A Woman in the Spring ...

Marjorie Holmes is one of my favorite inspirational writers. Her heartfelt and moving "conversations with God" touch on everyday life on subjects we all experience at one time or another. Today, I'd like to share her bittersweet reflections on Spring from her book Love and Laughter ...

"A Woman in the Spring"

A woman's moods are subject to the changing seasons. Women especially relate in some mysterious fashion to the burgeoning earth in spring.

The heart is stirred within us at the scent of growing things. The pulse responds. Subtly, deep in our beings, we feel that a secret is about to be revealed. Some core of truth that only a woman could fathom, some mystery akin to all creation.

And a woman feels a restlessness, a giddy, inexplicable aching in the spring. Old hopes rise from a long, long sleeping.

(And) for a little while, watching the buds break ...

Hearing the birds' bright promise ...

We feel them stirring gloriously, too --
our young, forsaken dreams.

And oh, how we miss people in the spring. Such small things will quicken the image of the loved one lost, or merely away.

Sunlight on new green grass ...

The smell of lilacs...

A spade on the garden path ...

A battered hat ...

How they surge back at such moments -- mother, father, sister, brother, friend. Or a child. A daughter whose brown legs used to run so lightly down the steps, her soft hair flying. A son whom the wars have claimed ...

A woman's heart always breaks a little in the spring. But spring offers its own ways of healing. Hoe the row a little deeper. Kneel on the ground and dig the roots.

Gather armfuls of bright yellow flowers ...

Or take the house apart and put it back together shining clean.

~~ Marjorie Holmes (1910-2002)

What a glorious way with words she had ...
I wish I could write like that.

[Photos borrowed from the internet]

The Power of a Compliment ...

Marjorie Holmes is my favorite inspirational writer. Her heartfelt and moving "conversations with God" touch on everyday life on subjects we all experience at one time or another.

I'd like to share one of the selections from her book, I've Got to Talk to Somebody, God ...

The selection is called "The Compliment," and, in the world of blogging, I've personally experienced how a simple compliment can instantly boost my spirits and inspire me.

Here are Mrs. Holmes' reflections on just how powerful a compliment can be ...

"I want to suggest a new Beatitude: "Blessed are the sincere who pay compliments." For I have just had a compliment, and it has changed my day.

I was irritated, tired, discouraged. Nothing seemed much use. Now suddenly all this is changed.

I feel a spurt of enthusiasm, of energy and joy. I am filled with hope. I like the whole world better, and myself, and even you.

Lord, bless the person who did this for me. He probably hasn't the faintest idea how his few words affected me. But wherever he is, whatever he's doing, bless him. Let him too feel this sense of fulfillment, this recharge of fire and faith and joy.

Thank you, God, for this simple miracle so available to all of us. And that we don't have to be saints to employ its power.

Remind me to use it more often to heal and lift and fortify other lives ... a compliment!"

I'd like to thank you, my blogging friends, for taking the time to visit me here at Southern Lagniappe ... but even more, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to leave your kind and gracious compliments. They are like little rays of sunshine, and I sincerely appreciate them.

Bring Back the Children ...

I've Got to Talk to Somebody, God by Marjorie Holmes Marjorie Holmes is my favorite inspirational writer. Her heartfelt and moving "conversations with God" touch on everyday life on subjects we all experience at one time or another. I'd like to share this heartrending selection called "Bring Back the Children," from her book, I've Got to Talk to Somebody, God." "Lord, it seems sometimes that my arms aren't long enough or my lap isn't big enough. I wish I could stretch my arms out and out to embrace all my children. These, here about the table now, and those who are away, off to their meetings or their dates or far away in their own homes. I am suddenly aware of them, all of them wherever they are, and the excitement and wonder and pain of their lives are almost too much to comprehend. I am so thrilled about them, so proud of them, and so worried about them too -- all at once. I want suddenly to reach out and touch them, the warmth of their flesh, the feel of their hair, to draw them physically in. I want to hold them on my lap again, the big ones and the little ones, all at once. I want to tuck them in their beds under the same familiar roof. I want to lock the door and go to sleep knowing they're all safe in the shelter of this house. Lord, I wish I could have all my children back ... now, this moment, at once. But since I can't, you who are everywhere, reach them for me and keep them safe in the shelter of my love."