Even though it was four years ago,
some days you're like,
"What happened? Hey....anybody....what happened?"

You saw it with your own eyes.
You experienced it with your own life.
You were there when everything changed.

But still
When you least expect it,
When you are goofing around
Or just lying upside down on the sofa,
You wonder to yourself and to the world,
"What happened??"

And then you get up,
Go back to eating,
Or playing,
Or sleeping, 
And get on with the mission of living.

December 7, 1935 -- November 24, 2008

Shirley Armistead Hardin Neville . . .my beloved Mom

“Death—the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.” ~ Walter Scott

Four Years Ago Pre-T-giving Week

Four years ago this week
            We were talking about the meal
                     And planning what you'd make

And what you were going to buy from the grocery
        And what I'd make when I got there.
                                   You always got excited about Thanksgiving.

Me too.

Love you. Miss you. Thankful for you.

 

A Tear and a Smile


Everything is fast and loud and busy and full.

Except when I pause

And admire the amber light of dusk--your favorite time of day--

or

Enjoy the first little decorative Christmas trees for sale in our gift shop that I know you would be tempted to buy 

or

Run my fingers over the little diamonds in your gold cross necklace that you never took off from around your neck
or

Drop away into an imagined conversation of what I’d say if we could talk on the

phone while I drive home from work
or

Snap awake again to the steel-cold reality of my life and heart reshaping
from the inside out
and from the outside in
after you died.

I go at a fast pace a lot, enjoying the thrill of ministry connectiveness, problem solving, and being used in healing moments.

The mixture of
work and busyness, 

loss and grief, 

reinvention and spiritual renewal, 

and the sheer fact of missing you 

and missing our family togetherness 
is so vividly present during this season.

No matter. . .
I smile and am grateful to God so very often
because you happened.

I love you, Mommie.

Quote from Dr. Seuss:

“Don't cry because it's over,

smile because it happened.”



Remembering my beloved "Mommie" 12/7/1935--11/24/2008



"You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb."  --Psalm 139:13

 

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). 

He is the Dawn-Breaker for any weary pilgrim on life's path.

“Pray

 that your loneliness

 may spur you

 into finding something to live for,

 great enough to die for.”

                          ~ Dag Hammarskiold (Swedish diplomat, economist, and author - 1905-1961)

“Heaven goes by favor.

If it were by merit,

You would stay out

And your dog would go in.”

~Mark Twain

Good-bye Beloved Chloe

9/23/12

“Until one has loved an animal,

A part of one’s soul

Remains unawakened.”

~ Anatole France

Pajama Pants and Home

God has favored her.

  Gigs to speak.

  Times to teach.

  Songs to sing.

  Writings touching hearts.

  Lives are trained.

  Hearts are changed.

God has favored her.

  Friends surround.

  House is sweet.

  The Lunch Bunch teases.

  The cat cuddles.

God has favored her.

  Writing.

  Painting.

  Singing.

  Playing guitar.

  Wishful drums.

God has favored her.

  Not a lot of money

  But car is good.

  Clothes are bought.

  Savings grow.

  Projects are accomplished.

  Trips are taken.

God has favored her.

  But she left her pajama pants

  By mistake

  In the hotel room

  In the other state

  Where she grew up.

  They are mailing them COD

  To her.

  But how, how

  Can they return

Mt. Juliet, Tennessee

  Her longing

  For her home?

She is favored and so blessed in one place

While her heart loves and longs for another….