Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Honey left behind a bag full of Christmas gifts… they could fill the Twelve Days of Christmas … and then some. Amazing ” Elves” -Mike and Honey are unbelievable .

One gift she knew I would love…was this year’s ( 2022) White House Christmas Tree ornament. It arrived with all kinds of stories about past and present White House Christmases… ornaments and Christmas cards.

Lately it has been one room that has caught the attention of First Ladies when deciding on the decor and ornaments for a particular Christmas theme. The East Room… packed full of interesting historical tidbits.

The East Room is the largest of the State Rooms in the White House and was the last to be finished. President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams, the first couple to occupy the Executive Mansion, hung their laundry to dry in the unfinished East Room.

Then in August of 1814 British troops burned the White House-the scenario when Dolley Madison saved the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. The first funeral services conducted in this room -held for the first President to die in office, William Henry Harrison, followed by Zachary Taylor, and President Abraham Lincoln. Ironically Lincoln loved the East Room… remembering when Tad rode a chair pulled by a goat through it to amuse his father. ( Union soldiers used the East Room as a temporary camp.)

Theodore Roosevelt ‘s administration transformed the East Room from Victorian furnishings to French inspired neoclassical decor. Roosevelt’s children roller skated through the East Room and daughter Alice married in it.

The Truman family moved out during his tenure to renovate rooms including the East Room /later Truman showcased the new East Room on television.

During the Kennedy administration ( 1962) Jackie had an 18th century religious Neapolitan Crèche installed in the East Room against a backdrop of gold curtains. The Nativity scene included men, women, angels, animals, kings, and cherubs arranged in a pyramid shape, symbolic of an evergreen tree.

The following year ( 1963) the Kennedy family chose a photograph of the Crèche in the East Room as the image for their Christmas card. About thirty Crèche cards were signed by the President and First Lady before their late November trip to Dallas. *** Mysteriously these signed thirty cards still suddenly appear on secretive auctions around the country and world.

In reality Christmas 1963 was the saddest holiday as it found Jackie and her two small children quietly leaving their White House home and moving into a friend’s Georgetown rental apartment …made quickly available for them.

Kennedy became the eighth President to die in office-his body lying in repose in the East Room. *** Interesting tidbit… In honor of Kennedy… the following year Lyndon B Johnson signed Kennedy’s Civil Rights Legislation into law ( 1964 Civil Rights Act) in front of live television in the East Room.

President and First Lady, Nancy Reagan hired Thomas William Jones to freely create and paint his impressions of the East Room, State Dining Room, and North Entry Hall… giving recognition to all combined. Hallmark reproduced 125,000 cards and 7,200 gift prints for the Reagan’s sixth Christmas at the White House.

*** Only at Christmas is the Kennedy Crèche on display in the East Room of the White House…

Gold Star Trees honoring fallen soldiers are seen in the East Entrance -start of tour

Star ornaments on the trees recognize the names, rank, and date of death

We the People -theme- is found above the East Wing Entrance

So until tomorrow… May ” Peace and Tranquility” prevail over our country once again… starting with us ” We the People.”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday, with the conclusion of the January 6 Committee’s final public meeting … with recommendations for four criminal charges concerning the Capitol attack… being sent to the Justice Department… a dark day in American History and democracy ended.. except for the long-lingering memory.

And regardless of the Justice Department’s future stance… as a history teacher… no one will ever be able to erase the horror of the actions taken that day. Democracy run amuck for all the country to witness. It was just not in peril of being destroyed but also desecrated… as its history will show you.

I decided to spend some time researching the history of the US Capitol-using historian David Barton’s well -documented talents. Imagine my surprise when I read: ” Three weeks before Christmas, on December 4, 1800, Congress approved the use of the Capitol Building as a CHURCH building! “

* From Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln, many Presidents attended church at the Capitol… often as many as 2000 people in attendance! Wow!

* From 1800-1857-church services were held in various locations inside the Capitol Building

* Then from 1857-1869 services were held in the newly built House Chamber. In fact, the first official use of the building , as we recognize it today… as the House Chamber, had the first church service on December 13, 1857.

After 69 years of church services… they stopped and no historian could find out why… then Dan Cummins, a preacher from a small town in Texas became involved in an historical religious research program and became acquainted with several members of Congress … being asked to return to lead different sessions in prayer.

So today the Wednesday night services have returned ( thanks to Cummins) and ” Carols in the Capitol” started in Statuary Hall in 2017.

So until tomorrow.. ” I have placed before you an open door/that no one can shut.”

If we truly are listening to God … we will find the doors opened for us to complete our unique task on earth.

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

Look who came to fill in for Honey this year… daughter Tarshie and hubby Tyler! So sweet! Adorable couple!

I moved Lisa’s wreath to my desk to make room for the Apple Tree!

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I heard from Ambika Murthy ( now Dr. Ambika) and Christmas came early. I had been wondering what happened to Ambika because she came into my life so suddenly… and had she disappeared just as suddenly? I was concerned about her.

It had been almost a decade ago that I awoke one morning to a most touching cry for help and hope ( email to the Chapel of Hope WordPress home site) from a young girl named Ambika, who had left her home in Bangalore, India to study dentistry at the Krishna Devaraya College of Dental Science. The coursework was difficult and Ambika was stressed and worried about the final exams approaching.

She had literally sent out a plea for hope and of all the millions of sites she could have been sent to… ChapelofHopeStories.com popped up. She felt that this was where she could talk to someone about her anxiousness and loneliness.

I remember after she commented on one blog post … I inquired about her name and it’s origin. The English translation, she told me, in Hindu, meant ” mother and compassion” and ” moon goddess.” It must have been around 2013 or 2014 because the moon gate to my garden had just been put in and that connection surprised me.

Over the next few months Ambika shared with me her dream to find love, a caring husband, and have a family… it all soon came true!

We continued corresponding through the blog as Ambika returned home to India , began working, married and continued adding onto her family. She kept the readers abreast of the drought in India and other environmental issues plaguing her country.

Then a few months back…I realized one day I had not heard from Ambika and was concerned something might be wrong … I was right.

Two days ago Ambika reached out to me again…. she and her dad had just lost her mother , at 63, to a sudden heart attack that took her immediately. Neither were prepared to let her go so soon.

She wrote: ” My mom has not only been my closest friend, she was the main foundation of our family’s faith in Christ. We got that biggest strength from her.”

She ended with a heartfelt request: ” Becky, I just want all of you ( at Chapelofhopestories.com) to remember us in your prayers… please help my dad and I get over this huge loss.” Loads of love and prayers… Ambika ( ” Keep shining through your blogs”)

So until tomorrow… We all know how difficult that first Christmas is after losing a loved one. Some of you readers might be going through something similar this Christmas as well… so let’s take a moment to remember and pray for families going through difficult holidays and pray for God’s Christmas spirit to bring ” peace and calm” to those who mourn… to restore hope and faith.

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Just got home Sunday from keeping Eva Cate and Jake Saturday night… Eva Cate put a Christmas Lego North Pole set together in minutes… not hours… her brain is wired to Lego… she can put any and all together-a gift-Jake and I watched… clueless.

Even with two cold nights and a potential record-breaking cold Christmas this year… look at the flowers still abloom.

Dear Reader:

From the day after Thanksgiving until the New Year… Charleston radio station 102.5 plays Christmas music! I love it! However yesterday a recurring Christmas phenomenon in the form of a song…🎵 Hark the Herald Angels Sing eerily was playing every time I got back in the car from running an errand. It happened three times in succession… it took the third recording to register in my ” over-taxed” brain that something odd was going on.

Then when I walked into a local boutique and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” was playing softly there too… I decided this was a different kind of God Wink… go look up the story behind the song.

After re-reading the story a couple of times… the history lesson learned from it… is how important shared creativity is in producing the final version of an initial idea … or song in this case.

It all started with a man named Charles Wesley who wrote the carol in 1739… he had no idea he was providing a foundation for others to come build upon… and/ or how famous the carol would become.

His original first-line lyric was ” Hark, how all the Welkin ring.” ( ” WELKIN” being an archaic English term for ” Heaven.” )

A few years later ( 1753) George Whitefield ( pronounced Wit-field) changed the first line to ” Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and that change has remained forever.

But the tune, itself, over the next 120 years, was sung to various tunes. This all changed when William Cummings connected the revised lyrics with a tune written by Mendelssohn for the Gutenberg Festival in 1840… celebrating the invention of the printing press.

If I had known about the three contributors to the final creation of Hark the Herald Angels Sing…every time it came on I could have thanked a different composer… ” Thanks Charles, Thanks George, and finally Thanks William! ”

So until tomorrow… Today’s story re-iterates that ” No Man is an Island.” We all need each other and should remember one essential spiritual mantra… the best lived and best loved lives belong to those who live for others … who always remember to reach back and pull someone else up the ladder with them.

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

When I typed in ” Hark the Herald Angels Sing” … typical ” google ” started taking me all over the place… but one link was a book that grabbed my attention and special memory.

The author, romance novelist ( Fern Michael’s) is a pen name for Mary Kuczkir who lives in Summerville… if I am going to town I pass her home almost daily …hidden behind pines and foliage. Beautiful!

One year , as part of a ” Downtown As a Classroom ” history project.. some friends and I had our students dress up as ” living legend” citizens of Summerville and tell their story in a fairy tale format.

It just so happened that I was teaching Kelly Jennings in my class and she was the famous author’s granddaughter… her grandmother had just recently moved to Summerville. After the stories we had a tea and awards ceremony for each ” living legend” … one of the best endeavors in my teaching career.

Dear Reader:

Many of you have read Squire Rushnell’s books on Godwinks… which he defines as an unexpected connection to someone you love, a mysterious pathway to a life-changing opportunity, an unanticipated outcome … coming from out of the blue, or an answered prayer that makes you say “WOW!”

Godwinks let you know that God is always extending you a tangible connection to Him …“like a firm handrail on dark wobbly stairs.”

*** …(that sounds eerily familiar right? Only it wasn’t wobbly stairs… just wobbly feet… and I walked away with a bruise, not a break.) Owe God a big one! ) Wink! Wink!

Squire Rushnell also wrote a collection of true Christmas stories about God Winks… some of which I will share as we continue towards Christmas next week.

But today, let me share my latest God Wink. Yesterday, I just about finished off the last of the gift-giving and ended up at Lowe’s…I had gone into the tent that houses indoor Christmas plants looking for plants for two people in particular.

While in there my phone rang… it was Ben asking about a couple of things coming up… after the call…I checked out and started home.

I was so pleased about ” all I had accomplished” with everything going so smoothly and plenty of time left to get home…before the annual Christmas lunch with Anne before she heads out to be with family over the holidays. We started this tradition many years ago while teaching at Alston.

I was heading home singing Christmas carols when I glanced at my mobile phone holder-no phone. No problem… after Ben called I put it in my jacket pocket. I felt both pockets… nothing.

I could feel my heart beating faster but I kept reassuring myself I probably left it in the backseat when I placed the two plants in Eloise’s car seat for safe/keeping.

There was no place to turn around to check the back seat… so I ended up pulling an u-turn and headed back to Lowe’s. I searched every package front and backseat but no phone.

After re-parking at Lowe’s, I ran back into the tent… where I had bought the flowers and where Ben had called… nothing… so I ran to the outdoor checkout station where this young cashier had been so nice and asked if she had seen or someone had turned in a phone… ” sorry.. no.”

But she accompanied me back to the tent and called my phone number but it went straight to voicemail… She then told me to try Customer Service right inside the door.

Unfortunately several customers had a list of complaints or inquiries about merchandise ordered or located. The line grew longer… when I finally got to the window and asked if anyone had turned in a phone… no one had.

I remember dejectedly walking off and one nice woman asked if I needed help looking. I thanked her but told her every location had been double checked, with the outside cashier helping.

By the time I crossed the parking lot… my heart was in my throat… I was praying as hard as I could … lack of communication at Christmas is a nightmare in itself… much less my daily post writings are done on my phone. Gulp!!!

I opened both doors/front and back… and made myself calm down and start looking over , under, and in every part of the car.

Out came my frog light again … and I started looking under each seat… and there it was ! The phone had fallen between the front seat and console. It must have slipped out of my hand while leaning over putting packages on the passenger side!

My body was limp from sheer emotional exhaustion… I left the driver’s door open … staring down at my phone muttering ” Thank You… Thank You!” repeatedly.

Suddenly I realized someone was standing by their car next to mine and it was the nice lady in the Customer Service line. ” Did you find your phone?” I held it up to show her – my hand still trembling.

” Oh I have been praying so hard that you found it… the lost look on your face was very relatable… I have lost my phone before,too, and it is so scary!”

So kind… she seemed genuinely as relieved as I was . ” Now” she grinned … ” Go have a Merry Christmas! ”

I thanked her again and my parting words were ” You do know you were my God Wink today, don’t you? She paused, then laughed and with a big wink -drove away!

So until tomorrow… Rushnell is right… a God Wink is an answered prayer that makes you say ” WOW!!!”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

I will have to catch you up tomorrow on some fun gift exchanges… but when I took this picture of Anne with one tree ornament I had given her- an owl whose plaid vest matched her scarf … the sun shining through the storm door – provided the illusion that there were snowy trees outside !

And speaking of snow problems… I loved this cartoon.

Dear Reader:

I turned to today’s meditation in Quinn Caldwell’s Book – All I Want for Christmas and it was about becoming an ” instigator “-today that term is so negatively associated with the term – terrorist -that I was initially taken back… slightly repelled.

But I should have known the quick-witted theologian was playing a word game with us. Caldwell reflected: ” I had this one poor teacher in elementary school who would jab a finger into a student’s chest and utter the worst thing she could call you…Instigator…which, in her mind was the culprit who got all the bullies and trouble makers to ruin her life ( sending her running to the teachers lounge for a lot of furiously smoked cigarettes!)

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the apostles immediately were also targeted as ” instigators.” The apostles could whip up an angry mob pretty quickly. Acts 5:31 states ” God has exalted Jesus to his right side as leader and savior to change Israel’s heart.” ( leader meaning instigator. )

Caldwell then gives us a mid-Advent assignment. Stop the card and gift buying-instead… ” Call somebody up to to help instigate something “AWESOME!”

Write letters to our soldiers, cards to Amnesty International, carol at strangers’ homes, honk if you love the Prince of Peace signs on a busy street corner. Jesus’ arrival sure caused a ruckus… so should we!

So until tomorrow… ( love Quinn Caldwell’s prayer) ” God grant me the grace not to just shake up the world on your behalf, but to get people around me to do it too. And bless Miss You Know Who; after all those years teaching us, she needs it. Amen. ”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Pam Stewart visited yesterday bringing me an Advent Hope Jar from church.

Walsh and Mollie are working hard preparing for the family celebration Christmas Eve!

Dear Reader:

I have begun to think that when I had my mishap Sunday Night ( Alright, alright… my sprawling embarrassing mis-step) time sped up … because I have lost it ( time, that it!)

Did the naughty elves ( sneakily take about a week of time away?) Last week I was confident, large, and in charge. And then on the ( 13th) the radio station declared we had entered the famous ” Twelve Days of Christmas ” with a partridge in a pear tree. ” No! It couldn’t be! My ” must ” list had not begun to be crossed out! Help!

Two turtle doves flew away while I was attending Rutledge’s Fourth grade Nutcracker Christmas program and hanging out with Ben at the neurologist’s office in Mt Pleasant yesterday and now with three French hens today.

But finally last evening …after some much needed rest… I realized that I might be delinquent in my ” must” list but there was an easy solution… get rid of the ” must ” list-tear it up into tiny pieces…and keep doing what I am doing… put the emphasis on being with ” US.” The people I love… that is all that matters! Showing up for them!

In one Christmas devotional I remember reading , it observed ” Use your magical mixer for more than making Christmas cookies… mix this world with the next… a baby born in a manger re-set time for all of us forever.”

So until tomorrow… Choose to let only what you love best about Christmas remain on the ” must” list and improvise… perfection is so boring!

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

The pine tree has played a major role in the history of Summerville… it is the core or heart of Summerville, the little town nestled in the pines.

But long before the pine tree became symbolic of Summerville… this beautiful evergreen was mentioned in scripture and other cultures dating as far back as the first Christmas. Some historians recognize the pine tree as the ” Nativity” tree. It symbolizes life.

Because the pine tree is an evergreen… it retains its green foliage through droughts and bitter cold winters. It represents the triumph of life over darkness.

Japan also reveres the pine tree. After the 2011 Tsunami in Japan all the forests were devastated outside one region. Yet, somehow one lone pine tree survived and to the Japanese people became a symbol of resilience and spiritual reawakening.

In Summerville history… early settlers began migrating to Summerville from the Charleston coastal plantations to escape malaria and the mosquitoes spreading the disease in the summer months. Returning back home after the first frost!

Then in the late 1800’s an international medical symposium cited Summerville South Carolina as one of the top places in the world for benefiting patients suffering from severe pulmonary diseases …due to the abundance of pine trees in the area.

So many people came to Summerville for the health benefits that hotels sprang up all over Summerville and it became known as the ” Golden Age of Inns.” The most famous was the Pine Forest Inn where both Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft visited and stayed. ( Honey’s father owned it in its last days.)

So now you know why the pine is still sacred to Summerville… and the archway welcomes visitors to the ” Flowertown in the Pines.”

Today the archway leads visitors to Hutchinson Park in the center of town… all decorated for Christmas!

So until tomorrow…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

The ” X” I placed on the bottom step ( in the title” picture) was deliberately put there for a photo moment … marking the spot where I fell Sunday night. Yikes!

As scary as it was… God really came through for me on this accident… the classic case of mind racing …ahead of the moment…or just simply not paying attention to what I was doing.

After getting home Sunday evening from Eloise’s dance recital… I fixed some supper, started writing Monday’s blog post and then began watching some Christmas specials. Somewhere along the way I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until about 11:30… the television still going.

Completely disoriented from the unexpected late night nap… I jumped up to turn off all the Christmas lights and get ready for bed. I turned the Christmas tree lights off first… and quickly came down the two steps leading to the den … my mind racing ahead …making a mental list of everything that needed unplugging.

One second I was coming down the steps and the next I was sprawled on the floor wondering what happened… by racing ahead of the moment …I figured out I skipped the last step and thought I was on ground level.

My upper right leg took the brunt of the fall… a little higher or over… it probably would have been my hip. I got my Christmas present hurry… nothing broken… just bruised and sore. ( Thank goodness I had my physical and Prolia bone density shot about two weeks ago! )

I didn’t sleep much the rest of the night… not from pain ( just sore) but the ” What if” elves arrived with one terrible scenario after another… a broken hip would have had me in surgery followed by rehab… not how one wants to spend Christmas! God, most certainly, was giving me a ” caution” sign to SLOW DOWN! Believe me… It worked. Chilled all day yesterday! Didn’t leave the house.

Since I wasn’t sleeping well from the late evening nap and the ” What if” nocturnal elves’ visits… my mind wandered back to Eloise’s dance recital. I sat between the two boys, Rutledge and Lachlan, and mercifully Mollie kept the treats coming… as long as they were eating peace reigned and sighs silenced.

I am a people watcher and was perfectly content to watch the reactions of the people in the auditorium. I told Mollie ( when we got home) I learned something new about generational men… fathers and grandfathers.

The young fathers spent most of the recital dragging screaming or restless siblings out of the auditorium… I heard one father admonishing his pre-schooler son… ” But you have already peed five times already!” ( the little boy had the cutest grin on his face. ) Freedom!

But with the grandparents, surprisingly more so … the grandfathers, they seemed completely at ease in the situation… patient and kindly holding restless grandchildren siblings -even reading little books with small flashlights on their laps… and when their granddaughters finally performed…the most beautiful smiles came on their faces as they thunderously clapped in sheer glee… even wiping tears running down their cheeks.

So until tomorrow… Aging does have its benefits… time has become the greatest gift to retired baby boomers… no deadlines… but finally time to spend with family and friends. The realization hits home that time is more precious than anything else and leaving legacies to loved ones becomes the most valued goal in life!

Each Christmas becomes more special because nothing is taken for granted… find joy in the moment!

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday was the day when little girls’ dreams of sparkling came true. Mollie, Rutledge, Lachlan, and myself sat for two hours to see our Eloise prance and dance for two minutes and the expression on her face was worth every minute…. ( though the boys might have disagreed.) 😂

But don’t we all need a special time to shine… to feel special and engulfed in acceptance and applause? A time to feel love? Eloise was beaming with happiness. Especially with all her gifts of flowers. She was clearly overwhelmed.

I added a little Christmas Tree angel to the bouquet…. she looked like Eloise’s marshmallow costume and sparkled on the tree. A ” marshmallow world.”

The predicted Sunday rain held off and on my way home… the stars started bursting through the clouds …going over the bridges and were beautiful… a sparkling way to end the day!

All the way home… it made me think of the Christmas star… and images of pictures of the three wise men staring up at it … knowing this star was leading them home… a new home where unbounded love would forever sparkle in their hearts with total acceptance.

I remember reading one time that many of the stars we stare up at in our galaxy have actually died, but because of the distance separating the stars from earth… they seem , to the naked eye, to still be twinkling and sparkling in the night skies.

I can’t help but think how this is true of each of us too… even though one day we all will pass, the memories of our lives, if lived for others, will continue to light up memories and shine continuously. No light is ever extinguished forever.

So until tomorrow… the emoji for sparkle 💖 love is a heart and star and a word typed between two sparkle emoji’s give special attention to that person. So Eloise… to you my little one and your special ” sparkle” day!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Thank you readers for the wonderful responses to Sunday’s post on camellias… it brought back so many memories for so many of you including Honey making brackets from camellias as a child. She misses camellias in the mountains this time of year.