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Showing posts from July, 2017

Are You A Shark or a Water Lily?

A friend sent me a photo of water lilies that she captured with her cell phone in the park near my home.  The dainty flower reminds me of a story I wrote a while back about a select group of strong, naughty church women and their interaction with a pacifist.  Today’s repost with minimal changes carries a lesson for all types of personalities.   I’m a water lily, but I’ve learned how to swim with the sharks. Water lilies don’t move much.  They like the still, quiet water, like a pond, and they just sit there looking peaceful.  Their real strength is underneath, below the surface.  Their root system under the flower attaches itself to the soil beneath, sometimes as deep as  six feet .   Sharks, on the other hand, are good swimmers.  They keep moving to breathe and stay afloat.  They have sharp teeth and they’re sensitive to motion and  attracted to blood .  They appear out of nowhere and  circle their prey ! I yearned to be on the board of my church’s Women’s Minis

Ireland, A Child's View

I found myself checking my phone often in hopes of hearing from my eight year old granddaughter.  That was a few weeks ago when  I wondered if she enjoyed traveling in Ireland.   I hoped she packed the right clothes and imagined her sightseeing in that beautiful country.   She sent me texts with hints of fun times on this trip with her dad! The best thing about last week was Friday when Sookie and her dad drove up to have dinner with us.  I knew little about Ireland and looked forward to hearing her experience.  It made me happy that she wanted to visit Papa and I just as soon as she returned to the states.    They narrated their photos from a slideshow and told us all about the castles, old churches and bed & breakfasts in Kilarney, Limerick, cork and Dublin over their fourteen-day stay. Sookie told me fresh orange juice topped the list of her favorite foods!  They described Irish food as sausage and cabbage mash (a potato mixture.)  Of course, they bragged about the

The Story of the Jackhammer

There’s a shortage of good stories out there in the news.  Are uplifting experiences at a record low these days?   Let’s replace negativity with love!  I heard a wonderful story that deserves to be told.  It's a story about good-hearted people that really care for others.   Sixty Minutes should tell the story.   They won't but I will.   Eight years ago my daughter moved to a middle class neighborhood in southern California.  She gave birth to her firstborn.  Her navy officer husband abandoned her while overseas leaving her as a single mom with no family close by, no friendships.  She had not yet found a church family.  God answered our prayers; He provided the best neighbors. Diversity in the Hood The wonderful neighbors surrounded my daughter with offers to help with the new baby and dropped by with food and baby gifts.  They listened and hugged her in her pain. You might think the neighborhood rooted from a faith-based group. Anything but!  The neighbo

Small Towns and Mountain Roads

Sometimes you just have to get away from it all and get into the mountains.  That's what we did recently.  We got in the car and drove into the mountains with no particular destination in mind. We needed to break up our routine and look at different scenery.   We traveled along the Mogollon Rim, a mountain range in Northern Arizona.  I Like Small Towns We parked our car in Pine, a very small town consisting of one main street,  and ate at our favorite mom and pop little diner.  They cook everything from scratch and I yearned for a slice of homemade fruit pie. Unfortunately, they were out of fruit pies.  I'm not keen on cream pie, so we decided on a little breakfast with our coffee while we enjoyed the cooler weather and local clientele.   On the way back to our car we noticed the townspeople setting up what looked like an exhibit in the park.  We noticed crafts, booths with food, picnic tables, kettle corn, and interesting presentations.  I felt right at home with th

Come to the Table

I hadn’t thought much about the privilege of being invited to someone’s table. I found a plastic bin under my bed.  When I snapped the top open, I discovered hundreds of loose photographs that needed to be organized. A special old photo of sitting at a table with my sister caught my eye.  She took me house hunting with her during one of my visits to Chicago.  We spotted a local housing development that featured beautiful new homes and we inspected the layout of a model home and relaxed in the furniture!  The dated photo reveals archaic décor with mauve and gold accessories and paisley drapes.  Funny how we drooled over that style several decades ago!   I stared at the photo of us posing at the table.  My sister had a way of expressing her affection for me as she raised her glass and toasted:  "I am excited you're here with me.  I look forward to our upcoming days together shopping, cooking, planning family dinners and casually hanging out together." Our glas