wise, not sick

we went to a marriage conference this weekend at our church. the speaker, dr. guy richardson is the president of RTS, a seminary in jackson, ms where my husband got his mdiv (master of divinity).

the pres is also a licensed therapist with several lmnop degrees by his name and it was, as our pastor said on sunday morning, a "rich" time of learning.

his wife denise spoke as well and i hope to take my notes and make them succinct for my journal this week because there were so many one-liners to remember.  maybe i'll blog about some of those but one to begin with is this:

those who seek counsel aren't sick, they are WISE.

and then he supported his statement by all sorts of scriptures. he wasn't talking about how Jesus came to save the sick, not the well. that's a different line of thought, also true of course! in this case, he was encouraging us to take advantage of the different levels of counsel - from friends, to older women or men in Christ, all the way to the professional level when needed.

we're not sick, we're wise when we seek counsel. i love it!

movies!!

i LOVE movies. i realized why several years back. it just hit me one day when i was pondering those dear and near who said "z, you're a movie addict!" it rolled so easily off their tongues! the truth came from several sources.....i knew they were right. 

i love stories and i love details. what are movies? detailed stories in short order. i enjoy sitting and listen to my clients' stories too, my friends' stories - anyone's. i'm fascinated by the beginning, the end, and the middle. and for my clients i love to contribute to how things will turn out, teaching all the way.

here's a silly review i sent to my cuz on "frost/nixon" which i didn't want to see but this was one my mama wanted to see. imagine that, she LOVES them too. my cuz said " why not add movie critic to 

your blog?" i do everything my cuzzin sayzzzzzzzzz.

review:

with mama: great

snacks:  great

the movie: entertaining

kept my interest

great acting

subject a bit boring compared to my normal fare

conclusion:  see it!

the iron bed

favorite daughter has moved out today and she's taken with her the beautiful, white iron bed my mama and dad bought me in a new orleans' antique store on one of dad's business trips. i have had many an "iron bed talk" on that bed and it will be sorely missed, silly as that may sound.   'course i'll miss the beautiful daughter that sleeps on it, too.

we'll continue our prayers just as much as when you lived with us for 21+ years little patootie, lilly bubs et al, because you'll always be the one we sang lullabies to years ago. to borrow a phrase, i'll love you forever, i'll like you for always, as long as i'm living, my baby you'll be.

see you when the sun comes up.

another cultural treat

another excerpt from "I Remember Mama" 2005

I remember....sassafras tea you or my Granny (your wonderful Mama) would make (she was also perfectly planned by the Lord God above and given to you and then me by Him). You'd dig up some roots (of a tree? I don't recall), wash them off real good and boil those roots in some water 'til hot.   Then we'd drink the fragrant hot tea and it was always a treat.  I remember later on coming across a stick of hard candy by the same name and would buy one because of the tea. Along these lines I remember you picking water cress or poke sallet from a cold, spring stream but I never liked to eat those - too healthy.  I certainly wouldn't eat something green that looked like it might taste like spinach.  When I was growing up I mostly liked any kind of potato and coca cola (Coke, never Pepsi and never, ever Shasta cola).

a chaw of sweet gum

in 2005, i wrote what was my version of "the tribute" to my mama in booklet form called "I Remember Mama*."

a dear friend who read the booklet keeps talking about this one story.  sharing it with you today is like a little slice of summer's past on a cold winter day.

I remember....a chaw of sweet gum (and certainly recall the smell of it, as well). This "chaw" was expertly made by you from mixing the hardened sap with very sticky fresh sap in your mouth until the right consistency was achieved.  The sap was handpicked off a sweet gum tree we'd find in the woods of a park or down a dirt road somewhere and you said we had to find a tree that had some injury to the bark.  I learned to identify the leaves of a sweet gum tree so I'd know where to help you look.  You'd always encourage me to make one (a "chaw") myself but that just never quite worked out, because yours was always the best.  Once the right consistency of the gum was achieved, you'd pass the gum to me to chew.  When my jaws were tired out, which inevitably they'd become, the "chaw" was oft' times passed back to you, or even to a brother or sister.

ever had a chaw of sweet gum?

*title used without permission from an old black 'n white movie, 1948, starring irene dunne as a norwegian mama in san francisco (i highly recommend it!)

viva diva neefa feefa

viva is my 9 month old girl kitty, adopted in october from the animal village here in little rock. well, okay our kitty, but really she's all MINE. 

she's gonna be real handy to have around when the emptiness and loneliness come as our nest grows bigger.  i thank the Lord for His Presence always with me and in advance for viva's small presence in the soon-to-be empty nest (or roomier nest i once heard someone call it). 

viva's a little lover girl.  likes to nap with each of us and is a great snuggler. smart & responsive to our instructions, too (tho mostly after the furniture scratchin' and walkin' across the counter). 

viva's full name is viva diva neefa feefa. her last two names are from the heroine in dr. seuss' made for tv story "pontoffel pock and his magic kingdom" (a must see for your kids and you if you can find it!).

aren't you afraid for us?

the last adult child is leaving the nest this friday/saturday. yup. moving out into her own place, she's got that f-time job, the roommate - even the boyfriend. we'll be left with her empty room and 21+ years of memories.

the fireplace mantel (new to us since our move in november) is loaded down with pics of the kids - i mean adult children) and i wondered yesterday if that's not part of the empty nesting, thinking one day there'll be something different up there, some fabulous print i just had to buy. i was going through still more boxes the other day, packing, re-packing and i sprinkled just a few of favorite son's and daughter's school-made things around the living room. they'd been in the kitchen on display for years, then in a box, now back out again. i'd never thought of it before in these terms but there does seem to be a bit of nesting going on even in the absence of the children. trying to make sure their presence is still felt here.

the other nite, sis was gone out. as husband and i sat on the sofa together, we took a gander at my pitcher collection (as in pouring water from), named each one and told a story for each (there are 8).  7/8 of them are animals. it was quite a good time but i've had these pitchers for-ever and never have they been named.

i asked sis the other nite "aren't you afraid for us? we sat home the other nite and named the pitchers? we're gonna do wierd things after you're gone." she laughed a knowing laugh and said "no, i'm not afraid."