The Test

Photo Credit: Prawny from morgueFile.com

With school in full swing now, the kiddos are taking tests of all kinds…spelling, reading, science, math, and more.  They prepare for each test and then, with a hug and a kiss, I send them off to do their very best.  Over the course of their schooling, there will be countless tests and all the tummy butterflies to go with them, I’m certain.  However, I was touched by a heartwarming story entitled, “The Test,” by S.I. Kishor, that I received from Mike Atkinson the other day.  I knew that I needed to share its uplifting message with you:

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station.  He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't - the girl with the rose.  His interest in her began thirteen months before in a Florida library.

Taking a book off the shelf, he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin.  The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.  In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell.  With time and effort, he located her address.  She lived in New York City.  He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.  The next day, he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

Over the next year, the two grew to know each other through the mail.  Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart.  A romance was budding.  Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused.  She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like.  When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting - 7 pm at the Grand Central Station in New York.

"You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel."

So at 7:00, he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen.  I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened:

A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim.  Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were as blue as flowers.  Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit; she was like springtime come alive.  I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose.  As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.

"Going my way, sailor?" she murmured.

Almost uncontrollably, I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell.  She was standing almost directly behind the girl.  A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat.  She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes.  The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.  I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.  And there she stood.  

Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle.  I did not hesitate.  My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.  This may not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful for.

I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment.  "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell.  I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"  The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile.

"I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by begged me to wear this rose on my coat.  And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street.  She said it was some kind of test!"

Oh, I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did!  I just LOVED it!  So many thoughts flood my mind after reading it again (and again).  It made me ponder beauty a bit.  External beauty is so fleeting, isn’t it?  Here today and gone tomorrow.  We hold on super tight to it though.  We do our best to take care of ourselves.  We exercise (right?!).  We eat fairly nutritiously (right?!).  We take extra care of our skin and hair.  We do our best, but time waits for no one.  The beauty of our youth starts to fade little by little.  We can fight it all we want.

We check out ourselves in the mirror many times a day, but have we done an internal beauty check lately?  How are we taking care of that?  And, do we have someone in our life…a spouse, special friend, or family member…who loves our internal beauty as much as (or more than) what’s on the outside?  If we do, we better hold on tight and never let them go!

When I say, “hold on tight and never let them go,” I mean the following:  Weave them tightly into the tapestry of your life.  Let them put their handprint on your heart…like that of a handprint in wet cement.   Let it dry there and remain forever.  Like you’ve probably heard before - many people will walk in and out of our lives, but a few will leave their footprints on our heart.  Hold on to those beautiful few with an embrace that lasts longer than the hug itself.  They are the keepers…the ones who love you for you…imperfectly perfect you. 

I want to wrap up this Sips with a few memorable quotes about beauty:

• Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. (Kahlil Gibran)
• Beauty is not flawless; it shines even through your flaws.
• Next time you think of beautiful things, don’t forget to count yourself in.
• Beauty is about a pretty mind, a pretty heart, and most importantly, a beautiful soul.
• Beauty is being the best possible version of yourself on both the inside and the outside.
• I can’t think of many things more attractive than a beautiful person whose beauty isn’t actually what attracts you.

After that last quote, I think I’ll stop.  That one wraps up “the test.”  May you find something beautiful in…each day…each person…and yourself, as well.

Have a wonderful week, Sunshines!

What Do You See?

Photo Credit:  Uncle Erol

My Uncle Erol captured this beautiful photo of my Aunt Edie a few weeks ago.  She was enjoying an afternoon in Port O’Connor, soaking up the warm, salt-kissed air.  She told me that she stood quietly by the water that day, just dropping tiny graham cracker crumbs, little by little.  She didn’t make a big scene.  She simply stood there, releasing bits of cracker from her hand and admiring the calm and serenity of the water. All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, a flock of seagulls surrounded her and happily welcomed her tasty treat with open arms, uh…wings.

When I first saw the photo, I immediately asked my aunt and uncle, “What do you see?”  They paused in silence.  I said, “Oh my goodness!  Look at Aunt Edie.  Just look at her!  Are you kidding me?!  With her white hair, gray blouse, and black pants…all the birds saw was an incredibly generous, loving, nurturing…Mama Seagull!  They knew she would take care of them.  Oh, this picture is so cool!  I’m totally using it for a Sips!” (and here I am!)

Perception is an interesting thing, really.  What do you see?  What do I see?  Many times, what we see will differ.  Sometimes, what we see will be the same.  But, I want to share two remarkable stories with you today about how we perceive what we see.  And, as luck would have it, my sweet Aunt Edie is the one who sent me both of these thought-provoking stories:

Story #1:  In Washington D.C., at an arcade outside a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six classical pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, exactly 1,067 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.  After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.  He slowed his pace and stopped for a couple of minutes, leaning against a nearby wall, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.  At 6 minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.  At 10 minutes, a 3-year-old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.  The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes, the musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.  About 20 of them gave money, but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.00 that day.  After 1 hour, he finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no one applauded.  Only one female passerby recognized him and applauded his performance.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.  Just two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.  This is a true story.  Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

•  In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
• If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
•  Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…how many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Story #2:  One day, a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test.  They all waited anxiously at their desks for the exam to begin.  The professor handed out the exams with the text facing down, as usual.  Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over their papers.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions – just a black dot in the center of the sheet of paper.  The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following:  “I want you to write about what you see there.” 

The students, confused, got started on the inexplicable task.  At the end of the class, the professor took all the exams and started reading each one of them aloud, in front of the students.

All of them, with no exception, defined the black dot, trying to explain its position in the center of the sheet.  After all the papers had been read, the classroom was silent. 

The professor started to explain:  “I’m not going to grade you on this.  I just wanted to give you something to think about.  No one wrote about the white part of the paper.  Everyone focused on the black dot.  The same happens in our lives.”

He went on to say, “We have a white piece of paper to observe and enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots.  Our life is a gift given to us by God, with love and care, and we always have reasons to celebrate – nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that provides our livelihood, the daily miracles we see.”

“However, we insist on focusing only on the dark spot – the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend.  The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they’re the ones that pollute our mind.  I encourage you to take your eyes away from the black dots in your life.  Enjoy each one of your blessings and each moment that life gives you.  Live a life filled with love and contentment.”

I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed each of these two sharings.  They certainly left me with much food for thought.  Do I focus on the black dot?  Do you?  When I focus on the things in my life that aren’t going the way I’d wish, am I missing the beauty of the many blessings directly in front of me?  In concentrating all of my energies on what might be wrong, am I missing all that’s right?

What about you?  What do you see?

Join me in appreciating the white part of the paper of our lives.  Join me in recognizing the beauty around us.  God allows us a glimpse of His love through others and circumstances. 

The question is…will we allow ourselves to see it?

Have a wonderful week, Sunshines!

P.S.  I also want to wish my precious Aunt Edie an extra wonderful, sunshiny, Happy Birthday!  Thank you for all of the support, love, and encouragement in my life and with my writing.  When I see you, I catch a glimpse of Christ.  Thank you for that!  I love you.

Your Recipe

Photo Credit: SDRandCo from morgueFile.com

Hey there!  Is that a tissue in your hand?  You might still be a little weepy today reflecting on the fact that your baby started Kindergarten…or college this year.  You may be a bit worried and anxious, hoping that you planted enough good seeds as you sent your child off to junior high or high school for the first time.  Or, you could be wiping away some happy tears, rejoicing that there is finally some sort of normalcy in your household with what now resembles a schedule…and a decent bedtime.  Whatever you might be feeling, I pray that all is well with each of you.

Each summer, my kiddos seem to find their inner “foodie.”  What does that mean?  Well, during the longer days of June, July, and August, we find ourselves tuning in to the Food Network a whole lot more often.  Whether it’s a cupcake war, seeing someone’s special dish being “chopped,” or empathetically watching those poor chefs prepare meals while being blindfolded; we all seem to get our gourmet groove on when the temps rise outside.

The fact that my kiddos love to experiment in the kitchen really works for me in the summer.  It keeps them occupied and fosters creativity.  Most of the time, I just let them have full access to any and all ingredients and utensils.  Of course, I occasionally check on them for fire hazards and I do remind them that the clean-up will be equally as fun – hee hee!

Earlier in the summer, they didn’t measure any of their ingredients whatsoever.  They literally grabbed whatever they found, poured it in a bowl, mixed, and baked.  So, we ended up with rock-hard cookies, gummy bread, and cannot-scrape-them-off-the-pan-pretzels.  After a few days of this type of baking, I encouraged them to check out some of my recipe books.  Basically, their daddy doesn’t like wasting food and frankly…I think he was getting tired of taking the experiments for lunch.

Once I convinced the kids that it was still very cool and chef-ish to follow a recipe (for the most part), the fruits of their labor were well-received…and delightfully delish, I might add!  They still used their inner foodie to add a dash of vanilla or a bit of honey or other ingredients when they weren’t called for, but that’s how great recipes are made.

Over the summer, I also fell in love with my brother’s homemade pico de gallo.  Yes, it was magical.  He made some of his unforgettable pico while we were vacationing at the Frio River.  I didn’t know if it was the hot sun, the fact that we had floated the river all day, or that I was famished…but, I had NEVER tasted pico like this.  I thought I might have been in heaven for a second there.  Poor guy made a bowl of it to share with the family and I’m quite certain that I ate 95% of it.  Possibly more.  Of course, I HAD to have the recipe.  I knew the basic ingredients that could be in pico de gallo…tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lemon or lime juice, garlic, jalapeno or serrano peppers, salt, and pepper, etc.

So, as I prepared to write down the long list of super-duper-secret-special ingredients, he rattled off the following:  2 tomatoes, ½ of a purple onion, 1 jalapeno pepper, salt, and pepper.  No way.  That seemed too simple.  However, I was confident enough that I could easily duplicate it at home with just five ingredients.

When I got home, I bought the ingredients and was salivating at the thought of making my very own bowl of pico.  Yum.  Now, let me share with you my attempts…that failed.  Seriously.  I made it with the same ingredients, but it was NOT the same.  NOT. THE. SAME.

1^st attempt:  I used a food chopper and then found out that my brother chops the veggies by hand.  So, I chopped them by hand.  Could that be the difference?  Nope.  NOT the same.

2^nd attempt:  I didn’t peel the onion enough, so half an onion turned out to be too much onion on this try.  I peeled the heck out of the next onion.  NOT the same.

3^rd attempt:  I used tomatoes, but they weren’t vine-ripened or homegrown.  I made the switch to vine-ripened.  Still NOT the same.

4^th attempt:  I made the pico at the beach using the ingredients that my brother actually brought to make the pico.  Sweet success.  WHAT?!  You’ve got to be kidding me!

How in the world can the five same ingredients taste so different…and be so difficult?  What was I doing wrong?  Guess what the difference was?  Come on…just guess.  Yes, it was the salt.  The SALT?!  Yep.  I found out this summer that there is in fact a definite difference in the type of salt used.  He uses Redmond’s “real salt”…unrefined, and full of natural minerals and flavor.  There are even flecks of color in this salt (that are supposed to be there) because of the 60 trace minerals.  Who knew?!  Yea, so now my brother and I make this pico regularly and text each other pictures of it just to tempt each other’s taste buds.  Fun times, bro!

 As many of us embark on this new school year, there are countless papers to sign, supplies to buy, clothes to purchase, to-do lists to mark off, practice and game schedules to coordinate, lunches to pack, and homework to complete. Do you have tissues in one hand and possibly a bit of your hair (that you pulled out) in the other hand?  Hang in there, Sunshines!  It will get better.

We just need to find a recipe.  A what?  Yes.  Have we given much thought to what our recipe will be this year?  What will be our go-to “recipe” for dealing with the stresses and anxieties that are a part of our day-to-day comings and goings? 

There is oodles of research out there regarding stress management.  Many recommendations include rethinking how we talk to ourselves, decreasing our caffeine intake, exercising, slowing down our breathing, eating a more balanced diet, enjoying the precious present moment, and strengthening our spiritual life.  What a great list of ingredients, huh?!

Actually, there are tons of natural ways to decrease stress.  Some of them include:  hugging or holding hands (for at least 20 seconds, peeps!), eating favorite foods (pico, anyone?!), good music, singing, laughing, being listened to, making eye contact, talking, dancing, kissing, praying/meditating, massaging, holding a baby, being generous, and cheering on your team.  How about adding a few of these special ingredients to your recipe?

In essence, each of our recipes will look a little different and that’s okay.  They may change a bit over time as well.  That’s what makes us unique.  Some folks will add a dash of this, a pinch of that, a cup of this, and a little less of that.  But, as we go along, we will tweak it and make it our own.  Overall, we will want our recipe to be one that promotes love, contentment, compassion, inner peace, kindness, and generosity.  We will want our recipe to help keep our stress at a tolerable level.  We will want our recipe to assist us in connecting with or rediscovering Jesus along the way too.

What is YOUR recipe?  Mine will certainly include a little salt…Redmond’s real salt, that is.  Let’s do ourselves a “flavor” and bless others with our words and actions this school year.  Leave others wanting to know the ingredients in…your recipe.

Have a wonderful week, Sunshines!