Dear Reader:

Well everything went great with the eye surgery yesterday morning… which was really more of a “zap” moment with a laser machine than actually surgery. I was quite relieved…Brooke and I celebrated with chicken biscuits from Chick Filet.

Brooke brought me beautiful flowers which certainly brightened up “The Happy Room” but in reality it was Brooke’s presence that was the real gift…the gift of time and friendship. We had so much fun catching up and laughing…which extended into yesterday’s visit…Brooke and I kept laughing over the silliest things in the waiting room.

It was the only laughter in there…but I did notice that instead of getting annoyed glances…most people looked like they wanted to be part of the fun and not just sit there bored while staring down at their iPhones. There is actually great beauty in the freedom of laughter. It is infectious!

After Brooke left I decided to put on my “special” sunglasses and take a walk…out in the warm sunny day. It felt so good to just breathe in and out the fresh air…particularly after being crammed in the waiting room wondering how sick someone might be sitting next to you …Everyone is so paranoid now with this flu epidemic that just a cough from someone sends fellow patients grabbing tissues and slumping down in their sweaters and jackets…fearing another kind of an “infectious” possibility that isn’t funny.

As I was climbing back up Old Country Club Road…I noticed a beautiful arrangement (title photo) in front of Jean Rogge’s home. I realized that just seeing the arrangement made me smile…made me happy….my happy beauty of the day.

Jean and I know each other from teacher organizations that we both belonged to at one time…Jean is just like her front porch floral arrangement and her lovely brick home. Both are stately, gracious, unpretentious, and the epitome of good southern manners and personalities.

I started thinking that on the days I walk I am going to find at least one “happy” item of beauty to write about in my Happy Box. Soon…I will be able to see a pattern of things that make me happy.

I love this description of beauty by John O’Donohue.

On these bleak, rather colorless days in January, I think we all desire to see more color, more beauty around us in nature…we miss it. And O’Donohue is right…”When we experience the beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming.” 

Shirley Dixon sent me a story she thought I’d like…some of you might have received it too…it reminded me of a couple of similar stories I have heard from different cultures…but the story reminds us how limited our vision is and why we need to rely on God with His limitless vision to steer us in the right direction.

Once upon a time…there was a King, who had a male servant who, in all circumstances,  said to him; “My king, do not be discouraged because everything God does is perfect, He makes no mistakes.”

One day, the king and his servant went hunting and a wild animal attacked the king. The servant managed to kill the animal but couldn’t prevent his majesty from losing a finger. Furious and without showing gratitude, the King said:  “If God is so good, I should not have been attacked and lost my finger.”

The servant replied, “Despite all these things, I can only tell you that God is good and everything He does is perfect… He is never wrong.”

Outraged by the response, the king ordered the arrest of his servant. While being taken to prison, he told the king again: “God is good and perfect.”

A few days later the king left alone for another hunt and was captured by savages who used human beings for sacrifice. On the altar, the savages found out that the king didn’t have one finger in place, so he was released because he was considered not “complete, an “imperfection“…certainly not  good enough to be offered to the gods.

On his return to the palace, he ordered the release of his servant and said: “My friend, God was really good to me. I was almost killed but for lack of a single finger, I was let go.”

But I still have a question: “If God is so good, why did He allow me to put you in prison?”

His servant replied: “My king, if I had not been put in prison, I would have gone with you, and then I would have been sacrificed, because I have no missing finger. Everything God does is perfect, He is never wrong.” 

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*Thanks Shirley for sharing this story…a lesson we all need to remember.

So until tomorrow…The longer we live and can look back on the pieces of our past (that never seemed to fit at the time) the more aware we are that our life’s puzzle is being completed one piece at a time…until every piece is in place…only then can we see the conclusion and purpose to our journey.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh