( Postcard- “The Little White Church” Eaton, NH)

Dear Reader:

I came across this notecard, while looking for a frame for a special water color “extraordinaire” Eva Cate is getting for her sixth birthday and kindergarten graduation. (More details later) Both will be here before we know it.

When I saw this (title) sketch…I immediately enlarged it  so I could see the outline of the church, its steeple, and the neighboring trees more clearly…slightly set apart from the dense fog of its surrounding.

There was just something about the scene that drew me to it. The church represented security, comfort, and safety from the encroaching mist creeping in around it. I could picture myself in the scene running as fast as I could…keeping my eyes on the steeple which represented refuge for lost souls.

Two weeks of keeping one’s own company can be very tedious and frankly, just plain boring. On the other hand, it allows time to pull up some old, dusty musings from different stages in our lives and look at them again…from the perspective of the latest stage  we are in.

The first thought that popped into my mind, when I saw the ‘little white church’… was the idea of feeling lost and then realizing I was almost home. During all the different stages of my life I have always felt, at times, like a foreigner or maybe a tourist in an alien land that I know, intuitively, is not my home.

This land has given me family and friends to support me and encourage me, from childhood to adulthood, on my “tour” through it. But it has also shown me the imperfections that lie hidden within it. In this life…nothing is quite as it seems.

Somewhere, along the journey, the truth hits us. This is not a sightseeing “tour”…it is a hands-on experience and our mission is to discover  our own hidden “talents/treasures/passions” and try to leverage the “imperfections” with our best efforts…to make the world a better place for having been here.

There is a homesickness that touches many of us throughout our life experience because we all sense that this life isn’t our home….it is just a temporary dwelling until we can finally return to our original home. The one we still get only glimpses of in this life…that unexpected sense of deja vu...having been somewhere we have never been before…the tingling excitement that shoots through us and then just as quickly  disappears. So we continue on…

So until tomorrow: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Eliot quotes …

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

 *Mollie and Marcia….Have either of you seen this little church or been there? Just curious?

While I have been coughing my lungs out…Jakie is climbing to higher places and Miss Eva Cate is preparing to dazzle the world with her first dance recital next month.

*Shelly Baker sent me this hilarious true anecdote last evening and….Oh how my grandmother would have loved it!

My 86 year old mother’s cousin has been sick for a couple of weeks. She called mom this week and since mom was out left the following message, “Evelyn, I’m just calling to let you know that you no longer have to hunt for a black dress to wear to my funeral, I’m feeling a bit better today.” Mom returned the call and when Sarah answered mom said, “Sorry I missed your call, I was at the thrift store looking for a black dress!” Some humor to lift your spirits, prayers for a speedy recovery, and lots of love from my heart to yours.

I tasted meat for the first time last evening….Anne brought hamburgers by last night…I only got through half of it…but for me it was the most in quite a few days….I am woman, hear me roar!

The sun came out beautifully last evening and Anne and I walked around the garden and front yard….Look at the dew on my (and my neighbor Vickie’s) rose bush….the rain droplets glistening from the earlier rains. Like the songbird in Archibald Rutledge’s story…I felt God’s presence in the glistening roses….I will be well….just need to practice patience.