans believed in pre-destination… as far as who was saved and who wasn’t…)

By the Victorian period public cemeteries had come into their own and were very ornate…the more ornate…the higher the social status.

Here are some pictures I took from several different cemeteries visited yesterday depicting symbols from this period.

                              “The Hand” was a popular motif and if placed downward represented God’s Hand plucking us from the flowers symbolizing the brevity of life.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               Flowers were very popular in the Victorian period…roses stood for sorrow, lilies- purity/re-birth and the resurrection, poppies/sleep/death. But they all stood for brevity of life.

Angels stood for rebirth, a guardian, or messenger from God

The urn (besides being convenient as a flower holder) was a popular symbol of mourning and indicated the person had lived a long life.

…Whereas the shortened/cut off tree trunk stood for a life cut short.

A lion symbolized eternal vigilance and courage….

At the Bethany cemetery-filled (with German immigrant ancestry…)  adjacent to Magnolia-…

Honey had just told me about her German origins from her great-grandfather when lo and behold…we saw a marker with the family name and on the back it was her great  grandparents. A God’s Wink. (She thinks she remembers that at one time they lived in the Elizabeth Arden home in Summerville)

Before we left Bethany to go to Magnolia cemetery we quickly hurried to get a photo to prove that we were there….you can see I was holding onto a limb from a tree…that limb was so cold..it felt like I was holding a block of ice….unbelievable! ( Honey was smarter…standing in from of a camellia bush….they were all over the cemeteries…so beautiful…with their red and white blooms.)

                                                                                                                One interesting tidbit that I didn’t know about…( was an unique building located right beside the church )….called the Receiving Tomb. It was here (in olden times) that bodies were taken until burial….their early version of the “funeral home.”

It was in Magnolia that I really felt the presence of the past…and began wondering about the “voices from the past”…what they could tell us about life during their short sojourn on earth.

We saw the Hunley crew’s grave site, the Gettysburg memorial section, volunteer firefighters memorials…and numerous other noted people’s graves….but it was just the cemetery itself…that was so beautiful. (I was about to say “drop dead”gorgeous…but you get the idea.)

And hey…Honey didn’t have “no” flies on me…look what I found in Magnolia! (Doodle is checking on the connection.)

This marker was in the Gettysburg section…the rose is real and had been placed inside a vase with water days before and it survived the wind and temperatures of the last few cold nights. Perhaps a lesson  here….flowers might represent brevity in life…but they don’t go down easily!

 Grave markers of the Hunley Crew

I thought this iron-wrought gate and shaded area of the cemetery under the Spanish moss was lovely and serene.

This last marker might have been our favorite after freezing in the cemeteries…California Dreaming with the yummy house salad and hot potato soup!

So until tomorrow…let us all hope this epitaph can be placed near us for eternity….voices from the past still echoing the present and future.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Fran….I had no idea one of my favorite authors and column writers Frank Gilbreth, Jr (“Ashley Cooper“) was buried here…(I know he and your mother must be having a “taradiddle” good time in heaven!)

(I always showed the original movie (not Steve Martin) “Cheaper by the Dozen” each year when we studied the 1920’s! The students loved it!!!)

Please say a prayer for our little Rutledge…When Mollie went to pick him up yesterday from day care…his ears were bleeding, one tube had come out and the ear drum was compromised/bone exposed around it….he has been in terrific pain.

Mollie is taking him to his ENT doctor tomorrow…so we will see what we will see…he’s on antibiotics for all the infection….Mollie said she would send a funny picture because that is what she wants to see Rutledge act like again…not suffering in pain.

Honey is amazing as all of you already realize who know her… we got lost in Magnolia looking for the Hunley Crew grave site. We saw some men raking and cleaning up around some grave sites….so stopped to ask directions. One worker called for his son…who, in broken English, produced a map he had used to locate work raking areas that day and gave it to us.

The young bi-lingual boy was so proud we could understand the directions. While I was following them on the map I heard Honey get out of the car and then get back in.

As we rode off she told the boy to check his jacket pocket and we could see the expression of joy as he pulled out a five dollar bill. She is the “charming human being” Elliott describes so eloquently. (She gives more “surcies” away than any one I know!)

Dear Reader:

My barrel is the prettiest it has ever been in the winter! I suppose I must “grudgingly” give credit to all the rain we have had.

It stands out in the front yard surrounded by dead grass and colorless shrubs….like a beaconing lighthouse…displaying its beautiful colors for walkers, runners, and car drivers to see.

It makes me smile each time I pull in the driveway. While most of the other flowers still sleep underground within their seeds, pods, and bulbs….cabbages and pansies seem to challenge and even taunt Old Man Winter.…by shouting:

“Bring it on Old Man…we can take it…watch us play “How low can you go”! (Very low temps indeed!)

As I looked up quotes with the word barrel in them….most of the samples were: A barrel of monkeys, a barrel of laughs, over a barrel, or scraping the bottom of the barrel.

My notion for the term, however, was going in a different direction. A ‘barrel of thoughts‘ came closer to my Tuesday musings.

I decided to put myself to a test… to choose three powerful ideas to live by (and one day leave for my grandchildren.) The challenge (especially for loquacious me) is to simplify big ideas into small wordings. This was the criteria…

1) one 3 word thought  2) one 2 word thought 3) One 1 word thought

My first thought centered around this sweatshirt I saw on a ‘Life is Good’ website. The site had all their winter products marked down considerably.

I kept looking at the words (Live and Give) and thought to myself… how simple but powerful these words are. Isn’t this the way we should spend our time on earth…living and giving simultaneously…as easily as breathing and loving?

*(So I had to just go out and order it…hope it comes in the next day or two…because I have begun layering… even in the house…it just feels chilly all the time with this latest cold front.)

My second thought? Don’t Settle. I think nothing is sadder than watching someone with much potential (to bring to the world) settle for a life that undermines his/her God-given gifts. This world is too amazing to turn it into a mundane and colorless existence. A true waste of life…

My third thought? If you are ever asked…”What is the most powerful force in the world…the only one that can and will endure forever?” reply: LOVE.

Think about all the scriptures that remind us of the power of love…the power of God. In the end…love always wins out…death, itself, finally meets this most formidable opponent….named LOVE. Death can never overcome the power of love.

There are three things that will endure – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love.

That’s it…that’s my three thoughts to leave behind one day… but to live by now each day. (And I didn’t even have to scrape the bottom of the barrel!)

So until tomorrow….less really is best…a few words are better than many…because they can, not only be absorbed and retained…but identify who we are as God’s children.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

* Try taking the challenge…can you come up with three mantras with 3,2, and one word. I recognized Patty Knight’s identity through her three choices immediately. Patty chose:

Peace and Quiet   Be Happy   Smile!

Try it and share your identity of words with us.

* Honey just emailed me to tell me we have another “Barrel” Connection…too funny!

The name of Mike’s wood turning business. Check out Mike’s jacket logo! Burrell’s Barrels!

Dear Reader:

When I heard Jakie laughing out loud (while staring into Mandy’s eyes the other night) I knew in my heart that joy and laughter come pre-packaged.

Young mothers watch intently for that first smile from a newborn. Days and weeks go by and then in the early morning hours (one day) when the sleep-deprived mother goes to feed or change her baby…it is there…the smile.  The baby smiled! She smiled….He smiled….and suddenly the lack of sleep and circles under the eyes no longer matters….the baby smiled!

In a blink of the eye-happy cooing and laughter follow the smiles’ footsteps. One minute a child doesn’t exist and the next we hear that child laughing and we know that God loves to hear His children laugh…young and old.

Yet…too many of us, who profess to be religious and believers in God, live life too seriously…because we take ourselves too seriously. We think that laughter and levity are something we can indulge in ….only after we have done our “homework.”

One day we wake up and realize that we let life slip through our fingers, along with its joys and happiness, because we felt like we didn’t deserve joy until we had completed this or that serious project.

Tim Hansel, in his book, Holy Sweat, gives this example….

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin-real life <with all the joys, contentment, and peace we dream about>….But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then the good life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. -B. Howland

Nothing is sadder than wasting one’s life while waiting for the good times to come. We are living the good times right now, every moment of every day. When we wake up, look around, realize we are still breathing and on this side of the ground…we have the opportunity to bring a smile to someone’s face and happiness to their heart.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I have started back with my morning mantra “Today is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Which is followed up by my own personal accolade “Wow…another day…I owe You a “Big One” God!”)

God wants us to laugh, tell jokes, bring joy to our fellowman…last week when I was presenting at the Charleston Retired Educators quarterly meeting…Miss Effie and her “buzzard” story had everyone laughing, forgetting their worries momentarily, and enjoying the moment.

If we believe in a Divine Creator…then shouldn’t we believe that God is the source of all joy?

During my early treatments for “little c” I received numerous books from friends on healing…one was on humor and healing. The last chapter dealt with humor and dying. One of the classic jokes was saved for the last page….an “oldie but goodie.”

I laughed until I cried…so to end today…let me share a little laughter with you. Take it from me….it truly is the best medicine!

( Joan sent this original painting yesterday…she calls it her “Owl With An Attitude”) I fell in love with it….it does look like the owl is getting ready to share a joke with everyone….and here it is!)

“Up on the Roof”

Jimmy and his brother Ralph both lived in the same town. Jimmy lived with their 90 year-old mother, and Ralph lived across town with his 12 year-old cat, Silky.

Ralph was obsessed with Silky and treated her like a queen. The two were never apart. But one day, Ralph learned he had to go to England on business. Cats had to stay in quarantine for two weeks in order to get into that country, so it was simply impractical for Ralph to take Silky with him.

Ralph asked Jimmy to care for his cat, and Jimmy agreed. So Ralph brought Silky over, spent an hour explaining the nuances of servicing the aging feline, and departed forLondon.

Every night Ralph would call and ask “How’s Silky?”. The first four nights, Jimmy, holding in his growing irritation at his brother’s cat-obsession, answered, “Silky’s fine,” but the fifth night, in response to the question, he blurted out, “Silky’s dead!”

Hearing that, Ralph almost died of shock, himself. When he recovered, he said to his brother, “Jimmy, that’s not the way to break news like that to someone. You don’t just blurt out information like that. You have to prepare a person.”

 ” Tonight when I called,” Ralph went on, “You should have said, ‘Silky’s fine, but she’s up on the roof.’ Then tomorrow you could have told me, “Silky fell off the roof and I took her to the vet’s.” Then, the next day, you could have said, “Silky didn’t make it, Ralph, she’s dead,” and I would have been able to handle the news.”

“By the way, Jimmy,” Ralph asked, “How’s mom?”

 “Oh, she’s fine,” said Jimmy. “But she’s up on the roof.”

So until tomorrow…Help us realize Father that You love to see a newborn smile, hear children’s peals of laughter, and enjoy a good joke! (After all You did create us!)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Hope is alive and well! I was watering the plants on the front porch yesterday afternoon…in the warm, delightful sun’s rays and I spotted something on the tip of the lone stem standing on “Big Red.” Was it…could it be?…Something was forming near the top of the solitary stem….a bud…a green bud is forming!!!!

“Gloriously Impossible”…but happening! It is still an uphill climb with just one stem left to go it alone…but new growth showed its pretty green head today and what a glorious day it was!

I give credit to you wonderful blog friends for injecting “Big Red” with hope. The first came from a comment from the “Can do” gal, Jo Dufford, when she read that “Big Red” was in peril.

Oh, Becky, I’m sorry about big red as she has become a part of all of us too. However, I believe SHE WILL COME BACK this spring. Because she, apparently, has required so little time and was our “ever-ready bunny” which just kept going, maybe she just wanted a little more TLC.

We have a lady in our church like that, She is so independent, always a leader in the church, seems to do everything for everyone and never seems to need anything, but perhaps she, every once in a while, would like something, unexpected, that shows a little extra love just for her. (Thanks for reminding me that everyone could use a little TLC from time to time. Maybe I’ll send her a “surcie” today.)

A “surcie“! I had so many fun comments about the word…stemming from Sherri Houston, who knew the term but not the history behind it… and loving it is Charlestonese….all the way to a new friend, Anya, on board our blog from Belgium!!!!! Climb aboard Anya and watch your step…you never know when another “new” word will appear!

Anya commented on “Surcie”…A Gift for No Apparent Reason…but Love

What a nice new word! Being from Belgium and not a native speaker of English, I had not come across this word before…but I’ll give it a go and try to spread the word (literally) in Europe. Hope you don’t mind. Love reading your blog – the beauty of this world lies in its stories.

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Sis…did you hear that? Our new (Chapel of Hope) friend, Anya, is going to spread “surcies” all over Europe. Now see what you started with one loving gesture?

Go Anya…what a great idea! Keep us posted how your friends like their “surcies” and the word, itself! These would be great “bonus” posts from you describing Europeans’ reactions to “surcies!”

(Seeing “Big Red”s bud was a surcie for me yesterday!)

Honey arrived while I was gone Sunday and left some pretty sunny flowers of hope on the porch by “Big Red” that brightened my whole day. Then came a “God’s Wink”…she sent a photo she took of me at her new water falls in the her mountain home’s back yard (tucked inside the bouquet)… She aptly named her water falls… “Hope Falls“….and I think hope is falling on “Big Red”… the struggling six year old geranium!

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The term “gloriously impossible” is a Madeleine L’Engle verbal delight that she uses in several books and writings….including a small Christmas book by that name

I found a short article (“Gloriously Impossible Us“) about L’Engle and her application to this “glorious” term from her book….and I really liked it. Here is a short excerpt from it.

…How often do we have to remind ourselves that without God, we are impossible. Riddled with reality, hubris, temptation, fear, and whatever else seems to have power over us, we are doomed to failure without God.

…However, we do not have to look far to see indications of the wonderfully impossible miracles that happen daily in our lives and our world. God is working his purpose out in his time, not ours, and it is always for our good. That which happens that is not good is not of God and as Madeleine L’Engle concludes,

  “Jesus came to us for love, and he died for us for love, and he rose from the grave for love, and he ascended into Heaven for love, and the Comforter came to teach us love. So, beloveds, let us love one another as Jesus has called us to do. Amen. Alleluia! Amen.”

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So until tomorrow…I think L’Engle’s conclusion sums up our “gloriously impossible”  existence day by day…for the scriptures tell us:  But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’ (Matthew 19. 23 – 30)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* When I looked at all three of my grandchildren Thursday evening….and uttered a prayer of thanksgiving and gratitude to God…I wish I had known this wonderful phrase “Gloriously Impossible“…because here they all are….the love of my life!

 Johnny Johnson sent the nicest blog comment about the grandchildren which touched my heart. Thank you Johnny!

Just wanted to let you know, like you don’t already, you have some of the prettiest most handsome grandchildren. I have one grand child and I think he is made of gold!  You feel the same way.

But Eva Cate. Already carries herself like a lady, Rutledge looks like a little man, especially in the picture wearing his tie and dress outfit, well Jakie, is just a fine looking baby. So healthy, and every picture he looks like a happy baby!

It is such a gift from God to have happy healthy grandchildren, isn’t it Mrs. Dingle? I continue to adore your blog and it makes me feel as though I have known you and your whole family for years, yet we have never met! YOU MAKE MY DAY, EVERYDAY WITH YOUR GIFT!

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*Ending on a comment like that….is a “gloriously impossible” high to an amazing day of grace and love. Thank you readers for keeping my heart, soul, and hope soaring…like “Big Red” …budding in spite of the odds.

Dear Reader:

When I returned home yesterday afternoon from my four-day stay with Mandy and the children…the sun was finally breaking through the clouds and in spite of groceries in the back of the car…I found myself going to my camellia/sasanqua bush and cutting two blooms off…to replace the ones that had faded since I had been gone.

There is nothing I dislike worse than returning home to dead flowers in the house. After putting them in Kaitlyn’s flower vase…I sat down to read my mail and there was a beautiful card from Joan Turner. The name of it (information on the back of the card) was: Birds and Camellia Bushes in Flower. 

How appropriate I thought… so I placed the card in front of the flowers and took the picture. I was home with a nice God’s Wink Welcome!

Isn’t it wonderful to feel needed? As I was leaving yesterday… Mandy said that she couldn’t have done it without me….(I think she could have…she is so organized) but it sure made me feel good to hear it. And to have time just to spend with Mandy and catch up with her life now…with all its changes and challenges….new baby and return to work. It can be a “hard-knot life…for sure.”

Before I left last Wednesday to go to Mandy’s ….I attempted some organization myself…stacking different books by favorite authors close to the computer so I don’t have to go searching for them each day when I write the blog.

It just so happened that when I turned the computer back on…and glanced at the books around me…Madeleine L’Engle’s 40-Day Journey was sitting on top.

I adore L’Engle’s writings…so down to earth… she makes mundane sound perfectly marvelous in her relationship with God.

As I casually glanced through the devotional…one paragraph literally jumped out at me. It was a “palpable passage” (as I like to call them)…a passage so intense it can be almost felt or touched.

…”The job of the teacher (Jesus) is to help us remember all that we have forgotten…One of the great sorrows which came to human beings when Adam and Eva left the Garden was the loss of memory, memory of all that God’s children are meant to be.”

The example she gave for this idea was the story of Peter walking across the water to meet Jesus’s out-stretched hands. “As long as he didn’t remember that we human beings have forgotten how to walk on water, he was able to do it.“

I stopped here with my typing and took a break…I found myself walking back out to my ‘garden of grace’ as the sun’s rays sank lower in the sky…beautiful pink/orange streaks shooting over it.

At first glance everything appears dormant…even dead. But underneath the black, prickly mums are green patches of new life starting to make their appearances and bulbs planted last fall are breaking through the ground.

How short our memories are of what lies beneath what the visible eye can’t see…  life doesn’t cease to exist just because colors are faded or leaves are wilted. Plants, I think have better memories than people…because they do  remember who they are and the life that awaits below and above the ground.

So until tomorrow…as Madeleine L’Engle concludes… “We are helped to remember some of the glorious things we have forgotten, and some of the terrible things we are asked to endure, we who are children of God by adoption and grace.” 

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* When I try to remember what all happened in Mt. Pleasant for four days…I struggle…so thank you Jesus for any help You can throw my way…me, myself, and my memory… thank you.

Thank goodness for photos which spark the old neurons….

Eva Cate and I slept together so I didn’t have any problem getting up…at 6:30…she is like her own personal alarm clock …she is up and at’em. (She and Jake were going to wear their new “monkey” outfits…a one piece for Jake and a dress/pants for Eva Cate. She was very excited and ready to go!)

Thursday night Rutledge joined us for a PJ party…chicken nuggets and movie night…since Jake couldn’t join in the games…he just talked with mommy…

Rutledge to the rescue…bringing Eva Cate a tissue! Nuggets and Jake and the Neverland Pirates…a winning combination! (Every child loves trying on grandmother’s shoes….Jake loves Aunt Mollie/Mo Mo)

Thursday for lunch Mollie picked me up and we tried out the new restaurant (for us) on Shem Creek-Table and Tavern…beautiful warm day…beautiful view…and great food and company!

Friday I had Jake all to myself…so happy….what is it about a sleeping baby that puts one so at peace?…I just wanted to crawl in the crib with him and sleep away….we had fun!

Saturday (yesterday) was Jake’s four month birthday….Happy Birthday Jake! (Eva Cate can’t figure out how her little brother has caught up with her with birthdays….suppose it is confusing?) Jake just wanted to sing about it!

I am fading fast…..starting to feel like Jake with his monkey cap on….enough with this “monkeying around”….I am going to have a ‘long winter’s sleep’….without my little squirmy adorable bed partner Eva Cate.

*On Monday’s blog…want to share some comments with you….that were terrific while I was gone!

Dear Reader:

It is Saturday and John is returning home today…my son-in-law is such a good husband and daddy…he has missed his little family and is ready to get home to some hugs and kisses. Boo Boo is ready to leave the family alone for their “together” time and head home to check on Miss Lucy…the cat who adopted me…

Going to a conference alone, as I remember, can be rather lonely…even if you do know fellow participants from past conferences. I remember always being ready to get back to my room after the last workshop and call the children to see how everything was going. Just hearing their voices reminded me who “myself” was.

It took me many years to realize that when I look in the mirror…there is more than one reflection staring back. All the people, starting with my parents, who let me know that I was loved and important to them, are a part of who I am now.
What got me thinking, along this line, was a booklet of poetry that Bill Barutio sent me that Beverly (creator of St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope) had written back in the 1980’s when they were living in Savannah, Georgia.

The dedication to her husband read: “To my husband, Bill, without whom I am only me; with whom I am at last, totally myself.” 

It reminded me of a line from Downtown Abby when Ann had just delivered her first child, a little boy, and was showing him to her husband, Matthew. It was an emotional scene and she told her husband that it was he whose love had changed her from a self-absorbed young lady to kinder, gentler soul. He brought out the best side of her for the world to see.

Ann, too, was trying to tell Matthew that through his love…she had found her complete self… capable of being totally herself.

While driving to the luncheon for the Retired Charleston Educators Tuesday…this train of thought popped into my mind. Mentally I began making a list of all the people- parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, teachers, professors, coaches, teaching peers….who all contributed to making me become totally myself.

Isn’t it wonderful that God provides the people we need to mirror the person we are destined to be?

So….until tomorrow…Help us be open to everyone You send  to continue molding and shaping us on our short sojourn through life on earth.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Today is Jake’s fourth month birthday! Happy birthday my precious Jakie!

Will catch everyone up on my thoughts while away these past few days on upcoming blogs…the world seen through little eyes.

                                                                                                                Dear Reader:

Alice Walker once said: “Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul.”

This delicate-looking houseplant in the pretty vase has been with me the same amount of time as “Big Red” my geranium…they both arrived at the end of May from two different givers after my first surgery for breast cancer in 2008.

Lea Anne, a friend and bridesmaid in my daughter Mandy’s wedding-three weeks prior to my surgery-sent this indoor plant from Washington, D.C. the day I arrived home from the hospital. And look at it now…after six years…with just an occasional watering…beautiful and glowing…my back-up healing plant for “Big Red.”

And this “under study” has had to take on the role, hopefully temporarily…as “Big Red” got taken down during one of those cold cold nights a couple of weeks ago. It had gotten too big and cumbersome for me to attempt to move it.

So I put a sheet and light quilt around it and tucked it in for the cold night…unfortunately the wind was also strong that night and blew the covers off…I had to remove six major stems…leaving only two in the center…protected by the outside stems who sacrificed to keep the center stem alive.

It is really “touch and go” for Big Red…I can only hope and pray that this stoic, loyal plant can pull through once again…my vintage, foliage health o’meter… who gave me hope when I was fighting to pull through in the past…time will tell.

My Awakin Weekly popped up on my screen Tuesday and this week’s article seemed to reach out to me…hopefully it will do the same for you. (Here are some excerpts from the article)

“Working with the Soil, Attending to the Soul”

Gunilla Norris

... For me gardening is a process that invites me to be fully engaged. It is also a constant exercise in letting go since so much happens that is not in my control. Strangely this duality seems to cultivate a joy that embraces impermanence and finds refuge in the invisible.

“Gardening brings food and flowers to the table and sustenance to the soul. I am not talking about having a perfect garden. Ours certainly isn’t! Weeds are as happy here as are flowers. Bushes get bushier and need trimming. What may start out as an elegant garden plan becomes more haphazard over time. With the years our garden has turned out to be a bit of this and that and always too big to really tend properly.

“From the start this is not the garden I designed. Someone else did, and before that there was a yard of sorts. Coming here to live I have inherited what already was, just as I inherited my parents, my siblings, and my particular time in history. We work with what we are given. That’s the real garden. I can’t claim anything here. I can only ‘be’ in the garden, tend it, and further it. Isn’t that what we all do, what life asks us to do? 

“In my garden while I am digging I am also tilling inner soil. My garden is a place of commitment and of neglect, of arrogance and humility. It is a place of taking stock and of deep silence — a place of contemplation. And so for me over time it has become a place of grace.”

I love that last sentence…don’t you? The Garden of Grace…the place I can go to…when I need to fill loved completely and unconditionally…we all need such a place in our lives, don’t we?

So until tomorrow…Let us all grow into the role of becoming a steward for one small piece of God’s gift to us…wrapped in grace.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Is there anything better than getting a “surcie” in the mail? If any of you are asking….’What in the world is a surcie you must have moved into the lowcountry area recently… and not lived here for a long time…at least back to the 80’s when the name first appeared.

Surcie is a southern term for an unexpected gift…and just not southern in general…but actually Charlestonese.

Here is Robin Dance’s interpretation of “surcie” from her site: The Wonder of a Woman.

Surcie IS a word, and if you receive one, it will make your day decidedly better.

“Surcie” is a word introduced to me in college by my then new-found best friend Cassie.  Cassie was from the Charleston, S.C. area and I was instantly drawn to her interesting Low Country accent.  In spite of what those who live outside the American South may think, all Southernese is NOT the same, not even within the same state…  

Cassie was great about giving me little, inexpensive “thought gifts”.  A batch of cookies, a box of Kleenex (when I was a broke college student with a cold using sandpapery dorm toilet paper) a can of “good” hairspray because this was the 80’s and big hair was in (Cassie swears I used to roll my hair three times before going out, but I’m sure she was exaggerating….).

… Surcies, come with intention, are full of thoughtfulness, and speak love for others.  They usually don’t cost much (although they can), and they’re the type gift that can make someone’s day!

So…I hope you’ll take the word, make it your own and set out to become a surcie-giver.  I’m pretty sure when you give one, an angel earns its wings.

………………………

Tuesday when I went to check the mail…a package was inside my mailbox from Sis Kinney (not to give her home address away) but this message was written over her name label.

A Surcie…a Surcie!! The best thing about surcies is the surprise factor. No matter how old we get…everyone likes surprises…something unexpected to lighten and brighten up one’s day!

Lookie….lookie at my surcies! In the card Sis sent (another surcie in itself) she said she saw this framed “Ya” picture, along with the “Ya” message (at her church’s fall festival) and immediately thought of me…then the other day she saw it again at the house and mailed it, along with a “Boo” decal and “little c”  card.

(Boo is the name given the Boone Community Center…a beautiful old residence -Jones Home- where the Boone Boo Halloween Extravanga is held each year)

So now I had two “surcies”… and then when I read the outside of the card Sis sent me…three “surcies.”

Sis…thank you for making my day…from now on…you will be “Surcie”Sis…as far as I am concerned! And the added “surcie” bonus…an angel earned its wings!

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to Mandy’s where I will be staying until Saturday…helping Mandy with the baby and Eva Cate since John flew out yesterday for a three day conference. Another wonderful “surcie!” (being able to help out) * If you want to get me during this time…easier to just email me: [email protected]

Isn’t life joyful when someone or something unexpectedly happens that raises our spirits and makes us want to shout out: “Today is the day that the Lord has made…Let us Rejoice and be Glad in it!”

So until tomorrow…Make someone’s day and send out surcies…filled with love!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Had this cute comment from Judy who taught middle school for three decades and her thoughts on middle school students…love it!

Hi, Becky!
First, thanks so much for your blog!
I taught middle school for 31 years, and loved it and my students dearly, but I wasn’t far into my career when I realized that if they ever colonize the moon, the first thing they’ll do is send all the middle schoolers (along with their teachers) up there to stay until they become humans again!
Love, smiles and blessings,
Judy

Dear Reader:

Isn’t this picture beautiful? It almost looks like a negative with light shining through it. Last Sunday evening Walsh and Mollie had the family over for a get-together. It has been awhile since we did so… Walsh, Mollie, and Rutledge were gone this Christmas.

Everyone was so happy to be back together. January can be a tough month to go it alone. With cold, dreary, wet days succeeding each other for far too long…having the opportunity to witness the sun setting together on a beautiful clear winter late afternoon… can be quite exhilarating.

Being able to capture priceless moments, along one’s life journey, gives us a sense of control over time. We can actually stop it…that precious moment…that second of a smile at the age taken…  it remains behind as a ‘marker’ for an eternal (earth time-defined) moment in existence.

At church Sunday Ann Graves told me that she had seen a quote she liked and bet I would  too. I told her to email it to me, which she did, and then she added a bonus photo.

The quote says:

“Life is like a camera. Focus on what’s important, Capture the good times, Develop from the negatives, and if things don’t work out...Take another shot!” 

Since the digital age arrived…portable cameras inside every kind of electronic device invented is possible. The world is suddenly flooded with pictures throughout every media imaginable.

Whereas, in the past, photographs were considered a rarity… with people placing them high on mantles for all to see….today we are constantly lamenting the fact that we need to clean out our photos because we have thousands of them stockpiled on our IPhone or other apparatus.

The “specialness” or rarity of photographs, now with immediate access, has dwindled on the market. In 2013, however, 22 rolls of negatives were found frozen in a block of ice from Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition. With careful “tending” they were able to be brought back to reveal amazing pictures of the brave men battling  the elements from this famous exploration.

Professional photographers today bemoan the fact that we have given up the ability to save pictures for posterity substituting digital images for negatives. As always…with each new invention…comes a loss from the past.

On the bright side…being able to take pictures on a second’s notice…provides wonderful opportunities to capture life in an instance with no artificial posings. We can rapidly “focus on what’s important” in our daily lives and then see it come to fruition in mere seconds.

We don’t have to worry about negatives now…but can concentrate on the positives in life that make us happy. And as we know…with our digital cameras…we can take as many photos as we like at any time. Continuing to click away with the tap of a finger…until we get it just right.

With all this said…Ann  experienced an epiphany of sorts with the lit Star symbol of Epiphany… hung from one of the rafters in our sanctuary Sunday before last.

We have glass wall windows in our church and as Ann gazed out during church…she thought she saw something….a star, seemingly, hanging in mid-air in the woods surrounding the church. She could hardly wait to go investigate after service and upon arrival outside…there was nothing.

It took a little investigating to realize the glass walls were reflecting the hanging star inside to the woods outside. Ann took a photo and has an amazing picture for the church history, as well as, her personal. An “epiphany” ….a God’s Wink!

*Ann also sent a second picture taken from behind.

“I’ve attached a photo of it (the star) from behind where I was sitting. I didn’t see this view until I turned around to look where the one I was seeing was being reflected.”

 All I know is that my camera and/or Iphone have definitely added a new dimension of happiness for me. I can “capture the good times” and find my loved ones with a ‘tap’ and a smile! (And speaking of loved ones…family pictures from Sunday night’s family gathering are located at the bottom of the blog)

So until tomorrow…we never know when a negative will provide the most positive image we can receive…right Linda? Good News! Linda’s biopsy came back negative!!!!! And what a “positive” that is!

*I really think it was the magic lollipop (that can help you “lick” any thing ) that took you over the top!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Fran Townsend had a memorable quote concerning middle schoolers from Tuesday’s blog…too funny!

Clarice Foster said that middle schoolers were “neither man nor beast, but some mixture of the two“, and I think she was right (Clarice was ALWAYS right!). First grade teachers and middle school teachers are my heroes: you performed magic, in my book!

My Berkeley friend , Carol Poole,  asked me to come speak at the Retired Charleston Educators’ meeting Tuesday. She also captured some fun moments as we did the “No News” skit together and then I shared some Miss Effie “taradiddles” that brought down the house (actually the church) we met at a Methodist church in N. Charleston- some Archibald Rutledge stories and of course, the Chapel of Hope.

I had such a good time and such a wonderful audience…thanks gals for making me feel so welcome! Here are some captured moments Carol and her friends took.