Growin' flowers and children

Raising grandchildren is a whole lot like nurturing a garden. Both need loving attention and bunches of time. Both can wear you out, but both reward you with so much more than you can imagine.

So much beauty,  so much joy, so much satisfaction has come from my Elliana. We have enjoyed many hours outside playing and working in the garden together. Not many granddaughters have said to their Grammies while playing in the gazebo, "Let's go pull weeds, okay Grammie?"  We love any and all our time together.

Inspired Reading

I had a sleepless night last night. Sort of a melt down because my husband fell again. It brought up worries that he is heading towards being just like my mother whom I just put in the rest home only a few days ago. What is going to happen to him? What will happen to me? What if  I can't take care of him by myself? What if I can't take care of myself?

I had myself all worked up.

Then tonight I read a story about a woman that allowed a stranger to help her walk on a slack line. A slack line differs from a tight rope in that it does not have the tight tension in the rope,...thus the use of the word slack... When she stepped up on the rope it vibrated wildly, she became afraid and tensed up trying to steady herself by fighting the movement. The stranger said, " Don't mind that, it's just your nerves, look straight ahead and bend your knees. I am right here you can hold onto me until you get your balance."

That spoke volumes to me! It is not the circumstances but my nerves that is making the ground under my feet vibrate wildly so I feel I will never find balance. It is me. If I look straight ahead, bend my knees (prayer) and hold onto Jesus until I get my balance in this new circumstance, the foundation will become solid. It isn't vibrating,  I am.

The stranger also wrote a poem about fear.

One part was,  Are you afraid of dying, or just afraid you will never get to live?

The beginning of a beautiful friendship

I enjoy sharing the ups and downs of my days. Getting them down in print is sort of like not loosing all the little pieces of Me. I can come back and look over my personal history. Sometimes I can see clearer in retrospect how it all fits together.

Ofcourse, like all people everywhere I am made up of so many parts I can't keep them all straight! Some parts of me show strength and confidence.  Other parts fall apart and hide under a rock at the slightest provocation.  Sometimes I'm sweet, and sometimes I'm sad. Even I don't know how I am going to react to any given situation.

Things I know for sure about me is that I look at life from an artistic perspective. All of life is art .Every step you take is a dance. Every word you say is a poem. Each thing you make with your hands is a craft.And what ever work you have given your time and heart to is your personal masterpiece. Only your attitude will determine how brightly you paint the legacy you leave behind.

I hope I dance with abandon, I hope I speak love poems, I hope I craft beauty, I hope the masterpiece left behind as the legacy of my life is so bright that anyone who sees it will give God glory.