Dear Dimple: Twisties

Dear Dimple Dilemma,

Where have all the twisties gone?  You know, those little three inch wire things covered with paper?  Whenever I am at the grocery store, bagging my fruits & vegetables, I reach for a twistie, but the container is empty!  So, I move on down the aisle to another roll of plastic bags to get a twistie, but there aren't any there either!  Then, when I am at home, toasting a piece of bread or two... I reach for the twistie that I just took off the loaf of bread... but, it's gone!  I can't find it anywhere!

So, tell me... What on earth happens to all the twisties?  Is it just me or are there "twistie thieves" out among us?

Sincerely,
Cindy Lou


Dear Cindy Lou,

Rest assured, dear, that you are not the only one that has twistie troubles.  Why, I, too, suffer with the same stressful situation.  However, there have been a few times that I hit the jackpot at the grocery store and happened upon full cups of white, or yellow, or black, or green or even gold twisties.  When that happens, it is time to take action.

Do as I do... go to the store early in the day.  Your chances of finding a full cup are greater in the morning; Monday morning, Tuesday morning, Wednesday... as many days as it takes to find them.   When you do finally see the prized trophies, grab all you can, and cram them into your purse.  Did I mention you should take your biggest purse with you?  Or, if that bothers your conscious, you can wrap not just one twistie, but several twisties around your filled produce bag.  If you use a dozen twisties, you can turn them into a pretty little flower.  :)


Now, for your situation at home, gremlins or ghosts take the twistie as soon as you take your eyes & hands off of it.  They, too, suffer with a shortage of twisties.  So, for Pete's sake... smarten up and don't ever turn loose of your twistie!   That's the golden rule of the kitchen.... twisties are like gold in your pocket!  But, if that fails, and you just can't keep track of that one twistie, try duct tape.  It now comes in a rainbow of colors, and you can even color coordinate with your kitchen!

And finally, if none of the above suggestions work for you, come on over to my house.  I have outsmarted the conniving, little twistie thieves, and  I just happen to have some white ones, some yellow ones, some black ones, some green ones and even some gold ones.... Yep... I have a cupboard full!

Lovingly,
Dimple Dilemma


@Copyright 2011, Cindy Lou Hodges All Rights Reserved.

The Prayer Meeting

He stared at her as if he could "eat her up", and they were in church!  Scandalous, I tell you... but, oh what a nice compliment!  She hadn't felt that special in a long, long time, and there was something in his eyes that made her long to look back at him... made her long to link gazes.  But, she didn't dare.

The prayer meeting crowd was smaller than usual, probably due to the summer heat and summer vacations, but those attending were somehow refreshed just by gathering together.  High numbers of people aren't required for the Spirit of God's presence:  humble hearts are.

She had never seen him before at church, so "he must be a visitor", she thought.  Most likely he was a relative of Matthew's, since they were sitting together.  He could even be Matthew's father.  They did resemble each other, and the age difference was fitting.  But, his stare made her uneasy.

She wondered if he thought he knew her.  She wondered if she had met him once before, but had somehow forgotten their friendship;  no, relationship... for this stare was more than just a glance. Many questions raced through her mind before he spoke, but none as persistent as the question, "Why is he so focused on me?"  

When they were introduced, his intensity continued as he asked her name.  He smiled and repeated her name, twice:  frontwards & backwards... then he commented on her matching silver jewelry.  She agreed that everything was silver except her wedding ring.  Nervously she held up her left hand showing the gold band, while giggling to cover up her discomfort.  Why had she offered this information?  Obviously he was fishing and she fell for it. "What a nitwit", she thought, disappointed in herself, not that she was married, but that she had not recognized a come on.

Gaining her composure, she changed the direction of their conversation by asking questions about him.  He was indeed Matthew's dad, and the more he spoke, the more she liked him.  Handsome looking in his khaki's and "tucked in" shirt, there was something captivating about his manner.  He spoke eloquently of his current life, lovingly about his Italian heritage,  and passionately about his war history.  He was a World War II veteran, and proud of it, as he should be.  "Navy?"  she asked.  "Yes, how did you know?" 

Then...  they were interrupted.  Their conversation was over.  A member of the congregation greeted him and thanked him for coming, while someone pulled her aside chatting about nothing important and certainly nothing memorable.  Sadly, she turned away from him, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw him glancing back... at her.

She still thinks about him.  He had a certain way about him that made her feel special, and... well, important... just by paying attention to her.  "It isn't forbidden, is it," she wonders,  "to enjoy feeling special?"

His gaze, his body language, his intensity... oh, they were powerful.  Probably four to five minutes is all they had together, but compared to a lifetime, that is such a brief moment.  World wars, cultural differences, twenty-five years of age, and her marriage separated them, but somehow, at that time and place...none of that  mattered.  For that four to five minutes, that one Wednesday night, they belonged to each other... and it made for a very, very interesting prayer meeting.




@Copyright 2011, Cindy Lou Hodges All Rights Reserved.

Rain

Rain

Long awaited,

longed for

rain.

Heaven's teardrops that we prayed

not sooner, not harder,

not longer for...

long awaited,

longed for

rain.

--Cindy Lou Hodges

Our state of Texas is suffering from one of the worst droughts in history.  Finally, it rained today.

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow...!"

@Copyright 2011, Cindy Lou Hodges All Rights Reserved.

Pink Plastic Plates

"You begin to move mountains when you start carrying away small stones."

                                                  -  Doris A. Dillon, Randleman, North Carolina

What I call the "Pink" plate!

I think she was talking about my kitchen counter.  Have you seen my bar lately?  Of course not.  You can't possibly see it because of all the clutter that's on top of it!  Yesterday I saw it as my mountain.  Today I see it as... well, shoot.  It's still my mountain... and a darn, BIG one!

Others might view it as a dumpster:  some, a treasure chest... still others, a laundry basket.  I don't dare drop clean underwear on it, but single black socks get dropped there all the time, waiting for the missing mates.  Eye glasses are supposed to be there, but I can never find a pair that has both lenses still intact.  Receipts, recipes, coupons... you name it... it's all there.  Library books sit there so long that they have to be returned before they are opened, and silk floral arrangements sit there until they sprout roots.

I did make progress this morning, though.  Yesterday my mother asked me about the pile of plates on the bar, and it embarrassed me that my mother hinted at what I should do.  So, when she makes it into the kitchen today, she will see that I have dealt with the issue, one at least.

The stack of 12 plastic melamine plates, the new ones from Target, is now a stack of eight.  I finally decided that I have not been able to decide what to do with them because I don't want to say goodbye to the four pink ones.  I like them.  They are really pretty, and, "No, I don't have anything else pink in my kitchen."  But, I like them... and after only three months, I realized that!  So, I jerked off the stickers, and now they are mine to keep.  The others... well, they are rather weird looking with their navy blue & white swirls, and I'm already sick of looking at them.  They make me dizzy.  I hope the store will take them back.  If not, maybe I can use them as a "Get Well" present for someone.  Maybe not.

Anyway, I have moved stones today:  stones disguised as dinnerware.  And... if I deal with the eight "weird"  plates, and return them to the store, and if I wash and put in the cupboard the four pink plates... then, I will have dealt with a dozen items... a dozen stones.  That's a pretty good number, don't you think?  And, a darn good accomplishment for a procrastinator who is really skilled at her profession.

Wonder if I could make a living at procrastinating... hmmm...  that would take some creative thinking, and I am good at that. But, I'll think about that a little bit later.  Right now,  I have eight plates to bag, four plastic plates to wash... the four pink, plastic ones...and stones hanging around my neck that are really bothering me. I think it's time to deal with them, and I really should do something about them.

Know anybody that needs a droopy silk floral arrangement?
Seen any extra black socks?
Even one?

Changing the world, one stone at a time...
Cindy Lou



p.s.  Thank you, Lord, that I have the time to sit and think about such little things.  Direct me towards your purpose today, and help me sort through the issues that matter and those that don't.  Direct my feet, direct my actions, and fill my heart with your goodness so that what I "dish out" today will be filled with your love.  I want to do better... really, I do, but I can't do it by myself.  Thank you, Jesus... Amen.

@Copyright 2011, Cindy Lou Hodges All Rights Reserved.

Heaven & Hope

In her last few days of waking up from fourteen hour naps, she confirmed that there is a heaven.  Many gifts she gave to me, gifts for me to keep.  But this gift, this gift I dare not keep to myself.  This gift is to be shared.  So, allow me to share my Aunt Lucy with you...

Aunt Lucy had no children of her own, so she treated us nieces and nephews as royalty.  And, when her health crisis struck, we were there for her:  taking turns sitting with her at the hospital and the nursing facility.  The doctors told us that most likely she would live only a few more weeks, but Aunt Lucy had other ideas.  She lingered for more than three months.

Those months wore on and on.  We were exhausted from our sleepless nights, we were frazzled from dealing with incompetent health care workers, and we were brokenhearted that this was how Aunt Lucy was living her last days on earth.  She had no pain, surprisingly.  For this we were grateful.

Since I did not handle the night shift very well (too many noises and interruptions), the morning shift became mine.  I was there as the morning light sifted through the blinds, wondering what each day would bring.  And to my amazement, Aunt Lucy's waking murmurs intimately described what she was experiencing.

With eyelids still closed from sleeping, she clearly spoke, "Oh, how beautiful... oh, how beautiful!" over and over again.  Not just one day, but several days in a row.  As this new phenomenon continued, her intensity of sharing grew.  I would sit as close to her as possible, taking in her every word, making sure I understood what she was saying.  I understood the words.  I never questioned their meaning.  I only questioned why I was the  chosen one to be by her side during these times.

Another morning as she awakened, she clearly said,  "Oh, there's Mama.  She's waving to me.  She looks so pretty.  She's standing by the gate.  Oh, how beautiful... oh, how beautiful!"  Then she would drift back to sleep for a short, peaceful nap.

Now, I know it is just our human nature to see our mothers as we near death.  It is a completion of  life's cycle. But the next vision she shared makes even the skeptics stop and give pause.  Lucy saw someone else awaiting her... someone else waving to her.  It was her Aunt Claudie.

The family had not told Lucy about her aunt's passing away three months prior.  Not to agitate or upset her, we had kept it secret from her that we buried her Aunt Claudie on the day of  Lucy's own surgery.  It was a difficult, sad day for us...  burying one Auntie, maybe saying goodbye to another.  But, we rallied together and, somehow, kept going.

In her vision, Claudie also was standing by the gate, waving... "Oh, there's Aunt Claudie... She looks so pretty.  What a pretty dress.  Oh, how beautiful... oh, how beautiful!"  Then she continued to awaken and become part of this earthly world again, her visions fading and her smile weakening.  Clearly, our beloved aunt was straddling the line between two worlds.  She drifted from one to the other with ease and grace, and all we could do was hold her hand and offer her chips of ice.

As for me, my spirit soared with joy and the affirmation that there is a heaven, and that I will see my loved ones once again!  But, my tears could not stop, and I could not define the line between tears of sadness and tears of joy.  How do you separate the two since they are joined by the heart?  I knew that I had been given a glimpse of glory and of what is, and what is to come for all of us believers!  But that gift came with a price, and it cost me my Aunt... cost all of us our beloved Lucy.  To this day, I still think, "What an incredible experience given to me in that one small room, stuck in a corner, in a nursing home in the little town of Calera, Oklahoma!"

The last comment Aunt Lucy shared made me dig in my Bible.  And sure enough, I found in *Revelation 5:8 what she was experiencing.  "Oh, how beautiful..." she whispered.  And smiling she said, "Mmmm... it smells so good."  "Can you smell it?"  she asked.  "It smells so sweet.  Oh, oh... oh, how beautiful!"

And, then late one evening... her earthly body wore out, and she left us. Her spirit went on to that beautiful place, but she did not leave us hopeless.  I know that she joined Jesus, and I know that she had loved ones waiting for her, because she told me so.  What a joyous reunion it must have been... one planned and blessed by God!

So, my friend, since Aunt Lucy so willingly and lovingly shared who she was and what she saw... I pass this on to you.  I don't want her to be forgotten, and her message must live on.   She gave us all many gifts, but the greatest gift of all is the gift of hope!   There is a Savior, and He has prepared a place for us... a beautiful one with my loving Grandmother and my aunties... one that smells so sweet... and one that has a gate!

Now, that's a promise... "Oh, oh... oh, how beautiful!"

Sincerely,
Cindy Lou


* "...and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."  --Holy Bible, Revelation 5:8  (This is what Aunt Lucy was smelling that smelled so sweet.)

 
"Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms;  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."  --Holy Bible, John 14:1-3
(This verse is one Aunt Lucy used to comfort us before her surgery.  She quoted it from memory.)


Verses for reference:


"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."  --Holy Bible... Romans 3: 23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
-- Holy Bible... Romans 6:23

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.' "   --Holy Bible... John 14: 6

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  --Holy Bible... Romans 10:9




@Copyright 2011, Cindy Lou Hodges All Rights Reserved.