Joy Appears Daily in Many Shapes and Forms…

Dear Reader:

Many of the God Winks I refer to on this personal post… actually arrive…bearing a ” wink of humor” to lighten our lives for a moment of laughter and levity… I call them ” Twinkle Winks.”

Joy is found in so many different forms and shapes… including faith, beauty, and ( especially for me, humor.)

Yesterday- I happened upon Barbara Johnson’s book Daily Splashes of Joy… and found myself grinning and relating to several scenarios in her writings.

I literally flipped open the book and read the daily joy ( on this random page) finding myself nodding and silently thinking ” Me,too!”

*****And I will have one ” Big Red” geranium on my front porch in heaven**

**Do stop by and we will ” party down.”**

I, also, find joy in beauty… from pictures of locations I would love to see upclose and personal to observations made by children in all their refreshing honesty.

**Amalifi Coast-Italy! ( Takes my breath away!)**

Yesterday I had two cups of joy… Jeff arrived to cut the grass… and when he leaves… everything just looks so pristine and pretty… joy!

But the most important joy with Jeff arriving was that he was getting over a 48 hour virus that laid him low… so I kept checking on him because I was his third ” cut” by the time he arrived and I was anxious for him not to overdo! He kept reassuring me he was good to go.

But it reminded me of an anecdote in Barbara Johnson’s book about a little boy and his prayer to God. ( Sweet humor with truth embodied)

” Dear God, take care of the whole world. And please, God, take care of Yourself, or we’re all sunk.” ( AMEN!)

Sometimes joy and disaster seems miles apart- as in the latest Maui Wildfire… ( so hard to watch) such unimaginable destruction-I am sure joy comes mainly in discovering loved ones’ survival and reuniting’s with friends, neighbors- even strangers and pets.

But even in this mind-boggling destruction life lessons on faith can be discovered -as in this old photo of another flood years ago that hit one particular town and this sign one citizen constructed for display.

So until tomorrow… when we finally turn disaster (beyond’s anyone control) over to God with a sigh of resignation and wry humor…

… it probably looks something like Eloise’s exaggerated ” Just Breathe” sign interpretation!

Today is my favorite day/Winnie the Pooh

As Jeff was weed-eating the grass that was practically covering the two small hibiscus plants with blooms ( larger than the plants) a second bloom opened! For joy!

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”

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