Saturday's Stuff

Wright Beach, Pacific Ocean

Peering through a lens I see saltwater sprays,
Vultures spread-winged and soaring, 
Diamonds dancing on the blue.

I pull back and see kites that won't fly,
But sand that does,
Artwork created for the water to wash away.

We drive in to the small, sea-side town,
A treasure in a small store off the turn,
And, as always, today is a good day for some taffy.

Through the finger-printed panes I see a sky,
It never meets the water,
But blurs into rippling waves and blue lines of static.

I missed the sunset because I was laughing,
But the sun will set tomorrow too,
And my stomach still aches from the laughter.

Not a dusty blue book on a shelf,
No papers strewn on a countertop,
No worries about who to be when the sun rises in the morning.

Written in response to The Write Prompts

Begin Again ~ Guest Blogging Day

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him 

and was filled with compassion for him; 

he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Luke 15:20 NIV

We hear the phrases often:

• It's time for a fresh start...
• It's never too late to begin again...
• Let's go back to the beginning...
• Can I get a do-over?

But, in this life, we are accustomed to TRUE, and REAL "fresh starts" as being few and far between. I mean, how many "fresh starts" do we REALLY get?

Think about it:

• You can retake a class for a better grade, but you still have to pay again.
• You can make bail and get out of jail, but it's probably still on your record.
• You can apologize to someone for a wrong thing you have done, but they will likely remember it and have a hard time rebuilding the trust that was lost.

I am a big fan of fresh starts.  I just re-dedicated myself to a more structured workout program.  I grew "lazy" a couple years ago and started to workout for 15 minutes rather than a half hour, and I was starting to really see the repercussions of that.  I was taking a lot of short-cuts in my workouts and not doing the hard moves in the right way.  I needed to get to a place where I was ready to BEGIN AGAIN.

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

Breaking Free

the green dancing leaves

move back and forth in the wind

ready to break free.

Written in response to thewriteprompts.com Poetry Writing Prompt

While I was at the Funeral for My Old Dreams

it was spelled out in black and white...
there was a difference in her DNA...
this would not be a "normal" life for our first and only child...

our life was now a query and a question mark rather than an exclamation with a point.

while i was at the funeral for my old dreams,
jesus came and sheltered me
with loving eyes and gentle hands,
with peaceful breaths and merciful words.

while i was at the funeral for my old dreams,
i slowly realized the new,
dreams don't always come true,
but god's unfolding promises do.

while i was at the funeral for my old dreams,
i knew that he'd designed this beautiful journey,
it would not look like my plan,
my plan was now under the earth, and somehow that didn't hurt.

while i was at the funeral for my old dreams,
i began to smile...one day,
after a while,
i settled into today and suddenly we are miles away from the graveyard where we left the old dreams.

those old dreams do not fit us now anyway...

No One Can Understand You (Part 2) ~ Guest Blogging Day

Image Courtesy of Pansa/freedigitalphotos.net

When he has brought out all his own, 

he goes on ahead of them, 

and his sheep follow him 

because they know his voice. 

John 10:4 NIV

Have you ever had the embarrassing experience of carrying on a telephone conversation with someone who you THOUGHT was someone else?

Perhaps it doesn't happen quite as much now with caller ID and the use of cellular phones, but there were many times that people would call our house when I was a teenager and mistake me for my sister or mother.

Our voices can get distorted, and there can be noise on the "line" which makes it difficult to tell one voice from another. 

Similarly, my daughter struggles with her speech, and has always had a speech delay. She was diagnosed with speech apraxia at five years old and developed a stutter as recently as 2012. When she was five and received her apraxia diagnosis, the test results showed that she was only understood by a naive listener 12% of the time. Can you imagine that? A five year old who goes through her day being MOSTLY misunderstood?

I still find that I will "translate" her statements to people if they don't know her well because even with years of speech therapy, her communication is something one has to grow accustomed to.

Where am I going with this? 

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos... 

No One Can Understand You (Part 1) ~ Guest Blogging Day

Image Courtesy of Pansa/freedigitalphotos.net

My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,

turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding—

indeed, if you call out for insight

and cry aloud for understanding,

and if you look for it as for silver

and search for it as for hidden treasure,

then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

~ Proverbs 2:1-5, NIV ~

God has been working on a weakness of mine for a long, long time.

So has Satan. 

I would never have thought that my volunteering or using my “gifts” could become stumbling blocks for me, but, whoa, Nelly… did they ever!

Thankfully, a series of sermons, devotions, and passages from books I’ve been reading finally convinced me that I needed to make a change… 

A BIG CHANGE. 

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos... 

Pictures

Sometimes I stare at pictures on the wall and wonder how so much time could have passed so quickly.

I remember that family photo, taken when I was permed and eye-lined; with the coke-bottle glasses and "Life Goes On, Becca" frames.

I remember that trip to Arizona, and Dad all giddy taking close-ups of the cactus.

I remember when Mom went to Florida and came back having seen those ocean sunsets, and she framed one so we could see it too.

Pictures hang on the walls of the homes we inhabit.  

They tell our stories...

We hang the best photos on the walls of our homes...
We post the best photos on the walls of our Facebook...

And that's...OK...

as long as we remember that we ALL edit our photos both inside and out...

Written in response to Flower Print Wall image writing prompt.