Seven years ago Ellie was ill one day when her parents both had to go into work. My daughter asked if she could some sleep on our sofa. We said certainly. She inspired this prayer poem.
As I sit here watching you sleep,
my heart melts
you are so sick
not even wanting anything to drink
so ill you cannot stay awake
Eyelids that dark shade
that declares you are unwell
your lovely long eyelashes
are enchanting
just like your mother’s were
I just want to make you well
though I know I cannot
you sleep on
under your olive-green throw
and I pray over you
That Christ will heal you,
that there be no long lasting effects
of whatever ails you.
Rest, my dear Ellie,
and be made whole.
My middle Grandgirl is a darling girl. As a very young child she was a handful, at times VERY difficult to cope with. (Would love to post her young pouting photo here, but the older ones are packed away.) As she grew older she has become more and more pleasant and extremely kind.
I have always wanted to pass along my faith to my grandchildren. Difficult to know how to impart that without disrupting family dynamics. St Francis said, “Preach always. Use words if necessary.” Nicole C. Mullen was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She published this song in 2000. She speaks truth about God’s children. Hebrews 1:14 says “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
I often sang this as a prayer for my children and grandchildren to know God. One person said they would each learn by watching how Bob and I live our lives. Before middle school each Grandchild knew we loved Jesus and live for Him.
The oldest Grandgirl, Lizzie, blessed me when she went to Christian Camp in 1994 when she was in Middle School and got baptized. Her Mom invited Bob and I show up at the pool for the event! I was so tickled.
At Christmas this year our second Grandgirl, who has never liked jewelry, was wearing two necklaces. I knew she and her Mom had bought one together a few months earlier. The necklaces were inside her sweater. I asked her if it was the necklace that she and her Mom both wear. She said yes, and showed me the other one she was wearing. It was a tasteful gold cross. I was stunned. When I found my words I invited her to come into the living room with me alone. Through our masks I asked her about her cross necklace.
She said, “Mommy bought it for me.” I asked if that was a piece of fashion jewelry or if it meant more to her than that. Put on the spot, she stammered, “Well, you know, Jesus.” I refrained from jumping up and down! I told her I was so glad she believes in Him. I asked her if she would like me to get her a Bible and underline my favorite verses. She said yes, her eyes twinkling.
Many years ago I got frustrated with the concordance in the back of my Bible. I decided to make my own concordance, gathering up all the verses with special meaning to me. That is my major remaining project before we move. Marking two New Testaments for the Grandgirls to have as their own with my favorite verses highlighted.
They have their own angels assigned to them now. I am beyond delighted. It was a Christmas surprise I continue to rejoice over!
Death came early in my life as so many relatives were much older than me. My mother gave birth to my sister and I late her life. In childhood the “holy cards” from funerals became some of my cherished possessions. I remember as a teenager pinning them to the wall near my bed. Even today, I have a few to help me center during my prayer time.
We are not only packing, but as we were readying to show the house we stripped away all sorts of things from our lives. Molly, do you really need all of this stuff? Is this part of that 2021 ‘Transform’ word now being experienced? Less and less of me and more of You Lord! Had to put away those cards.
Now I need to hold fast to my Lord without those images to center me. He is love and grace and mercy. There is no image that can comprise all of His attributes. I must simply let Him guide me and keep hold of my hand.
Lead on, O King Eternal.
Likely ten weeks until we are moved, unpacked and beginning to settle again. Lord, continue to keep us well, I pray. Over 500,000 deaths in the USA due to Covid-19 and still counting with new variants looming.
Talking with Tony about packing made me realize anew how many open containers of cleaning agents I have and I need to pack. Will we really leave things for him to do or go into a frenzy doing packing ourselves? And then our energy runs out. Help us pace ourselves for Your work and kindness towards each other.
When I was a nanny one child I kept used to rub the sauce in her eyes every time we served it to her! Yuck. I would think that would burn her eyes! That habit required a head bath after lunch in the kitchen sink while she laid upon the kitchen counter!
Have you played with a babbloony lately? Kate loved them!
When Emily was small she used to sing, lots! One of her favorites was “Hallelujah to the Wham!” Yep, the Lamb was Jesus. I loved that! Always reminded me that Almighty Jesus packs a punch!
When Lizzie was small she called Polka Dots, Polka Spots. Makes a lots of sense if you ponder it for a moment. Now our beagle, Lucky, sports polka spotted legs!
Grandma Snapp played the piano most of her life. My Grandfather was a preacher. Grandma played the piano. My mother, their only daughter for 21 years, was made to lead the hymns standing on a soapbox.
In her last years Grandma Snapp drummed her fingers on the table. That made my mother crazy! I always imagined she was perhaps playing part of a piano piece?
When I turned 65, I found myself unconsciously drumming a rhythm with my fingers. When I realized what I was doing I wondered, do I do it because Grandma did? Is it hereditary? I am not a pianist. The rhythm seems comforting.
iPhone will let you set your vibration signal. I have mine set for incoming calls. Guess how I set mine? Yep, same rhythm! Find it under ringtone, custom vibration.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
-Luke 12:19-21 New Revised Standard Version.
When I was a child my mother collected Betty Crocker coupons points from flour and box mixes. When we had saved enough points we could order things from the Betty Crocker catalog. Researching this article I realized that is likely where she ordered my baby spoon from!
When I was a young teen we had a Home Economics class. The teacher told us to to choose an everyday flatware pattern based upon our preference of design and how easy it would be to keep the pattern clean. My mother let me use her coupons to order this spoon.
Yep! I still have it. The design is great to get frozen hard gelato out of the container! 🙂
When we were in Ireland we were fascinated by the multitude of stone walls. The land is so rocky that those smart people used the stones to build with. Walking in a village one day the roadway was lined with stone walls on either side. I noticed something shining out of the wall. I pulled on it and much to my surprise was the item below!
At first glance what does it remind you of? I could not have been more shocked!
Side by side you can see they are not identical, but I was shocked to see the similarities! Was someone walking to work eating and finished their food? Decided to store the fork for later? Then forgot where it was? I will never know, but it became one of my found souvenirs. The tines are a little bent but I treasure it. I do not value it over my Lord. Unless He fills me and guides me with His Holy Spirit I am as useless as a fork stuck in the gaps of a stone wall.
I ran out the door
to pick daffodils before the rain beat upon them.
Wandering up the hill I looked over the white Trout Lilies,
Then noticed something most unusual!
The time for tapping maples has passed
Yet here bubbles sap - at base of the walnut tree?
No!
Rain is simply percolating through the rugged bark!
In concert with gravity it creates a bubble fountain of joy.
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
-Helen Keller
I have had a chronic pain condition for so many years, at the moment I have lost track how many. I cope with that and osteoarthritis among other things. So hard to think when ill. Or plan, or organize two thoughts in a row. That would apply during a flare up. Then there is acute pain. Usually short lived like a broken arm or smashed thumb in a door. Lately I have had a “virus” that was going around. Now we are into week 3 and the thing has settled into what seems to be an ear infection. Blood work is fine. Second Covid test is negative. I still feel like I’ve been hit by a dump truck.
Trying to stay cheerful is difficult. Trying to carry on as usual, forget it. No appetite, dizzy, nauseous and never mind … the list is too long.
The world is full of suffering and of overcoming. I often console myself remembering that I do not live in a refugee camp. I am not living in the tent I saw in the woods the other day. I am a woman who is loved and safe and this, too, will pass, eventually.
Helen was about the same age as my paternal Grandmother. Thank you, whoever saved Helen Keller’s quotes. We all need to be reminded that we have sources within ourselves or ways we can learn to cope and overcome. Some days you just need to stay in bed!
“Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their families, their histories too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems.”
As we make more plans about our upcoming move this spring this quote spoke loudly to me. If you have followed my blog for a year you know my attachments to our gardens and trees which we have cultivated over the last 15 years. (Difficult to grasp we have been in this house that long!) Some of the bulbs, ferns and the rose bush we brought from our previous home.
Not to mention the rose, the large purple iris from Kentucky, etc. etc.
The quote above encourages me to remember, talk to them, listen to them and acknowledge that they are alive poems. When we moved here part of the motivation was I could no longer keep my gardens due to arthritis. And then at this address my husband kept building flower beds and I kept putting in perennials, especially spring flowers.
It is hard to say goodbye. Now I must decide what plants are going with us and what we leave behind. At the last house the new people did not keep up the flower beds. That was sad. At the house we are moving to there will likely not be sod in the yard or a place for a flower bed for weeks or months. Our son assures me my plants can live in pots for quite a long time. How much can I truly care for in the near future?
Can the old rose bush tolerate another transplanting?
Should I do a cutting of the pussy willow shrub? Is this the time to pare down not only our possessions but our gardening activities, too? Most likely true. Most of the plants and bulbs we could easily purchase again (or sneak over here when no one is home if they do not have cameras and dig up what we cannot live without!) Evil woman’s mind at work.
At this point I think the rose, one or two fern crowns and columbine. Time will tell!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 