Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

The phrase ” meeting people where the are” has gained in popularity the past few years. What does this expression really mean? It means ” bridging the gap between your own expectations and where the other person is coming from. It means closely listening to understand their values, needs, desires, and even their trauma responses. It is a skill everyone should learn” ( Dawn Perez)

Being able to understand another’s position means holding back on negative judgment and instead taking time to objectively assess the situation and person’s personal position. With assessment one can get to the other person’s level to understand and interpret where they are and how best to help them.

Right now my family is dealing with this situation… it isn’t easy because people will rarely ask of you ” Meet me where I am.” We must take it upon ourselves to meet people where they are.

So until tomorrow novelist Brad Meltzer best sums up the situation with this quote-” Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Lee, Ben’s son left yesterday to visit his dad in Conway-The medical technicians are still running tests so Ben is still in the hospital. Hopefully tomorrow the results of all the tests will have been assessed and we will have a clearer picture of what is going on. Hopefully Ben will be released this morning so Lee can bring him to my house to help him recuperate. We could use some prayers please! Thank you!

* Mother, Ben, and Lee ( photo)

Dear Reader:

One of our greatest challenges in life is finding inner happiness. It isn’t that we don’t know how to find it…we simply don’t make time for inner happiness, contentment and joy.

We know what to do… we simply don’t do it. Too many times we let ourselves get lost in activities that put everyone’s needs in front our own. Slowly the joy of life begins draining away. We know what would make us happy but then we feel guilt over putting our own needs first.

Haven’t we all been stuck in this mud mire of hopelessness at one time or another? But been ashamed to seem selfish with our time-making time to be happy?

Robert Puff, Ph.D throws an interesting perception on the situation. By giving ourselves permission to fill our own cups, we can then give to others around us.

Think about Psalm 13 … ” My cup runneth over. ” Not only do we have enough for ourselves but plenty left over to share with others.

That’s the key. We can’t give from our own emptiness. .. that’s a sure path to burn-out. Giving time to ourselves enables us to give to others.

So until tomorrow…Let’s make time for happiness. It does take time, it does take effort, but the rewards are truly countless.

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Let me share some of my garden happiness with you-my blooms runneth over!

Dear Reader:

As luck would have it… I texted Anne yesterday and asked what she thought happened with the weather prediction of a 70% chance of thunderstorm and pouring rain. She responded: ” ” By guess and by golly” I reckon.

I started laughing-had never heard that expression -told her it must be a ” Yankee” expression! It means… relying on guesswork and luck… like weather forecasters! 🤣

But finally around 5:30 yesterday afternoon the 70 % hit all at once as you can see from the title picture! Then it turned into 100%!

Actually I was glad it held off since this was moving in day for Camp Christopher at Seabrook. I could hardly wait for Mandy to get home and tell me all about it. It took awhile to get everyone settled in and to Eva Cate’s great relief one of her friends was in her cabin… slowly the hopeful smile appeared!

Sadly my day turned into guesswork too wondering what was going on with my brother. He had a dizzy spell yesterday and ended up in the ER unit at Conway Medical running through a battery of tests.

As I type this Ben is being kept for overnight observation and checks on his oxygen levels. He talked with me and sounded fine… but I am anxiously awaiting the doctor’s assessment today. Please keep him in your prayers!

I hope the magic of Anne’s first moonflower is a good sign that God is watching over first year campers and big brothers.

So until tomorrow ” by guess and by golly ” don’t we all rely on God’s steadfast vigilance over each of us? The only guesswork is on our end most times but never God’s…

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

My beautiful jungle side garden -expanding in its own natural beauty.

Dear Reader:

Every day when we wake up the possibility of a memorable daily delight awaits us… the secret… being open to the prospect that it exists.

Ross Gay came upon this same conclusion about a year ago and decided to start writing a daily essay about each delight … compiling it into a Treatise on Delights. ( Covers a Year Time Period)

He shares one story on-line in an audio-tape that I loved. It is called ” Tomato on Board.”

Having been given a little three inch tomato plant seedling starter box Ross is trying to figure out how to get it on board the plane. When he stuffs it in his carry on bag the alarm goes off and sheepishly he pulls it out to show the inspector. The inspector laughs and say that he doesn’t know how to check that… so just carry it. Now one stem is broken so Ross decides the inspector is right-he will just carry it on.

And that is when the ” shower of love ” begins. The flight attendant decides to adopt it while on the trip and repeatedly inquires about the little seedling at least five times-calling it ” my tomato.” Where‘s my tomato, How’s my tomato, You didn’t lose my tomato did you?” She even directed Ross to an open seat in the exit row: “Why don’t you guys go sit there and stretch out? “ ” Put it in the windowsill to get some sun! ”

Everyone on board also loved the tomato seedling like he was carrying a baby-smiling warmly. Someone brought water for it and another brought a tiny cloth to keep it warm.

As the plane landed and put on brakes Ross automatically threw his arm across it …buckled in the seat next to him to protect it. Suddenly a memory of his father doing that for him, as a child, when he sat upfront in the passenger seat before seat belts popped into his mind. He loved that human gesture more than any other human bonding growing up and now he was doing it for a little tomato sapling-a daily delight he has never forgotten.

So until tomorrow…

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Eva Cate is off to her first away from home camp today! She is prone to homesickness so praying they keep her busy as a bee and she has a terrific time!

Dear Reader:

If you are a Lowcountry gardener… the most challenging time of the year has arrived. How to

keep the spring/ early summer plants alive! It ” ain’t” easy! Overwater and you get root rot, under water and you get fried Gerber daisies. Suddenly all the earlier blooming plants have black spindly stems-even a beautiful bloom at the end of the stem doesn’t make up for the ugly ” holders.”

But then comes the cavalry … the Lowcountry lantana! For years during the Victorian period lantana was considered an ornamental plant with its diversified clusters of varied colorful flowers. It especially helped that lantana was drought resistant.

Now, however, due to its

aggressive weed-like growth and toxic nature, it is classified as a weed. And I, for one, am so happy and appreciative for it!

It fills in gaps where earlier flowers have given up the ” ghost” with much beauty-the hotter and drier the better!

Over the years I have added more color combinations than the traditional yellow and what an asset they are in the dog days of August. Here are some samples from my garden.

Yesterday…while watering my side garden I happened to glance down and from out of nowhere a sprig of lantana was growing all by itself… one bloom…another garden mystery-soon it will spread and cover the side garden for some ground foliage! Perfect!

Today scientists consider being ” human” a folk category, not a scientific one, and science can’t settle the question of what kinds of beings are human for the same reason it can’t settle the question of what kinds of plants are weeds.

For me it’s all in the eyes of the beholder.. as seen through our Creator-it is true …”Everyone and Everything is beautiful in their own way.”

So until tomorrow…

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Some days the past just seems to creep up on us… leaving us lost in memory … thinking to ourselves… ” Those really were the days.”

When I first visited Hampton Plantation in 1973 the old Rutledge plantation had just been turned over to the state and was now a National Landmark. Just a week after my initial visit the Post and Courier announced the passing of Archibald Rutledge -the last private owner of the once rice plantation.

The state was still doing much needed renovations and repairs on the old house but eighth grade South Carolina teachers were given an amazing opportunity to walk the grounds and see certain sections of the mansion. It was the day I fell in love with it.

I started reading every book I could get my hands on by Archibald Rutledge and had my first deja vu episode while bringing baby Mandy home from the hospital after giving birth.

I still remember the nurse and orderly getting me situated in the passenger seat and handing me little Mandy. No baby car seats… just me with one belt around both of us. I couldn’t take my eyes off her… and it was then I remembered why I was holding her tightly.

In Rutledge’s book-God’s Children… he told about the tradition that occurred the first time a plantation baby was taken outside after birth.

The occasion called for a religious ceremony. The mother would slowly walk towards the open door… holding the child securely in her arms. Beside her walked another member of the family, talking soothingly to the baby’s spirit, for fear that when it came under its native sky, the soul may suddenly want to return home. The spirit was told what a beautiful, joyous world this is… in order to reconcile it to its sojourn on earth.

Before I even had heard the term ” God Wink” Louis Armstrong’s 1967 hit ” It’s a Wonderful World” came on the radio and on that day I felt such connection with God, our Creator.

It was on that hot day in September 1975 that I knew what Being One with God really meant.

So until tomorrow … the true temple of religion is in the heart.

” Today is my favorite day ” Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

We humans tend to like pigeon-holing others with negative similes like ” stubborn as a mule.”

In fact the American Donkey and Mule Society defends this attribute in mules. Mules aren’t really stubborn … they just won’t put themselves in danger. The ” stubborn streak” is just their way of telling humans … things aren’t right.

In scripture stubbornness is only deemed as negative if it closes or hardens one’s heart against God instead of being open to His love.

For example think of Saul’s persecution of Christians until on a lonely road to Damascus his life was changed dramatically. Then God used this attribute as Paul’s greatest weapon … his greatest strength …as Paul stubbornly stood up to persecution as a born-again Christian.

In more recent times we saw this eerily similar transformation in famous theologian C.S. Lewis. After his spiritual transformation he wrote: ” God can’t give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.”

I remember Aunt Eva telling me that mother was the stubbornness child in the family-the baby who rebelled against everything including college. Uncles Herschel and Harlette and Aunt Eva were all day students at Presbyterian College in Clinton SC -only about 15 miles from Laurens. M

other was four years younger than Eva and six or seven years younger than her big brothers-and she wanted off the farm-to see the world. So instead of a day student for four years-she opted for a two year business school degree at Winthrop College in Rock Hill-living on campus!

I will never forget mother telling me about the first time she got to come home for Christmas… it was snowing and the mountain roads icy. Suddenly the driver lost control and the bus started swerving-perilously close to the edge. Everyone was screaming and mother prayed to God if she would be spared she would quit being stubborn!

The bus made it home but God only answered part of her prayer because He knew she would need every bit of that stubborn perseverance to raise three children, literally single-handed, and put them all through college. God works in mysterious ways.

I come from Scotch-Irish ancestry …renown for their stubbornness but we also keep a sense of humor.

So until tomorrow ( line from a Scotch-Irish prayer!)” Lord, grant that I may always be right, for Thou knowest… I am hard to turn.”

Dear Reader:

The other day I happened upon some witty, tongue-in cheek adult observations about life lessons from fairy tales and I just started laughing. Since there isn’t enough laughter in the world I selected a few examples and added on a few more personal observations.

Source: Bridgeman Team : Once Upon a Time

In Peter Pan we soon come to acknowledge that perhaps some little boys want to stay lost forever… but probably not your girlfriend. Remember… Wendy got her act together pretty quickly taking all the other boys back to London … leaving Peter to stay a child forever. We see it every day!

Now none of us can throw negative judgmental remarks at Little Red Riding Hood for venturing off the main thorough fare … after all we need some adventure in our lives but confusing a wolf for one’s grandmother? That’s just ridiculous… I mean how bad does one’s eyes have to get before one gets them checked? How did she ever find the house… or did she? A new twist perhaps?

John Lennon sang about giving peace a chance but the lesson in this fairy tale is all about giving people a chance. Still, contrary to popular belief… the princess only kissed one frog-she just picked the right one the first time at bat. Still in most dating histories we have all ended up kissing our share of frogs… so give everyone a chance- you never know when it might just pay off.

The big life lesson in Cinderella is the importance of networking! Cinderella would still be sweeping and singing to mice if not for her fairy godmother? When opportunity knocks be prepared to Bibbidi-bobbidi- Boo right back… and double check your shoe size! Remember friends in high places can give us a much needed boost!

And I couldn’t end my most important life lesson to never give up–when I decided to tell one more story than Scheherazade and then did it. Another lesson in the power of storytelling and the extension of one’s life.

I started the competition to write 1002 Arabian Nights personal story/ posts against my nemesis-” little c” ( cancer) and Scheherazade… on August 31 2010 snd completing the 1002nd post May 29, 2013!

So until tomorrow … like Scheherazade, whose stories saved her life, they did the same for me and continue to give me a reason for living, sharing, and making new friends!

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday Mandy brought the grandchildren over and we played so hard… there is no doubt Jake and Eva Cate fell asleep in the way home! Boo did when they left!

Dear Reader:

Today if you take the B. I. R. D. S. scavenger hunt in downtown Summerville you can use the hidden clues on your guide to find the Carolina Parakeet.

The rhyming limerick clue reads: “At Town Hall, there’s a bird in the glass, from flocks of great numbers, one’s been cast. They once ruled the air, but now they’re not there… Sad to say, this bird’s lost to the past.”

Sadly the Carolina parakeet is extinct today. One of the last verified sightings was in the Santee Delta near Georgetown in 1939 by none other than our own Hampton Plantation owner, Archibald Rutledge.

What lead to the extinction-there were many factors but the main enemy-man. Deforestation to make room for agricultural fields thus removing its habitat. The green, yellow, and red feathers were in demand for ladies’ hats. Farmers shot the parakeets in large numbers thinking they were protecting their crops and sadly because these parakeets had built in ” flocking behaviors” – meaning the air borne flocks of parakeets would gather around the wounded and dead parakeets on the ground while more shots rang out from the farmers.

Actually the Carolina parakeets were helping humans by controlling the invasive cocklebur or sand spur.

I love this first adolescent story written for middle schoolers by Mary Alice Monroe -her first young people’s novel-I bought a copy for Eva Cate and couldn’t help reading it first! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

In the story Grandmother is carefully picking out sand spurs from a mangy dog the children bring home. It is the first time they hear Honey call the sand spurs ” the revenge of the Carolina Parakeet. ”

When the children excitedly ask about the curse … Grandmother Honey explains that the Carolina Parakeet was beautiful and used to fill the Carolina skies-their favorite food was sand spurs…but humans drove the bird to extinction and now all the islanders are stuck with seeds of these devil sand spurs. Revenge!

The children discover that the dog was probably abandoned on Capers Island and like wild deer swam across the channel to Dewees Island in search of food.

This explanation reminded me of one of the most beautiful scenes I ever witnessed in my life -Brooke had a friend from her hometown who was in charge of clearing out forest areas near the shore for what would be called Kiawah Island. We walked to the shore and there were deer frolicking in the surf . Unbelievably beautiful! It was 1971.

So until tomorrow… we are all connected-what we do to another living creature will circle back around to us -completing a good effect or a tragic one. It is up to us.

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Don’t we all have those days that just seem to start out wrong and go downhill from there? After the first five things in our to-do list goes ” south” we know it is probably going to continue unless we re-create or re-prioritize our expectations.

Yet… have you noticed how many inspiring stories have evolved from the pandemic? It was as if each person was mired down in life, unhappy and unfulfilled. Life post-pink slip became the welcoming catalyst to a new improved world for many people. They only discovered their true passion after getting laid off.

I was fortunate I realize, upon reflection, that though teaching didn’t pay much it did provide security, especially as a single parent with three children. And I did love teaching… as difficult and time-consuming as it was. But the one thing I did right was to put myself out there to story tell at conferences, conventions that lead to conducting workshops for teachers with my buddy, Carol Poole, that lead to leadership roles at the state level and then scholarships to travel. I realized my passion was storytelling and helping future teachers through summer workshops and college courses acquire the ability to integrate it into their curriculums.

Then when I turned sixty-two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer another passion opened up -writing. I started the blog Chapel of Hope Stories-and the rest is history! No doubt God sent His guardian angels to keep me heading in the right direction. These angels still are my family and friends who encouraged me and visually / physically took me to St Jude’s Chapel of Hope.

I could easily relate to a televised story yesterday on Joe Treat, who at 62, found his passion creating animals from driftwood. He had never done anything artistic before but he could ” see” animals within drift wood he picked up on the shore. One day, with no prior training he started creating sculpted animals from driftwood and displaying them in the front yard. Cars started slamming on brakes and knocking on his door to purchase them.

So until tomorrow… Put yourself in a position that when opportunity comes to knock… you are ready to open the door.

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

I kept Eloise and Lachlan Saturday … we had fun! Bazooka bubblegum and all!