Thought For Today — 02-28-10

“When an hour of time is wasted, the value of life has not been honored.”

Thought For Today — 02-27-10

“Having the guts to succeed is more important than the success.”

Thought For Today — 02-26-10

“When you say you can’t, you never will.”

Thought For Today — 02-25-10

“Behave as the person you want to be.”

Thought For Today — 02-24-10

“Acknowledge your purpose and the value of what you do.”

Thought For Today — 02-23-10

“Have high expectations. It is what you will become.”

Thought For Today 02-22-10

“Nurture yourself. Others in your life will benefit.”

Hope Made by Noble Hands and a Heart of Gold

When I attended a convention out of state last year, I remember longing for hope. With a few spare minutes between workshops, I managed a ten minute stroll through the university bookstore.

In a cozy corner of the bookstore, my eyes were pleasantly surprised when I saw two leather wing back chairs facing an old fashioned wooden cupboard and an oval braided rug on the floor. A spiral staircase to my left led to the second floor.

When I sat in one of the leather wing back chairs, it seemed as if I was in my own cozy home, which was not within driving distance.

Enjoying that abbreviated moment, my eyes focused on a small basket positioned on the floor at the base of the staircase. Filled with beautiful colors of dish cloths made of soft yarn and tied with ribbon, the price tag caught my attention.

“Hope Made,” was the name of the item with the purchase price listed at the bottom portion of the tag. The name is what I remember rather than the price. This was different than all the other items I had seen on display in the bookstore.

Reaching to touch them, I confess I was curious. Immediately walking toward the cash register I felt compelled to ask about the story of an unlikely place for dish cloths to be available for sale in a college bookstore.

Graciously answering my questions, the manager told the story. Proceeds from sales of the dish cloths would support the efforts of a co-worker to adopt an orphaned baby. An anonymous benefactor had hand woven yarn into dish cloths and donated them for sale to support the financial aspect of the adoption.

Holding the dish cloths in my hands, it felt as if I held a moment of heaven. Soft and comforting, it seemed like my Aunt Bea was looking over my shoulders with a bright, shining smile on her face. Everything my Aunt Bea did was “Hope Made.”

An ordinary item such as a set of dish cloths mixed together in my mind with memories of my own family. As I stood in the checkout line of the bookstore, alligator shaped tears poured down my face.

Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” My purchase of the handmade dish cloths was a minimal contribution, however, it would count in the mission to help another family that I may never meet.

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Angela Scott is an author who diligently works to encourage and inspire you, and those with whom you live and work to continually find hope.

“Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.”

All writings here are copyrighted by Angela Scott. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

Listening With My Eyes – Watching an Elephant Stand Beside the Still Water

After attending an early morning church service, we found ourselves walking in the midst of an afternoon so beautiful, it almost took my breath away.

Basking in the warm sunshine beneath the clear blue sky, something told me it was too early in February for such a warm day in the middle of winter. I knew this was a moment of serendipity.

It was a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon in February last year when we visited the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. With my digital camera in hand, I plotted my strategy to photograph the statuesque giraffes. Much to my surprise, the elephants captured my undivided attention.

Two elephants began walking toward us. One elephant walked beside the water and began drinking. The other elephant walked alongside the border of trees farther away from us but still within clear sight.

Right before my eyes, the elephant positioned himself parallel with the water as he drank. It was almost as if he saw his reflection in the water. It was surreal because the stillness of the water revealed a mirror image of the elephant.

Stepping back from the small crowd, I positioned my digital camera to capture the entire reflection of the elephant as it stood beside the still water. Professional photographers near me were busy snapping photographs; however, I am certain I received a gift the others may have overlooked.

On our way home, we stopped by the neighborhood photo kiosk to process a few prints because I wanted to see if the moment of serendipity in my memory would accurately reflect what I had seen.

Details of the photograph temporarily confused me because it was difficult to discern if I was holding the photograph right side up or down. The reflection was flawless. A temporary moment captured in the photograph gave me a first hand taste of the visual spice of life.

Even though I took the photograph, I could hardly believe what I saw. It is almost as if I had been listening with my eyes. Reeling in the the thrill of holding such a beautiful scene, I felt compelled to share the photograph.

The third time I shared the photograph of the elephant, it was with a new friend I met while attending a workshop for the workplace. She said, “You have to get this photograph in the hands of someone at the zoo.” It sounded like a great idea.

With a smile on her face, my new friend said she had met a fellow from the zoo just one day prior to our meeting. They had met at the same facility where the workshop was held. He had given her an extra business card, which she gave to me. “Call him,” she said.

My new friend at the North Carolina Zoological Society asked if I would donate a framed print of the elephant to their annual auction, which was quite an honor for me, an amateur photographer.

The photograph of the elephant was originally framed so the memory could be given away; however, later on I decided to have a gallery wrap, a 16″ x 20,” made for my own enjoyment. Released from the frame, the elephant looked free as he stood in peace by the still water, a visual buffet for the eyes.

A few weeks ago I heard someone say, “All elephants are gray but not all gray things are elephants.” The experts were right. A picture is worth a thousand words.

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Angela Scott is an author who diligently works to encourage and inspire you, and those with whom you live and work to continually find hope.

“Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.”

All writings here are copyrighted by Angela Scott. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

A Dough Story – Mom Bakes Bread in Snowstorm

Meteorologists predicted a lot of snow for our area this weekend and the first thing my family asked me related to bread, not money. “Do you have all the ingredients to make Aunt Bea’s pocketbook yeast rolls?” My answer, of course, was yes.

Taking care of errands on Friday, I confess I stopped by the grocery store to buy a roast to cook in the crock pot. There was no need for me to rush and buy milk and bread because I have learned to be prepared for most unexpected emergencies. There is a verse in Proverbs which says, “Wisdom is the tree of life to those who find it, and happy are those who embrace it.”

Among the staples I keep in my pantry are cans of Pet Milk, water, batteries, vegetables, rice, flour, sugar, and Fleishmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast.

After I walked in the kitchen, I turned the temperature on the crock pot to high and gingerly placed the eye of round roast in the Corning Ware dish, covered it with dry onion soup mix and water.

Checking the time on my wristwatch, I knew there was ample time to refuel my daughter’s car before picking her up from work as well as finish reading a book, “The Shack” a friend had recently shared with me.

We drove from cloudy skies to skies filled with millions of snowflakes in a matter of ten minutes. It looked like a cloud of light burst in front of us. Although our intentions were not to travel into a storm, there was nothing we could do to avoid it.

As we pulled into the garage on Friday evening, I was thankful to know that while dinner was cooking there was enough time to mix up a batch of Aunt Bea’s pocketbook yeast rolls.

It is Sunday morning now and the snowy ice mixture was so bright that it woke me up. My daughter asked if it was okay to warm up the leftover yeast rolls for breakfast today rather than eating cereal. It sounded like a good idea because it freed up a block of time for me to accomplish another task.

Our kitchen smelled like a bakery this morning after only a few minutes. When we ate our breakfast of yeast rolls, honey, and hot tea, everyone was satisfied and returned to their schedules. Although it was only a half hour we spent together, I felt richer for the experience because I was able to share a portion of my heart through fond memories of my Aunt Bea.

I have been asked why I do not bake the bread more often, which gave me reason to pause and think. As a matter of fact, the last time I remember baking these yeast rolls was on December 18 last year when snowy weather kept us together.

I realized there were three questions to be answered in order for me to commit to the time required for the bread baking process.

1) Who will be eating the bread?
2) What is the occasion for the bread?
3) When will the bread need to be ready for consumption?

Even though we drove into a storm, it turned out to be a good thing. We have spent more time together as a family than our regular schedules permit. It has been inconvenient in several aspects but this is one weekend which gifted me with a much needed respite.

A mixture of inconvenience, laughter, laundry, yeast rolls and family tell the whole dough story.

Angela Scott is an author who diligently works to encourage and inspire you, and those with whom you live and work to continually find hope. Visit my website to get your own copy of Aunt Bea’s pocketbook yeast rolls and share your love with others.

“Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.”

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All writings here are copyrighted by Angela Scott. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.