The Petal Shower and The Cardinal

It is so easy to ignore the moments of wonder. And equally easy to stop, just stop, what you are doing and revel in them.

It was dusk - that in between time. The drive from work is short and as familiar as an old shoe.
As I rounded the curve toward town a long stretch of shoulder was polka dotted with snowy white petals. It was both a blanket covering the dull gray concrete of the old country road and an intricate pattern of individual petals each one holding it's place in the design of blossoms that had fallen in the recent rain. I glanced to the right as I drove on.

Church had just ended. I was backing out of the parsonage driveway when the flash of red streaked across my line of vision. A quick glance across the lawn to see a robin sitting fat and happy in the freshly mowed green grass. No, not bright enough. And then, the cardinal swooped down to graze beside Miss Redbreast. I put the old Volvo wagon in park and cut the engine.

The brilliance of the ruby red bird flitting about made my heart quicken. He darted in and out of site, dashing up and diving down. My heart beat faster still but the robin seemed unimpressed with the dance. I waited until the display ended and the bird had flown off into the woods leaving the serene robin behind before turning the key on again.

I wondered as I drove away, my heart filled with gratitude for the beauty of that moment, - do robins give thanks for such wonderment?

THE QUEST HOUSE

The Quest House came to be from a dream and a typo. The Lord uses what He must to send the message:) My most treasured gift is the gift of hospitality and I have long been a retreat-ant at various retreat facilities. I can see my self greeting the walking wounded treating them to a sanctuary filled with homemade bread, flowers and a place to heal. And Laugh. Does healing happen without laughter? Perhaps, but it must be very slow. I shared this dream with my writing coach, mary anne radmacher, and in the missive typed " my dream is to own a "Quest house". And so it has come to be. The Quest House currently houses it's root stock in a small office in Red Hook NY that is filled with whimsy and vision, a slow computer and orange curtains. And laughter. Someday there will be a guest house, a garden, a great room. But for now, follow along, share your dreams with me as we write, inspiring ourselves and others and follow our dreams.
In June I will be offering an opportunity to participate in a writing process called RADMACHER FOCUS PHRASE™.
The first session called Wear the WORD, will provide a new way to start your day with Scripture. Using a passage I provide, you will view each day through the lens of THE WORD. At days end you will write three paragraphs about what moments of grace or joy, what trials or tribulations were presented to you and how the "phrase", the Scripture passage, helped you experience them.
I will be posting more in the days ahead and will invite you to share your writing with me.
This process has changed my life allowing me to greet each day with intention. Setting the course instead of riding the wave of work and play without noticing the highs and lows, the ordinary moments of wonder.
Go to maryanneradmacher.net to see the work of my writing coach and partner in this course.
log on often to see the details of registration to start your summer with me and to begin a daily writing practice that will bring a new vision to your life.

Please think about signing up for this writing opportunity. Whether your goal is to establish or revitalize a daily writing practice, to establish or revitalize a daily Scripture reading practice or to establish or revitalize a way of sharing your long neglected gifts of the spirit, I hope you will join me in June for Wear the WORD.
joyfully, beverly kipp