Moments by Joylene M. Bailey

There are times when I am able to take long periods for refreshment and restoration, where lapping waves and turquoise waters help me breathe deeply. Most of the time though, my life is quite ordinary and I am replenished in moments of beauty and joy, like pearls on a string.  

~~~~~

Image by Pexels from Pixabay 

Music: The second movement (Adagio) of J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin BWV 1060 has never once failed to set my spirit soaring. The dialogue between oboe and violin is so finely matched that sometimes it’s difficult to discern where the oboe ends and the violin begins. It is a gentle conversation between kindred spirits. The entire 14-minute concerto can be found here, and the Adagio begins at 4:51. When you get there, close your eyes and take it in.

~~~~~

Image by Mabel Amber, still incognito... from Pixabay 

Words:  Most often, it’s not the story that refreshes my spirit. It’s the words. Fresh, unique phrases that surprise and delight, and spark tingles along my spine from head to tailbone. I recently read Toni Morrison’s Beloved. It is a dark story about the horrors and aftermath of slavery, and I couldn’t read it for long periods of time, but the language kept drawing me back. Phrases like 

On nights when the sky was personal, weak with the weight of its own stars  

and 

Their quietness boomed about on the walls like birds in panic.

Words like these exhilarate and replenish me. They urge me on to work harder at my own writing.

~~~~~

Laughter: The last time I had an all-out-can’t-stop laughing fit I was in a Chicken Chef in Gimli, Manitoba. I couldn’t tell you what set me off, but people at other tables turned to stare. My husband and grandson looked at each other bewilderedly. 

And then took a photo. 

How refreshing to be able to laugh. Whether it’s full-blown, like that day in Chicken Chef, or a chuckle of delight at something else, to laugh is to be refreshed.  

One chuckle I got this week:

My two-year-old grandsons had never seen their Daddy without his beard. This week he shaved it off. The first time the twins saw him sans beard their reactions were notably funny:

A: Me no like this Daddy.

E: Where you other chin?

If I know I need to have a good laugh, I often turn to children’s books. Who can resist Jack Prelutsky’s silly rhymes?

I have a pet tomato,

it doesn’t have a stem.

My friends have pet asparagus –

why can’t I be like them?

~~~~~

Image by 育银 戚 from Pixabay

Sometimes I go looking for these moments. Sometimes they surprise me. Either way, when they happen I need to stop in my tracks and take them in. Add those pearls to my string. Moments of refreshment sprinkled throughout a day, a week. Strung together they form a strand of sparkle and shimmer that adorns this ordinary life. 

~~~~~

  

~~~~~

 scrapsofjoy.com 

Laughter IS the Best Medicine by Lynn Dove

You don't have to be around me long to know I love to laugh.  I have been told that I have a very distinct, and hearty laugh.  My husband has spent thirty-nine years in the pursuit of trying to make me laugh every single day.  I don't know who's more thrilled when he succeeds, me or him, but when I laugh, it just tickles his fancy too and before we know it, we're reduced to tears and both of us are chortling uncontrollably.  It's a happy marriage.


My three children have learned to accept our frequent fits of laughter and though they don't always understand what their parents find so funny at times, they explain it away as one of our many parenting quirks and find it endearing, although sometimes embarrassing, especially when we laugh hysterically in front of their friends.  They don't realize that most of the time, we find THEM funny!  Sorry kids! 


In writing, there are times an unexpected pun or a misspelling of a word, that changes the whole meaning of a sentence, will catch me off guard.  I'm a grammar hound when it comes to media.  I can't help cringe and chuckle at the grotesque misspellings I discover in commercials, ads and social media.  Occasionally spellcheck will have me giggling for a day at the nonsensical word it comes up with to use in a certain context.  Even when reading or writing the most serious of articles, I can be reduced to fits of laughter because of a spellcheck or misspelled faux pas. 


I will admit there have been very few times in my life, when I didn't find something to make me laugh at least once during the day.  Whether in my writing or interacting with my family, friends, or seeing something in media or on television; life definitely makes for some very funny moments IF we choose to see them.  Case in point:


I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001.  That in itself is definitely NOT funny.  In fact, after the diagnosis, I wasn't sure I would ever be able to laugh again.  I was in a battle for my life and the usual twinkle of merriment in my husband's eyes was noticeably dimmed as we struggled as a couple to come to terms with our new reality.  My children ranged in age from five to fifteen, and I begged God to help me see the plan and purpose in this for me and my family. 


Days before my mastectomy surgery, I sat down at my computer and began to write a long letter to a friend asking her to pray for me.  I was terrified about the upcoming surgery and I honestly wasn't sure I would survive.  I was deeply depressed and I was facing a crisis of belief.  After the initial diagnosis I had "camped out" in Scripture, trying to find comfort in the Word, finally coming to Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before His Passion.  I wrote to my friend, "I feel like Jesus did when he prayed to His Father: "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39.  After I had written that, my daughter who was fifteen at the time, leaned over my shoulder and began reading the letter.  She stopped when she read the scripture passage and gasped.  Then she started to giggle.  She couldn't stop and soon tears were streaming down her eyes and she pointed at the screen. 


I had thought my letter poignant and filled with pathos.  To see my child dissolved in laughter, was the least I had ever expected the letter to illicit and to tell the truth, I was more than a little upset by her insensitivity towards my dire health circumstances.  She was certainly old enough to understand the seriousness of the situation, and we had been very open with her about what I was about to face.  Then she pointed again and said, "Think about it, Mom...your surgery...a cup being taken from you...CUP?...bra cup...?"  It dawned on me the literal meaning she had picked up by reading the verse that I had connected to my particular circumstance and I started to laugh.  Before we knew it, we were hugging, laughing and crying uncontrollably.  After our laughter quieted, my oldest child, who had been bottling up her pent up emotions until then shared openly her real fear of losing me.  After reading my letter, she knew that if we could laugh, if God could allow laughter into our lives about something so very serious and at that VERY moment, she knew everything was going to be okay!


It was after that conversation, I revised my letter to my friend and changed it's original sombre tone to one of upbeat positivity and I shared what had just transpired between my daughter and me.  I asked my friend to pray of course for my upcoming surgery, but to also send me jokes, funny videos and humourous anecdotes throughout my recovery process.  Then I enlisted all my other friends and family to do the same, and from that day forward my email correspondence included every manner of frivolity that made me laugh and lifted my spirit through my surgeries and the chemotherapy treatments that followed.  My request went viral, and soon strangers from all over the world, were sending me encouraging scripture verses as well as fun, family-friendly jokes, riddles, puns and videos.  My husband, once again continued his quest of trying to make me laugh every day, so even on the day I asked him to shave my head bald after the first chemo treatment, I was laughing while he cried! 


I don't make light of the awful experience of cancer or the devastating consequences and treatments that accompany the disease.  I would NEVER wish the diagnosis on anyone, but I believe God used humour to encourage me through that most difficult time in my life.  Someone asked me how I could stay so upbeat during that two year battle and I responded, "I can laugh or I can cry, I choose to laugh." 


For me, laughter was, and still is, the best medicine.

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com  

Make a Joyful Noise by Karma Pratt

In our house, we are in a season of living, learning and growing. Everyone is stretching beyond themselves and everyday there are new opportunities to learn something new. This is the incredible blessing of school aged children. They are students and teachers all rolled into one. Of course, not every moment is sunshine and roses. We have many instances of frustration. Angry tears can be just as common as joyful laughter. Overall, though, we are learning to live in the light of thanksgiving. 

My family's sense of fun has informed my writing. Learning to laugh in the moment helps me remember to be present in the everyday. Focusing on one thing at a time helps me set boundaries so that I don't fall down the rabbit hole of multitasking mania. Embracing joy has allowed me to step back from busyness and choose purposeful interactions and connection instead. 

Life is busy, there's no doubt, but I read recently that, “A day is a pocket of possibility and it’s always there, waiting for your willing hand.” - Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life

I am learning how to lean into the joy, how to exchange it for piled up deadlines and pressure that won't stop squeezing. I am learning that the pressures I feel are self-imposed, and the joy I experience comes from learning to let go of the pressure. I am learning that saying, "Yes!" to fun in the sun and backyard playtime allows me to say, "Yes!" to God emphatically and passionately.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 ESV

The love and laughter in our home is the good medicine that allows me to dig into my writing in new ways. Places that I was leery to explore before, are now opening up as new light shines into dark corners. I will likely never be a fiction writer. (would that it were!) Instead, my path is moving in the direction of non-fiction, memoir and poetry. All the joyful interactions in this current season remind me of how far I've come, and what I have to share through words. 

The Apostle Paul ended his letter to the Philippians with this prayer: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (Philippians 4:23). Joy, love and laughter are entry points into God's grace. What a gift!

***

Karma writes from the golden house in Northeastern BC. You can connect with her online at redraincoatcreations.com

Writing to a Different Audience by Lynn Dove

This month’s focus was writing in a genre, voice/style or for a particular audience that I would not normally write in or to. Still I couldn’t help but giggle when I entitled this blog post “Writing for a Different Audience”. It just begs quotation marks around “different”, does it not?

As I thought about it, the comedic side of me immediately surfaced and I thought about what “different” audiences I should write about or to. So here goes:

Writing to my dog would require a bare bone plot line and may be a little rough (ruff) around the edges.

Writing to a cat would require a scratch-pad handy to jot down my thoughts and ideas, but in the end I would only be able to scratch the surface…it would never be absolutely perfect (purrfect) or to the cat’s liking or licking as the case may be.

Writing about a tree would leaf me breathless, especially if I made sure a few shady characters were thrown in for dramatic relief that wood leave the reading audience rooted to their seats.

Writing about a vacuum cleaner would require catchy pick-up lines but in the end the plotline would likely suck.

Writing about a cellphone in the context of a mystery novel would require indecipherable code (LOL), a limit of text, characters, and horrific grammar. It wd B a Bst sell R 4 shur!

Lastly, writing while on vacation may not have been my best idea, but it definitely has been fun!

 

Feeling punny? Add one of your own for all the writing pundits out there...hahahaha!

Laughter - A God Gift

(Photo: Nap time with Daddy. This was taken when Trevor was three, I think.)

(Photo: Feeding time. This was taken about three weeks ago when Trevor was 26, I think.)

I'm grateful for a lot of things in this life, but I think the one thing I am really thankful for is a sense of humour. We hear all sorts of clichés about how laughter is the best medicine and how smiling releases endorphins that make us healthy and the like. You know what? I believe them. Clichés or not, I'm buying it. I have a very funny family. We love to laugh and tease. We love to make merry just because we can. Somehow it seems to unite us and prepare us. We know our limits, though, most of the time. If perchance someone crosses the threshold and offends the other we 'fess up and it is soon rectified.

As you can see by the stunning photography above, my 6'3" baby who is about to become a father this year, has a sense of humour just like his momma! There were times in his teenage years that I had to temper his teasing and put a bit of a reign on his wry sense of humour. But he has turned out to be quite a character and can be counted on to be the life of the party. The nice thing is, though, Trev can be philosophical, too and having a serious conversation with him can be just as refreshing as seeing him sitting in a high chair!

I'm glad God blessed me with the ability to laugh and a family to laugh with. Over this past year with all this cancer nonsense, laughter has been like good medicine. On more than one occasion it has brought me out of the pit of self-pity. Laughing with family and friends has made the journey more jovial and bearable. It has also allowed others to feel safe and comfortable talking personally with me, I think. Don't misconstrue...I have had dark moments. Tearful times. Moments of despair. But I am thankful that God has given me lots of teeth to show off and laughing has been a good release for me.

This is a bit of a secret right now but I do have an idea for another book once I've got my other ones settled into a potential home. I'm thinking of calling it "Cancer - No Laughing Matter...But it Helps!" I woke in the wee hours of the morning, once during my nasty chemo days and that title came to my head. I scribbled it down and it has been niggling at my brain ever since. Hmmm...

Laughter is a good tonic. God said so. “A cheerful heart does good like medicine...” Proverbs 17:22 TLB