Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

As I sat on the sofa yesterday deciding on what story would end 2014…a child’s name kept trying to break through the cobwebs of my memory. A story that really touched me but had been pushed aside for another story a few weeks ago. I remember thinking (at the time) to “bookmark” the pages.

Not only did I not do that…I didn’t even write down which book the story came from. I knew the overall gist of the story (loved it) and that it involved a little girl with a different name….but nothing else would come.

I started looking through the nearest books around my computer… but with no luck. I finally gave up and went to get something out of the guest bedroom and there was a book lying on the bed that I knew intuitively was the book.

  It didn’t take five minutes to find the story: “Iva Mae’s Birthday” written by Nita Waxelman in Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul.

The story is told by the author….as she remembers a little girl in grade school with a special birthday that taught her classmates important lessons in life… that would come much later.. only with maturity and reflective hindsight.

Before we start the story… Take a minute and think back to the one adult in your life who was there for you during the tough times and the bad times growing up….yet never judged you while the crisis was at hand. (Later perhaps… but not during the crisis)

Dee Dee and Poppy were these two caring adult mentors for their grandchildren. It was mainly the granddaughters,( though also the grandsons occasionally) who sought Dee Dee’s wisdom with problems at school, dating issues, and “Mom doesn’t understand me” conflicts.

Poor Poppy got the midnight calls once the boys started driving…they were broken down, or in a fender-bumper…what to do when the police came, and even more serious car wrecks. Poor Poppy, at this period of his grandchildren’s adolescent lives… always seemed to be missing his truck or car which he had loaned a grandchild with car problems.

It is very important in child development that there is a grandparent or relative to assist in the awkward growing up antics of adolescence skirting the first line of offense…the parents. ( Now that I am a grandparent I understand this new position even clearer.)

However, (in our story today)  it is Iva Mae’s mother who emerges as the real hero and birthday saver… while teaching one of the most important lessons in life to twelve first graders.

“Iva Mae’s Birthday”

The year is 1936 and Iva Mae Maples has never had a birthday…but this year, in the first grade, she is determined to do so. She has walked around and invited all her classmates (orally) to her birthday party which would fall on the third Friday of September.

It is deep in the Great Depression, all the children are wearing scraps on pants legs and dresses as they would grow taller throughout the year… but at least they all had shoes. Not so with Iva Mae…very quickly the children understood that she was the poorest girl in the first grade class.

Her feet could be seen through the holes in her mother’s shoes. They were too big and kept falling off her feet. She even wore her mother’s cardigan sweater as a coat…even though the sleeves fell down to her knees.

But no matter…Iva Mae was the most popular girl in the first grade…she was funny and giggled all the time tucking zinnias into her pigtails. She would belch and then glare at the poor student sitting next to her saying, “Well. I never, I sure hope you feel better now.”

Iva Mae brought the most wonderful lunches to school. Her mother canned day and night to keep food on the table and the results were wonderful to the other classmates who watched her eat homemade vegetable soup with a big square of buttered cornbread…as their mouths watered…staring down at their peanut butter sandwich.

Finally Iva Mae’s birthday arrived. The teacher had all the children put their presents in the coat closets until after school when they would follow Iva Mae home for the party. Everyone was so excited…ice cream and cake…WOW! Iva Mae’s eyes were as big as saucers as she stared at all the presents in the closet.

When the bell rang at three everyone grabbed his/her present and began to follow Iva Mae. But she was suddenly acting strangely….the closer we got to her home…the quieter she became and now her eyes looked bigger than saucers….filled with terror.

Everyone soon discovered why. When the dozen students trouped into Mrs. Maple’s two room house…she looked confused and dazed. Bewildered she stared down at Iva Mae… waiting for an explanation.

In the quietest voice we had ever heard  …while twitching this way and that…we listened to her say: “I just decided to have me a birthday party, and I didn’t think you’d mind. I plumb forgot to tell you and …” She was now staring down at her feet sticking out of her mama’s shoes.

You could have heard a pin drop. Poor Mrs. Maples didn’t know about the party…oh no…no ice cream, no cake!

Mrs. Maples clutched at her throat saying repetitively…”Oh my…oh my.”

We could all feel the indecision as she looked down into Iva Mae’s pleading eyes. Then, suddenly, she started to laugh while tears flowed down her face. She went over and hugged Iva Mae. “You’re right…it’s party time.”

For the first time the whole class began looking around at all the shelves in both rooms of the house. Every shelf was jammed with home-canned produce from her garden. It actually was a beautiful sight of plenty…the different colored jars were catching the mid-afternoon’s sun rays and sparkling like they knew they should be decorative for the party.

Mrs. Maples grabbed four quarts of soup from one shelf and began to warm it up. She then told the girls to go pick fourteen pears from the garden and a bunch of zinnias to decorate the table.

Out in the garden one girl asked Iva Mae why her mother gave so much room to the zinnias when she could grow more produce if she made it smaller. Iva replied that her mother said: “Oh the zinnias are the food for our souls.”

The zinnias were beautiful…every color imaginable!

While snacking on soup and crackers…we soon forgot all about the ice cream and cake. Mrs. Maples arranged the 14 pears on a big platter and right in the middle placed a candle which she lit and we sang Happy Birthday to Iva Mae.

Everyone munched on his/her delicious pear… as Iva Mae opened all twelve presents: paper doll books, coloring books, hair ribbons, lotion, scarves, Old Maid cards, puzzles, yo yo’s and even a kaleidoscope. Iva Mae’s face was pink with delirious happiness.

And Mrs. Maples? She glowed also to see the happiness on her daughter’s face.

Before everyone left mother and daughter gathered zinnia seeds and gave them as a thank you gift…placing them in each child’s palm. Mrs. Maples said, ” Plant these next spring, and remember me when you see them bloom.”

The author concludes it has been 65 years since she was in that little first grade class with Iva Mae and she still remembers the courage of that poor mother surprised with twelve children… expecting a birthday party.

“I remember her good humor, her sweetness, her creativity, her courage in making do during a hard period in their lives. I remember her showing me that you don’t need ice cream and cake to have a great party, and that no gardener is ever too poor not to have something to share with others.”

“Perhaps most of all, I remember how I no longer felt that Iva Mae was the poorest girl in our first grade class.”

…………………………..

So until tomorrow…Let us end 2014 remembering the brave and kind individuals who helped us grow along our journey….and let us begin 2015 by stopping to look back and lend a hand to those behind us who need a boost at this point in their lives.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* The photo of these two canned tomato jars (title) came from gifts from Honey at Christmas. Getting ready to make some more vegetable soup.

Eva Cate got an easel for Christmas and she has the ‘art bug’ going around now… which makes her mom (art teacher) very happy…Mandy told me she painted three “Masterpieces” yesterday and shared one with us.

I can hardly wait to see you, blog readers, next year (tomorrow) and share together what the New Year brings….Thank you for your loyalty to the blog! I will share some information WordPress sent about the old and new blog stats. Quite interesting.

A Big Shout-Out to my oncologist, Dr. Silgals, who ordered me antibiotics to help me get rid of this never-ending bronchitis/larynigitis yesterday. I finally see hope where it was fading for me after three weeks of “muteness.”

Thanks Dr. Silgals for stepping up to plate for me on this medication. A homerun!

Happy New Year!

  Dear Reader:

I heard back from several of you yesterday remembering Christmases past and special people who have gone ahead but who still live within you…guiding you along your life’s journey. I will share one at the end of the blog. Thank you for commenting!

But before we do that…there was one other idea mentioned in yesterday’s story that I forgot to mention. It, however, started me thinking in a new direction.

In one passage of the book Theodora is trying to remember her favorite Christmas….at 93 the task isn’t easy.

She finally settles on a Christmas from the 20’s when she was around six. She describes how everyone would help wet long strands of rope, hanging it on the front porch. While it was drying the family would begin inserting all types of greenery …interweaving it in the rope…so that by the time the rope dried the garland was secured for the holidays.

Then they would all bake cookies and cook favorite recipes together…followed by each child decorating his/her own room in any Christmas fashion they wished for the holidays…always surprising the family with  “tea party” drop-in delivered with home-made invitations.

Theodora commented that the fun of the holidays was never in the presents, even as a child she realized that, but in the preparation for Christmas. Theodora lived for that glorious moment when everything else stopped and all the family came together to create Christmas memories ….the best present of all! Being together…sharing one goal.

Still…the children wanted to make their parents and grandparents a gift and they did…the same gift every year. And every year the family would make much “fuss” over the present being the best or the prettiest yet.

You see…back then…people read…a lot! It was not unusual for the average reader to have three or more books “going” at the same time. So the children worked on  homemade “bookmarks.”

Theodora and her brother Gordie would construct bookmarks for the family members who loved to read…which turned out to be everyone in their family. Their home’s library was well stocked with every kind of book imaginable…there was no censorship of reading materials. Simply to read took importance over what one read.

Theodora and Gordie would work together….drawing a bird or flower on a “skinny piece of tall, stiff paper.” They would then color their pictures carefully and finish off the gift… making a fringe using manicuring scissors. They would sign their name…always including the important date… like Christmas 1923.

While waiting for the Christmas tree to go up…Theodora and Gordie made homemade envelopes for their bookmarks and then hid them under their beds.

Parents and grandparents, alike, would act completely surprised at their new bookmarks… as if they had never even seen one before…each Christmas this or that bookmark was considered the best one yet!

The bookmarks only had to hold up a year until replaced with a new one….but, one day, Theodora happened across several years’ worth of bookmarks in her grandmother’s bed table drawer… after her death. They looked like they had all been handled many times, with affection, by her grandmother. The large envelope that held them all…read “Comfort and Joy.”

……………………………

   This Christmas gift of old…got me thinking about all the different bookmarks I have accumulated over the years. But for some reason the only one I seem to be able to hold onto is a miniature wooden cross given to one of my children when they were baptized….long ago.

If we look at our own life journeys as stories…haven’t we all experienced “bookmark” people in our lives who appear (seemingly out of nowhere) to help us through a rough passage in our lives and then disappear as quickly as they came?

Perhaps the “book marker” helps us close a chapter in our lives that has been dangling for too long. Or perhaps the “book marker” reminds us where we’ve ‘strayed too far from our story’ and helps us return to the central focus of our narrative.

I believe God sends our own personal “bookmarkers” to us to keep our story flowing in the right direction… all the while not losing our place in it.

So until tomorrow…Let us use these special “bookmark” people who come into our lives to keep us moving forward steadily…not losing time trying to figure out where we left off  our journey.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

  * Our “Darling from Dubai” (Ambika) could relate to yesterday’s story about the loved ones who have gone ahead…another God’s Wink.

Hi Becky!

This blog title actually happened with me today in the morning… Not in reality though, and not exactly a thought also… After a long time, I had a dream about my Grandmother who had passed away few years ago…And it’s like I’m walking up to her and asking her if she wants to have some tea with me… She replied yes with a really sweet heavenly smile… That’s all the dream was about.. Lol… I’m not sure whether I thought about her, she just suddenly appeared in my dream…
And what a coincidence… You too came up with a similar title.. Wow!

And by the way, congrats about the number goal that your blog has reached in just 1 month… Hopefully, you should achieve number 500 by the year end… Have a blessed New Year 2015…

Ambika

Dear Reader:

When people ask me how I come up with ideas to write a daily blog year ’round…I reply that it only takes one quote or saying that I hear on television, or in a conversation, or perhaps even  read in a book that stirs my imagination….and I am off and running.

This is what happened yesterday. As you know I am trying to “weather” out this viral bronchitis/laryngitis by not talking and doing a lot of reading.  So I decided to catch up on some of the books friends gave me at Christmas.

When Toni handed me the book (The Christmas Pearl) last week…she told me that she was sure I would enjoy it…it covered southern Christmases in Charleston from the 1920’s up to the present, including lots of old Charleston recipes, and best of all…it had powerful life lessons in it for all of us.

She was right.

Without being a “spoiler alert”… the title of the book is somewhat misleading…purposefully. When I saw the title I “assumed” it had something to do with a special piece of jewelry…perhaps passed down from generation to generation and the story would center around the different people who wore it. Wrong!

It does has to do with a “jewel”…. but that “jewel” falls into the human category. Nope…that isn’t even right…Pearl once was human but she has been dead for several decades as the story opens….returning as one of the most loveable “ghosts” you would ever want to meet.

Pearl had once been the Gullah housekeeper, confidante of all the matriarchs in the family, and mother to all the children growing up in the old ancestral home in downtown Charleston. She was the anchor for all the family’s trials and tribulations for many years leading up to her death.

Two generations later…the house and family are both falling apart…. Pearl is sent back down to earth to fix it for a special family Christmas gathering. All the funny and poignant antics that provide the “cure” for Christmas and this family’s problems keep the reader quite entertained.

Give yourself a couple of hours…and you will finish this reading easily…chuckling to yourself along the way. It is near the end of the story…that the life lesson that most touched me appeared.

After Pearl returns home to the hereafter- the main character (Theodora) sees Pearl’s face materalize one last time in a dream. When Theodora expresses how much she will miss Pearl…Pearl (with all her pearls of wisdom tidbits) proclaims:

“Don’t you understand Theodora?  “I’m always just a thought away…just a thought away.”

Isn’t that a powerful statement? I remember hearing someone once state that none of us are really gone or “dead” on earth until the last one who remembers us has departed. How true!

As long as we are still in at least one person’s thoughts we are still remembered and alive through them.

After hearing Pearl’s wise advice…Theodora drifted to sleep blissfully “thinking how wonderful it was that everyone I loved was only a thought away. I could live with that. I could live for it, too.”

So until tomorrow…Remind us to take time to remember the loved ones who have gone ahead…and who also have left behind a part of themselves in each of us.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* A Big Happy Birthday to my “Baby Boy”  Tommy Dingle…now Esquire. Tommy will always remember this birthday for being special because he starts his new job today. Brooks Styles, Attorney at Law (real estate) has hired Tommy to assist him with closings and other required criteria associated with the job. This is one happy mom!

* Yesterday we talked about everyday miracles… well, one could be forming for the blog before this roller coaster year ends.

Remember when we had to close Chapel of Hope Stories November 19 (Gettysburg Address Day) and save almost four years of stories in a private folder?….On that fateful day I had been at almost 300,000 views and at 499 (so close to 500) subscribers which I thought solved the mystery of…my license plate: Was the blog the avenue for “aiding” or helping 500 (people)? So close but yet so far.

 But now since starting over on November 25…just a little over a month ago…I am once again closing in on 500….491. Will 2014’s blog end on a happy note with the 500 becoming reality? We have three days to see if I can pick up nine more subscribers. Stay tuned.

* And talking about being close….Look now at “Middle Amaryllis” …. It has two pink blooms that are just about to pop open….since they didn’t make it for Christmas… I sure hope they will bring in the New Year with all their pink heavenly beauty! We will see!

This first picture was taken around 8:00 Sunday evening….

 The picture below was taken around 9:00 this (Mon) morning…looks like the buds are pulling away to give them room to bloom…and there are two more smaller buds on top…four blooms in all eventually…this is getting so exciting!

  Dear Reader:

When I received this “Bubble Light” for Christmas,  a week ago, I was thrilled….Christmas memories from the past came rushing back!

Growing up… my siblings and I always had three of these original “bubble lights” on our tree…one for each of us. (They first arrived on the scene in the fifties-remaining  popular until the seventies when miniature “fairy” lights removed them from the commercial scene.)

I remember at night mother would get my two brothers and I ready for bed by baiting us  “If you hurry and take your baths and get ready for bed…you can watch the “bubble lights” for fifteen minutes before going to bed. That’s all it took…

It worked beautifully. We each had our own”bubble light” that we ran to under the Christmas Tree…lying on our bathrobes we simply stared at the water “bubble” over and over in the clear, liquid-filled vial, as the red and green base reflected off the tree. (Of course each of us thought our “bubble light” was the best…with the fastest water bubbles…mine really was the fastest!)

Isn’t it strange how one simple ornament from Christmases past can bring back so many family memories, long forgotten?

As  an ‘ole history teacher’ that is how I always viewed history. I felt it was my job to tell stories so memorable….that a quote or artifact or picture would bring the time period and event rushing back to them like my old “water bubble” Christmas Tree ornament.

  My brother was reading this book over the holidays concerning the Founding Fathers’ shared sense of awareness that they were not alone in setting the principles of democracy and freedom in a country where the people were the government. God was leading them in this endeavor.

Not every elected representative shared the same name for God..but they all knew Something/Somebody, bigger than them, was with them.

Jefferson, who called himself a Deist, believed in a “Supreme Being” and Franklin and Washington referred to God as “Providence.” But no matter the title…the elected representatives to the Declaration of Independence and later Constitution believed that God was leading them.

And the other central core idea among both assemblies: The belief that everything that came to pass (winning the war against one of the greatest military powers at the time and then proclaiming a government for and by the people) was nothing short of a miracle. This was a widely accepted belief among the representatives.

Ben showed me three examples from the book (quotes from representative sharing their personal views in God’s role in creating this country we call home) which I will share with you.

Benjamin Franklin: “I have so much faith in the general government of the world by Providence that I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance (as the framing of the Constitution)…should be suffered to pass without being some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler in whom all inferior spirits live and move and having their being.”

George Washington: “The adoption of the Constitution will demonstrate as visibly the finger of Providence as any possible event in the course of human affairs can ever designate it.”

Benjamin Rush: (Physician and representative from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

“Doctor Rush then proceeded to consider the origin of the proposed Constitution, and fairly deduced it was from heaven, asserting that he as much believed the hand of God was employed in this work as that God had divided the Red Sea to give a passage to the children of Israel, or had fulminated the “Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai.”

…………………………….

We have talked many times in this blog about the everyday miracles taking place around us constantly. But to be aware of these miracles we have to stop and leave the framework of our busyness, our ordinary lives to see all the extraordinary things happening right under our noses.

There are certain times, in our lives, benchmark moments, however, that are so miraculous that the “one from many”  and “many from one” sense individually and collectively that they have witnessed a miracle from their Creator. The Declaration and Constitution are examples of this that we can appreciate today as much as they did over two hundred years ago.

So until tomorrow…Let us keep our eyes open to past, present, and future possibilities of miracles as individuals and as collective bodies of possibilitarians seeking miracles in our midst. They are there.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

  Dear Reader:

After, admittedly, a few tears and a little  disappointment that my voice didn’t return in time to tell the annual Christmas story…I dug down deep to get my priorities and attitude straight….(through a special piece of advice that my Ya friend, Libby, told me after the shock of re-starting the blog.)

I have had some people who didn’t make the service (due to the weather or illness) ask me to share what was on the cards I gave to Dorothy (Associate Pastor) to read and hold up. Here they are:

1) I THINK A SMILE IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT

2) …BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE TO TALK TO GIVE IT!  (I was smiling my biggest smile)

3) I CAN’T TALK!  ( Sad expression)

4) IT IS VIRAL LARYNGITIS (WHICH MEANS YOU DON’T GET ANY OF THE “GOOD STUFF” TO KNOCK IT OUT!)  (I gave a disgusted shake of my head)

5) “LIFE IS ALL ABOUT HOW WE HANDLE “PLAN B”

6) WELL, GUESS WHAT?  (I was getting all excited)

7) “I’VE GOT THE BESTEST PLAN B AROUND”  (Holding two thumbs up)

8) CARRIE SIMPSON WILL TELL THE STORY TONIGHT…( We all started clapping)

9) *** AND AS FOR ME…

10) *** (Libby, remember your advice) “I REFUSE TO LET ANYONE OR ANYTHING STEAL MY JOY FROM ME!”  (Hands crossed over my chest)

11)*** EVEN THIS FROG STUCK IN MY THROAT! ( I made a few ribbit motions.)

Then I joyfully introduced my wonderful niece Carrie Simpson! And it was pure joy to watch her sweet face and enthusiastic expressions throughout the readings.

………………………..

E Pluribus Unum (found on the United States Great Seal) is a Latin phrase that we, Americans, translate into meaning “One out of many” or “One from many.” 

Since we are the ‘land of immigrants’ this phrase is felt to have special meaning for a novel concept emphasizing the importance of diversity over only one tolerated acceptance of a people or ideas. Or as Malcolm Forbes once quoted:

“Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.”

I started thinking about the importance of diversity while recognizing and accepting individual differences yesterday afternoon. What prompted this train of thought was the movie Ben and I went to see- The Imitation Game– Based on the true story of the life of Alan Turin, the  brilliant English mathematician, who created the first footwork for the modern day computer, and in doing so broke the Secret Nazi Enigma Code …which saved millions of lives and sped up the conclusion of World War II.

Alan Turin, played incredibly by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes/ actor on BBS…really cute) is an enigma in himself….Bullied unmercifully as a child at boarding school, a mathematical genius with few social graces… he is clueless to reading “people”…only machines. He spends much of his life feeling friend-less and alone. He is also gay in a time when England considers it a criminal offense and subject to prosecution and job loss.

Yet it is this complicated, brilliant, vulnerable individual who changes history and saves millions of lives. The personal price for him is high, however, when given (court order) harmone treatments to make him “right” again when the legal system learns of his “condition.” * Bring kleenex.

Just another example of man’s inhumanity to man. People who are considered “different,” in any facet of the definition, still have a tough “go” of it today. But, think about it,  if John Turin had not been different, with all the complexities of his genius and abandoned upbringing, we might be speaking German right now. A hero among heroes. Remember “God don’t make no mistakes.” He has a purpose for each one of His children.

Speaking of God…our God is the God of diversity. We only have to re-read the creation story to see that His own plan, His design, for the world was based on diversity and providing global bio-domes, different environments, throughout the world for thousands of different species to live.

God just didn’t want zebras wandering around and nothing else…just like He doesn’t want all of us humans the same skin color, gender, or sharing the same interest and talent, height, weight, etc.

Here is a short excerpt from an article I found and liked on God and diversity.

God Fitted Habitats for Biodiversity

James J.S. Johnson, J. D., Th. D.

God chose to fill the earth with different kinds of life. All over the world, we see His providence demonstrated in ecological systems. Different creatures live in a variety of habitats, interacting with one another and a mix of geophysical factors—like rain, rocks, soil, wind, and sunlight. But why does this happen? And how does it happen? These two questions are at the heart of ecology science—the empirical study of creatures interactively living in diverse “homes” all over the world.

Why did God design earth’s biodiversity the way that He did?

Two words summarize the answer: life and variety.

God loves life. God is the essence and ultimate origin of all forms and levels of life.

God loves variety. God’s nature is plural, yet one, and He is the Creator of all biological diversity anywhere and everywhere on earth.

……….

I started out with the inscription on the Great Seal of the United States- E Pluribus Unum- and our translation of it…”One out of many.”

However the original Latin meaning is slightly different…but importantly “different.” It reads: “Out of many, one.”

I think God’s idea of diversity is the original Latin one…Though mankind is many…God looks upon us each as unique individuals, we are all “one” to Him because like any good parent…He recognizes the strengths and weaknesses in all His children’s diversity yet loves us, unconditionally, for simply who we are…He is accepting of us being “different” because He doesn’t see us as such.

So until tomorrow….Let us help others with differences that make them the societal victims of bullies… by showing them the possibilities to change others with their gift of uniqueness and “different” from God.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* My favorite quote from the movie:

“Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of… who do the things that no one can imagine.”

Dear Reader:

It is over. Christmas has come and gone. I removed the dried, brown “greenery” from the magic moon gate…it was time to let it go. Nothing is sadder than watching greenery wither and die.

Late yesterday afternoon I took a few minutes to reflect on all the hustle and bustle of the day and smiled…a rather tired smile. Two days and nights of craziness…food, family, and more food.

I went and plopped on one of my garden benches holding my ‘reading angel.’ The sun…oh the glorious sun…it felt so good beating down on my face. I have missed it so much! The most lovely thing about a garden is the sanctuary it provides a weary body and soul…a sense of renewal.

As I stared down once again at the reading angel….I realized that reading was what I wanted to do for the next few days. Read, watch television, and read some more. Just like Reading Angel Rutledge loves to do.

(Walsh sent us some Christmas morning pictures from Virginia! Rutledge loves his books.)

 (Rutledge and his cousin Madeline were looking for Santa…obviously they found him from all the presents under the tree.!) Rutledge at the air museum.

My body has been calling out for me to stop and rest for the past few days and I plan to do just that…reading doesn’t require talking…but, boy, I sure miss talking.

Memories of Christmas Day are already beginning to blur as my eyelids grow heavier in the warm sun on this quiet Christmas Day afternoon.

How did it all begin…oh yes…First…my brother Ben and I loaded up the car with presents around 8:30 and went to Mt. Pleasant to see what Eva Cate and Jake had gotten for Christmas, enjoy a delicious brunch, and exchange more family presents.

Then we hurried home, I put my broccoli casserole in the oven to cook and hurried over to Doodle’s for the annual Dingle Christmas luncheon…Doodle is the the cook of all cooks…with a little (very little) help from her friends/family and the outcome is more spectacular every year.

By four o’clock I was home….and then the garden called out to me. I wanted to stay in the sun as long as possible. (Plus I had three wonderful reasons to go to the garden.) John and Mandy gave me three stepping stones with the grandchildren’s names on them to place before each Japanese maple tree… planted for them a few weeks ago.

Aren’t they neat?

There is nothing like a garden sanctuary to clear the cobwebs of too much ….”too much”…in life. The birds, squirrels and pets all seemed to be enjoying the sun again as much as me….with chirping, barking, and scampering….nature just seemed to perk up again.

How peaceful…to listen to God’s World on a quiet Christmas Day. A time to remember to thank God for life, memories, holidays, and family gatherings.

I came across a fun Christmas Garden poem and wanted to share it with you today.

A Gardener’s Version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas”

 Twas the night before Christmas and all through the yard the branches were bare and the ground frozen hard; The roses were dormant and mulched all around to protect them from damage if frost heaves the ground.

 The perennials were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of 5-10-5 danced in their heads. The new-planted shrubs, had been soaked by the hose to settle their roots for the long winter’s doze.

 And out on the lawn, the new fallen snow protected the roots of the grasses below. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a truck full of gifts of gardening gear.

Saint Nick was the driver – the jolly old elf and he winked as he said, “I’m a gardener myself. I’ve brought wilt-pruf, rootone, and gibberellin, too. Please try them and see what they do.

To start new plants, a propagating kit. Sparkling new shears, for the old apple tree. To seed your new lawn, I’ve a patented sower; in case it should grow, here’s a new power mower.

 For seed-planting days, I’ve a trowel and a dibble, and a roll of wire mesh if the rabbits should nibble. For the feminine gardener, some gadgets she loves; plant stakes, a sprinkler, and waterproof gloves.

 A chemical agent for the compost pit, and for pH detecting, a soil testing kit. With these colorful flagstones, lay a new garden path, for the kids to enjoy, and bird feeder and bath.

And last but not least, some well-rotted manure. A green Christmas year round, these gifts will ensure.” Then jolly Saint Nick, having emptied his load, started his truck and took to the road.

And I heard him exclaim through the motor’s loud hum “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a green thumb!”

( Author/ horticulturist –  Richard Jauron – Iowa State Horticulturist Extension)

So until tomorrow…. Remember to be kind to yourself and make time to play and rest…you deserve it! Find your special place and retreat to it. 

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

“The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives.” (Gertrude Jekyll)

Dear Reader:  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

If you are curious as to what happened last night with the Christmas Eve story… Well….it is quite a story. Do you remember the scene in the Christmas movie, Love Actually, where the young man, smitten with his best friend’s new bride, shows up with cards to tell her how he feels?

My throat just couldn’t “croak” out the introduction for Carrie Simpson, my adorable niece who told the story last night….so I held up cards to explain the situation and then turned the rest of the story over to Carrie…..

Dorothy, our Associate Pastor, read the cards which explained what happened with as much humor thrown in as possible while I made the appropriate faces.

Does anyone happen to notice Miss Eva Cate ( my four year old granddaughter in the skit?) Apparently when I put her down (off my lap) to go up for the presentation…she followed me and picked up the last long card I had made wishing everyone a Merry Christmas…the skit ended up with one frog voice, Dorothy’s beautiful voice…and Eva Cate’s little childish one… wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

For the first time in over twenty-something years I was sitting in the congregation listening to a story I wrote that Carrie told more beautifully than words can express. She is a natural and made me so proud!

“Plan B’ afforded me the opportunity to view the Christmas Eve Service from a different perspective and different perspectives always allow us to grow in understanding.

Carrie…I can not thank you enough for pitching in at the 11th hour. What a jewel of a storyteller shone last night! All diamonds!

My hope is one day, somewhere, a child will sit on a parent or grandparent’s lap on Christmas Eve and listen to the story. If that ever happens…I will feel such a sense of fulfillment…my gift to others.

My gift today is a copy of the story for you to (hopefully) enjoy and re-tell again…surrounded by lots of palmetto rose crosses.

Before we start the story, however,….let me tell you how the idea was born that developed into the story….in other words…’the story behind the story.’

About a year ago I had gone to Fran Townsend’s home to purchase some palmetto roses for a bouquet I was working on. Palmetto roses are made by the sea grass weavers who also make the more famous sea baskets. Twice a year Fran invites the ladies to set up on her property and sell their wares.

As I was going through one pile of individual roses…suddenly one looked different…the rose looked like it was on a cross. As I stared at it…one of the basket weavers casually commented: “That is a palmetto rose cross.”

“I love it….do you have more and could you tell me why the rose is on a cross? I asked.

The woman shook her head… but then called to another weaver…a family niece… and asked her to tell me what she knew.

She motioned me over and said quietly that her grandmother was named Rose and she always wore rose talcum powder because she said… that was the smell of Jesus.

She thought a minute and then said that all she knew about the crosses was what her grandmother had once muttered….“That rose was there when ‘dat poor baby Jesus was born and it was there for Him (on the cross) the day He died.”

My imagination had been captured…suddenly I could picture a rose growing in a stable and another rose around Christ’s head on the cross and the scent of Christ being that of a rose…I wanted more of the story.

But there was no more. That was all the niece knew and none of the other weavers had anything to add….

So I had a beginning and an ending…but no ‘middle’ to this story. If it was to be told…I would need to write it.

“The Legend of the Palmetto Rose Cross”

Becky Dingle

2014

On the night that Christ, the Son of God, was born in the manger in Bethlehem something MAGICAL happened! Amidst the excitement of the Divine Birth…another miracle was taking place…that almost went undiscovered…a gift from a proud Father to His Son. 

The Christmas Star was shining its bright light that Holy Night and one special beam found itself into a dark corner of the manger. Before morning a tiny green shoot could be seen breaking through the hay. Before day’s end the stem had grown and a tiny rose bud was emerging. 

By the time Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus were ready to depart…the rose was shining in all its beauty…but still unnoticed in the dingy corner of the manger. 

It was Mary, giving one last glance around, who spotted the beautiful rose. Delighted she had Joseph pull the plant to take with them. The aroma from the rose was so intoxicating that Baby Jesus kept grabbing it and pulling the rose to him on the long journey home. (Back then roses did not have thorns so Mary didn’t have to worry about the infant pricking Himself with it.)

As Jesus grew…the rose bush grew too and then one year it began to multiply…so that by the time of His ministry rose bushes had begun springing up miraculously wherever He walked…filling the air with the most wonderful fragrance.

Three years later…on that terrible day when Jesus was crucified, the skies, once again grew dark. From this darkness one beautiful bright star could be seen shining its light down on Christ upon the cross. Suddenly a green sprout and then a stem emerged from the dirt below the cross. A rose appeared and began climbing , as fast as it could, upward to Jesus. 

When the rose reached the place where Christ’s face fell on His chest, drawn in pain, it wrapped itself around Him and then settled in among the crown of thorns that had had been placed on His head. The rose wanted to buffer the pain from the thorns placed there in ridicule. The rose wanted to comfort Jesus in His greatest need.

Legend says that Jesus suddenly felt the soft cushion of the rose around His head and then smelled the familiar fragrance from His childhood. He immediately understood. It was a gift from His Father awaiting Him in Heaven. It had been sent on the Day of his birth  and now would be present on the day of His death. 

The legend concludes that this is the reason roses, today, have thorns attached…dating back to that fateful day of the crucifixion. If anyone is ever pricked by a rose thorn …it is a reminder of Christ’s blood shed for us.

Palmetto rose crosses continue to be hand-woven in many lowcountry areas of South Carolina. They are a symbol of the gift God gave His Son in a time of light and a time of darkness…in a time of rejoicing and a time of sorrow. 

Woven together, using only special grass from the marshes, the rose cross reminds us today of the time Jesus spent by the Sea of Galilee…and how His birth, life, and death…changed history. 

………………………………………….

I hope you enjoyed your gift….Merry Christmas One and All!

So until tomorrow….Thank you Father for your greatest gift to us today…Your Son and, also for us “be-sogged” lowcountry residents, Your Sun!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

****

Dear Readers:

There is another special Christmas mystery happening on a daily basis and I have no clue who the “elf” or “elves” are behind it. Monday night, after calling Carrie, to give her a ‘heads-up’ that I was definitely going to need some help with the Christmas Eve story….I was a little down.

I was relieved at Carrie’s generosity and also saddened that this was the first Christmas Eve I would not be able to tell the Christmas Eve story in over two decades.

I had been so sure the laryngitis would clear up enough for me to tell the story or at least verbally introduce it and tell the ‘story behind the story’ before turning it over to Carrie!

I went to check on any emails that might need answering…and the page was filled with the names of Summerville residents, some I recognized, some I didn’t…wanting to ‘Be Friends” with me on Facebook.

I spent almost an hour responding to them….”What is going on?” I thought puzzled. But it sure did put a smile on my face and arrived at the perfect time.

Since then….I have received daily… more “I Want To Be Friends” requests. Something is going on….there is an elf out there somewhere organizing this “movement” I am sure….but Who and Why?

If anybody knows anything about my “miracle” at Christmas…the storyteller in me sure would love to know the story behind this wonderful Christmas present.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Merry Christmas! 

* This cough and laryngitis has really tired me out….I have a few pictures of Tommy and Kaitlyn and the Turners….but I kept forgetting where I put my camera….it was a small group, relaxed, and wonderful. A perfect way to end Christmas Eve.

I was thrilled that Kaitlyn spent Christmas Eve with us before heading to Tennessee…it made the evening complete and the gift she and Tommy gave me was so unique and thoughtful. I am pointing to it in the last picture.

Kaitlyn has a jeweler friend who does all kinds of creative things with jewelry. She engraved the co-ordinates to St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope on a copper bracelet with the message:

Now I will always know how to get there…

We sure missed Walsh, Mollie, and Rutledge this Christmas but I know they are having a ball! Rutledge even sent greetings yesterday!

  Dear Reader:

Happy Christmas Eve!

For our “Holiday Monster” Sharing…I had to start with Anne’s (Peterson) monster since that gal put a lot of time and thought into her monster mask.

From the very beginning Anne had said that perhaps she would just take a “selfie” of herself in the mirror…because as much as she would like to be able to blame lots of other “monsters” for the hectic stress around Christmas…it really boiled down to her and how she handled it….she was the monster. Like Pogo once quoted: “I have met the enemy and it is me.”

Anne’s observation is symbolic of all of our same acknowledgements (if we are really frank with ourselves)…we don’t have to succumb to society’s expectations of Christmas….we are only responsible to God…not man.

  However, as we see in the commercial signs on Anne’s Christmas Tree Mask…we humans are ” hit hard” and “lured” into overspending by  stores trying to make a big profit at Christmas. I will pick a few off the “tree.”

“Make Laundry Bright and Merry“- REALLY??? Who cares if it is merry or not.

” Unwrap the Savings”– If we bought it….the only thing we are unwrapping is the amount of money that the gift cost…not the savings

“Festive Essentials Make All the Difference“- Do you know what constitutes “festive essentials”…..I sure don’t but I have a sneaky feeling the store salesmen could tell us.

“Tuck a Magazine into that Stocking”- Personally I don’t think so…unless it is People….right Jackson?

And speaking of Jackson…I loved the two pictures she sent (the “monster” turkey and then her nativities)….followed by the explanation….priceless!

Dear Boo,
My Holiday Monster is the 19 pound turkey I bought when there were 8 people coming for Christmas Day. I’m now cooking for myself and two others!!!! I’m thinking of how many ways you can use leftover Turkey.
Then I walk by my collection of nativity scenes, and the monster disappears. Love – Jackson

You might remember as examples….the first two people responding to the “Monster Holiday” Share-Along….were Linda Carson and Brooke Parker.

1) Linda’s “Monster” was the one bad bulb (like the bad apple in the crate) that ruins it for everyone….meaning all the lights go off the Christmas  tree while the “hunt” begins for the “bad” light bulb. It truly must make one of the top ten biggest annoyances in Christmas decorating, don’t you think?

 All’s well that ends well…

2) Brooke’s Holiday Monster was TOO MUCH STUFF. But like Jackson’s change of attitude….she came up with an idea of how to take a monster from herself and give it to someone else who could acutally use the “stuff”…..

Too much Stuff. As I pull out decorations, boxes, etc. I realize that I don’t use half of it any more. This is my holiday monster but it will soon be gone!! This is the year, yes I am sure of it.
Then I will feel great JOY because I will give most of it to a friend who can use what she can and sell the rest for much needed money.

Since we had been discussing Comfort and Joy (along with “Holiday Monsters” in the same blog)….Brooke also added a picture of a Storybook Angel I gave her several years ago….that has provided comfort and joy for her. Thank you Brooke…it is always so nice to know when a gift means something special to someone you love.

Hey Boo,
This was a gift from you several years ago.. My “Have Faith” Angel. I keep it leaning against my bathroom mirror and find great comfort in reading it each day!!!

Gin-g decided to share with me a picture of a beautiful white camellia from a bush Jack and Anne Mirick gave her a couple of years ago. She was just about to give up on it ever budding… when this bloom of “comfort” and “joy” arrived a few days ago. Isn’t it gorgeous?

* Gin-g texted me last night and said she knew what her “holiday monster” looks like: “It would be a question mark in the mode of a clock because of how much time I have wasted (my whole life) worrying about the “what if’s.”) 

Gin-g went on to say that she has been a worrier since childhood yet she has been raised in the church and feels like she has a strong faith… so why the “what if’s?”

Her favorite scripture deals with the “His eye is on the sparrow” passage…she knows where to lay her trust…like all of us…it is giving up our personal “power” and entrusting important life decisions in another’s Hands that is so difficult for all us mere mortals….Gin-g….we all share this monster with you at different times in our lives. ?????????????????? Tick Tock!

  My “holiday monster” is going to have to start paying rent if he doesn’t find someone else’s throat to lodge in. My battle continues…but I won’t let him “take my joy away“…right Libby? I have a Plan B in place and wasn’t that our quote last week: “Life is all about how we handle Plan B?”

Monday while I was nursing my throat with soups and hot drinks…I had two good friends drop by.

  Tim Hyatt, my wonderful yard man, brought me logs for the fire over Christmas….what a wonderful gift. Tim has a twin brother, Tommy, who he is spending Christmas with….Have fun boys!

  Then Toni Cappelletti, whom I haven’t seen in awhile… since she moved neighborhoods… showed up with all these goodies in the picture. So as soon as I put this blog “to bed” I am building a fire, making some tea, toasting a slice of Panettone and reading Dorothea Benton Frank’s Christmas book…The Christmas Pearl. Oh happy night!

 Among all the delightful “goodies” Toni gave me…she told me to look in the bottom of the bag for this St. Anthony bookmark…the miracle worker for those in trouble or anxious….I told Toni I would ask St. Anthony what to do Christmas Eve….my Plan B.

I will leave all my “holiday monsters” to God and concentrate on the small “comforts and joys” that each day brings.

* Thanks to all of you who participated this year in our “Holiday Monster” Share Along. It appears that the common thread among all our monster “busters” is that we, now, recognize them for who they really are….deterrents to the real meaning of Christmas…and instead we have turned to “Comfort” and “Joy” for our happiness in Christ’s birth.

So until tomorrow…Let’s make time for our friends/family’and strangers this holiday season …a smile is the best present of all….requires no talking.(fortunately for me)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Yesterday my angel of healing, Honey Burrell, showed up to give me a “Summerville Angel” Christmas ornament to put on the tree….

(These special ornaments are found at Four Green Fields Gallery & Gift Shop on historic Short Central….across from “Simple to Sublime”) if you still need a last minute gift. I love mine!

But that wasn’t all… then my “angel of healing” left to pick me up some more medicine since my voice was still squeaking….Honey told me Tarshie had the same type of bronchitis/laryngitis and was told to take day and night time Theraflu and she could already tell a big difference.

I have had just one cup of the day time Theraflu (at this noon day writing) and I can already tell some difference. Thank you my angel of mercy…Honey Burrell!

* Oh my goodness…Jan Hilton just showed up bringing her famous Christmas Banana Bread…the best in South Carolina!

I was so happy to see her because she has what I have and we happily  “croaked” together….she’s been at it for about two weeks also. Misery does love company. She also left some dolphin chimes for the garden which I put on Rutledge’s tree since Eva Cate has Honey’s Santa clay chimes on hers…..loving listening to all these chimes in the garden.

Stay tuned in tomorrow to see how the “Plan B” Christmas story evolved….if nothing else, it should be interesting! A Christmas Mystery….silence or speech?

*** Hot off the Press! My youngest grandson, Jakie, (born on my birthday) is three months old today…on Christmas Eve! He is so excited… it sent his eyes spinning. Love you Jakie!

Dear Reader:

In one of my garden books…it divides the chapters into seasons….describing different plants and flowers that do well in different seasons in a garden. For Christmas, however, the subtitle is “Light Up your Garden With Lanterns.” The author, Emilie Barnes (Garden Moments Getaways) suggests that for the Christmas season -as the garden sleeps peacefully- that:

Lanterns should be on everyone’s short list of gotta-have decorations. Even though they are a small item, they pack a wallop of a punch to help illuminate your garden/yard at night.

For you ” seasoned” readers…you already know that I adore lanterns of every kind and make….inside the home and out. Here are some of my lanterns/candles and all kinds of fixtures (including railroad ones… Evans) that I adore. (Was hoping to provide the garden lanterns but we haven’t had enough sunshine, lately, to provide solar light out back.)

We should be full of  light at Christmas…because it was God who brought first light into the world through the original Creation and then, later, with the Creation of His Son…Jesus Christ.

It was God who provided the Christmas Star that first attracted the attention of The Three Wise Men. Later when they were lost and  asking for directions…it reappeared in the sky and this time it became the star that served as a beacon… guiding them to the new home of the Christ Child.

The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

In other words…a proud Father deliberately used light to lead them to His Son so they could pay homage to Him.

Scripture also uses the term “light” to define God’s presence… as in the announcement to the shepherds of His Son’s Divine Birth.

Luke 2:9 says when the angels appeared to the shepherds the glory of the Lord shone around them. The “glory of the Lord” appears many times in the Old Testament as a moving, lighted cloud that manifests the Presence of God. We know that the Lord was displaying His Presence this way around the time of the birth of Jesus.

Like moths…man, too, is drawn to light to escape the bleakness of darkness. God provides that light in everything He does.

So until tomorrow….Let us rejoice that “The Light of the World” came into our world to dispel the darkness from our mortal existence and invite us to enter His Kingdom of Light forever.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

  * Happy Birthday Walsh…my special “Kringle Dingle”…what a wonderful Christmas present you were- bringing you home Christmas Day, 1977….You (the gift) who keeps on giving…I love you!

Mollie just sent these pictures today on Walsh’s birthday….Father/Son “crashing” on the airplane (not the airplane crashing, of course) Walsh and Rutledge are certainly the “light” in each other’s eyes (when they are open). Walsh and Mollie….looking dressed up and ready to go somewhere for the birthday boy!

Catherine (Aunt Pap) also celebrates her birthday on the 23rd…I remember  the night Walsh was born….we had the family over for dinner and I started going into labor….everyone was calling out….”The baby is going to be born on Pap’s birthday” and he was…a double celebration!

* Have we got your “Holiday Monster”???

Dear Reader:

This beloved children’s Christmas quote, by famous educator and author, Mary Ellen Chase, first appeared in a Christmas letter she wrote to the younger members of her extended family.

My dear,

Christmas is not about the 25th of December. We don’t celebrate a date.

We celebrate the coming together of family. The goodwill upon neighbours. And the letting of bygones be bygones.

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.

One which puts a permanent smile on your face… and on your heart.

…………………………………

This past week I have had to work on my “state of mind” pre-Christmas condition. It has been a challenge.

I am going to cheat and share my “Holiday Monster” with you today to leave room for the sharing of all of yours coming… I hope. And also because it explains my different “state of mind” this Christmas.

Yes, this seemingly innocuous little frog, a.ka. “Holiday Monster” has brought me “silent night” and day. Don’t let the picture fool you…this devious little frog has taken up temporary residence in my vocal chords so that every time I open my mouth…only a “croak” emerges.

I mentioned in last Monday’s blog that the Mt. Pleasant Christmas parade on a cold, damp night, did me under. Prior to last Sunday I had been battling a nagging cough…annoying but not daily routine-altering.

Until, upon leaving Tommy’s and Kaitlyn’s drop-in party…my voice was gone. Over the past week it has fluctuated from no voice to raspy to croaky. After finally breaking down and going to get it checked out…I was met with more frustration. I had  viral bronchitis that has settled in my vocal chords….no fever, all vitals looked fine…it is just the kind of “condition” one has to “weather” through to get to the other side.

I was told “Don’t talk…rest your vocal chords,” drink hot teas (see cover picture) and soups, get plenty of rest, stay inside as much as possible…especially on damp days….and you will soon have your voice back. “Soon” is Christmas Eve for me so I won’t have to croak out my Christmas story. I know I will get there…but if you have a moment…’throw me a bone’ in a form of a prayer…I think we need God’s “Big Guns” on this one.

This un-anticipated frog/monster has brought about  last minute (everything) stoppages…forcing me to remain inside, listen to Christmas music, and stay warm with hot “toadies.”

 I have been compelled to “Let it Go” this Christmas and it has actually given me time to pause and stop the “Santa Claus“… the endless buying.

The only flip side to the “Frog Monster’s” visit is a sense of isolationism.

I only have myself to talk to (mentally) and to be quite honest, I am getting pretty bored with myself right now. Me, myself, and I are ready to go play….get out there in the hustle and bustle and wish friends and stranger alike a “Merry Christmas.” (Not a raspy “May-We Chris-Muff.”)

Originally my “Holiday Monster” was going to be a cut-out of Medusa (remember the goddess with that strange hair-do of snakes?) and on each “snake” there would be an example of the things that we allow to slither in and play the role of “Doubting Thomas” during the holidays.

Then my second thought was to cut out a profile picture of me and attach it to this clock with wings…naming all my “Holiday” monsters on each point of the crown.

Instead I got “Mr. Toad” as my unexpected Christmas guest.

  I propped him on my “worry” stone, said a prayer to God to help me find my “voice” again, and I have no doubt the story will go on. After all… this year…I am telling “His” story and I want my voice to match my happy “state of mind.”

So until tomorrow…Father, teach me patience and focusing on the things that are important, as my voice grows stronger for you each day.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* “Old Man Winter” arrived yesterday (December 21) and it sure felt like it…chilly and damp.

As I was walking by my “Happy Room” yesterday…I caught a glimpse of a wonderful photo opportunity. By peeking through the shutters…I caught a glimpse of the outdoor wreath and the completely bare (now) Bradford Pear. A beautiful combination to welcome winter in…a time to pause, reflect, and heal.

And now my hope is….that the “Middle Amaryllis” will bloom Christmas Eve…just like my voice!

If you can think of a “holiday monster” past, present, or future…please share it with us. Sharing our “monsters” build community by the comforting thought that we never outgrow the “monsters” under the bed. (To this day I refuse to dangle my hand down towards the floor)

Happy Birthday Mother. I love and miss you!

Safe travels for Walsh, Mollie, and Rutledge as they fly out today to spend Christmas with Mollie’s family. We love you!