Friendship is definitely like a garden that needs to be tended in many ways… weeded, watered, fertilized, picked and enjoyed. Friendship is work, mostly fun, but sometimes it’s just about “remaining.” We stay steady, show up, share, endure a tough season, fight off the drought, pray strong, laugh at ourselves (a whole lot of this), cry together, and sometimes just sit together and wait. Friends who remain are a gift from God. I pray you have friends who remain and that you will be a friend who remains. I so want that for myself.
Proverbs 17:17a - “A friend loves at all times…”
Recently, a dear friend, my sister, and I went over to our little Orange Beach cabin that our Dad built himself back in 1955. We had less than 48 hours to spend together, and we almost didn’t go because it seemed like it wasn’t worth the effort it took to prepare for such a short time. But once we were there, between games of Scrabble®; coffee on the porch; a couple of nice meals out; and celebrating our faith, our families and the hopes of each of our unique passions, work and callings, we all came back to our “regular lives” renewed and refreshed… and realizing short can be so sweet. Hope you can find a simple “short is sweet” in your life.
On writing songs:
Have you wondered why there is a big yellow legal pad gracing the background on my site? Yellow legal pads often lived on my kitchen counter amongst coffee mugs, lunch boxes, homework and cereal bowls. I had a love affair with yellow legal pads. Their presence was an open invitation to create with my pen and let the thoughts of my heart flow out into songs that would express my hopes, my dreams, and my longings for myself and for those I love.
Not too long ago I became a Mac owner. Sorry, Mac, I love you dearly and would not trade you, but yellow legal pads will always be my first love.
Finding the sacred in the mundane of everyday...
I heard a speaker to a group of young moms say, “It’s a good thing if you can find a way to put ruffles on your routines.” As a mother of four, that thought became a framework that often helped me to stop and savor the hectic pace of working… laundry, carpooling, cooking, cleaning and just all the everyday stuff that makes our lives work. The sacred was not the ruffles. They helped, but the true beauty, the real sacred discovery, was the people God created and gave me to love. Blessings to you as you discover your sacred in the mundane of everyday.
Matthew 6:20-21 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (NIV)
When our first grandchild, Natalie Grace, was about 2 years old we took a small wooden treasure chest that had held various receipts, misplaced small parts of household items, some loose coins, and we emptied it to invent a new game that would become “The Treasure Chest Hunt.” It didn’t take long for these words to become the first words out of her mouth when she walked through our door. “Treasure Chest, Treasure Chest Hunt, Big B!!!”
Using 3x5 cards Bob (Big B) makes clues that lead to the Treasure Chest, usually ending up in a an unlikely place (like the dryer) or in a “dry bathtub”! I think the hunt is far more fun than the find of the treasure treat.
Now, there are three little pirates (Natalie, Amelia, and Hunter) hunting for the treasure, so the fun and the treats have increased... it’s just too far for these little ones to come from New York to Alabama. I don’t remember signing up on the long distance Grandmother list. :)
