Do You Have the Answer?

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Posted on May 19, 2015

When we can’t piece together the puzzle of our own lives, remember the best view of a puzzle is from above. Let Him help put you together.” ~ Terri Guillemets

Did you see the images of the two churches posted on yesterday’s blog called Where is this Place? If not, scroll down to view them or follow this link.

Today, I’ll share a few more pictures to help in your quest to solve the puzzle. The images from Edifice #1 are all taken from the exterior surrounds of the structure, except for one. The grounds are beautiful, immaculate and a very peaceful place to visit. Where is it?

All of the images of Ediface #2 (below) were taken inside the structure. Although the exterior of the building is impressive, more stunning are the interior colors, the icons, the painted ceilings and walls. The interior is as awesome as some of the greatest cathedrals of Europe.

If you know where these two churches are located, hurry and comment on this blog. The first person to correctly identify the names of these places of worship wins a complimentary copy of my memoir, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. The answers will be revealed tomorrow morning on All Things Fulfilling.

Good Friday Travels

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Posted on April 3, 2015

Easter is God’s blessing to the world. It is his way of telling us that, love and hope, still exists in the world. ~ Unknown

Today, on Good Friday a processional walk, a spiritual reenactment, will begin at the Colosseum in Rome and end in St. Peters Square for an open-air Mass on Easter Sunday. Throngs of people make their own solemn pilgrimage following the path Jesus took as he walked and prayed The 14 Stations of the Cross.

Catholics are not the only people who seek to have a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the holy city of Rome. Every year, thousands of tourists ask travel companies to help them plan a trip to Italy during the sacred Easter week. Many special events are held in Rome this week including classical music concerts.

If you have the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to the Papal City, remember to book your trip many months in advance, especially if you plan to visit during holy week.

Today I’d like to share a few pictures of the city of Rome during Easter week. I hope you will return to All Things Fulfilling on Monday.

No matter where you plan to go this Easter weekend travel safely. Make it a special weekend with your family as you remember the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, the award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.

Revelations about my Mother

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Posted on November 4, 2014

“A man is a little thing while he works by and for himself, but when he gives voice to the rules of love and justice, he is godlike.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My mother didn’t know I was going to snap this picture. She was looking at me as I was exclaiming about the beauty of the place we had discovered in our travels on the Eastern shore of Maryland. I couldn’t help myself. She was perfectly positioned in a place where I think she’s belonged all her life. Behind the podium on an altar.

“Why is that?” you might ask. I think she missed her calling. She should have been a pastor. She has ministered to almost as many people over the course of her lifetime than any chaplain by:

Feeding the masses
Caring for the sick
Counseling the disheartened
Opening her heart, doors and table to strangers and friends alike

My mother told me that even as a little child, she was drawn into a church. Her father drove her on Sunday mornings and dropped her off, where she sat alone in a pew listening to the sermon. She said she loved the “peacefulness of it.”

She never pursued the life of a reverend formally. She was born 85 years ago, and back then there were few choices for women, and they didn’t do that. She fell in love with my father at the tender age of 12 and they created a beautiful life for themselves together. Their marriage has lasted 65 yrs and counting.

Mom found her own way to minister to people, including building an outstanding relationship with an African American woman, who was needy and appeared at my parent’s door one day back in the 1950s. That wonderful woman became part of our family. If you want to know more about this story, “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” tells it. Follow this link for more information.http://amzn.to/1vDFUMt.

Today, Mom I salute you! This is how I’ve seen you throughout your lifetime – leading people surrounded by tall trees in a setting just like in these picture!

Do return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling. More photos from the Shrewsbury Parish Church will be posted. The place was a most welcomed respite from our travels off the beaten path of the Eastern shore of Maryland.

Wandering Early Places of Worship

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Posted on October 31, 2014

“Ghosts wandering here and there troop home to churchyards.” ~ William Shakespeare

Today, as promised, I’d like to share more about my fulfilling travels to St Paul’s Kent in Rockhall, Maryland. If you are ever in the area, do stop by and visit this historic Anglican Church. It was organized in 1692 after William and Mary ruled England. The historical facts about the church are many but, here is a brief synopsis about the structures in the 19 acre churchyard.

The first building was 40 X 24 ft – erected by Daniel Norris (1695 – 1696)
The present church was constructed in 1713 at the cost of 70,000 lbs of tobacco
34 pews were contained in the original structure
It is only one of four 18^th Century churches to have a semicircular apse
Church walls feature Flemish bond brickwork
Semicircular arches are above doors and windows
Church remodeled in 1940 with an addition adding 23 new pews
The stained glass window in the chancel cost $250 back in 1864
The church bell was installed also in 1864 for $10
The Marble baptismal font was a gift by the congregation to the church in 1863
The Parish House, offices and classrooms were added in the later part of the 20^{th Century.}
Actress Tallulah Bankhead is buried in the churchyard at St Paul’s Kent.

Although our country is relatively new compared to European history, getting out and exploring historic churches and museums in Maryland is a fascinating way to spend a beautiful fall day. Not too far from St Pauls, Kent is the African-American Schoolhouse Museum.http://bit.ly/1tFqu9R. Since I was headed north to another historic church called Shrewsbury Parish, I’ve saved that museum until I return next time to the Eastern shore of Maryland.

I hope you enjoy these images of the historic landmark church St Paul’s Kent. It is a beautiful and holy place for reflection and meditation!

Below Photos: Another structure in the churchyard – Circa 1766 according to bricks on the side of the building. This building was inaccessible but peaking through the windows there were identical fireplaces on each side of the interior of the structure. The photo of the fireplace was taken through old windowpane.

Happy Halloween, everybody. On Monday I will making revelations about my mother and our stop at Shrewsbury Parish – off at the beaten path of the Eastern shore of Maryland.

This blog is brought to you by http://www.AllThingsFulfilling.com.For information on Sue Batton Leonard’s EVVY award-winning memoir, please visit this link http://amzn.to/1vDFUMt.

Acorns in Rock Hall

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Posted on October 30, 2014

“There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves.” ― Joe L. Wheeler

It’s crazy! Yesterday morning I was awake at 4am thinking of my travels of the day before. I had visited with my parents a church of historical importance in Rock Hall, Maryland. St Paul’s Kent http://www.stpaulkent.org was established in 1692 and probably the earliest surviving Anglican Church on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The church is set among 19 acres of huge trees which dwarf the edifice itself. There, among the rotted leaves of fall, I came across something that set off a whole plethora of unrelated nostalgic images. I began to think of things I hadn’t thought about for decades.

Thousands and thousands of acorns lay on the ground among crisp, rustling brown oak leaves that had fallen from the trees. The smell of autumn was so earthy and pungent that it was like sensory overload from my past. As children, my sister and my two brothers and I spent hours every fall cavorting and frolicing in piles of leaves in pure unadulterated bliss!

“Look, Mom,” I shouted out, with the delight of a 10 year old little girl. Remember how we used to collect acorns and pretend they were Brownies (aka young Girl Scouts)?

“I sure do!” my mom said. Even at 85 her memory is rather good. Besides she was an assistant trooper leader, so I had little doubt she would have forgotten.

“Remember how sometimes we used acorns for craft projects? We painted girl’s faces on the nut and the top of the acorn, looks like a Brownie’s cap.” I said to my mother.

“Yep! You girls sure had fun doing that,” said my mom, bending down to pick up a handful of acorns laying at her feet.

Now, here comes the big question – How did I get from the image of an acorn looking like a “Brownie” with a round face and cap to the memory of making fried marble jewelry this morning? That is where my mind traveled next. Egads – my brain must be all scrambled up! I hope I don’t make fried marble jewelry for breakfast. Funny how our mind goes with no logical reason.

Today I’ll share images of the lovely churchyard at St Paul’s Parish, Kent in Rock Hall, Maryland.

Note: Many gravestones date back to the late 1600s. Sea captains and other well-known people including Tallulah Bankhead are buried in this 19 acre churchyard.

Do return tomorrow I will be sharing images of the structures that were built some 300 years ago with Flemish bond brickwork.

This blog brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her EVVY award winning memoir “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected” please visit this link.http://amzn.to/1vDFUMt.

Meeting Needs, Circuitously

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Posted on August 1, 2013

“I’m conscious of a series of circles working its way through my life.” ~ Ben Okri

Image above: Artist Nathalie Parenteau

There has been a certain synchronicity lately on All Things Fulfilling around the theme of building things – building stone walls and memorials, building a beautiful home and family, building business through our passions, building meaningful relationships between people and community.

If you read yesterday’s blog called “Riding the Circuit,” there was a bit of self-deprecating humor over searching for answers to what the term “circuit rider” means. Here is a continuation of my story.

As a first time visitor, I opened the red doors to the tiny UnitedMethodistChurch on TaylorsIsland with quiet trepidation, and with much curiosity about what this “circuit rider” my mother spoke of might look like. I imagined someone in the pews would be wearing a cowboy hat, since that is what I had grown accustomed to seeing on Sunday mornings as I entered the UMC in Steamboat, Colorado. From my relatively new Western point of reference, in my mind a circuit rider is a cowboy who rides the rodeo circuit.

In I entered. I sat in a pew behind a small group of people who turned, smiled warmly and said “Good morning, welcome!”

“No cowboy hats in this crowd, East coast dress code” I thought. I sat quietly and reverently listening to small town conversation around me. Finally, someone remarked that “the Reverend must be running late.”

“No big deal,” I thought. I was used to people running late, in places where people recreate (in vacation places like shore towns and ski resorts) people have more laid back attitudes, and seem to run on their own time clocks.

Finally, in the Reverend walked. What I came to find out after the powerful, inspirational sermon he delivered was that the “Rev ” is the “circuit rider” my mother talked about. He goes around fulfilling the spiritual needs of people at four services, at four different churches on Sunday mornings. That’s why he is called a circuit rider! To read more about this preacher’s life, please visit this article. http://delmarvane.ws/1bqWxTq. This minister has been serving people for almost sixty-six years helping to build one-on-one relationships between people and God, in different communities.

Tomorrow, a shorter blog. I promise! This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Stone Preservation

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Posted on July 29, 2013

“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them or build with them.” ~ William Arthur Ward

Beautiful stone creations with historical value – things to preserve rather than destroy. Building with stone goes back centuries. Along with our culture’s growing passion for geneology, there has been an increasing interest in the art of preserving stone monuments and markers in America. Even the finest historical markers and structures made of rock, like cathedrals, churches, castles, bridges and roads need attention because their integrity becomes compromised due to land development, weather, neglect, acid rain and vandalism.

Jonathan Appel, is a stone conservator who has been working in graveyards to preserve monuments and markers in Civil War areas, such as in Frederick, Maryland. http://bit.ly/18ApKGI. Finding fulfillment in preserving our country’s history on holy grounds, he trains others to become monument conservators through workshops.

Last weeks blog about the building of rock sculptures for a unique, personal reason left me feeling uplifted, because one man’s efforts became an community building event. Out of all the statues, obelisks, monoliths, pillars and plaques that have been created to memorialize the spirit of beings, all over the world, I hope an overwhelming number of them have been placed to remember positive spirits who have existed on earth.

If you did not read the blog or watch the video about community efforts to support a grieving man and his art, visit this link. It’s an interesting story. Let me know what you think. http://bit.ly/145b3xc

Please return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow for more independent thoughts, words and views from www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com . Our blog tomorrow is about a special angel and how that angel has inspired a blog that I believe deserves special mention for it’s beauty.

Film Friday: Red Doors

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Posted on June 14, 2013

Never lose a holy curiosity ~ Albert Einstein

I am trying to put two and two together, and it has me inquiring. As I have driven around the Mid-Atlantic States, I have noticed a trend that never occurred to me before.

What is it about churches and red doors? There must have been a run on them at some time in history because they seem to be prevalent. Or perhaps, I think, “maybe I am reading into something that isn’t there.”

As I have come to find out, red doors on churches, apparently, do have historical and meaningful significance. They indicate a place of harbor for those who are facing life’s storms. Physical and spiritual protection is found for many who open and enter into crimson-colored doors.

Did you know there is an award-winning film called Red Doors?

http://www.reddoorsthemovie.com/story.html. It is not a new release but it still has relevance in the world today and it is worthy of attention. The film is about a family that is trying to communicate its feelings and each member is doing their own soul searching about relationships. Diversity of culture is also a theme that runs throughout the movie.

If you are looking for something to do that is thought provoking this weekend, Red Doors may be the solution. Click for Info & Ordering Red Doors

Before you leave this website, there are photos below of some of the places that have given me inspiration for this writing.

Come back on Monday, we will share some other independent thoughts, words and views from author Sue Batton Leonard and www.allthingsfulfilling.com , the blog of www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com .

Photo Above: Old Trinity Church, Church Creek, Maryland – built between 1686- 1692 http://oldtrinity.net/aboutus.html

Photos Below: Other ” Safe Harbors ” on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Providential Visit

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Posted on May 22, 2013

All that I know of tomorrow is that Providence will rise before the sun ~ Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

It’s a city rising, moved by philanthropists, architects, artists, bankers, shopkeepers and others who have engaged in The Providence Portrait Project http://providenceportraitproject.com/ to revitalize Providence, R.I. a city full of history, art, architecture. I enjoyed a day in this city last week when I went to visit my niece who is an architect at Union Studio Architects, and is currently involved in the design of a new library in Tiverton, Rhode Island. http://www.unionstudioarch.com/ .

I encountered so many wonderful sites in Providence that had to do with architecture, history, libraries, books, art, design and education that I will share what I saw through images, rather than words. Enjoy the pictures!

My next stop will be in a city of mansions where wealthy bankers, investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs lived in the early days of our country. Many of them invested in the railroad which allowed for westward expansion of commerce and thus, more prosperity for citizens of our country. Many of the castle-like mansions have become museums, open to the public for touring.

Do return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow.

Above two images – my niece Kara explaining about the Providence Portrait Project http://bit.ly/14tLl1w.

The roof top garden above Union Studio Architects

Image above: Symposium Books, Providence, RI www.symposiumbooks.com

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

Image above & below: Athenaeum Library http://www.providenceathenaeum.org/

Twin Sisters (yeah, I know, it’s hard to believe) together at the List Art Center

Walter Feldman Book Arts Studio http://brown.edu/academics/visual-art/facilities

At the Gates of Brown University, Providence, RI http://www.brown.edu/

Image above: John Hay Library http://library.brown.edu/about/hay/

Three Images Below: Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology

http://bit.ly/YXjcPb

Above: Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts http://bit.ly/16MpQN5

Above Image: The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab in Providence, RI http://naturelab.risd.edu/

Photo above & below: Strolling the streets of Providence looking at church architecture and steeples.

A beauty, isn’t it?

Image below: Grace Episcopal Church, Providence, RI

I found providence, grace and many more fulfilling things in Rhode Island! Thank you Kara, for being a tour guide and showing the sites.

Please return to www.AllThingsFulfilling.com tomorrow.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com, a company specializing in e-commerce and e-marketing for independent publishers.

Family, Faith and Travel

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Posted on May 20, 2013

“Each day I am thankful for; nights turned into morning, friends that turned into family, dreams that turned into reality and likes that turned into love.” ~ Ritu Ghatourey

I’ve been swept up in a whirlwind of fulfilling things since arriving on the East Coast. It all began with attending a social event of a book club group with women who reside in and around the historic area surrounding TaylorsIsland in Dorchester County, Maryland. The Grace Foundation is restoring churches and doing work on the island to preserve the history of the churches and schoolhouses. http://bit.ly/16Ezcex.

“The Postmistress” by Sarah Blake, a book I recently read and adored, is on the reading booklist for the book club for this coming summer. Based on a small town sea-side community during World War 2, the post office was a hub of activity, and the spinster postmistress knows secrets which if told, will change the lives of some of the residents. If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it.

Then I traveled to the Boston area to attend the beautiful wedding of our niece on my husband’s side of the family. It was so wonderful to see the bride and her sister (our second Leonard niece), who are now both married adults.

We also spent a lovely evening in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and had dinner at Loretta’s. The harbor area in Newburyport has changed greatly since last time I visited many years ago. Full of wonderful restaurants with varied cuisine, we also went art gallery hopping. As a Mother’s Day present, my husband bought me a New England artisan-crafted necklace from Annie’s of Newburyport. Then we finished the evening with dessert at a fantastic coffee shop complete with musical entertainment featuring a sole independent musician playing the guitar.

Join me tomorrow on my journey back to Vermont, my state of residence for more than thirty years. I was greeted by “Miss America” of the independent publishing industry! She’s quite a package! Well-built, for future developments.

Here are just a few pictures from my fulfilling travels: