Bless Her Heart

I have this friend who once told me that women from the south think they can say anything ugly about anybody as long as they add "bless her heart" at the end because that makes it all ok, as if you really didn't mean for it to be ugly and God would automatically forgive you if you didn't really mean to be ugly. I think she read it in a book or heard it on the news or something. Anyway, all of a sudden I began to notice all the "bless her hearts" I was hearing. You know like, "Sally Lou got her hair cut yesterday down at that new beauty salon on 7th Street, bless her heart." And you just automatically knew Sally Lou had a haircut that was gonna' keep her in the house with the shades drawn for the next six months. Or, "Have you heard....Mary Catherine is getting married! After all this time! She's marrying Billy Joe, you know him, he's the guy in high school that always had a pocket protector on, bless her heart." And there's your clue that Billy Joe isn't the catch of the season and Mary Catherine was gettin' desperate. And quilters, have you ever heard somebody say, "Oh isn't that quilt that Evelyn Ann made just gorgeous! She picked the most beautiful fabric. But have you seen her points on her triangles, bless her heart!" and you know right off that those points are either cut off a good quarter inch or floating out there somewhere they shouldn't be!

Well, I'm one of those women raised in the south and I guess there must be a rebel gene in me because I don't want to be like that and I'm risin' up in protest! It seems to me that we ought to be supportin' our sisters with a bona fide Bless Her Heart, not one hiding our "gotcha" thoughts. Southern women, we are not like the picture this paints! Or at least we don't want to be. So if you're a southern woman, and it could be the south of Wisconsin or Oregon or Michigan, I don't care, let's give out some real Bless Her Hearts to the women who make us laugh or make us cry or touch our hearts or show us the beauty they're creating or bring us closer to God....women like these:

Bless Heather's Heart over at Mindless Junque for saying one of the most profound things I've heard in a long time "It was the moment I realized that a church is just a pile of bricks. God lives in our hearts and it's our Godly hearts present in that building that make it holy." This lady tells a wonderful love story and even had the guts to put her blunders and mistakes out there for all of us to read. We are her and she is us.

And if you didn't laugh at Grace's post yesterday on Washable Paint, well that just means you haven't read it yet! Bless Her Heart I can just imagine how she discovered that little bit of information.

Bless Elaine's Heart at Peace For The Journey for the six part series she wrote on Raising Faith. What a wonderful reminder of our faith journey with our children, of the work it takes and the joys it brings. A gentle reminder that raising children is "a sacred privilege, rather than a necessary obligation."

And if you want to try a new recipe or read a wonderful heart-warming message just take a look at Marie's blog A Year At Oak Cottage. I can feel myself gaining weight as we speak! She has the most gorgeous pictures there of heaven and a sweet, sweet story. Bless Her Heart!

Bless Takako's Heart at Quilt In Me for making this beautiful little quilt to GIVE AWAY to her child's teacher. That sure beats the box of stationary that was my standard gift!

And then there's Ree at The Pioneer Woman who is so popular that she gets 13,000!!!! comments on her give aways. She has a beautiful love story, awesome recipes, and girls, she share's the wealth with all the great things she gives away. She is real and upfront with her day to day life and allows the rest of us to live vicariously through her life "down on the ranch." Bless Her Heart, too!

I could go on and on but you get the picture. I know you have some blogs out there that have really mean something to you so why don't you bless someone's heart today, too? Feel free to use the heart picture on my blog or another one you like better. Make somebody's day today with a true, heart-felt "Bless Your Heart!"