Dear Reader:
*Pardon the last minute insert but at 3:56 yesterday afternoon the number of views rolled over to 50,000. This blog reminds me of the tortoise and the hare….some bloggers have picked up that number in a few hours or days….but my blog isn’t about winning a race…it is about observing life as a beautiful stroll, taking in all of God’s beauty while holding His Hand and listening to His guidance.. (From Nov 25, 2015 until March 16, 2016)
For many of you who have joined us just recently and those who have been faithful viewers from the start…I hope the past few days have given you a “schema” (as educators like to say) a foundation for the events leading up to the creation of this blog or reminded you of earlier stories.
It all began with a beautiful, memorable wedding in 2008 (Mandy’s at Edisto) then an abrupt diagnosis of breast cancer, a not encouraging prognosis pertaining to the adversary, years of various treatments, and a gut-wrenching search for something for me to leave behind that would give credence to my existence.
An answer to my prayers arrived in the form of a friend and a chapel, a blog, a two and-a-half year storytelling contest between myself and the fictitious Scheherazade, an annual family/friend “race for the cure” to give back to others, and the discovery of an inner joy that can’t be diminished by time.
If, at any point, I had given into the idea that it was too ‘late’ to do this or start that…the blog would never have been created. Every time a new time-line hurdle appeared, I just went on and made my plans. Let the chips fall where they may.
As I return from past memories (from the last few days) until the here and now….I know that our “homework” this week for our new Sunday School study on insecurities and God’s role in us… is just another God’s Wink.
If you would take a moment to read the verses below (that match the verses in the title photo from Psalm 139)….you will come to Verse 16: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
……………………………….
This is proof that we are to go about living our lives to their fullest because none of us knows what is written in our own unique book concerning the length of our story…our life. (Scheherzade discovered this when I “skunked” her by completing the 1002nd story May 29, 2013.)
The late Wayne Dyer used to often say…. “Remember, we aren’t human beings sharing a spiritual experience on earth….We are all spiritual beings sharing a human experience.” (Now I see everyone differently ….physical appearances diminish while I go ‘soul searching’ instead.)
Matthew Block reminds us that body and soul are integral components of our “being,” our “essence.” He tells us:
When God created Adam, after all, he formed him to be both a physical and spiritual being. He took physical elements (the dust) and spiritual elements (God’s own breath), and made one creature of them. And this dual-nature doesn’t cease when we leave this world, even if death may cause a temporary dissolution between body and soul. (Resource: Spiritual Origins of Souls and Bodies)
It just occurred to me that the split-second (which seems like an eternity) of time between a child being born and that first breath of air and cry escaping to let everyone know he/she has arrived….must be the moment when God bends down and breathes His own Breath into each of us…planting that divine spark inside.
I realize now that the search to find that spark and ignite it takes a life-time. One that I am happily anxious to continue discovering.
So until tomorrow….Let us all work together to look for the spirit in each other over the physical appearance…it is only there where we can really come to know another.
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
Look at our most adorable Caleb….Brooke can hardly stay away from this smiling, singing, dancing grandson of hers….multi-talented….Top of the morning to you too Caleb! Always keep that smile!!!!
*Had breakfast out and found this perfect St. Patrick’s Day hat….along with a formosa bush filled with our state flower vine…the Yellow Jessamine….it’s got to be a good luck day today.
*As I have been delving into the past….spring has sprung in Summerville and our town is at its most beautiful-(“Time waits for no man or woman going backwards in time.”) This is the first spring since the renovations last summer….and everything still looks freshly painted and new…..such contentment. Home sweet Home.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!… which means HAPPY BIRTHDAY LACHLAN…..the cutest little leprechaun around. One year old today! Sending smooches and kisses….”Top of the morning to you” Little men with hats….they take after Dad with that captivation. When Walsh was little it is hard to find a photo of him without a hat on….all kinds and shapes.
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
Loved the soul searching concept ..we are so caught up in our physical appearance that we forget to make make sure that all is well with our doul…that is what truly matters…