Showing posts with label Inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inspiration. Show all posts

Front Porch Friday

I know you're surprised that the pics from my "front porch" this week are from the Concert of Hope and Remembrance. But it was an amazing night.


Two of the amazing women and breast cancer survivors that made this concert a reality.....


My mom and niece, Sarah, sporting a dress my mom made....


Sarah with her Papaw.....


My mom with her besties, who are all cancer survivors....


Sarah and Me...



With my grandparents, who are both cancer survivors...

Climbing Up

I know I haven't been the most consistent blogger lately. Partly because there's been a lot of icky life things that have been happening and if I told you some of it you would either A) not believe me or B) start believing that Debbie Downer herself had taken over the Grits and Gossip writing responsibilities.

After all, who wants to hear about the struggles of my grief stricken family, the diagnosis of my grandfather, the story of having to take care of a beloved 14 year old family dog when she passed away a few weeks ago, my 4 bouts of car trouble in 2 months, and a less than stellar vacation? I didn't think so!

All of the above, combined with finding time to transfer life back to my home state has made me somewhat of a hot mess lately. I'm so scatter-brained that I actually locked my keys in my car while it was running in my rush to both cool off the car, take out the trash, and get to church with my dad on Father's Day. As my lovely brother-in-law so lovingly pointed out to me, Triple A may very well reject my membership when it's time to renew!

Don't get me wrong....I love being back in SC more than anything right now. And I really love my new job. I didn't think I would ever say that the 2 year job search was worth the wait to find something that I am fulfilled doing and truly believe in. But here I am saying that very thing!

I'm also here to tell you that I'm now a believer in the old saying that when one part of your life starts going well, the other parts fall apart. While my #1 goal for 2010 was to move back to SC, sometimes I feel like that's all I've accomplished in the first 6 months of the year! Sure it was kind of a big deal and life change to move after living in a place for 6 years. That's longer than I spent in high school or college!

I look around and see people who seem to have it all together. The type of people that are organized, never forget anything, have plenty of money, and things just seem to fall into place for them without much effort. It doesn't seem fair that some people have to endure struggles and hardships while others seem to coast by in some happier parallel universe! Of course I would love to be more like them. And absolutely hate that I sometimes doubt God's plan for my life or that He won't throw anything at me that I can't handle.

I received a much needed devotional message in my inbox this morning about Faith. The verse is Hebrews 11:1 which reads "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

The devotion eloquently said, "We focus on the mountain while crying out to God for help, wondering if He really will do anything. We need to remember what God promises and does not promise. God does not promise to remove the mountain or that we will even understand the mountain. However, God does promise to help us climb the mountain and He does promise to climb it with us. We must make the continual choice to fix our gaze on God and our glance on the circumstances."

So I pray for hope and healing and strength and faith. And I can't wait to see the view from the top of the mountain when I get to the top of this particular climb in my life!

Ironically enough, all of this talk about mountains makes me think of these two pictures that Randy snapped just before his accident....

I have no doubt that he had gotten to the top of his climb in this life.

"A Lot of Little, Makes a Lot of Lots"

The devastating earthquake and images from Haiti has affected people in different ways. I spent the first week glued to the TV, feeling so much hurt for the people and children. I want to give every penny I have, adopt a child, start an orphanage...ANYTHING to help.

But that is not a reality for me. Many of the reporters have left but the need and recovery effort goes on. I listened to much of the Hope for Haiti Now fundraiser on TV last week. It was a wonderful way to bring the world together for a common cause to help people in need. The performances were reverent and heartfelt, inspiring the millions of people watching to do what they could to help.

We all know the tough economic situation here at home and we're not all able to give a million dollars to the cause. Some of us can only give a little. But as Stevie Wonder said to a donor on Friday's broadcast:


"A lot of little, makes a lot of lots."

It is that simple.

We could all give up a lunch or dinner out or doing without some luxury in exchange for a donation to the many charity efforts in Haiti. If you're looking for somewhere to start, I highly recommend purchasing the Hope for Haiti Now album on iTunes for $7.99. You can't beat 20 great songs by popular artists for $7.99! Jennifer Hudson's version of Let It Be gives me chills.

In keeping with Stevie Wonder's "A lot of little makes a lot of lots" philosophy, just look at what this 7 year old kid did!






I hope you'll consider doing anything you can...a little or a lot.

Princess Ethel Roberts

This story is so sweet that I just had to share! My mom is the Director of a Living Center in a tiny town in SC. She's always coming up with and supporting non-traditional activities that you won't find at some nursing homes. Like bringing in animals to live with residents, going to local baseball games, and planting vegetable gardens. She brought in an art therapist and then had an art auction so the residents could sale their original artwork. (I have a colorful print of a palmetto tree hanging in my room that one resident painted.) They even took a group to the beach last year as reported in the local newspaper. My mom, and the lovely folks that she works with are dedicated to making their resident's last stage of life as enjoyable and special as possible.

Which brings me to the latest event: the Ms. Willow Creek beauty pageant! My mom supplied most of the formal dresses since we have so many from proms, formals, and her own community theater performances. This particular dress was my prom dress junior year. And I can't think of any better use for it!!!




A little blurb about this pretty lady from my mom:

"Mrs. Ethel Roberts is a resident at Willow Creek Living Center in Iva, SC. She has endeared herself to the staff and residents since coming here a year ago. We have placed a quote by Mrs. Roberts on our wall as an inspiration to the work we do. The quote is "Good, better, best and may we never rest until the good is better and the better is best". When she was getting ready for the pageant she told us that she felt like a princess. Oh how I wish I could be this beautiful when I am 97."

This proves that we're NEVER to old to be a princess!

A Time for Everything

Lest you think I'm a shallow and selfish twenty-something with my recent posts- I've been wanting to share something slightly deeper and more inspirational on here. Times are tough for a lot of people right now. People are loosing jobs or their savings and retirement funds. The housing, financial, and automobile market is a mess. Budget cuts to important education and health programs are unfortunate and challenging. And there is no indication that things will immediately get better. The headlines are anything but hopeful and optimistic.

I recently heard from my mom that one of her co-worker's house caught on fire and they lost everything. I may rant and rave somewhat dramatically about dating woes, recent movies, and a magazine ending. But I am well aware that these things don't compare to what a lot of people are facing and going through right now. Maybe that's why I try to make my blog as lighthearted as possible. Life is stressful and complicated enough, I don't think people want to read a blog that highlights these facts.

Lately, I've had a bible verse on my mind. It's one that I find a lot of truth in and am trying to take comfort in right now. It's an important reminder in my quest to live a more balanced and fulfilled life.

I wanted to find a cutesy and fun way to present the passage on here. I thought about posting the song Turn, Turn, Turn by Pete Seeger. But somehow, none of that seems to matter. The words speak for themselves.


Ecclesiastes 3:1

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.
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