Category: Joy

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Joy, Look, Praise, Special Event, Thanks, Traveling

Have You Been A Witness to This Much Awe?

She seemed to say, “Now you stay right there!”

Rich Mountain Road is one of Bob’s favorite drives in the Smoky’s. The other is Parson’s Branch road. That one was still not open for the season. Drats.

Rich mountain is described as “a one-way, 7-mile journey on a twisting gravel road that leads north out of Cades Cove and ends in the town of Townsend. The road winds through quiet forest that often features excellent opportunities for wildlife viewing and nature photography.”

“Are you staying put?” she asked.

We stopped the car. Mom thought about challenging us. She had walked towards the car aggressively, (first photo). Then must have realized we meant no harm. (second photo). We waited quietly to see what she would do.

Excellent opportunity indeed! Look who we got to see. The mother was small. Maybe her first cub?

photo by r m dutina

To our amazement they crossed the road in front of us. The remaining photos are taken by me from inside the car!

I think the baby could not have been more than 2 days old?
It reminded both of us of a very small puppy!

As we drove on in amazement, I realized except for the photos, we might be the only people to actually see these two this spring! What an awe inspiring event.

Nothing the rest of the day could top this!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Cooking, Faith, Joy, Praise, Thanks

My Faith Journey Through Prayerful Observations

That is the subtitle of the new publication of my poetry which will be available through Amazon April 30, 2026. On Monday, April 20 Bob and I took Dana to dinner at Nicola’s in downtown Cincinnati to celebrate the completion of this book.

Wondrous bread basket and bread sticks I could live on! When the staff realized we were celebrating the publication of the book, not only were they effusive with their praise, but they brought each of us a glass of champagne! The chef wanted feedback on the foccaia which were were eager to give. It was delicious!

I ordered the Caesar salad and my favorite, Tagliatelle Bolognase, their famous family recipe handed down for generations.

Dana’s Salad

Goat cheese,melted like brie, on the side of the greens

Bob had the mussels.

Then they both had Diver caught Scallop. Chef says if a piece is broken in the kitchen he enjoys them raw. Both Bob and Dana thought they were delicious.

For their Ta-da! moment they both had lamb.

Truly gourmet Lamb with spaghetti

Of course, we all had dessert. Bob ordered his favorite, creme brulee, with a twist. “LAVENDER CRÈME BRULEE with raspberry foam and crystallized orchid.” He loved it and never offered me a single bite. Dana and I shared a dish of chocolate gelato and Citrus Tart Italian Meringue with Amarena cherries. Oh yum.

It was such a lovely evening. Bob, my love, my editor-in-chief and major photographer, did himself proud in treating us. This was a tremendous celebration over years of work that is finally out of my filing cabinet and being released to the world.

Thanks be to God!

Posted on in Faith, Focus, Joy, Listen, Obedience, Praise, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Trust, Yield

Psalm 16 Repeats

Have you ever noticed a Bible verse repeating over and over again in your life?

In our recent readings for the Second Sunday of Easter we read Psalm 16. Verse 11 is especially meaningful to me.

“You show me the path of life.
    In your presence there is fullness of joy;
    in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11 NRSVUE

When I skipped church as a young teenager and walked the paths in the park worshiping God, it seemed as if David’s experience was my experience, too.

In 1993 I attended a silent retreat. When Psalm 16 came up I felt led to take verse 8 with me and practice God’s presence as I walked the Convent grounds.

I keep the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:8 NRSVUE

The practice that day deepened my faith and my trust in this God who is always at my right hand. Isaiah 42: 6 verses a and b go along with this verse.

“I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
    I have taken you by the hand and kept you…”

When I attended the Jewish funeral service for our dear “Aunt Cloty Gutman” in May, 2002 they read this Psalm. I was deeply touched as I remembered again that we both shared trust in this God whom David extolled.

The path of life, fullness of joy, pleasures forevermore … why would I seek after anything else?

I learned early in life that the God of Jesus is Who I wanted to seek. After dabbling in things of the world and even tasting the occult, I realized that only Jesus is eternal. Only God Almighty is going on forever. That is Who I want to follow. That is Who I want as my leader.

Protect me, God,
for you are my refuge.
2 I said to Adonai, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good outside of you.”
3 The holy people in the land are the ones
who are worthy of honor; all my pleasure is in them.

4 Those who run after another god
multiply their sorrows;
To such gods I will not offer
drink offerings of blood
or take their names on my lips.

5 Adonai, my assigned portion, my cup:
you safeguard my share.
6 Pleasant places were measured out for me;
I am content with my heritage.

7 I bless Adonai, my counselor;
at night my inmost being instructs me.
8 I always set Adonai before me;
with him at my right hand, I can never be moved;
9 so my heart is glad, my glory rejoices,
and my body too rests in safety;
10 for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol,
you will not let your faithful one see the Abyss.
11 You make me know the path of life;
in your presence is unbounded joy,
in your right hand eternal delight. The Complete Jewish Bible

Posted on in Faith, Joy, Just do it, Obedience, Poetry, Writing Life

Here is the scoop!

I will not be posting this week. The proof for my next book, “Poems, My Faith Journey Through Prayerful Observations” has arrived. That means I need to read it cover to cover and find any corrections, additions, or errors before we submit it for publication and public consumption. It should be available by April 30. Throw in two Zoom meetings, (one of which I have notes to type up), starting a steroid pack and physical therapy – well writing will have to wait this week.

You may have seen the hymn that posted instead of being saved as a draft. Things that make me go “DRATS!” It is a great hymn that I cannot stop singing.

So sing along and praise our risen King and He continues His resurrection life in and through each of us.

I like this sort of scoop, too!

Looks like peanut butter chip, MY UDF FAVORITE!! 🙂

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Joy, Just do it, Listen, Look, Nature, Poetry, Surrender, Thanks

Observe

I am always amazed at how a quote can become a jumping off place, a diving board if you will, to other thoughts and truths.

Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent. Rumi

One centering exercise this morning asked that I become aware of life around me. For that I usually look out the window at my prayer chair and marvel at the unfolding season. Wasn’t it just snowing as in the opening photo? As Rumi implies, I have absolutely no claim upon those wonders, but I am privileged to observe them. There is an artistry in God’s creation and the tough part is for me to be silent.

Hush my soul. Like a child quieted at its mother’s breast, be still.

{You will see below that because I chose a quote box the program made everything below that to appear in italics. I tried and tried to change it. For this post we will just live with it and I will stop using quote boxes. GRR}

I picked up a booklet at church regarding the Way of the Cross, prayers from Jerusalem. I have not entered the practice of praying the stations of the cross. This first prayer made me be still.

Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen.

I kept returning to that prayer through Good Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I picked it up again this morning. Eastertide proclaims and rejoices again and again the powerful works of Lord God Almighty through the resurrection of Jesus our Lord.

This Lent and Easter were the most meaningful I have ever experienced. Maybe it is that I am aging or perhaps I keep turning my conscious over to the presence of Christ with us, in every season? I am glad Eastertide lasts for 50 days. I do not want it to end.

The mowers finally shaved our neighborhood. The grass was so high we were beginning to wonder if we should hire goats to chomp it down. As it is there are huge clumps of cut grass in many yards. Wonder! that just a few weeks ago these yards were brown and scraggly and not showing much hope. Now they are lush and thick and thriving, even though marked with tire tracks throughout.

Being still in prayer I realized I was looking at huge trees in the distance (I am not much for numbers, but I want to say 25-30 feet tall?) My feet are touching the earth and their roots are drinking up the moisture from the same earth, feeding and nurturing the new leaves and flower buds. Tiny me who is shrinking a little more each year and towering trees growing taller than I could ever climb. There is artistry moving through the trees and through me. I am stilled to holy silence.

What has been occurring around you? Have you noted the changes and given pause to the wonder?

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear, O Zion;
    do not let your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
    a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
18     as on a day of festival.” Zephaniah 3:16-18 NRSVUE

Look about you. Be renewed in his love. Listen for your God singing over you as on a day of festival! And be silent.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Joy, Just do it, Obedience, Praise, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Thanks, Trust

Plentitude

Here is a great quote:

Gratitude places you in the energy field of plentitude. Glow with gratitude and see how awe and joy will make their home in you. Michael Bernard Beckwith

Br. David Steindl-Rast shares this compelling invitation: “Imagine a society in which mutual trust has the leverage that our present social order accords to fear. Imagine a society in which mutual caring has the leverage that our present social order accords to egotism. If we reach the critical mass of grateful people, a surprising reorientation can take place.”

Brother David has amazing insights and goals that boggle my mind. I want to live in the world he imagines. Mutual trust, mutual caring and a critical mass of grateful people! Yes! Let’s do that instead of all the other nonsense politicians and reporters spend time upon.

Mutual Trust

Mutual Caring

Gratefulness.

Give those a try.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Challenge, Faith, Joy, Listen, Obedience, Praise, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Trust, Worship, Yield

The Same Yet Utterly Different

This is from a meditation sent by Practicing the Way during Holy Week.

“It’s still shocking: Jesus passed through death and, as you read these words, inhabits a body that ate Galilean fish and bears puncture marks from the cross, and yet is utterly different — a “walking, talking piece of new creation,” in the words of BibleProject’s Tim Mackie.

Have you contemplated this idea? Jesus, right now and right there with you, too! Our wonderful Jesus, passed from death into life and per the promise of the Father into us to live and dwell and direct our steps.

Oh such glory to God!

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” John 14:16-21 NRSVUE

The same, “yet utterly different.”

It is said He walked on earth fifty days before the ascension. As He lives and moves within us I propose that He is still walking the earth. Ponder that. Pray with that idea. Thank the Almighty for this amazing work.

Oh. Brings me to stillness and quiet within. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Let all the earth declare His mighty works of glory.

 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. Romans 8:11 NRSVUE

Surrender to the Holy Spirit. Let Christ live and move through you. Wait before the Lord in every endeavor. Trust God to work through you as you walk in obedience to the Almighty. Be amazed at the Indwelling Christ. And give thanks.

Posted on in Aging, Challenge, Faith, Focus, Joy, Just do it, Look, Obedience, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Thanks

Maya Angelou

This was noted on the website by Monasteries of the Heart which features Joan Chittister and the work of the Benedictine Sisters in her community.

April 4: “If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you will look forward, do so prayerfully. But the wisest course would be to be present in the present gratefully,” wrote Maya Angelou, who was born on this date in 1928. Angelou was a prolific author, poet, and journalist, as well as a Civil Rights activist.

Such wisdom from Maya. I have enjoyed reading some of her work. Such a life and what amazing telling of that life. The above is an challenging quote!

Look back forgivingly.
Look forward prayerfully.
Wisest course is to be present in the present GRATEFULLY.

Maybe it is because I am aging. Perhaps from walking closely with my neighbors who are dying? The gratitude in my heart seems to grow daily. Even when I am caught up in my own physical pain, I am able to be more grateful than in the past. I often recite my prayer below.

I have determined that this day, 
each time I am drawn up short by pain, 
I will praise You 
for I love You better than life - 
even better than quality of life.

I hope you can turn this time of year into a season full of forgiveness, prayer and gratitude. I believe we could all benefit from that effort!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Art, Challenge, Faith, Joy, Look, Memories, Prayer, Traveling, Trust

Forward Day by Day

This appeared in Forward Day by Day devotional. We sent it to our friends in New Mexico. They took us to this church to see the wonder of the staircase. None of us took photos that day as the postcards were spectacular. The photos here are from online.

THURSDAY, March 19      SAINT JOSEPH

Luke 2:48b. Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.

There is a legend that Saint Joseph built a staircase here in New Mexico. In Santa Fe, the Sisters of Loretto built their chapel with the blessing of Archbishop Lamy. When it was nearing completion, they realized there was no way to access the choir loft. According to the story, the sisters prayed to Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, and a stranger appeared. Working only with simple hand tools, this man built a spiral staircase with incredible technical precision and beauty. Carpenters to this day regard the staircase with awe. The man reportedly vanished when the stairway was finished, never accepting his pay.

Did Saint Joseph build the staircase? Many have debated, but as in the case of Joseph’s appearance in the gospels, the details are few. The question of faith also plays a role in the telling of the story. Rather than saying “Saint Joseph built it,” the story relies on the connection between the prayer and the mystery carpenter who arrived. It isn’t certainty but rather faith that has us reach out to God in our need and see God’s action in response.

MOVING FORWARD: Where could you use less certainty and more faith?

“a carpenter appeared with only a hammer and carpenter’s square. He built what is now known as the Miraculous Staircase with simple tools, wooden pegs and a rare wood that is not native to the American Southwest.” https://www.lorettochapel.com/our-story

Isn’t it just lovely?!? I always remember that Jesus was a carpenter, too!

Posted on in Aging, Faith, Humor, Joy, Thanks

Ginger Snap Soup

For years I have enjoyed two ginger snaps with my morning coffee. To me it is a delicious way to begin the day! I dip a ginger snap in my coffee and enjoy the flavor on my tongue. I take a sip of coffee. I dip another ginger snap and repeat the process. I usually buy Stauffer’s. They brag about being made with real ginger. I can have a couple as they have no frosting and are not likely to send my glucose soaring.

Recently Bob visited Trader Joe’s market where he picked up a tub of their Triple Ginger Snaps. Theirs are made with crystallized ginger, ginger puree, and ground ginger. Yum! We have enjoyed them before. He was disappointed when we opened them and it looked as if they had been dropped multiple times during shipping from California. I told him my friends say the broken ones have only half the calories. We were both content to eat some broken pieces. Mind you, not all of them were broken!

On a recent morning I made my coffee and got out the cookie tin. I grabbed a ginger snap and dunked it in my coffee. 80% of it disappeared into the coffee! Oh NO!! I had forgotten about the shipping damage. It had not looked broken, but obviously was. I got a tablespoon out of the drawer thinking I could get out the piece. Nope it was gone.

When I got to the bottom of my coffee cup later in the morning I was laughing that I had created Ginger Snap soup!

Do you have a recipe for ginger snap soup as easy as mine? Not likely to serve it to anyone but me!

Dunker Styles

Guess the photo defines me as a gone too far dunker! I am more careful now with these maybe broken, but not showing their cracks ginger snaps!