Channel Your Inner Belle

You want adventure in the great wide somewhere—anywhere other than your current quarters.  Belle—well, she’s my favorite, so let’s take a little storybook stroll just for fun and see how our quarantine lives compare to her time in captivity.

            We cannot ignore the physical environment in which she began her time in the castle:  the dungeon!  Belle was not a guest at the Chateau de Chambord, which actually inspired the castle for the movies and is open to visitors (well, maybe not right now).  No, she was in the Beast’s castle—a cursed, dusty, forlorn place.  Do you feel like you too have been taken captive in a dusty, sad place—your home?  Activities you once took for granted are now forbidden.  Your future, like Belle’s is uncertain.  Please don’t take me wrong, I’m not trying to make light of a serious situation, but we can learn from fairytales.  We’ve been held hostage by a beast—COVID 19.  It’s “mean” and “coarse” and “unrefined”.  Also, let’s not fail to mention Belle was separated from her father.  I know many of you have chosen to sacrifice for your aging parents just as Belle did and all in an effort to protect them.

            We’ve seen the comparison, now what can we learn? Oh that Gaston—perhaps he might encourage us to keep our guard up, for COVID-19 is not gone, and there are people out there who seek to take advantage of a situation for their gain (i.e., using Belle’s father to get to her).

            Let’s think about the change in Belle over time and how we too might discover “something there that wasn’t there before.”  The library—my dream!  I’ve heard there are people discovering new hobbies out there and rediscovering old ones.  Belle explored her surroundings in which she was stuck.  She got to know her neighbors, aka the enchanted castle staff.  Have you gotten to know your neighbors during this time?  And most importantly, she began to see life in a new way.  Before she was a captive, she just wanted to get out of town.  At the end of her quarantine, she was loving life and appreciating its beauty through new eyes.  And she learned to love a beast, oh wait, I used the Beast as COVID-19 earlier—bad example now.  Let’s change the beast example to represent the quarantine as a whole, or no maybe life as a whole with all its ins and outs, obstacles and freedoms.  Be like Belle and refocus, not on your captivity, but on the beauty in life which can captivate you.

A Quarantine Birthday

How would I honestly describe my birthday during the pandemic? Not how I described it to others the next day who inquired, “How was your birthday?”  How would I describe it in my personal journal with one word? INCONVENIENCE.

            My baggy-eyed husband had been working himself to the bone keeping our three-year-old during the day.  He makes sure my son gets all his teletherapy sessions, is fed, and entertained.  He works during my son’s nap.  When I get home from work, we eat dinner, then he goes upstairs to the mancave to work online, usually until midnight.  So I felt that my birthday just meant more work for his already weary soul.  He needed to be the one to sleep in on Saturday, not me!  INCONVENIENCE.

            My sweet parents brought me peanut butter pie, presents, balloons, and orange Gerber daisies.  It was so touching the way they worked to make my birthday special.  However, I felt stressed and torn between the opposite ends of the quarantine safety spectrum.  I could have told my parents not to come at all as my husband and I decided not to expose my 80-year-old father with a heart attack history to any germs I may have picked up at my workplace.  Also, we didn’t want to expose my son who was born with a heart defect to any germs my parents may have picked up at their workplaces.  This decision would have pleased my husband, kept us safe, yet hurt my parents.  Or we could have allowed my parents in our home, ignoring warnings, fears, and precautions weighing on our hearts.  So, peacemaker that I try to be, I set up two separate blankets on our driveway and tried in vain to keep six feet between my family members as my son and my parents moved about chasing run away balloons in the windy spring weather.  I felt stress as something was again out of my control, knowing that I wasn’t pleasing anyone completely, and that my loved ones had gone through so much trouble.  INCONVENIENCE.

            We drove 30 minutes that night to eat out with my best friend.  I called the restaurant ahead of time to ask, “So, how does this work?”  I hadn’t eaten “out” in over two months.  We called in our orders and arrived in separate cars.  We were approached by a masked server who took our name, brought the food, and took the money, all from the safety of our car.  We ate out in a shopping center courtyard, making sure our lawn chairs were a safe distance from each other.  I remember saying, “I feel human again,” dining and socializing with friends.  My son was an angel except for the end of the night when he started sticking his hand in the fountain, and it started overflowing after he turned the sprayer or broke it for all I knew.  Thank goodness, my friend’s husband was able to correct the sprayer on the fountain.  While her husband was working on the fountain, the police officer on duty at the shopping center stopped by to see what was happening and to inform us that loitering was not allowed during this time of the pandemic.  He had seen us, but he had let it slide.  INCONVENIENCE.

            Despite my feelings and the strange circumstances, I had a wonderful birthday because I had so many funny memories and sweet people that care.  I had to battle the inconvenient feelings and enjoy the celebrating, as different as it was.  I had to battle my grumpy ‘tude with gratitude.  I’m having to do that a lot lately.  And I read a message from my Creator.  I read Psalm 91:15. It says God “will deliver him and honor him.”  I looked up the Hebrew word for honor.  It means “be important, glory.”  The basic noun formed from the root means “interior, soul.”  So my birthday interpretation of that is “God thinks I am important in His inmost being.”  And that’s a pretty special birthday greeting card message.

My Southern Grandma

Please make sure you’re watering that ficus! It’s personal to me!  That ficus plant was waiting for my grieving family at my grandmother’s funeral way back in 2003.  I had donated it 13 years later to my place of employment when it outgrew our new home, and we needed to make room for a new tiny human that was on the way.  I remember the call that my grandmother had developed pneumonia after breaking her hip.  I thought that she was doing better, so I was shocked by the “it’s the end” phone call.  With determination, I threw my clothes in a bag and drove the seven hours home from Waco where I was attending graduate school.  I missed a final exam, but I needed to see my family and say goodbye one last time to Momma Ray.

            If you want a good southern grandma name, just take a one-syllable name and stick momma on the front.  You can’t say Momma Ray without dragging out that last syllable.  I can think of several other memories of my grandmother that are truly southern.  She was firm in her faith and went to church every time the doors were open, as they say.  She made the best corn pudding, and I could pick it out at the church potlucks among all the other golden crusted-top casseroles. 

            Her backyard was shady and smelled of all the pecans that littered her cracked sidewalk and crunchy lawn.  We loved to climb the sturdy magnolia tree in the front yard or swing on the screened-in porch on lazy summer Saturdays.  My momma and I would pick up a frito chili pie, head over to my grandmother’s house, and interrupt her soap opera binge to have a visit.  She painted my fingernails bright berry red when I was young, and when she was in the nursing home years later, I would return the favor.

            She wasn’t a woman of many words, but I could feel her support by her presence.  When I practiced the piano, she would sit quietly and listen.  She came to rowdy Christmas mornings and grueling graduations.  She made sure the family came together for birthdays and Easters.  Her eyes lit up when I spoke of my faith, no doubt influenced by her display of dedication.

            While she didn’t get to see me walk down the aisle or meet my son, I have her smiling wedding picture framed on my dresser.  When I think of pecans or corn pudding, I smile.  Even at work, I can see a green living monument of my grandmother in the ficus plant.  So if you had a loving grandparent who you were blessed enough to know and remember, let the memory live on.  And you should share that memory with others—and don’t forget to give it what it needs to stay green and live on.

A Lot Can Happen in 7 Years

Wow!  It's only been since almost 7 years since my last blog post.  I really thought this site would have been hijacked, but I was so pleased to see it is still here.  A lot has happened in 7 years.  I stopped the blog to do some living, but I just can't leave the writing behind.  I have such a passion to write again.  And here was my faithful "Finding at Sunrise" blog waiting for me.  So what has happened in 7 years?
-an engagement
-a wedding
-purchasing a house
-new town
-new work location
-a son was born
-new wrinkles
-new gray hairs
-new friends
-new church
-new Bible study
-new global pandemic

These are not necessarily in chronological order, but it's late!
We have a lot to catch up on!

Lilies are still my favorite!

Seven Churches of Revelation

To sum up a sermon series on the seven churches of Revelation, our church painted doors!! That's right, we painted doors!  I loved it.  Our pastor, dressed and role playing as the author John the disciple,  read passages from Revelation.  There were seven lampstands on the stage to represent the seven churches. After a time of worship and reflection, we were invited to write a prayer on one of the seven doors.  The doors served as artists' canvases and were also being painted by an artist during the worship time.

This was one of the most memorable services I can recall, and it reminded me that worship can come in many forms and expressions.

The Church in Ephesus

The Church in Smyrna

The Church in Pergamum

The Church in Thyatira

The Church in Sardis

The Church in Philadelphia

The Church in Laodicea

Bow Down

"Hey what is this? What does it look like?  What am I doing?" my student asked me as he crouched on both knees, arms out in front, bent over, face to the carpeted floor in the classroom.

We were transitioning from the floor to the tables, and his interesting display had nothing to do with the lesson the teacher had just given.

"Uh, the child's pose?" I said having done my pilates the night before.

"Bowing," he answered. "It looks like bowing."

I will never know what sparked this spontaneous act of reverence in the middle of our day of learning, but I am grateful for it because it got me thinking...

"What does it look like?"

Bowing, that is.

Well, bowing comes in many different forms physically and often depends on the environment or situation.  A man may bow after a karate demonstration.  A girl my curtsy after her dance recital performance.  A gentleman may bow to kiss a lady's hand.  In some religions, a person will bow over 1,000 times a day.

Bowing might say, "I respect you."  "I adore you." "I worship you." or even "I submit to your authority."

What does it look like in our lives?

Bowing (as in worshiping) to the wrong things can look like, well, a mess.  Bowing to drugs or alcohol, saying, "I submit to your authority," can lead to the destruction of a life and to much hurt of others.  Bowing to others constantly creates a faulty stage on which you can never please your every changing audience. Bowing to self only leads to unhappiness and a never ending search for fulfillment.

Bowing to the Lord, the great Leader looks like direction and guidance.  Bowing to the Savior looks like security and hope.  Bowing to the Alpha and Omega looks like purpose and stability.  Bowing to the Joy giver looks like more than we could ever ask or imagine for our souls.

 Here's what the Bible says about bowing:

Psalm 95: 6-7

Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the Lord our Maker,

for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,

the flock under his care.

Philippians 2:10

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

Micah 6: 6

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

My student ignited the questioning of myself and my actions.  I must ask myself in my actions, "Does this look like bowing?"

Many times this week I have regretted words that came out of my mouth and hasty responses that did not sound like bowing to the correct authority.

Help me Lord to demonstrate with my life what it looks like to bow to you.

Homeless Kit

After a lively debate at a party about giving to the homeless, my mind was reeling.  One side of the discussion leaned toward not giving money to a stranger on the street.  Another kind soul stated that God wants us to give to others, and it is not up to us how the recipient spends the money.  Some fear becoming an enabler when giving money to a homeless individual because that money could be wasted on alcohol or drugs.  

What should I do then--give or not? 

I would want someone to help me if I was in that situation.  On the other hand, I don't want to contribute to a habit that will only harm a person.  

Someone suggested giving a gift card to a local fast food restaurant to the individual asking for money.

So my boyfriend and I made homeless kits. Caution should be used when giving items to a stranger.  Make sure you are with someone or are in a public, well-lit place when you give your kit.  Be careful. 



Contents:
*beef jerky
*dried fruit with nuts
*fast food gift card 
*gum
*cough drops
*playing cards
*chapstick
*soap
*toothbrush
*toothpaste
*small New Testament

 Another suggestion is to pray beforehand for the individual who will receive the kit.

 My two kits are still waiting in my car to be a blessing to someone.  I hope they are.