Our Memorial Tree

We don't have many trees in our backyard, in fact we have only one, but that one tree is extra special to us.

In February of 2008 one of my best friends, John Kilgore, passed away from complications after a heart valve replacement. Two short weeks after that Tony's dad passed away from cancer after having been diagnosed just the previous October. Needless to say it was one of the most difficult periods in our lives. My mom & dad, my 3 siblings and their families gave us this tree in memory of Tony's dad...Gene C. Lenox. Tony did much research and picked just the tree he wanted; I believe it is an October Glory Maple, and it is certainly glorious in the fall! These pictures truly do not show the brilliant color.

I love this tree. I love this tree for several reasons. First, it reminds me of what an amazing family I have; a family that was thoughtful and wise in giving such a beautiful, living memorial. Second, it gently reminds me when it dons its color in October/November that there are seasons of life. There are seasons of summer when the leaves are green and everything is lush and plentiful, but even in the plenty there can be times when the nourishing rains are slow in coming and the leaves dry and curl from lack of water. There are seasons of change. Those seasons when there is a chill in the air and it seems obvious that winter is coming, yet in the midst of this foreshadowing the colors are magnificent! Then comes winter...the season when all seems bleak and dead...but not dead really...just dormant...conservation of life. Things do however feel stripped, stark and frigid in the winter. And then, just when we think we can't stand the cold anymore, here comes the spring thaw and buds burst forth...all is new again. Seasons of life.

Lastly, this tree reminds me that even though these particular leaves will fall from the tree and die, sometime in March this tree will flower and then grow new leaves and the cycle will begin again. For this I am grateful. I am grateful that there is a cycle of life! I am grateful that life is so much bigger than any one of us!! This glorious, memorial tree reminds me of seasons, of life, of love, and of grace. I shed a few tears today as I stood looking at the tree. Good tears. Tears of love and gratitude. 'Tis the season...

The Grace Melody

The Grace Melody. I chose that name for my blog because it seems that my life over the last few years has been about tuning in to a different melody. I found this definition somewhere online (sorry...I can't remember where exactly): "Melody is one of the most basic elements of music. A note is a sound with a particular pitch and duration. String a series of notes together, one after the other, and you have a melody. But the melody of a piece of music isn't just any string of notes. It's the notes that catch your ear as you listen; the line that sounds most important is the melody."

"...the line that sounds most important is the melody." Grace has been that melody that has caught my ear and my heart over the last few years; but what is grace? I grew up understanding what grace meant from a theological point of view, (God's Riches At Christ's Expense) but recently I read a description of living in the state of grace that resonated with me (from "Power, Freedom, and Grace" by Deepak Chopra): "Grace is the effortless flow of existence that comes when you are living in harmony with life, when the rhythms of your body-mind are in synch with nature's rhythms. To live in grace is to experience that state of consciousness where things flow and your desires are easily fulfilled. Grace is magical, synchronistic, coincidental, joyful. It's the good-luck factor. And how do you live in grace? It's simple. Just allow the universe to flow through you without interfering."

Sound too good to be true? Maybe. I was once told by the counselor I was seeing that I was looking for the magic formula to life and that it simply did not exist! So I realize that the above description may resonate with me simply because that's what I WANT life to be, but I honestly believe there is more to it than that. I think what I was looking for, was HOW to allow "the universe" to flow through me without interfering...how to live my life, regardless of the CIRCUMSTANCES OF my life, without fighting or resisting...how to live my life gracefully!

And that's what I'm learning! It's been quite a journey of identifying those thoughts and beliefs that have blocked the flow of grace, but I can truly say that my life is filled now more than ever with that beautiful grace melody! I'm certainly not perfect at hearing the melody, nor playing the melody for others in my life, but I will continue to practice and when the spirit moves, maybe I'll share what that looks like in my everyday, ordinary life!