Dear Reader:

It never ceases to amaze me how far-sighted God’s vision is…while we think a terrible episode in our lives is the end of life as we know it …God knows it is just a stepping stone to the real beauty of life waiting for us…just over the horizon and beyond the realm of human understanding. We see only a piece of the final outcome and think it is final…not realizing it is an important piece for getting to our own unique destinations…but definitely not the ending.

My garden is looking pretty pitiful (these days) in some sections …fallen dead brown twigs where green shoots used to bloom….faded yellow leaves slowly turning dark and brittle. The garden is dormant and concentrating on getting the rest it needs down deep in the ground to return again in the spring….more beautiful than before.

We can’t see it now and it seems a stretch of the imagination as we wait for the early signs of spring to see which plants make it and which don’t…but there is always hidden surprises each spring that delights the  one who waits.

In this anecdotal lesson from Sheila Walsh (“A Beautiful Ending”-Devotionals Daily) we learn an important lesson about why we should be patient when our eyes only behold the “once was” or we fuss over supposedly destructive “enemies” in the garden…because we just never know what might appear from these barren and bleak images and situations. Are we really seeing an ending or a beginning, an enemy or a friend?

The emperor of China had a problem. Something was destroying his mulberry trees. So he did what any brilliant man does when faced with a problem he can’t handle: he turned it over to his wife!

When Empress Ce Ling Shee looked at the trees, she noticed a moth laying eggs on the mulberry leaves, eggs that of course hatched into caterpillars. After a few days, each caterpillar spun a thread that it wrapped itself in, forming a cocoon. The empress plucked one of the cocoons from the leaves and dropped it in hot water. Slowly, the delicate and beautiful thread began to unwind. It was a half mile long when the empress stretched it out and measured it! Then it occurred to her: perhaps this thread could be woven into cloth.

And that was the moment the silk trade was born. An empire of extraordinary beauty and wealth began with an emperor’s garden disaster!

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How lucky I am to live in the lowcountry of South Carolina where our holiday plants can thrive for much longer time periods than in other sections of our country. All my poinsettias are now on the porch and just loving the cooler weather… (and it is about to get colder actually.) It will have to drop pretty low and stay there before the weather affects the poinsettias protected on the porch and/or the pansies, however.

* I added pansies outside my office window for my enjoyment….and hopefully for the birds to enjoy also….while nibbling next door at the bird feeder.

One basket hangs near the glass bottles and brightens up that section of the front yard for the car drivers’ (riding by) pleasure.

“Little Big Red” is just as happy as he can be….he definitely inherited his father’s strong genes…new sprouts/buds are beginning to pop out all over and I am remembering to keep turning the planter around so it doesn’t get too top heavy leaning in one direction all the time.

So until tomorrow….“When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.” Billy Graham

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*A shout-out to my little niece Adelyn ! (Bekah’s daughter) You might remember she had a part in “School of Rock” a few months back and enjoyed the experience so much she tried out for the upcoming children’s musical at our Flowertown Theater here in Summerville…called Seussical. 

Seussical is a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the children’s stories of Dr. Seuss, with most of its plot being based on Horton Hears a Who! while incorporating many other stories. The musical’s name is a combination of “Seuss” and musical.

Ady got one of the leading roles portraying a character named Jo Jo…a smart child with a wild imagination. This will be her largest role to date…one that  requires singing and dancing- she was especially excited to get one of the key roles since there were sixty-something interested participants in the first set of try-outs.

We are very proud of you Ady and can hardly wait to see you ‘do your thing‘ girl! I will bring all your little cousins to come watch you perform! The show runs from April 5th- 13th! This production is for the young and young at heart.

*An important good luck charm has been added to “Surcie” (an guardian angel car gift from K.C.) …. And did I forget to tell you that “Surcie”  is what I decided to call my car. The car is silver and she could be called “The Silver Surcie” or on spunky days “The Sassy Surcie“… but, instead, I have found myself just calling her “Surcie.”

The origin of the word explains why I picked it….

“Surcie” is pronounced “Sir-See.”  It is a lowcountry (Charleston area) tradition of providing an unexpected gift or treat given just for the fun of it or to recognize someone for what they have done, or how they have affected your life.

Since my beautiful children surprised me with am unexpected “surcie” down-payment on my car….I have known that this car has been  special from the beginning…owned not only by me (and the bank)…but also, symbolically, by my wonderful family. An amazing Christmas surcie! Now that was a “boo-hoo” Boo surprise!!!! 🙂

 Honey called me yesterday morning to say that “Hope” has been her word of the year every year and every morning she has a plaque by her bed with this picture on it. When she saw “Fat Sammy” sitting atop the hope glass block with the verse from Emily Dickinson yesterday in the blog she just had to call and say how much that verse means to her personally also. It is a good one and Hope and Honey go together very well!

My pansies are loving the barrel and the cool sunshiny days we have had lately!