Goodthoughts

Happy Sunday Morning

Chuck and I moved to Chatham a little over four years ago when Chatham Baptist Church called him as pastor.  We loved it here right from the start!  But I think it's taken us until this year to understand the depth of the caring for each other that goes on in our small town.

There's a quiet rhythm to life here that can't be found in the big city suburbs.  Many folks have lived here all their lives.  Their stories and memories are as intertwined with each other as morning glories growing up a trellis.

It's the kind of place where everybody knows all about everybody else...their joys...disappointments...and sorrows...but somewhere along the way decided to just love each other anyway...sort of like a family. 

And like a family there's a lot of care and love shown here.   Not a lot of fanfare and carrying on where everybody would notice, but love in the little things...a handwritten note of thanks...a pot of soup...a bag of squash.  Little things by some folks standards.  But real stuff....that touches the heart.  It's the same thing that makes a hug better than applause...it's love that knows you personally.

Our church sanctuary was built in 1890.  I took a picture of it the year we moved to Chatham.  I call my digital painting from that picture “Happy Sunday Morning.”  It may not be the way our historic old church looks to most people walking down the street...but it's the way it looks and feels to me in my heart.  The lovely old building comes alive as God pours the colorful hope and joy of his love into his people inside!  And then all of us, like the radiators in our old house on a cold fall morning, radiate God's warm colors of love back to each other and out into our community.

"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35 NLT

Valentine Dreams

My husband, Chuck and I have been sweethearts for many years!!  I was 14 and he was 15 when we started dating. It was love at first sight or as my mother said, "You chased him until he caught you!"  We've been "goofy" in love ever since.

Being married to your best friend means you always have someone to talk to.  Being married to a dreamer means you always have something to talk about!  We're at a mellow stage in our journey together with God right now...we're getting closer to being our true selves...and we're dreaming new dreams.

One of our new dreams is to simplify our lives.  Living in a small town helps...it's very real here.  We're going to grow a vegetable garden this year.  We've been reading up on how to do square foot gardens and plan to start on our beds next month.  A friend has promised to teach us both how to can our little harvest.  We like the idea of knowing where our food comes from and being a part of caring for it. 

Chuck read an article on "No Knead Bread" in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago.  Now he's enthusiastically turning out yummy bakery quality bread several times a week!  Chuck's always been the clean up crew but never the cook till now. I love watching him try new things like this while munching on his tasty bread!

So, for Valentine's Day we've decided to skip the candy and roses and take time to order organic seeds for our garden.  We'll put our heads together at Chuck's computer...pick out our favorite veggies...place our order and wait for our seeds to arrive.  Love's made of small moments...of laughter and quiet...of hoping...believing... and changing together.   So this year at our house we're growing a garden of edible Valentine dreams!

Lovebirds flying across the buttermilk moon

"Lovebirds Flying Across the Buttermilk Moon" is a celebration of romantic love and a lifetime of commitment. The bluebird bride and groom are swept away in their joy of being able to travel life's journey together. They look in the same direction and together they hold the lovely flower that blooms in their hearts each day! God has put them together to bring love, laughter and encouragement not only to each other, but also to others along life's way. The angel cheers them on from the road below. The dog and three cats traveling across the moon with the lovebirds remind us that the ordinary routines of life can be extraordinary when traveling with the right companion!

Lovebirds Flying Across the Buttermilk Moon
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 30 inches

2004

 

The best memories are homemade

Our daughter, Laurie, called today...as usual she had a Maggie story.  Maggie is 4 years old with big brown eyes, curly hair and a smile that doesn't stop. It seems that Vivian, Maggie's 7 year old sister who also happens to be equally cute as pie, came running into the kitchen yelling, "Mom, Maggie is washing her face in the toilet!" 

When Laurie and Vivian get to the bathroom... sure enough...there's Maggie ...standing in front of the toilet... face freshly washed...dripping washcloth in hand! She looks up at her mom and says, "I'm just rinsing out my washcloth!"

That's one of those stories that we'll tell to over and over again to Maggie as she grows up.  It's one of those stories that will start with "remember when you were 4 years old?"  Then we'll tell the story...chuckling the whole time... adding details real and made up... and say "Maggie, what were you thinking!"   Maggie will probably tell us the story as she remembers it. 

That story got me to thinking about shared family memories.  I asked Laurie what was one of her happy childhood memories. I thought it might be a time when we went to Florida on vacation or something like that.  Without hesitating even a minute, she said, "One day when we came home from school, you had made a bunch of cupcakes and they were sitting in the kitchen.  I asked you who they were for and you said, 'They're just for you!'  It just made me so happy!"

I almost cried when she told me that.  It was such a little thing...a favorite memory...frozen in time...a tiny moment...so tiny I didn't even remember it.  At first I thought, "Poor, Laurie, must have been cupcake deprived as a child for that memory to be so special.  I should have made her more cupcakes!"

But then... a childhood memory of my own came to mind...of mama making fudge and letting me lick the pan with the big spoon.   I can still remember the smell and taste of the dark chocolate fudge ...it's smooth texture sweet on my tongue.  It was a little thing...a favorite memory...a tiny moment...frozen in time.

I called Amy, our younger daughter, and asked her about a favorite memory.  She remembered the summer she was 3 years old when we moved to Texas.  We had been traveling all day and stopped for the night at a motel.  We had all taken baths and washed our hair and were snuggled into bed in our jammies...all fresh and clean.  Chuck put the camera on the dresser and set it on automatic.  He jumped in the bed with us just in time to create a Kodak moment of the 4 of us tired... but together...clean and giggly!   It was such a little thing for a favorite memory...a tiny moment...frozen in time.

Chuck remembered his mom's pear salad.  She always arranged it so lovingly on the salad plate...a leaf of lettuce with a pear half,  topped with a dollop of mayonnaise and freshly grated cheddar cheese.  Even as a child he loved the way all those tastes melded together in his mouth.  It was such a little thing...a tiny moment...frozen in time.

Four favorite childhood memories.  Not a single one involved money.  Not a single one was anything that anyone else would have thought was that special.  They all involved family.  They all involved being in the moment together.  They were all made from love!  The best memories really are homemade!

What are some of your favorite childhood memories?  Leave one of your own in the comment section!

Zinnias and jelly jars

My best friend and neighbor, Montrue, told me a few weeks ago that I need to write about my zinnia and jelly jar obsession...so this one's for you, Montrue!

My favorite flowers are zinnias.  I say this as quietly as possible because I wouldn't want to hurt the impatiens feelings.  But zinnias are so colorful and cheery...I just can't have too many zinnias...which brings me to my jelly jar obsession.

My friend, Lori, put a note in our church newsletter that I needed jars to use as vases so I could share my flowers.   The response was amazing.  Friends brought me almost 200 jelly jars, mayonnaise jars, mustard jars, all sorts of jars in all shapes and sizes!  I had them stacked everywhere- the laundry room, the cellar, and under the kitchen sink.

All summer and fall I've been cutting zinnias and herbs and arranging them in my little jars.  A few lengths of colorful ribbon tied in a bow makes the flowers look all dressed up and ready to go.  Chuck and I have carried them around to people all over town and beyond.  We've had such fun delivering these little jars of God's homegrown love.

Today I made my last two zinnia bouquets of the season.  It was a sunny 50 degrees as I sat outside on the porch at my small wooden table with the buckets of zinnias and garden clippers and jelly jars.  I hadn't taken a single picture of the jelly jar bouquets we've shared until today.

I hope the zinnias and jelly jars have brought a lot of joy to folks this year.  I know they have to Chuck and me.  Pretty Kitty, my ever-present cutting companion and final quality control inspector, seems to appreciate the beauty of the flowers, too! 

I believe flowers are little visual love notes from God...that say things like..."I'm thinking of you"..."I thought you might like this color"..."hang in there"..."remember, I think you're more special than even these."  When we stop and take the time to really look at a flower...its beauty changes us from the inside out.  We get softer around the edges...some of that beauty sticks to us...and we want to pass on a few love notes of our own...in a smile...or a kind word...or a hug...or just a few good thoughts.

The Hiding Place

Did you have a secret hiding place when you were a kid--a quiet place where you could get away and feel snug and cozy?  I loved hiding places!  I was an only child as I was growing up (my sister Christy was three months old when Chuck and I married).  Even though I had three good friends I played with there was still a lot of time I was by myself and had to make up my own fun.  Taking a cue from Tom, our gray tabby cat, I made myself invisible in little nests around our yard.  One of my favorite spots was under the huge forsythia bush under my bedroom window...

Garden Buddies

In the past  two years,  Chuck and  I have spent a lot of time together working in our backyard.  We've  built a labyrinth for starters.  Then we added four large islands to our backyard that once looked like a 60 x 250 foot grass-covered bowling alley!!

Chuck always mowed the grass, but I've been the lone gardener.  But ever since we built the labyrinth and made the islands, we've become garden buddies, too!!   Now we're both obsessed with flowers, bushes, trees and mulch!

Chuck and I are  best friends and share a lot of interests, but gardening together is different...it's added an element of peaceful play to our lives...and maybe this is why...

Heartache and Healing

Our town is a couple of hours from the Virginia Tech campus.  People in Chatham can be divided in two categories--either you are a Hokie or you know and love one!  Hokie flags fly proudly from front porches year round.  Little boys have Hokie ballcaps and little girls wear maroon smocked dresses with the Hokie mascot embroidered on the yoke.  Even UVA grads know that there's no stopping the Hokie spirit!

This week's tragedy at Virginia Tech has hit our community in a very personal way.  We know students who lost friends and classmates.  We've talked with students who are safely back home and can feel their pain and sadness as we look into their eyes. And our hearts ache...