Prayer
Similar
Happy Daughter’s Day. Obviously love and miss Maggie Lee more than can begin to be expressed. Here’s a song she wrote for me entitled “Similar”
We look alike
We sound alike,
let’s just face it, since I was a tike, we’re similar
Some people say like father like son, but this battle we have won together.
The color of our hair,
The clothes we like 2 wear,
We’re similar.
You don’t look like your Mother,
We, we are like no other,
We’re similar.
You’re a comedianne,
When you drive you hit the median.
You have ADHD,
We can never find your keys,
Together.
We laugh at all the wrong times,
We’re not picky we like all kinds…..of things.
You feel the same bump in our noses,
Wr both have such long toes-es,
We both cry when we watch E.T.,
We also love to freely sing,
We often wear bling-bling
Together.
We’re similar
And sometimes we disagree,
But can’t you please see,
I love you,
We’re similar,
Together,
My Mother.
-Maggie Lee Henson, 2009
Low
The Psalmists knew how to whine, vent & gripe, right? They also knew how to explode with joyful relief. The Book of Psalms’ 150 chapters run the wheel of fortune from bankruptcy’s begging God how long must I bear pain in my soul? to the million-dollar ecstasy of Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
It is so glorious when life falls perfectly into place for us and so dire when the bottom drops out. If it is true that one purpose of our lives on earth is to learn specific lessons God has for us to learn then why would the excellent teachers albeit dreaded dark days be so shocking?
Psalm 116:6 spoke to me this morning, “The Lord protects the simple; when I was brought low he saved me.”
He saved me sounds like a swift one-handed interception for an instant win rather than the dull and painful daily process of weight room reps. Being saved after being brought low may be glancing up a year after tragedy and thinking, “Dang-look at me still breathing and half way thrilled to be alive…no way! Go me! Woo-hoo!”
While I stared at the sea monkey container of my life after we lost our child, I had to believe that, visible or not, hope was there. Floating around alive and well. The crazy thing is what brought hope from invisible to visible was the proof of it in those who loved me.
Hope showed up in a card, a meal, a kindness. People who had walked the path lending me their favorite scriptures. Latching onto life-giving passages.
Do not ask me how people inspired by God’s graceful Spirit loving you translates into strength and hope when brought low but be certain of this; it does. The vision of being saved, rescued, hopeful and seeing the sea monkeys is only possible in hind sight.
Jay Greenleaf
I cannot vacuum without thinking about Jay Greenleaf.
He popped by our Gladstone home some time in 2010 to cook something up with John. Probably to discuss the launch of Church for the Highlands of which he was a huge part.
With three dogs there was more than just love in our Dutch Colonial there was an abundance of dog hair. Embarrassed, I whipped out the vacuum while John and Jay continued their serious conversation.
Sitting facing each other with a rug and coffee table between them, I began my approach on the outer edge of the carpet, working my way closer. I guided the Kenmore Pop & Go in the direction of John’s feet. He reflexively lifted his legs without missing a beat.
The sight of a housewife in panic mode while the husband carried on a discussion must have tickled him greatly. I wasn’t sure if he thought John a Neanderthal or thought me completely nuerotic but when I turned and saw Jay’s rosy, laughing face he said, “Kinda like a sit-com, huh John?”
Over the roar of the machine I heard him and bellowed back, “Jay- you have no idea!”
It turns out that friends either don’t notice or look past things like dog hair and zany married couple dynamics. And give you credit for a tidy house even if it was not so when they arrived 30 minutes ago.
I sometimes think of Jay when the Saints or Tigers play or when a sassy Blue Jay bathes on our fountain or when I drive by Centenary. But I always think of him on the days I vacuum.
#jaygreenleaf
#truefriends
#housework
Baylor Line Run🤍
So this marks the 10th anniversary of me sneaking into that good ol’ Baylor Line to run for all those Baylor Girls who never got the chance!
When my sophomore room mate Mo and I returned to Baylor for the opening of McClane Stadium and realized that females could now partake in this storied freshman tradition, we had to run.
Being the minister’s wife I was naturally more resourceful than Mo. We purchased tickets to gain entrance into the game but had to finagle into the restricted area within leaping distance of the freshman.
Mo texted that she had been busted and her dream to run was shattered. I on the other hand was set on ready, nervously counting down the seconds until go time.
I figured that if I leapt out mid-steam and headed for the middle that if my calculations and yellow box sandals held, no police officer would fight inertia to chase me down. Right?
Finally the count down was over. The unruly runners were released and I literally took the leap from stands to astroturf. Looking up at the from my never-experienced vantage point was a huge adrenaline rush. I flung my green and gold afar and even stalked Robert Griffin. And even if ESPN is no mega fan of RG3, I still am!
When Dr. Livingstone came to Baylor I emailed her, sent this video and not long after that she invited all female alumni back to run. The greatest part about that story was her retelling the story of receiving an email from a female alumni and inviting women back to run at my nephew’s graduation. I was almost cool for about 4 minutes.
I cannot in good conscience recommend sneaking into places…highly enough. Some times when you get a really bad idea you just gotta take the leap, pray you don’t wipe out and grab a Heisman Trophy winner.
#jinnyhenson
#bayloruniversity
#baylorlinerun
#baylorline
#drlindalivingstone
#joy
#robertgriffin3 #RG3
The Way We Were
I am endeavoring to collect as many childhood photos of our Garden Park residents and staff as possible for the September / October newsletter. Here’s my 1995 self: seminary graduation with Gina.
Some of the childhood photographs I have gotten are shocking: a mischievous looking 6-year-old who is now a puzzle fanatic who curses non-stop. You can just tell she has always stirred things up in the best way.
The glance of a teenager in sepia tones posing with a telephone in the 50’s is the exact look I get within a nano second of my phone being held in her direction for a snap. She has graced many SB Magazine ads because of her ability to instantly pose.
My co-worker in the kindergarten graduation gown and white mortar board may have a perfectly straight smile now but is still as joyful and wide-eyed as she was back then.
Ms. Mary celebrates her 99th birthday today. She has brunette hair and a better memory than I do. Today when asked if she feels 99, she replied, “Some days I feel 25, some days I feel 70”
Maybe Gertrude Stein was right, we are always the same age inside.
Go Small
The young professional’s car door swung open as he sprinted toward the object in the road. Grabbing it, he swung around and took off for the duck pond. This could only mean one thing; a turtle’s entire week’s work had been erased in 30 seconds. Oh, and the turtle would live to make risky decisions another day.
From the life of Christ and his passion for the seemingly tiny things like giving a cup of cold water, sharing a single lunch and mustard seed-sized faith sounds this recurring theme: small is beautiful.
Perhaps God is most impressed when we as Mother Teresa phrased it “Do small things with great love“ Maybe the heavenly crowd of witnesses rejoice most loudly when we walk away from gossip, hold the door for a stranger or congratulate someone when they receive the thing we most wanted. I imagine each tiny kindness a pearl God strings together.
Perhaps God is also elated when we notice His tiny acts of grace and beauty. The perfect sky, daily bread, the bluest eyes in an octogenarian. The symphony of our concurrent noticing and imagining we are being noticed by our creator is just about the most beautiful way to spend a day.
#humankindness #faith #meaningoflife #turtlerescuer
#dosmallthingswithgreatlove #motherteresa
Fayetteville First
I am beyond excited about speaking at Fayetteville First UMC in Georgia this Saturday!
It’s their annual Let’s Do Lunch Women’s Event and Nancy Dennis, my mom’s bestie for 80 years and the “third Bass Twin” reached out to me about it. Here’s a pic of these three hysterical gals in Pioneer Woman wigs for their trip to Pawhuska, OK. Yes those are crock pot head bands.
We’ll be talking back to school, my prankster husband, Atlanta Braves and of course God’s redemption.
The most amazing fact of life to me is that we are granted the ability to decide how happy we will be. How wonderful is that?
My day one ride or die Colleen Doucet still keeps my comedy calendar, just email me if you ever need a speaker.
Love,
Jinny
jinnyhenson@gmail.com
Dear Maggie Lee:
Oh, ML, it’s that time of year again when the distant rear view mirror of loss turns into a compact in our hands.
The 15th anniversary of the church bus accident that divided us from you. Memories both light and dark like swirl art blended; both joy and devastation.
How could something so grave result in brightest grace in other people? How could a moment so unthinkable prompt such thoughtful kindness human souls?
How is your singular teeny, tiny life so ripple-ish? One little note reverberating longer in absentia than your 12 years on earth?
God’s economy is a mystery. God is complete mystery and anyone who claims certainty about why things happen is just shooting in the dark.
We’re all shooting in the dark for that matter.
But God is light. And you know this all too well.
Each day I consider your view from the other side of the clouds. I am jealous that your faith is sight because I see through glass darkly down here no matter how I squint.
Peace is born of faith and we are simply not privy to some information. Often I consider that even if I had the plan it would not change the plan.
I ponder what all you’ve got going on in eternity. Just spit balling here but I imagine you dragging Ellie everywhere while trying to high-five someone completely inappropriately but it’s Heaven so they’re totally down with it and don’t leave you hanging. (St. Peter perhaps?)
I thank you for the joy of being your mom. How I was ever entrusted with you I will never, ever, ever understand. I pray and fully believe that you’ll see these little people get their school uniforms at Khaki Fair in two weeks and be totally pumped about it. I have to trust that you’re allowed that view.
I pray that I have in some small measure stewarded your message of God’s love in the world.
Elle Woods Henson
Maggie Lee begged for months for a chihuahua. Finally her father broke down, “Since we already have two dogs, I’m considering this a cat.”
Little could we know the therapy dog straight from Heaven our Ellie would prove to be. When the church bus accident which would eventually claim ML’s life occurred in 2009, Ellie accompanied Jack in the car ride with church members. Having no grasp of the severity of ML’s injuries, we decided that she should come to help Maggie Lee recover. Little did we know that she would serve as a key to our recovery.
We snuck Ellie into the Batson Children’s ICU when the end was near. My Mom was nervous that we would be discovered. I figured that there was no fear of them throwing us all out at that point. Jack stowed Ellie away in a gym bag as Mom and I blocked the nurses’s view into her room. In one stealth motion, Jack unzipped the bag and placed Ellie near her mommy’s artificially ventilated chest. We wanted her to at least know that ML had not abandoned her. Whether the coin dropped in her doggy mind or not one cannot say but like so many plot twists in life we gave it our best.
To call Ellie the most important therapy dog a family could ever have is an understatement. I used to joke about my future grandchildren and she would indignantly state, “You already have a grandchild.” That is how much she adored her dog. A most un-chihuahua-like chihuahua, she was not a yippy little dog, rather a settled and beautiful soul. She was God’s comfort with fur on; comfort I could carry in a purse yet that 5 pound little person carried me.
Present at all the big charity events for the non-profit for which she was the mascot (Maggie Lee for Good) she opened Maggie Lee’s Closet, watched the Maggie Lee for Good Little League invitational and was featured prominently in all 15 MLFG T-shirts. One of ML’s favorite sayings was “Stop Dog Nudity” and one of my favorite photos is a Texas A & M Vet School Class with a huge banner stating just that. Maggie Lee for Good is a day in which people perform a good deed in our daughter’s memory. Because of the iconic photo of ML and Ellie on the MLFG Book, literally hundreds of kindnesses have been bestowed upon pet shelters, pet-fostering organizations and rescues.
Our hilarious daughter named her long-awaited puppy for Reese Witherspoon’s character in the movie Legally Blonde then proceeded to clothe her every day. I already began shopping for Ellie’s Quincenera dress. And as dearly as I wanted Ellie to have her Quincenera this September 30th, I cannot argue with God’s timing. I would rather hold on loosely in gratitude than strangle that which I feel I am owed.
I am incredibly thankful that John gave in to Maggie Lee’s fervent desire for a Chihuahua. You don’t often think of that breed as a purveyor of peace or curator of comfort but she was nothing less than the ultimate friend. She softened the brutal blow and for that we are eternally in her debt. Rest in peace & Joy, Ellie. We love and miss you.
jinnyhenson.net 