Goodthoughts

Shelling peas

There was a touch of fall in the air today.  The 100+ temperatures that we had a couple of weeks ago are thankfully gone.  So I decided it was the perfect day to sit on the front porch and shell peas.  I bought these purple hull peas at a little produce stand near our house.  You don't see these in the grocery stores much but I learned to love them when we lived in south Georgia and everybody there grew them.  

I dumped the peas out of the brown bag onto a metal tray sitting on the little table in front of our wicker loveseat on the porch.  I was amazed at how gracefully those half dried up purple hull peas had landed on my yellow tray. Why is it that randomness is often so beautiful?  Look at how those two peas in the lower right corner are turning up at just the right angle to balance the whole composition in a whimsical sort of way.

So then I sat down and started shelling peas.  The greenish peas with the bright red eyes looked so pretty in the old fashioned ceramic mixing bowl my sister gave me years ago.  The red eye of the pea echoed the color of the pod perfectly.  

Not only are these peas beautiful but they come in their own biodegradable carrying case with a soft little membrane inside to keep them comfy till somebody like me pops them open!  God must have thought a long time before he made purple hull peas!

I thought their colors looked really pretty with the pillow on the loveseat!!  I don't think I've ever had such a good time shelling peas!  Tomorrow they'll give up their beautiful colors to a pot of boiling water and turn a very "unamazing" shade of grayish brown .  But what those little peas lose in beauty they'll more than make up for in taste!  Sounds like a fair trade to me!

 

The yellow road of weeds

I love it when it's sunny on my yellow road of dreams! 

When the flowers bloom cheerily...and the only bugs in the garden are beneficial insects...when it rains twice a week so I don't have to drag the water hose all over the yard...when the humidity is low and the mosquitoes are few...when I'm full of energy and enjoy bouncing outside every morning to pull weeds when they're tiny...to prune and tend God's beautiful garden...and share jelly jars of flowers to brighten someone's day...that's perfect...it's ideal...but what if it doesn't happen like that! 

What if my yellow road of dreams is full of weeds?  Life is never perfect.  But sometimes it seems that the yellow road has a lot more weeds than dreams!  Our summer has been like that...distractions from our routine...viruses in early summer for Chuck and me...the death of Chuck's brother and the sadness that followed...people in our church family with serious illness, bronchitis that I'm just now getting over.  I look around and see all the things that I usually do that haven't been done.  It's easy to feel overwhelmed...when life slows me down...and the weeds keep growing.  What's the best way to deal with it?

Count your blessings even if you're standing in a weed patch!  I was actually standing in a weed patch when I took this picture!!  Unfortunately,  the weeds are growing all over our beautiful labyrinth in our backyard.  The rock paths are hardly visible from under the weeds.

Life is like that.  Difficulties and disappointment that come to all of us.  Even when it's hard to see the path for the weeds...remember it's still there...and you're not alone on your journey.  God is with each and every one of us, in spite of our circumstances. 

A thankful heart is the secret.  When we focus on being thankful for all the good things in our lives...our thinking shifts.  We see things from God's perspective...a perspective of hope!  

Imagine your dream...orderly and complete...then...calmly start pulling weeds!!  Take your time...your on a journey...setting things right can be an enjoyable process if you focus on the solution instead of the problem.  And you know what?  Whether my weeds are on the labyrinth or in my head... it doesn't take nearly as much time to make things beautiful again as I thought it would.  Keep your hopes alive...and you'll soon discover your dream again...right where it was all along!

The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you."-- Psalm 32:8 NLT

How does your garden grow?

Being a flower lover...it seems only natural that thinking good thoughts might just turn our gray matter into a garden spot full of colorful beauty.  A head full of bright petunias, ferns and sunflowers sure beats weeds any day of the week. 

As my mama used to say, "Pretty is as pretty does." (She probably said that when I was "doing" something that wasn't very pretty!!)  But even as a little kid, I got the message...beauty is about your heart...and how your live.  Good thoughts can somehow make all sorts of good things start to bloom in our lives...kind of like this little lady in the painting...beautiful from the inside out!

One of my favorite Bible verses since I was a child is Philippians 4:8.  It goes like this:

Whatever is true,whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.  Philippians 4:8 NIV

"How Does Your Garden Grow"

Acrylic on canvas

30x40 inches

2006...

Pretty as a picture

A few weeks ago I was trying to think of something to paint.  Something simple,  just for fun.  As I was looking around for inspiration...there sat Pretty Kitty...giving me his dignified stare...the one that says, "I love you more than you'll ever know,"  spoken in his kitty telepathy Cary Grant  accent!

So here's Pretty Kitty's formal portrait.  It's done mostly from memory because he lost interest in posing and decided to take a nap instead.  In case you're wondering why his head looks so little...it's because...let's see...how can I put this delicately...well, Pretty Kitty sort of beefs up a bit in the winter time.  Yesterday the kids down the street even asked Chuck if Pretty Kitty was going to have kittens soon! 

Pretty's main problem is that he eats at three different houses on our street--his actual owner's next door,  our house where he eats, sleeps and hangs out, and two doors down at Jordan's house where he lets himself in through the pet door and eats their cat's food on top of the washing machine!

One night at a Christmas party a lady asked me if I had any pets and I was telling her about Pretty Kitty--how he wasn't our cat but he thought he was and we loved him like he was ours.  Then she said, "Oh, I've met Pretty Kitty!"  It seems that the lady was at Jordan's house one day and noticed a cat in her kitchen and remarked what a pretty kitty he was.   Jordan said, "Yes, I think that's his name.  He doesn't really live here."

Thank you, Pretty Kitty, for being such a sweet cat...and making everybody in town think you love them best!

Thanksgiving Joy

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.  His love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1

Happy Thankgiving!  I hope you have a great day whether you're with family or friends or quietly at home.  I just wanted to let you know that I'm thankful for each of you.  So if you're in the USA, India, Denmark, Australia, Turkey, Canada, Singapore or somewhere else on the planet, it's encouraging to know that so many people in the world are out there...stopping by often...looking for a few goodthoughts...to keep...and share!  Tell your friends to join us...maybe we can change the world...one goodthought at a time. -- Debbie

 

The Thankful Basket

We have a thankful basket at our house.  It's in the middle of our little home altar we made on a built-in bookcase in our den.  The basket was handmade by our friend Donnie's mom and is shaped like a triangle. If you've read my blog, you know that triangles appear a lot in my bluebird paintings.  They represent the serendipitous moments that God sprinkles along our path to show us the way...so this basket was a perfect spot to hold our thankfulness.

Every morning after breakfast, Chuck and I go into the den and read from our Celtic prayer book together,  Chuck reads a Bible passage and then we sit down and prayer silently for our family, friends, our church, town, and the world.  When we're through praying, we take a little piece of pink  index paper and write down something we are thankful for and date it.   Then we go back to our altar and each read what we've written and drop it in the basket.  We've been doing this for a month now and our basket is filling up with thankful thoughts. 

Yesterday was my birthday.  It was such a nice day...with sweet remembrances from my family and friends.  Chuck, my sweetie of many years, surprised me with the best birthday present I could ever receive.  He handed me a manila envelope with a poem he had just written titled, "I Would Give You a Garden."  I started crying as soon as I read the title and we both cried as I read it through.  I thought you might like to read it, too.

I Would Give You A Garden

 

If I could I would give you a garden,

filled with zinnias and pansies and more,

where the sunlight plays on bright flowers,

and roses bloom by the door.

 

If I could I would make you a pathway,

among dogwoods that gracefully sway,

passing lilies, crepe myrtles, and astors,

to a place you could quietly pray.

 

If I could I would walk that path with you,

holding hands as we stroll there each day,

watching butterflies light upon flowers,

recalling young children at play.

 

If I could I would watch your eyes sparkle

at each flower and plant all arrayed

like a choir of jubilant singers,

singing songs of beauty and praise.

 

If I could I would tell you I love you,

and how wonderful my life has been

since we met long ago in our childhood,

and have grown wiser living our dream.

 

If I could I would hold you so tightly,

whispering words meant only for you,

of days and of nighttimes together,

of true stories too good to be true.

 

If I could I would keep my life with you,

growing old with the passing of time,

sharing secrets belonging to lovers,

living lives gentle and kind.

 

If I could I would give you a garden

with no weeds to clutter the beds,

where flowers flourish in sunshine,

and bluebirds sing overhead. 

 

With love I can give you this garden

filled with all of God’s good gifts galore,

for no one would love it better,

and no one deserve it more.

 

Happy, birthday!  I love you! -- Chuck

 

November 20, 2007 for Debbie’s birthday

I told you he was sweet!!  So, today when I picked up my pink piece of index paper I wrote, "I'm thankful for my sweet Chuck...our love and life and his wonderful birthday poem, "I Would Give You a Garden."  I love you deeper each day as we grow in God's beautiful garden of life together." 

It's in the basket...it's in our hearts.

To see more pictures and the story of our home altar go to Chuck's blog AmicusDei.

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...

Riding in the big red shoe

Creativity has an urgency about it...like a little child tugging at your shirttail until you stop and go outside and play!  If you ignore it, your creative inspiration will evaporate quicker than the morning dew.  It's hard to work with an evaporated dream!  When this happens to you, take time to create a tangible record of your idea even if it's a doodle on a paper napkin...you won't regret it later!

Well, inspiration came calling to me yesterday and I just had an overwhelming need to  put everything else on hold and see my idea in paint asap!   And, yes, this is one of the strangest paintings I've ever painted, but as you probably guessed...there is a story behind it.  It's a little hard to explain, but here goes...

Easter Dreams

I love spring!  It has such a joyful energy.  The birds wake us up every morning with their loud, happy songs.  The whole world is turning a fresh shade of green.  Flowers are bursting out of the ground like forgotten treasures!  After a long winter of being indoors, I can't wait to lace up my shoes and put on my gloves and go outside to dig and weed and plant and play! It's a season of dreams, hope and anticipation!

Everything was dead and now it's alive!  It's the Easter story as told by God's whole creation!  The flowers, the grass, the trees, the birds, bees, frogs, the dogs, the cats, and even all of us...we get a chance at a fresh start...of being new again.  It's like the resurrection power of that first Easter reminds us that lost dreams can be found and that we aren't alone on our journey. 

Thank you, God, for sending Jesus to show us the Easter colors of your love today and everyday.

There's a room in my heart where God lives

Sometimes I get an idea inside my head and it just won't leave me alone until I paint it!  I was thinking one day about how God is in a secret place inside of us...like a special room in a house.  I painted a quick computer version of it last year.  Then I did a painting in acrylics, but it wasn't really expressing what I was feeling.  It looked too austere and lonely.

A couple of  nights ago, I took the painting off the closet door in my studio and began to paint over it.  I added a vine growing out of the bright doorway and some happy confetti floating in the air.  Then, I repainted my thoughts to God.  The verse on the painting goes like this...