Gift-Wrappings & Jewels

I discovered a wonderful 92 year old lady through a video clip and her poetry.  Her name is Wanda Goines.  She wrote a poem, profound in simplicity yet deep in meaning, called "The Gift Wrap and the Jewel".  Since I am a visual person,  I looked for images to try to depict an illustration to deepen meaning to her words. The first image signifies a wrapped gift box in full life and energy of the seasons of spring, summer and fall.  The second gift box is wrapped in burlap with plain ribbon in a representation of the winter season in our lives, as our bodies become aged and worn.  

The beautiful jeweled photo below is my attempt to find an image that remotely serves as an illustration of the essence that lives inside of our physical bodies.  We can all have our own interpretations of the energy in form that exists in spirit.... who has seen spirit? But who has felt the dynamics of spirit!   Both are alive - the human and the spirit, throughout all the seasons of our lives but spirit does one better.  When the body dies in its mortality,  the spirit lives on in its immortality.  

We come in variety of boxes in wrappings of color, pattern and style - shaped by the dynamics of human living and circumstance.  However, the jewel always was and placed within the setting of human by the breath of God.  Let Wanda's poem speak to you in the destiny we yearn for in the Master's hands as the gift-wrap fades and the jewel brightens.
                                                           
                                                            "The Gift-Wrap & The Jewel" by Wanda B. Goines

                                                       "I looked in the mirror and what did I see?
                                                        But a little old lady peering back at me.
                                                        With bags and sags and wrinkles and wispy white hair
                                                        And I asked my reflection, how did you get there?

                                                                 You once were straight and vigorous

                                                        And now you're stooped and weak

                                                        When I tried so hard to keep you from becoming an antique.

                                                        My reflection's eyes twinkled and she solemnly replied

                                                        You're looking at the gift wrap and not the jewel inside

                                                        A living gem and precious of unimagined worth

                                                        Unique and true, the real you, the only you on earth.

                                                        The years that spoil your gift wrap with other things more cruel

                                                        Should purify and strengthen and polish up that jewel.

                                                        So focus your attention on the inside, not the out

                                                        On being kinder, wiser, more content and more devout

                                                        Then when your gift wrap's stripped away

                                                        Your jewel will be set free, to radiate God's glory throughout eternity!"      

You can also watch the video at this link and hear the poem in Wanda's words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YxCR2a-sxI

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hands..... and here is a reminder out of Malachi 3:17, "They shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, On that day I make them My jewels.  And I will spare them"

Join me in two weeks at The Turn-Up Patch on Monday, October 12.


 

Fire Update, Petrolia and Doris

I begin this post by giving you a quick update on the Canyon Creek Complex fire we have had in this area that I reported about two weeks ago.  For family and friends who live in Eastern Oregon, this is not recent news as they live with it every day.  For the readers of my blog who are not familiar with the current fire news, as of today - Sunday, September 13 - the amount of acreage burned is 110,422 with 90% containment.  Cooler weather is on its way with rain helping to squelch the sections of fire that are still smoldering.   Hopefully, this monster fire will finally see its last!

August did bring the fair and the fire as I had mentioned in my posts of last month.  There was one other significant happening that I'd like to mention and that is bringing Doris home to her beloved Petrolia.  I have mentioned my mother-in-law, Doris in some previous posts that many of you may be familiar with.  Links are printed below for you to check out if you have not already seen them.
At one time, when Doris was of full mind, she told me that upon her death she wanted to be cremated and have her ashes returned to her home in Northern California.  She passed away on May 24th of this year.  She spent the past ten years of her life at a living facility in John Day where we oversaw her care.  I grew close to Doris and admired her spunk and quick mouth, which was sure to correct you if something was out of line in her estimation.  That spunk served her well throughout her years of survival.  There was one thing left to do before I could experience completion and that was to return her ashes to Petrolia.  Jim and I had the chance to do this in August and she came home.

The drive into Petrolia is beautiful and unique in its rugged countryside as well as the road itself.  Part of the road is called the 'Wildcat' and it befits its name.  It is twisty, curvy.... often just room enough for one vehicle.  When that occurs, you have to wait for your turn as the other driver passes through. It can become more complicated if a dense fog rolls in from the ocean.  You can smell the ocean air, refreshing instead of the smoke filled air from fires in the Oregon to California drive.  I took a few camera shots along the way as the Wildcat took you through a terrain of trees and ferns which lined the road into hilly pastures, a stretch of ocean drive and then back into the hills leading to Petrolia.  You can even catch a glimpse of some wildlife along the way - in this case, turkeys!

I include a few photos that are a little unusual.  A tree was growing from inside the remains of a truck that had seen better days.  You can imagine how long this old truck had been there to have a seedling tree grow up and out of the empty mount that once held a motor.

There is a painting on the wall of our friends' home in Petrolia that was done by Carl Sammons.  He was an early California artist, born in 1886 and died in 1968.  He was a prolific artist and included in his many paintings were images of the Mattole Valley in Humboldt County.  This particular painting was done in the earlier years of the town of Petrolia.  With our friends' permission, I took a photo of the painting as a remembrance of how Petrolia looked within the time period when Doris lived there as a young woman.

We can bid farewell to Doris now but its not really good-by, but until we meet again.  Symbolically speaking, she has returned to her Petrolia home in urn and ashes, but her spirit is enjoying her true home of life with our beloved Father of Lights in the glory of heaven.

Links to Doris reference stories starting with the most recent:
http://www.turn-uppatch.blogspot.com/2015/05/cycle-of-life-and-doris-rip.html 
http://www.turn-uppatch.blogspot.com/2015/05/art-form-horse-and-doris.html 
http://www.turn-uppatch.blogspot.com/2015/03/sands-of-time-and-doris.html 
http://www.turn-uppatch.blogspot.com/2014/04/valley-view-caregivers-baby-chicks.html 
 http://www.turn-uppatch.blogspot.com/2013/09/rosie-riveter-and-doris.html
 

Until we meet again at The Turn-Up Patch on Monday, September 28, enjoy the fall days ahead....