July 2023
Greetings and good afternoon from the beautiful Bitterroot Valley! Each year around this time, the Valley has a “50 Mile Garage Sale.” If you are the Garage Sale Queen like me, you don’t miss the amazing things you can find, especially in the people you meet along the way!
For the last two days, I have shopped until I dropped. I had my girlfriend Leslie (from Missoula) come over for a two-day slumber party to join me in the Event. Documenting what a blast we had would fill the pages of another book.
In our glee, we began the journey to find those things that are treasures. Arriving at every sale, I would honestly admit that I don’t “need” anything…but willing to see what I could find that I couldn’t live without. Leslie and I made an agreement that if we “liked” something or just admired it, we wouldn’t purchase it. However, if we “loved” it, we would definitely consider buying it.
You know me well after so many years of writing these columns. You well-know that I “live in a glass house” and “my entire life is in book form,” (the good, the bad, the ugly, the vile, the inspirational) and today doesn’t look any different than I have always been. I am going to offer TMI more-than-likely . . .
My body grows and shrinks proportionately. It always has. If my hips get larger, so do my “bazoomas.” If they shrink, so do my hips. Throughout my life, I have had an hourglass figure.
Well, when Covid arrived, I wore little girl’s size 12 slim pants and weighed 80 lbs. Overnight, literally, my body reconstituted to a woman’s body. I had worn the same kids’ jeans for years and couldn’t gain an ounce no matter how much food I stuffed into my face. Magically, overnight, I couldn’t pull my jeans up over my thighs. WTF?!
Being described as a “cup half full” my entire life (and sometimes as the “eternal optimist,”) I now found myself with “my cup running over.” Yes, with love – ALWAYS WITH LOVE, but now it also included my bra size. I put the idea into the hopper that it might be a good plan to expand my thinking (and my lingerie) to hold these puppies. I never told even my best friend that I needed new lingerie…but God knows my needs before I do and has better things in store for me (and all of us) than we are even aware! (We might want to be careful what we ask for and even more mindful of those things we hold in our thoughts.)
Last year at the Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, I bought a fringed/sequined outfit. When my daughter saw it on me, she playfully suggested that I could only be sexy one more year. She mentioned that “at age 70, I needed to no longer dress sexily or it might scar my son-in-law for life.” I could show him “scarred,” but I probably shouldn’t and you will hear why. This past winter while putting wood in my stove, a burning ember jumped out and flew straight down the front of my pj’s. If I should die before I wake and my body needs to be identified, you heard it here first… Before I could use my bare hand to reach down into my cleavage to pull the burning ember out…I was branded for life!
Hearing her words echoing in my head on Friday, I was in a dilemma.
Leslie and I enjoyed meeting so many great people along the way. At one of Leslie’s and my first sales we went to, we met Greg and Jayme. Three things of interest here are:
- They happen to live in THE house that I have admired as “the most beautiful one in Stevensville.” Every time I walked or drove by, I sighed. I was now standing on the property and speaking with the owners.
- A month ago, a member of our CC (Connecting Consciousness) Gathering group gifted me with a patriotic baseball hat that is glittery and says, “Born to sparkle.” Since its arrival, I have been looking for a sparkly outfit and shoes to wear with it to be bold (and/or outrageous!) I never even thought it possible to discover so many choices in one place and was having so much fun. Ol’ Dr. Glo-bug was going to lighten things up for sure with Jayme’s lovely choices to choose from.
- As I was preparing to check out and pay-up for the many articles I chose, Jayme happened to ask if I needed any bra’s and of course….there was no better time than the present to see what her good taste had to offer. I am sure my eyes were round-like-saucers as I saw the lingerie, she was willing to sell. I didn’t need to try them on because I recognized them as my next size larger and purchased the entire box to share with others. God’s abundance was manifested in so many ways at Jayme and Greg’s home!
Each time I walked past Greg, I said, “You are a lucky man!” His wife is beautiful from the inside out! Call me psychic, but I would guarantee she’s a lucky woman to have him, as well. Some things you just KNOW and psychic has nothing to do with it. Your heart just tells you the truth…
Just before we said our goodbye’s, Greg happened to mention he liked my bumper sticker and I asked, “Which one?” He responded, “All of them.” You have heard me mention my patriotic addiction many times in my columns. I have spoken of my yard decorations, but I don’t think I ever mentioned my car. My stickers say:
- God Bless America
- Montana + America = Pride in State, Love for Country
- The strongest weapon in the United States is a Patriotic American
- Let’s Go Brandon
- No Sissy Shit Allowed
- United We Stand
- I am 1776 sure no one will be taking my guns
- Defund the Media
- Land of the free because of the brave
- Global 8 Prayer – STOP THE HATE, PRAY THE GLOBAL 8
Leslie and I found strength to go to the Saturday sales, as well. Out of 50 miles of them, we only made it eight miles out of Stevensville. “Someone talks to people everywhere she goes”……..
While at a sale, my cell phone rang. It was my dear friend Krissie asking where I was. I told her I was at a garage sale north of Stevensville and asked what she needed. Her daughter and friend are here visiting from Oregon and the three women were enjoying the sales. She mentioned that a chest she bought wouldn’t fit in her car and asked if I could bring my van to help them out. I said, “I’ll be there in 8 minutes.” Leslie made mention that everyone calls me, knowing I will drop everything to help them. I didn’t know until yesterday that I had a reputation amongst people concerning that part of the role God plays through me. We stored Krissie’s chest in my garage until she could pick it up today.
At our last sale yesterday, we met a lovely couple and assumed they were married. We were wrong, they are neighbors…but cute as a button together and “it feels like they are a match made in heaven” (and maybe will be some day?) I did offer my professional services to marry them. In fact, right there in their driveway under Big Sky Montana, I found myself saying, “Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to join this man and woman together in holy matrimony.”
Don (bless his heart) lost his wife in 2021. She had an incredible amount of Boyd’s Bear snow globes, plaques, and stuffed animals. I picked up a snow globe and wound the key and heard the most perfect tune. I was inspired to get each one of my grandchildren one of them towards their Christmas gifts. I asked Don how much they were and he said, “$1.00!” I cried out, “Then I want ALL OF THEM!”
Don’s eyes lit up when he heard that I give the children in my neighborhood gifts at Christmas. He thought it would be lovely for me to get these collectibles to those who could enjoy his departed wife’s love for them. He sold me the globes he had, but then he and his neighbor Dana put their heads together to gift the entire collection to me so I could pass them out to people as I meet them.
I was unaware until we were driving home that Leslie had told Don and Dana about my dream of having a spiritual center in the Valley, to teach people how “to go within and make their Direct Connection to God.” As the time passed with this lovely couple, I was able to explain that I would be writing of their benevolence today in my article. I also explained that at every workshop I teach, I will gift the workshop participants with their choice to take one home freely as a memory of the love his wife had for the collection, as well as this experience of generosity, and our day together.
As I knelt at the table where Don was wrapping each collectible, I was listening to his story about his beloved wife. My attention was drawn to one at my eye level and I believed it to be a message from God. I choose to keep only this ONE as a reminder of God’s Grace. On the bottom of it, the words say, “
Boyd’s Bears & Friends: “I always remember an epitaph…”
“Here lies Jake Williams. He done his damnedest.” I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have – when he gives everything that is in him to do the job he has before him.” — Harry S. Truman (Edition/pc #21E/488)
My latest boyfriend continued to call me “stubborn.” I would correct him and state, “Determined.” I thought stubborn sounded negative and determined sounded positive. He wasn’t my boyfriend for long……..
I was never going to apologize for being a strong woman. It took a long walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death being violently gang raped to dead to get this strong to fulfill my destiny. I will never give up, NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER GIVE UP!!
The front of the collectible that caught my attention describing me has a Boyd’s Bear, wearing a backpack, and climbing a mountain. The words say, “Press on: Nothing in this world can take the place of perseverance. TALENT WILL NOT; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with TALENT. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education WILL NOT. The WORLD IS FULL OF EDUCATED DERELICTS. Persistence AND determination alone are omnipotent. PRESS ON! — Calvin Coolidge
I have prepared my entire career since 1985 for this moment in time. I meet all the qualifications to be considered to have a Humanitarian Project and I have been holding my breath to receive the call. I will travel to Florida for the interview with my personal provided attorney, accountant, and project manager. I have chosen an outrageous outfit to wear to make a lasting memory of the beliefs and life experiences that bring me to now to achieve my dream.
I know how to be professional and wear the business attire to a job interview, but I represent humanity in this endeavor. Stevensville is the oldest community in Montana and this Valley is known for Mother Mary’s appearance back in the 1800’s at St. Mary’s Mission here in downtown Stevi. I have chosen to wear a sexy Pocahontas fringed skirt and vest with turquoise and coral jewelry to match the decorative beaded work along with a cowboy hat and boots… (In our New World, cowboys and Native American Indians aren’t separate any longer – we are ONE.) I will also represent our Commander & “Chief.” I have personally walked in the moccasins of Americans….
When chosen by Connecting Consciousness to fulfill my dream – I am required to hire CC members/my Soul “Tribe” to love humanity. If you have talents/gifts and would enjoy working at “Mother Hope’s House” (Bitterroot Spiritual Healing Center) – please send me your resume, letting me know what capacity you might want to work in. Perhaps you would enjoy coming to the Valley to teach workshops in your field of interest in order to inspire and teach others? The Center’s motto will be “the most loving place on earth,” so the main qualification is how much love you have in your heart to give. I want our guests to walk away without a shadow of doubt of God’s love, abundance, and Grace.
Leslie and I attended countless garage sales, but it wasn’t the “stuff” we acquired that gave us the joy. It was the compassion we felt to help Krissie in a moment of need. It was the common ground of love and generosity of Greg and Jayme and Don and Dana. It was finding the “things” we needed for little or no out-of-pocket expense. It was about witnessing God’s Grace in laughter and joy everywhere we went.
When love is present, it ripples out and goes into whoever is open and willing to receive it. Two van loads of boxes filled with precious items to gift will flow freely from the core of the Bitterroot Valley, spreading across Montana and this nation. Love rippled this weekend and will continue…this is just one of the blessings God has in store for His kids in the coming times!
Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven within and all else will be added. Not by might, not by power, but by Thy Spirit.
Have a Happy (and safe!) 4th of July!!
Until next month, take care … I care …
Now and always,
Gloria D. Benish, Ph.D.
Alias: Dr. Glo-bug – Just here “to lighten things up”