SO I HAVE FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT! I need a niche‘!!!!!
After listening to my fellow blogger read to me over the phone about the ways to have a more active response blog via WORDPRESS info, I realized my dilemma as she was reading aloud. I need a niche’……so elementary my dear Watson! If I only had a niche’ I would be noticed…..if I only had a niche’ I would be possibly FRESH PRESSED! Hmmmm is that it? Who the heck knows?
I thought I had a niche’…quippie, funny slightly sarcastic banter back and forth with myself and the great internet world for which seems not to be a niche’. What in the world could be better…. a play on words …preacherswifeintheknow! This is an oxymoron actually. As a preachers wife I am usually the last to know. But, I attempt to presume I know a lot of things and those things I think I know are probably what keeps me from all the readers.
All I know is that I am only able to write about what I know and live….that’s how I roll! Maybe this isn’t the best way but It is my way, so just like the great crooner, Frank Sinatra, I do it my way!
Usually the words…may day are screamed from the top of the lungs of a radio operator on a spiraling to the earth jet plane or an underwater submarine that is being attacked, or at least that’s what I attribute it to. This is a hold over from all those times my daddy would watch old black and white movies about war. As bad as I hated those movies, I loved him at home. Since he was always working either at his job or on our farm, something was always having to be fixed; he was rarely in doors just watching TV.
May Day! was a distress signal…a call for help…but you knew it wouldn’t end well. It would always be such a stressful call for this poor guy who knew the end was near. Today I see it as a sign of summer, the beginning of the end of the school year, the end of my last child’s Freshman year.
How did this happen? He was just born wasn’t he? Our precious little family mascot, so to speak. He was the love of all our lives. When he was born he was nine years after the last one…..a definite caboose! Now we are enduring the end of course tests then final exams. This will be a busy month for him. May is the transition month.
This is the slow swing into the Summer. I will never forget the old saying….March winds a’ blowin’, April Showers bring May flowers! Someday when I too have succumb to great memory loss…(who am I kidding, I am already there!!) I will forever remember that saying. It is like the “It’s a Small World after all” song at Walt Disney World. Once you hear it…it is there for life.
This transition month is the safe time to plant flowers…usually no more harsh weather although, who knows these days. I love May Day! It is a day of freedom. Since I HATE, (yes I said HATE….in ALL CAPS!) Winter, the worst possible time of year, I am thrilled when we get to May Day! The first day of May…ahhhh! What a perfect day. Sunshine and green grass …..before the Sun has scorched away all the pretty vegetation. I know it will happen but, even though it is hot I still like it better than cold cruel winter.
So for this one day in May I will shout to the top of my lungs like a desperate radio operator about to perish....MAY DAY! MAY DAY! What a wonderful time of year! What is to some a sound of pure terror…..to me is is a call to enjoy! Can’t beat that!
Today I found myself amazed once again by the ability of my Mom in the area of flower growing. My whole life she has had a green thumb. In reality I think she has green all the way to her elbows! She IS the flower whisperer!
I have to admit I have always been jealous of her for this one, it appears she doesn’t even try….not even the look of wonder on her face! Will they grow?….will each one of those seeds actually bloom? Never a question in her mind……HOW DOES SHE DO IT?!!!!!
So annoying! I have killed more plants than she has grown….yet I keep on trying, every year, over and over. To see only a few of them actually survive. I think one clue is patience….which pretty much explains it. This is the missing gene in me and the same reason I can not keep from burning cookies and bread in the oven. I walk away, get bored. My children are the ones who bake cookies, they don’t even want me to try!
Working in her flowers is like my Mom’s peace, she loves her time in her yard and proof is in the puddin’ so to speak. She can simply drop a few seeds in the ground and poof! Beautiful every time versus ME! Just like I watch her make chicken and dumplins’, a southern staple, looks easy enough but, NO I am unable to do it! She has the touch!
She doesn’t cook much anymore, gone are the days of homemade chocolate pies, dumplings and biscuits. But she still has her gardening. Though her mind has bailed on her, the very thoughts are fleeting as soon as she thinks them but there she is pulling weeds and planting Zenias, marigolds and rose bushes that will be pretty as a picture every time.
This gives her joy and that is a good thing, that flower whisperer Momma of mine!
While shopping the other day at my local grocery……that cute little corner market with the select fruits and vegetables and baskets of Daisies out front….,me in my high heels and pearls…strolling down the aisles …white gloves and perfectly coiffed hair………oops sorry, I fell into a dream sequence there! Back to real life! Anyways back to the point… With my worst jeans on and the chewed on the toe ( by our crazy dawg!)clogs that I can’t bear to give up……. I spied a new batch of strawberries. After a closer look I saw that they were from Florida which I have it on great reference that they are the best. It took me immediately to one of my bazillion phone conversations with my friend and sister, Ramona and her emphatic argument that only the strawberries from Florida are even worth eating…… “all the others from California are so pithy!” and after my questioning wether or not “pithy” was even a real word?….I finally gave in to her strong belief that they were the best. Her opinions on such random things were always confronted by me ….who would oppose her only to enjoy the debate, a daily conquest for one of us which became common for two such good friends…the volley back and forth was how we rolled…strong women as we both are, never allowing each other to win gracefully, but with total denial of the others wisdom, sparing was a way of life. Life that made for a strong bond and one that is sorely missed by me, left behind without friend or foe to banter with. Funny how that is, living without someone who has been such a part of ones life. It is a mystery….life as well as death, and I can
only make peace with it because of my strong faith in my God. Everything that lived will eventually die, that’s the reason we have to make use of the time we have….say the words we are too prideful to say, hug and be hugged, bankrupt our hearts on the things that matter, have no regrets of a life yet lived and only eat the good berries, anything else is just pithy!
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011
HERO How do you measure the life of a man?
Is it by the great wealth that he managed to accumulate or the land or homes or vehicles?
Is it by his position in business or his standing in the community?
The only way any man can be measured is by the fruit of his labor, the life he has lived on this earth and the lives that were changed by his love and the only real definition of success is how he was loved. This world is filled with complaints and negative thoughts that ride on the back of negative people. You can’t throw a rock without hitting someone who is complaining about something, no matter how trivial, we continue to be bothered and letting anyone who may be in our path know of our great plight in life.
I must admit I am the first whiner that I can think of. Honestly, I get sick of my own self, some days. I spend precious moments attempting to figure out why the world seems to pick on little old me! Good grief! Get over it! Come to find out, as I have grown very much older and wiser (well, the jury is still out on that one) It’s not all about me….as hard to believe as that is, I am not the center of the universe. How’d that happen? I never got the memo….was there a meeting, was there a quorum?
Did we vote? Yep they voted and I lost…..shocking how that happens.
Well actually not so much, I humbly say I have always known it wasn’t all about me. I am thankful I wasn’t given that burden to carry by my parents. But I know now that it is all about one person, that was on this earth for only thirty three short years, who gave it all so that we might have life everlasting and I have watched that same sacrifice and humility play out in the life of a man who without any fan fair or parade, lived everyday like it was his last. I have never known anyone that lived so completely complain free, even when he struggled for every breath in his last days on this earth. He would always have a smile and a kind word for anyone he met. He encouraged every person he knew and on those few occasions when I dared to be a complainer in front of him, he would say…..”ahh Rosa (he called me that from the first time I met him!)the Lord will help you, just stay close to him. Augh!
Why did he always have to hit me with that one, seriously!! does it always go back to that? can I not have five minutes of feeling sorry for myself. Does he even remember that I am married to his son and gave him four( I outta get the prize) grandkids and am a preachers wife and and…and….NOPE!
Stopped in my tracks with the harsh reality of Jesus suffering an awful punishment just so I can stand here and whine about, in my overly dramatic fashion, my bad day. This man who never complains about anything…ever… stands there and basically strips me down to myself and reminds me …it’s not the end of the world.
This guy I speak of is probably the sweetest and kindest gentleman anyone who reads this would ever know. Thirty years ago, I met a boy who had a father who from the first time I met him, made me one of his own. Without any question or judgement or hesitation, he welcomed me into his family and gave me a name. I was a part of him and not one time did I ever NOT feel accepted by him. I was never an “in-law”, I was a daughter and isn’t that just like Jesus.
This man is Curtis Fritts and he breathed his last breath holding the hand of his beloved wife and his one and only grand daughter, Bethany….his son and my only precious daughter. I know she will never forget the honor of being there with him, she saw the best man in this world enter into his reward for a life lived fully and without any reservation for where he was going.
As he took that last breath, he left behind all the pain of this world….not that we ever heard him complain about it!
Thank you Dad for loving us all. There is your measuring stick…..they will know HIM by our great love. Amen!
Posted by Rosemary Mcknight Fritts at 2:38 AM
Last night my beautiful husband made me a fire in the fireplace.
Made meaning..lighting the pilot light in our gas logs, though he would have made the “real” kind if we had one…sort of a pyromaniac that one. He loves to build a fire and watch it burn. Must be a family trait!
Sweet one as he is, he noticed that I was all bound up under a blanket while watching and old movie..(“Love Affair“-made before “An Affair To Remember“-Charles Boyerand Irene Dunne..a must see!) and offered to warm me up with a fire and I happily said yes.
An Affair to Remember (Photo credit: saturdave)
It was a sweet gesture for which I will never forget to notice and one that gave me a well needed comfort here at thebeginning of what will surely be many cold nights.
Have I ever stated publicly how much I HATE COLD WEATHER! Let’s just be clear on that. It is so cold…not fair, we live in Tennessee not Michigan!……. Okay, finished with my rant!…. As I sat there looking at the fire even more than the movie, I pondered about the times that I remember… one of our own who LOVED her fireplace. It is an image I will always have. I would tell her…..”you realize it is expensive to run that gas log fireplace……you should only run it when you have a special night of company or Christmas! “And her reply…… “HUSH!….By the way, since when did I become so frugal”…… (busted!) and I would just laugh and we would go on yammering about everyday things.
It’s those everyday things that I miss the most…we could get on a soap box better and faster than anyone..and we were always right…its the people who were wrong!(Sybil movie a.k.a. Sally Field, reference) Way back when, before her swanky, flip a switch fireplace, I remember her standing sprawled out, both legs wide across the grate in the floor of the hallway at her old house, when they had the kind of furnace thingy in the basement. She would stand there getting warm and toastyfor what
Sybil (1976 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
seemed like forever.
Depending on where you were..in the living room or kitchen, she would flip around and carry on a conversation……no big deal! This was when our babies were small and eventually one of them would step on the grate…..have crisscrosses on their feet but, it would teach the others to stay away. Survival in the kid world I guess. But anyways, as I sat and watched the fire burn I realized how short life is and watching a fire burn IS a fun thing to do, I don’t know why but it is. Even more, it is the cozy factor which is what I think she liked the most. She would say that she runs her fireplace more than the heat and I would guess that was true and good for her! I am glad she did and every time I foolishly use mine I will do it in honor of my dear sister (in law)….she is one of our own who left us way too soon and it is even as I write this, painful to talk about.
No time have I known anyone who believed so fully that she would survive this awful disease and it turns out she was right. She did survive it just not in the way we wanted her too. I am thankful no none has said within my hearing that God needed one of his angels back or another totally non scriptural or even more STUPID thing people who don’t know what to say have said. I am thankful for that…its the small things, ya know. But the truth is God is the only one who knows the reasons why..we can question all we want but still HE knows and it is not required for us to be informed. His grace is sufficient for us all and I put all my faith in Him and His wisdom.
She is One Of Our Own…Our age, Our family, Our friend, Our aunt, Our daughter and Sister; GiGi, Mom and Wife. It hits hard when it is that close and after twenty plus years of ministry with my husband I still know that the words are not there. I had always felt compassion to people in this situation but this time it is one of MY OWN!
There are no words that satisfy the hunger for answers, the longing for her back just to text or talk, endlessly about nothing and about everything….and the days in front of the fire..warming her toes…wasting all that expensive gas!….. OH..go ahead and waste it…it’s not a waste, silly me. Every time I look at my fire at my house it will be a warm remembrance of a time that was fleeting and a friend that was my best.
Take the time….linger by the fire…what is all the fuss about…not a darn thing we can do about any of it and even that gives me Hope…He has it all under control…Amen!
As I settle in to an evening of watching my Christmas tree twinkle, I can’t help but think back to the days as a little girl. As with most children, the excitement that comes with putting up a tree each year is the biggest day of the season…well, the first in a row of biggest days, actually. Not to diminish the start of Christmas vacation from school and the biggest day, Christmas morning to say the least!
That day was special as my dad or brother would go and cut down a big old cedar tree on the farm that we lived. None of those big city trees for us, nope…no way. And boy was I glad…that tree smelled so good, better than the others, literally fresh-cut! The tree was always huge, perfect and ours. My mamma had these beautiful decorations that she got from Germany when my family lived there during the Korean War.
My daddy was in the Army and she went there to live with him. Bless her heart, she traveled on an Army transport airplane with two young children in tow. She recently told me about this trip, (these days she tells me a lot of stories from way back when, she remembers those better than what has happened today, bless her heart) when she went far away from home with these little ones all alone on a big “non luxury” plane that took her to my daddy, which made it all worth it. This was back when they were happy and even had a third child in Germany. Those were the best of times. I can only imagine the life she had there. Those decorations were beautiful glass balls and I had always loved what they stood for, beauty and adventure and a life that seemed so far away from what is was now.
We also had the huge light bulbs all strung up in the primary and secondary colors, stark and bright! Cedar trees aren’t exactly known for their sturdy branches so needless to say it was an effort in fortitude to get those decorations to stay and not droop. We also had the bubble lites which were my favorite…always were a mystery! The tinsel was silver and like aluminum foil all crinkled up on a string and the finishing touch was icicles. At different years(when we were older and could do it ourselves) we would make ribbon chains for garland too and had painted wooden ornaments. Our trees were the prettiest of any ones….no ones ever could compare, I am pretty much a snob about that, unashamed so. I have no apologies to give because rarely do I profess so much surety about something about me.
Even now as an adult, I will tell you if you ask me that I have the prettiest tree of anyone. A few things I know for sure and this is one of them, even though I no longer have a cedar tree, I am a city girl now and loving that fact. My sweetart husband did cut me one for our first christmas together…how cute was that? The second thing I know for sure, that man loves me, after that it is stuff like I know all four of my babies think the world of me, not bragging on me but them, they all have a tender heart and especially toward their mamma ( and dad!( I say they love me more..ha!))but We never doubt that one and I know I make the best potato salad….
bar none!!!
Do I presume too much? I think not! This time of year brings out the brag in me and that is because I have so much to brag about…My GOD is so good to me….He has given me more than I could have ever asked for so I am only telling of HIS great love. This is my testimony of him. I am pretty sure he likes my Christmas trees the best too!
obably what keeps me from all the readers.
preacherswifeintheknow 