Category: Blog

Posted in authors, book, challenges, change, day, easy going, Family, father, house, lesson, life, mother, People, quote, understand, walk, words

History Lessons

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

Life evolves, perpetually moving.  Hopefully, forward.  But maybe we would rather live in the past, the good ole’ days?  I dream of the whimsy of unhurried days.  Summer afternoon napping in a hammock under a willow tree.  Leisurely walking the shoreline combing the white sand for a treasured seashell or starfish left behind by the ocean blue waves.  Sunday autumn walks spotting the brightest red leaved tree.  Hot tea and freshly baked scones for a winter snack gathered with my youngsters.  Life is not so easy-going while working full-time hours as a human resources professional.  Commuting, family obligations and responsibilities, bills, and then keeping house for our two homes.  I am sure it is not easy as a carpenter in the summer heat.  Or the 1000 sandwiches prepared for another hungry crowd.  Or the school teacher putting together lesson plans and then teaching them to the 100 & 1 needs of the students you are responsible for.  The disabled or elderly making doctor appointments and their thinning budgets.

Do we really have it all with our careers, 2000 + square-foot homes, high-ticket sports events and concerts, organic foodie plates at $50 per, high-tech computer programs, phone apps, texting, social media posts, networking breakfasts, and so on & so on?  Recent weekends while antiquing for my husband and I’s newly acquired get-away house has prompted history lessons. We ask each other why this piece of furniture or household tool was used back in 1940 or another era.  Think back on those less hurried days, many items make sense.  I better understand my parents’ and grandparents’ generations.  Their tight-fist around the piggy bank,  renovated solid wood tables and reupholstered chairs, no big screen TVs but large radios for the living quarters’ entertainment and news, dishes galore because they did not “go out” to eat, and a plethora of tools to fix that broken whatever.  Maybe life was unhurried because it could not be with the lengthy meal preparations and length of time to repair or build?  Maybe life wasn’t so easy back then.  Maybe it just seems that way, because life is not easy now?  Pioneer author Laura Ingalls Wilder once wrote, “Sometimes I wonder if telephones and motor cars are altogether blessings … When my neighbor gets into her car, it is almost sure to run for twelve to fifteen miles before she can stop it, and that takes it way down the road past me.”  Mrs. Wilder recognized how modernization changed her social connections.  I know it affects mine.

I read non-fiction books and articles to find out who I am or who I want to be (or not be).  Marie Kondo encourages us in her book The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up, “the space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past”.  Such an easy concept, live the now and look to the future rather than the past.  But I would have to challenge those words and their meaning.  I agree with the concept of this book, de-cluttering and making your home or office space functional, becoming a better person.  But the past is why we are who are now, and this will carry to the future.  I rather filter the past, keep the nuggets of wisdom of the past generations, use for guidance.   Learn from and not repeat their mistakes, but I will surely make my own.  That antique end table or butter dish reminds me of past generations’ input into my life, directly or indirectly.  Their legacy, history makes me and you who we are now and what we will become in the days to come.  I ask you to think on someone in your past or from your history lessons.  What is one sentence this person would say to you right now that can effect your today and tomorrow in a positive manner?

Posted in children, father, forgiveness, friend, gift, God, husband, Jesus, love, mother, quote

Gift

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

The gift, a friend, a child, a grandchild, your spouse, your parent, or a pet.  Unconditional love.  That is the gift.  Sent from God.  Who in your life represents God’s heart and love?  Who have you shared God’s heart by loving them?  Who needs to know that love?

So happy to know God’s unconditional love, His forgiveness, His Son, Jesus my Redeemer and Savior as our example, role model.  No one else is the Perfect role model.  My Jesus.  Your Jesus, too.

Posted in choice, differences, Family, live, love, People, quote, understand

A Feather or Many Flock Together

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

Birds of A FeatherThe saying “birds of a feather flock together” rings true with many people and under most circumstances. We choose to love and surround ourselves with those like ones self.   Dating sites such as eHarmony and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter count on us “birds of a feather to flock together”.  But reality is we are so different even among “our own birds, own people”.  You are unique. You may want to have alone time rather than socialize.  Write or read rather than be entertained by the screen.  Fiction versus non-fiction.  Documentary or fantasy movie.  Find just the right blouse at a small second-hand boutique  versus settle for a pricey hot new fashion at the name-brand store.  Choices of foods and drinks are varied.  There are so many choices in our grocery stores and eateries.   That sweet treat is a bowl of fresh organic berries and a dollop of real whipped cream rather than a candy bar.  Are your leafy greens arugula laced with a balsamic vinaigrette or a chopped iceberg salad doused with creamy dressing?   Will you steep a cup of herbal tea then poured over ice for a cool down at the office or run for that iced caramel latte?  Employment at a fast-paced corporate office or slower-paced non-profit?  Full-time or part-time?  Choices of spouse, house, cars, and investments:  loving, dependable, big, small, fast, classic, high-risk, steady …  You fill in with your multiple choice answer.  Now that you see how you are different, I suppose my point is to live and love in understanding because of those differences.

Birds of Many Feathers Tree

Posted in authors, book, comfort, Emotional, faith, Financial, forgiveness, God, happy, husband, Mental, pain, patient, Physical, sad, Spiritual, strength, thankful, weep, woman, words, write

Women, Stories, Faith, and Heart Matters

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

“Women’s stories matter.  They tell us who we are, they give us places to explore our problems, to try on identities and imagine happy endings.  They entertain us, they divert us, they comfort us when we’re lonely or alone.  Women’s stories matter.  And women matter, too.” ~ Jennifer Weiner

I read many literary pieces authored by famous and not so famous women.  Women have many untold stories, happy, and sad ones, too.  There is a time to share those stories, and other times to be quiet.  A time to work through heart matters in solitude.  Inspirational writer Ann Voskamp asks in her book Be The Gift, “Are the most painful tears the kind no one can see, the kind where your soul weeps alone?”  This is where God meets us, holds us, hugs us, comforts, allowing the tears to flow until no more.  Empty oneself of all.  In the midst of physical pain, mental anguish, sudden illness, chronic health conditions, death, wrongful accusations, troubled relationships, mean co-workers, political wars, poverty, domestic violence, or complete exhaustion, faith has to play a part to get through it.

But also, “faith has to be exercised in the midst of ordinary, down-to-earth living,” writes Elisabeth Elliot.  “Faith without works is dead,” the Holy Scriptures tell us.  “Faith is built out of small acts along the path of life,” Maria Shiver shares in her new book, I’ve Been Thinking … Today, what small act strengthened your faith, your belief in God and His creation?  And that creation is you, too.  Was it surrendering your curse words to thankfulness?  Was it a smile shared with that co-worker who loathes your presence?  Was faith exercised in giving your lunch money to the homeless lady sitting on the bench?  How about when you wrote an encouragement letter to that relative estranged from the family?  The tenth time to patiently point out a grammatical error to the simple-minded teen?  Scrubbing the stains off the wall made by careless guests?  Forgiving the thoughtless comment from your husband?  When you forget another appointment, but reschedule and mark it on your calendar this time?  The lists goes on how we exercise faith in others, God, and ourselves.

We women have stories, and faith to make the stories go on about real heart matters. Heart Key Hole…

 

 

Posted in battle, depression, faith, Family, God, light, love, man, pain, peace, People, Physical, purpose, quote, Rachel, sacred, Spiritual, thankful, Warrior, woman

I Know This Man … I Know This Woman

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

I was a guest panelist for the St. Louis American Heart Association’s Workplace Wellness Solutions Forum this week.  What a wonderful experience to share the budget strategies I have incorporated in the wellness program at my workplace with other human resources and wellness professionals.  Our keynote speaker, Aaron Hunnel brought his message of perspective, positivity, passion, and purpose.  This humble young man has accomplished much in his young years. An American veteran who served two tours overseas, overcame addiction, has literally climbed several huge mountains, ran an Ironman Marathon with a disabled young woman as his partner, author of the book Upwards, and a successful business owner.  His keynote message “There Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” moved many to tears.  I sobbed.  His authentic message reached home in my heart.

You see I know this woman who has a beautiful soul. She seeks the good in everyone she meets. She loves unceasingly, full of “thank yous”, and affectionate hugs. “See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see,” Kirk Weisler is quoted, and this is what this woman lives.  And the courage she possesses is like no other I know.  This woman has not one but multiple disabling medical conditions. This woman is Rachel, my oldest daughter.  I am so proud of the character she has and is.  An “all abilities” woman.  The battles she has fought and continues to fight are extreme pain with advanced degenerative disc disease and arachnoiditis.  Depression, self-pity, “why me”s, “why now”, purposelessness, faithlessness, hopelessness Rachel has fought against too.  And this woman warrior has won!  Her faith in God has saved her time and time again, and will continue to sustain her.  Rachel gives love to family, friends, and strangers because she knows she was created for such as this.  Love is sacred, love shared, no holding back.

 

 

 

Posted in citizenship, creative, Emotional, Financial, God, heaven, house, live, meditation, Mental, Physical, prayer, purpose, quote, scripture, spirit, Spiritual, Vocational, write

By Chance Or Creative Citizenship

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

 

A wooden birdhouse nailed to a backyard maple tree was home to Eurasian tree sparrows year after year. Eventually the squirrels chewed a bigger hole and took residence.  Now the tree does not exist as we made way for a room addition to the house, but the prized songbirds still return to our feeders every winter.  The Eurasian tree sparrow finds its citizenship in some select communities in the St. Louis, Missouri vicinity.  “Its presence in Missouri dates back to shortly after the Civil War. At that time it was a fad among nature enthusiasts to import nightingales, chaffinches, bullfinches and other songbirds from Europe. This was done in the false hope that new birds might help control insect pests, but was also an excuse among nostalgic immigrants who wanted to see birds ‘from the old country,'” written in a Missouri Conservationist Magazine article.  These meek songbirds entertain us humans by making nests in our birdhouses and stay around for winter dining on seeds left in the feeders.  Not native to Missouri, but they thrive.

Writers and artists need their own space to allow their creative juices to flow.  Writers’ and artists’ retreats can be found around the world.  Michael Pollan’s cites in his book, A Place Of My Own, “a room of one’s own … is a space of solitude a few steps off the beaten track of everyday life.”  I think we all need that space whether it is a nook in your house, a favorite bench at the park, or trail to walk amongst the trees and wildlife.  Creativity is for all people.  Historians, sociologists, and National Geographic photography and author, Dan Buettner study people around the world, seek those who thrive and live as centenarians. These century-old people have 9 common threads in the communities they live in what has been now dubbed the “Blue Zones”.  These threads are unique to their culture but can be tied together.  These threads are: they move naturally, have purpose, consume plant-based foods and stop eating when 80% full, practice moderate wine consumption, have daily down time, their family comes first, live in the right tribe for self, and belong to a like faith community.

As a wellness professional I stand by the concept of “The 7 Dimensions of Wellness”:  physical, spiritual, vocational/financial, emotional, social, intellectual, and environmental which I can easily tie into the Blue Zone’s 9 common threads.  With all this, what is one dimension that the others surround around?  It is the spiritual dimension.  It defines our purpose, beliefs, and values.  It centers our thoughts, prayers, and meditations.  It is big enough that it allows us to accept others.  And your spiritual practice,  is it integrated in everyday life?  Are you thriving?  Where do you find your citizenship?  Are you here by chance or did the Creator create your place/space for a purpose?  And where will you be after the Earth is no more?  Your spirit lives forever.

 

 

Posted in Family, God, love, patient, quote, sufficient

Are We So Different?

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

Thanksgiving weekend brought together family and friends enjoying traditions and non-traditions.  A sweet 16 birthday party for my oldest granddaughter, as well as birthday celebrations for my 25-year old son and husband filled the rest of the 4-day weekend.  Family bloodlines run long of sufficient women, and the strong men who walk with us.  The differences whether male or female are in political views, religious beliefs, culinary preferences and restrictions, career choices, hobbies, aspirations, the boots we wear, and list goes on.  The pendulum of diversity swings very high at times even among spouses.

How does God encourage us to live? “Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” ~ Ephesians 4:2.   “I found out everybody’s different–the same kind of different as me. We’re all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us,” ~ author of Same Kind of Different As Me, Denver Moore tells us.  The same kind of different brings us to the same road, same pair of shoes, same need for love.  Love is the glue that binds us together, and it is the need we each have that makes us each the same.  So love folks. Love unceasingly!

 

Posted in envy, faith, Family, God, jealousy, life, light, live, love, peace, scripture, secure, thankful, write

Be The Light

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

“There are two ways of spreading the light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it,” author Edith Wharton is quoted. Edith began to write poems, short stories, and novels as a child in the latter 1800’s. Her first published novel would not be until she reached age 40, as it was not acceptable for a societal woman to be active in writing during this era. Edith’s life reflected her love for humanity during the first World War, brave efforts made for her French friends.  Days and years, maybe a dimly lit wick, but she persevered in those humane and writing works.  Edith Wharton’s influence is seen in literature and the arts today, and she has been gone from earth since 1937.

“He will not break a broken branch or put out a little fire. He will be faithful to make everything fair,” the Bible verse encourages us in Isaiah 42:3.  In today’s world when life seems totally unfair, there is this promise from the Old Testament. Do not put out your own light by living like life is unfair, slanted, short-changed.  Stop the envious comparisons to your family member, curtail the jealous plans to out beautify or own more than the Jones, and live your life at peace with yourself , neighbor, and God.  Be secure in God. Be thankful. “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine …”  Be that candle, and reflect God’s love for you as a mirror to the community you have been placed in.

candlelight

Posted in change, hope, life, prayer, quote, words, write

Words Can Change Lives

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

People Change

“Words. They sing. They teach. They sanctify. They were man’s first, immeasurable feat of magic. Words are living things. For they are filled with breath of life. Words can change lives,” author  Kirk Weisler writes.  I have hope.  I believe people can change for the better.  Do you?  So choose your words wisely.  Speak life, absent of criticism, cynicism, or sarcasm.  And pray unceasingly.

Posted in battle, Blog, cancer, daughter, day, Elisabeth, Emotional, Enemy, faith, Family, fear, fight, Financial, God, mother, Physical, prayer, Spiritual, thankful, victory, Warrior, write

Wonder Woman, A Village, And Miracles

Posted on by deannagreensandgardenart

 

A few months ago I began this blog dedicated to the warrior woman God has called each of us to be. This necessity to write about this topic came after my daughter, Elisabeth was diagnosed with two forms of breast cancer, stage 1.  Within each of us is a fighter, some more pronounced than others.  So I am not speaking of a roughneck girl looking for a fight.  (Though I believe either one of my daughters, daughters-in-law and their mothers could hold their own if confronted in a physical battle.)  With this blog I am speaking about the spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional fight we as woman encounter on a daily basis.  And for some that fight is minute by minute of every day.  My Elisabeth had such the fight the past 5 months.  She told her story on her social media page, not whining and complaining, but injecting faith and the power God gives to fight against fear and the Enemy.  The Enemy, cancer lost!  After 5 months of chemotherapy and a bi-lateral mastectomy Elisabeth received the pathology report announcing “CANCER-FREE!” The victory is hers!

In my eyes, and many others’ eyes, Elisabeth is Wonder Woman.  She endured chemo treatments every 3 weeks, the nausea and zapped energy level that followed for days.  Hair and breasts loss.  The mind and emotions battled the lies of the Enemy, refused defeat every step of the way.  It takes a village to raise a child.  And my daughter had a village praying for her, literally hundreds of family, friends, and church groups surrounded her with love and support, and beseeched Our God.  And the countless miracles that followed … her husband’s unwavering support … God’s grace extended from her employer, to work when able… strained relationships focused on one thing, Elisabeth’s healing rather than their differences … a clinic of dedicated medical staff … most expenses covered through the healthcare reform mandate … non-insurance covered special bandages left in the mail box during recovery … gift baskets delivered … and most of all the village’s thousands of prayers said on her behalf.

How thankful I am that my Elisabeth has been healed, and continues in the grace of God!  From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for loving my girl!  To God be the glory!