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Welcome to Word Canvas

Welcome! I'm Suzy Parish, a Southern Inspirational writer. When I'm not locked in my office wrestling with words, I'm also a wife, mom of three grown daughters, and keeper of two crazy dogs. I look at life as a blank canvas. We each bear the marks of God’s brush-strokes in our lives and like works of art, we can be confident He lovingly paints our lives with colors that are pleasing to Him.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Best News...Ever


"This is the best sticker..." The speaker paused and took a breath for emphasis, "EVER!"
I was working at my desk in the pediatrician's office and I had to stand up to look over the counter to see the source of the tiny voice.
She looked at me triumphantly with piercing blue eyes, peering through blonde ringlets of hair. Clutched in her tiny fist was a wrinkled "Elmo" sticker.
I was touched by her total abandonment to joy, her simplicity and at the same time, deep sincerity.
I remembered when I came to Christ. Everything was brand new, every leaf shouted the glory of His name, every sunset a symphony.
It was the best day of my life...EVER.

Luke 18:15-17 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

And Then There Were Three


Well, they did it.
They went and got married.
Don't get me wrong, they didn't run off to the courthouse.
No, it was witnessed by somewhere around the neighborhood of two hundred people, and yet, it was just the two of them.
It was just the two of them, as she rounded the corner of the lodge and saw him standing there in the archway filled with trailing wisteria.
It was just the two of them, as he cupped his hands around her waist and drew her to him; told her how beautiful she looked.
It was just the two of them, preparing to spend the rest of their lives together, and in a whisper of a breeze and the grace of God, we were permitted to watch.
There weren't always just two standing there though.

Sometime during the ceremony, about the time the communion cup pressed their lips, three people stood at the altar; two in fleshly bodies,
one in a heavenly one.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Paper Doll Brides


My tomato plants are hanging upside down, as is most of my household. We are in those frantic last few days before my oldest daughter's wedding. Two households are in some sort of wedding induced chaos; the bride's household and the groom's.
As I packed some magazines that were going to my daughter's new home, I spotted "Brides" magazine on the top of the pile.
On the cover was a smiling, perfectly coiffed bride (of course) holding a perfectly fresh bouquet of perfectly arranged flowers. (She wasn't even sweating,not one perfect glisten.)

I wondered if the paper doll bride had just:
Moved all her belongings into her new place one week before the wedding because her parents air conditioner just broke.
Spent the majority of that week living with her future in-laws due to said lack of air conditioning.
Watched as her future in-laws battled ripping up their kitchen flooring due to a water leak, and trying to replace the flooring before a wave of out-of-town relatives descended upon them.
Hm.
I would have to go with answer: A. I bet not.
But then again I would also wager the paper doll bride had never experienced growing up within a few streets of the guy she dated and would later marry. I doubt if she knew what it was like to have that boy of years ago, nervous and sweet, hand her a cardboard package that he ordered "Just because he is my friend Mom." Which, when opened contained a proclamation that "The International Star Registry doth hereby re designate star number Andromeda RA 23h 15m 31s D 36' 9' to the name Stacy's Starlight."
Paper doll brides never get to find out that there is a sweetness to overcoming adversity; that the most appreciated things in life sometimes are the most difficult to achieve. That when it is all said and done, married is married. Whether the ceremony goes flawlessly or not; at the end of the evening it will only be the two of them; gazing at the stars together as husband and wife.

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