Friday, May 18, 2007

3 Strings

I wrote this about a year ago based on this quote:
"A rope that is woven of 3 strings is hard to break."
~Ecclesiastes 4:12
...and of those strings
the most important
is FAITH.
Faith in my Father
Faith in LOVE
Faith that comes
from looking up.
Faith in myself
as God sees me
not in the fears
of what might be.
To hold onto strength
in the Hand of God
to hold in my heart
His whispers soft
of Love and Grace~
the other two.
And in this rope
Faith is the glue.

Friday, May 11, 2007

In Honour of Mother's Day

For my mother, who gave me life and continues to give me INSPIRATION. I LOVE YOU. And for my sisters who are mothers and my sister-friends, too. The photo is my niece Zoe a couple years ago. It's Mum's favourite. I've made notecards for her, and a canvas tote bag with this image. I wrote the following piece while thinking of my childhood. :-) H.


May you have the experience of making homemade bread with your mom even when store bought is faster.

May you go barefoot in the summer and know what it's like to have tough feet before starting back to school.

May you watch kittens being born and babies, too.

May you chase after fireflies in the summer's night breeze.

May you experience playing in the heat of the summer to appreciate a cold popsicle--made in a paper cup with apple juice. And may you discover that papaya popsicles are yucky.

May you experience the cold of winter playing in the snow, to thaw out your hands in front of a warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate--the real stuff. And may you gather the firewood that makes the fire.

May the electricity go out during a storm so you know what it's like to have soup made on a wood stove & eaten by candlelight.

May you have time just to play without rushing through a schedule of extracurricular activities.

And may you not have your own TV in your room so you learn to share & negotiate; and may your TV time be limited so that you can use your own imagination.

May you climb trees and walk through woods and grow tadpoles from a pond.

May you be allowed to play in the dirt & eat mud pies and splash in mud puddles without fear of germs.

May you hear “no” every once in a while. May you be allowed to cry, get angry, not have your way all the time and know that you are still LOVED.

May you write thank you notes to grandparents even when you don't appreciate the maroon and pink plaid polyester pants.

May you have to sit through church & snicker with your siblings to get the hairy eyeball from your mom in the choir.

May you be given chores to contribute to the household even when it's easier for Mom to do it. And may you have to clean your own room & make your own bed.

May you learn to make your own breakfast, even if the eggs are crispy and the pancakes are runny on the inside and charred on the outside.

May you learn to mend a hem and sew on a button.

May you have to do your own laundry when you become a teen-ager, so you don't learn the painful lesson not to add a red sock to a white load when you get to college.

May you have to eat dinner together at home more often than at a restaurant. And may you have to take three bites of food you think you don't like.

May you have a garden and may you eat cherry tomatoes off the vines that make up your own jungle.

May your first car be a clunker and you run out of gas. May you learn to change a flat tire--wearing white in the rain. ;-)

May you keep the joy of learning even when school is not fun.

May you remember the good times, and laugh at the bad. And may all those life experiences bring you closer to the ones you love.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Author Robert Morgan

I'm in the midst of packing and came across this book. Robert Morgan is an Oprah Bookclub author who was guest writer-in-residence at Shepherd University a few years ago. I went to one of his lectures about writing; v. inspirational. He has that Southern charm about him & I love his writing. Anyway, afterwards he signed my book for me as I thanked him for his talk. Then, as an afterthought, he asked, "Would you like me to personalize it?" Personalize? Like X's & O's or hearts or smilies or perhaps an encouraging word about writing? He wrote:


I apologize if sharing this was too personal. ;-) H.



Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Happy May Day!


This is for Mum because May Day is a big deal in England. When I went for a visit this weekend, she had put flowers in the guest room for me. She's v. thoughtful that way! Just a sprig of dogwood flower & some pretty purple wild flowers from the back yard. All of which says, "Welcome."

She sings in the Front Royal Oratorio Society and they performed Handel's Messiah--GLORIOUS!!! Best performance ever! They'll have CD's available soon. Will write more about my weekend later.... :-) H.