If you have never experienced a circle of friends that make you completely safe, then you have not lived!  It is amazing to have people surround you, no matter circumstances or situation, that love you for you.  They respect who you are and how you make their life so much better.  Sometimes we call this group our tribe or village.  I refer to my intimate group here in the piece today as my circle.  This circle provides me love, comfort, and joy.  Sure, it is great getting these same things from family, but it is truly different when these individuals who do not have to accept you do make the choice to be with you.  At one time in my past this circle was very close.  Then life and changes separated us for a time.  When we reconnected way over a year and a half ago, we picked right back up with our same care and love for each other.  To say I am blessed to have these amazing women is an understatement!  If you have not joined or rejoined one of your circles, tribes, or villages today, make sure you do this week.  It will truly be a blessing!

The Mill

Who would have ever thought this was a mill.

A working mill providing sustenance for the community.

It’s new walls and new furnishing

Now provide a different sustenance.

A sustenance of family and community.

 

When the ladies arrive,

The anticipation of a new adventure bubbles everywhere!

They share with each other their speculations.

What will be the dining treasure of the day in this old mill?

Fruit tea, carrot cake, fresh tomatoes, or quiches?

 

The rough, hewed tables await them.

Odd matching chairs provide each with their own seat.

The décor takes them back into history.

The old wood planks on the floor,

Lead them to their circle.

 

They are settled in front of two small window,

That show how the mill was positioned into the ground for support.

The ladies are hoping to find the same support from each other that day.

The menus provide them with so many choices.

But the circle at the table provides them with even more choices.

The choices to speak freely from their hearts!

 

See the ladies don’t really come for the meal or the new experience.

They come for the circle of love.

A circle that is safe to share anything.

One that allows love no matter.

A circle of women that support and care deeply for each other.

Separated shortly by time and reunited by destiny.

 

The atmosphere and the table are the sanctuary.

A sanctuary where the women share their hearts and lives.

There is no judgement.

Only acceptance for their differences and who they really are.

Secrets of the circle that no one else is privileged to.

 

The mill on this day may have taught some history.

But more importantly it taught these women how valuable time together can be.

The mill provided so much more than physical sustenance that day.

It allowed them to protect and cherish this circle.

Because it is their place of love and refuge in a chaotic world.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Today’s piece was especially written for my close-knit circle, Karen Jenkins and Mandy King.  They are my heavenly sisters here on Earth!  A special thanks to Readyville Mills who provides a place for family and community to gather.  When you reconnect this week with one of your circles, remember these are people that breathe life into you and do not suck the life out of you.  If I needed either of these ladies, all it would take is a call or text and they would be beside me, no questions ask!  So, seek your sisters, brothers, and others today for a safe place to live life in such a chaotic world!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

Relationships

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During August so many of us, who are parents and grandparents, are having to let go of our children.  Whether it be to kindergarten, college, or jobs, our hearts pain and our souls want to hold on tight to those sweet ones that are ours.  We forget these souls are not completely ours, they are loans from God!  We forget they were given to us in order that we can be good stewards of these souls He places here on Earth.  The fact that they are loans leaves our thoughts all together, especially when we have done everything for them since birth.  We want to just hold on tight and not let go, but we have to let go.  These souls are only loans.  We should not interfere with their life paths for God.  We love them, protect them, but the most important thing we do is to teach them.  How to love others and themselves.  How to serve others and themselves.  So, as the precious hand of the one you love so much slips out of yours this week or as they drive or fly away, be proud that you have done your job preparing them.  But remember it has always been God’s job to watch over them and lead them.  They are His more than they are ours!

God’s Love Loan

It is time.

The time we prepare them for.

The time they become who God intended for them to be.

We so often forget they are on loan.

 

We cuddle, caress, tickle, and pray for them.

We ask for God’s blessing upon them.

We give them more freedom each day with each step.

Our attachment becomes greater with each step of freedom.

 

They are us when we have moved to the next level of heaven.

But most of all,

They are God’s plan for the future.

They will cure others, love others, teach others, and help others.

 

They will be the extension of the light to others.

Light that cannot be captured.

Light that must be turned in the direction,

In order that it can be given away toward others.

 

God is reflected in this gift.

The loaning of the light from God.

God’s loan to us.

We are thankful for this loan.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Just remember this week you are not losing your love loan.  You are sharing them with the world!  They are going out to do God’s will and be His light.  Your job will still be to love, support, and teach them, but God takes over when they leave your nest to do the rest!  Peace to all parents and grandparents this month!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

Blessings

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you missed the dance?  If you have, you need to slow down and be a part of the dance!  We just should not be so busy that we can’t participate in a blessed dance.  I am not unrealistic.  I know this is much harder to do than to say.  Do you remember how free you feel to just throw your hands up, sway, jiggle, and shuffle your feet?  When we let lose, it can be so freeing.  It frees our mind, soul, and spirit!  It opens us up to love and better understanding of the world around us, because we can be more relaxed, and we can love ourselves more.  If the trees know this is freeing, why can’t we learn from them.  Life should not be confining—-Life should be freeing!  So, dance today!  Dance over dinner, dance under the sunrise and the sunset, dance with your dogs, dance in the grass, dance in the store, dance at work, dance by yourself or with someone!  Stop and enjoy the dance where ever you might be!

Dance of the Trees

They sway and they swing.

Sometimes gently,

Other times rapidly.

Always in sync together.

 

They warn me of the troubled storms.

Or they greet me to a sunny, cool day.

Prancing and dancing to the wind.

Always with meaning.

 

Appearing as one,

Yet made of many different colors.

Sage, bright green, forest, and avocado,

Birch, maple, oak, hackberry, and cedar.

 

They set the scene against the sky.

They protect the birds.

And make provision for all the other animals.

Each limb and leaf providing the dance.

 

If you are invited to watch the dance.

You are not only blessed,

But benefited from their shade,

And nourished by their food.

 

The dance is so distinguished.

The excitement it provides.

Dancers, happy and free!

Flowing and strolling.

 

I wish to see the dance over and over.

It brings so much joy!

The dance will continue.

And I will see it in my memory forever!

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

If anything, I hope today inspires you to not be so adult this week. Watch the dances of nature and dance during your day for life.  Self-help and care are so very important these days.  Dancing will make you smile and live freely!  God’s blessing on your dances this week!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

Blessings

 

 

 

 

 

On this journey have you ever found yourself with a deep feeling of loss?  A loss that puts your mind and spirit on a path of wandering.  Both your mind and spirit feel as though they are completely lost.  Lost in an area of loneliness, a vast and deep space of emptiness.  The events causing this lost feeling could be from having to let a sacred soul go to losing something that brings great meaning to your life.  Whatever event causes this position, we all know it takes a lot to pull oneself out of such an emptiness.  However, it can be done!  Accepting the joys around you can bring you back.  Even the smallest of joys!  Allowing your soul to gain its spirit again.  Never giving up is another way.  Holding onto your hope and your knowledge of an amazing future!  The depths cannot hold you down with hope and promise.  As you read this week, keep that joy and hope always in focus!

Lost

So much sound.

So many tones and noise,

Loud and soft.

Loneliness is felt in my heart.

 

Loss causes these pains.

But we sometimes really cannot name the loss.

Is it a relationship or age?

Loss of dignity or trust?

 

The sound is not the source of pain.

The reaction to the pain is the sound.

We are so close yet so distant when we experience loss.

Just like the sounds.

 

If we gain nothing by the loss,

Then we have truly never known life.

The sounds are often deafening.

Then at times they grow so quiet I must strain to hear.

 

Sometimes the tone is quieter away from us.

Then as the sound approaches,

It becomes louder and louder until we shudder.

The loud tone reflects such loss.

 

Such deep loss.

When it hits you,

You so badly want to make a sound,

But nothing moves forth from your body.

 

Your soul cannot even bring forth emotion to make the sound.

If loss were the end of sound, we would be at a place where our souls could not return.

As it is so often eluded to,

Loss does bring gain.

 

Sounds of joy once again.

The lost found.

The gain of our souls again.

The joy with the remembrance of those tones.

 

Tones that are reflective of the loss return—

If not in air—in your soul.

Remember those sounds,

Because they cannot be duplicated ever again.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

We all experience this “lost” feeling at some time in our lives.  No one is immune to this experience.  I pray that you keep your light glowing in this lost world.  I also want you to know there is always someone with you.  Keep those close to you that love and bring joy!  And keep that hope and promise in your heart and spirit!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

Journey

 

Journeying through any space and time is a true experience.  We have all types of adventures and directions with a variety of emotions.  I was just reflecting on my journey in the piece this week.  All the blessings, whether positive or negative, being part of the journey.  I think we need to stop wherever we are on the journey.  Stop to see where we have been and where we are.  Halt to examine your journey from all the angles this week.  There are so many twists and turns loaded with jewels of the landscape!  Take possession of your journey this week and see your many blessings!

The Journey

Whether short or long,

There are hills and valleys.

I have tried the shortcuts,

Which have turned into long detours.

 

There have been cries of tears.

Some have been happy and others sad.

I have shouted cheers of joy,

Celebrating what the journey has brought.

 

I have seen the most glorious sunrises with the birds,

And I have basked in beautiful sunsets with family.

Mornings have given me good coffee and thanks,

As where nights have soothed me with hot chocolate and movies.

 

The sea has offered me the feel of sand and creatures like scallops.

The seas’ lobsters and the sea allowing me to catch these lobsters to satisfy my tummy.

The water has flowed over me lifting me forward and to heights of ecstasy.

Dolphins within it have spoken to me.

 

Many cities and towns have appeared on my journey.

All with their own unique gifts.

Providing me with new experiences and knowledge.

But my journey always leads back home.

 

The hills of the journey have provided me home.

Their colors in spring and fall provide me hope and trust that something is greater than I.

The hills’ rocks and animals have given me adventure and investigations,

Which made the journey an excursion.

 

The joy of children made the journey so bearable.

Their laughter and happiness carries you so far on the road.

The accomplishments you see as they are on their own journeys

Make your heart skip and beam hotter than the sun.

 

People come and go.

Some join you for a brief moment and others stay the whole journey.

Some become a part of you because of their love.

Others disappear quickly down various trails because they cannot love.

 

Being a caregiver becomes part of the path.

It is difficult and sad,

But you respect giving back to those that have loved you so.

Their journey becomes the side streets of yours.

 

The pets that come along with you are never forgotten.

They watch you and support you every step of the journey.

You are comforted by their presence,

And their eyes see your soul.

 

The artists have painted and sculpted the journey with vivid colors and textures.

Museums, zoos, and libraries give the road wisdom and knowledge.

The journey holds so many treasures and dreams.

We collect some and we lose some.

 

If you are blessed for your journey to continue,

Grace has been extended to you.

When the journey on this living ball ends,

And starts again beyond here your prayers have been answered.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

I pray that your journey will be blessed and that you enjoy every second!  This week I was so blessed to spend the afternoon with two incredible women, Kristen Rameriz and Barb Mayo!  They took me into a new world with fascinating directions.  My journey certainly took an interesting, yet amazing swirl this week!  Don’t travel through so quickly that you forget to cherish these swirls this week.  Happy travels on the journey this week!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

Journey