My delightful friend had us over yesterday to her sunny, pleasant home. She made us goodies. She listened to us while we (some of us more than others!) talked. She even made us little bits of art love- to show us how she felt about us. I nibbled on goodness from the moment I arrived. One nice thing about growing older- you can cherish a golden friendship for a long time. I was stuffed full by the time I got home, and every morsel satisfied me!

I saw my friend hurry out of her workplace today with her camera. She didn’t notice my wave. I wondered, what’s she taking a picture of? Driving around the corner, I saw it for myself. The pretty rainbow stripe across the front of our little local mountain. Ooh ooh, I thought, pulling over as soon as the mountain came out behind the tree shadow. I climbed out of my car, fumbled my phone out of my purse. I found the camera icon on the tiny screen. I held it up, keeping my hand from… but no. The rainbow was almost gone!

How many times does that happen in life? In trying to process our moments instead of live in them we miss a stripe of beauty splashed in front of our eyes.

Thankfully my friend got her picture taken in all its glory. I saw it posted myself later, in her blog. With friends in your life opportunities aren’t lost. In sharing their joy, the rainbow comes to life for you again.

How happy is me, instilling the love of reading to my grandbaby Jamie! When i was a little girl, the youngest of four in Kansas City, I played games by myself a lot. I would roam around the house and find kid corners to dream and imagine in. My mother had a lot of books. They were big, heavy, hard-bound adult tomes, but many had pictures in them. I would skim the book and find the pictures and study them. I’d wonder about the world, and the past- and dream into landscapes.

When I went to Elementary school, learning to read was a chore. I liked the pictures in the Dick and Jane books but sighed over the words. It took a while to master the skill. But when I was ten, my mother gave me The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was like coming home. My mind exploded. I got it, so many lessons- from, ‘this is a whole new WORLD,’ to ‘I feel like I know these characters!’. I roamed around the house with my book, and the now-customary glazed-over expression took over my face.

Now I get to write my dreams. I’m very thankful to be an author.

When I moved to Snoqualmie, I had one 9 mo. old baby. There was a little park a block away. It had a playground with one of those self-propelled merry-go-rounds, long chain swings, and a truly scary slide. This park was real. Actual fun involves risk.

Years later the city decided to ‘renovate’ the park, and remove the dangerous play yard features. They put in one of those hard plastic playgrounds instead. Very safe. You could play it out in twenty minutes flat. Kids had to climb on the roof of it to threaten life and limb and I’ve seen it done. They adapt.

I sneered at the new play yard. I missed the old- everywhere I saw parks with no swings- a basic kid skill that can no longer be acquired. The city took some of the space that used to have a few trees and poured flat concrete. They put in a few basketball hoops. Humph, I thought. No one’s going to bother playing basketball at a little preschool play yard park.

Count me wrong. Guys from everywhere started showing up. ‘If you build it, they will come.’ Even I hungered to find my basketball and play there. (I did, and lost a game of ‘HORSE’.)

Thanks to Marcie for sharing this great story on Facebook.

http://www.news4jax.com/positively-jax/shaq-visits-gainesville-to-play-ball-with-kids

When I was a new mommy, I was so scared-even though I’d worked as a nanny and at a daycare center in the baby room. Maybe it was Postpartum depression, but whenever Meribeth had the slightest problem I feared she was going to die. Having nearly raised six kids now and gone through a plethora of mistakes and concerns, I’m still pretty scared. But I don’t regret it for a second. I love my kids!

That’s right, folks. I know there are other people in the world like me- who search for happy endings in movies, books and hopefully, life! What happens when situations overwhelm? When problems grow tall- do we escape into misery or radiance?

I heard my dear Lord tell me a story about a peddler one day while I was walking. I saw the peddler’s loneliness. I noted he thought to himself that although he couldn’t eat the food in the marketplace, he could smell it and no one could take that from him. But it didn’t help much. He left town in despair and wandered down a dusty road. He came upon a beautiful mansion, never meant for him for he was shut away from fullness and beauty. And then a servant ran out of the house, arm outstretched. The Master was inviting the peddler inside.

There was a banquet prepared, and warmth and love. The Master claimed the peddler as His own- he was to inherit everything. As I walked I could feel the peddler’s sense of wonder- and the beauty of his surroundings meant more to him because of the poverty he was leaving behind. Heaven has meant more to me since then.

So maybe I like noble heroines and heroes. Perhaps I’m idealistic to the point of unreality- but I know there’s a happy ending to be found in this life.

The distant wall of Heaven;