Category Archives: Life

TC, OUR FEARLESS LEADER

02 Sunday Sep 2018

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“Oh, well, it’s gonna be all right…” with a shrug of his shoulders, and a dynamite grin; then he would proclaim “God is good, all the time; all the time, God is good!” A word or two with some airport staff member, and in his easy way, our fearless leader made it all right, again. Perhaps if I could just have one more of his hugs this too would be all right. The last time I saw him was at church – was it just two weeks ago? He was at the welcome center and as I came through the front door, he turned, grinned and waved. Why oh why didn’t I go on over to him for that one last shoulder squeeze? I may have thought he would always be here; he had already endured so much! So I hope you will understand as I add one more tribute to our sweet brother in Christ.

I met Tommy’s reputation and heart before I met Tommy. A sure and strong influence on my brother-in-law becoming a Christian, I saw how he and my little sister were loved into fellowship with Christ. Tommy and his “Peg” opened their home too many times to count and taught a fellowship and love for others that will always be remembered. His “Simper Fi” (“young married who aren’t so young anymore but wouldn’t leave their teacher” class) and his fellow mission team members were just some of those blessed by that home. Thomas Carraway; TC as he was nicknamed; friend, brother, Christ follower, many have repeated his name and his well-known quote since Friday. August 31, 2018, a day Tommy knew was coming and was well prepared for, he breathed his last labored breath, and passed into peace. I know a little part of many many hearts went with him. All the wonderful comments and tears among friends and family encircle his memory like a wreath, and like a cushion, makes our pain of loss more bearable. Some lives leave a footprint; some leave a crater.

Sitting near Tommy in worship services, we witnessed his warmth and his completely unpretentious way of letting others know he cared. From his dear friend who never had to sit alone in church after losing her husband, to the hundreds, no, thousands of Guyanese lives touched by Tommy’s love for sharing God’s love, many walk closer to Jesus than we would have without Tommy. My sister and I first began our Guyana missions together, under the leadership of our Tommy. After we returned from the first of those medical missions, Tommy confessed to me that he had predicted I might be “kinda needy” but trusted it to work out. He was happy to say he had been wrong, and encouraged me to keep going back; best of all, he always thanked us for loving the people of Guyana. What a Leader! It has been shared with me that on several onsets of mission trips, knowing his health wasn’t the best, Tommy said that he would be perfectly happy to die right there in Guyana, doing what he loved. Fearless! Tommy put others first – just ask a rookie mission team member – he loaned her his prized Reba t-shirt when her luggage didn’t make it to Guyana with us! Selfless! Little samples of the big love he lived.

So many of us are better people for having known Tommy Carraway, because he wanted us to know Jesus. And what I think he would want us to do now, is to go out and live every day in such a way that those around you can see that you live what you believe – and that is that God and His love are absolutely enough!

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV

Age, You Do Not Scare Me!

09 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by in Celebrating, Faith, Life, Reflections, Uncategorized

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First week of August: It’s hard to be mad at the grass growing in the flower beds when theres a hummingbird sipping on the blue salvia and a bluebird on tbe clothesline pole. Finches are flitting through the blackeyed susans, and a bobwhite calls from the fields. Too much good to dwell on the ungood.
I turn 65 this month, seems like I should be saying that about my parents, not me. But the year of birth verifies it. Its really me. Sitting here on the patio as the sun finds a place to rest, I am overwhelmed with God’s grace. I’ve done nothing to deserve this peace.
Jesus said He gives us peace. Not as the world gives, does He give. And it IS a whole different peace. Though several circumstances could be rewritten if my world were ideal, its that peace that passes all understanding that comes with being in Christ, in spite of the less than idealic. The hummingbird can’t receive life sustenance by being nearby the salvia and feeders, admiring them, talking about them; but must contact that necter, get into it. Well, neither can we receive the peace and grace of Christ”s without contacting Him thru His life giving blood. On the outside looking in just isn’t where He wants us to be. I hear Him beckoning, “Come nearer to me, lean in, feel the peace and protection I promised when you became my child”. Age does not scare me.

It’s All About the Journey

19 Saturday May 2018

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They say it’s not the destination that counts, but the journey getting there. I agree – to a point. For without a clear destination, a person can get lost. Even with the best planning, however, there are still the unexpected treasures or displeasure to encounter. So, trophy or tragedy, more living goes into the trip than the ‘there’ (except, in my opinion, if it happens to be the Grand Canyon!) Are we there yet?

Yes, it’s the unexpected detours, the rough spots in the road, or a picturesque roadside for a picnic; the outrageous drivers, or fellow companions’ moods; and even the body of the transport that make it interesting; and proves your skill at travel – or living the journey.

Take our little road trip today for example. If you don’t mind the details, you’ll arrive at my intended destination.What was going to be an overnight stay in Hernando, MS to get an early start at the Como, MS auction, changed to “we’ll get an early morning start and save the hotel cost”. The more he looked at some other trucks on-line, the more he leaned toward stopping in Memphis to look at a truck, then on to Como. By the time we went to bed, he had decided we’d just forget the auction and look at two trucks in the Memphis area, Exit 60 and then Collierville. So, this way, we could get Auggie’s day started as usual (pee, poop, eat his breakfast) and settled in for our neighbor Karen to come in after noon to tend to him. Yes, clearly the little pudgy puffy ewok has taken the reins in our life . And what a nice detour he has been!!20180216_154935.jpg

My GPS is a tad bit old but trustworthy for the most part. Gary wants me to enter the destination’s address; he also has ‘farmer directions’ he obtained on the phone. The two rarely match! First stop, an unplanned strawberry farm in McKenzie, TN. So, we’re carrying fresh strawberries, in May, in a car, for all day. OK.

Next stop, a gas station for a large bottle of water to wash the berries. Travel makes one hungry!

Going against the GPS now,  I turned her off so her desperate attempts to make us go her way were thwarted. Exit 60: “We’re here”,  he tells the young man, who answered, “I thought you were calling before you got here. I’ll be ten minutes.” Third stop: road side, waiting 15 minutes for a three-minute drive to ‘the truck’. Or should I say, the piece of junk. Gary says it’s worth about $4,000 to stretch it out and put a something or other on it. Oh.  Off again, to the address he gave me, and GPS on again. Hey, this route is familiar – our son lived in Collierville a short while and the road off of I 40 is very scenic; calming and memorable.

Fourth stop: a truck parked on a lot, (a hot deserted lot) possibly wrecked before. The frame he thinks aloud, is out of line. “No”, I answered uncertainly, “I do not see it”. “What’s your impression?” he asks. Hmmm, an old used truck – what else could I see? Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

So, it is my job now to decide where we can eat dinner (noon meal). My third call sounded like they understood the gluten question. Home cooking, 0.8 miles away. My phone GPS got us there and surprised us that it is in the Collierville town square. Very pretty, historic and well-preserved! The Silver Caboose proved a fine choice. Homecooking at it’s best with many choices; veggie plates prepared like home, but better! And, Perfect iced tea. 20180519_132630

When the waiter came to take our order, I said, “I’m torn between a salad, or a vegetable plate, because I can’t have wheat gluten”, and as I was adding “I don’t suppose you have a gluten-free bread?” he became very agitated and abrupt. I named my peas, beans and greens selections; Gary ordered, and I started to ask if I may order a piece of grilled chicken, but he was off and running – from me, no doubt. Gary said, “What did you want?” I told him and he motioned to the mannerless waiter, saying “she wants a piece of grilled chicken added to that”. Period. As I added “…if that’s possible…” he said, “be quiet” to me, and “that’s all” to the waiter. I looked a bit stunned because we women do not go for the cut and dry; we want explanation and courtesy, given and taken. Gary said to me, “You’ve got to be insertive to people like that” LOL. I said “you mean assertive?” But at the time, yes, I could have taken my foot and become ‘insertive’. Pardon me, please, you genteel of nature.:) But my man took care of me! The chicken was good.

He’d have liked for me to drive home. Actually he said, “you gonna drive back?” I said no of course, I had things to do, naps to take, uh, I mean notes to take.

Outskirts of Jackson, TN, our GPS says ‘this way’. Gary says ‘my way’. So, GPS is off again; we know the way home. But road construction is never-ending, so a left turn has two lanes unknown to Gary who took up both lanes as we made the turn..  Another car was trying to turn left too. The driver was not grace-full in his reaction. I couldn’t look! The explanation and courtesy thing again; not at all appreciated by my driver, nor the other man. Both should have been thankful there was no accident and driven on. So now we laugh at it and continue on our way.

Scripture repeatedly tells us we have a planner, a spiritual GPS so to speak, to keep us from getting lost. In our spiritual journey we need the same things as we need on a road trip. We need directions, food for growing and sustaining faith; grace and gifts. We make mistakes, and we need re-directing. And then with gratitude we find our way home.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8-9

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” Psalm 139:23-24  (ESV)

Happy travels!

 

 

Monday Musings

30 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by in Life, Nature

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PICK YOUR COLOR

They’re All Sweetpexels-photo-65547.jpeg
Monday – so sweet with potential; with all six of the week’s seven days yet spread before us. Like a bag of M&Ms candy with all those colors, you can choose the color you feel like, although they all taste the same. Ultimately, Mondays are like that; each with 24 hours in the day, the paper was delivered, the mail will run, there’ll be meals to eat, and work to do. But for now – on Monday – we get to choose the color we’ll wear. The bag is still full! I can be blue if I choose, or sunny yellow. It’s all in what you pick. In high school I used to eat only the brown ones – that let me savor the taste, but not too much. As time went by, so did my self-control, and I am no longer a respecter of colors.

What will you take on for the new week? Select ravaging red, and take the day by the horns and go! Or bravely wear brown of contentment in the face of a fast paced world. This week’s post will be short, because I intend to take on a new job. I am going to weed and seed the lawn with a new spreader. I hope it produces LOTS of green! This is also the first of what I hope becomes a series of Monday posts. I will continue the M&M theme with the second ‘M’ standing for something to go with Monday, the first ‘M’.  Perhaps “Monday Mommas” is right around the corner:)

Today I am enjoying yellow and blue – sunny weather, blue skies, and four little bluebird eggs in the box still incubating. Last Saturday, I observed the sweetest thing I’ve seen in a while – two bluebirds just kissed! I am not kidding. I saw them fly into a leafless maple, sit side by side, turn to each other and touch beaks; then one flew off and the other watched. Did he go to work? She preened a little, then she, too, flew away and into her box. No, they weren’t feeding each other as I’ve seen them do for their young in the past. I didn’t see nest-building material being exchanged, and the eggs were already in the nest.  No, they just kissed; had to be. It gave me a new understanding of “a peck on the cheek”.

Have a sweet rest of the day!

“Look at the birds of the air for they neither sow nor read nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26

Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary Olive Oil

22 Sunday Apr 2018

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Why make the decisions we make? Purposeful, random, or eenie-meenie-miney-moe’d, something persuades or propels us in one direction or another.  Sometimes I just like the sound of a thing; like EVOO, or balsamic vinegar. I have a bottle of each on the kitchen counter, just because I like the looks and sounds of cooking with them. Over time, I’ve developed a real like for one; a little less for the other. I’ve obviously encountered a decision-making situation today or I wouldn’t be thinking  along that line. As we age we often take on sensitivities and intolerance to various foods and environments. Mine came to be wheat gluten, and over several years I’ve learned where gluten may be hiding and how embarrassing it is to question vendors, who only sell, not make the food. The frustration on their faces when we ask “does that have wheat in it?” is obvious. But it must be asked to make the decision.

A year or two later:  I made a decision on this rainy day to have a small ‘skinny coconut latte’ and I may have found a new best friend to accompany me as I blog. I still like to say “balsamic vinegar”;  and “olive oil” just rolls off the tongue (double entendre unintentional, but I like it). Perhaps I began this post to address decisions. Picking it back up today however, I really do not recall that particular impending decision. But what I do see in it is this: sensitivity and intolerance! As I get older, I find I am less sensitive, but more intolerant. While that may sound conflicting, allow me to explain.  For food and environment, ‘sensitive’ and ‘intolerant’ are pretty much the same. With attitudes, each of those words can go its own way independent of the other one. In the years when I was overly sensitive, everything seemed personal. Comments, actions, attitudes, were perceived as directly pertaining to or because of me. Me. Really? Someone forgot to tell me that the world was not my mother and I would not be accountable to them all. What makes us think we – anyone – is important enough to cause others to have those ‘bird-flipping’ days? What could I have done to deepen another’s frown, or increase the grit in their growl? I truly was relieved to discover years ago that the world’s happiness does not hinge on me. In case you don’t recognize it, that would be called co-dependancy. I learned it in childhood and that’s another story for another day. Isn’t it liberating to know that people can snap at you, frown and scowl, and you can just smile back knowing it isn’t your fault? Now, of course if I have offended, and yes sometimes I do, then it is just as liberating to admit it and say “please forgive”.  But in the world of vinegar-dripping attitudes, just remember that even if it wasn’t our doing, we can still have a sweet effect on the vinegar, and not become acidic ourselves. Drop into their lives a little sugar, salt and pepper, chopped tomatoes, hot peppers and onions and that vinegar comes to life! We called that goulash where I came from.  “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11)  Being less sensitive decreases worry and less worry opens the path to positive reactions.

Tolerance, however,  is another thing for me. When I was more sensitive, I was more tolerant in that I was prone to think maybe everybody is right, and I am not. Sensitivity for me, left me less clear about where I stood on a subject; therefore, I was more tolerant of the world’s junk.  I was afraid to make a stand even with a strong platform, so that I wouldn’t stir up some controversy that might be taken personally. This is reminding me of the “double minded man” of James 1, verses 8, 23, and 24 who is indecisive, doubting, and can’t even remember his own image!! I am happier being less tolerant of the things I know my Savior taught against, even though I am still  no fan of controversy! I will, in fact,  go to great lengths to avoid it. That’s just one reason I like to write; it gives me time to carefully phrase, and rephrase things to avoid being abrasive. Though I would never do that intentionally, it just seems that when the tongue gets going, it is usually way ahead of the reins. So, I write.

So then, being intolerant enables me to take a firm stand when I know a thing to be repulsive because now I can clearly separate the things I cannot tolerate, from the people who do them. The people are loved, the actions are not.  I learned recently that one reason the shepherd anoints the sheep’s head with oil is to cause an opponent’s head to slide off when he is butting heads in a challenge. Less damage is done. Another reason is to repel the flies that pester and fester. The Lord has anointed my head with oil, and it is so sweet. I can tolerate the pounding I may invite by being intolerant of what I want no part of.  And I can let insults slide right off!

Rosemary added to olive oil gives it a touch of sweetness, adding to the oil’s many other benefits. A wonderful emollient, it also is loaded with vitamins and antioxidants; and is flavorful alone or with added herbs. I choose basil and olive oil to change our age-old family recipe for goulash. I’m sure this would not be tolerated by my grandmothers, but I think my Mama would love it. She was much more tolerant of my decisions.

Then there is the vinegar I just can’t seem to totally avoid. You know, no matter what kind of vinegar I open, it still smells sharp and tastes acidic. As the Lord anoints my head with the oil of gladness, may the Holy Spirit continue to buffer me that I will not carry acrid sensitivity, but rather joyful certainty. If I have aligned myself with the good Shepherd, I can enjoy the oil, and avoid the vinegar. Maybe that is where this post was going from the start. We can make the decision to spew acrid vinegary attitudes all about, or we can pour the oil to smooth and enhance life for ourselves and others.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.” Psalm 23:5

COOKIES AND CRAYONS; It’s a Kid’s Life

15 Sunday Apr 2018

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Photo on 4-15-18 at 4.41 PM

I was a kid again last Sunday afternoon. Having received a bit of morning news that I was helpless to change, I turned to activity that might be the response from a child. No, I didn’t have a tantrum; in fact, it wasn’t even an anger producing situation at all. It was just one of those times when a child might shrug with helplessness, become saddened, and move on to activities that help him process life’s circumstances and deal, or more accurately, not deal with it.

After worship and a meal, I took myself to Wal-Mart. I needed cookies! Imagine my delight when I found gluten-free Animal Crackers! Now, I do admit a great chocolate chip cookie is hard to beat, but for a kid – my kids – animal crackers were the best! I couldn’t resist that little red circus car of crispy animal shapes to take home to my little ones in the 1980’s. Neither was I about to turn down this Glutino version today, since I have become gluten intolerant over the years.

Next, my Wal-Mart wonderings took me past the colorful Crayola aisle.  Whereas this is a temptation that I normally resist, that day my grownup reasoning was drowned out by recollections of opening a box of sharp, smooth waxy crayons. So I took a box of 24 and casually placed them in my cart, just for me.

After selecting the boring grownup stuff – light bulbs, detergent and cat liter – I found a cake mix and cherry pie filling  to try a new “sugar-free” treat for my hubby friend. (We kids can be so naive.) Eager to try out my new treats,  I had visions of hopping on the back of my cart and coasting up to the checkout counter. But I knew I would just pop a wheelie and end up on my back, in the floor, with a buggy of crayons and cookies on top of me! Shudder.

Once I was home, I shared the Animal Crackers with my Yorkie who was ever so glad I wasn’t thinking like a grownup. I also colored a whole page in a Barbie coloring book that I once bought for our great nieces. As I colored, I was thinking, no wonder kids are such inventors of ideas! My brain storming was in overdrive as I made Barbie a brunette and colored her world.

  • Wal-Mart – that magical place a child learns to ask for as soon as he or she can talk. It’s where they can walk out with something interesting that they didn’t walk in with. They smile and speak with no prejudice.
  • Animal Crackers – simply flavored, easy to hold, crunchy, and a trip to the zoo – all in one little  package! For about 79 cents (in our day) you could feed a child’s imagination. What fun would it be to bite the head off a lion if it didn’t crunch?! Or if a bear didn’t ‘snap’ in half?
  • Crayons – colorful; new sharp points that make it so easy to stay within the lines; and that smell!

The aroma of new Crayola crayons takes me back to childhood where my cousin Jan and I would lie in the floor of their walk-in closet and color our evenings away! The intensity of staying in the lines always made her stick out her tongue and that made me smile. Being the boss of how each picture developed gave us purpose, and a sense of accomplishment. It just felt good to control something in a world so out of our control; same as today.

14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.
15Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”
16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.

Mark 10:14-16 NKJV

 

Another Good Day (In Spite of Itself)

18 Sunday Feb 2018

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I have 20 minutes until it isn’t Saturday any more. For the entire day I kept wanting to write, tapping out little anecdotes in my head about how this day began with a damp outlook, but how we keep ourselves afloat by choosing to be happy rather than letting the grit and grime get us down. However, I just kept moving through the day, making mental notes that have already escaped me, and alas, I am too tired to remember it all. Was it the fact that it has been raining since the beginning of time? Oh, yes, that is how it started; the day, that is. Wet. And for all my patience and umbrella balancing, my little Yorkie couldn’t ‘go’ and my newspaper weighed in at sopping wet despite that blue plastic very permeable sleeve that it wears.  But this I took in stride and found myself not complaining; just thankful for the cutest little dog ever! He sat patiently awaiting his treat while I placed dripping umbrella, doggy jacket, and my shoes on the water proof sunroom floor. There’s the other thing I was thinking – how great it is to have a place to track mud and rain into and not worry about it! Comfort to the max. After spreading the important pages of the paper, that being the crossword puzzle, the front page and the obituaries, over chairs to dry, we headed for the coffee pot and breakfast plans. God bless the newspaper carrier; all I have to do is walk out and pick it up. They, on the other hand, have to get all those papers distributed day after day, no matter the weather. I’ll bet the rain gets through her open car window as she tosses the daily news onto the driveway. What’s more, our carrier is more faithful than the US mail! No kidding; during this winter’s snow, we missed only one day of the paper, but several days of mail were missed.

Well, my 20 minutes are up, and it’s Sunday morning already, but I’m on a roll. Just as I was starting to feel dry, cozy and full I called our daughter who lives two or three hours away, depending on who is driving. Had she gone to the mailbox? No, but she said she would, and when I called her back to see if she got the valentine I sent to her from her fur baby, her voice was changed. She said, “Mama, I’m kind of scared….” Do you know what that does to a mother’s heart when her normally very brave daughter has gone out to the mailbox and comes back inside saying she is scared? The rest of my coffee got cold, and my stomach was churning, but I didn’t let on to her. It appears that someone has obtained her personal information and she has received the first evidence of it. Let’s see, what can I be optimistic about here? The first thing I did was just nothing; I listened, and can’t recall what I did finally say because my mind was racing, and I didn’t want to make her feel worse. As if. So I am extremely grateful for whatever that protective coating is that causes us to sit stunned and silent rather than comprehending everything at once. That has to be a blessing that God built in for our own protection. We ended our phone conversation so that she could get right on the notifications that needed to be made, like bank account, credit reports, and so forth. I went directly to my husband and said “we need to pray – now” and we did. And that was where I became so thankful that I knew I would have to write before the day was over. Gratitude swelled in my heart that we don’t have to suffer insults alone. We do not have to work out the solutions alone. We have a hope for help today as well as for eternity. The next life does not have all dibs on seeing the results of a strong faith. Without the knowledge that I have a God who is able to do exceedingly greater than I can even imagine or ask, I would be left with our simple human devices. Unstable, uncertain, hit or miss people power is not what I want working for my girl! After praying, I immediately called my sister, bypassing her preferred method of texting to communicate. I wasted no time telling her to put her life on hold as she was headed out the door for a wedding shower we were both attending mid morning. “I need to talk to my sister, and fall just a little bit apart”, I said and felt the tears very near. I explained what was happening and that I had kept emotions in check for my daughter, but now I needed to let it flow. Would you believe her niece on her husband’s side of the family had her identity stolen! It was a nightmare for her and she became very well acquainted with what to do and how to proceed. I am so very very sorry for her that it happened, but I am also very thankful there was someone we knew with the voice of experience for my daughter to be advised. I am very thankful too, that my daughter felt better after speaking to “Mary” (fake name). How very thankful I am that I have a husband who can share with me the concern of our children, and to whom I can go to pray with me. What a blessing!  Counting my blessings would be quite incomplete without telling you how much it means to have a sister to call.  I’ve alway been thankful for her, and as much as we fought as children, it is a wonder she will even speak to me. But I think all that fighting creates a bond like no other. Her concern was genuine, and she immediately sent Mary’s phone number to my daughter, and told me it would be difficult, but we’d be okay.

As I arrived at the shower, where my sister had already told of the crime against my daughter, I found open arms and warm hugs for my hurting heart; and enough concern for my daughter’s welfare to reach the whole 150 miles away to her! I called her later and said “you should feel very rich right now, with all the love and good wishes you received today”! Thank you God for the sweet hearts of good friends! Thank you for Macy’s employee who answered my daughter’s call this morning and was so kind and helpful. I should explain that it was a Macy’s statement in the mail this morning, and she doesn’t have a Macy’s account. So, it was explained to her that someone opened an account, many many miles away, using all the personal information that belongs to my daughter, and did so to get the discount on the clothes they bought. The DISCOUNT? When you know you aren’t even going to be paying for them? OK…..Well, I guess that gave them a legitimate reason to open a new account, I say with sarcasm. Whoever that was, will never know that I sat down this morning and prayed for them to have a change of heart and destroy the information they are using, and well, if you’re thinking I asked for them to be blessed, you are wrong. I am after all, a mother. Don’t mess with my cubs. But I did refrain from wishing them any harm. Truly. I am thankful that God has directed us to wish no harm to others, because I don’t think it would have made my day to unleash those kind of negative thoughts. I am going to stay optimistic, and positive, and thankful. A dry roof over our heads; good friends and family; prayer and a Lord Who loves my daughter even more than I do! It was indeed a good day.

This is indeed the day that the Lord has made and I will be glad in it. Because I can.

This Woman Has Loved!

26 Sunday Nov 2017

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July 17, 2016

As a sprinkle of rain fell through the pergola, drops of evidence on our laps, but not a cloud in sight, Aunt Lorene said, “You know, when they asked if I wanted to be sprinkled, I said ‘No, I want to be completely baptized; fully put under’.”  She then added to me, “and when heaven opens up, I don’t want to be just BARELY there; just barely get in; no, I want to be (with her arms outspread) ALL the way there!” Her eyes were shining. We agreed that a little sprinkle wasn’t enough to drive us off the beautiful porch swing where we sat on that rather warm day. As suddenly as the drops fell, they dissipated and we were given more time to again introduce ourselves to each other. That day she must have asked me a dozen times “now what is your name?” I would tell her again, smiling, that I was Bennie Joe’s older daughter, Patricia. And again, she would exclaim, “Oh, Bennie Joe! We had such good times back then; I just loved him so much! He was just like a son to me!” My daddy was her nephew by marriage, but she never made a difference that I know of between hers and Uncle Veltman’s kinsfolk. I would tell her again how wonderful it was to get to visit with her and hear her laugh, and hold her hand. Visiting with her that day in her daughter’s lovely home is a memory I hold dear.

How appropriate it was to have those sprinkles fall, making her think of baptism, and have the chance as she so loved to do, to profess her love for God and her hope of heaven. I don’t believe it was coincidence that rain began to fall from an invisible sky.  It told me something I had wondered about for years; a spiritual question I had, and she answered it. I have tears now in my eyes remembering how she taught me from childhood to openly speak of my God, and to proclaim my love for Him. However, not I, nor anyone I have ever met, can do that so beautifully as she did. If she ever loved anything, she loved her God!

This woman, Lorene Farmer Jackson sure loved her man! As my memory holds it, she and Uncle Veltman were just about the best example of ‘one woman for one man’ ever! My favorite story of hers is when she told me about Uncle Veltman hurrying to get dressed for church before she could, and waiting outside at the car. She said she asked him one day, just why he insisted on getting out there so early. She said he winked and said “Red, I just like being out here so I can watch the prettiest girl in the world walking out to me”.  That’s about the same time she told me she kept her hair dyed red “because Veltman liked it that way”. Who does their hair to suit their husband??!! A woman who knows how to love, that’s who.

I was her girl. From 1953 until Brenda was born, “Trish” (said with a southern one syllable becoming two), was her girl. At least that’s what she said, and the way she treated me made a believer out of me. But then, wasn’t that the way she made everyone feel? Doilies, mahogany furniture, pretty dishes and marvelous food made her home a place for all to feel welcomed and of regal upbringing. Those are my memories of her Cleveland, Ohio home. That’s where she and her boy Johnnie pulled me in a little wagon to the store down a brick street. I still love brick streets. I love craftsman houses; stairwells with a landing; windows with fans; and Stroodle – a dish she taught my Mama to make. I love all these because they were the elements of a home where I knew this woman loved me. The same way you love anything that you associate with the people of good memories.

Yes, Aunt Lorene loved. What a great way to be remembered.

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November 26, 2017:  I couldn’t write this as long as she was living, most likely because I knew I couldn’t share it with her as her dementia had overridden her memory. Today, the words are flowing freely as she passed from this life last evening. I like to imagine she is able to know now what I am writing, and I think she would say,  “Oooh Trisha, you always were my girl!”  I love you Aunt Lorene.

“So he answered and said, “You shall love the Lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind’, and ‘your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10: 27

Happy Monday – Every Day is a New Day

14 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by in inspiration, Life, The unexpected

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Every day has its own bit of uniqueness, a surprise or two here and there. All we have to do is awaken with a willing heart to see, hear, and know. Even if you must follow a routine such as shower, dress the kids, grab a breakfast bar and fly out of the driveway waving  to the dog and realizing you didn’t tell your spouse goodbye, or good morning either for that matter, it can still be special. We’ve all done it; it’s called mundane. But as all that begins to grow old, you’ll realize there’s been a whole other world out there just watching you, waiting for a chance to please you, gifting you with an abundance of God’s grace. It’s called being still and knowing He is God. (smile)

I haven’t been posting my usual Monday snippets of life, partly because of the BUSY season and partly because I feel my enthusiasm over the daily grind of ordinary isn’t quite shared by all. Thank Goodness, it takes different strokes for different folks! If not, how bland that would be! But in a world of worry and weary, I just enjoy pointing out some of the fleeting moments that catch my eye. Those “oooh, something shiny” moments that take our attention away from the mundane, but not so breathtaking that we have to stop what we’re doing. Wait a minute – I just stopped what I was doing in order to share my little day of surprises – and it isn’t at all breathtaking. So, shiny, but not blinding. The Grand Canyon was one of those times that take my breath away; today is just normal stuff that makes life awesome, alive and blessed.

Opening the door this morning to find a gentle rain was my first surprise. It wasn’t storming, dark, nor falling loudly enough for me to know ahead that God had showered us with new blessings in the early morning hours. I now could hear all nature singing “hallelujah, hall-e-lu-u-jah!”  The Psalmist says of God, “You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it…You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth..” (Psalm 65:9,10b)

As I was doing the breakfast dishes I heard a little peck peck peck on the window that looks out onto the front porch, where my husband was sitting  with our Yorkie, watching the morning happen. This by the way, is a practice that has taken me 43 years to enroll him in but I think he is hooked. I stepped to the front door and saw the object of his attention. A sparrow hawk was sitting in our driveway no more than 20-25 yards from the porch steps. Now, being in a rural setting of Western Kentucky makes this no big deal; but actually having it to land and stay a while with people present is not our everyday occurrence. Perhaps I have falsely accused our cat with the deeds of “fowl” play! I ran to get the camera, snap, snap, snap – no, the batteries were too low to capture the picture; back in to get batteries, no AA’s to be found. Back to the porch where he was whispering loudly, “get my phone out of my back pocket” (well, why didn’t he tell me that in the first place?) and being a phone to which I am not accustomed to using for a camera, I fumbled, and alas, the hawk who seemed to know I was just about to succeed, flew.

Later, as I took outgoing mail to the box, I found Saturday’s mail was still there, including a large envelope from Christian Woman Magazine. I’d just about forgotten it was close to time for the September/October issue to be out! Inside is an article by yours truly, and even though I knew it was being published, there’s still that thrill of seeing it in actual print. The article is about the seasons of life, how change must occur, and we must let go of one to take on another. This can be so very difficult for so many reasons. If I can help any of my sisters-in-life on this planet to see the miracles of everyday life snippets, then perhaps that will give a hand up to their next rung on the ladder of life. We’re all on this journey together they say, so Happy Monday, or, ‘happy mundane’! By the way, if you’ve not seen an issue of Christian Woman in the last couple of years, I believe you would find it most enjoyable. Fun and/or serious articles, all interesting, by a variety of authors, sprinkled with recipes and tips for life and study make it hard to put down!

The more things change, the more they stay the same – a quote I heard a long time ago – meant to me that eventually you experience change so much it becomes ‘unchange’; and as the preacher of Ecclesiastes said, “there is no new thing under the sun”. But now, to me it means this: The more life happens, the more change we will endure, and the more change we endure, the more we will come to depend upon the One Who never changes, but provides a hope that is forever the same.  God’s plans are to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.” Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

 

 

A Time to Suit Yourself

14 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Life, Reflections

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Betty Ann put down her glass of iced tea and said “As I’ve grown older, I find I am arranging things in my house just to suit me”. Looking around my kitchen and dining areas in response to Paula’s comment about how I arrange things “just so”, I realized I do tend to group things by the way I like to see them. We three girls were enjoying an all too seldom visit early this spring, and I’d arranged the visit, not the house. On that day I didn’t feel worthy of it,  but I was happy for the compliment. The very old and the very new may sit side by side just because I like the colors together. Then again, the colors within a group may not be complimentary but the items remind me of an event or someone special; or I group items  just because I like the way they fill the space. (Kind of like the way we fill our lives with so many different kinds of people; all ages, and walks of life.) So yes, my house is full of stuff, just to suit me. At the same time, I know the arrangements will be seen by others, who may or may not share my decorating taste. Not to sound unkind, but, so what?  Problem is I’m a sentimental collector; a dangerous combination. Minimizing is attractive in theory, but to a collector who sees a memory or  a loved one in each cherished possession, letting it go is next to climbing Mt. Rushmore. So maybe my space is getting a bit cluttered. So is my mind, so I guess it’s a nice fit.

     I once looked at life as a buzzing busy bee,

     Or butterflies all aflutter.

     But as the days grow tired on me,

     I see it all as clutter.

 The down side of having a moment to look around the room, was that I saw so many things I didn’t do to prepare for guests, that I would have done a few years ago. There was a puppy pee pad on the floor across the room, and I didn’t get the floor mopped. I didn’t cut a bouquet of flowers, light a candle for fragrance, nor clean the windows. Yes, those are things I would have done a few years ago, along with moving and dusting under all those collector bric-a-brac just mentioned. Before you judge me, keep in mind that it was how I was raised. My mother may not have had the newest carpet, but it was clean; her windows were shining and the curtains were clean and ironed. God bless her sweet soul, she even cleaned the grooves in the linoleum flooring with a toothbrush when the floor wax built up there. My point is, we learn what we live. And I lived with a woman who loved her home, and her company. She wanted to present her very best. So do I. But like Betty Ann, my attitude has changed over the years. How I define my very best, now has more to do with conversation, time spent, food they’ll enjoy, and being rested  rather than frazzled. I settled for vacuumed without mopped; a good quiche and iced tea; gratitude for the people I was blessed to have in our home, laughter instead of being tired and sensitive (which is what I become when I lose sleep, and sleep is lost if I do all that other stuff). My nap the day before was a luxury I didn’t used to afford myself, but I was a better person afterwards.

There was a chigger weed in my iris beds, maybe more. But the irises were beautiful. There was laundry piled up because we’d been fighting our washer, but the laundry room door slid shut nicely. The hardwood floors didn’t shine like they once did, but there’s a bathed and pampered puppy to enjoy instead. Our once grassy lawn was a weedy bog, but on it stands a home that I hope and pray extends hospitality and love. Anyway, I’m working on it. Perhaps one day, I will look around and see all the beauty of a wonderful visit without seeing these undone things.  So, if you are tempted to give your house a “spit-polish shine” before I come to see you, don’t do it. Take a nap instead, have a cup of coffee ready, and let us enjoy a time “arranged just to suit ourselves”!