Dear Reader:

Being human is being crazy…it goes with the territory. We live in a crazy world that lately has gotten a lot crazier. Yet crazy doesn’t have to mean wacko, bonkers, cuckoo, batty, nutty, screwy or just plain out to lunch. 🙂

We can be crazy excited, or sad, or scared, or ready or nervous...the list could go on and on. But the best kind of crazy is crazy love…especially when referring to our Creator. God surely must be ‘crazy in love with us’ to  put up with all our antics after so many miraculous sacrifices and countless acts of forgiveness on His part…even down to the sacrifice of His Only Son.

A few years ago I read this New Times Bestseller…titled CRAZY LOVE-Overwhelmed by a Relentless God.

When we fall crazy in love with someone…doesn’t it make us feel like we can climb the highest mountain, swim the deepest ocean…solve any problem thrown at us? We are suddenly bigger than life itself!

So doesn’t it just make sense that if we allow ourselves to fall crazy in love with God...we stand a better chance of finding solutions to the problems that plague our world (with our Father beside us)… guiding us?

In the end love always wins…since God is Love…God always wins. If we’re looking for a side to join…let’s try the one of compassion and tenderness…the One and Only Who creates beauty in the universe, weeps over destruction, and loves all His Children unconditionally.

Lately my mother has been in my thoughts a lot…this happens periodically to me…but it was brought more into focus when I read this revealing excerpt about motherhood recently.

Mary Antin wrote in 1912 in The Promised Land: “We are not born all at once, but by bits. The body first and the spirit later. Initially it is the mother who endures the physical pain of childbirth…but later we, ourselves, suffer the longer pains of our spiritual growth.”

Our country is suffering the “longer pains of our spiritual growth” right now… but our hope should be, in the final conclusion, equality will be color-blind and all races will be seen and treated as one and the same. Personal choices will dictate justice, not skin color. 

So until tomorrow…I love this tribute from Beverly Barutio to her children in her book of poetry:

To my children:

You are the flesh

of my flesh,

Blood

of my blood,

But more than this

You are my

“Thank you” note to God. 

Let us always remember that every one has a mother…and for the vast majority of mothers…their children are a mother’s “Thank you” note to God. Life is sacred.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Throughout the turmoil of the times…my garden remains my sanctuary… bringing me proof of continued life and love.

There are many kinds of “gardens” in life and Tuesday evening I heard from one of my favorite all-time “student teachers” (clinical interns) from CSU to let me know about a new “bloom” in his life.

His name is Peco Sanders….he did his student teaching at Newington Elementary and was amazing  back then. As his teaching came to a close that senior year… I gave him a farewell gift- framed picture that said “Bloom Where You Are Planted” with a message to him on the back.

He has kept it all these years putting it in each classroom where he has taught. Tuesday night he shared the gift with me again…and then let me know where he is going to be “planted” this year. 🙂

TUE 9:01 PM

Becky:

Congratulations Peco! I am SO PROUD of you. I must plan to stop by and see you in your new “garden” where no doubt you will bloom spectacularly! You will make a great administrator…the greatest! Hope to see you soon! Fingers crossed for the start of this new year with all its extra challenges! However…with “Peco Sanders” around…the children will be in good hands! Your friend and now lifetime learner. Becky Dingle

5:24 PM

Peco:

I would absolutely enjoy a visit from you this upcoming school year. Thank you again for everything!!!!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

***And people ask “why we teach?”…That’s why! Because of all the “Peco Sanders” in the world!

I made some “business” (storytelling) cards from the first time I visited St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope…but never noticed before that when Honey took my photo leaving the little chapel …a subtle glow surrounded me.