Petals from the Basket

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The Traveling Picnic Basket

My parents taught me many fun ways to entertain—not just through their teaching on the subject, but by their example. My husband and I recently began to put one of these ideas into our entertaining “do-often” plans. It was such fun, that I had to share it here on the blog.

During the years that I lived with my parents to assist with my father’s care, I realized firsthand just how lonely it can be when you can’t get out of the house. I’m not just talking about being “stuck at home” for a few days. I’m talking about having trouble knowing what day it is, because every day is the same as the one that just ended. I’m referring to the feeling of knowing that the memories from the pictures on the walls will be your only “outside contact” that day. I’m recalling days on end, seeing my father know that even if he had the gumption to go somewhere, he would not physically be able to do so.

Those experiences made me more aware not only of my parents’ needs but of those currently around me who are what churches and others often call “shut-ins.” Well, I have determined that even though they are shut in their houses, that won’t shut me out of them! That’s where this fun “entertaining” idea comes in! [Thank you, Mom, for teaching by your joyful example!]

Recently, a friend of ours fell from the ladder leading into her attic, and she sustained a back injury. (Miraculously, she was not killed, as the doctors told her should have happened.) Through our church, Joe and I signed up to take our friend and her husband a meal, since cooking was tricky—at best!—for her. As we began to think about what to take, we also realized that setting the table, heating up the food, and washing the dishes were going to be no easier than if she had to prepare the meal from scratch.

Enter: the traveling picnic basket!

The day before the “event,” we called the meal recipients with three instructions/questions:

  1. Would it be okay if, when we dropped off the meal, we stayed and ate with them?
  2. They were NOT to set the table.
  3. They were NOT to do any extra cleaning or preparation. Everything was coming with us, and we would be in casual clothes.

The day of the event, we packed the following into our traveling picnic basket (and in a small, square laundry basket):

  1. Five of our glass dinner plates, bowls, glasses, cloth napkins, place mats, forks, knives, and spoons, as well as five dessert plates and dessert forks. (We had also asked permission the day before to bring along a guest—a mutual friend whose wife was recovering in the hospital following a stroke; therefore, there would be five of us.)
  2. We also packed a centerpiece (a small plant that would first sit on the center of the table and would remain behind after we left), the necessary serving dishes and utensils, crackers, soup, dinner rolls, butter, jelly, and a pumpkin pie!

When we arrived, Joe went into the living area to talk with the couple and our mutual friend. Meanwhile, I quickly set the table and put the food into the serving dishes. Joe helped fill water glasses (yes, we simply had water to drink) just before time to eat.

After a sweet time of fellowship around the table, I asked them to head into the living area for some after-dinner chat, and Joe helped me to quickly gather the dirty dishes, place mats, napkins, etc. and pack them back into the towel-lined picnic basket and laundry basket. In literally ten minutes, we were headed home, dirty dishes safely packed away in the trunk.

Before we left, we had prayer with our friends, and they each remarked as they passed the kitchen, “Wow, it looks just like it did when you came!”

For the record, in less than thirty minutes after we got home, everything was clean and put away!

So grab a laundry basket, picnic basket, or old box, pack up some dishes (they can be styrofoam if you want!), cook up a simple meal (or stop by a local restaurant for take-out…okay, fine…I confess…that’s what we did in the case I just told you about!), and don’t let the fact that someone is currently a shut-in shut you out of a wonderful visit and a unique opportunity to be a blessing!

“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people,

and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

Galatians 6:10, NASB

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By Petals from the Basket | January 25, 2018 | Ask Grandma, Entertaining, Family, Friends, Ideas, Life Changes |

Stay on Course

The Captain’s Corner

The last five years during my career as an airline pilot, I flew back and forth from Philadelphia to seven cities in Europe. International flying across the north Atlantic brought a different set of procedures and practices that were required to operate the plane safely and efficiently. It was critical that both the assigned navigation route and the course were maintained. This was accomplished through on-board computerized guidance systems. However, these systems were cross-checked every thirty to forty-five minutes by the cockpit crew to make sure that the plane was where it should be!

Similarly, God has not left us without His help. Look at Psalm 119:105 (NKJV): “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” We need guidance for everyday living as well as future guidance for the path ahead. God has promised to instruct us in the way we should go (see Psalm 32:8).

Just as the crew in the cockpit continuously cross-checks the plane’s location in order to stay on course, you can go daily to God’s Word for His guidance as you seek His will for your life.

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By Petals from the Basket | January 19, 2018 | Bible Reading, Family, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes, The Captain's Corner |

Of Jewelry Boxes and Birthdays

Joe and I are continuing our focus on accumulating less and appreciating more. The very act of decluttering has become an element of not only the things in our home but also the mind-set that affects every area of our lives. When our minds are not scattered in every possible direction, we think more clearly. When we are not trying to accomplish eight different tasks because we think we have to say yes to everything, we do with a joyful sense of accomplishment the three things we’ve chosen to do. When we create of our home a haven in which our spirits are refreshed, we are prepared to serve, help, and encourage others. Experiences, not items, are the gifts that we want to have fill our home.

If you’re reading Petals of Promises (the 365-day devotional Joe and I co-authored), you may have seen that my birthday was this past Monday (since that day’s entry made mention of that fact). My dear husband is both generous and thoughtful, so I lovingly reminded him early on that in our “experiences, not items” gifting to each other, I did not want a birthday present this year.

Imagine my surprise when my husband walked in with a signature gift box from our favorite jeweler!

However, I must pause here to make a confession that most women will find unbelievable. I may even lose credibility with some of you…but I was honestly a little miffed that he had bought me jewelry. I don’t need jewelry; I’m a minimalist in my wearing of jewelry (after years of wearing lots of jewelry…and big jewelry, at that); and we are supposed to be focusing on experiences, not items. So in that “nth” of a second when I pulled open the satin bow, I mentally prepared myself to have a right reaction and also to come up with a gracious way to tell him to please return whatever it was I was opening. Yes, I’m serious.

However, as the process of unwrapping the outer cardboard box and opening the inner jewelry box continued, I lifted the final lid and literally squealed with delight, declaring, “Best gift EVER!” when I realized that the inner jewelry box was empty!

You see, we keep an empty jewelry box on the main floor so that when we take off our rings for any reason, we always know right where they are and don’t have to worry about losing them or accidentally washing them down the drain. Last month, the box broke, and it was one of those little, insignificant things that didn’t really matter in the big picture, so I let it go and determined that yes, I could walk upstairs to use the other box we keep handy up there, or I could even still use the broken box if needed.

But Joe knew it mattered to me. He listened. He cared. And he gifted me with the perfect birthday non-gift: an empty jewelry box!

There are so many spiritual illustrations that we can draw from this that I’m not sure which one to settle on. But I do know this: sometimes nothing is the greatest gift that God can give to us. He listens to our heart’s cry. He hears our innermost longings. He knows our sincere needs. And then God, Who loves us with an everlasting love, gives us what is best for us. Trust Him. Wait for Him. Learn to squeal with delight when the box is empty.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NKJV).

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By Petals from the Basket | January 11, 2018 | Bible Reading, Events, Family, Friends, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes |

This Is Your Captain Speaking….

The Captain’s Corner

Public address announcements (“PA”s) from the cockpit to the passenger cabin are both frequent and required in airline flying. As Brenda often says, “Informed people are happy people.” This is especially true when flights are delayed, diverted, or out of the normal routine. As a pilot, my practice was to make PAs true, simple, and clear. If the flight was delayed, I would apologize and would stress what we were doing to get back on schedule. Naturally, I expressed gratitude to the passengers for choosing to fly with us.

Think about God’s special announcements, as recorded in the Bible. For example: God told Adam the new conditions under which he must live, because he had sinned against God; His promise to Noah at the ark; God’s plan for Moses as revealed at the burning bush; His commission of Joshua to lead His people. In the New Testament, God made special announcements to Joseph and Mary; to the shepherds, regarding Christ’s birth; and to John, regarding Christ’s return.

Do we have any “announcements” from God today? Yes! It is His complete love letter to us via His Word, the Bible. Second Peter 1:3–4 (NKJV) states:

“As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Proverbs 22:20 (KJV) further reminds us that He has: “written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge.”

Therefore, we can ask God to open our eyes, “so that [we] may behold wondrous things out of [His] law” (Psalm 119:18, KJV).

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By Petals from the Basket | January 4, 2018 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time, The Captain's Corner |

Choosing (and Using) Wisdom in 2018

Words will play a vital role in 2018. You will hear them, read them, write them, speak them. You will use them to demonstrate love, concern, instruction, and even anger. You will utilize their power to help form and strengthen relationships. You will call upon them to encourage you and to help you encourage others.

Words matter.

Perhaps that’s one reason that for more years than I can count now, I have chosen a “Word of the Year” prior to the start of the calendar year. It’s a word that I draw from throughout the year to keep me on track, to help me make purposeful choices, and to cling to when the words around me are calling more loudly than the desires within me. Choosing a Bible verse to memorize and to embed in my heart helps to strengthen my resolve to live out and find strength from that year’s word. It reminds me that everything I do should draw me closer to the God Whose Word is a “lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, NKJV).

Recent years have focused on words like deliberate, hope, and abundance. Last year, Joe joined me in this annual ritual, and we chose the word serve.

This year’s word? Wisdom.

This year’s verse? “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, KJV). (The photo in this post is one that I easily created on picmonkey.com and that I printed as a 20 x 30 photo and framed for our wall…for Joe’s Christmas present!)

We are asking God to help us remember that every day and every choice matter. Our desire is to use wisdom spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, and socially in 2018.

We’d love to know what word you’ve chosen for 2018. Feel free to leave a comment (or send a reply if you’re a subscriber) and share it!

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go do my first daily reading from our new devotional book, Petals of Promises. (And yes, we are truly using this as our devotional book this year!)

Happy New Year from the Hendersons!

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By Petals from the Basket | January 1, 2018 | Bible Reading, Books, Events, Family, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes, Organization |