Celebration | Tyra Garlington

Have you seen a poem as lovely as a tree?

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

I have. My love affair with trees began when I was six years old. We moved from our public housing apartment to our first home. In the back yard was a huge maple tree, my first friend. She stood watch outside my bedroom window. At night, the moonlight and my tree made shadows dance on my wall to remind me that I was not alone. In summer, my tree provided shade for Mother and me to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on a blanket at lunchtime. My first puppy tried to build a relationship with my tree by peeing……
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Goodness and mercy do follow me.

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

I recently went to dinner at a home where I knew relaxation and compassion lived. I was exhausted! My commitments had outpaced my energy the week before. I needed the unconditional love that would answer the door. I would not be judged or questioned for my silent but hungry hugs. I plopped down where I could see the activity and yet not be necessary to it. I imagined what words would write themselves if others could see us. Activities were based on age and role. The “Youngers” played until they ran hot and needed water. The “Tweens” looked away from their……
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Do you have any idea how I feel about you?

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

I care. I really do. Last week while in a meeting, the gentleman sitting next to me leaned over and whispered, “I really enjoyed your blog last week. I thought I was the only one.” He had no idea what that meant to me. He was a stranger. He didn’t know that I wonder if my words connect, encourage and let someone, anyone talk about sometimes uncomfortable things and to understand that no matter what, they are not alone. So take a look in this mirror and see how I see you and why I feel the way I do.……
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I can’t shut up. Children are our future.

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Imagine: “Tears streaming down, her heart is broken. Because her life is hurting, so am I. He wears a frown, his dreams are troubled. And because he stands alone, his dreams will die. So humbly I come to you and say. As I sound aloud the warfare of today Here me I pray. What about the children? To ignore is so easy, So many innocent children will choose the wrong the way, So what about the children? Remember when we children? Were it not for those who loved us And who cared enough to show us Where would we……
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Can you cradle these transitions in 2016?

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Last week I asked you, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” To answer that question you had to empower yourself to believe that impossible is merely a word to describe the degree of difficulty. This week I ask you to consider as you move from the no longer of 2015 and step into the not yet of 2016, how well you are prepared to face the typical transitions that come with the passage of time. Change can come in forcefully like a tidal wave, or creep along incrementally like a glacier. It might have the face of a devastating……
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What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

In a number of hours it will be 2016. It’s time for our New Year’s Resolutions. A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the West but found around the world, in which a person makes a promise on New Year’s Eve to make certain changes or self-improvements in the year ahead. It is believed that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year’s resolutions around 4,000 years ago, and people all over the world have been breaking them ever since! The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year, which began……
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How do you spell Christmas?

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

What is your favorite Christmas movie? There are about as many Christmas movies out there as there are secret compartments in an Advent calendar. You could watch one a day for months leading up to Christmas! The iconic It’s a Wonderful Life consistently ranks among the top contenders for Best Christmas Movie Ever, and today you are invited to journey to Bedford Falls and discover the faith lessons found in It’s a Wonderful Life. When George Bailey sidles up to Martini’s Bar on Christmas Eve, he’s at the lowest point of his life. In the span of only a few……
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Sometimes cliches are necessary.

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

“Let’s see what happens”, she replied. How many times had she heard and said those words? But this time was different. She was different. She had been divorced ten years. She had been alone ten years. It had taken her that long to learn to love herself again; to see herself as worthy. Now she was ready to dip her toe, perhaps her whole foot into the water. She was tired of being “singular”. Initially she had tried online dating. Perhaps because then she still saw herself as damaged, she attracted unsatisfying companions with her words. Oh, but now she……
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You need to know this!

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Especially if you are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving … I know, its long, but give it a look anyway. On October 3, 1863, following the civil war with a union victory, President Abraham Lincoln made the following proclamation. “The year that is drawing to its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which……
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How do you greet the morning?

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Dan Fogelberg wrote a song many years ago titled To The Morning. The chorus included these words: “And it’s going to be a day, there is really no way to say no to the morning” So the morning comes faithfully every day and without any help from us. The only thing we can affect is how we greet it. And although the morning is inevitable, our ability to enjoy it isn’t. We have to be intentional about our joy. Personally, I love the morning! I am told that since I was an infant, I met the morning with giggles and coos and a smile when……
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