Interior Decorator…
Many years ago, when I was much younger and starting out with a home of my own, my husband and I were invited to dinner by a co-worker of his. As we pulled up to a very large and stately home, I couldn’t help but be impressed. We were invited into the entry as his wife descended the stairs. I thought I was in a scene from Gone With the Wind. When I complimented her on her beautiful home she replied “Nothing $50,000.00 and a good interior decorator couldn’t fix.” I have never forgotten it…
We seem never to be satisfied…
I was recently on beautiful St. Simons Island and, of all things, was touring a cemetery. It was a beautiful setting and I was clicking away with my camera. All the tress were draped in moss. This tree struck me – moss hung like tinsel from it’s branches, looking like someone had purposely hung each strand…
I think God is a much better decorator than all of us combined – and I think the decorating He would most like to do is interior… Us on in the inside: a few tweaks to our ego here, a heart filled with wonder and gratitude there, a soul painted with His wisdom…
Whoever started shabby chic had it right… It’s not about what you don’t have, it’s about what you have to work with and making it beautiful for the only One who matters…
The Anniversary…
31 Years is a long time, a short time. Sweet are the memories – young years spent planning, child rearing years spent smiling, remaining years spent hand in hand…
Last year the longest married couple in America celebrated their 81st anniversary – they eloped in 1932! On that anniversary they were 102 and 98 – that is a long marriage, but hand in hand they are still smiling and it seems short…
A sweet couple we love married this year, full of plans and love and looking forward to life. A short time, yet a long time in coming if you ask them…
Photographs have captured the last few generations… Makes me sound old, but my earliest poses were in black and white. With my children it seemed like forever to wait a week to get our ‘snapshots’ back, all the while hoping they were in focus. Now we take instant pictures on our phone and share them in the same instant…
Couples blessed to spend a lifetime together will gladly share their secrets…laughter, respect, forgive quickly, most of all having Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior…
Most men would agree ‘Yes, dear’ is always the best answer, and most women would agree ‘You’re so smart’ works really well… Yet all who are blessed with a lifetime definitely agree, it’s not long enough…
Wooly Worms…
Have you heard? In a little town in North Carolina there’s a round of races about to happen. It isn’t runners, it isn’t cyclists, it isn’t cars…It’s Wooly Worms! Back in the 1940s a scientist exploring the area started studying these furry guys. He noticed over the seasons that sometimes they had more orangey brown fur in the middle and other times less. He began to correlate the amount of brown fur in the middle to how mild or severe the coming winter would be. The more brown, the milder, the less brown the more severe…
In the 1970s the townsfolk decided to take the scientific research a bit further as sometimes there were worms with both a lot and a little brown fur in a given season. So they developed the Wooly Worm races. The worm who wins the final race predicts the coming winter.
Here’s how it works – find your worm (or buy one if you must), give him a great racing name, enter the next race. When your race time arrives proceed to the stage where the race track of vertical lines of string line the billboard at the back of the stage. When the bell sounds place your worm at the beginning of the string and do whatever you think will spur your worm on to victory. (I blew warm air on mine and told him I had lots of juicy leaves – hey, it worked!)
It’s a blast…Try it, you’ll be hooked (oops don’t say that word in front of your worm…)
Pick Me, Pick Me…
I volunteered to work once a week at the ‘pumpkin patch’ – to raise money for kids for camp. Pumpkin patches aren’t really something you see in south Florida – we just import the pumpkins and pretend we live where its fall. Heck, we’ll even put on a plaid shirt and boots with our shorts when it’s still 88 outside just to make sure we are part of fall.
Its fun to watch the kids look for a pumpkin, the youngest ones pick up the first one they see, the more seasoned pickers (you know 5 year olds) they roam around a little longer. Seems like the boys always want the biggest ones and girls always want the ones with a curly cue dried up stalk or one that has bumps on it.
Years ago when my children were little we went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. One little girl’s grandparents came with her. After carefully assessing the candidates she made her decision. Her grandmother asked are you sure this is the one, what makes you choose that one “Oh, grammy, this one just said to me: ‘Pick me’ “.
That’s how I feel when I go to the garden center. I’m quite sure each rose bush is broadcasting: ‘pick me’. I know that when it’s viola time of year all of the violas shout at me: ‘pick me’.
That’s how we are all our lives – when we’re young we hope to be picked to be on the team, when we’re adults we hope we are the ones picked for the job opening, we want to be picked as the one he/she will marry, we want to be picked as the winner of the grand prize – always hoping to be picked…
In Christ you don’t have to shout ‘pick me’ – life with Him is a gift he gladly hands your way, all you have to do is accept…
Share Your Bench
My hairdresser told me about her three year old granddaughter who liked to get really close to whoever she was talking to and stare right in their face. She was trying to teach her about ‘personal space’ when they were out in public. She told her “Now, Taylor, people you don’t know well, don’t want you to come real close, so give them their personal space.” A few days later she took her to the doctor’s office for a check-up, they sat on a bench in the waiting area. A few minutes later a man came in and sat down next to Taylor. She looked up at him and said “Oh please, personal space!”
So often we don’t want to share our bench. Last spring I took a walk down to the park. It was a work day so not a lot of people were around. I came upon a lovely bench shaded by a tree blooming bright red flowers. I sat for a long time and looked out at the water and thought about a lot of things. It was my bench. An older gentleman who lived across from the park walked his dog down to water’s edge and asked if I would mine if he sat for a few moments.
He told me how his wife had died years ago, how he was from Chicago, he had served twenty-five years in the Navy, had a son who didn’t visit much. I quietly listened. After a short while he said “Do you live nearby?” When I explained that I did he said “You were so kind to share your bench. Not many people want to listen to an old man go on. Next time you walk by wave hello.”
I think I will never think of a bench as ‘mine’ again…
Living Courage
31 Days to BRAVER! This site is about living courageously. So often we are presented with opportunities, challenges, things not in our comfort zone and we let fear dictate our actions. A friend of mine, Renee Ratcliffe, recently said “The risk of failure outweighs the regret of never trying.” That, my friends, is a profound statement.
Think about a time you “didn’t” because of the risk of failure and how after the opportunity was gone you lived in regret so wishing you “had”. I want to live in courage and I want to explore what that means with you. From October 1-31, 2014 I will write what I am learning through God’s grace and leading. Walk with me into Braver and please leave your comments as you grow in courage…
Use the Good Stuff…
Sipping iced tea from a wine glass makes it even better…
Recently I served tea to my girlfriend and I in wine glasses. She thought it was wonderful. It reminded me of something: my grandmother always ‘put away’ her nice things to use for ‘good’ – meaning she would only use them on special occasions. When she passed away all the pretty night gowns and bathrobes my mother had given her over the years were nice and neat in the bottom drawer, never worn.
It disappointed my mom – she loved using the good stuff all the time. I on the other hand have tended to be one who uses the good stuff only on special occasions. I thought how much it must disappoint God when He blesses us with all we have and we only use it on special occasions.
All the tucked away fine china, linens, jewelry, clothing, etc. We also tuck away our special gifts or talents. All these things only brought out for ‘special occasions’. Wouldn’t every day be special if we used the good stuff? Wouldn’t we reach more hearts if we used our talents for all and not just some?
I think I’ll serve oatmeal in the red garnet bowls tomorrow morning, use cloth napkins when we eat burgers, and send a just because poem or note to someone – just because! Wear your best jewelry to the grocery store sometime – use the good stuff! Enjoy today because tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone…
X Marks the Spot…
We walked the beach at end of day – the time when light lingers long enough, but night is not too far.
Purposing to see everything the shore had to offer. Not to just walk and come back as though it were checked off a list. But to walk and return knowing we had witnessed the beauty and impressed it in our hearts.
Waves crashing, drowning out all else. A welcome breeze pushing humidity and cooling our skin. Pale crabs, nearly the color of sand, scurrying into holes. Sandpipers running as fast as their little legs can carry them. Still there was something more I was to see, keep walking…
Clicking pictures of everything I kept sensing Him. Feeling His nudging – look, look at all this, this small piece of life, this right now moment. It was this right now moment as I looked down into the sand – where little sandpiper tracks had crossed each other. Their pattern a perfect X in the sand…
Mark this memory, mark this time, this sharing of life with your friend, this breathing in of the salt air, this cacophony of sound. Mark it in your heart for though life is full, this moment, this time is now and you will only have it this once.
“…let all your words be good for benefiting others according to the need of the moment, so that they may be a means of blessing to the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29 WNT
Love In The Cement…
Some ordinary days turn extraordinary – especially when you have a dust rag in your hand…
My afternoon was humming along, checking off the list: bathroom clean 
, floors vacuumed , laundry folded , dusting (underway). My hubby was being helpful by getting the black speckled walkways pressure washed after a hot, humid summer.
He came in and said “Taking a break, got a phone call.” I called out “Do they look any better?” “You tell me” he says. So we walk out and it’s looking good when we get to the driveway…
Love is truly blind because at first I didn’t see the artwork, I saw a particularly black area off to the side and commented. As my mouth finished my eyes caught sight of the important…
This man has put up with a lot and if you could have seen me in worn out shorts, old t-shirt, and unwashed hair, you would have asked, ‘What does the man see in her?’
I wish I could say at that moment that I acted like a teenager and threw down my dust rag and wrapped my arms around him in adoration. Instead I smiled and said “That’s too cute, are you going to leave it for my friends to see?” And that was it, back to ing off the boxes.
God gives brilliant blue sky sunrises, paints pinky orange sunsets, and sets the birds in formation across the horizon and we say ‘Isn’t that beautiful’ and drive on down the road. He gives us furry cat antics, wet dog kisses, and little mud pie hands and we say ‘These kids and pets are making a mess.’
Oh for a rewind button that we could see with eyes that acknowledge the gifts – and imprint them in our hearts and memories forever…
Tears & Terror
Daily the world sheds tears – it cowers in terror. It has been so since the beginning of time. Yet, in this day and in this time, it seems magnified. So much sorrow and pain, so much fear and anxiety.
Yet the bunny outside my window eats the grass in peace. The bird sings and builds her nest in peace. But we, God’s highest creation, wring our hands and despair.
“Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken… When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:26&28 NIV)
News tonight will tell of those who wreak terror, of security breaches, of Ebola, of volcanoes and earthquakes. It will tell of death and sadness.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 NIV)
Our strength is not in man or medicine, in money or position, in government or armies… “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NIV) Rest in Him and find your strength. The tears and terrors of this world will only increase, but take heart He has overcome the world…
parisrenae 