Positively Beautiful

Zoom Zoom Around the Room by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Blog 4/25/2020 With my closest 4,000 friends the 8-hour long zoom call extended into the darkness of the night. Stay at home has a new meaning. All-day every day it’s the same folks in your house, so why not engage in a Rise Up inspirational challenge call? I did! I began to take notes. Speaker after speaker had brilliant points. At times I was on the edge of my seat. The night closed out and it hit me. They all said the same thing! What was it that pulled each speaker to the same “line” of inspiration? In these days of isolation, you have to be your best friend at times. Out and about is my mode of operation. Suddenly the way I live crashed to a severe halt. The simple grocery shopping became the one joy of my day, but suddenly smacked me in the face. I HAVE to wear a mask? The joy of smiling at folks and brief interaction screeched to a severe halt. My joy was zapped. Everyone is guarded against everyone. ...

Three Down One to Go by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Weekly Column 2/9/20202 Parents do have superpowers, but let’s define superpowers. I’m completely unable to see through walls, though our children think we can because we “just know” what’s going on all of the time. I’m totally incapable of leaping a tall building in a single bound, however, I’ve been known to jump through a series of “hoops” to make things happen. I’m certain my invisibility powers are still working because it’s as though I’m not even in the room when my teenagers are engaged on their phone with earbuds plugged in their head.   The promise is they’re not gone forever, just for a moment. God is with us as through those battles we have of letting them grow-up vs. keeping them at age 7. Age 7 is the perfect age in our opinion. They’re still in love with the fact you’re filled with the best knowledge of how to live. They love you even more than the dog loves you. Teenagers come with joys as ...

I Call Her Mom by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Weekly Column 1/30/20 Once a year a vibrant mom enters my fitness world. She visits for 3 weeks each year and all three weeks I’m jaw dropped. Do you ever have a person stroll into your life and blow your mind? I’ve been athletic my entire life. Starting at age two I began ice skating and continued in that sport until the age of 13. Throughout the next season of my life I competed in the 80-meter low hurdles and even made it to the Oklahoma State championships 3 times as a high schooler. Summer track, cross country, soccer, twirling a rifle in the band and bodybuilding kept me out of trouble and in shape! Now as a trainer with over 28 years’ experience.   I’d always laugh and say I had a long-term goal of teaching well into my 90’s. Honestly thinking in my 90’s!    What would my quality of life be anyway? Then enters “mom.” I know her daughter Diana, who’s been in my classes for several years. The f...

Piece of Cake by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Blog 4/18/20 Take your mind back to the first time you __________. (This week I had a first.) Well, thinking of the first time I baked a cake. It sounds so easy. Look at the box and follow the instructions. Then if you’re the brave one you put the box down and go to the Betty Crocker cookbook. I think I was about 9 years old when I felt ready to cook. I’m absolutely sure my mom was close by, but the end product was not going to win any awards. A bit burnt, lopsided and definitely “nailed it!” Our first things we do will always be the “test.” (I often apologize to my oldest daughter and refer to her as the “test kid.” ) You simply don’t know things until you try. When is the last time you had a first thing? As “Boomer” I’m sure the firsts of my life have way outweighed the firsts of my grandparents. Change happen daily. Change coupled with fear might be you like a deer in the headlights. FROZEN. Fear also has a way of ...

Bike, Bike Baby by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Weekly Blog 2/21/2020 We truly are blessed to be living by Hollywood Beach. Daily, and I mean every day at 5am my husband is at the beach walking his 5 miles before sunup. When on the rare occasion I’m up that early I’ll join him after his walk for the morning sunrise. However, if I try to walk with him I’d have to use my rollerblades. And that’s usually how I join him if it’s a late evening stroll. About 6 years ago for my birthday we decided instead of a party and gifts we’d buy all of us bikes! And that we did. No walking for me! For several years we did have family times of beach biking, but as the kids got older and as the bikes began to acquire wear and tear the newness slowly faded. Our bikes are beautifully stored in the shed. I miss my bike days. Endless repairs of flat tires and loose chains occurred.   Finally I decided that I’m just done with the experience.    Until now. I looked at a new ...

Keep the Curtsy by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Weekly Blog During fitness there’s a move called “curtsy squats.” It’s a real glute buster! To explain the move I often say, “You never know when you might meet the Queen of England, so you better be ready!” God is always on the move to test you and bless you. I heard a friend tell her story of visiting England. All I could think was that I hope she’s ready with her curtsy squat! As God would have it, she and her friend arrived at Windsor Castle as the sun was setting. The grounds in front of the castle were empty. Her heart was in a tender state as her prayer of petition was sent out to God silently. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”-Proverbs 13:1   You know those moments where you want the Lord to stand and applaud your efforts. You want that realization of how much God loves you and how he can move a mountain! The long stretch of paved road wrapped around th...

Grinchy and the Gorilla by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Blog. 3/20/20   Most every day I have somewhere to be. Now the social distance takes a turn. For those who love being alone, this is the best vacation in the world. However, the brain drain of home life begins to take its toll. And then you begin to think of how blessed you are to be where you’re at…alive! Lamentations 3:22-23   The steadfast love of the  Lord  never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;   they are new every morning;   great is your faithfulness. I’m not fearful of the COVID death, but thankful for God’s grace to wake me every morning.   It’s time to find the silver lining in life. Our daily devotions took us to Madrid, Spain. Yes, a friend of our daughter’s joined us from Spain for devotions this morning. I’d never thought of reaching across the world to share God’s truths. Our technology gives us means I’d never thought possible. Let’s use it to glorify ...

W. G. E. C.   by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Weekly Blog Camping out by a barn in Missouri was my first encounter with our buddy Jim. I’d never been camping and thought how tough could it be? It was more than tough. We’d pitched a tent on our new friend Jim’s farm. This city girl was covered in bug bites. Over 142 on my ankles alone to be exact. And yet the charm of the farm captured my heart. Adventure begins when you say I do. I did. “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman.”-Proverbs 30:18-19 Now with 33 years of marriage the stories of our lives in Missouri are the most colorful. Jim’s been our buddy for over 30 years. As life gets away from you the moments with old friends become few and far between.  “A friend loves at all times.” Proverbs 17:17b Suddenly, you are ...

Life is Goog by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Weekly Column 2/14/2020 Saturday is play time and this past Saturday took us to the Yellow Green Farmer’s Market. Every sort of imaginable product is for sale! We ooo and ahhh many booths, well it’ s mostly just me as Mickey is a guy who glances and moves on. A few Saturdays ago, we met some screen printing folks. They were so adorable, but I didn’t need “another” t-shirt. And then I made an observation as she pitched me once again to buy a shirt. Goog? “Life is GOOG” was printed on her shirt along with several palm trees and a cool VW Microbus. Ah yes, to travel through Florida in a classic VW Microbus, might be a good adventure. I asked her what GOOG meant? She had a Latin accent and I thought perhaps it was a term I wasn’t familiar with. “OH NO!” she said, pointing to her shirt, “Life is GOOOOOD.” She swayed her hips side to side in a salsa dance motion of joy. I tried not to laugh, and it wasn’t about her dancing. I t...

  Love Beyond the Grave by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Blog STARVE THE VIRUS OUT we hear. Doing nothing is doing something. We go about our “dailies” and wonder what day it is? “We’re working on retirement muscles.” My husband cheerfully adds. Quite frankly for this stay at home, homeschooling mom, not much has changed. Well, we wash our hands more. We pray more. We swim more! We cook more. We’re blessed beyond measure, but then God blows me away one more time on how much he loves me. The mail arrived. (Read to the end for the knockout punch.) My Dad’s wife Jeannie is a retired kindergarten teacher. She’s 84. Her way of communicating is through letters. When my mom died in 2005, my dad was sure he’d find a new bride with whom he'd live out his golden years and he did. They were married 8 years before Dad died. In those 8 years I’d receive long lengthy letters from Jeannie on how Dad was doing.  Her letters were great because Dad would always simply say he...

  Eye Soul Action by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Blog 4/4/2020 Wake up and do it again. “We’re getting ready for retirement,” my husband chimes in. I wonder what day it is. Our social distance lifestyle isn’t anything new for these Hillbillies. Life on the farm is truly laid back. You go to the store once a week if that much and live life to its fullest every day while watching the seasons change. Back to basics. Is it inconvenient? Why yes. Is it a new normal? Of course.  “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”-James 3:16   Level headed ambitions drive desires away from discord. When we were raising 4 kids on a 40-acre farm with Lord knows how many critters the impact was right in front of your face. Your kids watch, imitate and learn your habits. Even the way they use their hands in conversation became similar to my own. Now we live 24/7 with the family.  We’re not the “rats in the ca...

Close Is Good by Deena McDaniel Positively Beautiful Blog 4/11/2020 The restless days of this “stay at home” mom’s life continues as I embrace the new normal. “We get to be bandits!” my husband chimes as we head out the door. He sports one of my neon green bandanas for a face mask. The outdoors has been our rescue here in South Florida. Daily we venture out to walk the paths and experience the neighborhoods on foot. The trials and changes to our shelter in place challenge a perfect peace option. All the hurts from around the world are blasted out daily through the regular struggles of the media to explain this pandemic. Back in 1917 families experienced the Spanish flue. Back in Missouri during our horseback riding days, we stumbled upon grave sites now and again. A particular stood out to me at Sharp’s cemetery. One grave after the next explained the pandemic of that era. Child after child with the same last name and death year brought me to tears. An entire family wiped ...