Hugs and Prayers

I believe if there was more hugging, praying and listening to one another, there would be less hatred, bigotry, judgment, and violence. It is very difficult to hug and pray for someone and continue to hate them or fear them. You see them as they truly are, a person, just like you, with faults, foibles, gifts and goodness. (Yes, I believe there is some goodness in every person on earth. Every person.) If you actually listen to people, most of the time you will find they want the same things you want: love, safety, security, acceptance, and…love again! We’re all different people, but all people nonetheless. So, the next time you’re tempted to tell someone off, hate someone because of their ethnicity or different viewpoint or lifestyle, or worse, take a deep breath, remember they are human just like you, give them a hug either in actuality or in your heart, and say a prayer for them. Jesus said to pray for your enemies and to love one another. I think a lot of good things could come from following those instructions and examples that He gave of that. (Have you ever noticed that what Jesus taught and Jesus did were completely the same?)

Do you think hugs are too simplistic or that people won’t accept them well? Here are a few instances that reveal the error of that idea.

*One day at a grocery store, a complete stranger, an older woman, came up to me, started talking to me, and by the end of the conversation we were hugging and loving one another like long lost relatives. She was old, lonely, and just needed some love and attention. Okay, I’ll come clean, this wasn’t a one time event. It happens to me all the time! I think I must have a sign on my back that says, “Need a hug? Come to me!” Hahaha!

*At a job I had at the Texas Tech medical school, one day a young man who was HUGE, but greatly mentally challenged, broke free from his caregivers and charged down the hall at me yelling, “Want to bite! Want to bite!” He ran into my office, grabbed me by the arm and raised it towards his face as though he was going to bite my arm. (I was terrified! He could have bitten my arm in two. He was that big.) I patted him on his arm and gave him a gentle hug and said, “You don’t really want to bite me, do you? My name is Elaine. Did you know that God loves you?” He put my arm down, returned my hug in a nearly rib-cracking manner and apologized right before his caregivers caught up to me. He was calm for the remainder of his visit and kept repeating, “God loves me! God loves me!”

*As a final example among hundreds, one day I came across a young man who was obviously a criminal, a drug dealer, a gang leader. It was a highly charged, scary situation. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time quite by coincidence. There were other young men with him and all looked like they’d just as soon injure me as look at me. To this day I don’t know why I did this, but I believe the Holy Spirit took me over because I walked up to this scary looking big gang member and gave him a hug and told him God love him. He grasped me to him, hid his face in my shoulder and started crying! I’m not talking a little bit of tears. I’m talking body wracking sobs. He was trying to hide this from his fellow gang members, but whispered to me, “Do you really think God loves me after all I’ve done?” I assured him that God did love him, even now. Then I said something my Grandmother Gill used to say, “It’s time to come back to God’s country.” He shook his head in agreement, asked me to give him a moment to compose himself and thanked me as he let me go.

These are but a few examples of all the people I’ve met in life who just needed a hug and a reminder that they were loved by God, if no one else, and that they mattered. Now, I’m not suggesting you go up to a stranger on the street and give them a hug without asking. I am suggesting that when opportunities arise to give a hug or even a pat on the shoulder…take it! Pray for these people! Remember them and keep praying for them! We’re all humans who need love, even if we’re all different from each other. Thank God we’re all different from each other and have such variety! How boring would an entire world of Elaines be? Ugh! Actually, the world would fall apart if everyone were like me because although I’m a hugger, prayer, and lover of people, we also need accountants, doctors, lawyers, garbage collectors, mechanics, engineers, peacekeepers, artists, judges, factory workers and even politicians to keep the world running properly and with beauty. Ever single one of those people, though, needs love, or at the various least, respect. So, love, pray, hug.

Peace and love, always,

Elaine

1 Corinthians 13:1-8
The Greatest Gift
​ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

My Yard Is A Rainforest

My yard has become a rainforest this year.
When you get more than twice as much rain
as the average each year,
in a usual arid environment,
one day you open your front door and realize
that somehow your front yard has wandered
to the Bahamas or perhaps to Brazil.

There are sunflower plants and thistles taller
than I’ll ever be.
There are trees that never existed before,
in places I’ve never seen.

The ivied vines are growing on bricks
like we’ve been transported to New England,
with colonies of very odd insects
invading our spaces.

Once there were only rocks, flowers
and an occasional wasp in the season,
now there are these weird bugs,
that bite without reason!

Yes, it looks like my work is cut out
for me today,
so I can see the blue skies and flowers
and neighborhood again.

I have to admit, though,
as I sit here
in awed wonder,
should I leave nature alone
and enjoy the rare trips
I feel I have made,
to other continents and places,
simply by the green forest
that the bountiful rain has made
in my usual brown spaces?

© Elaine Wood-Lane
7/24/15

Can’t Sleep? Write Something…

Between two snorers,
One a dog and one a man,
Fans nearly drown sounds…

More thoughts come at night,
When paper is nowhere near.
This time iPhone appeared.

Body is aching,
My old heart did some breaking,
That happens when friends
Go to heaven.
They’re happy, so happy,
But we grow oh so sad.

I found out today that a wonderful woman I had known since 1987, Carrie Wardroup, passed away last month. Today was her 80th birthday and I was going to wish her a happy birthday on Facebook as we do these days, and instead learned she had moved to heaven last month. I instantly burst into sobs and tears. My throat throbbed, my heart ached and, I just hurt.

I first met Carrie at TTUHSC when she worked in OB/GYN. She called me to tell me I was pregnant and congratulated me two hours before I miscarried. It was the last time I was ever pregnant. Carrie called me at home the next day to check on me, not as part of her job, but because that was just Carrie. She cared about people. We became instant friends even though we worked in different departments.

Fast forward six or seven years and suddenly we worked for the same pediatric clinic at TTUHSC, the CARE Center. I was her supervisor, which felt weird at first, but worked out fine. How often does one get to supervise a good friend that you think of as a mentor? I think we both learned from each other. We also had a lot of fun, shared joy, worries and griefs. She was 26 years older than me, but taught me how to be young as long as we live. She will always be a part of my heart and who I am. As a matter of fact folks, you can blame/credit Carrie for setting my weird, wild daring sense of humor free.

I’ll love you forever,
You’ll always be close,
I get to talk last,
So this time,
I love YOU most!

Viva los zapatas Carrie!!! 😂

Elaine Wood-Lane
7/23/15

Major Announcement!!

First off, I promise this major announcement won’t be like the major award received in the movie, “The Christmas Story.”  No leg lamps here!  (Some of you may be too young to even remember that movie, but if you get a chance to watch it during the Christmas season, you should!)

So, my major announcement is that I’m starting up a transitional coaching ministry!  My primary focus will be on helping people who are in transitional phases of their lives to set goals for themselves during this period and to find the steps they need to take to attain their goals and ultimately to find peace and joy in their new life situation. I’m very excited about this and hope you will help spread the word for me about it because my genuine hope and prayer is that I can serve others and help them through transitional times in their lives by listening, praying, and encouraging them on their journey. I am not a counselor or a psychologist. What I am offering is to be a friend who comes alongside others to help them find their way.

I’ve set up a new blog for this ministry and it can be found at: findingjoyonyourjourney.com

I will be posting on that blog site as well, but on subjects specific to transition coaching. Also, if you or someone you know would like to set up a time to meet with me, details can be found on that website/blog page for that as well. I’m still working out a few kinks on the site so if you click on something and it doesn’t work, please bear with me as I’m trying to get it all sorted out!

I will still be posting poetry, stories and will continue my travel journal here on Pocket Full of Words too so I think I’m going to be very busy.

Peace and love, always,
Elaine

Kindness and Goodness Wins!!

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As many of you know, I’ve traveled a lot this summer. My husband and I traveled to Ireland, Spain, England, and spent one day in France. Then last week I traveled to the Chicago area to spend time with my baby grandson, daughter-in-law and son.

I’ve said all my life that I truly believe there are more kind and good people in the world than there are mean and evil people, but kindness and goodness doesn’t get much press because it’s not as sensational. Frankly, I think kindness and goodness is so “common” that it’s not considered news.

I know I don’t have any scientific data to back up my claims that there are more kind and good people in the world than mean and evil people, but I do have my own experiences and I’m happy to report that everywhere I’ve been and of everyone I’ve met, kindness and goodness wins! I can honestly only think of two people this entire summer of traveling that were short-tempered, grumpy and a little scary. This is out of hundreds, if not thousands, of other people I was around or met. For those of you who like scientific data, let’s just say I made contact with 100 people directly over the course of the summer and only 2 of those 100 were jerks. That’s 2% of the population! I actually met or was surrounded by thousands of people and still only two people were not nice. Even those two people who weren’t nice weren’t being ugly to me, but to other people.

Let that sink in a minute. Only two people out of thousands in several countries in the world were unkind and rude. For all I know those two people might have been having exceptionally bad days or some sort of personal crisis going on that caused them to be that way on that day.

On the other hand, I can’t tell you how many people held doors for me, spoke pleasantly, cooperated and played well with others in group situations, and in general were just great people! For heavens sake, in Dublin, I took myself out of the Friday 5:00 PM crush of people on the street for a breather and a complete stranger walked over to make sure I was ok and not hurt or something! He was genuinely concerned about me!

In Spain when we thought we had lost our luggage, we had no less than three people help us by translating for us, looking up our information, and taking us through a back door, bypassing security, to pick up our luggage. The clerk was nice, a young woman who could speak three or four languages was nice and another guy was patient by letting us go ahead of him in line. I would even add that the language lady spent at least 20 minutes of her own personal time to assist us! She didn’t work for the airlines. She had nothing to gain by taking the time to help us. She just did it and we were most appreciative!

In London, the man at the flat management office went so far and above the call of common courtesy. He was wonderful and so helpful to the two fish out of water from Colorado. He was originally from eastern Europe and had worked hard to get to his position of management, but didn’t let it keep him from being patient and kind.

I felt like I made some real connections with complete strangers on the trip too and some of them have even become Facebook friends because we had a good time together and truly connected.

Do you know what most of these kind people spoke of when we visited together? Their families, friends, and other loved ones. Ok, there was the one taxi driver who regaled us with all the anecdotes about famous people he had met and ferried around, but in the end he spoke about his wife of many years whom he obviously loved more than anyone else.

So, what’s my point besides the fact that I believe there are more kind and nice people in the world than mean and evil people? Well, it’s like this. If we just listen to the news, read the internet, watch movies, or other media, it sounds like the world is going to hell in a handbasket and it’s just a matter of time until we all blow ourselves up. There’s this sense of “protect yourself because everyone else is out to get you.” From what I’ve seen in the world, that’s just not true. There are people out there who are mean and vengeful and terrorist in nature. I know that. I’m not totally naive regarding that fact. However, I believe there are so many more good people in the world who come together and help one another who save the day in the end. I find great hope and comfort in that. I hope you will too. Be kind. Be loving. Quit arguing over little things that don’t matter. Quit arguing and being hateful on social media over big things that do matter. You’re not going to change someone’s mind by being harsh. Be nice to someone, though, listen respectfully, and respond in kind, and maybe you’ll both change your minds a little bit. Remember, we’re all in this world together and if we work together, kindly and generously, we’ll all be much better off. I believe in the world’s overall kindness. Some may think I’m crazy, but just imagine the amazing possibilities if I’m right…

Peace and love, always,

Elaine

Sorry I’ve been absent so long…

I’ve been far away,
in distance both thought and miles.
I’m bathed in sunlight.

Body and mind back,
to write of much things you see,
Haikus are blessings…

at least to me.

I’ve been so busy with travel, family, job plans and dreams, I’ve been rather absent from my blog, but I have many things to share over the next several days and weeks so brace yourself! 😉

Love and blessings, always,

© Elaine Wood-Lane
7/16/15