Anything is Possible!

With Love, Hope, and Perseverance


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SoCS: Gratitude and Angel Art

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “close eyes and point.” Grab the closest printed material to you when you sit down to write your post, open it up (if it’s a book, flyer, etc.), close your eyes, and point. Whatever your finger lands on, use that as your prompt. Have fun!

Thanks Linda!

It’s Friday morning, earlier than I usually write my post for SoCSaturday. I’ve got a busy day getting ready for tomorrow’s artisan fair at my church. It’s a big deal to me. The forecast is for a lot of rain, but it’s an indoor event, so I hope they don’t cancel it. This afternoon will be clear skies, or at least not much chance for rain, so that will be good for the set up. I’ll share some more later about that if the stream takes me there.

So, sitting at the table which doubles as my desk, there is a pile of papers to my left. The one on top is a green piece of scrap paper that I’ve written notes on from one of my organizations – Northside Food Co-op. I live near the northside of town which is part of a large food desert that includes my neighborhood. We’re starting with a Saturday farmers market and the plan is to have an affordable grocery store in the area. I signed up to be on the community engagement committee. (This was after telling myself not to sign up for anything new.) Anyway, there was a zoom meeting and a guest who is a former resident of the northside. The young African American woman talked to the committee about growing up without regular access to food, the poverty of not knowing, watching her mother struggle, and some personal trauma that she experienced. I asked her what helped her get through these things, and she said she just did – she got through it. She shared a spiritual awakening as an adult that has given her enthusiasm to go back and help those in the old neighborhood.

I didn’t point with my eyes closed, because when I looked at the green piece of scrap paper trying to decipher my notes, I was pulled to the word, “gratitude” in the middle of the paper. The young woman who grew up on the northside said,

“I have a purpose. Gratitude is a big fire inside.”

That would make a nice one-liner for Wednesday. But here it is in the stream. A big fire inside makes me think of heartburn, so I don’t normally think that way. But for some people, a fire inside is a motivator for enthusiasm, a warm glow that gets things going. I could use some of that. I’m pretty busy right now, but I need more exercise as I get older. There is a tendency to want to be a couch potato which is okay sometimes. Good thing I have all these ideas that get me off the couch and nice weather of the autumnal kind to get me walking outside.

This morning David texted me that he has known me for 50 years. The party where we met in 1971 was on November 6th. That was so cool that he remembered, even if he remembered it a day early. He is the farthest thing from a couch potato. It’s interesting how partners compliment each other. I’m a night owl and he’s a morning person…….

I am filled with gratitude that God brought David back to me when the time was perfect. I’m also grateful that I have the flexibility in retirement to be busy, when ignited by the fire inside, or to sit on the couch and watch the Lord of the Rings or whatever I want to watch.

Here’s my favorite recent piece I’m taking to the artisan fair Saturday. I believe I already have a buyer!

“Blessing the Whales” ~ Acrylic on Wood Panel

Here are some other projects I’ve been working on for the artisan fair. David drilled holes in the mimosa cookies so they can be ornaments. We had to cut the mimosa way back when we had the roof redone. It grew back well.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness, rules, etc. visit our host Linda Hill by clicking here.


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Good News Tuesday: Teens Save Neighbor, Recycling for School, and a Free Food Forest

Sunflower w address

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Teens Save 90 Year Old Neighbor from Burning House

High school students Dylan Wick, Seth Byrd, Nick Byrd and Wyatt Hall were hanging out at Wyatt’s house when they stepped outside and smelled smoke. Then they saw the flames coming from the home of their 90 year old neighbor. Two of the boys broke into the house to save her while the other two called 911 and alerted neighbors. Here’s more of the story:

Recycling for Tuition in Nigeria

Families in Lagos, Nigeria who were struggling to pay school tuition can now pay student fees with plastic bottles. A recycling company picks up the plastic bottles, cans, and cartons twice a month. It would be nice if we could get rid of plastic all together, but for now, it’s helping students earn money for school. I’m thankful they have that option. Here’s the story from BBC.

Free Food Forest

Atlanta has turned 7 Acres near a “food desert” into the biggest free food forest in the US. Read more here.

Got good news? Please share in the comments!

Feel free to write your own good news post and link it here.

Good news can be global, local, or personal.

(Next week I’ll be sharing about Canada’s new law that bans the captivity of whales and dolphins.)