and his righteousness with their children's children―
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
~Psalm 103:1-5, 8-18~
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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Fridayand this is today's free-writing post.
opposites attract
equal and opposite reaction
quite the opposite
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This week I made a request to transfer funds from one of our accounts to an investment account, same way I'd done it several times before. Yesterday evening I checked on it and the reply to my message confirmed that they were transferring the money from the investment account to my bank. Wait, that's the exact OPPOSITE of what I asked! I reread my request to see if I'd been unclear or made a mistake in how I worded it. I couldn't see how it could have been misconstrued, so that meant I had to get in touch with the company to and tell them they'd done it wrong and straighten it out so the money went where I wanted it to.
It was a little upsetting, but I wasn't really angry. More exasperated. But it also wans't a very large amount of money and I figured it would be relatively easy to resolve. And it was. A phone call, an apology, and the company fixed the transaction. I could have called and been angry and nasty to them, but what would be the point of that? I wonder though, would I have been as calm about it if it had been a larger dollar amount or had caused an account to be overdrawn or something like that? I expect I would have freaked out but I hope I would have been reasonable and polite when I called.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. ~Newton's Third Law of Motion
Most of the time, even when things don't go the way we planned, it's not the exact opposite. It's often tempting to have a disproportionate reaction of anger to small annoyances. Or to exacerbate a situation by raging or seeking revenge on someone who we think has wronged us. Proverbs offers us a word of wisdom in how to diffuse and handle tense situations.
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,
but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.
~Proverbs 15:1, 18~
Often the best way to settle a dispute is to the opposite of what we feel like doing. Instead of escalating with yelling or rage, we can try doing the opposite - a humble and patient response that seeks a real solution and reconciliation.
A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!
Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.
1. What's worth standing in line for?
It depends how long the line is, doesn't it? I don't enjoy standing in line, but I'm quite willing to do it for good food at a fair or a sporting event, or to get on a ride at a theme park. I'm old enough to remember standing in line, or even camping out, at a ticket booth to buy concert tickets as soon as the box office opened. And I've "stood" in a phone line and in an internet presale queue to get concert or sporting events tickets too. Worth it every time, I think. And then when we went to the events, of course we had to stand in line before they let us in.
The next toilet stall at a stadium or concert venue. I do a little planning to minimize my wait time, but once I'm in line, I won't give up my spot.
2. Tell us about a favorite food related memory.
A lot of my fond memories that involve food go way back to when I was young, and involve my Grandma and my aunts, and they tend to blend together a bit. Whenever we visited my aunts or they came to visit us, my Aunt Alice would make vereneki (aka perogies) and every time it was the highlight of the visit. My brother and I kind of competed to see who could eat more. My Aunt Linda's specialty was cookies, and our favorite was one we just called White Cookies or Icing Cookies. They were a soft white cookie with a simple vanilla icing but oh, so good! At my Grandpa and Grandma's, I remember a few times when the whole family feasted on fresh corn on the cob, waffles (made on the outdoor waffle iron!), rollkuchen, and watermelon. I've never been a big fan of watermelon, but serve it alongside fresh rollkuchen dipped in golden syrup, and I'm all in.
Now I'm thinking I will have to plan a meal of corn on the cob, rollkuchen, and watermelon. I wish I knew how to spell the low German word for watermelon, or at least the low German word I know. The closest I can find is the Russian word that's pronounced arbuz. Anyway. Those are good food memories!
3. What are some things you find particularly peaceful or calming?
Looking up at the stars on a clear night. A sunrise or sunset view from a well-placed porch or deck, or a nature setting. Watching a gentle falling snow from a comfortable spot inside, or listening to gentle rain while sitting on a covered porch. Sipping a coffee or cold drink and listening to songbirds, and watching as they stop by my birdfeeders. A good porch or deck is a high priority for me when we start seriously shopping for a house.
4. Is there something you do now that gets you just as excited as it did when you were a child?
I love going out for ice cream! I choose different flavors as an adult, but getting ice cream is such a treat! If it happens that I'm out for a walk when it starts to snow big fluffy snowflakes, I absolutely catch them on my tongue and take as much delight in that as I did when I was a little girl.
5. To what degree are you in touch with friends from grade school? high school? college if you attended college?
I'm not in regular weekly or even monthly contact with any school friends, mostly because I don't live near any of them, but I have quite a few that I've connected with on social media and interact with from time to time. I have one friend that I've known since we were in first grade that I interact with online fairly regularly, quite a few from high school, and a few from college. I'm still in touch with my best friend from high school, though our lives are quite different and we occasionally email or message. I make sure to get together with her when I'm back in the old stomping grounds. I'd gladly get together for a cup of coffee with any of my friends from back in the day but the opportunities to do so just don't come along very often.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Maybe if we wrote letters, we'd be in touch with our old schoolmates more often. Turns out Writing Letters is the theme of the current Wednesday Quotes link-up. I'd love to have you stop by and share a quote or two. You can find it here: WQ - Writing Letters.
I'm so glad that we're back to chorus rehearsals every Monday, and that our church is back to Dinner + Discipleship on Wednesdays. Our first D+D was today. It helps me remember what day of the week it is when I have those regular things on Mondays and Wednesdays. And it's great not having to worry about what's for dinner on Wednesdays! Now, the downside for now is that there's this whole section of highway on my commute from work that is under construction and there's no avoiding it. It slows everything way down and it seems like there's at least one accident every day too. I decided this week that I will need to plan on going straight to chorus and straight to church on those days instead of coming home first, which makes for a long day. And on Wednesdays, it makes for a late Wednesday Hodgepodge! Hopefully not this late every week though!
How would you answer some of these questions? Leave a comment and let me know!
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It's strange now to think that not so very long ago, there was no such thing as instant messaging or video calls or even text messages. If you wanted to talk to someone on the phone and they lived in another state or province, you had to pay extra to call "long distance" and those minutes added up quickly when you got to talking with a loved one. In those days, and for generations before that, writing a letter was the best, and sometimes, the only way to communicate.
Do you remember when it was common to write letters or personal notes to friends and family that lived far away? Did you ever have a pen pal or write love letters to your sweetheart?
In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives. ~Anatole Broyard
Humans have been writing letters practically from the time we invented written language, but once paper and writing utensils became more widely available, more people took the time to communicate this way. Letters were the main form of communication before the telegraph and telephone. In the United States, the Postal Act of 1845 reduced the cost of sending a letter, and around the same time paper was being made from wood pulp. As a result, letter-writing flourished.
Letters are valuable sources for historians, have formed the basis of literary works and of educational materials, and are the source of a fair amount of the New Testament.
Today, we do most of our business communication by email; and our personal correspondence with friends and family is more likely to consist of text messages and instant messaging apps than of bundles of hand-written letters. In many ways, the email or text message is just the next logical iteration of written communication, but I can't help but think that it is also sad that letter writing is becoming somewhat of a lost art.
Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere, without moving anything but your heart. ~Phyllis Grissim-Theroux
Letter-writing on the part of a busy man or woman is the quintessence of generosity. ~Agnes Repplier
Before I had a smartphone or a computer, sitting down to read and reply to a letter from a relative or a friend was a fairly regular occurrence. My grandparents and aunts lived quite a distance from us, and those long-distance phone calls were pricey, but we could write letters! When my friends and I started going our separate ways to college, some of us did stay in touch by mail. When my boyfriend and I spent several months apart, we wrote cards and letters to each other every other day. And both of us kept at least some of those letters long after we became husband and wife! We moved away from family and friends and regularly wrote letters. But the intervals between missives gradually lengthened, especially as long distance calls became easier and more affordable. And then we all had computers and it was just so much easier to send emails . . . except that we didn't always do it. And soon it was just the annual Christmas newsletter.
Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. ~Proverbs 25:25
It's a funny thing that as it became ever easier to communicate across the miles . . . it also became easier to put it off until tomorrow or just forget to do it. Many times I've decided to do better with writing letters, and thought of setting a personal goal of handwriting at least one little note card per week, but seldom have I followed through to my satisfaction.
Will writing this reflection remind me and encourage me to write a letter? I hope it will, but then I ask myself how many letters I could have written in the time it took me to write this post and set it up here. Maybe I do need to examine how I spend my time and find a little more for writing letters. As the one quote says, it's an expression of generosity.
A letter is never ill-timed; it never interrupts. Instead it waits for us to find the opportune minute, the quiet moment to savor the message. There is an element of timelessness about letter writing. ~Lois Wyse
To be fair, a text message also allows us to find an opportune minute. But it seems less likely that text messages will feel timeless, touching, or sacred. Not in the same way as a letter.
Letter writing is the only device combining solitude with good company. ~Lord Byron
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. ~II John 2:12
Don't you like to write letters? I do because it's such a swell way to keep from working and yet feel you've done something. ~Ernest Hemingway
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Wednesday Quotes is a bi-weekly opportunity for bloggers to share their writing, poetry, photos, or stories inspired by our theme. We've chosen the themes as a starting point for your creativity, and the only requirement is that your post include at least one related quote. Feel free to combine or "double-dip" with other writing or photo challenges as well. Of course, we'd appreciate a link back to us, if you'd be so kind. Add your link and please visit others and leave a comment! The link is open for two weeks.
Thanks to Marsha at Always Write for introducing us to the Wednesday Quotes challenge, and for passing the hosting duties along so we can continue sharing great quotes! Wednesday Quotes is co-hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee and Sadje at Keep It Alive.
Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me.
And other thoughts besides mine, and other ways of thinking.
Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.
~Hebrews 4:14-16~
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What do you think when you hear about an accident? Usually I picture a car wreck or maybe a nasty fall. Something that went horribly wrong, but not necessarily on purpose, and had a very unhappy result. But when we say it was a "happy accident" as the late Bob Ross used to do, it changes our view entirely. Then it's something very unexpected and not on purpose but the result was delightful, led to good outcomes, or was somehow changed from a negative to a positive.
While Mr Ross was known for his optimistic approach of turning a "mistake" in a painting into something good, there's another kind of happy accident that is known as serendipity. Thanks to an article I wrote a few years ago, I have a definition to share, and my own story of serendipitous happy accidents.
serendipity - an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident; good fortune, luck
This term was coined in 1754 and came to mean stumbling upon lucky discoveries and having amazingly good luck. Happy accidents, if you will. This word, serendipity, was a prompt in a writing challenge I participated in, and it's what I thought of when I saw the Tell Us About theme for this month. Happy accidents and lucky coincidences are the theme of the story of how we won a lottery and moved to the United States.
Not only did we win a lottery, but we had quite a series of happy accidents after the big win. Just so you know, it was the green card lottery, not a Powerball or MegaMillions lottery, so the prize was not cash but opportunity. It's hard to say whether the odds are better or not, but I can tell you that winning the initial draw is only the start. There's a whole series of other 'lotteries' that must be won as well before having your name drawn the first time does you any good. So it takes more than just dumb luck.
My husband and I are Canadians. He grew up in southern Ontario and I grew up in Calgary, Alberta. We met in the middle at college. We lived in Calgary for the first few years we were married. Early in 1993, we lived in Calgary, and he was working in a greenhouse, and we received surprising news - his name had been drawn in the green card 'lottery' he'd entered the previous year! What luck! We hadn't won millions of dollars, but we had won an opportunity to find a job in the USA and be able to live and work there.
So he started applying for jobs, but there wasn't much response. One day, his manager brought him into the office to take a call. A grower in New Jersey had called for a reference for someone else, and the manager had said, "I have a different guy here that I'd much rather recommend, and he has been looking for a job in the US. Want to talk to him?" Very shortly after that, my husband flew out for an interview and was offered the job. A job he hadn't even applied for. What are the chances, right? Someone else that used to work at the same relatively small place had applied to a company on the other side of the continent, and the manager had suggested my husband instead! Was that just a lucky accident?
Next, we needed to apply for the green cards. Although 30,000 names were drawn, only 10,000 visas were awarded, and one is needed for each family member. In addition, we found out that we needed specific appointment slots at the consulate for the number of visas we'd need, which was three. Time was also running out - they had started awarding the visas at least six months previous, and we don't know how many were left at that point. Everything was booked up for the month when I called, and we thought we'd need to wait, but I was advised to call after a week or so to see if there were cancellations. We were getting rather anxious because we had been so close, and now everything was on hold unless and until we could secure the appointments. And then in another happy accident for us, three spots had opened up, so we could get our visas processed.
Lucky coincidences and happy accidents? Good fortune on our side? Serendipity or some good karma? I don't believe in those things, really. Instead, we believe God was at work and it wasn't just an accident that it all happened the way it did. He had my husband's name drawn out of the thousands entered; he orchestrated a phone call that led to a job offer in a place we hadn't thought to look; he made sure we'd find the exact appointments we needed, just in time; and he had 'reserved' visas for us. If it was just the luck of the draw, it was at God's direction.
The dice are thrown into the lap,
but their every decision is from the LORD.
~Proverbs 16:33~
After only a couple of years in New Jersey, we moved to Maryland and that decision was also sort of a happy accident. We'd been weighing two job offers and didn't really have a clear sense of which one to accept, but right at our deadline to decide, one of the two called and said they had decided it was not good timing for them to hire at that point after all. Decision made and we were off to Maryland! Another place we wouldn't have thought to look, never expected to live in, but we loved our time there.
Many years later, our move to Ohio was also a series of coincidences and lucky accidents too. My husband's job had just ended and we were completely stunned by that 'accident'. He started making contact with industry headhunters to get a job search going, because we knew we'd have to move. Our criteria for location was that it needed to be within a short day's drive of both Maryland and Columbus, since that's where our kids were. A gentleman he didn't know called and said he'd been given his name from someone in the industry and he wondered if my husband would be a good fit for a position that was opening up. Once again, someone we didn't know presenting a job opportunity we wouldn't have known about. It sounded interesting but before getting too far, my husband asked where the greenhouse was. Just outside of Columbus. After phone discussion, they wanted to know if we could come for an in-person interview, ideally the last week of October if possible. We'd already made plans to be in Columbus that week to visit our son. Just by lucky accidents, things had fallen into place yet again.
It's been said that a coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous, and maybe we could say that about serendipity or about happy accidents and luck as well.
God knew where we needed to be, and had a purpose for us. He had a plan for us. After that first big move to New Jersey, I was struck by part of the apostle Paul's speech in Athens that came to mean a lot to me, and I've returned to it again and again, because it's a reminder that none of us are where we are by accident.
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
~Acts 17:26-27~
What if none of us are here just by accident, and the luck or serendipty we experience in our lives is actually the work of God? Is he putting opportunities in our path, helping us connect with others, or trying to get our attention? Is he answering our prayers, or offering us a chance to participate in the answer to someone else's prayers?
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
~Ephesians 2:10~
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
~Psalm 139:16~
This post is adapted from previous versions of this article. It first appeared on Homeschool Coffee Break in February 2021: Write 28 Days - Serendipity and appeared here at A Fresh Cup of Coffee in February 2023: How We Won The Lottery
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Tell Us About . . . is a monthly opportunity for bloggers to showcase their creativity. Each month one of the co-hosts will choose the word to focus on. On the third Thursday of every month we'll respond to the prompt "Tell Us About ---" which could be absolutely anything. And how we respond is also wide open. It could be a blog post with our opinions or reminiscences; a poem, photos, a short story or whatever takes your fancy―it could even be a mix of all these! This month's theme, chosen by Marsha at Marsha In The Middle is "Accident".
This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Welcome to another installment of my challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I find that I notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases that I'm focusing on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week.
August Prompts - Everyday Images #68
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heritage
open and/or closed
yellow
river
middle
corner
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heritage - Fallingwater is a UNESCO World Heritage site
open and/or closed - had to think outside the box a little on this one. I realized I had a photo of these flowers (wish I could remember what kind they are) with the blooms open, and since they close up when it's gloomy or dark, I made sure to get a photo of them closed as well.
open blooms
same planter, blooms closed
yellow - more flowers!
river - I had to choose from among several photos featuring rivers! I thought this one of the Youghiogheny River at Swallow Falls State Park was pretty. I did go to the park website to check the name and make sure I spelled it right! Do not ask me to pronounce it!
middle - another photo from Swallow Falls State Park. This island kind of in the middle of the river reminded me of the Avatar area at Disney World Animal Kingdom.
corner - Everything about a Frank Lloyd Wright building is fabulous, but this wonderful corner windows in Fallingwater's kitchen are especially cool!
And a few bonus photos:
Starting with Swallow Falls State Park in Maryland, which we explored on the first day of our family vacation weekend.
I'm not sure what was being explained but I love this photo of my daughter, her boyfriend, and my son
A family tradition: my kids doing an "album cover" pose
My son was trying to set up my phone's camera on a timer so we could get a family photo, and my little granddaughter was trying to help. LOL
We found a very nice lady who was kind enough to just snap the photos for us, and I think that turned out better.
I won't dump another copy of the Fallingwater photos here, since it's featured in two of the prompts above. It did get its own post, after all. Two, actually, since I published it here and on my homeschool blog: A Fallingwater PhotoJournal
We also visited Polymath Park, which will get its own photojournal post soon, but here's a little teaser:
On our way home, we stopped at Wheeling and did a brief explore of the riverfront and downtown area.
And I had the yummiest Cubano grilled cheese, and the best waffle fries I've ever had at Tito's.
Back home!
Also, I'm now the proud owner of an OSU themed cornhole game!
I am sharing my photos every other Thursday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.
Everyday Images will continue in 2025, every other Thursday, and the link-up is open for two weeks.
This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
