Sometimes after receiving Thursday newsletters I receive back encouragement and further ideas on what to read. I will list some of them for you to see what others are reading, or how we are all in the process of learning and changing and trying to develop ourselves. Thank you for your notes to me. Thank you for your ideas for what to carry in the store, and for what you suggest that I read. I hope that you find encouragment, motivation, and comfort when you've read some of my notes and some of the responses below. I am not going to even put first names, to keep the privacy of so many of you knowing each other! Susan
David had it. Goliath didn't. Perfect. Moxie. Our family quote has been found. (10/30)
Susan -- I am going to come in to look at the book that you quoted from today -- With Open Hands. One of the most powerful songs our choir has done was in one of our programs -- it is entitled "Still." It is based on the scripture -- "be STILL and know that I am God!" It is one of the most difficult things to do. It is incredible how much "noise" creeps into the mind when I am trying to be "still" and listen for God's communication with me. I assume it takes discipline, patience and time to let it all begin to happen. I haven't given up but do find it to be a challenge. Maybe the images that the author of this book is conveying can help to be a tool for me to use. There is another thing that puzzles me about prayer and that is how to prayer for other people no matter what their challenge may be. There are so many people in similar (referring to a friend with reoccurence of cancer) situations and it is so difficult to know how to be supportive and what to ask for when lifting up these people in prayer. Keeping the lines of communication open with God is so important and to "pray without ceasing" is as difficult at keeping the "noise" out of my brain when trying to be "still!" One's relationship with God is truly a journey of a lifetime. (10/23/08)
I thoroughly enjoyed "revisiting" the book, The Piano Shop on the Left Bank which I read several years ago. Music is one of God's greatest gifts to the human race, and this book lends a new and indepth element to one's enjoyment of that gift. I will "step forward" today, happy that others have shared that book with me. (10/2/08)
One of the things I remember telling my mother before she died when she was particular hurt by something my sister had said to her was, "I am glad you were the mother you were or I would not be the person I am today." I wish that I had not experienced some events in my life but God did use them to make me the person I am today so Romans 8:28! I have learned to be thankful for the trials because God uses them to make us the people He wants us to be. (9/18/08)
Cocoon -- I like that, and needed that definition of where I've been. I want to fly free, but is it time yet? Some days I think we are flying free and beautiful, other days I think I search for the cocoon and try to crawl back in. (9/12/08)
I saw a great frame that said, “Not everyone who wanders is lost.” I loved it…. I should have bought it…. Maybe I will go back. It gave me the okay to wander every once in awhile. (9/11/08)
I like this quote from Robert Louis Stevenson: The saints are the sinners who keep on trying. (9/7/08)
As a mother of four boys ages 7 to 9 months, I was touched by your thoughts on raising my “quiver of arrows”. And I quickly jotted down a few notes in my journal lest the thoughts be forgotten in my typical much-interrupted day. Just this week I re-dedicated myself to regular prayer and your email was an encouragement to me to keep praying for my boys with a future perspective. (9/3/08)
...I was talking with ... [my 18 year old son] this morning...as adults, but as mother and son as well. Feeling the pull on the bow. (The other two were throwing tomatoes at each other, so the pull wasn't quite so tight!). (9/3/08)
Just you know that I have brain cancer and it is not operable. Pray for miracle. (9/3/08) (Personal note from Susan: This is the note that inspired my writing for the morning of 9/4/08).
Thank you for the Anne Lindberg book, Gift from the Sea. I read it last week while taking in the beauty and serenity of Lake Pelican in Minnesota. And with true Susan inspiration, I then passed it on to my sister-in-law. I am trying to live simpler, in that I’m trying not to let the daily drudgeries of life eat at me, but rather embrace the closest treasures God has sent to me … my family & precious kids. 7/31/08
I read Gifts from the Sea and Loved it...have recommeded it to so many people...especially if I know they're going to a cabin for week...or something along those lines. Yesterday someone lent me the book Jesus by Pope Benedict XVI. I've been really excited about reading him, having only read interviews and snippets by him, so that's next on my list. Am also looking forward to getting some books by Hans Urs VonBalthasar...in fact will order through you. I need to scour my Ignatius Press Catalog and get the proper titles since he wrote about a million books! 7/25/08
I just got home from work and am sitting down to read your newsletter and unwind before I go to bed. I just had to reply this time because of the picture I got in my head of a UPS truck that smells of Crabtree & Evelyn, I love that that! 7/18/08
I also have some more Latin for you;
Veni Vidi Visa; I came, I saw, I shopped!
How deep do we have to go before we'll see the simpleness of things and that God is always there for us? Why do I have to be reminded of that every day?!??! 7/4/08
And "my cup runneth over"?? Wonderful analogy of a visitor. Reminds me of the professor in "The Bishop's Wife", a Christmas movie. His cup was always being filled mysteriously when he was talking and visiting with Cary Grant and Loretta Young in the movie...one of my favorites!! And now, even moreso, as I watch his cup being filled with God's hand. 6/19/08
This e-mail is exactly what I needed after the past few weeks. In the mess from the tornado that still is consuming our lives here there are alot of beautiful things to be so grateful for. 6/19/08
Just ran down to your store the other night and stocked up on novels and puzzles. The girls loved the Noah's ark floor puzzle. I accidentallyreferred to it as a boat and the 5 year old scolded (and corrected) me. Hmph. Light reading: Iris Johansen, Julie Garwood, Jayne Ann Krentz, Tami Hoag, Linda Howard, Christina Skye, Janet Evanovich, Elizabeth Lowell to name a few. Those I buy as soon as they are released. I like murder mysteries too. Let me know when recommendations are up and running. If you have a chance, check out goodreads.com --might interest you. 6/11/08
I'm trying to read some of the classics I missed. Everyone should read "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown (I consider that a classic). It made me cry, a lot, but I came away with a real understanding of what misunderstandings and ignorance can do. I have read "Flags in the Dust" by Faulkner and am currently reading "Rainbow" by DH Lawrence. 6/6/08
That poem was one of my dad's favorites!!! He had an OLD framed copy of it that hung in his parent's home, then in my parent's bedroom as long as I can remember. One year he had it reproduced, made frames for them and each of us kids got a copy for our birthdays-- Made me teary to read it though--like dad was saying Hi. Rather fitting for this Memorial Day weekend, don't you think? 5/23/08
Did you know in Greek mythology, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn? She drove a pink chariot across the sky to announce the arrival of Apollo driving his golden chariot. She fell in love with a mortal Tithonus. When she ask the gods to make him immortal so they could marry, she forgot to ask for eternal youth. The gods took pity on him when he got smaller and smaller and shriveled and turned him into a grasshopper. Aurora cries over her love as she goes across the sky in the morning and leaves her tears on the ground as dew. 5/15/08
I talked to you about one of my favorite books, Illusions, (The
Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah) by Richard Bach. I notice you have
it in stock, but I doubt if you have had a chance to read it, or you
would have some kind of reaction. It's very easy and quick to read, but
has some ideas that will slow you down. He includes excerpts from a handbook for Messiahs, and I thought of you
when I ran across this one:
"There is no such thing as a problem
without a gift for you
in it's hands.
You seek problems
because you need their gifts. 5/17/08
Thanks for all these excerpts and your thoughts -- lots to ponder. I especially liked the thought of being tied to God by a string and that our failures ultimately bring us closer to him. 5/17/08
This has forever been one of my favorite quotes…no matter what happens in my life, the world...whatever…this quote always seems to make sense out of it all! Feel free to share it at our favorite little bookstore!
All things are woven together and the common bond is sacred, and scarcely one thing is foreign to another, for they have been arranged together in their places and together make the same ordered Universe. For there is one Universe out of all, one God through all, one substance and one law, one common Reason of all intelligent creatures and one Truth. Frequently consider the connection of all things in the universe. We should not say 'I am an Athenian' or 'I am a Roman' but 'I am a citizen of the Universe'. ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5/8/08
I have been trying to expand my knowledge of American history. I had watched an Elie Wiesel documentary during a multicultural class in
high school and he made a huge impression. It is my firm belief that everyone should read "Night" by Elie Wiesel. If we don't understand
our history/past, we will continue to make the same mistakes (as we continue to do). It is rather intense, but the people who
suffered through the Holocaust deserve, at the very least, our acknowedgement of their lives, deaths, and the sorrow they suffered.
On a lighter note, "love walked in" was a fabulous story about the connections formed between people of all walks of life. It was a fun
read that left me with a warm glow for humanity (much needed after more intense book). Great for a summer read. Author ?Marisa de los
Santos?? Need to check on that. 5/8/08
What a wonderful day it was on Thursday when I got home after an unusually busy day at school and found in my mailbox Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea: 50th Anniversary Edition! Thank you so very much for sending it and I love the message you wrote to me.......I already treasure it in my heart! The intro by her daughter, Reeve, is so beautiful and I love the part where she writes, "This book makes it possible to quiet down and rest in the present, no matter what the circumstances may be. Just to read it--a little of it or in its entirety---is to exist for a while in a different and more peaceful tempo." 4/26/08
Susan, thank you, thank you and thank you again and again for sharing this Eat That Frog, with me! How I procrastinate! I have begun reading again...so important in my life, but I put it off until I have time. Playing the piano, which I enjoy but putting it off until I get other 'stuff' done. Oh, how this message has touched my life! 4/24/08
...what you wrote about the ships passing to the harbor was good, my folks are not well, my dad in the last stages of cancer in hospice care now, and my mom has alzheimers and found out monday she now has leukemia... so my thoughts naturally are alot on death right now. I do have that eternal perspective and assurance they will be in eternity with the Lord and am glad for that, but yes, I know you understand the tears are often as I see they are very near the harbor, but I am sure happy for them to be safe & sound! So thanks for the words. 4/17/08
I was spending an hour in church last night (we do this on Holy Thursday-- after Mass, we have Eucharistic Adoration, time for prayer in front of the Holy Eucharist.... from 8-midnight, people come in and sit, kneel, pray, meditate, read, etc. for as long as they like. It is the perfect time to just "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM." 3/21/08
There is a lovely blanket of snow covering my little golden crocuses---yet, somehow it helps just to know those little flowers are under there, and I have every confidence that they will bloom again. So like us, don't you think? It may seem cold and dark at times, but even those times have purpose, and our destinies will yet unfold, for the sake of the kingdom of God. 3/16/08
It seems rare, these days, for people to take the time to read---and especially to THINK about what they are reading. Our house is filled with more books than it can hold, many of which have not yet been read, at least not cover to cover. Nevertheless, these books are friends, and there is a comfort in the realization that their pages hold yet undiscovered thoughts that might touch me in some way. I can so relate to your delight in quoting those special portions of books, the parts that reach inside of you with the potential of actually making a change, however small, in the way you think, feel, and act....I can also appreciate the fact that you carry quality merchandise that will LAST. We are almost done with our homeschooling adventure but we always felt that it was better to have FEWER things (toys, educational materials, even musical instruments)--but to make sure that what we DID have was of excellent quality. We were also given the advice, early on in our journey of homeschooling, that we needed to teach our children only three basic things; to read, to write, and to THINK. As far as HOW we did that, well, there are many, many options. But when we were overwhelmed with the massive amount of curriculum and books about what your kids should know, we would come back to that concept. Our children love to read, and when you read extensively, that goes a long way toward learning to write and think as well. 3/15/08
Once again, she had us laughing, had us crying and now has us thinking!! 3/13/08
Two weeks ago I took your challenge to read. I started a book that night, but I couldn't read for 15 minutes. I was so good I could finally stop after 1 1/2 hours. This book would have remained unopened if you hadn't encouraged me to read every day-------however, I haven't read everyday, but I am reading more than I did before. 3/13/08
Susan, just wanted to tell you how very much I am enjoying GIFTS FROM THE SEA. It is priceless. So very meaningful to me as the main theme throughout my house if of the beach. I want to look for each of the shells represented in the book to decorate with so that I am continually reminded of the inner self and the peace that is attainable. 3/6/08
The Secret Garden is another one of my favorite books - but, one I haven't read for too long...will need to get it dusted off...=) This morning, I read the song that Moses and the children of Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea...and realized that thankfulness is a real key to turning thoughts from despair to hope, from fear to courage, from restlessness to contentment, etc... and so many times, what we read will feed thankfulness. Reading about people that have struggled to beat great odds, reading words penned by positive thinkers, etc...all encourage a thankful heart, encourage us to rise up...look up...move on, etc... I believe the saying, "What we feed on, we become." Have a grand Friday... and, I am hearing the birds sing this morning... 2/29/08
The few minutes I have spent reading this book I have managed to glean quite a bit that now I am going to just contemplate. So far this excerpt has my attention, page 17, "But I want first of all--in fact, as an end to these other desires---to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact--to borrow from the language of the saints---to live in grace "as much of the time as possible. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. I am not sure, this may be the same passage you shared in another email but I guess I didn't really "hear" it until now. So Susan this is just what I need! Thank you for being a friend and putting this book in my path. 2/28/08 (On Anne Lindberg's Gift From the Sea)
I love that Eleanor Roosevelt quote - it was good to be reminded of it again. I need to be more intentional with my conversations too; I appreciate your encouragement along that line. Book reading for me happens much like you described it...in short amounts of time here and there. I also love to underline in my books.:) I never thought of putting the date in the front of the book or by something I underline - nice idea - I'll have to try it! 2/28/08
Do you ever wonder why the hurting, grieving process has to take so long? Can't God just speed it up for us a little? But, I know He knows what is best for us, and just maybe it takes so long in the darkness, because we are stubborn and willful and then when we do find our healing, our days become happy and bright and that is so much more meaningful to us since we waited so long for it. Just thoughts I had from your little e-mail this morning. Oh, and I am proud to say I am reading. Maybe not daily, but I do have about 7 books going right now at one time! That a big step for someone who used to read one at a time. 2/28/08
Susie Q., my blinds have been open this morning even before I read your e-mails. I need to get that precious book out again and read it also. I love that woman's dedication and love for her Lord. 2/25/08 (Referring to Stepping Heavenward)
This poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay holds a lot for us all:
Pale, where the winter like a stone has been lifted away,
we emerge like yellow grass.
Be for a moment quiet, buffet us not, have pity upon us,
Till the green come back into the vein, till the giddiness pass. (2/22/08)
I thought of you this morning when I was reading my devotional. The book was Gifts for your Soul by Sheila Walsh. The devotion is titled "The Friendship of Books". Ecclesiastes 1:13 - "I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven."
She writes: So many books have influenced me. I love television and movies, but for me nothing will ever take the place of a good book. I have learned from the wisdom and folly of real and fictional characters. I have shed tears with weeping poets and laughed aloud at humorous or joyous scenarios. When I am sad or discouraged, I can pick up a book, find a quiet corner, and be reminded by the author of who I am in Christ. When I am being selfish or cold, a book can touch my heart and melt me to my knees. I love to study the lives of men and women of faith who have gone before me. The light of their stories still shines, challenging me to live a life worthy of the calling of Christ. I pray that what I learn from the lives of others will be used by God to make me a more compassionate woman, more willing to serve, more grateful to God and of more use to others.
Sometime, when you feel a little lonely, consider a visit to your local bookstore. Ask a trusted friend to recommend a book that will lighten your spirit, deepen your wisdom, or widen your vision. Find a new friend -- in a book. There are friends waiting on every shelf! Of course I thought of you! And isn't that the truth - I think of many of my books as friends. I can look at a book and immediately be taken to that place in my life when I read it. 2/21/08
Your reflections moved me to tears just now. Thank you for sharing your insight. By the way, I am thoroughly grateful for Gift from the Sea and Return to the Sea . I finished the former and began the latter yesterday on a return flight. When I landed in Omaha, I had dinner at Mom’s and I brought the other copy of Gift… out of the guest room and she gasped, “Oh I’ve read that many times- I’ll go find my copy, it has my notes and highlights. Oh and do you recall the retreat I went on in Florida with my colleagues- Anne Morrow Lindbergh was our inspiration.” 2/18/08
Are we becoming more like Christ? I ready this week in a devotional God Calling - The same power that Jesus used in the Garden of Gethsemene in his lowest time of tears - the same power he received we have available to us when we ask. I loved that. And then the devotional continues We must only worry and do our best with TODAY - not tomorrow. Let God give us his power for today. He will then give us his power tomorrow when we need it tomorrow. 2/15/08
Here is today's tidbit from Oswald Chambers. At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark and we are put into the shadow of God's hand until we learn to hear Him. "What I tell you in darkness" - watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will talk in the wrong mood: darkness is the time to listen. Don't talk to other people about it; don't read books to find out the reason of the darkness, but listen and heed. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.
After every time of darkness there comes a mixture of delight and humiliation (if there is delight only, I question whether we have heard God at all), delight in hearing God speak, but chiefly humiliation - What a long time I was in hearing that! How slow I have been in understanding that! And yet God has been saying it all these days and weeks. Now He gives you the gift of humiliation which brings the softness of heart that will always listen to God now. 2/15/08
Oh my goodness dear friend!!!! What an amazing poem and thoughts!!!! They brought me to tears---stirred something inside me! It makes me want to write! I think I will! 2/14/08
Happy Valentines Day. By the time I got to the end of this Thursdays "letter" there were tears in my eyes. Yes, love is pretty quiet some or most of the time.... 2/14/08
We as mommies of little ones (especially boys!) seem to always be in a rush to go here & there, not stopping to think about how our actions/moods affect others. I must admit that I'm always running from place to place and have to make myself slow down sometimes to just enjoy the "getting there" time. It's so refreshing to get your weekly e-mails - thank you again for doing them & reminding us about the importance of making time for ourselves...2/7/08
Here is a picture of the kids and thier puzzle they received from you. They love it!! Colt has put it together around 10 times. Before we went to church on Sunday he even had our cousin which is 3 years old putting together that stayed the night with us. wish mine were 3 again!!!!! Oh well. Smile! 2/5/08
I loved "may you continue to love even though in loving you will lose." 1/31/08
Poem this AM took my breath away. 1/31/08
I sit reflecting on your email and the past several years of my life...There was a time of loss for me...During that time, I felt raw. The fear of loss was great within. So vulnerability was a difficult thing...more so any type of trust in longlasting goodness. A realization that happiness is fleeting. I realized that the things I expected as a part of "normal" life were really blessings and for a time. Does that make sense?...However, through it all, I was witness to the same feeling of Joseph. What you meant for evil - the Lord meant for good. (Gen 50:20) Do I welcome the losses that are to come? No, I do not. Do I welcome the outcome that makes me desire to go home? Yes, I do. Soon we will have more to go home to than to stay for. Now we are but "pressing on -- reaching to what lies ahead." Pressing on....not a leisurely happy-go-lucky word by any means. I just praise the Lord for the new Jerusalem. Thanks for letting me take up your time. I pray for you often. I feel those things you feel and the Lord has seen to it that I can empathize rather than sympathize. And thus another "good" thing from loss...we can pray in a different way for each other when we understand on a different level than the norm. 1/31/08
I have to say I have had a hard time adjusting every time we've moved some place- even a place as beautiful as San Francisco! I don't know quite how to explain it. I need to have a relationship with the landscape I live in. And it takes time for me to develop that. I still don't quite feel it here, I'm not sure why but I am working on it. Last time I was in Aurora I walked to the Aurora Mall (I still call it "Jim's") and I noticed how quiet it was. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon and there was hardly a car or person around. All I could hear was the wind in the trees and an occasional train. It was heaven. Ever since then I've been aware of all the noise around here. It's hard to hear nature. We live across the street from an arboretum with a path through it and I love to take walks there but it's right next to a busy street so you hardly get a break in the traffic noise to hear the wind in the trees. That's what makes Nebraska special to me- what it doesn't have. And that's what makes it difficult sometimes too! There's "more" here- but more of everything- good and NOT so good. Do you know what I mean? 1/31/08
How beautiful Susan….I needed that message this morning…..I will keep and cherish this one…full of wisdom. 1/31/08
From Dark Night of the Soul:
"While one of the great and inspiring mysteries is the fact that we care for each other, befriend each other, and heal each other, this can only be accomplished if we also care for ourselves, are kindly toward ourselves, and heal ourselves. If we don't do these things for ourselves concretely and wholeheartedly, then in each case we will feel a painful gap between ourselves and those who care for us." I have been rereading this book, This line spoke volumes to me today, and it makes perfect sense to me. I have been doing just this-- trying to take care of me. I am getting stronger and better-- and learning to focus on what IS. 1/30/08
Sometimes trying to forget, or keeping busy, or turning our backs, or submitting in despair can seem to help with our pain and loss for a while, but I think that only when we finally come to the place of accepting every event and circumstance of our lives as allowed and planned by God for whatever purpose He has in it, will we finally have peace. It sounds like you've come to that place, in saying that you wouldn't have wanted to have not gone through loss because of what it's taught you and where it's brought you. 1/21/08
I just read what you wrote. Isn’t it strange that all of a sudden that “feeling” starts to get better? You don’t feel like throwing up anymore, “the tightness in the chest” starts to go away? And yes, it’s about 7 years. But, truth be told, my mother has been gone for nearly 20 years now (don’t know how that’s possible), and I still suddenly think about her, long to call her, to talk to her, and I miss her again as if she left a week ago or yesterday. I guess when you really love someone, that love never goes away — but the pain gets better. I’ll be thinking about you today . . . I know just how you feel. 1/17/08
Thanks for sharing. As my son, said at the age of 21 (on loss of his father), "We feel pain because we loved so much....and isn't that really a wonderful feeling!" 1/17/08
Grief- the price we have to pay for loving. Not for a second would we ever want to give up that love we had for our mothers, nor would we ever want to think of our lives without their love. I read a book last summer that had an analogy between the Russian peasant dolls and the heritage we receive from our mothers and grandmothers, and their mothers before them. If I remember correctly, the book is by Sue Monk Kidd- a non-fiction book. This past Christmas I had planned to give a set of the peasant dolls to my two sisters. Well, I didn't get around to it, and now I'm glad I didn't. I loved the poem by Maria Gillan. It expresses the thoughts I was going to try to write for my sisters. Thank you so much. Your email made me cry... but now I'll think about those tears as a pilllow. 1/17/08
I,too have lost my mother to lung cancer in 2000 sept 3rd. June 14, 2000 I lost my 45 yr old husband to prostate cancer, today would have been our 28th wedding ann. I am letting the tears fall as you say. 1/17/08
Today's message about your Mom was especially great because I can relate not only after the death of my own Mother 13 years ago, but my brother, nearly three years ago. Not a day goes by that I don't think of one or the other. It is all I can do to keep from my phone to call them - as I did every day for many years! And now, as you say, the tears will come again - not as often as they used to, but it is a comfort to let my feelings out - even if I am selfish and only keep them to myself. Yes, I love my God. He is my fountain of Life and My Savior. He keeps me going day and night. Without Him, I am no one. But with Him, I can do anything. Christ is my strength. 1/17/08
This was so lovely, I sent it to the nine women I consider sisters, all of whom have lost their mothers. And I am archiving it for that sad day in the future when I join that group. 1/17/08
Aren’t there days when the hours seem to heavy to carry and that’s when getting an email like this one helps so much. Yes, I think we have to give ourselves permission to cry, to release the grief inside us. 1/16/08
I wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your thoughts this week! I really liked the image of the wall between 2 gardens. Sometimes we are tempted to stay beside the wall too long and huddle in self pity. It takes lots of courage to open the gate and see what God has on the other side of the wall. Another garden -- probably different from the one you came from, but with God at your side it will be even better! We're moving into the new garden ~ God is working in great ways in our lives! Our lives are being purified and changed. God knows and allows and uses everything that comes into our lives. Enjoy your garden ~ stop and smell the roses! 1/10/08
You made me cry this morning with your Thursday email. That was a great interpretation of that phrase about sadness being the wall between two gardens. When you said that to me yesterday I had a hard time grasping what it meant but you put it down so beautifully! Thank you for that. I loved it. And I did start Return to the Sea last night. I've gotten throught the first 2 chapters. There's already some good stuff I've underlined...the one that hit me the most right now is: "Now, if while I'm putting my daughter to bed, I catch myself reciting a litany of chores I have to do in my head, I slow my breath down, let go of the company of my thoughts, and feel present to the moment..."I need to do that and I want that! I realize how little time I am truly giving to Adrianna when I'm not truly "present" with her! Thanks so much for the book. Reading this one makes me want to go back and really finish and try to really get more out of "Gift of the Sea". 1/10/08
I am making my way quickly through my new book "The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality." One of my professors had recommended this book because the author writes about several of the places that I visited this semester, like Sinai. Although the book is written about far away places, i think it comes close to articulating why I love the vast plains of NE so much. The author speaks of the solace given by the indifference of the wilderness to the chaos of our lives. this loving indifference, he argues, is what pushes us to recognize a much larger mysterious grace. The author really likes a particular quote by a man named Andrew Harvey. One afternoon Harvey had lost himself in the beauty of an indian landscape, and wrote the following:
"'The things that ignore us save us in the end. Their presence awakens silence in us; they refresh our courage with the purity of detachment'
The author of my book unpacks the quote in this way:
Becoming present to a reality entirely seperate from his own world of turmoil strangely set him free. By its very act of ignoring him, the landscape invited him out of his frantic quest for self-fulfillment."
Wow, I love good books! (almost as much as I love NE) 1/6/08
I've read my book while traveling - it sustains my mental health like a drug. I'm getting a journal too. 12/29/07
I'm sorry if my diagnosis had to make you sad. But, as the doctor said, it took this 30 years to develop so who knows...My feeling is this: this life has been a great adventure and another adventure awaits me. ( I just won't be able to let people know what it is.) 12/27/07
I heard John Denver on my radio the other day--- and there was an awesome line that made my heart swell up
"Now he walks in quiet solitude, the forest and the streams,
Seeking grace in every step he takes.
And his thoughts have turned inside himself to try and understand
the serenity of a clear blue mountain lake."
I love that part about seeking grace... good time of year to be thinking that way, huh? 12/23/07
Gotta tell ya: The human body book you recommended for the Colorado granddaughter thrilled her. She's a scientific kid and is taking biology and this book was the perfect level for her. So, thanks!
And the night sky for the Lincoln kid was perfect. His mother whispered to us that the next day those kids would be getting a telescope. How's that for serendipity. My sister exercised great self restraint in not wrestling the book away from him to keep for herself.
The 3-yr-old loved the wooden birthday cake and she served cake for a long part of the night. And so it goes. The science kits were great and so were all the other books. So there is a lot of pleasure and info going on thanks to you!
Remember the address book for the 13 yr-old? Turns out she has a lot of addresses. These kids have pen pals. Her name is Angelica. She and I exchange craft ideas and she had made me a fabric doll. We wanted a name for her, of course, and Angelica said she thought we should name her Susan. So, you will have to come over and visit Susan the Doll. 12/26/07
After putting the family to bed last night, I busied myself with my "to do list" for the following day and then went to my big chair to turn on the tv for some "mind numbing" escape as I have done for longer than I care to admit. But instead, as I have done for the last few nights, I didn't turn on the tv - I picked up my book from my friend. I read it with a highlighter in one hand and turned the pages with the other and felt a new understanding of myself unfolding. I'm learning and growing and I believe this journey unfolding before me will make me a better person...12/13/07
...may change my life. I hope I am ready for it. I took the book, and "walked past the cluttered counter and dirty sink", "which is not an easy thing for me to do" and read the book my dear friend left in my mail box. I'm going to bed, instead of staying up late and writing and writing to you - I'm choosing rest - which is not an easy thing for me to do. 12/11
This Christmas Ive decided to revisit Little Women for the holiday season. I just picked it up today and have only got so far as the chapter title.....playing pilgrims...the book begins with a focus on life as a spiritual journey. With a quick glance through the chapter, I've quickly found my favorite part. After reminiscing about playing pilgrims during earlier childhood Marmee issues a challenge to her girls--
"We are never too old for this, my dear, because it is a play we are playing all the time in one way or another. Our burdens are here, our road is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is the guide that leads us through many troubles and mistakes the the peace which is a true Celestial City. Now my little pilgrims, suppose you begin again, not in play but in earnest..............."
...I'm starting to believe that one truest part of us is our choices in daily action. 'Your daily life is your temple and Religon'...says Kahil Gharib in his short novel the Prophet. We often do not have choices in what happens to us, sometimes our minds even wander unwillingly, but the one thing we were granted supreme control over is our daily actions...What can be more powerful than getting up each morning, making a strong cup of coffee and then plowing through the day?! What is more true than honesty about our human condition? 12/4/07
"I especially love how she described their new awareness of each other. That line in itself was what I have desired - to be aware of details, to be aware of touch, to be aware of colors, to be aware of what seems to be such "trite" parts of our lives, when those are the most beautiful pieces in our lives if we truly think about it. We must surround ourselves with what we love. Details. Details. They make us aware."
These are the words that describe the essence of being an artist... not the ability to paint, not the ability to write, not the ability to sculpt, etc, the ability to truly see, to be aware... everyone has that ability, but we don't always nurture it and allow it to grow... ;-) 11/29/07
"This is not the life of simplicity but the life of multiplicity that the wise men warn us of. It leads not to unification but to fragmentation. It does not bring grace; it destroys the soul."
Someone very special gave me this wonderful book! I have read it slowly, sometimes only a few pages before I fall asleep, often re-reading paragraphs trying to commit words to memory. I am amazed, comforted and inspired by her words and insight - and I am only on page 39! Thank you, Susan. Once again....Isn't it amazing how its so hard to think of where we can fit in a couple of hours to visit with friends? I need to go read. 11/27/07
A baby as a mystery, an open door, an adventure....let me add
another....an eternal soul. Someone with whom you could commune for all of eternity. I love birth control, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it feels
like a burden (in terms of "weightiness") instead of a blessing to have to
DECIDE whether or not to bring an eternal soul into existence. Do you know what I mean? I feel far too finite and limited in my understanding to have the burden of making that choice. For me it helps to think of babies in
philosophical terms - mysteries, open doors, eternal souls - rather than
practicalities - diapers, money, college :) I'm ever trying to evade
reality though :) 11/20/07
It's November...I'm burrowing in, delving into the recesses, craving quiet, calm, meaning. I'm a little sad. Grieving the realities of marriage, mourning unmet expectations. Mourning the idea of the person I thought I'd be by now. I get this way every year at this time. I quite enjoy the melancholy of the season, and if that means some sad introspection, so be it. 11/20/07
Last night opened the book Return to the Sea by Anne Johnson.
(Anne of Green Gables
Anne Lindbergh my top 3 books!
Anne Johnson)
I believe last night's opening of that book & what all I read was another new movement in my song - one of the sweetest movements I've yet entered in almost 40 years. There was a new movement in June with book Gift From the Sea and all of Anne Lindbergh's books this summer/fall. Then last night just seemed like a new song for me...letting go. Oh the peace of this exact moment in my life. The last two nights are two of the best evenings for my soul in my lifetime. Since I have in my mind felt like a woman. New movement. Many trills, runs, fun lines, fun measures. 11/11/07
YES! If it is as brief as Gift from the Sea, this will be an enjoyable journey tonight! This is the part I’ve experienced and that spoke loudest to me…building upon her feeling of preoccupation, bolding some key words/phrases. I want to keep discovering the real ____, the fun-loving, sweet, spontaneous, smiling, positive, caring person deep in my heart!! To get right with myself again – and with God, as she says later. 11/10/07
"Lean" - never thought of it in terms of God. I will take on the day. 11/8/07
After your post today, I wanted to share the end of a writing with you.
“So we saunter toward the Holy Land, till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall perchance shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, as warm and serene and golden as on a bankside in autumn.”
n from “Walking” by Henry David Thoreau
It made me think about your walk in the woods… 11/8/07
First of all I just want to say that I LOVE recieving your emails. I always read them and often forward parts onto others! Secondly I wanted to let you know that I am in southern Morocco right now just lovin the Sahara desert. I rode a camel this morning a memory i will want to hold onto for the rest of my life. A huge thank you to you and Beth for encouraging me to study abroad this semester! I also wanted to share my love of Anne Lindberg with you. im reading a gift from the sea right now. It is absolutely perfect for where I am in life right now. I just read the section on security in relationships and trusting in the ebb and flow of life. I feel like these passages were an articulation of a concept that my mind has been struggling to wrap around. Thank you if you were the one who recommended this to my mom. 10/24/07
Hi Susan, I knew I had an old copy of "Gift from the Sea" and when I got home today I found it on one of my many bookshelves. Inside there is a magazine clipping from the August 1975 McCall's magazine. I'm going to make a copy of it and send it to you because it is written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh and her feelings after rereading her own book written 20 years earlier. (After I said this I find that it is included in the "afterword" of the 50th anniversary edition) but I'm sending it anyway. I was pleased to see that I had underlined a lot of things in the book, so many years ago! 10/13/07
Susan, I just love your emails. Wanted to let you know that I'm thoroughly enjoying Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, which I bought at your store a couple of weeks ago-- dare I say, it may change my life! I know you can't reply back to every email, but I just wanted you to know that I think was MEANT to walk into your little store that day, and that book was MEANT to be where it was for me to find ;-) Take care! 10/11/07
I have only read the first chapter and I am moved beyond words! There are certain books that you just know from the first sentence they will leaving a lasting impression. Is it possible to feel happy and sad at the same time? Cant wait to talk more with you! I want to reserve 8 copies of the book. I need just 1 for right now - cant think of a better gift for my daughter-in-law who just gave us our new grandson. The rest of the copies I wiil need for Christmas gifts. Thank you again for being my friend a true gift from God. 10/11/07
Your writings remind me to stop and take a breath and enjoy the beauty of family, friends, and even the change of seasons. 10/8/07
You can even find strength in the darkness of the new moon! We all find strength in our losses, tho we don't look at it that way at the time. Time is what it takes for us to realize how much we grew and gained from that loss. I often think of my daughter and how much she struggles. We prayed so hard for her to live that I wonder if she would be much more content with my mother in heaven than on earth with us now. But we don't know at the time how what we pray for will effect us, and we have to do the best that we can and pray for strength daily. And there lies the answer, we grow and make it through with His help. 10/5/07
"Self respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet place, when we suddenly realize that knowing the good, we have done it, knowing the beautiful, we have served it, knowing the truth, we have spoken it." -A. Whitney Griswald 10/4/07
My daughter's hamster died yesterday and we told her this morning. She cried long and hard about it. When she had cried for about 20 minutes while I held her and patted her back, I told her that one of Snowball's babies(Camden's) had a funny story! She stopped crying as I told her the story of him leaving his cage only to come back each morning and then how he decided to set up camp in another part of the house and all! She LOVED the story! I think it encouraged her! See how your emails encourage even the littlest person???!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10/4/07
We so enjoyed your store while on vacation. I do think it's a wonderful way to reach out to the community and bring people together. I've never been to anything like it. It was such a relief to have a place where the little ones fit right in. Usually I'm holding my breath chasing them around hoping they won't create too much havoc. Thank you for providing such a wonderful atmosphere for us to linger andenjoy!! 10/1/07
This one today really hit home. THAT IS IT!! I AM INVISIBLE - I never really thought about it like that before, but that has got to be it! I have gone thru most of the scenarios in the story. (Not only am I invisible to my children, I think sometimes my husband doesn't see well either!) I just wanted to thank you for the bit of hope - THEY DO LOVE ME - they just can't see me!! :) I will just have to keep in the back of my mind the "great cathedrals" that are coming out of my sacrifices!! And give thanks to God for seeing my hands deep in the peanut butter!!
Thanks for the inspiration Susan! 9/27/07
Way too often I have felt like the author. Like I'm carrying the world on my shoulders and it will all fall apart, if I don't keep fixing everything. Maybe we are doing our families a disservice, by always being there, fixing, doing, going when they need to do some things for themselves. A thought. Have a wonderful, fall day. 9/27/07
Thanks, again, Susan.... On this particular morning - it brought tears
and renewed purpose....not bad, eh? Hope you are having a wonderful
Thursday! 9/27/07
I have already read this in an email or something. I printed it out and put it in my dresser drawer (with my underwear ha!) to read from time to time when I am having the same thoughts. Thanks for the reminder! 9/27/07
Yesterday was 13 years ago for my Dad's death... and 13 years ago this morning I wrote his obituary. He built a Cathedral as well. (Thank you for your words...) 9/27/07
...through God’s plan reaching out to me this week. I got tears in my eyes as I read about the Invisible Woman. It’s sad, true and so uplifting. I know your loss, my mother died 20 years ago now, and there are days when I miss her so much and wish I could share with her the joys and scares I experience. Sometimes it hurts when others talk about dealing with the elderly parents and their forgetfulness and their demands, as I think how lucky they are to still have their parents and then I realize in our own way how lucky we are to have the vision of our “too young to leave this earth” vibrant and energetic never aging mothers always in our heart and guiding our actions with our own children. 9/27/07
Being a "Cathedral" is not what I pictured myself as, so I must start "rebuilding". I picture a cathedral as being a calm, quiet place to bring one's problems. I must admit this cathedral has blown its roof off a time or two! (9/27/07
I think that such a huge part of maturity is accepting things
(and naming things) the way they actually are. I live in such a dream world
most of the time that I never can admit things for what they actually are
for fear that they'll actually be that way if I say it aloud. There's a lot
of freedom in saying "This is the way my relationships I can't change are.
I wish it were different, but it's not. I will learn to live within that
framework, although I will try to change it." So I think that we show a
lot of maturity by simply saying, "This relationship makes me sad," and
giving yourself time to grieve it. 9/20
I would love to order the book you talk about below. The Sound of Paper. It's interesting, My friend and I were just talking about this kind of thing last night. She had just been to a workshop where the leader talked about our defense mechanisms when we're stressed (by conflict, hurt, anger, whatever) and how we immediately go to the "worst case scenario". He suggested writing down our own worst case scenario, then letting it go. Then turning the pape over and writing down the best case scenario - and find a happy medium! Anyway, ____ and I had been talking about writing things down, taking a different look on life - the challenges, the stresses, the hurdles. My cancer diagnosis has changed my life! I used to be a worrier, a stresser, and liked to focus on the what if's. Now, I take things day by day and really try to focus on the good and positive. I let God take my worries, stress, fear, and any of that negative energy! What a burden lifted! I don't know how I would have gotten through this summer without turning that over to God. 9/13/07
I ran across this quote a couple of days ago from CS Lewis (maybe from Surprised by Joy??) and thought of you..."Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realize the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors. We realize it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated. The man who is contented to be only himself and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me. I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented.... [I]n reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself, and am never more myself than when I do." I love that we love the same books. There's an undercurrent of
understanding that makes conversation comfortable and UNDERSTOOD. That's a precious gift. Have a great week! (From the Great Divorce) 9/9/07
Silly you… I just now closed my eyes & cracked open Anne of Green Gables…here is my escape! That bridge led Anne’s dancing feet up over a wooded hill beyond, where perpetual twilight reigned under the straight, thick-growing firs and spruces; The only flowers there were myriads of delicate “Junebells”, those shyest & sweetest of woodland blooms, and a few pale, arial starflowers, like the spirits of last years blossoms. Gossamers glimmered like the threads of silver among the trees and the fir boughs and tassels seemed to utter friendly speech. Giggling me…perpetual twilight…..gossamer threads of silver….happy talking trees….what bliss. Back to work… 8/23/07
I read this at the end of an e-mail and thought it sounded like something
you would put in one of your weekly newsletters relating to "waiting". :o)
Kind of a different twist on it anyway. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come
to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) 8/7/07
You should see me at my desk here at work....READING THE POEMS OUT LOUD!! It's too hard to read in my mind and get the full effect. Oh my. You've touched my soul again. 8/2/07
When I was getting ready this morning, I had this song in my head and thought I would share it with the two of you . . . it's a good way to start the day!
We have come this far by faith, trusting in the Lord.
Leaning on his Holy Word, He's never failed us yet.
Oh, oh, oh we can't turn back, we've come this far by faith.
This is just from my memory and don't know if I got all the words right and I'm pretty sure it's just the chorus, but I thought it was a lovely way to start the day. Remembering that God has never failed us yet and reaffirming in our minds that we can't turn back! 7/26/07
Thank you for your wonderful "Thursday morning sermon". An important little word, that "wait". You just jostle my mind when I read your "awakenings" - that's what I call them because they awaken my mind to ideas that I hadn't thought about. "Wait". It's a powerful word and one that I need to think of more often. (Very hard for an impatient person to think of that word, "wait".) Seems they should never be in the same sentence!! 7/23/07
The tears are flowing--thank you Jesus that you sent my song near maybe the end of my life. What a jewel you are. What a great analogy--I'm a long time friend of Richard Paul Evans too and just starting on The Sunflower. God Bless you. 7/21/07
A book that is simply wonderful is Margaret Wheatly’s book Turning to one Another….Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future.
I use some quote from her book about courage and conversation and chaos…the necessary chaos that needs to occur to have change occur at the first Health Ministry (national) Board conference call that I held last week. She has such wonderful wisdom…she has written other books on leadership which have been meaningful to me in all of the roles I have held in leadership…I have met her and heard her a number of times…she is simply wonderful.
She writes where do we find the courage to start a good conversation? The answer is found in the word itself. Courage comes from the Old French word for heart (cuer). We develop courage for those things that speak to our heart. Our courage grows for things that affect us deeply things that open our hearts. Once our heart is engaged, it is easy to be brave.Converstion is the way we discover how to transform our world, together. 7/19/07
From St. Alphonsus Liguori...
"... St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, when she held any beautiful flower in her hand, felt herself on fire with love for God; and she would say: "Then God has thought from all eternity of creating this flower for love of me!" Thus that flower became, as it were, a dart of love, which sweetly wounded her, and brought her closer to God." (7/13/07)
I went home on my lunch hour and read my newest treasure while sitting on my beautiful porch….I already have new hope and understanding for the necessity of us to suffer!
My favorite part so far…. “It is, after all,” as another writer has stated, “the only treasure, the only heirloom we have to leave--our own little grain of truth”. Truth that is locked up in the heart—or in a diary—is sterile. It must be given back to life so that “the hour of lead” –of others—may be transmuted.
Our own little grain of truth! Given back (shared) so someone else can benefit from it!
…thank you for being brave enough to share. It’s raining… 7/12/07
Play on with the music dear Susan….remember the quote over my stairs???
Dance to the song of life~ Katherine Hepburn
So while your music is “playing: over there remember it’s okay to dance too!! 7/10/07
All of our favorites rolled into one message today! .. My faith is shattered...nothing is as lonely as the loss of my faith..and then….my faith is sustaining me, to have felt the loss of my faith was more devestating than __________These words are so powerful Susan, thank you for sharing them with us & reminding us that as long as we hold onto our faith or “recover it”…we can endure anything. 7/5/07
I loved your story about Anne Lindberg and her love of cereal and her "mismatched bowls". We were in New Mexico a couple of weeks ago and I went to an antique store (something I NEVER do) and found a set of two bowls, PERFECT color for only $10 and wanted them sooooo badly, but I'm saying to myself, "they don't match anything I have, I don't really need them", and I walked out of the store not having purchased them. I'm sooooooo sorry now, wishing I had "splurged". I would have had to throw away a set of bowls that I use all the time, but were given as a wedding present 39 years ago! I'm such a "holder on" - thinking I should never change things, must use things until worn out or broken. But, really, if I want I can give the old ones to Goodwill and use the new ones!! (Now all I have to do is figure out how to get to Ruidoso, NM, in the next week and purchase the bowls!!) 6/28/07
I'll have to say - that
even, now - with a family to raise and many other obligations - it is the
quiet time I value most. There is something about an hour of quiet that
can reconnect the body and soul...6/21/07
So many quotes jump out at me with this one that I think I might have to have a journal and start scribbling!!
The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ by Saint Alphonsus Liguori (translation by Peter Heinegg) (It is from Liguori Press.)
This book was written back in 1768, and it is all connected to Paul's Letter to the Corinthians (the first one.)
Love love love this book.
Quote I am working on right now: Liguori quotes St. Francis de Sales "I have made a pact with my tongue not to speak when my heart is disturbed." (hmmm.. a little too much hollering at my kids this weekend!!!!) 6/17/07
When I read the words, "Come to me.", it made me think of being a child and approaching the lap of my father (heavenly father). Then I read further to find that is how Oswald Chambers describes that also. It makes you feel vulnerable and feeling like you are or should be opening yourself up to whatever the heavenly father has for you. 6/11/07
I had read my devotions and prayed that morning about what I see in the mirror—I’m not kidding! Mirrors show spinach in my teeth (I think that’s good to know), flabby arms, a wrinkled neck, cellulite, etc. I asked God to help let go of those things that bring me down and result in judging, critically of course. Then I read your email about looking in the mirror, into your own eyes, and “Who are you trying to find?” So in a roundabout way, I had the spiritual gift of trying to let go of some of my baggage in my mirror, and I think maybe you were trying to do the same. P.S. There are several scripture references to mirrors—I need to write to that someday. 6/9/07
I was thinking about how much of my life is done in a
BIG RUSH and I don't even have time to breathe. But I can BREATHE in your
store. Thank you for providing such a wonderful place to come. You are
definitely on for coffee, You definitely inspired me to pick up
something I wouldn't normally read. 6/8/07
Wonderful! Want a big book that I just LOVED??? - Try Wally Lamb's "I Know This Much Is True". It's fabulous and took me three weeks to read it - I spent every spare moment I could muster reading it and it was actually a moving experience. 6/7/07
The first morning I’ve been able to read Susan’s Books from home in my PJ’s with fresh cup of brew…how delicious sitting in my own home reading your sweet words! Anna Karenina….still on my to read list…urghhh….on more reason to keep living…books left to read! Here’s my favorite line from this AM …
You can not read these books if you get easily upset by those without your exact beliefs or morals. If you close books off for this reason, you will never open your mind to understanding those that think differently than you, therefore closing off major avenue of thought for yourself. I was giggling as I read it…thinking someone has ticked my angel Susan off in the past and she is getting the last word!!
More coffee off to read..before work..bye...(later by same friend) I was late for work this AM…looking for a favorite short story I have from Tolstoy…lost in one of my book piles! But I was excited to read it again after all that talk about “Anna Karenina”. It’s entitled “Where love is, God is also”…I always read it at Christmastime to remind myself of HIS love and our choices to receive it. It’s a delicious little 10 minute read…I brought it to work & marked the page for you…when the store is slow come over and get it… 6/7/07
...my daughter often speaks of the smell of books as "her most favorite smell in the world". 6/7/07
I hope you know that I know how much you miss your dad. I know that feeling of wishing he could see you and play with Camden and watch him grow... I feel that very same way about my dad... and I hear him laughing sometimes when the kids have done something so completely naughty and I get mad and start fuming like my mom used to.... it cracks me up (later of course) because I have that overwhelming sense of joy. Crazy, I know, to miss someone so much it hurts, and then in that same instant to have such utter happiness in my soul that I had such an amazing father. I know how he felt about me-- he loved me so completely and he knew I would be okay... I know this without a doubt. Incredible to have that bizarre balance of pain and joy at the same time.
We are so truly blessed, Susan. We were given such amazing men to lead us into this life-- and they gave us enough strength to carry on even after they left us too soon.
You have to smile. We hit the jackpot. 6/1/07 (Another friend whose dad died young).
Susan Thank you so much for your words of encouragement this week. I really needed them. My husband died Wed am. 6/1/07
Sometimes I feel I have to embrace the "sad" until it subsides. I guess. What do I know?...Between losing my home, my job, my friends, my family, my father, my history and heck, even my dog, I've pretty much lost a lot of who I am. I have had to start over with a whole new life...reminds me that I really do need friends here and that my friends away are always going to be there - but I need to start experiencing new ones here. I have a lot to learn ahead of me. Part of me doesnt want to lose what I was and what I had in my past life because I LOVED my friends and my life there so much - but I have a new life ahead of me - a life I prayed for - and I'm starting to feel ready to venture out and embrace it. 5/25/07 (loss of her father and a move to NE from out of state)
Have you ever read anything religious or not about what happens to the spirit when it is in a body like my Dad's? I just wonder where it is...what he's doing while his body is trapped in that chair. Does God let him cross over part way? That is the question that continually goes through my mind. (Affect of Alzheimer's) 5/25/07
Susan, Thank you so much for sharing from your heart and being willing to be transparent. It blessed me. It must be a season where the Lord is saying stop looking back on who you were and look forward to who I am making you to be. I have been going through something similar myself. Not being satisfied with where and who I am, and looking back to see who I was and where I lost myself. The Lord recently brought to mind the verse Phil 3:13-14
"Brothers (and sisters!) I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven ward in Christ Jesus"
This was a great encouragement. I don't want to go back, but forward. His mercies are NEW every morning.
Thanks again for sharing, I pray the Lord's blessing over you, your family and all that you put your hand to this day. 5/24/07
Our experiences and new knowledge and the variety of people we are with and our growth in God's wisdom are all shaping us and changing us. I guess we never are the people we used to be -- and that's probably good! :) Grow from the past, take a deep breath in God's garden, and just enjoy being the Susan God is shaping you into. (I need to say that very same thing to myself -- so often I wallow in the "if only's" of the past or the "what if's" of the future!) 5/24/07
I have found a quote I really enjoy that makes me feel peaceful by Maya Angelou, it is... I am working toward a time where everything gives me joy. That makes me realize I need to live in the present and not look to the future and do the when this happens I will be happy. Does that make sense? 5/24/07
Susan—I enjoy reading your letters each week. I sang In the Garden at my grandmother’s funeral and my uncle’s funeral, among other times. That song has always touched me. Another song than gives me peace is “Turn Yours Eyes Upon Jesus.” It is so beautiful. All four of my grandparents died in either the months of May or June. This is a time of year when I reflect upon them and miss them very much. 5/24/07
Susan- This is so beautiful. Such a good reminder for all of us that even though we long for moments of our past, we could never go back (nor we we want to go back to) being that person. I love it. I think this is why I'm so thankful for the sovereignty of God. I fight the things he brings into my life, but would be much less whole and Christ-like without their refining presence. Funny how we fight against the refinement and soul growth no matter how mature we are. I'm missing your dad along with you. 5/24/07
Your words "Death and events out of my control have changed who I am, to the extent that I continually desire a different time period of my life, thinking that will bring me the peace and energy and joy that I desire." I am such a different person today then I was 3-4 years ago. I keep trying to find a new me and never seem to get it right. Maybe I just need to be "who I am now". I so needed to hear that. Thank you! I think of you often even though I don't write. 5/24/07
I found a good book called...Loving What is....by Byron Katie.....it is a stategy on inquiry....that we can use to ask ourselves questions like...do I want to keep thinking this thought? does this work well for me? etc...
I just returned from a 4 sister retreat in Evergreen CO...it was wonderful and very inspiring...and I just want you to know that I have spent tons of time wondering who I am and what plans does God have for me....??? And i no longer feel urgent that I have to do something....I just am....it just is the way it is....and I am going to listen and listen and listen....to God, self and others....what messages does this world have for me? How is that?? 5/24/07
I laughed about your thoughts about who I am now and not in the past. This is because I am going back home to Imperial for my 20th class reunion this weekend. You may have hit on something for me as well. I am a different ___ than 20 years ago, but in many ways the same. I'll try to remember this as I go back to greet all those who knew me back then. Thank you for your thoughts today. 5/24/07
I just read your weekly letter and really appreciate your honesty...I can look back now and see how God has had his chisel out and chipping away the rough edges in my life. I can say now that I feel I am a more patient person and am still learning to not let disappointment destroy my day. You mentioned that you are trying to find "Susan." Take this from an old man who has had his share of ups and downs. You are not the same person you were last year and you are not the person you will be next year. Thank God for who you are today and anticipate who God is making you to be next year. I visited with our neighbor who build all his own furniture and was impressed with his handiwork. As I looked at the dining room table chairs he made I asked him how he shaped the bottom of each chair so that they all looked the same. He then told me that he once saw a wooden elephant that a fellow made and he asked him how he was able to make such a perfect looking elephant. His response was, "I started with a block of wood and anything that didn't look like a elephant I chipped away." Today God is looking a the person He wants Susan to be and is "chipping away anything that doesn't look like the Susan He wants."
Now go out and take on the day and appreciate who you are today. 5/24/07
PS We all miss you mom and dad. What a testimony they both had and impact on the community they lived.
You mentioned in one of your Thursday messages that you were not always tied to a devotional book. I appreciate you saying that. I sometimes read from five books. If I miss a day, then I try to make up the lost readings. It actually becomes a burden and my mind is not very “devotional”. Thank you for freeing me of the self-imposed burden. Devotions are worship, not a burden, and I was not always worshipping.
Loved your message last week about Anne of Green Gables. 5/23/07
I wanted to tell you how much your story meant to me today. I lost my little “Ladybug” Maltese two months ago and I feel like I lost my baby girl. I have been toying with the idea of adopting another baby girl. Our bond was so special that I know it will never be replaced. She will always be in my heart. Right before I read your email, I got a call about a little girl “shih-tzu” who might be available for adoption. I feel like your quote today came right from God telling me to think about how much love, devotion and loyalty she gave you. It will never be replaced, but be open to accepting a dog’s unconditional love again. It’s all they have to give, and they do it because they love you. SO thank you for your dog story. Your words spoke right to my heart. 5/17/07 (Rilla of Ingleside)
Like you, I sandwich my reading into my day in snatches. I can’t not read. 5/10/07
Loved your note today....but I an't resist teasing you a bit!!!......is that how you get 18 empty tide boxes in your laundry room...by reading????? 5/10/07
Thanks for your email story this week. I laughed so hard!!! We all do some pretty funny things that we don’t want to own up to. I use the grocery sack method when someone is coming over and I need to clean up the house clutter. You just quickly start shoving anything that you want out of sight into a grocery bag. Well I will admit that the other day I opened the closet by my front door and there sat 5 loaded down grocery sacks. Ha! It’s pretty bad when Gary says, “What happened to the such and such on the counter?” And I reply, “Look in the grocery sack in the closet.” I know I am in trouble when he looks in the closet and then says, “’Which bag?” After your story I guess I had better sort out those bags this weekend. I don’t think my closet would hold 18 bags! 5/3/07
A girl from my own heart, I think I have 3 era containers now but did manage to throw 2 away last week, my house is never spotless, I would have to have a cleaning lady come to remove the dust but I would have to clean before she comes, so funny how the house is not the most important part of my life until I HAVE COMPANY COMING OVERNIGHT, Heaven forbid when this happens i go nuts. 5/3/07
Susan, Your E-Mail is so funny b/c my husband just recently commented how frustrating it is to find the bottle of "ERA" with detergent in it since there are 6 other "ERA" bottles on the washing machine that are empty! A couple of weeks ago (after an entire weekend again frantically trying to catch up on laundry, cleaning, etc.) I decided I was going to get organized. I found a website dedicated to helping you find a routine for yourself so your life is CHAOS free. The jury is still out how I'm going to do, but I'm trying!! 5/3/07
I tape Oprah and there is a organizational guru guy on her show that helps people organize their "stuff". His book is "It's all too much" - an easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff. You might already carry it Susan. We recently moved and the house we moved from (family farm house) is still full of stuff so don't feel bad about your Tide boxes! Thanks for sharing! 5/3/07
I wanted to respond to this one because it resonates so much! I'm as guilty as any of getting caught in the past (or more commonly) anticipating the future that when I do finally stop I marvel at where all the time went! But as an artist (and I believe there is one in everyone, as God is THE ARTIST!) I feel lucky that I do have those times of really living in the present-- whether its while creating something or stopping and observing the world around me, or cooking a wonderful meal, or what have you! So thank you for such an insightful email, keep them coming! 4/19/07
Your emails are my church! Again - you have touched me.Thank you :) 4/19/07
Thank you for your early morning thoughts! I have often thought that maybe time goes by so fast because I am always looking ahead and not enjoying each day fully. Your reflection on the quote by the Russian priest confirmed my thoughts. 4/19/07
Almost as much as visiting your store, I enjoy your thoughts on Friday mornings when I have a moment to read your musings. I especially needed your words this morning that said seize the day, the moment, the things happening to you right now...not yesterday or tomorrow. 4/20/07
Hi, Susan-I read your email today. I loved the quote about the barn burned-now I can see the moon. We have an old barn I see frrom our dining room window-I hate to see it come down even though it is detoriating slowly-but now I know if I let my husband tear it down I will see the moon!!! 4/12/07
I am so happy to be on your “email” list now…I’m from Grand Island and I stopped in your store a couple of Friday’s ago after I had gone to the cemetery to visit my mom and dad. I was one of those customers that came in not needing “anything” but left with not only some great merchandise but a feeling of “contentment” and “satisfaction”. I thank God that he guided me into your store that afternoon. 4/12/07
I like the advice about not talking about others, only discussing ideas – I’m going to try and do that too. 4/5/07
