Friday, October 22, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Collaboration!: Joy D'Ashby speaks: Piles and Piles of Suitcases
Collaboration!: Joy D'Ashby speaks: Piles and Piles of Suitcases: "Oh my! How did Sadie get so many? The pile is so high being overwhelmed is the best she can do. 'Where do I start'? 'Which one do I open fi..."
Joy D'Ashby speaks: Piles and Piles of Suitcases
Oh my! How did Sadie get so many? The pile is so high being overwhelmed is the best she can do. "Where do I start"? "Which one do I open first"?
Sadie approaches the pile; the closer she gets the more emotional she becomes. "There is so much pain mixed with so much joy" she exclaims. A few cases are selected and set aside. Time to take a deep breath and see what's inside the few she has chosen.
Memories, life experiences! This is all they are. Why be so afraid? Why be so angry? God is here, taking this journey and at times carrying all the hurt and pain.
Bread sacks! These weren't just any bread sacks, they were boots to keep Sadie and her brother and sisters feet dry. Rubber bands too, to hold them up. Sadie wrinkles her forehead. The memories are getting jumbled up as far as the time frame is concerned. She just remembers the house. Big, with a basement. Empty liquor bottles, no food and hand me downs.
This suitcase seems like nothing more than a trash memory when a Bible is uncovered. Sadie grins. her brother pretended to be a preacher man. Cardboard pulpit, box for an altar, song service, and even an altar call. Sadie's heart is tender to the day she is thinking about. Her brother at 10 or 11 years old preached a pretty good sermon and Sadie remembers praying to the cardboard alter and crying out to God to save her parents. They needed a Savior so badly.
Sadie would cry many more tears for her loved ones to find salvation, both family and her husband who would choose to go a different path leaving her alone. Sadie closes the suitcase. She's done for now. Her reflection pointed out to her she manages to always find herself in relationships with people like her parents, somewhat self serving and unavailable to her when she really would need them. She is angry for not making better choices.
Sadie is so grateful for the Bible in the case. It was a good find. A good memory since her brother became a full time pastor. She is intrigued by the only memories that seem to brighten her thoughts are directly connected to God and church.
Tomorrow is another day. Another suitcase will be opened and she will face the fears of this on head on. Sade behaves as if she knows the contents and it doesn't look like she's too excited to open it.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Collaboration!: Perspective!
Collaboration!: Perspective!: "Maybe we shouldn't complain so much! When we say God Bless America....HE DOES!!"
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Collaboration!: Joy D'Ashby speaks: Fragments
Collaboration!: Joy D'Ashby speaks: Fragments: "This suitcase is small. The contents are minimal at best. A pair of shoes, shiny and black, baking soda and water for the first bee sting, p..."
Joy D'Ashby speaks: Fragments
This suitcase is small. The contents are minimal at best. A pair of shoes, shiny and black, baking soda and water for the first bee sting, ping pong paddles, huckleberries and a handkerchief.
Sadie wrinkles her forehead trying to connect with the articles in the little case. They seem so random yet as she reflects, she expresses pain and some torment.
Remembering a lot of alcohol beside her father and her mother's constant whining/badgering tone, suddenly the pain is relived; the violence toward her mother begins with a lot of yelling, the cat gets kicked across the room and then the hitting starts.
Why won't her mother just drop the subject? HE'S DRUNK for Pete's sake! Off to the woods where a little man made slide is tucked away in the trees. Sadie slides, eating huckleberries and waiting for the storm inside the house to end. The storm didn't end, it wouldn't until she left home.
The handkerchief, aaaahhhhhh, soft and clean, would dab the tears from Sadies face. Her face and bottom are hot. Tears and welts. Mom wouldn't stop and Sadie felt the need to protect her mother. It backfired and the belt came out. This is the suitcase where Sadie was labeled a rebel, smartalek, and a brat.
The labels were wrong! Many years and God's tremendous grace and mercy would bring that to light one day while taking a moral inventory of her life.
Sadie wrinkles her forehead trying to connect with the articles in the little case. They seem so random yet as she reflects, she expresses pain and some torment.
Remembering a lot of alcohol beside her father and her mother's constant whining/badgering tone, suddenly the pain is relived; the violence toward her mother begins with a lot of yelling, the cat gets kicked across the room and then the hitting starts.
Why won't her mother just drop the subject? HE'S DRUNK for Pete's sake! Off to the woods where a little man made slide is tucked away in the trees. Sadie slides, eating huckleberries and waiting for the storm inside the house to end. The storm didn't end, it wouldn't until she left home.
The handkerchief, aaaahhhhhh, soft and clean, would dab the tears from Sadies face. Her face and bottom are hot. Tears and welts. Mom wouldn't stop and Sadie felt the need to protect her mother. It backfired and the belt came out. This is the suitcase where Sadie was labeled a rebel, smartalek, and a brat.
The labels were wrong! Many years and God's tremendous grace and mercy would bring that to light one day while taking a moral inventory of her life.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Collaboration!: Family Value!!!
Collaboration!: Family Value!!!: "This week has been quite a lesson for me. Actually, numerous lessons I will forever be grateful for, for they have imparted wisdom, revel..."
Family Value!!!
This week has been quite a lesson for me. Actually, numerous lessons I will forever be grateful for, for they have imparted wisdom, revelation and healing for myself and my family.
Surrounded by family and numerous friends, his services left me with a new perspective on my day to day life. Roger's view of life and what you make it bolstered my strength, made me think harder about the value of family and the blessings it carries!
Precious and Priceless! You can never give or receive too many hugs! There are never enough pictures! I love you's aren't said enough! Play more! Sing together! Pray together, forgive each other, and Laugh, Laugh, Laugh together!
These are the gems family offers! Gems we all too often only recognize when our loved one's enter in to their eternity, and although we, I, know it's a better place; it doesn't make it hurt any less or erase the regret.
I'm sad that I missed so many years with them. Hard lesson learned but moving forward embracing family. They truly are my best friends. I love you guys very much. I am so thankful for all of them.
♥ <>< ♥ ><> ♥
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Bittersweet Reunions!
We begin this journey in our lives backwards it seems.
Here we are looking back and trying to collect our memories, discovering our own history in the quest for who we are.
The timeline is set, revealing chapters and enlightenments of who we are or were. We depend on them to direct us to where we are going but sometimes fail to realize the experiences are meant to guide us as to where NOT to go.
I am looking forward to this journey because I am on it with my Savior Jesus Christ. I am never alone and am eternally thankful!!!
Joy and I are happy to have you join us. Her discovery can be ours as well.
Prayerfully we step out and move forward to grow in grace!
Here we are looking back and trying to collect our memories, discovering our own history in the quest for who we are.
The timeline is set, revealing chapters and enlightenments of who we are or were. We depend on them to direct us to where we are going but sometimes fail to realize the experiences are meant to guide us as to where NOT to go.
I am looking forward to this journey because I am on it with my Savior Jesus Christ. I am never alone and am eternally thankful!!!
Joy and I are happy to have you join us. Her discovery can be ours as well.
Prayerfully we step out and move forward to grow in grace!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Joy D'Ashby speaks: Suitcase
She looks back over the years and sees suitcases instead of chapters in her life.
Each suitcase is unique in its own way. Some are shiny and new while others are battered, dirty, or just falling apart at the seams.
Inside each are stories, like a time capsule; some seeming unbelievable and incredible. True stories, amazing stories, peeling away the layers of life and getting to the very center of who she is, the core of her being.
Her name is Sadie and she fears some of the suitcases. They hold dark secrets and painful memories yet inside the very same suitcase are some wonderful events. Oh why do they have to be in the same one?
Sadie is examining the suitcases surrounding her. She wonders how she accumulated so many and can't seem to remember where they all came from but the pile is high and far-reaching. She moves them around looking at the cases and sees a particular case. It is the ugliest one in the entire collection. This one was acquired only a few years ago and it has been filling up for about 15 years. This is the biggest and ugliest suitcase she has ever seen. Sadie won't open it; not yet anyhow. The others came first and her journey has to begin with a small little suitcase that arrived along with Sadie in the early 60's.
And so it begins.
Each suitcase is unique in its own way. Some are shiny and new while others are battered, dirty, or just falling apart at the seams.
Inside each are stories, like a time capsule; some seeming unbelievable and incredible. True stories, amazing stories, peeling away the layers of life and getting to the very center of who she is, the core of her being.
Her name is Sadie and she fears some of the suitcases. They hold dark secrets and painful memories yet inside the very same suitcase are some wonderful events. Oh why do they have to be in the same one?
Sadie is examining the suitcases surrounding her. She wonders how she accumulated so many and can't seem to remember where they all came from but the pile is high and far-reaching. She moves them around looking at the cases and sees a particular case. It is the ugliest one in the entire collection. This one was acquired only a few years ago and it has been filling up for about 15 years. This is the biggest and ugliest suitcase she has ever seen. Sadie won't open it; not yet anyhow. The others came first and her journey has to begin with a small little suitcase that arrived along with Sadie in the early 60's.
And so it begins.
Joy D'Ashby speaks: Shiny New Suitcase!
Such a pretty suitcase! So shiny, brand new, untouched.
Everyone wants to carry it around. It's so pretty it makes them feel elated and joyful. It seems to give back good things. Inside is a doll-like toy, soft and fluffy with a hard plastic face. Somehow it is comforting but Sadie can't remember why.
Sadie remembers being told how inquisitive and stubborn she was. Of course Sadie is a very strong woman today and isn't surprised by the observation. Fearing very little she see pictures of herself on top of a car with absolute confidence and a touch of excitement.
This suitcase felt good to open. Soft, warm, loving memories spill out as she searches through the pockets. Sadie breathes the smell in as deeply as she can. Somehow, somewhere, the smell went away forever!
Everyone wants to carry it around. It's so pretty it makes them feel elated and joyful. It seems to give back good things. Inside is a doll-like toy, soft and fluffy with a hard plastic face. Somehow it is comforting but Sadie can't remember why.
Sadie remembers being told how inquisitive and stubborn she was. Of course Sadie is a very strong woman today and isn't surprised by the observation. Fearing very little she see pictures of herself on top of a car with absolute confidence and a touch of excitement.
This suitcase felt good to open. Soft, warm, loving memories spill out as she searches through the pockets. Sadie breathes the smell in as deeply as she can. Somehow, somewhere, the smell went away forever!
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