'The Magic Strawberry Patch'

'What goes around comes around.'

That's a saying my husband frequently employs.  Some call it Karma.  I call it the consequences and blessings of laws that I believe are eternal.  'Just deserts', you might say.

I remember reading a story about an elderly lady who cared for her farm's large strawberry patch.  Her strawberries had well-earned their reputation for being the biggest, juiciest, most luscious and delicious strawberries anywhere around.  The farm where this lady and her husband lived was not overly prosperous and the couple were not wealthy, so the money they made from the sale of the woman's strawberries was very helpful to their budget.

Except that the woman gave so many of her strawberries away!  She gave them to new mothers, grieving families, homes where there was illness, homes that needed cheering up, hungry passers-by who came looking for a handout, and to neighourhood boys who might have felt the need to sneak into the patch if they hadn't been freely invited.

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The story was written by the woman's grand-daughter - who felt enormously exasperated by her sweet grandmother's naive generosity and complete lack of business acumen.

"It's all part of the magic," her grandmother would smilingly explain.

Eventually, the farm was sold, that old couple moved away, and the farm and strawberry patch came under new management.  There were plans to finally turn the delectable rows of strawberries into a profitable concern.

When the grand-daughter's family felt a hankering for the familiar taste of those wonderful strawberries the following year, they returned to the farm to purchase some from the new owner - only to find that the strawberries were 'puny' and nothing like they had been.  "I plain don't understand it," the frustrated farmer exclaimed.  He had done everything the same, but was getting only half the yield and nothing like the quality there had previously been.  The strawberries were so disappointing that the patch was eventually plowed under the following year, and the land given over to another crop.

Do you believe in that kind of magic?  I do.  I don't know if this was true, or just a story, but I believe that the principle it highlights is true, even if we can't always see it straight away.

I gratefully acknowledge the amazing generosity of the multitudes of talent-packed Bloggers out there who have shared with me their recipes for rhubarb pie, ideas for how to design our new house, and everything in between.  It's been a great help to me on many occasions.  We're sometimes called a cold, hard and heartless world, but that is actually getting harder to believe - because the world has so many people in it who are nothing like that description!

What goes around comes around.  And thank you  :)

'I Heard Him Come'

Although our purpose in writing this Blog is not conspicuously religious,we are Christian and I don't like to let the Easter Season pass without acknowledging our Saviour, as with this video in Friday's post.

In church today we enjoyed a beautiful musical item - the song 'I Heard Him Come' that you can listen to above.  I enjoyed it so much and hope that you might too  :)

"No Arms, No Legs, No Worries Mate!"

Nick Vujicic was born in Melbourne, Australia and grew up in Brisbane.  He was born without limbs..

..except for two small feet and two toes on his left foot.  He types 45 words a minute, and also taught himself to throw balls, play drums, brush his teeth, comb his hair, shave, answer the phone...  and do quite a lot of things many people don't ever try...

After being elected school captain of MacGregor State Highschool, in Queensland, he went on to earn a double degree in accounting and financial planning from Griffith University.  Since then he has become a very popular author and motivation speaker.  But most of all..

.. he's a funny, genuinely likable, down-to-earth, very happy, very Australian kind of guy.  (After back-flipping off the diving board into the pool he surfaces and cries, "I can't feel my legs!" :)  Who..

..recently married a beautiful girl..

..and had a beautiful baby boy.

But these few words do no justice to Nick.  If you'd like to smile and be inspired this lovely Monday morning, I'd suggest that if you haven't already seen it, you take a few minutes to watch this news story interview with Nick and his wife.  Then...

...watch this short film, starring Nick Vujicic, called 'The Butterfly Circus'.  It's beautiful.  This one might make you cry though.  

I'm Not Dead Yet... !!!

(Today's 'WOW, DUDE!!!' award goes to John Lowe.  There are lots of exclamation points in this post!!!!)

Slowing down in your old age?

Or even your young age?

Not John Lowe, who at 91 years of age, is reputedly Britain's oldest living professional ballet dancer.  Which isn't bad when you consider that he only took up ballet at age 79, and landed his first starring role in a ballet at age 88!

What was I doing, I wondered, the year that John bought a house at age 80 and installed a wooden floor, (himself!), so that he could roller-skate!?   Then DIY'ed himself a ballet bar and a trapeze..  !

..  That was the year 2000.. 13 years ago..  Ok, so I was busy juggling the demands of seven children age 8 to 18, so not too lazy that year.  But what am I doing now, and what am I going to be doing at age 80 - and age 91?  To be honest, I'm not even expecting to live that long!  And I have certainly never imagined that I might be starring on stage in a ballet if I did.

But just look at John Lowe's happy face ...

People sometimes observe that we again become childlike when we age.  I think they are usually referring to having no hair or teeth and needing lots of care.

John Lowe seems to have instead embraced the great wonder and joy of childhood: excited, enthusiastic delight in the practice and perfection of new accomplishments.   He's such an inspiration, but is his an example that I can follow?  Is it already too late to claw my way back from encroaching decrepitude? 

One thing that does seem very clear: John Lowe looks like he is having an awful lot of fun!! 

The Back Of Our Toilet Door...

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do; not that the nature of the thing has changed, but that our power to do has increased."

I was thinking about this quote, (attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson), today.  I couldn't quite remember the exact wording of it though.  Our married son was part of the conversation and he recited it perfectly for me.

He had learned that quote, along with many, many others, (some of them a page or more long), from off the back of our toilet door while he was growing up.  If you get all of our family together and prompt them with a word or two, I think that most of our children still remember all kinds of quotes, word for word, that they learned in that way.

I used to change the quotes fairly regularly.  Sometimes they were scriptures, sometimes even maths or physics equations that one of the children was trying to learn before a big exam.   If I thought anyone needed advice or encouragement in any particular area, there was often a quote about that on the back of the door.

It would sometimes shock me to realize how much they had memorized - especially some of our teenage boys that didn't even like to read!  Amazing what can be accomplished with a captive audience! :)

'There Is No Such Word As Can't'

I'm happy to consider myself to be someone who doesn't just sit down in the road when I come to an obstacle in life.   I like to think that I live life on, (at least some of), my terms.  But I am clearly a novice in self-determination and tenacity when compared to a little English lady named May Savidge, latterly of Hertfordshire and Norfolk in England.

May's story, 'Moving house: How a little old lady spent 23 years single-handedly dismantling her cottage brick by brick and rebuilding it 100 miles away'  is quite amazing.  It's the tale of one lone woman, (and her dog), who battled developers, authorities, increasing age and personal hardship to save the 15th century home she had already spent six years restoring.

"My mother brought us up on the maxim that there is no such word as 'can't',"  May said.

Long haul: May carried the timbers herself to the lorries that would move her house 

... Which kind of underlines the importance of what we teach our children, doesn't it?

I think you'll like it if you have the time to read the whole article.  It's a tale of tragic love and loss, a long-held secret, snippets of history, the kindness of strangers, inspiring stoicism .. it even includes a visit to the Queen.

I especially like the brief letter May wrote to the man who jilted her after 17 years.  After finding faith and having fallen in love with his cousin, he had written to her, (quoting from the article):


 'I have, thanks to God, seen my dear cousin Iris in a new and wonderful light...  I know this will hurt you as I know only too well how you feel towards me. I pray to the Lord that you, too, may experience this most wonderful love...  I should like nothing better than for you to regard us as a new sister and brother. I would like to bring Iris to see you when you feel like it, I know you, too, will love her - everybody does!'

Clearly cut to the quick, May wrote back: 'It surprises me that anyone so dear and lovable as your Cousin Iris should have thought it right to come between us, after 17 years. My heart is not made of stone. You often spoke of our marriage. Is it surprising that I thought you really cared? I hope you will be more faithful to Iris than you have been to me. Goodbye.'

Well said May!  


What I think I'll remember most from the story of May is her passion.  She did what any of us might be able to do.  If we felt strongly enough.  Cared enough.  Had enough spunk.  It made me wonder about the things in my life that I care that strongly about.  I hope we all have things we care that strongly about.

......

And now, just because I came across this a few days ago too, and it fits right in to the theme of how incredible some people are, I present, for your viewing pleasure and amazement, the following clip from Fb.  (Click on the picture if you like amazing sports and adventure seeking clips ...  I don't always but some of these are pretty incredible...)

People are Amazing!

Monday Motivation - Living Up To Your Potential

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke recently about regrets and identified these three common life regrets:

I Wish I Had Spent More Time with the People I Love

I Wish I Had Lived Up to My Potential   

I Wish I Had Let Myself Be Happier                                                                  

I agree with the quote from Mark Twain above, to some extent.  I can already see that it I will be disappointed at the end of my life if I refuse to accept the challenges to grow that I am offered along the way.  I need to say 'yes!' to life wherever I can and should.    

I also know that it can lead to a lot of heartache and regret if you 'throw off the bowlines' to sail away from what are actually the best parts of your life.  My father sailed away from his family to follow sirens that I think brought no lasting peace to him at the end.  He perhaps carried all three of these regrets.  

The truth is that exploring and discovering our best potential might usually and best occur in the quiet places of our homes, or in the unlit corners of the world, rather than on the high seas, where the forward movement of the ship may disguise our own standing still.  That's a decision we each have to make.

The best guideline I can think of as to how I should make my choices is to make them unselfishly.  I cannot imagine Mother Theresa or Spencer W. Kimball, or our Saviour having much to regret at their time of death.  I believe that realizing our true potential is more about helping others than anything else.  And I think that is the way to be truly happy.

Monday - The Monument

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The Monument
God,
Before He sent His children to earth
Gave each of them
A very carefully selected package
Of problems.
These,
He promised, smiling,
Are yours alone. No one
Else may have the blessings
These problems will bring you.
And only you
Have the special talents and abilities
That will be needed
To make these problems
Your servants.
Now go down to your birth
And to your forgetfulness. Know that
I love you beyond measure.
These problems that I give you
Are a symbol of that love.
The monument you make of your life
With the help of your problems
Will be a symbol of your
Love for me,
Your Father.

Author:   Blaine M. Yorgason

Monday Motivation

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."  - Mother Teresa

Monday Motivation

Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

- William Arthur Ward

Monday Story - The Miracle

It's the Christmas season, so maybe we can get away with a story like this one.

Painting by Norman Rockwell

The Miracle  

The violent grinding of brakes suddenly applied, and the harsh creaking of skid­ding wheels gradually died away as the big car came to a stop. Eddie quickly picked himself up from the dusty pavement where he had been thrown and looked around wildly.

Agnes! Where was his little sister he had been holding by the hand when they had started to cross the street? The next moment he saw her under the big car that had run them down, her eyes closed, a dark stain slowly spreading on her little white face.

With one bound the boy was under the car trying to lift the child.

"You'd better not try, son," said a man gently, "Someone has gone to tele­phone an ambulance." "She’s not … dead, is she, Mister?" Eddie begged in a husky voice.

The man stopped and felt the limp little pulse. "No, my boy," he said slowly.

A policeman came up, dispersed the collecting crowd, and carried the uncon­scious girl into a nearby drugstore. Eddie's folded coat made a pillow for her head until the ambulance arrived. He was permitted to ride in the conveyance with her to the hospital. Something about the sturdy, shabbily dressed boy, who could not be more than ten years old, and his devotion to his little sister, strangely touched the hearts of the hardened hospital apprentices.

"We must operate at once," said the surgeon after a brief preliminary examination. "She has been injured internally, and has lost a great deal of blood." He turned to Eddie who, inarticulate with grief, stood dumbly by. "Where do you live?"

Eddie told him that their father was dead, and that his mother did day-work—he did not know where.

"We can’t wait to find her," said the surgeon, "because by that time it might be too late."

Eddie waited in the sitting-room while the surgeons worked over Agnes. After what seemed an eternity, a nurse sought him out.

"Eddie," she said kindly, "Your sister is very bad, and the doctor wants to make a transfusion. Do you know what this is?" Eddie shook his head. "She has lost so much blood she cannot live unless someone gives her his. Will you do it for her?"

Eddie's wan face grew paler, and he gripped the knobs of the chair so hard that his knuckles became white. For' a moment he hesitated; then gulping back his tears, he nodded his head and stood up. "That's a good lad," said the nurse.

She patted his head, and led the way to the elevator which whisked them to the operating room—a very clean but evil smelling room, with pale green walls and innumerable shiny instruments in glass cases. No one spoke to Eddie, except the nurse who directed him in a low voice how to prepare for the ordeal. The boy bit his quivering lip and silently obeyed.

"Are you ready?" asked a man swathed in white from head to foot, turning from the table over which he had been standing. For the first time Eddie noticed who it was lying there so still. Little Agnes! And he was going to make her well.

He stepped forward quickly.

Two hours later the surgeon looked up with a smile into the faces of the young interns and nurses who were engrossed in watching the great man work.

"Fine," he said. "I think she'll pull through."

After the transfusion, Eddie had been told to lie quietly on a cot in the corner of the room. In the excitement of the delicate operation he had been entirely forgotten.

"It was wonderful, Doctor!" exclaimed one of the interns. "A miracle!" Nothing, he felt in his enthusiastic recognition of the marvels of surgery, could be greater than the miracles of science.

"I am well satisfied," said the surgeon with conscious pride.

There was a tug at his sleeve, but he did not notice. In a little while there was another tug—this time more peremptory—and the great surgeon glanced down to see a ragged, pale-faced boy looking steadily up into his face.

"Say, Doc," said a husky voice, "When do I croak?"

The interns laughed and the great surgeon smiled. "Why, what do you mean, my boy?" he asked kindly.

"I thought… when they took a guy's blood… he croaked," muttered Eddie.

The smiles faded from the lips of the doctors and nurses, and the young intern who had thought there was nothing greater than the miracles of science, caught his breath suddenly. This ragged lad had climbed to the very height of compassion and sacrifice, and showed them a glimpse of the greatest miracle at all—a selfless love!

But Eddie must never know this. The lesson was too poignantly beautiful to be wasted. The great surgeon motioned the others for silence.

"I think after all you will get well, Eddie," he said gruffly. "You and little Agnes."

 by Arthur Styron 

Wise Men Still Seek Him

It's almost Christmas!  I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful time of the year :)    

I think you'll like this video..    xo

Monday Motivation

Good thought!  :)

Monday Motivation - Courage

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I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.

     - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."                                                                                                                                                  

- Ambrose Redmoon

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

-  C. S.  Lewis

I was once told that the word 'courage' comes from the Old French, corage which means 'heart and spirit' or 'love'.  This comes from the Latin cor, meaning heart or divine centre.  Etymologically it means to have the ability to stand by one's heart or one's core.   I love the thought that courage is related to how much heart or love we have...   That 'quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow".'

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation - Genius vs Stupidity

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We lived for a few years in PNG.  The Papua New Guinean people often struggled to meet the demands of our western-style work and culture, which often had the effect of making them look less capable.  But I often thought, "put me in the jungle and see how stupid I look!"

Everyone has something that they do well, everyone.  One of our life's challenges is to learn what that is in ourselves. Another, probably more important challenge, is to appreciate the individual genius in each of those about us.

Monday Motivation - Kindness

“Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do so with no thought of any reward.  Your life will never be the same again.”   ― Og Mandino

Monday Motivation

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Monday Motivation

"A ship is safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for"

 - William Shedd

Picture from http://www.legallawyers.com.au/legal-topics/admiralty-and-shipping-law/maritime-law-in-australia/

Monday Motivation

From the book 'You Are My I Love You'