Hotel on the Conner of Bitter and Sweet

I worked in the garden most of the day today with my oldest son and his friend Ben. I noticed two things about the day. One was the beauty of the sky, blue as could be and the green of the grass in contrast. Add to that the flowers that are in bloom and it created that "stop and appreciate the beauty around me" kind of feeling. The second thing that loomed in the background of my appreciation of the beauty around me, was the destruction and devastation that others in our country were experiencing.

How could I be enjoying this gorgeous day when others were witnessing and partaking in something they could not imagine the reality of in their wildest dreams? The unspeakable fear...It made me think of a title of a book that I saw at Barnes and Noble that stopped me in my tracks some time ago,

  The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. 

I remember thinking at that time, "Wow, what a great title for Life."Don't we all live on a corner that has moments both bitter and sweet? 

Today exemplifies that feeling a hundred times over.

For those who have not been affected by the tornadoes in Oklahoma and are living surrounded by the beauty of everyday, here are some ways that you can help those who are living through some bitter times. These updates were posted on Ree Drummond's Blog, The Pioneer Woman. Thanks Ree for keeping us informed of how we could help.

Salvation Army
Supporters are encouraged to give online at www.SalvationArmyUSA.org or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769). You can also text the word “STORM” to 80888 to make a $10 donation through your mobile phone; to confirm your gift, respond with the word “Yes.”

Samaritan’s Purse
Samaritan’s Purse has deployed a team to Moore, Oklahoma and will respond to the current needs in any way they can.

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, in partnership with Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, is asking that the public support all rescue, recovery and disaster relief efforts with donations of cash to your favorite responding charity. Financial donations will allow disaster relief agencies to purchase whatever items are deemed necessary without resulting in the additional burden of securing warehouse space and volunteers to work donated product.
To make a tax deductible donation to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, go to www.regionalfoodbank.org or call 604-7111 or text FOOD to 32333 to give $10 to relief efforts.

Feeding America
Feeding America will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to impacted areas through its network of more than 200 food banks and 61,000 agencies. The organization’s food banks will also set up additional dropoff sites.

Convoy of Hope
International humanitarian relief organization Convoy of Hope is responding to the Moore, Okla. area this morning. Immediately after the devastating tornadoes struck, a Convoy of Hope assessment team was in the area and tractor-trailers were loaded with emergency supplies at Convoy of Hope’s World Distribution Center in Springfield, Missouri.
Those wishing to make a contribution to the OKC and Midwest tornado relief efforts can make a secure online contribution by visiting: http://www.convoyofhope.org. To place a $10 donation on your cellular bill, text the word CONVOY to 50555. Standard text and data rates apply.

UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief)
100% of Oklahoma-directed donations will go toward relief efforts.

American Red Cross
People who wish to make a donation can support American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps provide food, shelter and emotional support to those affected by disasters like the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas as well as disasters big and small throughout the United States by visiting redcross.org, dialing 1-800-REDCROSS or texting REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Central OK Humane Society (For the pets left homeless and injured.)
Currently greatest need is financial donations to help treat and house lost and injured animals. Current in-kind needs are: Towels, paper towels, bleach, gloves, and crates. All donations can be taken to either Central Park Dog Daycare location (2905 NW 70th and 5420 N. Classen Blvd.) Pet food donations may be taken there as well.

Thank you for sending your love and prayers to Oklahoma. This is our home and it’s hard to see the suffering. ~ Ree

Let's all help the people of Oklahoma in whatever ways we can. May they experience beauty in their lives again soon.

Meg

Designing 4 Hope

 When a child is struck with a major illness it rocks the world of the entire family. Where normalcy once reigned, fear and uncertainty set in. At our past Spring Barn Sale, a shopper told me about an organization that he has worked with called Designing 4 Hope. As the name suggests, this organization redesigns the child's bedroom creating a place for them to" rest, recover, heal and dream." They create an environment designed around the child that helps them to forget about needles, hospitals and their treatments. Once they accomplish this, they take on the rooms of the siblings, who are often lost in the shuffle of the care that is required for their brother or sister.

When I heard about this organization, it really struck a chord. For as many of you know who follow this little blog, our son Shane has been dealing with an obscure syndrome that took him from being a healthy athletic teenager who competed on his school's football and wrestling teams his Freshman year to a teenager who could no longer compete athletically let alone stay up for more that a few hours at a time. When he was diagnosed with POTs (Postural orthostatic tachycardia) it was a relief to hear a name to what was causing his health problems. Now that we had a name and knew what we were dealing with, we could tackle it. Three years later, he is still dealing with it and even though we hear that there is an end...it is not in sight and it might be a couple more years until he can regain any sense of normalcy.

After the sale was over, I had time to look up Designing 4 hope and I felt an immediate connection to what they do. Shane's illness does not make him critically ill, it has not required numerous surgeries with prolonged hospital stays. It is a life altering illness and one that causes Shane to be on numerous medications and to spend inordinate amounts of time in his bedroom, either sleeping or just laying down because he feels a heck of lot better when he is in the "postural" position due to the poor circulation issues. I immediately thought of the kids whose lives were being altered and who were coming home from a long hospital stay and were confined to their beds for days and sometimes weeks on end. How great would it be to make a place that was beautiful for them to rest, relax and heal in? A place that if they were confined there, was a place of optimism, light and beauty. Often times a critically ill child causes hardships in the financial arena as well as all the other areas that it affects and there are no funds to put towards creating that space. This is where Designing 4 Hope comes in. 

I reached out to Lori McHale who started Designing 4 Hope and after meeting with her and her husband, how could one not be inspired by what they do there? We are looking forward to partnering with them for our Summer Sale to try and raise both awareness and funds to continue their mission of Hope. Stay tuned to the details but we will be having a kick off party to benefit Designing 4 Hope on June 13th. Put it on your calendar so you can join us in making their mission fruitful!

Thanks for listening!

Meg

Whew!!! What a whirlwind!!

Last minute prep happening before last week's Preview Party for our Spring Barn Sale and Art Show! The party and sale weekend were a ball! Full of friends (old and new), absolutely beautiful weather and   people showing up to see what we are all about! I hope that you had a wonderful time during your visit with us!

One thing that a sale weekend entails is weeks and weeks of before hand preparation. We always think that we have it totally under control and then one week before the event is to take place we are still rushing around like chickens with our heads cut off! Completing tasks like pricing, painting, hammering, hanging, vignetting, unpacking those shipments that were promised for 3 weeks ago, recycling all the trash that comes with them, ( talk to Chris, she calls me the recycling gestapo!) putting final details on the design, planting flowers, making food, herding goats (I will get back to this later). It is a whirlwind to say the least and exhausting but a ton of fun and well worth all the effort!

Friends kick in with their collaborative efforts and we get it all done! Usually, just in the nick of time!

We are even enlisting and training the children of friends...who we have to say are the best helpers ever!!!

Some we are even training to be goat herders, called in to round up errant goats who happened to walk right in the upper barn with some of the Preview Party guests with baaahhhh-d timing! 

Some family members are enlisted as bartenders and have taken up social bantering with the best of them. (Dad)

Others are enlisted to create beautiful skirts for a woman who would rather be shopping for a chippy old cupboard than clothes. (my sister... the woman she is clothing shall remain nameless)

The end result is a venue where people can come and experience what we have tried to create here...a little slice of heaven, surrounded by objects that are well worn or look like they have borrowed design elements from a time in the past, mixed with an eclectic sprinkling of artist's works. All housed in a beautiful old dairy barn where the saying, "they don't make em like they used to," really rings true.

We juggle our "other" lives as we like to call them, while in the middle of all of this and are very thankful to have people who appreciate what we do and who take the time out of their crazy busy days to stop by. We LOVE it and we appreciate each and every one of you!

Chris juggling her other life while trying to get an internet signal. 2 feet thick stone walls really create a problem for wireless service and thus entail the scouting out of spots where you can get service...perfect seat!

We will post later about the organization that we hosted the Preview Party for and fill you in on our next project coming up very shortly...in honor of the big day coming up in May for Moms. Can you guess???

With gratitude and until next time...

Meg