Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

July 17, 2007

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Today’s Stories

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Magnifying Mirror

Marsha Jordan

I recently bought a magnifying mirror . . . a big, lighted magnifying mirror that makes it impossible for me to ignore all my face's imperfections. The unreasonable clerk who sold me the mirror wouldn’t let me return it. She said not liking what I saw in it wasn’t reason enough to get my money back.

Mirrors like this one should be illegal. It enlarges objects seven times their natural size. The thing is a health hazard. When I looked into it, I screamed in horror, then hyperventilated, passed out, and hit my head on the bathroom sink. I needed CPR to be resuscitated, and I think some of my brains might have been flushed down the toilet. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from discovering that my cheeks have pleats. (gasp!) The whole nasty experience plunged me into a state of third-degree, age-related depression.

All this time, I’ve been living in that lovely la-la-land of denial. I had fooled myself into believing that I still looked twenty-nine. Mother Nature played a cruel joke on me. Time to wake up and smell the extra-strength age spot remover. Reality hit me right between my puffy, sagging eyelids. Ouch! That smarts.

My laugh lines are no laughing matter, now that they’re buried deep within my saggy cheeks. The only advantage is that I can finally say I have cleavage, even if it IS on my face. The black bags under my eyes are bigger than my feet. They’re helping to save the forests, though. I carry groceries in them, rather than using the paper sacks at the grocery store.

I look like a puckered pile of flab and wrinkles with whiskers. When my husband calls me "pet," it’s because my drooping jowls make me look like Cousin Delmont’s old coon dog Otis, and my flabby neck jiggles like a Tom turkey’s. My cheeks sag lower each day, like melting blobs of raspberry ripple ice cream. I’m afraid I’ll awake some morning to discover that my face has slid down around my waist.

The dermatologist made my day when he called the dark patches on my cheeks "old age barnacles." I must look like a sunken ship. I asked him if plaster of paris might help, but instead he suggested that I have my face "resurfaced." So now I’m a well-traveled, worn out road? I must admit that my face does sort of look like a truck ran over it.

Wrinkles aren't the only revolting development that’s got me down. It’s bad enough that I’ve turned into grandma Moses, but I'm looking a lot like Grandpa Walton too. I've sprouted a beard and mustache, and my whole face is lower than it used to be. Yesterday, my husband called me "floppy cheeks," and I don’t think he meant it as a term of endearment. I no longer count gravity among my friends. It’s pulling everything southward, and parts that once were perky are now in danger of being stepped on and often get road rash from dragging on the pavement.

I’ve placed my youth on the endangered species list. It’s evaporating faster than spit on a hot griddle. Instead of aging like a fine wine, I'm afraid I'm more like moldy cheese or curdled 2% milk. As my six-year-old grandson says, "I’m not happy about this."

You can understand why I appreciate the Bible verse in Proverbs 11, which says, "A kind hearted woman will gain respect." I'm relieved, because I know I can't get by on my good looks. I hope people find my heart more pleasing to behold than the rest of me.

I don’t even know Grace, and I don’t want to grow old with her, but I’ve found at least two things for which old timers can be thankful:

1) For those who love and obey Him, God does not examine faults with a magnifying glass. If He did, it would be a sight even more grotesque than the one staring back at me from my mirror. Instead, God is willing to remove each soul's blemishes and forget them forever. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12)

2) Secondly, nobody is ever too old to be used by God. No matter what my age, or how many thousands of wrinkles and gray hairs I have, there is always something good I can do. God has plans for each of us. Jeremiah 29:11 says: "’I know the plans I have for you, ‘declares the Lord, . . . to give you hope and a future.’" We always have a place in God's scheme of things, even if one foot is in the rest home. We can't outgrow our usefulness and no one’s ever too old to have hopes and dreams or to accomplish some pretty nifty things with God's help. I heard of one hip grandma who rode a motorcycle on her ninetieth birthday. That sure beats staring at the wall from a rocking chair in a puddle of drool.

God doesn't just use young and beautiful people.

In fact, I would guess that He can probably more often use older folks who have gained experience and learned the lessons that come only from making mistakes. How cool is it that He can work through anyone, wrinkles, age spots, and all? He'll use anybody, as long as they meet two requirements: A: they are willing, and B: they're still breathing.

That includes you. So open those wrinkled, baggy eyelids of yours and take a gander at the world around you. Forget your age. You will always be younger than someone somewhere. If you look, you'll see loads of things you can do. Get your pruney face and your varicose veins out there and get busy!

And by the way, if you have a magnifying mirror, toss it into the dumpster or give it to a young person. We have better things than wrinkles to focus on.

Marsha Jordan

jordans@newnorth.net

www.hugsandhope.org/mj.htm

Author of "Hugs, Hope, and Peanut Butter"

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This I Believe # 21
Bill Walker
missourisage@yahoo.com

This I Believe, There are things in the Bible many people read and overlook as they don't understand the importance of the way the words are put together telling something. The Bible tells it, but we need to understand the times, the place, and the customs of the people at the time. Without understanding those things, we don't get a grasp of the
real meaning. This I believe.

One of the Dollies sent me what she learned about the meaning of John 20; 7.

John 20; 7. And the napkin. that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

These words and what is said here is very important. Is Jesus coming back? Yes this tells us very plan he is coming back, he is not finished.

You see in those times, when a person got up from the table. The placing of the napkin told the waiter what to do. If the napkin was wadded and thrown on the plate, it meant, I am done, I am gone, clean up the table. This napkin was folded, and placed off to the side. I am not done, I am not finished, I will be back.

In this case if Jesus was finished, and done, and not coming back the napkin would have been wadded up and thrown with the linen clothes.

This one verse tells us very plain, Jesus is coming back. You have to understand the place, the times, and the customs of when something was done and written about.

Many people have read that verse, and never seen the important words, nor understood the meaning. This I believe.

Now I know I am going to run into a fire storm on this next bit. This I believe.

It was also in those times the women folk of the dead man to have charge, and care for the body. What two women were doing so? Jesus mother was one, Mary Magdalene was the other. Just what was her relationship to Jesus?

We read John 20; 1. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early,

She was coming to care for the body. What was she to Jesus? We know she was a follower, but all the rest of the followers was hiding, or now was going their own ways.

When she seen the stone had been rolled away, she went flip flopping as fast as her little feet would fly to find Peter and John. Yes I wonder just what her relationship would have been to Jesus? This I Believe.

Again you need to know the place, the customs of the times. This I Believe.

Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

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Poetry Corner

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 Acts of Kindness

Cynthia Groopman

Acts of kindness, are part of the Divine inspirational plan,

given to certain special women and man.

With them, joy and gladness to others we shall impart,

To dry a tear, embrace warmly or to soothe and mend a

broken heart.

Acts of kindness in God's garden lovingly grow,

Like the waters of the mighty ocean, these acts happily

flow.

They flow from our heart to another,

To enrich the life of a sister or brother.,

An act of loving kindness, ushers in a mirthful smiling tone.

When one feels sad and

alone.

When one is in pain or ill,

An act of loving kindness is a potent cure and healing pill. When a person is afraid and trembles with fear,

An act of loving kindness fills the cup of life with security, smiles and good cheer.

When acts of loving kindness are done each day,

We make a difference in life's quality in a very profound and positive way.

Thus, my dear friend,

When you do acts of loving kindness, blessings from Heaven, to you the Dear lord will lovingly send.

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 In God's Eyes
Cynthia Groopman

In God's eyes,
All marvels of His breathtaking creation are,
His treasured and cherished prize.
In God's eyes, faces sparkle with an angelic shine,
As they were molded in a uniquely exquisite design.
In God's eyes, beauty is basking in such extreme elegance,
That exudes an aura of magnificent radiance.
In God's eyes, rare and precious jewels are we,
As He caresses and embraces us tenderly.
In God's eyes, creation is woven into a charming tapestry,
And He nurtures us with equality, respect, and dignity.
In God's eyes, we are all equal in His sight,
And we bask in the warmth of the sunshine's golden light.


Cynthia Groopman
Cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net
Copyright ©2004 Cynthia L. Groopman  

 ~**~**~

  If My Dream Came True
Cynthia Groopman

If my dream came true,
All skies won't be gray and the sun will be radiantly shining through.
If my dream came true,
I would be seeing you.
If my dream came true, Mother Nature will forever bloom,
And every month would be full of flare and flamboyance,
Like the fair princess of June.
If my dreams came true,
My Mom's elegant face would be smiling at me,
And her majestic beauty, I shall forever see.
If my dreams came true, oh I wish it were so,
We would never get old but forever we would blossom and glow.
But these dreams are merely a thought in my mind,
And puzzling answers to my questions, I shall never find.
One thing I am sure of is that God will help me along the way,
Giving me purpose, motivation and life each and every day.


Cynthia Groopman
Cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net
Copyright ©2004 Cynthia L. Groopman

~**~**~

Waves
Cynthia Groopman

Sprightly dancing,
Happily prancing.
Merrily tossing the infinite
glistening golden grains of sand, to and fro,
The pounding waves chant hello.
With each pulsating swell,
Oh what mysterious secrets they can tell.
As they rush in one direction,
As all bask in awesome reflection.
Oh, where do the waves of the vast blue ocean go?
As they radiate in the sunshine's smiling glow.
To us, all remains an unsolved mystery,
That captivates my imagination magically.
For the waves rejoicefully sing and elegantly sway,
That enchants us in a dazzling way.


Cynthia Groopman
Cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net
Copyright ©2004 Cynthia Groopman

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