Tag: love

Posted in Family and Society, Personal Musings, poetry

Treasure the Mishaps

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“You don’t need a reason to sing.” Marty Rubin

During the early days of family life, things were a bit tight on the home front. Juggling the work schedule with additional classes, domestic chores and running a house required help with all hands on deck. Yet each coming home from work tended a surprise from my toddler in varied ways. Some days it used be ketchup on the sofa, other days it used to be feeding the dog his cereal and so on. Each homecoming has a special style. Over time, other priorities took over with school life and sports coming t the forefront, those days still bring tears of laughter to the mind. Looking back on all the carpet and upholstery stains, the ruined clothes and memories of the “i want to help” mess, those days were priceless.

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“Children see magic because they look for it.” Christopher Moore

Juggling between the domestic and professional front, requires immense patience and fortitude especially to control the sudden change of plans, the tight schedule, conflicting times, meeting deadlines as well as reasoning out with children be it a toddler or an adolescent. Raising a child often results in beautiful moments when the adult eyes are enlightened. For the glitter around the day turns to dross later, but the spontaneity, innocence, laughter, joy and love of the present are what brings warmth to the dreary and cold days of the future, if and when they come by.

“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” Rainer Maria Rilke

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
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Source:https://vk.com/public138314547

The Handwriting On The Wall

A weary mother returned from the store,
Lugging groceries through the kitchen door.
Awaiting her arrival was her 8 year old son,
Anxious to relate what his younger brother had done.

“While I was out playing and Dad was on a call,
T.J. took his crayons and wrote on the wall!
It’s on the new paper you just hung in the den.
I told him you’d be mad at having to do it again.”

She let out a moan and furrowed her brow,
“Where is your little brother right now?”
She emptied her arms and with a purposeful stride,
She marched to his closet where he had gone to hide.

She called his full name as she entered his room.
He trembled with fear–he knew that meant doom!
For the next ten minutes, she ranted and raved
About the expensive wallpaper and how she had saved.

Lamenting all the work it would take to repair,
She condemned his actions and total lack of care.
The more she scolded, the madder she got,
Then stomped from his room, totally distraught!

She headed for the den to confirm her fears.
When she saw the wall, her eyes flooded with tears.
The message she read pierced her soul with a dart.
It said, “I love Mommy”, surrounded by a heart.

Well, the wallpaper remained, just as she found it,
With an empty picture frame hung to surround it.
A reminder to her, and indeed to all,
Take time to read the handwriting on the wall.

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
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Source:https://vk.com/pub_mdma
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Posted in Christian, Daily, Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Reflections

The Truest Form

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

The morning fiasco was marked by the hunt for red crayons, golden hearts and lots of pink, green and blue colour pencils. En route to the routine drop to school, my kindergartener enlightened me on the activities planned for the day. The story of St. Valentine in English class, valentine cards to be drawn in art class and as for math  ” to count the stars, hearts, flowers and candy”!! With all these information occupying my immediate gray memory cells, coffee break was another discussion of valentine day’s special offers, discounts and reminiscences of past days.

“There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

As the mid-day of February approaches, there is a lot of activities around this. While the focus is targeted primarily on young love, one must remember that there are all sorts of love in this world. The joy of new parents on receiving their wrapped bundle in labour rooms, the joy of the first few lurchy steps of the toddler, quiet concern between friends on the announcement of exam results, celebrations over the first match win, sacrifice of sleep hours of a night shift nurse to babysit her niece and many more instances are there in the world around us. All these are different forms and sorts of love.

“Love is like the wind, you can’t see it but you can feel it.” Nicholas Sparks

Each of us is surrounded by love. It may be manifest in many ways. From the occasional hugs from our parents, help from our spouses, efforts of our family and friends when we face a tough day, the boss’ agreement for a work in from home when the kids fall sick or an aunts’ help in designing the fancy dress costume when mom is out of town or the warm circle of child arms around us when we are tired. All these acts of help, sacrifice, kindness and care involve an amount of love. Love doesn’t necessarily mean expensive gifts, date nights, trips out of the country and the like; though the above are all really lovely experiences.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

As O’ Henry’s “Gift of the Magi” shows love doesn’t mind that extra mile. Whether it be sacrifice, more time, energy or sleep hours; love makes that extra miles of effort worth it. Such is the love that we all should strive to harbour close to ourselves. Such love should be cherished, appreciated and shared around; for this love lights up dreary hearts and brings ray of light to dull, dark dingy hours or even days.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

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Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Posted in Life, Personal Musings, poetry, Reflections

The Flashes, the Pain and the Past

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.” Haruki Murakami

Waiting in the queue for a break in the traffic, the eyes had wandered over to the playground where a couple of teens were busy with their mock football match at one end. At the far end, a few were playing throw-ball. In the midst of the latter game, a heated argument followed by a flurry of fists resulting in two players walking off. Seeing these scenes triggered off the memory of the middle school wherein peer gangs were rampant and gangs were the norm. Selection for sports as well as arts revolved around the factor of being in the know or the select few. If a art geek decided to enroll for the selection in the softball team, putting the name down would be like writing in the water and similar for a football defender who liked to indulge their culinary urge. Watching my nieces and nephews as they go through their middle school, the bite of those yesteryear still sting but lessons learnt were valuable for life.

“Memories are bullets. Some whiz by and only spook you. Others tear you open and leave you in pieces.” Richard Kadrey

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

All of us have our cache of “bad memories”. Some we tend to carry along through the childhood to the adult phase. While others we may bury them, only that they tend to surface intermittently especially when least expected. There are those days that no matter how hard one tries, they gray clouds linger and cast shadows in the mind. 

“I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance.” Beryl Markham

Dealing with those harsh memories requires one to acknowledge it, accept it and make the stern choice to move on. To forget them may be really difficult, but learning to deal with them is a must. Those cliches and gangs of middle school still exist in the adult world, albeit in a more subtle manner. The choice is to learn and then move on. Getting trapped in one phase for long, results in the soul being frozen by the rampant thoughts. While one can’t do anything about the passed years, the reaction and choice of the present lies in own hands and how deals with the circumstances. As the bad moments crowd, the purpose of the present would be to make new memories suffused with warmth, joy and laughter to live the hours of now as well as tide over the future.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

Memory

Memory engulfed so much evil,
without a count or bounds.
All the time life lied and lied,
there is no more trust in life.

Maybe, there are no cities,
maybe no green gardens,
just lives instead the power of ice,
and the salted oceans.

Maybe, the world is just all snow,
and a starlit road.
Maybe the world is all taiga
in the mind of God.

Varlim Shalimov

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
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Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

Posted in Daily, Personal Musings, Quotes, Random Thoughts

To Catch the “Now”

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

After school hours saw pairs of little legs running in the ground near home. An unexpected cloud burst resulted in these tiny legs scampering back into the shelter, while frantic adults made their way to the clothesline to grab and rush the dry linen back to safety. As the hours had passed and the sun had decided for an early night, the little legs balanced themselves cross-legged on the porch making little boats, listening for the croaking of frogs and catch a few droplets on the little palms. As the night grew stronger, the night meal was in tune with the stories of the stars above. The entire evening had a feeling of completeness, contentment and unclouded happiness.

“I always think of each night as a song. Or each moment as a song. But now I’m seeing we don’t live in a single song. We move from song to song, from lyric to lyric, from chord to chord. There is no ending here. It’s an infinite playlist.” David Levithan

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

Happiness arises from the simple things of life. Seeing through those little eyes, on learns to appreciate the simple pleasures, gifts as well as beauty of the present day, in those basic minutes. From grumbles of early rising to their joy in discovering that one can make a bridge with their forks to make milk bubbles to their unfettered joy on catching the lady bug on the leaf before the bus arrives, all these moments while taken in a hurry by the adult mind, later in silence acknowledge that these memories are quite priceless.

Be it the blooming buds and chirping of birds, to the tune of Spring, the hot summer days of lush green and impromptu picnics or lemonade runs, the colured piles of autumn leaves to jump into and the wintry snowfalls with decoration of the trees with multicolored lights, paper chains and pocketfuls of ginger snaps, these captured moments are what grace the memories of childhood as well as lighten the adult mind.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

One doesn’t need to go far to be happy. As one learns from children, happiness is always there in their own backyard. It may be in a form far from expected, but it will always be there waiting to be experienced and added to the treasure chest of memories. Isn’t it a blessing to watch it all, just to be in it and to feel the warmth of life ? To work for the love of family and prepare for the future is important. Yet the most important thing is to appreciate the present.

“Close your eyes, imagine that you are five years old, and look out the window again. Imagine that you still do not need to choose what to believe, because there is no choice – everything is one, everything is indivisible. There is no need to search for meanings, endow anything else. You still confuse “yesterday” and “tomorrow” simply because time has no cuts, it does not even last, it just is. And you just are, and this is practically invulnerable and categorically immortal. And a slice An amber melon or a mug of fresh raspberries makes you absolutely, absolutely happy … ”  E. Kasyan

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Posted in Christian, Daily, Family and Society, Personal Musings, Quotes

Braid Those Strands

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

While shopping for a house welcoming gift, my husband and I, we had finally decided on a houseplant as a gift for close friends. That is when we had chanced upon the potted version of the “money tree plant”. Pachira acquatica ( a.k.a the Malabar chestnut, French peanut, Provision tree), a tropical wetland tree is native to Central and South America where it grows as a tropical wetland tree. Surprisingly, this is sold as a houseplant with it’s trunks braided. What the reason maybe ( the seller didn’t know why), the braided trunk supports the big leaves quite well, giving the plant a wholly aesthetic and balanced look.

“Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is thread, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.” Simone Signoret

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://wikipedia.com
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

These “braided trunks” are what one needs when going through a tough spot. The courage to bear the weight through tough times doesn’t happen when the weight is born on one lone spindly stalk. Instead when a cumulative support is given, the entire matter is sorted through and one learns to rise and stand tall and strong. Relationships are never bound by chains. If ever done so, those very chains rust over time, breaking away to fine powders and falling apart with the links scattered.

“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

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Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

When these chains are held together not just by strength but by fine braids of feelings, emotions and positive associations; tendrils of love, kindness and warmth grow along and support each one through the thick and thin. Relationships grow stronger with stability, closeness and strength in God. Marriage, friendships as well as family ties require nurturing. Not just with love and kindness, merging these bonds with His Word and His Teachings abounds one with an endless source of love, grace and hope. On looking back, these are what brings a smile to the tired mind, body and soul. To experience life to the fullest, it entails one learning to hold these tiny threads above the chains. This difference is what holds the memories alive, making each day enriched and memorable over the years.

“It’s all those stories and how they braid together that tells us who and what and where we are.” Charles de Lint

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Posted in Daily, Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Reflections, Stories Around the World

Priceless in More Ways than One

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

One of the most treasured possessions in the family chest is the watch my grandfather had given my brother for his graduation. Those days with the economic slow down hitting hard, this graduation gift had meant a lot of saving, toil and loss of the daily pleasures which may have affordable if not set aside for the watch. Looking through our grandfather’s eyes, his days had echoed the effect of the Great Depression and the feel of not having the benefits of today. Each effort for a better tomorrow included certain sacrifices from both our grandparents. In comparison to the days of the present, every help or sacrifice whether it be in relative terms or not, as long as it is from the heart; it makes a difference for all.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.” Mitch Albom

None of us really don’t know the extent of the priceless things that we have been blessed with. Reflecting back, each one of us have been showered with infinite Grace and blessings, many which may go beyond than what may have been expected. Underlining these blessings, lie hidden hours of unending sacrifices and priceless sequence of events, made so by giving their all to ensure their best. The truth is the one realizes the priceless treasures that each of us hold, a bit too late. Beyond the physical world, to feel the immense selflessness, love and warmth of human nature, it is those that are priceless that matter the most.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

She paid the highest price.
The seller stood behind the store counter and stared absently at the street. One little girl went to the store and literally stuck to the window. When she saw what she was looking for, her eyes sparkled with delight. She went inside and asked her to be shown the turquoise beads. “This is for my sister. Can you wrap them beautifully?”, asked the girl. The owner looked in disbelief at the baby and asked:”And how much money do you have?” The girl pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, unfolded it and poured a handful of little things onto the counter. With hope in her voice, she asked: “Is that enough?” There were only a few small coins. The girl proudly continued: “You know, I want to make a present to my older sister.” Since our mother died, my sister takes care of us, and she does not have time for herself. Today is her birthday and I am sure that she will be happy to receive such beads, they will be very suitable for the color of her eyes.

The man took the beads, went deep into the store, brought the case, put the turquoise in it, wrapped it with a ribbon and tied a bow. ” Hold on!”, he said to the girl,” And carry it carefully!” The girl ran out and skipped toward the house. The working day was drawing to a close when a young girl crossed the threshold of the same store. She put on the counter a case familiar to the seller and separately wrapping paper and an untied bow. “Were these beads bought here? How much did they cost? ”
“BUT!”, said the owner of the store, “the cost of any product in my store is always a confidential agreement between me and the client.” The girl said: “But my sister only had a few coins.” Beads from real turquoise, right? They must be very expensive. We can’t afford it.”

The man took the case, with great tenderness and warmth restored the packaging, handed it to the girl and said:“She paid the highest price … More than any adult could pay: she gave everything she had.” Silence filled a small shop, and two tears rolled down the face of a girl clutching a small bundle in her trembling hand …

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Source:https://vk.com/public138314547
Posted in Christian, poetry

A Star, Magi and a Baby

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”” (Mathew 2:1-2)

As the feast of Epiphany approaches with the first Sunday of the year comes by, the visit of the infant Christ by the Magi is being primarily celebrated. Also known as the Three Kings‘ Day or Little Christmas, this feast celebrates the manifestation of Christ. As the three kings visited infant Jesus and brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

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These three gifts had significant meaning with gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of deity and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death, burial and healing purposes. These the three gifts signify the baby Christ as the King, God and Suffering Redeemer as well as highlight the natures of virtue, prayer and suffering.

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (Mathew 2:10-12)

In the midst of the celebrations of the feast of Epiphany, one shouldn’t forget to understand the significance and meaning of the visit of the three wise men. Like the presents brought by the three magi, we should have the true presents for baby Christ. Presents that come from the heart, reflecting the true spirit of Christian behaviour and living. As the the three most important fruits of the Spirit go by love, joy and peace; bringing these gifts and sharing them would bring far deep happiness and contentment from within.

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments

Though thousands of centuries will pass,
Oblivion will burry past dates,
But those stories live in the hearts
And they redeemed rich life!

One of them is the birth of the King!
No, not in the mansions, but in the barn of a wretched man.
A star in heaven, brighter than all grief,
All announced the arrival of God!

The Baby was lying in a small manger,
Shepherds hastily bowed before Him.
Replaced joy indefatigable fear!
Maria hugged the baby tenderly.

Christ has come! Left heaven …
Imagine this just for a moment!
Perhaps a tear flowed down his cheek,
when he made a firm decision …

Christ came so that the light would dispel darkness, to
embrace all with Father’s love, to
die for all people to Him,
and to redeem us all with pure blood!

Christ, the Savior, Jesus has come!
He was crucified … Risen !!! Now calls out:
“Leave the vice, take off your heavy load!”
He is the way and the life! And only He saves!

Christ is now not a baby in his arms,
As many depict Him.
Do not belittle the Lord in hearts!
Blessed are those who only glorify Him!

Christ has come! Many years have passed,
but He is the foundation for Christians!
And on this holiday, this Christmas,
We rejoice in this message again!

Ermolova S. (Source: vk.com)

Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
Source:https://vk.com/thesemagicmoments
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