A Little Break

Jhett and I went to Winston-Salem for a few days late last week.  I dropped her off at home in West Salem where she could enjoy her city house while I spent a few days with Daddy.  Daddy has some sitters helping us now.  He is unable to get out of bed at all.  He needs help eating (he has such tremors that he can only handle sandwiches or finger foods) and he spends much of his time sleeping.  Always a vain man, he still insists on shaving and combing his hair every day.  

Jhett enjoyed spending time lying on the radiators at each window, sleeping on top of the cabinet in the kitchen and reacquainting herself with her old toys.  She has spent each evening in my lap while I would listen to NPR or read "Plainsong" while waiting for my Preacher to get here.



Once he arrived we did yard work that had been neglected for about a year.  There was a Bradford pear tree in the front yard and a breeze early this spring knocked it over.  That left only one tree-sized plant in the yard - a large crepe  myrtle.  The neighbor's trees were growing over the property line and fences, lying on the roof of the house and garage (this is a city house so the side yards are minuscule).  We spent two days cutting and hauling brush.  I can't remember when I have glowed so much (you know Southern women don't sweat, we glow).  I am covered with mosquito bites and am in great fear of the dreaded West Nile Virus so I'm hyper sensitive to each ache and pain since we got home.  I have more bites than I care to count but they seem to be in clusters of at least 3 within in inch.  I have bites on my toes and on  my face.  Thank God, the worst of the itching seems to be over.  It's hard to believe that as dry as things have been back in Winston-Salem, there are more mosquitoes there than here in the Dismal Swamp area.

So now I'm back and getting caught up on work and rest and the next thing you know it's going to be September!                                                                               

An Outing with the Kids

I sometimes think I should moonlight as a travel agent or event planner.  We just recovered (or are still trying to recover) from a rafting trip with a group from the church.

In 2010 we took the Youth Group on a rafting trip in the beautiful North Carolina mountains.  We stayed at the Methodist Mecca also known as Lake Junaluska.  We had such a wonderful time!  When the adults in the church heard about the fun, they wanted to try taking the trip if it was safe enough.  The only restrictions that the rafting company had was that you must be at least 7 years of age and weigh 60 pounds.  All of these adults qualified.

In 2011 we wound up with 24 people who took the trip and 21 rafters.  The ages ranged from a 15 year old high schooler to 80-something retirees.  They were like children, wanting to "do it again" as soon as the ride was over. There were some folks who wanted to go but the timing was off and others who didn't realize it was for adults, so they wanted to go the next year if we did it again.

This year, as soon as 2012 began I started hearing murmurings about the trip.  I checked the website repeatedly about the package prices and finally in March they posted information.  We began forming a list of interested people.  The list would shrink and grow over the next months.  Some would choose to raft, then not raft, then raft again, then one member of the couple wouldn't raft.  Some would go on train rides instead.  It was at times very confusing about who was or was not going but one thing was certain, we would all stay at Lake Junaluska.

This year we had 30 folks who made the trip.  There were 18 rafters, 4 train riders, 6 non-rafters who followed the rafters down the river by car and took photos.  The preacher and I, who had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before, drank coffee, catnapped, and enjoyed watching the ducks, fish and a beautiful chocolate lab play in the river at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.  Just being outdoors in the fresh, clean mountain air was so relaxing.  One day spent outdoors in the NC mountains is the equivalent of 3 days of vacation in the city.

When the rafts returned from their journey we learned that two sailors went overboard - one went twice! The chatter over lunch was fun as we heard recaps of their adventures.  The afternoon was free of planned events so everyone was able to do as they wished until we would meet again at Lake J for dinner.  People would leave Lake Junaluska and begin to head home the day after rafting.  Some would head directly home, others would spend a few more days stopping along the way to see various sights, after all, it is an 8 hour plus trip!

These folks are what I imagine full time kids would be like when they have grown up with all their techno toys (iPads and smart phones).  What a fun group!

My Mama's Blue Willow

There are some days that I miss my mom so much I just ache inside.  She has been gone for 11 years and I still catch myself when something funny or exciting happens thinking that I should call her and tell her all about it.

I'm just feeling a little verklempt today.  I saw some Blue Willow Ware china and it reminded me of mama.  She had a set for many years.  I remember that as a child I dreamed that I was trapped in the Willow Ware world and those birds were chasing me across the Japanese bridge.  My feet seemed not to want to move and it was like running in quicksand.  I couldn't scream, my mouth was sealed shut.  It was a relief to wake up from the dream and every time I see Willow Ware I'm reminded of the frightening dream and of mama.  Especially the biscuits she would serve off the oval platter.

Love's Labor

During my life I have had several, very different jobs. I have worked at a shrub nursery.  I've done landscaping.  I've worked as an advertising director at a newspaper.  I've done bookkeeping.  I've worked in a sheriff's office.  I've been an office manager, an arts council director, a gallery director and curator, a gallery manager and a secretary.  I gained knowledge from each job.  


Of all of the jobs, I would have to say that the one that was most totally gratifying was doing landscaping. I was able to get my hands into the earth, marvel at God's magnificent creation, plant and design my own Garden of Eden, work from "can't see to can't see" and be so exhausted at the end of the day that I would literally fall asleep in the bathtub.  I am not afraid of nor unfamiliar with hard work.

There is something satisfying about doing work. Sure, there's the money, if it is a paying job, but there is something else.... something emotionally gratifying about completing a task. It is spiritual gratification to do work that you lose yourself in, doing it in the best way that you can, knowing that you are doing it because it is the right  thing to do, without pay, without fanfare, without any thought of being thanked or praised... simply because it is the right thing to do. It is how we show our love for others, to do without expecting anything in return.

That is what church work is about. Our church has several such people.  There are some who see that something needs to be done and without being asked, they just do it. They don't complain or call attention to themselves, they aren't looking for any recognition. What they are doing, they do because it is the right thing to do and it is something between them and God. They volunteer to do all sorts of things because there is always something that needs to be done around a church and community. If you were to ask any one of them, they would tell you that THEY get more of a blessing out of doing for others than the ones who receive it. I believe it is true because I have experienced it myself.

Philippians 2:3-8

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Work for money feeds the body, but work without pay feeds the soul.  Examine yourself.  What are you doing to feed your soul?