Monday 1 June 2020

Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 
"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard  


  A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life.   It's the small things in life which truly mean the most.  Simple abundance . . . it's the best.   
I love all of my grandchildren so very much.  I have eight now. Seven grandsons and one granddaughter. Five of my grandsons know who I am and care about me.  I have frequent contact with them via modern technology, for which I am very grateful. Anthony and Doug and their wives are such great parents. They have/are getting their boys through this Pandemic in amazing ways, as are many parents. Being able to know these boys is one of my life's greatest blessings, and I know that it comes only through the dedication of these two fine sons of mine. Forever grateful.  I am forever grateful. 
My father was/is very musical, playing more than one instrument. I am very musical, playing the clarinet and wishing I could play the piano. I have two sons that are very musical also.  My middle son Doug got a new guitar a couple of weeks back and is getting back to his guitar playing. He used to play in a Worship Team. I have always felt he is very talented in this area.  (Amongst many talents!)  He's been sharing his practicing with me, laying out recordings for me, etc. and sharing with me. I love that he  loves me so much he wants to share these things with me. I really miss my children so very much.



This is a photo I took at my son Doug's and his wife Kayla's wedding.  Of course Eileen wasn't married yet so Tim is not there, and Bruce wasn't married yet either so Sara is not there.  Can you believe that was about fifteen years ago now! Time really flies. Mom was still with us. Anthony still had his hair. And there were no grandchildren yet. Although truth be told my first one had already made his presence known as Anne & Anthony were expecting. 

I am so grateful for a brother who made sure we got to this wedding by renting a car and driving us there and for a mother who paid for hotel rooms for us so that we could stay overnight. There were two weddings I was unable to make it to because they were held out of province and we just didn't have the money to rent cars and stay in hotels, on top of the airflights to Canada. In retrospect I probably should have gone into debt so that we could have been there for the other two.  Unfortunately that was not an option. Hindsight is always 20/20.


  

Church on Sunday even though we cannot leave our home/area to go to church. I am so grateful for a church leadership who prepared us as a church body for the past two years to be able to cope with just such an eventuality. Each week we have been well fed spiritually.  We have had online firesides and devotionals through the blessings of modern technology. Through the blessing of having the Priesthood in our homes many of us have still been able to partake of the sacrament. Although it has been a challenge in many ways to stay focused on the Saviour and His Gospel, many of us have found ourselves drawing even closer to Him, relying on Him more than ever, coming into an even deeper communion with Him and our Heavenly Father.  




I found this buried in a bag underneath our stairs yesterday.  We keep our potatoes and onions there. It must have fallen from out potato bin into a bag I had filled with other things. Yesterday I took that bag I had filled with other things and decided to go though it to see what was actually in it and what was usuable for us now.  Finding this sprouted potato was a complete surprise and made me smile.  What a wonderful demonstration of  faith. This little withered potato had sprouted roots and was growing more potatoes, despite being in a place it should not have been and probably had not expected to ever be, and being in dire circumstances with the highest possibility of complete and utter failure. Still, it had the faith to do the thing it was created to do. We have planted it in the garden and, God willing, we will get  tiny crop from this small and amazing seed of faith.  We need to have faith like this potato. We cannot see the end of our picture, but we can still have enough faith to do the things we need to do, here and now. We can still have hope. We can still bloom where we are planted. 


Its not always easy to keep up with all of these things, but we try.  Sometimes it is more difficult to practice these things with the ones you love than it is to practice them with the ones you don't love.  Do you suppose that is because with the people you really care about more  all of your heart is invested?  Or perhaps it is because we know/believe that they will love us anyways, despite our weakness and failures. 


New Books.  Maybe I can eak out fifteen minutes a day to do something more creative. We shall see. That is my hope.  


Wonderful little conversations with my mother's first cousin Polly.  She is in her 90's and she always makes me smile. I am so grateful for this older woman and her fine example to me and many others. Family is everything. I think she is a pretty amazing woman and I love her very much.

I have had loads of small and wonderfuls this week, like most weeks. I am grateful that I have a grateful heart. I wouldn't want to be any other way. 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *
If peace 
is what you really want,
you will choose, peace.
~Eckhart Tolle •。★★ 。* 。  



In The English Kitchen today a fabulous Pizza Night In. 

I hope that you have a week filled to overflowing with blesings. Don't forget along the way! 


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And I do too!     Stay safe!  
    



10 comments:

  1. I can tell how much you love your grandchildren, Marie, just by reading your thoughts about them. Wow, 7 grandsons and 1 grandaughter. Sadly, we can't change what's over and in a perfect world you would have been at your daughter's wedding and youngest son's wedding. But life ain't perfect and so we stumble along doing our best to get it right and happily, sometimes we do! It's turned very chilly here but at least the sun is shining. I'm making your rhubarb cake today. It will warm tummies and the kitchen, too. Hugs and love, Elaine

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    1. Thanks Elaine! I hope you were happy with the cake! Its nice and cool in the morning here, but warms up as the day goes on. The weather has been beautiful all of May. I am hoping June will be also! Love and hugs. xoxo

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  2. I can tell how much you love The Littles too:)
    I was tempted by that book..IG tempted moi now you;)
    Have a good day Marie:)

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    1. The test of the book will be if I actually use it or not. I NEED to make more time in my day for ME. Be happy! xoxo

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  3. Like you I'm thankful that we have the internet and our phones to keep in touch with those far away. It is a blessing. I've watched many of my own grandchildren grow up ttands to pictures shared. It's wonderful to have kids that care enough to keep in touch. Thankful too that my children have paid for any trips I'v e made to see them. That They want me to be apart of their lives us anazubg , You are blessed to have someone there to share hugs and your life with. Living along means I get no hugs at all and miss them terribly. Take care and be safe.

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    1. It sounds like you have wonderful children Pam. I wish you had someone to hug you through this pandemic. Virtual hugs just don't cut it. I am sure you miss all of your family and the contact dreadfully. Love and hugs. xoxox

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  4. I love your grateful heart and enjoyed reading this one. I love how attentive your sons are to you and I really liked the photos you shared. Your grandson's photos are adorable, of course.
    I enjoyed learning that you are musical. It doesn't surprise me since I think you have many talents and this just adds one more. I think it is awesome that your son has taken up the guitar again and shares his music with you.
    I am enjoying our Sacrament meetings at home. My husband assigns us topics for bearing testimony of. We have a granddaughter living with us and I love hearing her testimony of various subjects. I love having my husband bless and pass the sacrament;
    it has deepened my love for this ordinance. Yes, this is much good coming from this hard time.
    I did enjoy reading your thoughts on your potato. It was an
    amazing analogy.
    Loved the quote with scriptures. I am excited that you are going to try so painting. I miss your artwork.
    It is fun to connect with those you love and I'm happy you had a sweet conversation with a cousin.
    Sending loving thoughts and hugs your way!

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    1. It has been far too long since I picked up a paintbrush or marker LeAnn. I have probably gotten very rusty. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life. It has blessed it in countless ways. Love and hugs always. xoxo

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  5. Lots of hard places come to bite us in life, Marie...I think and the family might have done some fund raisers, yard sales, whatever, even online fund raising...to ensure you did make it to those weddings. And you know, since becoming Jewish, I love their thinking about most everything that happens: IF it happened that way, it was meant to happen that way. Seems a good way to help one go on after such disappointments... We were dis-invited to a very significant day in the life of our first grandchild...I cried for 3 days over that one...but as it turns out, we could not have gone anyway as it was many hours away on roads that were iced over...so they wasted hurting us...they should have trusted GOD to manage the weather so we could not have gone and then we would not have been so hurt. After that one, I never cared if we were invited to anything special for the other grandkids...sometimes we were and other times not...once you miss things, at least for me, it became easier to miss others. And besides I am so looking forward to the next life where there won't be anymore such hurtful rude things to endure. At least 3 of your kids seem to do all they can to keep the ties strong between you and them!! We did our main job...bringing them into the world and then taking care of them. Now, maybe it is our turn...to do fun things. Not to worry overly much about such things...besides anyone who knows you knows you would have been at all such events if it was possible!!
    hugs, Elizabeth xoxo

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    1. Life is a funny old thing with its twists and turns Elizabeth. It never quite turns out the way we think it will or should. xoxo

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