Monthly Archives: May 2014

Kindred spirits in unexpected places

life, , ,

I am sitting in a lovely cafe.

 It’s in the lobby of the Omni Hotel in Nashville Tennessee.    

A week ago right this minute I had no idea I would be here in Honky Tonk town a week later.   God has decided I should live a life full of all kinds of surprises.  Some of them not so welcome and others are beyond my joyful expectations.  I know He holds my life in His hands and as I have told you before, I realize it’s best to let Him do His thing.  Even if I don’t right away recognize the good in it.

Back to the story!  

My relatively new friend and kindred spirit is the woman God hand picked before time began, to give birth to and be the nurturing mother of my son’s soon to be wife..  God is like that.  He not only answers prayers as He sees fit and holds people’s lives in His hands.  He spreads the blessing around.  I received a message from this newish friend as I drove East to meet my littlest one.  “So here’s a random question.  how’d you like an adventure?”  Well she had my attention right there seeing as how I usually  like an adventure.  “want to go to Nashville with me next week?”    The short of it is that she has a conference and decided I might be an eligible Travel Buddy.  I put in a request to my husband and before you could sing  

Blame it all on my roots I showed up in boots And ruined your black tie affair

I had a booking on American Airlines.

 It’s been an action packed fun filled adventuresome five days.  

The first night we wandered one of the Must See streets which is just around the corner.   I had no idea what a Honky tonk was before my visit to this cowboy town.  Now I do!  Not sure it has made my life a whole lot more meaningful but it’s one more thing to add to a growing number of facts in my brain.  

Now, one of the reasons my almost inlaw and I are kindred is that we see much of life through the same lens.  A bit naive, a lot conservative with a smattering of mercy thrown in.  There are certain places we just don’t frequent.  Ever.  If you visit Nashville and take a walk along Broadway you will find the street lined with such places as those.  

We did enjoy some of the music coming through the open doorways.  Even poked our heads inside from time to time.  The view was similar in each.  Dark!  A long Bar along one side!  A raised platform at the front filled with mostly men, in boots, jeans and their hands full of guitars.  Not our scene for sure.  Nevertheless, we were open to the possibility of perhaps finding one establishment where we could maybe step INSIDE the door and sing along.  At one,  my TB was heard to say “nope, this is not our kind of bar”.    Ah yes, the laughs were plenty.  We did find a place where the song being sung was one we both new and we ventured inside, ice cream in one hand, camera in the other.  We stood no more than 5 feet inside along the wall and listened and sang and laughed and ate ice cream.  Thinking I should put a dollar or two in the jar at the edge of the platform, I approached the bar.  Yes I did.  I leaned over and the nice young man leaned in to hear my order.  “I don’t want anything to drink”.  I said.  “Ok, but could I at least get you a glass of water”?  He replied.  “Nope”, I said.  “I just want money”.  He looked at me for a minute and then saw the 20 I was holding, nodded.  I put my few bills in the jar, we sang another song and left, laughing.  Laughter is a good medicine, I have been told.  

Yesterday my TB was in meetings in the morning and I ventured down the street and around the corner.   There were no country musicians playing locally and we had been to the grand ole’ opry the night before, so off I went to get tickets to the symphony. 

A beautiful surprise awaited!  We all know that different experiences bring pleasure to individuals of all kinds.  

One of this preacher’s daughters very favorites (Yes I do have a few) is…  

A delicious home made creation fresh from the oven, enjoyed in a beautiful garden.  

IMG_20140528_110205 IMG_20140529_093355Add a fountain of some sort and I have no trouble envisioning what Heaven might be like.  The concerns of life fall away and I find praise falling from my lips.  

Thank you Lord for this little glimpse at your kindness.  Life is not easy.  There is trouble all around.  Sadness, pain, fear, frustration, sickness and yes, even death.  Yet here, right now, in this place, I am resting in you.  I do trust you.  I do know you are the cornerstone of everything.  I do know that you are the beginning and the end.  You are great and greatly to be praised.  You do not owe me anything. Sometimes life isn’t what I want.   I am not entitled to the gifts that leave your hand and touch my heart.  Yet you allow me to know blessing.  Sometimes it is huge.  Miraculous.  Not to be mistaken.  Other times it is a sweet gentle soft whisper that only I can see.  Today is that day and I praise you from a full heart.

That was yesterday’s prayer as I found myself in a small courtyard outside the beautiful Schermerhorn in downtown Nashville Tennessee.  I had happened upon the cafe on the edge of that beautiful building and I opened the door to the wafting smell of baking…something.  As it turns out the something was blueberry scones.  Handmade from scratch and I knew I was about to meet yet another kindred spirit.  It took just a minute to get a glimpse of this woman.  Her name is Meg and she was my friend immediately.  I think I realized it for sure when I asked “what is your soup today?” and she answered with a smile, “I haven’t decided yet.  I need to see what I have back there”.  Yep!  I smiled.  She makes skirts out of vintage fabric.  We chatted and I took my scone and latte to a bench in the courtyard.  It was one delicious offering I tell you.

IMG_20140529_101135 I didn’t know Meg and yet she shared hospitality with me yesterday morning.  I went back and thanked her and gave her a card with the name of this blog on it.  I invited her to read it and asked if I could take her picture.  She said yes and smiled.

 

Meg
Meg

 

 I am sorry it is a bit blurry but you get the idea.  She was kind and gifted in hospitality.  She maybe doesn’t know it.  Perhaps it is just something she does because she enjoys it.  Quite possibly she bakes fresh scones and cookies and makes delicious lattes because it is a job and she needs the money.  It could be that she is an entrepreneur and some other business person gave her this opportunity to share and earn and enjoy.  Whatever the case, God blessed me through her welcoming on a warm day in a cowboy town and I will remember her, maybe for the rest of time.

We are heading for home in just a few minutes.  Life is an adventure and this was one mini in the vast encompassing adventurous journey of my life.  

 

I asked for requests

life

This morning I slept a bit later than usual. I like to do that sometimes. Especially if the sky is grey and I don’t have much that’s urgent on my to do list.
It was sunny at first but was only mid morning when the clouds turned darker and it became evident that the weather man was correct. It seems he has been ‘right on’ too many times in recent days. He warned us to get the umbrellas ready and I for one, did as I was told.
When asked to make a dinner menu recommendation, my husband responded quickly that since he had been given the go ahead he was choosing pineapple chicken with rice, carrots and salad. This is a recipe Nano taught me to make a long time ago. It has evolved over the years but still reminds me of the time long ago when I was chief cook and bottle washer. Back in the day. Junior high and that’s when I really learned to cook. I’ll tell you about it sometime.

So umbrella in hand I closed the door behind me and headed south. A walk to market was a bit of an undertaking but I have done it before. Not one to be thwarted by a bit of drizzle I made my way safely to the destination I have grown to like very much. (I won’t say love because that’s a bit much)
I purchased the ingredients for the requested dishes. Chicken, rice (there is a great little shop there where you can get pretty much any kind of rice, Quinoa, or grains you might want), carrots, pineapple.
Of course I couldn’t resist the cheese man and ended up with four different types of cheese in my bag.
There were a few extras as usual. Blue cheese and figs for the salad. Figs heated in a balsamic reduction are delicious in salad.

Then homeward bound, laden with three bags in each hand. I attempted to walk the distance but gave in about one third of the way and took the subway from there. These biceps may develop if I do that trip a few more times.

Once home I stashed my groceries and did a few chores.

one and half hours before we were scheduled to eat (he said it would be the regular time) I got to work and did what I love to do.
Turned on the stove, turned on the oven, got out my cutting board and knives and made a meal worth eating. It wasn’t hard. Didn’t take a lot of time
but the response was “this is one of my very favorite meals”.
And
“If you had a restaurant this would be on the menu and it would disappear right away”

Yep, that’s why I cook. It brings pleasure and of course, tastes good too.

roots, trees and clouds

life, ,

Losing nerve, doubting, fearing, wondering, are part of life.  

My life.

Yours Too?

It was after church today when I was racing through the foyer.  I stopped to say hi to a lady I have never spoken to.   Oh she isn’t new.  She’s been around for a long time.  “You always look so happy” she said to me.  I smiled, chatted for a minute or two.  Bless her heart.  She got me to thinking.  I am thankful that she sees Happy when I pass by.  What she doesn’t know is,  lots of times I am not happy.  She likely does know that.  I mean who’s happy “always”? This week was one of those for me.  Can’t explain it.  No good reason except that I had to remind myself a few times that life is good, God is gracious, blessing takes different forms on different days, but it’s there. Think about it.  Count the ways. 

I went to Deuteronomy 31:8

 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.  

That’s blessing if ever there has been.

It came to me again that I far too often ponder things I will never figure out.  I am thankful tonight that even in the hours when I have lost my nerve, He still goes before me.  It isn’t His way, to turn His back when the cloud rolls in. Strangely, that cloud settles sometimes when you would think there is just no good reason.    That’s life.  Can’t always be explained.  

This week was full of people for me.   I hide myself in people.  Laughter, sharing, praying even.  Oh and tables.  They go together, people and tables.  These past few days have been filled with both.  Different sizes and shapes.  Even as I felt my nerve slipping away, the doubt settling in, I found myself sitting across the table from people.  All friends.  Some have been that for a very long time and some for not so long.  Several of those ‘around the table’ times turned into three hour visits.  Nano has been known to say that once you get people sitting at the table you should not disrupt what’s been created, conversation, community, by suggesting “we should go and sit on more comfortable chairs.  Let’s move to the living/sitting/family room.”  No way.  Once at the table, stay there.  When you’re looking for dining room or even kitchen furniture give much attention to the chairs you will sit on around the table.  Sit, eat, visit, laugh, cry, share life and stay put.  Relax and be comfortable but don’t think it would be better if you sat on a different chair.  Hospitality around a table cannot be recreated if it is interrupted.  I promise.  Even when my little ones were very little we most often sat around the table.  It’s the same even now.  

Sometimes I ignore for a minute what I know is true. People can’t fill the empty place in my heart that was created for God.  

As my nerve ebbed away this week I found myself searching.  When darkness seems to fill the place where joy should be I remember whose I am.  You see, He is my light.  He is my salvation.  I don’t need to be afraid.

You don’t either.  

Everything seems pretty big sometimes.  You too?  Believe me, God knows.  He made an empty spot in my heart that nothing can fill.  Except Him.  I don’t ever really forget that.  I do let stuff get bigger and more important though.  When my heart starts to get tight and a bit cold, troubled, it’s usually because I haven’t spent much time with the friend who knows me best.  Tonight is almost over and tomorrow is coming in a few hours.  When I wake up and before my feet hit the floor I will invite Him to join me.  God is like that.  He doesn’t force His way into my day.  He lets me come around to inviting Him.

 The cloud I watched darken overhead last week has all but disappeared and although it is often on the horizon, I know it doesn’t need to block out the sun.   Joy is a choice I need to make.   God will do great things  In my life and quite possibly in the lives of people I will sit across the table from.  That’s pretty exciting.  

One of my table experiences last week was with a cousin I have not spent much time with.  Three hours came and went and we visited and chatted and there were even a few moments of glistening eyes.  Her mom left this earth a year ago.  She is missed.  This mom was my mom’s sister and they shared the grandma name of Nano, just like their mother had.  This cousin and I have a few things in common besides Nano.  There is a strong family resemblance.  We look different but we also look similar.  She has a sister who lives far away just as I do.  We will meet again and will share more.  We are relatives,  a great way to begin a friendship.  

To the East and on the very edge of this country of ours, is another family I hardly know.    Miles have kept us apart. We have missed gathering together and sharing life but we are family.  One of them left this earth yesterday.  She was not old but has lived life differently, confined to a wheelchair since she was a child, loved and cared for by her dear ones.  She was blessed and full of praise.  She knew that one day she would be whole and able to dance.  That day has come and although her precious ones will miss her they look forward to dancing with her, later.

 Yes, this week has been full.  Of friends and tables and remembering and thanking and as I go to sleep now, worshipping.  The clouds will hover but they will not cover the beauty of their creator.

 I am my beloved’s and He is mine.  His banner over me is love.

 

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