Don't let the difficulties of the present moments overshadow the reality of God's promises. God's promises still stand. And God's promises are stronger than our failures.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

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!"












13 comments:

Joanne said...

And bless your heart -- I love reading your blogs full of humor and everyday stuff. It's what life is made of.

Tracy P. said...

Oh, look at you, you are my new best friend! I came over here to hug you for your comment to Heather. A hundred AMEN!!s to you for that! And then your post over here. AUTHENTICITY! I love it! I'm heading over to my blog roll to add you. And then I'll be back to read some more.

Anonymous said...

Bless your heart, Marlene, for the wonderful post! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, I have lived in the South for over a decade (even though I am originally from thousands of miles from the South), and have certainly noticed how women use the "bless her heart" phrase as a preface to saying something negative but don't want to appear to be doing so -- VERY profound!

Re: Smocking and not wanting to start another thing I just love to do -- that's exactly where I went wrong with smocking. It is an expensive hobby if one is to do it right. But now that I have caught the bug, I guess I will live with it for just a few more years! :)

Have a wonderful day!!!

sister sheri said...

Oh, this is a great idea! Bless your heart for thinking of it!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

And bless your heart, Marlene!
I always enjoy your blog!

Dawn N. said...

I've just tagged you on my blog. The rules on what to do are listed there. :-) have fun!

Sharon said...

I have heard tell of Southern women using that phrase that way, as well. It's not really very nice, is it? Well, bless YOUR heart for speaking up and changing the meaning of this phrase. What a lovely blog post! Thank you!

kari and kijsa said...

Loved this post!!! Living in the south, there is a very true element to this!! We like your approach though, and we want to truly bless a heart!

blessings,
kari & kijsa

Angie said...

Bless your heart too! It's not just southern states of America women, we say it over here in England too and it's almost always TO other women ABOUT other women. I wonder if men say anything similar?
love, Angie, xx

Heather said...

Thank you so much for your sweet comment yesterday. It meant more to me than I can tell you.

My grandmother (who lived in Shreveport) told me the 'bless her heart' rule. She used it often, bless her heart. Tee hee hee. I hadn't thought about it until you brought it up!!

Anonymous said...

I'm guilty as charged...LOL! Bless my own heart!

I do a lot of blessin' though...when I hear of something tragic, I say bless their hearts!

Great links you included, I always love to find new reads!☺

Ginger Patches said...

I have a southern friend who told me the exact same thing...and like you I then started noticing it was true!! I love your post here and your true use of "bless your heart". My grandma (who was from Chicago, not the south) said bless your/her/his heart all the time and it was always in the most loving way! Now I need to go check out all your links :)

Anonymous said...

you have such a good way with words! And yes, I too ama southern womana and have heard lots of 'bless her hearts!"