Heroic Happiness

"...and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge..." ¹

 

–—

In the Book "Soul Survivor",² Phillip Yancey writes of G.K. Chesterton, a loved British theologian:


"...[Chesterton] had been struggling with despair, evil, and the meaning of life, and had even approached mental breakdown. When he emerged from that melancholy, he sought to make a case for optimism amid the gloom of such a world."

I thought of Ebenezer Scrooge who had been visited by the ghost of Christmas past where lived unforgiveness. He then encountered the Ghost of Christmas present stately planted in stoicism. Finally Scrooge saw his ultimate fate. Eternal unhappiness.

But in his dark night of the soul, Ebenezer Scrooge made a decision.

Interpretation mine: I will serve those around me the best I can with what I have, and I will start with my nephew and his happy though ill son, Tim.

It only took one step, a change of attitude. Then the clouds parted. Scrooge changed some things including his circumstances and his friends. And happiness lived happily in his heart ever after, affecting those around him.

Choosing heroic happiness is rooted in deep joy born of so many things, including injustice, adversity and loss. It can continue to flow like a fountain all the days of our life should we chose it.

I sincerely believe today that happiness begins the moment we know truly for ourselves that God Is and will never leave us so long as we live. And should we chose to follow Him, the more we obey him in good conscious, the happier we get, even if things get tough. When doubts come, read The Beatitudes -- The Be Attitudes!

As we continue growing in this Truth all the days of our life, the gift of  Happiness grows as well.

Self-gratification is happiness rooted in fleeting pleasure. But pleasure in its best form merely mirrors God, who was pleased when he created this world in its perfect state.

When we decide to be happy and find pleasure the way God designed it, it continues to repay not only us, but those around us.

So when you smile today, don't think of it as a mask, think of it as a deep well that is rooted in heroic happiness. You will find your well filled to brimming over!

Watch the clouds part, if only in your heart! And don't forget to pass along good news and good stories along the way!

¹ Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol." 

Isn't Forgiveness Freeing?

I would love to hear you funniest or most sober or most touching story arising from a misunderstanding.



Me first.

Funniest...

An old college friend and myself were catching up a few years ago and we were having a lot of laughs. I then told her I felt bad about something I did in college and she said, "I don't recall that at all! But let me tell you what I've been feeling bad about all these years," and she shared something bad she felt she did to me that I had no recollection of!!! We then had another good laugh and it killed the bad story line we had been telling ourselves.

How many potential old friends are out there waiting reconciliation if only someone would give the other a chance? Has it been one, five or ten years? A lot can happen in a week, let alone a year or more. Chances are people have grown and there is something redeemable in reconnecting. Who knows, you might find out you are more alike, more forgiving or more of something better by letting others out of their box, or freeing the frozen memory from your mind!



Isn't forgiveness freeing?

Your turn!

Friends love at all times

I get the daily quote from simpletruths.com every morning. This morning's quote spoke to me:

“A friend is someone who understands
your past, believes in your future,
and accepts you just the way you are.”

~  Anonymous

I have lived long enough to understand that there are people who don't understand my past, who don't believe in my future and who don't accept me as I am.

It's okay.

There are plenty who do. I'll bet there are those for you as well.

However, they are true who are true online as well as in person. It's time to move on when others are moving away from us or when we are moving away from them. We can still be respectful, but the end of friendships in their present form is a must to move forward in life.

The true friend follows us in and out of life no matter the circumstance.

I went through a dry spell with my friends many years ago. It was just the stage and circumstance of my life. But today I am grateful beyond belief for having gone through that time of testing. It tempered me. It showed me my true and valued friends. I am better for having been through that desert. It's made me a better friend and more appreciative of the brevity of life and the need to focus on what's important.

In counting my blessings through my present friendships, I came up with too many to mention, but here are a few friendship experiences that have built me up recently.

A recent conversation this week with my sister Andreia merely inquiring about a project John and I are working on meant the world to me.

A phone call from my newest friend Linda just checking in started my day out correctly!

A visit from my cousin Stephanie and my Aunt Lucia was all the therapy I needed for a trial I was working through.

A car ride from Houston to Oklahoma City with some of our best friends Lisa and Jason was filled with laughter and good memories for years to come.

A workout with my sister-in-law Mary Louise on a recent visit to Florida bonded us more.

An impromptu visit with one of my best friends Charla on that same recent Florida trip allowed me to meet the parents of a friend I've had for a quarter century and now know where she first learned how to laugh and learn to do life!

A recent conversation with my best friend Kathy from junior high reminded me I can pick up the phone and be where I always am with her, loved and able to love unconditionally!

There are so many more I could mention. I am rich with friends.

My friends ARE my Facebook. One day I may get back on the social media site. But for today, this works for me. And I want to say thanks for the many real friends I have and look forward to the many that are to come!

Be blessed friends and know you are a blessing to me!

Snow Falls

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Snow Falls

Snow falls quietly before snow balls start flying

Ice feels good breaking on the face

The players smile

Cold
Wet
Sloshing down the neck

Friends hide, planning and packing snow
Then firing balls feverishly, trying to avoid a hit

Red faces
Cold hands
Tears drop from the cold
Hands need a fire
But laugher surrounds

And in the end
There is peace
As friends wobble around
Arm in arm
Feet crunch on the newly fallen snow

In the distance
The way distance,
A mother calls her children home to dinner
And it sounds as if she is there beside them

Snow
Beautiful and white
Magnifying sound
Fun to play in
Hard to plow sometimes
And it gets brown and hard when it stays too long

When it's gone
We are glad
But memories linger on...

This post is dedicated to our friends and family in New England as you weather another snow storm!

The Healing Power of Good Art

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My father just had a kidney removed over a week ago. My sister and her husband drove all night to be with Dad for the surgery. My sister-in-law and our niece were there also.

While Dad was in recovery, the six of us sat in the waiting area. The surgeon walked up to my mother. The look on his face told us that something was amusing him.

"Mrs. Huff, your husband is singing in recovery." I asked if it was The Girl from Ipanema, and the good doctor replied, "I don't know, but everyone is enjoying the singing." Later that evening after Dad got settled in his room, his nurse let my mother and me know we could go in.

He told us his name was Gabriel and added, "He's taught me some Portuguese and I am teaching him some Spanish." Later Mom told me his name was appropriate as he had that extra gift of grace in all of his dealings with Dad. He told Mom that he liked to treat his patients the way he'd treat his own parents.

So I asked Gabriel if had heard Dad sing, specifically The Girl from Ipanema. At that moment, Dad, still in his half-wakened state began softly singing The Girl... Knowing the song, Gabriel chimed in matching Dad's volume as not to disturb the other patients.

As I have mentioned in other blog posts, my early years were filled with all kinds of music. Though my father is a minister and we love singing in church and singing hymns outside church, we love all good music. I believe it elevates our God-given spirits.

This song may sound like elevator music to some, but let me offer a different perspective. It comes from a family of music meant to relax the soul.

Life can be tough and harsh sometimes, and what better way to soothe the soul but to bathe in well-thought through melodies and beautiful word pictures. Relaxing songs nurture and bring out the goodness in one's heart. I am not a trained philosopher nor a theologian, I am simply making an observation that humans need rest, redirection and redemption, and good music offers all three.

I also believe that God gave us the gift of music to enjoy, as a means of therapy and connection with other people. When cultures produce good art that nurture the soul, I see a characteristic born from the Creator to want to heal the human spirit. Afterall, we are made in His image. 

Spring in Live Oak Park - Photo by DHM

He loves us individually more than anyone else and seeks our good. And He will use anyone He wants to produce good art. Ours is to listen and watch for it if we are artists that we may make good art. If we are not artists, it is good to appreciate good art by encouraging good artists and investing in art and artistic events that elevate the soul.

I was an art student my first two years in college, but continue that gift in a different way. My canvas is family and friends. My media are hugs, gifts, and love -- lots of love. Am I perfect in my results? On some days, hardly. But as I learned long ago, if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. My aim is to bring beauty and joy to my "patrons." I only hope their critical observations will be as graceful as the art I attempt to produce, because good art heals.

My father is home convalescing, and while he will nurture his soul spiritually with God's written Word, he also enjoys the therapeutic results of gardening, watching good movies, reading good books, turning on good background music and connecting with family and friends. He's a artist in his ministry, allowing God's love to flow through him to others, and it is coming back to bless him. Good art also heals the artist.

This post is dedicated to my wonderful father and mother. Dad, wishing you great success in your healing! Mom, you are an artist incognito, your artwork is a clean and orderly home, lots of love for anyone walking through it's doors and good food to feed the body and soul!

The Love That's Enough

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John and I started out the new year relaxing to the movie "Joyful Noise." It was full of songs, old and new. There is one song that stood out and reminded me so much of the love my parents have for each other.

Here's Kris Kristofferson and Dolly Parton singing "From Here to the Moon and Back."

I appreciate genuine romantic love. It's easy to think it should be something greater than it is. But it seems it's greatness is in its simplicity. I believe true romantic love is not about impressing others with romantic love, rather it's about listening to my loved one and satisfying their immediate need. What others get is an essence of what is shared with one's spouse. When it's done right, others may misinterpret a perfect moment to be so because the couple is perfect, meaning a couple who meets the ideal of the observer.

But no one is perfect, yet there is nothing wrong with appreciating perfect moments. Ideal moments crystallize as good memories and are healthy so long as they don't take on a life of their own and become the ideal all the time. Good memories are essential to good mental health, and it's important to store up the good ones that swallow the bad ones we have no control over. I guess that's the nature of forgiveness, a beautiful gift we are given to help us live life unhindered, happy and whole.

True romantic love may be sentimental, humorous, dead pan or spiritual, but it's probably a combination of so many qualities. Whatever it is, each couple has their own tailor-made romantic characteristics, and it's inspirational to watch servant-romance unfold.

My folks exemplify a couple who have loved each other this way for 58 years now this past December 14th. One of Dad's first tokens of affection to Mom was the gift of a shotgun on their first wedding anniversary. But Mom was never a hunter, so the most they got out of that gift was a good story and a good laugh! Over the years the gifts became more personal the more they got to know each other. It's a testament to their improved listening skills!

As a young girl I enjoyed watching them be appropriately affectionate with each other. They still enjoy hand-holding and walking arm in arm in public, and not just because Mom's knees are aging! I've appreciated this more over the years, and how kind physical touch says so much to each other and to those around. It's the love that's enough, that sustains when life gets rough and when others are tough on us; our loved one gives us enough!

Thanks, Mom and Dad for showing us that being together is enough and loving each other to the moon and back!

What does Home look like at Christmastime?

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I still have a grown up Christmas list, and it's pretty close to Amy Grant's. But my personal bag of memories and wishes -- in no particular order -- looks like this...

Home. Warmth. Comfort. Good humor. Grace. Helpfulness. Hugs. Football. Movies. Shopping. Walks.

"Food, family and fun," which is John's and my motto for family get togethers!

John and I sneaking out last minute to buy stocking stuffers for each other, and watching our long-gone dog Princess pine jealously over the stuffed socks on Christmas morning!

Hearing stories from the older generation and dreams from the younger ones.

Tearing into presents with the nieces and nephews over the years, sometimes orderly, sometimes not.

My father, mother, brother and sister and I sitting around a Christmas tree in the smallest home we lived in. We were in Brazil where Christmastime takes place during the summer! Santa wears shorts! 

Richard and I getting matching red Caloi bicycles one year, knowing it was a luxury to have such gifts.

My paternal grandfather giving me a camera when I was six, which gave me my love of photography.

Every year my maternal grandparents gave us boxes of lifesavers with a five dollar bill tucked inside, something they saved up all year to give to their many grandchildren!

Teasing with my uncle Von, who is two years older than myself, and my playful cousins Kent and Kyle who can't resist finding the funny in everything!

Singing carols around the piano with my mother-in-law, and continuing into the new year as she likes to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas ending at epiphany.

Watching my sister Andreia read my parent's Christmas cards and catching up on where our friends are now.

Dad and Mom playing Christmas music softly in the background, and sometimes someone will join in singing along.

My sister-in-law Kim's green bean casserole.

Long walks and talks with John's sister ML that are more refreshing and upbuilding after being together.

Christmas in Boston when my family was a long way away, but I was welcomed by my northern family, Harry, Bev, Sarah and Andy. My memories of Brantwood Road grow more beautiful with each passing year! Thanks for including me on Harry's Hanukkah traditions where I could see them firsthand! What fun that was.

Everything is magnified at the holidays, including love, kindness and good humor. This is how I know I have a great family. There is more goodness among us when we come together. We do our best not to hide love from each other during the year; we express it as we can in little bits. It's magnified because we are saving it to give to each other in person.

So Home looks like Love. It is Love and Love leaves its stamp when everyone is gone.  

May your Christmas season be filled with love, comfort and joy!

This post is dedicated to my family whom I love! You have given me great love always. We are looking forward to making more memories this year!