Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

The nice thing about growing older is that our hindsight plays a larger role in our ever changing perspective. We are finally able to understand how some of our earlier major disappointments and rejections took us in another direction… the right one.

At the time, however, didn’t it sometimes feel like the world had ended for us? It might have been a college (we wanted to attend) rejection slip, a scholarship rejection, a job interview rejection, a book transcript rejection slip, or even a relationship rejection. No matter the type of rejection … let’s face it… it hurt.

Time heals. The day arrives when we think back on one of these painful episodes and suddenly see it through different lenses. It pushed us in a different direction… the right direction… ” rejection can truly be a form of protection ” As much as we thought it was right for us… in the long term it would have been wrong and our lives would have suffered for it.

Like every lover of writing… the dream of being published used to be the Olympic Gold Medal … but now that I have lived long enough to see how anyone ( with all the new technology) can get a book published (if they pay for it… ) or if they are a celebrity -suddenly everyone has turned into an ” author ” ( or at least their ghost writer has) … especially a children’s author for some reason…. having a book published is a ” dime a dozen.”

So until tomorrow..I have ended up telling my story and your story through simple daily observations of life with my life-altering encounter with St Jude’s Chapel of Hope…and in the process I have made the startling discovery about just how amazing the seemingly ” mundane” day-to -day rituals can manifest themselves into the ” magnificence of life… beautiful life!

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

And no… I haven’t forgotten precious Rhea but you know how I like to end on an upbeat note… “upbeat” describes Rhea’s improving condition… everyone is cautiously optimistic as more tests are checking everything out but her overall improvement is steady and stationary (as in the good sense of the term) since she first was admitted. Patience prevails while the doctors examine everything to correct any glitches, if necessary and make sure her little system is all in sync. Thank you for your kindness, compassion, and prayers. Isn’t it amazing how one tiny baby can bring so many people together in love?

All of you have sparked our hearts with joy by your kind words and encouragement! 💗🙏🏻 Thank you.

Susan, Bekah, Ady, and I went to Newts to eat and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals and especially just being together!

It was just what the doctor ordered for all of us… as we have anxiously awaited more news on Rhea. She is still in the Newborn ICU but the 24/7 care and attention she is being given is exemplary-the very best place for our Rhea and she is responding well to the care tactics and procedures. We all feel such confidence in the medical staff there!

Ridgecrest sent this camp photo of the Dingle Brothers-it sure looks like they are having fun.

Dear Reader:

I do believe every morning we should add ” curves in the road” … as one of our ” thank you’s” to God. Have you ever considered the possibility of having one long straight path to follow along your individual life journey? A path so straight that you can see everything in chronological order ahead of time and you are fully aware of everything that will transpire along the way?

What a nightmare! As tempting as it might be to want to see all the good happy moments coming our way-I think the fore knowledge of sad and/ or heartbreaking incidents would outweigh the good times emotionally through pre-meditated worry and anxiety.

When Paul McCartney wrote ” The Long and Winding Road” in 1970… he was remembering his home located at the end of a long Scottish peninsula where he retreated to escape ” Beatlemania” … a respite to literally ” compose” himself.

Yesterday morning …the first happy text I got …from Susan was her exclaiming ” How LUCKY we were to have such wonderful beautiful grandchildren.” I immediately dittoed the sentiment back to her… how lucky indeed!

So when the phone rang a short time later and I saw it was from Susan… I thought we would be continuing this proud grandmotherly conversation. I was wrong. A curve had just revealed something else on the other side-something unforeseen had popped up.

Lee and Vikki had taken Rhea for her first check-up and the doctor picked up on something that didn’t sound right-he promptly made the decision to send Lee, Vikki and Rhea to the ER at the Children’s MUSC Center.

It is after nine tonight ( Monday) and testing has been going on all day… the encouraging news is that (to date) the first test results coming in look good but they are keeping her over night at the Newborn ICU unit for observation and to complete any other testing results hopefully.

As Susan and I talked we agreed we wanted to get the prayers coming asap for little Rhea and family!!! And a big shout-out to Kathy Worthington-Dorchester Presbyterian Prayer Chain-for the immediate response.

Family and close friends are adding more prayers for Rhea to have a good night and sleep well … to get back home with mommy, daddy, and big brother Rhodes as soon as possible!!

So until tomorrow… the family would appreciate all prayers as we await the diagnosis and any procedures needed… if necessary! Our hearts tonight are heavy but hopeful that the next curve will reveal blue skies and sunshine ahead!

Even though August hasn’t started out too good for our family … I believe it will welcome Rhea back with open arms… smitten with all her charms!

” Today is my favorite day” -Winnie the Pooh

One. Two. Three. ” WE L O V E YOU RHEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Reader:

Lin-Emmanuel Miranda’s wildly popular ” Hamilton ” Broadway show has many memorable songs throughout the production but Miranda’s ( and my) favorite is ” The Room Where It Happens.” He said he thought it was the best song he has ever written.

It has a crazy upbeat tempo that makes you want to jump up and start snapping your fingers to the swaying energy of the rhythm.

But it is the well-thought-out lyrics that grab an old history teacher’s (like me) academic interest immediately. The song reminds us that political ” wheeling-dealing” has had its roots in our country from the on-set.

In this case Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton secretly meet for dinner and end up trading an acceptance of Hamilton’s national tax plan for the location of the national capital being located on the Potomac in the two Virginians’s ” backyards” instead of Pennsylvania as an earlier consideration. A handshake, dessert, and the deed was done.

It got me thinking about the different rooms in our lives that stand out in our memories. In fact… when I googled ” The Room Where it Happens” a picture of a beautiful kitchen popped up with the title plaque covering one wall. The owner stated that she hoped the plaque would daily remind her that she wanted her love of cooking to be remembered by family and friends alike as ” the room where it happened” -where she brought satisfaction, contentment, and enjoyment to others. A ” Balm in Gilead.”

Take a minute to think of all the memorable rooms in your life… some happy rooms… perhaps some sad … still memorable just the same. Rooms play an important role in our lives.

No doubt Lee and Vikki remember the birthing room of little Rhea’s recent delivery… a room filled with a myriad of emotions-excitement, anticipation, along with some trepidation. Joy mingled with pain… in fact… isn’t childbirth a precursor to life itself? All the future up’s and down’s of the journey ahead play out in childbirth.

Later will come classrooms, apartment rooms, first home rooms, hospital rooms, rehab rooms or assisted living rooms and final resting place rooms-yes rooms act as compass markers along our individual paths.

So until tomorrow… I think we need to remember to ” think outside the room” and instead make room in our lives to contribute our God-given talents to others… we should always remember we live for others… not just ourselves!

Today is my favorite day! Winnie the Pooh

I went over to Tommy and Kaitlyn’s ” new once again ” home-it looks terrific and they are planning on adding a new room to the front to give the flat roof some oomph and height-plans still on the drawing board. starting with some decorative changes

Eloise came to spend time with Boo and her. cousins-we had fun while the boys got dropped off at Camp Ridgecrest! Thanks Eva Cate for helping and braiding.

Camp Ridgecrest! Have fun everyone!

Don’t forget to say ” Rabbit Rabbit” … the first day of August … for good luck! ! I hope a month of fun and freedom before school routines start back.

Dear Reader:

One of the funniest “Golden Girls” episodes was when the ” girls” won a spot as contestants on the fictitious ” Grab that Dough” game show. From the get-start everything went wrong but finally the moment came when Dorothy made it inside the glass vacuum ” closet ” to try and catch as much money as possible ( in 60 seconds) with the air vents swirling the dollar bills around her.

Haven’t we dreamed of such a moment? Grabbing money falling from the skies? But try as hard as we can …there is never enough time to complete the dream?

Yesterday was like that for me… I was supposed to keep Eloise this weekend for Mollie to take the boys to camp … but at the last minute Walsh discovered his schedule had been changed and he would be free to help out.

So I thought I had some unexpected free time …but like the time on the game show… it filled in quickly!!!

There were so many diverse communications -good, not as good, unusual and interesting… there was no way to pull it all together… so… here is a list of God Winks and life messages that kept rolling in like waves yesterday.

1. Starting with…. Rhea is the name of our family’s latest addition ( Rhea Olivia) Rhea is Greek in origin like big brother Rhodes-I like the dynamic duo’s names together-Rhodes and Rhea

…And grandmother Susan is so proud of all the girls in her life-Bekah, Ady, and Rhea

2. Life is about up’s and down’s… Wellmore, brother Ben’s residence, shut down once again for another coronavirus surge-all meals are served in the residents’ rooms -but we are thankful the quarantine waited until after Ben, Vikki and Rhea’s birthday Tuesday or Ben would have missed out on all the celebration and excitement. Three birthdays on July 26! God is good!

3. The lucky tree lizard- As I was getting ready to close my storm glass door yesterday I caught just a glimpse of green and at the last possible moment saved the little lizard from a ” crushing” death-the little lizard didn’t know how close he came to death… but I did… and it put a smile on my face as he nonchalantly scampered off… to live awhile longer-life is sacred in all nature!

4. While I was still shooing the lizard off the porch… Amazon pulled up with a package for me-the young deliverer had the happiest grin on his face and asked how I was doing? I replied ” Great” but the question should be… How are YOU doing – delivering all those packages in this heat? ” Me?” he replied… ” I am greater than great… and then in a loud voice and red-beet face called out…l’m happy! And he truly was! He lit up my life for those precious moments… a young man loving life in complete gratitude ! A true God Wink!

Dare I say… in these ” whiny” times …this young man was a refreshing miracle!

So until tomorrow… Do you see how it was tough to correlate so many diverse angel arrows flying my way on one day.. but I think they could all be umbrella’ed under one word –Life! Amazing Life!

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

As I finish today’s post…the afternoon is winding down and I have a great book to read and left-overs for supper! I don’t know about my grandsons… but Boo is ” one happy camper!”

Dear Reader:

I certainly am not a ” professional ” anything but my love for photography has grown with the longevity of the Chapel of Hope daily posts. I love taking photos of the day-to-day beauty around me… never tiring in its ever-changing role of magical enchantress.

Last night I almost tripped down my back deck steps … rushing to get a picture of the ” fence scene “… ( title picture) just as the lantern turned on behind the morning glory leaves. This moment, as the last rays of sunset automatically turn on the outdoor lanterns, is never longer than one or two minutes. After that …the mobile phone camera automatically turns on its flash and the picture loses all its former charm. A missed ” magical” moment.

Professional artists ( painters and photographers) recognize this moment as ” sacredly” exquisite… when the lighting and varied hues present their most beautiful palette samples. Golden hour ( right before dusk and after dawn) -reds, golds, and oranges while the Magic Hour ( right after dusk and before dawn) displays purples, blues, grays, and light pinks. A last gasp of beauty before darkness falls… my favorite time of all!

I had saved this Winnie the Pooh message for just the right occasion and of course she arrived Tuesday-sent to Vikki yesterday.

From the looks of these latest pictures of the bonding taking place already… Rhodes, mom, and dad know they have the most prized possessions around them

Timing plays a major role in nature sightings too… finding yourself at the right moment when nature stops and poses for a split-second.

So until tomorrow… Let us relinquish checks off our daily ” to do” lists to capture moment memories that will last a lifetime!

Rutledge and Lachlan leave for camp today in the NC mountains… the family is busy writing letters in case either/or get homesick this week-I got these pictures printed to send just in case they do … for both of them their first away from home camp experience. ( Just a five-day camp) Hope they have enough room in their suitcases for all the letters! 😉

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

We mortals seem programmed to make our lives so much harder than they need be… and , unfortunately, count me in the group!

Isn’t it amazing how when we get in situations,like life crises, and call out to God and He answers ” Hold my hand”… we are able to feel God’s presence so intimately… we start living life by faith?

I felt God’s close presence going through breast cancer surgeries, rounds of chemo and radiation and embraced the calmness that accompanies faith -true faith. But like chasing iridescent floating bubbles, as a child, to catch, we can only watch them pop and disappear before our eyes. Holding onto real faith is similarly just as difficult.

As soon as we see a light at the end of the tunnel that our personal circumstances are taking a turn for the better… we start lessening our grip on God’s hand. We got this now… back in control… until, of course, the next crisis.

As I reflect back on my life in the last 15 years… I can practically draw ( from memory) an ebb-flow chart from the ups and downs of the status of different treatment outcomes.

Isn’t this a great headboard and reminder to go to sleep by each evening? I can always tell when my faith starts ebbing because all my overthinking ” monsters” come visit me and stick around all night. They are the 2 am ” What If” monsters that terrorize and monopolize every waking thought. They can even immobilize our hand from reaching out to God.

I realize now, upon reflection, that never once has God ever dropped my hand along my well- trodden path. I, am the one, who has dropped God’s hand. And yet He is always ready to squeeze and clasp my hand, once more, as needed and/ or wanted. What a friend we have in Jesus.

So until tomorrow… Let us keep reminding ourselves in these terribly difficult and upsetting global and national crises ( of every description imaginable) that only God can bring us peace.

My old-fashion, thin stemmed sunflowers are smiling back at me in spite of the extreme heat and lack of rain this past week… they always bring a smile to my face!

James Bryan, former state social studies coordinator, had these two cartoon pictures on the heat wave in South Carolina-😉

Dear Reader:

Tuesday provided the family with about all the Anticipation we could handle… a myriad of emotions surfaced as we all waited to hear what the princess would choose… join the party or hold out for a private viewing and single celebration!

Our ” Cinderella” decided to play both ends… arrive ” fashionably late” for the ball … but enough time to party before the bewitching hour-when the clock struck midnight! From now on… she, mom, and granddad will ” own” the ball… together!

To date… I haven’t heard an ” official ” name yet but will let you know when I hear. However… so far her early name responses are ” Beauty, Precious, Cutie-Bug, Adorable, and Gorgeous” … ( Personally I would run to the bank with any of those referents! 😉)

One picture Lee sent out yesterday referred to his daughter as their little ” Jedi ”

Lee described Vikki as amazing… and that she was but the team of mother and baby were awe-inspiring! Two hours… Boom! Ady first let me know around 5:30 yesterday afternoon that she and her grandmother ( Susan) were on their way to keep Rhodes while Lee took Vikki out for her birthday … but quickly things changed… they had just gotten the call that Vikki had gone into labor and they would be spending the night with Rhodes!

I started squealing to myself… could this really be happening ? It certainly wasn’t a given that the baby would arrive before midnight… the dynamic duo had six hours. Nail-bitting time. Vikki’s first ” swing at bat” five years earlier …had turned into a long, drawn out challenging labor that no one wanted repeated… and it wasn’t… just the opposite… smooth sailing all the way!

Many of you readers might remember Lee asked the universe ( in reference to the new baby coming on her mother’s and Ben’s July 26 birthday … Is that too many celestial miracles for one day? Only time will tell.

Now we all know the answer…. ” NO… God can make as many ” celestial miracles ” as needed at any given time!

So until tomorrow…Lee ended his happy announcement yesterday… (about his, Vikki, and Rhodes’ newest addition to the family with)… ” Mom and baby are both healthy and recovering. LIFE IS AMAZING!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Linda Carson started out to visit her sister in the NC mountains yesterday and immediately got behind this truck. ( she used to end up behind a similar one while working ( taking it as a good luck day) but since retirement had not seen one. A definite God Wink! A fun trip ahead, no doubt!

Dear Reader:

As I read these words from the 13th century poet, Rumi, the message rang just as true today as centuries ago. It is becoming clearer with time that nothing happens outwardly in our lives until they first change inwardly.

I loved Lee’s birthday tribute to his wife Vikki yesterday while they waited to see if their ” pink princess” would make her debut to join her mother’s and Granddaddy’s birthdays…

” Will she give birth on the day that she was birthed, which also happens to be the day that my dad was born? Is that too many celestial miracles for one day? Only time will tell.” ( I finished up the post at 4:00 yesterday afternoon and no news then… )

As Ben and I ate lunch out yesterday for his birthday … we both talked about the revelation that we are both alive … in spite of some serious dual health challenges. We both feel like our perspectives on life has changed … providing us a deeper understanding of it and appreciation for it.

In retrospect we have to admit we have been our greatest obstacles in not always living life to its fullest. Neither time, money, or circumstance have ever been to blame. Instead it has been a lack of deep gratitude for life itself.

We realize now we owe nothing to our younger selves but everything to our present self. We must understand that there is no search, path, or way to happiness. Happiness Is the Way. Simply by being content, present, and accepting right here, right now… can happiness dwell within us.

So until tomorrow… Be grateful every single day of our lives…for our lives… and happiness will find us!

Ben showed me how to park in the back where he putts balls and watches the golfers on the course -I told Ben he has the best backyard scenery of anyone!

Dear Reader:

As even children soon recognize at Christmas time… and especially, as adults, remembering those childhood memories… it was the anticipation… the excited waiting…that overpowered the gift itself.

Even our Winnie the Pooh ” tried” to explain it too! ” Well,” said Pooh, ” What do I like best?”… He had to stop and think. Because although eating honey WAS a very good thing, there was a moment just before one began to eat it which was actually better than when you were eating it… but he didn’t know what it was called.”

For our family today, July 26, has been quite anticipated… even more so this year… today is Ben’s birthday, Vikki’s birthday… and we are holding our breath to see if the family’s newest “pink” addition is going to join in the fun . ***July 26 is the actual due date!

As soon as I typed in anticipation a picture of Carly Simon’s popular song by the same name popped up.

This is one of my favorite all-time songs. And one day, as we all reflect back on this special birthday date… we will be able to loudly sing the refrain ” ” These are the good old days!”

So until tomorrow… only time will tell! But the anticipation, itself, is extremely exciting and like Pooh, it is hard to define but it is one of the greatest gifts from God!

And little cutie’s gift is patiently waiting too…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

” One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ” W. E. Johns

Dear Reader:

As we all go through the many different and diversified stages of our lives… don’t we all find ourselves at crossroads that demand a change in course?

Re-setting isn’t about beating yourself up, feeling bad or staying stuck. A re-set is about embracing a positive attitude towards change and finding opportunities for personal growth… even in the hardest of times.

As Charles and I talked after the funeral he admitted life without Sherry was going to be one of the hardest transitions ever. Charles is facing a most difficult re-set.

My first reaction to his admission was to remind him to 1) Be good to himself 2) Remember time is the great healer … to give himself time to grieve and then openly receive all of God’s blessings …still awaiting his life. Love will fill in again the gaps left behind… because love reigns eternal.

Long before mobile phones came along that allowed us to set and re-set time deadlines… we had alarm clocks. They came in all shapes and sizes… with one or two ringers. Personally, as a single mom, I needed two ringers… always was so tired and terrified of being late to school… since the class would be waiting on the teacher!

A spiritual re-set means identifying new ways to find happiness. Give yourself permission to change -Change your environment, set new goals, and extend new interests.

So until tomorrow… Think of your re-set button as your personal empowerment button. Don’t settle for a life lived in the past… turn towards the present. Live today with the future in mind for those you love who will follow. You can re-set the button today to ensure we have a free country and safer environment for tomorrow!

Today is my favorite day. Winnie the Pooh