Priceless

My dear friend Catherine is a lovely writer! When she showed me this poem that she wrote I thought it was perfectly gorgeous:) Henceforth, Catherine is graciously letting me share it on my blog. Here 'tis:

 

A mirror is my enemy

Showing all my flaws

So many flaws

My face clouded with shame

I turn away

Forgetting I am perfect in God's name

Priceless

An unending battle

No matter how much

It is never enough

This I know

I will not give up

Yearning to be beautiful

God, let me see through Your eyes

The beauty that cannot hide

Beneath the shallow waters

That I am drowning in

I am a child of God

Priceless

An unending battle

No matter how much

It is never enough

This is know

I cannot give up

Yearning to be beautiful

Jesus I give up this fight

I am Priceless

Lift my eyes to Your light

I am Priceless

Shame is no more

I am Yours

I am Priceless

You ended my battle

No matter how much

You are always enough

Now I know

I surrender to You

I am beautiful

Priceless

 

--Catherine B. 

Deylight Country Orchestra

         I love nothing better than to hang out in the company of family and friends and share something very special to me..... music. I'm by no means an expert in this area, but I highly agree with what Confucius once said: "music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without." It most certainly does.

          That’s why I enjoyed last Friday night so well, when the Dey family band had an opportunity to play some merry tunes for a dance.

 

         It was a dizzying night full of birthday cake, laughter, melodies floating on the air, and swirling colors. The soft flowing dances moved in perfect rhythm with the music creating a strong connection between the band and the dancers. Dances are interesting like that. Maybe that’s why I fancy them so much.  

 

Let me introduce you to the band:

My brother Austin backed up the melody with some solid piano chords. He’s the glue that holds us together sometimes:) I don’t know what we would do without him.

Cabe fearlessly led us with his back up guitar. He’s that musician nobody notices yet he adds a completely new dimension to the music. Thank you bro:)

Elissa and Clara were our fiddlers. Throughout every single tune they remained strong on the melody, carrying the dancers through till the end. Indispensable musicians, those girls are.

I played the flute. That’s about all was required of me. Sometimes I would find some curious little harmony to work off of, and sometimes I’d take a solo, but mostly I just soaked up all the happiness around me and try not to make any mistakes.

 

And then there were our faithful audience members---- namely Mom, Dad, my sister Annie and her family.  But golly! Somebody has to sit back and enjoy the music!!!!

 

 

 

Overall the entire evening was a success. Up next: another dance in February!!!!

Photo credits to my sister Elissa (ejdodson.blogspot.com) and my Dad.

happy list

 

1.      Getting handwritten letters in the mail from friends you haven’t seen in ages.

2.      Reading old journals and seeing how far I’ve come.

3.      Singing opera in the shower. Very loudly.

4.      Driving through rural Missouri with the windows rolled down at the height of autumn color

5.      Pictures of babies smiling.

6.      A full moon

7.      Tea cups. Especially blue china ones.

8.      Singing “The Sound of Music” while running up a grassy slope with my arms flung wide.

9.      Watching Tex gallop across the field in early morning.

10.   Finding the perfect treasure in an antique store.

11.   Warm bed sheets fresh out of the dryer.

12.   Huge mansions with turrets and bay windows

13.   Intimate devo time with church friends.

14.   Sunlight pouring through the stained glass windows at church.

15.   Taking selfies with Catherine and Olivia.

16.   The sound of children laughing and screaming on a play ground

17.   hearing my dog snore when she sleeps:)

18.   The smell of a candle burning.

19.   A live orchestra playing waltzes.

20.   Soft cuddly puppies when they groan in their sleep.

21.   The general chaos of our family during Christmas.

22.   Bright red cardinals in a snowy apple tree.

23.   Having pointless conversations with my very good friends because we understand each other so perfectly.

24.   Scuffling around the house in my slippers

25.   Watching birds on the feeder through the kitchen window.

26.   Puppies playing in the snow.

homemade notebook

     This craft should have been a part of my Christmas blog series, but I had to wait until after the holiday since it was a gift for my friend Catherine.

It is a simple little notebook made with blank paper and a scrabble board. The idea came to me (believe it or not) when we were playing scrabble. Since we happened to have 4 extra scrabble games lying around, (don't ask me why-- as a family we are fairly obsessed with the game) I was able to begin work immediately.

 

note: the game board is too thick to be professionally spiral bound at any office store. Thanks to a Dewalt drill and some binder rings from Wal-Mart I got the job done quite nicely myself. Who needs a fancy spiral-binding-machine?

 

The most difficult part of making this notebook was measuring the dimensions and cutting everything proportionally. It took me a while to decide how large I should make it.  Thankfully scrabble boards already have grids on them to make the job easier:)

 

 

I was quite pleased the result. --Can't wait to make more! Maybe (someday in the future) I will make some with different game boards. Monopoly perhaps? Risk? Sorry? Look out. I'm going to start haunting the thrift stores for more supplies.

trip to the art museum

      Pablo Picasso phrased it perfectly: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” That's what I feel like every time I go to the ballet, listen to opera, or visit the art museum. Appreciating the arts is a way to enter a surreal world of romance and beauty, mystery and intrigue.
     Yesterday, when Dad to us to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum in KC the dust was completely washed off my soul:)

 

Pure emotion emanated from every painting.

Some paintings were full of exuberance and happiness.

 

 

Others were peaceful and meditative. 

 

Some masterpieces of art were ancient and mysterious. I wanted to know what stories these miniature mummies could tell from their thousands of years of existence.

 

This painting (titled "Wrapping it up") was one of my favorites. It is telling an open-ended story: one that the painter leaves for you to finish. Are they friends? or is this a courtship? will it end happily? I'd like to think so. They look so happy:)

  

Visiting the art museum showed me to look at all the different perspectives in life. You might be surprised if you do....

  

     photo credits go to Cabe Dey! Despite the fact that his camera has a broken light meter, he managed to take excellent pictures.