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Debbie Sharp Loeb, teacher by training but full-time mom to a disabled son, craftsperson, bead artist, great cook, creative homemaker & terrific spotter of cool new products for everything under the sun, presents Hodgepodge: recipes, household hints, stories about children, friends & relatives, cool stuff, music, & much more.
Email: debbie@geraniumfarm.org

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

What Makes Geranium Farmers Happy? (Part 1)

I hadn't planned on speaking at the Geranium Farm luncheon. No, no me! That's for Barbara. She's the speaker, but the week before I was at my friend Helen's house, you know, the one I always quilt with. She had just had had her carpets cleaned and they were still a bit damp and so some stuff was piled up on the back porch. We went out to look at the garden and I looked down and this book, 14,000 things to be happy about, * caught my eye. I picked it up. She said, "Oh, take that. Someone gave that to me years ago and I kept it in my classroom." Inside it was this 3 x 5 card - "In this book if you choose to look, Have your say and sign your own way." Students were to put their initial next to anything listed that made them happy! They got a kick out of it over the years.
Well, it all clicked and I thought I needed to share this with with the Geranium Farmers. I had mentioned that all my life I have always have had strong intuition and followed it and so some strange occurrences have happened to me over the years. ( You have to really be "open" to what you are feeling in a situation, you know go with your gut.)
I mentioned that it even led me to finding David's new neurologist and he is doing really well now on his new seizure medication. Go to these links for those stories: 10/30/07 All in a Day and 3/7/08 Out of Bad Comes, Something Good
Anyway, I asked "Farmers" at the luncheon to jot down some of the things that make them happy. One said, that they didn't have to shovel snow and another one said the first snowfall of winter! Hee-hee! Well, before I publish their lists I'm opening it up to all of you out there. So send me a few phrases of what makes you happy. Signed or unsigned. It will appear as you send it. Put "Happy" in the subject line.

*The book is 20 years of recordings started in a spiral notebook in the 6th grade and then later on computer by Barbara Ann Kipper.

. . . and the little blue book above I just started is my "My Happy List" and I expanded upon it, added to it, "Childhood Memories", and will pass it on.
I'm getting such a kick just recalling things and writing them down!
Can you imagine the different childhood memories from generation to generation?
Have your children ask their granparents theirs and yours!
I encourage you all to start your own or why not do it as as a family project at the dinner table or on trip in the car?

Trust your intuition. Follow it. God might just be talking to you.
So Listen Up! : )

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3 Comments:

Blogger hmfoster said...

Hey Deb, it was so good to see my old book get a new life. How clever of you; I thought the book was though! I especially liked your suggestion to make it a family project - I think Geranium Farm needs to look into creating a blank book with some spiritual thoughts/pixs and make it available to your readers and others for caring and sharing with friends/loved ones/ relatives the things that make us happy! And of course this will only add to the alpha waves in the world!

9:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dsay: It makes me happy when I know I have listened well, and was 'truly present' for some special person who has a concern to unload. I know I can't 'fix it" for him or her but I do know that unloading is helpful. It's the least I can do in my concern for pastoral care issues---to support those who are involved in those caring activities, even though I no longer am involved myself.

5:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dsay: It makes me happy when I know I have listened well, and was 'truly present' for some special person who has a concern to unload. I know I can't 'fix it" for him or her but I do know that unloading is helpful. It's the least I can do in my concern for pastoral care issues---to support those who are involved in those caring activities, even though I no longer am involved myself.

5:49 PM  

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