Tag: small town Texas

Queen of Everything

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After posting The Writing Robe, I reached out to my friend Jordan, and asked if she had a robe from Honest Cotton that I could try. She had two robes, and invited me to stop in anytime to try them on. đź’–

To walk into Jordan’s studio is a treat for the senses. There’s low vibe music softly playing, and the temperature of the room is just right. You can smell the aroma of essential oils being used, and it makes you want to stand there and inhale deeply. Jordan specializes in Chinese medicine and owns Common Thread Wellness down the street from my home.

I tried on the robe in a khaki color and it felt great, but had to try on the other one in ecru, which is a candlelight color. This pale color amused me envisioning the short amount of time it would last after an explosion from the coffee bar, or the first time I sit in something on the bench outside, or when any of our three pets brushed by while wearing it.

This robe is plenty long. I’m 5’9″, and it tickles my ankles. There’s so much fabric to it, I have to roll up the sleeves to type. I love slipping it on first thing in the morning, and have it hanging on a hook near an A/C vent. It’s like enveloping yourself in chilled gauze. Walking through the house I can feel it flowing along behind me.

Honest Cotton Robe

Years ago my daughter came home with this little metal sign as a gift for me. She handed it to me with a grin, and it’s one of my favorite things. It’s hanging from a lamp that sits on my desk, as a much needed reminder on those difficult days. It says, “Queen of Everything!”

Strolling from my desk to the window scanning the front yard, lining up tasks in my head, I give the robe a tug and feel it resting on my shoulders. This robe makes one feel like Queen of Everything.

The featured photo is Jordan’s dog in studio. The mantra for her business is – ‘Connecting the common thread between body + mind + spirit.’ It’s not only used for her business, but how she lives her life.

Be a Dreamer

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One of the most difficult parts of dating over fifty is finding a dreamer. Most men are semi-retired, already retired, or looking forward to retirement. They want to travel in an RV, or on a motorcycle, but here’s an update. You don’t have to wait to travel. It’s available at any time.

I have big dreams for my life, but sometimes I wonder if they’re big enough. As humans, we tend to dream attainable dreams. Things we know with some hard work and planning, they’ll come to fruition. My dreams are merely stepping stones to a greater plan, and that plan is a mystery.

We’ll use writing as an example. I don’t want to be famous, but I do want to write, and God can use my willingness to write in a big way. That’s the scary part. What is His plan?

Maybe you think you’re too old for dreams, or they were a part of your youth, but I’m not buying it. As long as there’s breath in our bodies, we still have a purpose. Don’t give up on your dreams, because if you woke up to a new day, your dreams are still in you. Be a dreamer.

Feel the Music

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Thank you for supporting my dating excursion.

This afternoon, I’ll be in a suite at a Bed and Breakfast for a couple of days. I can’t recall the last time I traveled by myself. It’s been 6 years since stepping inside a B&B, but my heart holds a never-ending love for them. I see two rows of stepping stones along the path. One is logical, paved by thoughts. The other is of the heart which can be scary, but God is there.

I booked the B&B a month ago, and have been watching as the weeks fly by. It’s in one of my favorite small towns, only an hour away. Travel doesn’t always mean get a passport and board a plane. It’s about a change of scenery, and being plucked from the normalcy of what you know.

I purchased this tote to use as a weekend bag and to inspire travel.

America and Beyond

It felt frivolous at first spending the extra time and money on this trip, and bag, but when friends and co-workers began asking, “When are you taking some time for just you?”, I listened. I’m looking forward to waking up in a different bed, and not having three animals pacing the hallway.

Thank you Stu, at Something to Stu About for sharing a Feel the Music in your Post Picks. I went to his Blogsite to pick up links to tag him in this post, and he had just posted about ‘Stillness‘. It was ironic to see his post since I’d booked this trip to dwell in some stillness with God.

Stu says, “Through stillness, we learn to pay attention to what God is doing in us and around us.” Make a space for what matters, which for me, is Him.

TobyMac-I Just Need You

Feel the Music

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Driving back from town I turned the radio on, and this song began to play. I haven’t listened to Cody’s new album, Human in it’s entirety, but this song is by far one of my favorites.

To people who know me, it’s no secret I love Cody Johnson. He’s like the underdog who made it big because he never gave up. My guess would be, one thing he did to achieve his well-earned success is he kept singing his heart out. Cody sings so many things I want to say. I haven’t shared nearly enough songs by Cody, so we’ll need to fix that!

All of Cody’s songs are real and raw. When you watch this video, wait until the 2:54 mark and you’ll see how passionate he is about his words. I believe we’re supposed to unleash our passion in what we do and let ourselves love big! The part of the song that hits home for me is when Cody reminds us to chase our dreams, because they won’t chase us back.

If you got a chance, take it, take it while you got a chance
If you got a dream, chase it, ’cause a dream won’t chase you back

Tomorrow isn’t promised, so there’s no room for putting things off. Take a chance, and go all in when you do, ’til you can’t.

‘Til You Can’t by Cody Johnson

Greenlight

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When driving down a straightaway it’s exhilarating when every stoplight is green. I can usually breeze right through half a dozen on green before one turns to red and calls for a stop. Once you stop, there’s a wait involved before it returns to green.

I get excited for greenlights because they mean go, and I’ve always been the type person who is sitting on go. Fall is here, we’ve turned our clocks back for daylight savings time, the holidays are upon us, and year end is right around the corner, but I’m still keeping an eye out for the greenlight.

Over the weekend I drove into town to pick up some household items, and leaving the store I decided to exit the way of a large intersection full of stoplights. As I pulled up to the intersection every light was red, so I stopped and wondered out of all the red lights, who would get to go first?

I was turning right, so it was no big deal because we can turn right on red in Texas, but this intersection was full of vehicles just waiting and hoping for their greenlight. Looking up at the stoplight in that moment I saw a green arrow dropped down in place of the red. My lane was first to go.

That’s the thing about greenlights. You don’t know it’s yours until you pull up to the red. It’ll turn green when we least expect it. Keep your eyes open for the greenlight.

Firewood

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During the Texas snow/ice storm, I saw a post on Facebook that made me smile. It was a photo of a front yard covered in tree branches, and said, “It’s raining firewood.”

I needed to see that because the most unnerving part of that week for me was the location of our home. The house is surrounded by ginormous oak trees and rests beneath their canopy. We’d hear the crack of a branch, then boom onto the roof, and the branch would slide and fall to the ground. I did a lot of meditating that week, and thanked God for metal roofs.

Once the snow had melted away, I stepped outside to look at the front yard, and was in agreement that it had rained firewood. The yard was covered with sticks, twigs and a few branches, but I looked at the sticks as, ‘kindling’, and the branches were easily broken into firewood. No healthy branch breaks. It was a good day for a fire, as I removed the cover from the firepit.

God knows my heart and knows I love to sit near a fire. I gathered up all the sticks and laid some in the pit. There were so many I had to start a pile of them nearby, along with the smaller broken branches. The larger branches were laid aside for future use. I sat by the fire for hours that day, and just pondered God’s goodness and grace. If it’s gonna rain, let it rain firewood.