Solace

 

Such concern and worry is written on the expressions and laced into conversations of people almost everywhere.

 

I am not immune to this tho I try to keep my mind focused on the task at hand and attempt to still my anxious heart before the Creator of all mankind.

 

After inner turmoil and fretfulness about all the future holds, today's reading of Psalm 27 was a clear antidote for my quaking soul.

 

I hope you will take time to read this timely scripture and find solace there also.

Life: A Gift

As I ponder my birthday and celebrate another year that has swiftly come and gone, I am grateful for life.  I am happy to have another birthday.  I am elated beyond expression. 

Easily with different choices, my life might never have come to be. 

I've said that I am blessed to be the youngest of the ten children born to my parents. 

I remember mother telling me how cute she thought her first baby was when he came into the world on Christmas Day all those years ago.  It seems I still hear the tone of her " mother love" coming through her words.  She had a plethora of cute stories telling the capers of her first born.  She would laugh as she told it as though it had simply happened earlier that morning.

After about three years the cute big brother had a darling baby sister and early one morning after her birth the phone rang.  When Daddy answered, I was told that Papa (my daddy's dad) said to daddy, "Now Gordon, you have a boy and a girl. That's enough.  Stop there!"  They chose not too.

Their fourth baby, a boy, was stillborn after mother suffered a tragic hemorrhage, nearly losing her life as well.  Interestingly enough, baby boy number four, isn't counted as one of the 10.  He makes our sibling total 11. He was quietly and lovingly referred to as the baby that didn't live.  Mother and Daddy always said they had 5 boys and 5 girls.  This may seem strange in today's culture.  I know times have changed and the way loss is acknowledged and expressed  is different.  However, I suppose, this is one of the ways they taught us to be careful and respectful of the private and intimate things of life. As I remember it, mother said the doctor told her not to have any more children, but they wanted more.  

AND so they had more.

Seven more.

Mother said she was amazed how each person in the family loved each new baby and God always provided for their needs as their family grew. They were criticized, but they chose their family.

Mother LOVED her babies.  She bathed us and fed us and hugged us and kissed us and prayed for us and taught us to work hard and be strong and realize that today may be difficult and discouraging but tomorrow will probably be better.  She was gentle and discerning and taught us to be kind.  Daddy LOVED us.  He was strong and faithful and consistent and wise. He was serious and stern.  He provided for us and prayed for us and taught us to work harder than hard and work as a team and OBEY. Mother and Daddy set an example of selfless love and caring for their family and those whom their lives touched.

I love my siblings deeply.   I can't imagine life without ALL of us. Each one of us brings a unique detail to the tapestry of our family with our strengths and weaknesses.  The ebb and flow of life pulls us and stretches us to be more together than we can be separately, forming a woven bond of unity and family.

I never expected birthdays to begin to happen so quickly, but I'm happy to have one every.single.time. it pops up!  It's fun to have a birthday.  No,  I'm not gonna moan and groan about another birthday.  I'm gonna be happy and celebrate it.

 My birthday is my parents gift to ME every single day of my life!!

From the depths of my being I am grateful.

I have struggled with words to share my thoughts from deep inside. This is something I have pondered across several, yes, many years.  They chose life and without their choice of life I would not exist.   I don't want this to sound egotistical or cliche. 

With deepest sincerity, I feel this.  I am blessed beyond measure. 

At times it is almost more than I can comprehend.  I carry the burden of not squandering the days they gave me.  I want to live wisely and carefully.  I want to live with joy and happiness.  I want the days I live to be filled with meaningful moments for myself and others.  Of course, I've had those hot stinging tears of pain, or of misunderstanding and hurt and loss or frustration and discouragement mixed with fear and uncertainty.  However, at the end of the day, there is deep deep peace and joy.  I trust THAT is my identity, not my age. 

And so yep.  I just celebrated a birthday.  I suppose you would say I'm a year older.  More than anything though, I want to be a year wiser and more mature from the lessons I've learned and the challenges I've faced.  I want to be discerning of my role in the world around me and to the needs of others.  I trust I'm more loving and kind from working through relationships.  And hopefully I am more settled in realizing that I am "me" because I am supposed to be "ME".

Celebrate your life today and be happy.  It was no accident.  You are you because you are supposed to be!

Soon to Be A Bride!

She was tall and thin, a precious breath of humanity, with sparkling dark brown eyes fringed with the longest of eyelashes.  Her smile was charming and her voice danced with cheer as she spoke.  She came home from college last week and called to see if I could fit her for a bridesmaid dress. 

When she stepped across the threshold of our front door she laughed as she spoke, "If you can take my size 18 prom dress down to a size 2, I know that this dress is going to be no problem at all."

As I took her measurements and pinned the necessary adjustments, we reminisced.  I told her I was looking forward to the day I would fit her wedding dress.  With a gorgeous expression, she said, "Hopefully that will be coming up soon!"  I felt a spark of joy inside, knowing that she will bring me shimmering fabric with just the right amount of rhinestones and sequins.  Then bittersweet emotions began to fold through the pages of my heart.   I've watched her grow from a young high school student as she left the awkward lines of adolescence behind and waltzed through prom seasons and snowflake balls and now friends who are becoming brides.  One day she will walk out my door carrying her wedding gown sized perfectly for her special day and I will ask myself if I will ever see her beautiful face again?

I am touched by so many lives.

I am blessed.

I pray I am faithful to the many people I encounter each day...

...my family first and then others.

We're So Silly! He and I...

He chuckled when he read my post that just somehow evolved into a long visit on my virtual porch! My husband quite, contemplative and decisive said, "Did you see my comment?" 

"No." I said, "I haven't had time to be on my blog since Tuesday."

"Well, you posted an empty post and  I thought you had  probably done it on purpose after your long random visit from earlier in the week, so I left you a comment."  Yes, he knew I would absolutely do something just like that and post an empty post.

I read his comment.  We laughed.  We laughed an out loud deep down feel good kind of laugh.  Yippee!  I have an empty post that garnered his comment!  I am thrilled.

We are so silly, he and I!

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Aaaarrrrgh! I don't have the hang of the new blogger format yet.  Hence, the empty post from Tuesday!

A Random Visit

I love to sit on our porch and visit with family or friends. I love to eat meals on the porch. I have loved to hold my children while sitting on our porch till they have outgrown my lap. (Somehow that sentence sounds funny like I sat there while they grew, but it's late and I'm not going to try to figure out how to say it otherwise AND it does seem like they grew that fast!) The porch is a good place to relax and it's a good place to ponder life, the past, the present, the future. My thoughts, in my opinion, have a different perspective when" thinked" on our porch, than in our living room, or the music room or our closet. I sense a clear crisp essence to my way of thinking when I'm on our porch...

That is one of the reason's I named this blog, "A Romantic Porch". I love our porch. If I saw your porch I would probably love it too. Porches are places to catch up and visit or a place to relax or play. It can be a soft transition from the comfort of home and the harsh world beyond. I really believe this.

As I grew up, after a day of marking each item off an extensive list of responsibilities my mother would sometimes say, "Let's go out on the porch and take a little break and drink a Dr. Pepper and visit." I cherish those memories. We worked hard and my parents worked hard right along with us.

So I guess I need to take a little break and sit right down on my virtual porch and visit. It's been a while since I've written here and talked to you. Does that really matter? I suppose not. What matters most to me is that I make a positive difference in the lives of my family and friends and those of you whom I have never met, my virtual extent or presence or something like that.

So many people are hurting and searching for answers. Many times the road of life seems blocked or a door harshly and distinctly slammed to close a chapter of existence. Each person processes their pain in a way that is fitting for their perspective and life experience. We can't take the other person's journey. We can only come along side and say a prayer or lend a helping hand or extend encouragement.

HHmmm...I know I should laugh more. My mind never stops pondering and thinking deeper than the surface of life.

Many days I never sit...unless it is the driver's seat of the car or my chair at the sewing machine to fill a client's order. I love my family and friends. I'm rarely on Facebook and then I start feeling afraid that my loved ones will think I don't care about them because I'm not over there visiting with them. In my opinion, it's a sad situation, the balance we face between virtual living and actual living. I don't think my mother or grandmothers had to deal with this. No they were struggling with polio and typhoid fever and diphtheria. You know, those actualities of life that took grit and determination to overcome and sometimes it didn't turn out the way they wanted.

Our family is just like most of you. We are working hard, overcoming challenges, taking another step forward, pondering every angle to make sure we are making the best of choices. My husband says " Don't worry about what others think. Do your best with your circumstances. This is what we have been given to deal with." He's good at just verbally and mentally chiseling away the fog that wants to seep in and haze an issue. I'm thankful for him.

The other day we heard a guy say that when he was sad, he wanted a cheeseburger and when he was happy he wanted a cheeseburger. After a short pause our daughter said, "Well then that guy ALWAYS wants a cheeseburger!"

It's been cold and windy here but the spring foliage is glorious. Have I ever mentioned that my favorite season is Spring?

Oh and by they way the roses that I showed you in my last post, many of you have asked me, "are the roses real?" Yes, yes those absolutely were real roses. One of my commenters on that post left a great link to a tutorial for how to make them, so maybe you would like to check that out.

I have a friend who can tell me just about anything and I generally find it interesting. Like the other day she told me that when a rat breaks its' leg that you should leave it alone. ( I most likely would not have trouble with that.) The leg will heal by itself or the rat will chew it off and it will have a stump. She said she had learned that this was natural and normal for a rat. I found that extremely interesting and fastinating. Maybe I just illustrated to you how easily I am entertained or amused. However, I wanted you to know just in case you might encounter a rat with a broken leg in the next few days...just leave it alone.

Did you know that vanilla beans are the result of hand pollinating orchids? I found that to be of extreme interest as well. So keep up the good work and hand pollinate your orchids.

I often tell people if your life is busy and you're needing a little more time in your day, come spend the night with us...it doesn't take very long.

Is anyone else experiencing frustration with the way the blogger dashboard works, or as the case may be, doesn't work?

So yes, I suppose this is just a random visit on my virtual porch, but I want to leave you with this one thought. If nothing else I've said sticks in your mind, then I hope this will...

I receive a Bible verse each day through text message from a friend - actually a family member of a friend.

This is the verse I received today.

"He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor."

This is found in the Old Testament, Holy Bible, Book of Proverbs Chapter 21 Verse 21.

My deepest desire...to pursue righteousness and love. When the fog of life wants to seep in and haze an issue, it all comes back to this.

Thanks for the chat y'all. I am blessed by you.

Have a wonderful week.

Have You Ever Seen Tie Dye Roses?

I have heard of these roses. I have never seen them.

The other day I was purchasing some fresh flowers for a project that I am working on and I saw these roses. I decided to buy two of them for our daughter. The sweet lady at the flower market wrapped them in pink waxed floral paper. It made a perfect presentation. When I gave them to our daughter, she said, "Mom, did YOU tie dye these for me?" I was astonished! She was so proud of them and anxious to show them to her dad and brother. Our family has had fun trying to figure out how these interesting roses are made.

She said, "Mom these are REAL roses. They have "stickers" on their stems."

Have you ever seen tie dye roses?