By Glenda Wise
Yesterday, Gracie and I were driving back from enrolling her at OU and we were listening to Chip Gaines’ book, Capital Gaines. It is exceptional; by the way, I highly recommend it. I have been wanting to read it for a while now, but never got around to it, so Gracie and I decided a three-hour car ride was the perfect time to listen to it. I knew it was the right time for me to hear his message when he opened with Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (New American Bible):
A Time for Everything
3 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every [a]event under heaven—
2 A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.
You see, when I found out my mom had passed; this was the very first verse that came to mind. I do believe that is one way God speaks to us. We read Scripture; we kind of file it away and then when something happens in our lives a Scripture immediately comes to mind.
Anyway, I have digressed from my point. There was something he said about Joanna and her ability to help people fill their homes with meaning rather than things.
I couldn’t agree more and I feel that many of us in rural America are good at doing that. We don’t necessarily need the most expensive things to fill our homes, we want meaning, and we want the things that make our homes feel like home.
For me, it is all the art and things we have collected in our 26 years of marriage. They are not expensive and probably would not make a hill of beans difference to anyone else but me, but they remind me of all of our adventures and family memories and even remind me that there are more happy days to come.
I also love anything passed down to me. Those are the tangible things that help keep that person alive on a daily basis. For example, my grandma’s pineapple candy dish reminds me of going to her house as a kid and knowing without a doubt it would be full of candy. Every morning when I walk into the kitchen and I see it, it brings a smile to my face.
Find what meaningful things make you happy and place them somewhere prominent where you will see them every day. Don’t worry about if it matches or not, that is part of the charm.