All Hallows Evil

I did not become a Christian to be like YOU.
I do not follow Christ, so I can do what YOU do.
I do not owe my life to God, so I can give thanks to YOU!
I do not like the things YOU like, I like what Jesus likes,
And I’M okay with that! ARE YOU?

I will respect our differences...all I ask is that YOU, RESPECT ME.


"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16

Remember...what YOU do, affects your temple.

****

Have you ever noticed that people use God and their religion, whatever it may be, as a mask. They say things like, “I’m a Christian.” But then their actions say they are in cahoots with the dark one. They drink, they lie, cheat, steal, lust, revel in anarchy and I think to myself, “Where is Jesus in that picture?”

Then I hear people say, “I went to church as a kid. I was raised on God.” And? Your point being? Because your mother made you go to church as a kid, now, 40 years later entitles you to call yourself a Christian? Living the title: Christian, entitles you to suffering, persecution and the gates being opened to Heaven when you pass on in death.

As you swig the beer are you thinking of dying? Or are you just covering up a hidden pain? Are you justifying your actions? That’s my favorite, the justifiers. “God won’t mind. He said I can drink, lust, look at pornographic images, be a pervert among society without ramifications.”  He did? Where did He say that? And it is YOU who call yourself a Christian?

No, our society justifies everything they do, never thinks about dying, death or WHERE they are going to wind up at deaths door. They have this idea, that they’ll sin now until their dying day, THEN ask God for forgiveness and get into heaven. Yeah, I think that’s what Satan tried to pull; and he was given his very OWN heaven! In the accolades of Hell!

Halloween to me is reminiscent of the Hell people will endure. Everyone justifies lies, deceit, masks, all in good fun. Christmas even mocks the Lords birthday with Santa and his reindeer.  But I’m going a bit far there because all of the liars will come down on me. Hey, don’t come down on me, I chose NOT to lie about Santa, the Easter bunny, and all the other hoaxes society tried to push me to do. Nope, I’m a follower of Christ, not a follower of society.

As tomorrow rears its head and many celebrate what is deemed All Saints Day. (I was raised Catholic; converted to Christianity at 14) Remember this...we don’t need to be Saints in this world; we don’t need to be perfect to be Christians. What we need to be is respectful of the God who created us. And that means...being One with Him, and cherishing the temple within. Desire to be Christlike.

Did you know that WE are in the Holy Bible? Yup, a story about US!

We are all sinners! (Yup! Me too!)

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.

I may be a sinner, but I strive each and every day...to be a saint! With all glory to God!

Poetry Sunday ~ Autumn Glory

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. 

~Albert Camus

* * *
Autumn Glory

The wonder of life in all the color
with pale blue skies and clouds.
The life of Autumn comes alive
with leaves the lonely shrouds.

Upon the darkened horizon
the landscape and brilliant hue,
the wonder of the empty land
causes trees to take their cue.

They dance and sing in the night
the days are full of flutter;
life it spins a colorful web
the grounds are full of clutter.

I crunch the leaves underfoot
walk in eloquent bliss.
The rain it lends aroma
to the earth it gives a kiss.

The quiet season breathes in me
a sight that steals my soul
I long to share this glory,
with you who makes me whole!

Quotation Saturday

~ Halloween ~

Halloween wraps fear in innocence,
As though it were a slightly sour sweet.
Let terror, then, be turned into a treat...
~Nicholas Gordon,

'Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.
~William Shakespeare

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.
~Author Unknown

Bring forth the raisins and the nuts-
Tonight All-Hallows' Spectre struts
Along the moonlit way.
~John Kendrick Bangs

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
~Scottish Saying

tis evil that creepeth along the earth,
it swerves, it curves giving birth.
to all who revel with sheer delight
embracing evil this hallowed night.
~ Joni Zipp

Those seemingly interminable dark walks between houses, long before street-lit safety became an issue, were more adrenalizing than the mountains of candy filling the sack. Sadly Halloween, with our good-natured attempts to protect the little ones, from the increasingly dangerous traffic and increasingly sick adults, has become an utter bore. ~Lauren Springer

~ LOVE ~

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.
 ~Eric Fromm
 

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.
~Kahlil Gibran
 

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
 

Do I love you because you're beautiful,
Or are you beautiful because I love you?
~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
 

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.
~Author Unknown
 

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. ~St. Augustine
Know where the love lies and the evil lies and you will then decide the path of your success or your ruin!
~ Joni Zipp

The Write Stuff

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin

***

Do you have the right stuff to write?

Well I put out three blog posts in one day yesterday, at over 500 words that's more than 1500 words. Wow! I sat amazed at all the writing I had in me.

I know I’ve been told that I talk a lot but I’ve been so tired and bogged down that writing never really grabbed hold of me like it did yesterday. I was in a writing frenzy like you wouldn’t believe. I could have posted this one too, but I did want to save something for today.

I think to write, you need the right stuff. A quiet environment, time, and support. If you have someone supporting you through your writing journey, it makes the trek that much more easier. This is why I surround myself with professional writers because they understand the journey better than anyone, and they’ll be the first to give you a leg to stand on.

Then their is the support of your friends. I have many ‘virtual’ friends who live in this windowed world and on many occasions they have lifted me to new heights. Since I’ve released myself of the ones who were wearing me down, trying to drag me through the mud to a hole where my headstone would be placed, I have moved on, happily.

I now sit here and look forward to spilling words onto the page that actually have some meaning to them, other than, ‘Have a great day’ and such as with the the social scene. No, the social scene is not for me. I’m a teacher at heart and I love to share knowledge in simple form. I don’t like all the scripted sounds of academia, I prefer straight up try-this-on-for-size skills.

I watch as people bumble around, looking like they have something important to say, or trying to look important or maybe even trying to make themselves feel important. All the while something is missing inside. Something burning them, making them feel that the only way to feel complete is live in a virtual world. That is sad. And those people have my prayers.

They should be writing something that makes them feel complete and whole. I try, when I sit down to write, to give you something that you will walk away with for the rest of your day. Whether you’ll be saying, “That spoke directly to me,” or perhaps, “I know a person like that,” or even you might think, “Wow she hit the nail on the head.”

Writing is my healer. Writing is my God given talent that I am putting to use. I’m not stuffing it on a social wall somewhere, I’m actually putting together sentences, that are coherent, legible and informational. I see that I have the Right Stuff. Now I need to see YOU have the Right Stuff. Have you written more than a paragraph today?

Write Right, and Write ON!

And the Beat Goes On...

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. ~World Health Organization, 1948

Months of Healing

I know as the tale moves forward, the beat goes on. In my head I hear the drums of the Native Americans, edging us forward to one more day of healing and we dance right along not missing a beat.

A lot of people have expressed amazement (even the doctor) at this wonder of wonders, the Blind seeing again, and how proud must that doctor feel, knowing his was the hand chosen by God to bring forth this miracle. He probably doesn’t see it that way, because he is a man of science after all, but we know, as the journey moved along, we were being led and guided by a higher power that man can not ever explain.

Now it seems everyone thinks it is 20/20 onward and upward. Well my friends, it is a little  more than blink and all is well in the household. He gained sight from the moment the bandage came off. What did he see? Blur. Point blank, blur. But he SAW a tree and cars and colors, all things he had not seen for two and a half years.

The next day it went from blur to a smudged blur, and that is why we’ve had so many trips to Omaha. But by Mondays visit, the blur is improving. The doctor has him on many eye drops and anti-infection meds, he MUST sleep with the patch on at night possibly for a few months. And he can not lift anything over five pounds! AND he can not play his saxophone for a month or two. What? No SAX??? Oh, that will surely put a damper on the Christmas party, but like I said, “You’re family will much rather come to see you SEE, than to see you PLAY!”

All of this activity has really drained the both of us. As much as you’d think he’d want to get out and go all around seeing people and just run here and there, it is all draining, not just on me, but mainly on him and all that the brain has to take in. His brain has been through a marathon of vision and sights and while he gets his rest, each day out is like a new marathon, a marathon everyone wants him to win, nobody more than himself, but still, a tiring marathon.

So, as we take our breaks, we need respect for our space. There is months of healing to take place and I imagine it’s not going to be easy around any corner we turn.  Everyone wants a small piece of him and he’s more than willing to give and share, but I do believe he likes to breathe in between. And hey...I could use a nap too. :)

Thank you for understanding.

The wings of hope carry us, soaring high above the driving winds of life. ~Ana Jacob

A Good Report

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward

THANK YOU!

Well Sunday was a morning of praise then the usual coming home to make a nice breakfast for us to share, then football.

I’ve been so busy and lost in thoughts these past few weeks I find myself on a path in the woods, trying to find my way back and I feel that only a night under the stars will bring me back home where I need to be.

Monday I rose and took Adam to school where he had a power-point presentation for his art class. He wants to be a graphic designer and this year is about honing that talent he has. I support him all the way because I don’t believe that it’s all about sports, or taking the trash out and all the mundane things Adam does do, it’s about ART, and that is where I need to focus on him at.

Tuesday was the Lions Club attendance. They got to see where their dollars went in bringing about this miracle. Yes, all glory was given to God, but when people shell out money, they want to see where it has gone and the fruits of their labor. All were pleased to see a walking, talking man that could now SEE them and shake their hands. We left at six and arrived home close to ten. They had a meal and then the meeting, so we stayed for it all, and afterward pictures for the newspaper. They deserve bragging rights because they were pivotal in seeing this through.

Wednesday we found ourselves on another trip into Omaha. We had all our help to get us to the operation but we’re on our own now that we’ve had four trips since then. It does cost gas money and we do need to eat. We made it in good time even with the wind knocking us around a bit, and it was supposed to be rainy but we just had clouds the entire seven hour trip, except for the last ten miles as we neared home.

The doctors words were, “Remarkable healing.” I even heard him say, “Amazing!” once, so that is all good! Those words mean we won’t see him until November 18 th and that will be right here in Kearney. :)

Then there’s me. Yeah I am in here somewhere. My mouth is still sore, I have a hard time eating, I think I have a pinched nerve somewhere causing my limbs to feel numb, and Sunday’s church visit found me stumbling to the ground because my ankle just gave out on me completely.

All this has taken its toll on me and I just need some rest. Sitting out there reading this is the easy part, living it and going through all these changes is another thing. A struggle to find your place in it all, and I know...I’m in here somewhere.

Thank you Mrs. Carol, Mrs. Sue and Jess who all have been a rock solid supporting shoulder. And to everyone else who has supported ME, through this. I send big hugs and thankful prayers. THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Angel always...Godspeed...

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Atmosphere

The wishbone will never replace the backbone.
- Will Henry

In writing, it is all about atmosphere. When you have a story to tell you’re not going to have the setting in a grassy knoll and just leave your characters there, no, you’re going to give them an atmosphere.

An atmosphere lends to the story what milk lends to cookies. And a good atmosphere lends what cookies dipped in milk does. Can everyone say, YUM? As a reader, I want to walk through the park with the writer, I don’t just want to see grass, I want to smell it and taste it.

If we can’t paint a picture for our reader then we are missing our mark. Even in our non-fictional tales there has to be an element of atmosphere where if the reader is sitting there with cookies, his one hand is seeking out the milk to dip it in as he is reading because he is so enthralled with your words.

As writers, we know that the very first sentence will lure the reader in like Lucifer to Eve. It will be life altering if you can hold your readers attention and give to them a story that will keep them reading page after page. I wonder sometimes if God knew of this concept and that is why he made the bible so atmospheric. With the very beginning, “God breathed life into the void.” To the powerful ending, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.”
 
I mean come on, there is power in those words and every reader is moved. And every writer wants to emulate that power of the written word, so that our readers for many years to come are still wanting more; loving our words and tasting them years down the line.
 
Atmosphere..it is what spills into your readers hearts, and no one is left there to clean up the mess except your hero or heroine. I myself like to give my readers little bits and pieces to nibble on throughout the story; a leg to stand on so to speak. I like to give them an entrance into the unexpected, then deal the unexpected, make the words do a ghostly dance in their minds, then I go for the cha cha cha...and boom, the story gets completed with a bow.
 
One of my favorite fictional tales is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Not only is the story good, but the atmosphere is well, you guessed it, haunting. From the opening scene of Eleanor and her paranoia, to the entry of the supposed haunted house to the banging and rapping of ghosts to the climactic ending where all the characters are consumed with the final showdown.
 
This is just a well written story and can really give the novice writers a new perspective on the inverted check mark that we read about so often. What are you going to do writers, open your story with the same old same old tried and true...or lend your tale a handful of atmosphere to kick it in the rear and get it moving?
 
Write Right...most importantly!

I walk alone...

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."

- Douglas Adams

In writing, it is kind of hard to focus when insanity rears its head. Sure the folks can pretend to be writer’s but really they are just fooling themselves. The writers that I admire most are the ones who keep their sanity in check, learn and progress at a normal pace in their writing careers, and the only insanity can be seen from their families by way of, “What! Are you crazy?”

I realize they walk alone. They surround themselves with like minded people and the crazy ones, they surround themselves with the gibbering fluctuating frenzy of madness. I realized these past few weeks as the clique isolated me from themselves, the reason they pushed me away, it wasn’t my ‘craziness or madness’ it was my sanity. I’m sane and in the clique, there is no room for sanity.

They throw pity parties, they float in jellybean madness, they gossip like the wind, they toss around God like he was a joint to pass around; they can always be seen huddling around, supporting one another but in the end, they get nowhere except where they began, in the white room.

This all has certainly been an enlightening experience, and I’m glad for it because it peeled those out of my life who were bringing me down.

“People too weak to follow their own dreams, will always find a way to discourage your own.” Author Unknown 

This is true because as I sat getting pelted by ignorance, I realized those folk are weak and just needed someone stronger than themselves to sling mud at. Sure I got mud in my eye, but I’ve moved on to where I can finally focus more strongly on REAL writing, not the circus atmosphere; I seek the pleasant Shady Brooks atmosphere.

Ok, Shady Brooks is a place in my mind where water ripples downstream, I create the illusion of the rainbow permanently above my head inspiring me to move forward in life, sitting on the edge of the water with my notebook in hand. No laughter, just the rushing water, wind-chimes off in the distance and me sitting there, alone, awaiting sanity to brush my face and as they slowly appear, I realize, they are all new people, that have entered my life and are lifting me to the heights that I need to be.

Thanks for the memories my fellow writing friends. You carried me to the hot air balloons lift-off and now I must soar. I’m going to new places to meet new people, and you all will just be a memory. A bad and a few good...but nonetheless... a memory.

Poetry Sunday...He Is

He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. ~Raymond Hull
***
He Is

***
He rides...
the clouds on hardened waves
He soars..
the waters wicked graves
He longs
for all that was lost
He clings
to the journey’s crossed
He needs
to be that man again.
He tries
but doesn’t know when.
He flees
the sinful mans distress.
He cries
for what he must confess
He feels
like the one he left behind
He seeks
all he could not find
He’s lost
in the murky mire
He heals
the soul now set afire.
He yearns
for peace with wings so fair
He finds
the Lord is waiting there.
He’s home
where he needs to be.
Dear God,
his soul is finally free!

Quotation Saturday

AUTUMN

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
~George Eliot

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.
~Carol Bishop Hipps

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.
~P.D. James

Besides the autumn poets sing,
A few prosaic days
A little this side of the snow
And that side of the haze.
~Emily Dickinson

ON BEING ME
 
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
~e.e. cummings, 1955
 
All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself.
~Ralph Ellison
 
A man who is "of sound mind" is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key. ~Paul Valéry
 
The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune.
~Boris Pasternak

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
~e.e. cummings


BEAUTY
   
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Our hearts are drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see.
~George W. Russell

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.
~Chinese Proverb

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


MOVING ON
 
Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go.
~Author Unknown

Sadness flies away on the wings of time.
 ~Jean de La Fontaine
 
Sadness flies on the wings of the morning and out of the heart of darkness comes the light. ~Jean Giraudoux

Walking, working, barely breathing
My thoughts, far away
Heart aching, mind racing
Sleep does not come easily, nor last long....
~Peter Winstanley

so long f2k...

What a week

1 Peter 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

***

Well the week began with a third trip into Omaha. Yes a third trip in a week. Upon arrival home, I collapsed on the bed and have awakened to today, Friday. Can you believe with all that rest, I’m still exhausted? I slept for eight straight hours last night and woke a few minutes late in getting Adam up for school. To say this experience has been draining is an understatement, but I made it!! :)

I’ll save the dramatics of the me me me and swing over to all that has been happening. Besides my face being in excruciating pain and all my limbs being numb, I’m good otherwise. But beau? He’s a blast. He’s returning to the old him and I don’t know whether that is good or bad but he can see and that is all that matters.

After watching him for two years slowly walk through the house, with his hands guiding him down the walls. He is now scurrying through here at record speeds. Yeah, Mighty Mouse has nothing on him. He’s actually seeing all that I haven’t done and fixing it to his liking. He cleaned up the filing cabinet, (the place I never entered until 2 and half years ago) and sorted through the mess I made. He likes perfection and where old bills are concerned? I could really care less. I mean come on do ya need bills from ten years ago?

He took on washing a load of his laundry. (I won’t let him touch mine.) What? Do I want to wind up with pink socks? Or have the only shirts I own covered in lint balls from sweat pants? Men are different, they don’t care. Rest the doc says, "How can I?" he spits back. Yeah...he's working in the basement today and I'm not even going to be the mommy and scold him. Whatever will be will be.

Now the world turns. As we’ve been kind of sitting in an idle position, the earth shifts and we move in a new direction. New things are happening, new things that will either bend us or break us, but they’re new so I’m kind of looking forward to seeing where this journey is going to lead us.

I’m sure it will all involve money we don’t have. With me having to make a dentists appointment, I know I’m looking at thousands, plays to attend, electricity to resume paying, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and lets not forget with this new sight, he’ll be cut off of Social Security as soon as it returns to his 20/20 and he can return to work. And no S.S. means no medicare, medicaid or any other financial help from the state.  Meaning, who pays for the much needed doctor visits?

Stressed? Me? Nah. Why should I be stressed? I’ve been let down by some close friends recently, hurt beyond returning, and I sit here and wait to roll off the axis that I’m trying to stand stable on as an earthquake erupts in my world.

The high point? I’m alive! He CAN SEE!!! And nothing else matters in life!!!

Praise be to God!

1 Peter 2 :9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

Quiet

Exodus 15: 6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
***

All quiet on the western front. Or should I say mid-western front? For me, in these past few months (as always) writing has become an emotional release, a catharsis if you will. It carried me through some dark days and was my umbrella on rainy days, stood its ground on the windy days, and my comfort on the sun-shiny days.

Writing is my emotional healer, and as such this being my blog, I can write whatever it is that I want to and let people assume if they are the people I speak about. There is no law against speaking about people, last time I checked. I don’t use names, real or screen names but people love to assume that *I*, a nobody, have the time to sit and refer to them and their lives.

Yesterday it came to my attention that a close friend had went and took a knife and sliced me right in the back. Yeah the kind of hurt where all your guts are laying on the ground? Only because I’ve known this person and trusted him as a friend, does this hurt so much. I was told he supported me while the other end was told I was suffering from menopause. I was told things would be okay, and he was telling people that, in his ego-maniacal way, “*I* have the power to BOOT her if she acts like this again.”

"Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?" - Lam. 3:37

For the record, I am too young to be suffering menopause. I have had a rough year this year and only a few really care what depths I’ve had to succumb to and what heights I’ve soared to.  My friend at church said, “In the two years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen your strength waver.” Little does she know that my pillow has a new shape from all the tears I drowned it with.

To keep me quiet, you will have to shoot me. No one holds any power over releasing me from speaking the truth. When truth slaps people upside the head, it is at that time that the ego steps into the trap and boasts of power that they only dream of having. The powerless find their strength in boasting, boasters find their strength in an ego, and the sad state of their true selves comes out of the shadows to be seen.

I have already put all this to rest, but the ugly Leviathan came out of the abyss to rear it’s ugly head, showing me the truth of what I had been mislead into believing. Just so you know, I walk in the Light, I don’t sit and let the flutter of a TV screen become my light. I practice the Word, I don’t just spit it out so I ‘look’ acceptable to others. I shine inside from the Lords blessings. I don’t pretend, play, toy, with the very God given Word that has been handed down from many millennium.

I seek the TRUTH. Those who lie, are bound to hell. Those who mold the truth to THEIR will are deceiving themselves, and will one day answer for it all. It’s okay though, I have my Lord and that is enough to get me through yet another day on earth.

***  

Num. 14:17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

An Exhausting Week

If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.
~Johann von Goethe
***

I will get back into my writing blog that you all signed up for but this has been an amazing and an exhaustive week, and my way of relaxing is through writing. My way of releasing tension is through expression of the written word.

The trip into Omaha was over a week ago on Sunday. Little did I know that three trips into Omaha in a week were in store. I know a lot of people like traveling and driving but I’ve never really cared for it that much.

It’s bad enough to face ignorance in town but when you’re driving on the highway, and you’re almost crushed between the car to your left, who isn’t going to budge out of your way because they might miss something life altering wherever it is they are going that two seconds might take that away from them, and the truck to my right barreling from the on ramp plowing almost right into my lap in the drivers seat!

I love Nebraska and am always saying how the people here actually USE their blinkers, because back in Texas as I drove the crazy highway into Dallas, rarely did anyone ever use their blinker. It was always a guessing game as to what the person in the car ahead of you was going to do next. Either cut you off, stay in their lane, or jump four lanes. Texas was a maze of highway!

Here in Nebraska, to get to Omaha, it is a two lane highway until you reach Lincoln where, get this, it has THREE lanes! The speed limit is 75 mph and as much of a speed demon as I can be, on a two lane highway, 75 feels like 120 in a wind tunnel.

Last year when I had an accident and it threw me into a ditch, I had quite the hard time jumping right back into a car the next day and in the succeeding weeks. Every dirt road looked like a monstrous furry caterpillar about to attack, but as the weeks and months passed the caterpillar shrunk and became a tiny snake slithering across the road.

In October of last year, six months after the accident, I barely hit sixty on the highway to Omaha, which made the trip a four hour journey one way, to only be seen by the doctor for five minutes and have to turn around and do the wind-whipped four hours all over again.

This time, since everything worked in God’s time, I was able to make the Omaha trip in 2 hrs. and forty minutes, if we went straight through without stopping to eat! I hit 75 on occasion (to pass) but I was mainly on cruise control at 72 mph and we made excellent timing!

So yeah, three trips into Omaha, an amazing miracle of sight, driving through the pounding rain, chilled to the core of my bones, and then I rise this morning where I can just rest via my writing.

Rest? Me? Darned tootin’!

Power in Prayer

Ps.6:9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.
***

We were asked what the miracle of sight has done, or how it has changed our lives. I let Steven tell his story on Drums in the Deep, but me, I’m the other half that has to endure stuff too so I get to tell my side of the story.

The affect it has had on me it multi-faceted. I see the affect it is having on others as they now see life a little differently and are more appreciative of the little things. As we stood in Church on Sunday, people came up to us and told me their story, they just wanted to share and say they understand, or that they were moved by Stevens story.

It’s not every day that a person goes from being blind to seeing without assistance. The journey is long from over as we will face new challenges on many levels, but I have to admit, this is amazing to see him see colors and just say, “WOW!”

Everything wanted to go wrong when we were not working on Gods timetable but as soon as we fell in step with God, it was as if the planets were all in perfect alignment and things began to rotate on a cosmic level.

I can not emphasize enough that what goes on in our world is not about you, not about me, it is all about glorifying God. The world has come loose on rusty hinges as it tries to go through the day to day trivial pursuits. And we’re all on the canvas that God is painting, and the world comes alive through what He has to show us.

The blind seeing again is only one small part of the miracle that has taken place. I think, from my perspective, the prayer chain has had an impact that will touch me for years to come.

We put in a prayer request at church, a mass of emails is sent to people who have five, six, seven people in a group and the prayer begins, another church puts in prayer requests and many more begin praying. I put a prayer request on my blog and facebook, and yes those folks mounted a prayer succession too. I reached out to beliefnet and even more prayers are being threaded through the blanket that is forming.

From Charles Stanley, Chuck Swindoll to GodVine to Jesus Daily...the prayer began and an emotional flow began running through my veins. From Texas to Canada, from the East to the West, prayers by the hundreds were being lifted up for a man they never knew, but wanted to send the power to see again through the channels that they knew could make it happen.

Through prayer, the impossible became possible. I know to some “they’re just internet people” but when money comes from across the world and enters my hand, or a computer walks in my front door, or even someone's beloved books get sent to me, I realize, these are not just ‘internet' folk, they are real human beings with hearts and souls!

Denominations knew no bounds, prayer went up from Evangelical to Baptist, from Methodist to Catholic, we all found an amazing common ground, that God had intended all along from day one. Everything happens in God’s time, it might do you well to remember that as you go through your day wanting more out of life.

God Bless you all and THANK YOU! Your prayer was hear AND felt!

Poetry Sunday ~ The Wonder of it All

I believe in the sun even if it isn't shining. I believe in love even when I am alone. I believe in God even when He is silent.
~Author Unknown ~

The Wonder of it All

***

To see the world with different eyes
to bare the soul of its disguise;
to open up a vein and see
a rainbow looking back at me.

The shield in place for far too long
never stealing the inner song. 

The veil it covered all the world
a ribbon of light is now unfurled.

I glance up at the open sky,
all the while I wonder why.
Why does blue look so pure
and fluffy clouds quite obscure.

It is only now that all the trees
wave to me with loosened leaves.
No longer just a crunching sound,
I can see color, coating the ground.

I glance at stars in the night
am truly blessed to have this sight.
My world was such a shaded place
until my Father showed His face.

All the wonder came back to me
as I was granted the chance to see.
A glorious season this one called Fall,
I stand amazed by the wonder of it all!

Quotation Saturday

GOD

What is it that we all believe in that we cannot see or hear or feel or taste or smell - this invisible thing that heals all sorrows, reveals all lies and renews all hope? What is it that has always been and always will be, from whose bosom we all came and to which we will all return? Most call it Time. A few realize that it is God.
~Robert Brault

I could not say I believe. I know! I have had the experience of being gripped by something that is stronger than myself, something that people call God.
~Carl Jung

I believe in the sun even if it isn't shining. I believe in love even when I am alone. I believe in God even when He is silent.
~Author Unknown

Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.
~Eugene O'Neill, The Great God Brown, 1926

FAITH

As you reach for understanding, you find that your ladder of facts isn't long enough, and you try to extend it by adding a rung of faith. Eventually you see that the task is hopeless, and you put away your ladder of facts and go get a ladder of faith.
~Robert Brault

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.
~George Seaton

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future.
~Robert Collyer

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.
~Blaise Pascal

Faith is where the routine and mundane becomes a little party of chaos. We take it as it comes and with God, we get through.
~ Joni Zipp

AUTUMN

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
~Albert Camus

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.
~Edwin Way Teale

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
~George Eliot

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.
~Carol Bishop Hipps

Prologue to the Journey Part III

 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
***

We were basically forced to move to Nebraska, Stevens hometown, in April of 2009, after for me, six years in Texas with him.  I say forced because the cost of living is much higher in Texas, and we had read online that medicaid was available to the blind.
 

Never trust what you read on the internet because medicaid was only available as long as he collected SSI, not SS. Don’t ask about the terminology. That is not the story here. The story is that the Lord saw to it we had a place to come to, at an affordable rate. His family all pulled together, cleaned this place up, scrubbed, and washed nooks and crannies, prayed and asked for prayer and our Maker never let us down.
 

We arrived to a clean house on a Turkey Ranch, out in the middle of nowhere, basically. We had food in the pantry and an envelope of money from the Gibbon Baptist Church’s donation for our family in need.
 

First on our list was to find a good church and after three attempts at different Churches, we walked in the doors of EFree Evangelical church and had to look no more. We had found a home.
 

Stevens sight deteriorated from the first step into the house. It was as if God waited for us to get here, and then the sight disappeared. We had support from the Federation of the Blind. They wanted him to go to Lincoln to learn to BE blind, and we both were adamant in stating that this was only temporary. And they quickly bowed out seeing we were, uncooperative (their term), But not after introducing him to the JAWS Screen Reader.
 

Quickly he found a free screen reader that was easier for him to use than JAWS and since he was extremely familiar with the computer and all the ALT keys, he had no problem enjoying the computer, via audio book reviews, and life as a blind man blogs.
 

Life for the next two and a half years was an up and down roller-coaster ride in the center of a raging thunderstorm. Pieces fell to the floor, parts were swept away, hair disheveled but upon landing in March 2011, we began to see things take shape and that everything wasn’t as messy as we thought.
 

Medicare came through, medicaid came through, the doctors visit was promising and hopeful from the very first visit, and things just kept going as an assembly line of chocolates, each day we found a sweet surprise and hope awaiting us.
 

We were going to need $3000 dollars, gas for the trip to Omaha, food and shelter, but by the time the surgery was scheduled, EVERYTHING was paid for! The hospital, the doctor, the food, gas AND the shelter! That alone made me stand up and say, “What an amazing God!”
 

Now for the more amazing part. We went to church on Sunday before the scheduled trip to Omaha. We wanted a powerful send off in  prayer and we got it. The trip was wrought with rain and wind and I thought that the day was an entire bust. But we got to the the hotel without a problem, Monday he got the corna transplant operation, Tuesday by some strange powerful force, we found ourselves at the doctors (after getting lost for an hour and almost giving up) but the moment we all waited for had finally arrived.
 

“I can see.” As  a river of tears flowed, and emotions soared, we were on our way back to the hotel and a couple of days of discovery and exploration are truly in store.
 

Tuesday, Steven saw the house that he has lived in for two years, for the very first time.
I have experienced a miracle first hand and our lives will be forever changed.  All praise be to God!

As we head back to Omaha today because of a problem we go with God, the love of many and the POWER of prayer!!!
 

Matt. 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Prologue to the Journey ~ Part II

Pss. 33:20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
***

The wait did not roll like waves on a shore. The wait was like pulling gum off the bottom of a shoe. Many ask where we got our strength from and I can speak for myself, it came from God himself.
 
Every morning I’d wake and praise God, and I was always told to wait, patiently. That is the part a lot of folks have trouble with because we live in a world that is consumed with having everything they want when they want it. Patience has been tossed in the winds of Autumn when it comes to waiting. Me, I just prayed, listened and humbled myself to whatever the Lord placed in my lap each day.
 
I sit in the eerie position of the observer. Watching people go on in life as if nothing is happening and sitting here in my world knowing everything has happened. I feel like Moses must have felt when he came down the mountain after witnessing the burning bush. We see images of a television show that Moses’ mouth hung open and his hair had grayed over and his face held a new light.
 
This is exactly how I feel. As if I’ve seen God’s face, yet I’m still left here on earth to watch the people return to their misguided ways, without ever realizing God is standing right beside them every single step of their day. Every thought you think, He knows it. Can I ask? Are you proud of what your thoughts are?
 
The miracle of sight. You might say, “But it was the doctor,” or “It was technology,” but I am here to tell you after living through the two years of having Steven not seeing and waiting patiently on the Lord, as a living testament before me, it was not the doctor, or technology, it was the hand of God guiding every person, every prayer, every thought, to the outcome of a miracle.
 
Two years ago we ‘tried’ to get this operation, but because it was not God’s timing, it was not successful around any turn we made. I watched as people became disappointed in the prayers not being answered, saddened, impatient, almost to the point of giving up.
 
I had to be strong. My faith is everything to me, and from experience, I know that waiting is never easy and sometimes we feel like God has forgotten us and our prayers but it is in those times that he is with us the most. He’s hugging your patience, cradling your perseverance, rejoicing in your faith. And in those moments, God is preparing for you a miracle that will solidify your love for Him.
 
To you I say... Praise the Lord...for it is time.

Ps. 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
[9] For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
[34] Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

The Prologue to the Journey ~ Part I

 Ps. 25:3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
***

It all began in the early months of 2008 when I received a call, “Can you drive me to work.” A straight-line wind storm had barreled through north Texas the night before, toppling trees, ripping off rooftop's and making the normal route to work impossible.

Steven had been driving the same route every day but when the route changed, due to the storm he realized, he couldn’t see well enough to get to work by reading the signs. That was the day my world shifted from every day mundane, to you never know what to expect.

Then on September 3 rd, 2008 my life took a big tumble when Steven lost his job, all insurance and any of the benefits that went along with the company. You never realize how important a job is until you walk in and one day, the boss tells you your fired.

Was it because of his sight? Was it because his production had changed due to his sight? I guess we’ll never know and I’m done questioning, “What happened?” All I do know is our world took a topple down the dryer chute, and we got tossed around at the welfare office, the food pantry, and many different and unaccustomed places of necessity.

We were not above asking for help, pride was not our friend and people were not selfish in helping. Actually the response was amazing and could only be attributed by the Supernatural God that we serve. Around every corner as bad news came in, we were one step closer to good news coming in. Days, led into weeks, weeks, months, and not a day went by that a struggle wasn’t like a peeling away of layers of skin, only to find that God was our natural ointment against dryness. 

As the issue of seeing again seemed forced upon our first attempts, as I expected, nothing went right. From the trip into Omaha on a gusty 45 mph windy day, to the doctor giving us a 50/50 prognosis of seeing again, all the way to the trip back to Minden where we met with disappointed faces, and it only served to bring us down more. We sought good news, good everything and the prayer was there but what was missing?

I’ll tell you bluntly. As everyone wanted sight to return, pushed for a positive outcome, prayed for a miracle, I saw around me people taking God out of the equation and putting their wants before His.

God isn’t about praying for what YOU want, He is about humbling yourself to the point of dropping on your knees and begging for mercy all the while praising and rejoicing in, what you might deem, minor steps towards His final goal.

It is never about you, or me it is all about God. Thinking otherwise makes you narrow-minded in your pursuit. When you truly give it all to God, and that means stripping yourself of your wants and needs and sincerely giving it all to God, then and only then will you witness the miracle of the Lord and His blessings!

The wait is over and the new day has literally dawned.

Pss 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Poetry Sunday ~ To See Again

Jas. 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
***
To See Again...
***
The time has come
its drawing near
the journey close
I hold no fear.

God has chosen
this day in time,
I have no reason
I’ll weigh the rhyme.

So much to do
before I see,
then my the world
becomes new to me.

I stand and try
to drink it all in
oh what a pleasure
to see once again.

The open expanse
all new things
will drown me alive
as an angel sings.

Sweep me away
into the Light 
my Lord I’m yours
you’ve granted me sight!

Quotation Saturday

Here's a sigh to those who love me,
And a smile to those who hate;
And, whatever sky's above me,
Here's a heart for every fate.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, "To Thomas Moore"

***

FAITH

He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well - even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly. 
~B.C. Forbes

As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit. 
~Emmanuel

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch. 
~Ramona C. Carroll

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith. ~Author Unknown

PRAYER ~
 
Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. 
~Corrie ten Boom
 
God has editing rights over our prayers. He will... edit them, correct them, bring them in line with His will and then hand them back to us to be resubmitted.
~Stephen Crotts
 
Some people think that prayer just means asking for things, and if they fail to receive exactly what they asked for, they think the whole thing is a fraud.
~Gerald Vann

We must move from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart.
~Margaret Gibb

“I am ending this week in FAITH and PRAYER. I will begin this week with hope and love. Sounds like a good plan to me.” 
~Joni Zipp

The Drama of it all...part II

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury
***

As if one drama post wasn’t enough...I had to go and write two? Well you know...I have a tendency to over dramatize. If they had a crown for drama queens I think I would win the crown hands down. But know that my dramatics are usually my truth in a situation as to the way *I* see it unfold.
 

I can not take anything lightly by no means. If I see a picture, I want to write. I dramatically unfold the scene for you, word by word. You yourself climb into the picture and become one with the world in which is presented to you. When I stop writing I jump into my reality, which is no picture postcard let me tell you. And you wake up out of the daydream saying, wow!
 

If I see a kitty, run across the road, I scream out, “Did you see that mountain lion?”My son will laugh and say, “Mom that was a very fat tabby cat.” “But it was huge!” I go on and then I come home and tell anyone within earshot that this huge fat cat almost made me swerve and hit a tree, so as to avoid splattering all his innards over the road. Again, over dramatizing a mere avoidance of hitting a cat.
 

I can take a molehill (I have them out in my backyard so I do know what they look like) and turn it into... have you ever seen a molehill? Well I ventured out in my backyard and the silky sand mound was splat right in my face, it had grown overnight. I put on my hiking shoes and as I started to climb, I slid all the way down because this molehill was made out of sand, not rock like I normally expect to see.
 

There it was...the molehill that turned into a mountain! Now do you see what I mean? I can make a mountain out of a molehill. This is what needs to come alive in your stories. You need to give your character that thorn that will prick her/his finger and draw blood.
When you have a character that is bland, your story that you’ve built around her/him will surely be bland. You have to set a mountain on fire and have your character strive to walk through the fire!
 

If he is blind, have him fight for his sight! If he was born with no arms, have him go for the Guinness Book of World Records for archery. If it is a fish with no fin, have a character create a prosthetic tail. The world is limitless. Don’t just sit there and see the world through one window, grab hold of it and build yourself a house with MANY windows. Windows that look out onto mountains, or fields or a lake or stream.
 

Remember YOU are the writer. You are the creator. Your power with words is what is going to make or break you. The ones who fall, are the ones who cling to the old. The ones who soar, are the ones who decide to move on and FLY....

On a personal note...

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. ~~ Ps 139:9-10 (NLT)

***

Well I know you all are waiting for me to give a little update on me, on a personal note. Tell me you all look forward to it, please?

Well, here I go, dramatics and all! It was a quiet morning just like any other day, I go get myself showered and cleaned before I can get anything done for the day. I step out of the shower to hear voices, off in the distance. I always look skyward, because I think “Wow, God has gotten bold.”

I open the door and creep into the living room, to hear my beau on the phone, saying his thank you and goodbye. “Who was that?” I ask. “Eleanor, says there’s a cornea.” Mr. Smarty pants says as a matter-of -factly, as he goes to sit at the desk. A shock look washed over his face.

My eyes nearly bulged outta my head, thoughts crowded around and began spinning like a carousel on some kind of hyper drug. I felt like shaking my beau and screaming “Tell me more! Tell me more.” But instead I just said, “How do you feel about that?” With him being blind, I can read his facial expressions pretty well, and I could see that this was not the moment to get all aflutter and start babbling. He needed calm and that is what I gave him.

His face said, ‘I’m confused’ but his mouth said, “I don’t know how I feel.” Wow I can read him pretty well, eh? I was about to go dry my hair when a compulsion came over me. ‘We need prayer’. He was sending out emails to our pastors at church and his family, I was busying myself with sending out to my prayer warriors the call for prayer.

By the end of both of our tapping keys, we had reached hundreds of people all gathered to pray for us. The prayers were felt as my body tingled with delight.

Here’s the deal. She (Eleanor) called. Said they had a cornea, but it was in Colorado being tested to see if it was a good cornea. If so, surgery is on Monday. We’ll head to Omaha on Sunday, be at the hospital 5 a.m. Monday, have a follow-up visit Tuesday, and if everything looks good. We may come right home or stay and leave early Wednesday morning. Too early to tell.

But the prayers are strongly needed. Now the confusion begins, chaos ensues. Beau has been so patient throughout these two years. He’s has his bad days, as I think it is understandable if your sight is taken away and you never got a chance to see the very house that you’ve lived in for two years, or the town that you grew up in, or so many other things I can’t even begin to mention.

All I know is this, I’m driving to Omaha. Everything is already taken care of money-wise. The surgery: medicare/medicaid/Lions Club all paid for in advance!! I worry about nothing else because as the day draws near, our food, gas and lodgings will all be paid for too!

God is good...Great even! God bless you all and thank you for your continued prayer. It isn’t over by a long shot, so keep our family in your prayers. 

9:57 a.m.UPDATE NECESSARY: My friends, WE ARE GOING TO OMAHA!!!

Keep the prayers coming!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!

The Drama of it all...

“A true spiritual aspirant will never be frightened by any circumstances, hence, move on, angel, move on!” ~BJG

***

Oh the drama of it all. I think you’ve gathered by now that I, as a writer, can take a broken nail and spin it into a web of a story. I’m like that. I was at my m-i-l’s the other day, and all she did was ask, “How’s it going out on the farm?” I began my tale with my old treadle sewing machine, placed in some thread and began weaving a delightful tale.

Instead of the simple answer, “Great, life is great.” I began, “Well the potato harvesting began roaring onto the fields with machines I’ve never seen in my life. I loved the way they swept the field and one by one an army-full of semi trucks carried away the plump juicy potatoes. And we have an Elk, living in the woods, whom I named Eli thinking it was a male last year, but when I heard the baby by it’s side I realized, Eli, was Eliza, still named Eli for short.

I went on as I always do. “You wouldn’t believe the images out there, wild turkeys walking up the road, Black-eyed Susan’s galloping over every open space, and the turkeys being grown for their shipment into slaughter. Yes siree, life out there on that farm is pretty awesome.”

I add drama to every thing in my life and as my followers more than likely can tell, I speak truth, I just have a tendency to color my world. It is like my brain is a living thesaurus, and believe you me if I can’t think of the right word, I’ll dig to find it.

That is what writing is all about. You weave a colorful story, embellish the truth a bit, not too much so it is a very believable story, but paint it just so the reader becomes a part of the fabric. He/she becomes so engrossed in the flow of every word, the stroke of every key, a part of the very scene, that they jump into the fantasy that you’ve created for them.

Rose Madder by Stephen King was like that. It started off, an abused woman who lived in fear, and one day she just woke up and walked away, fearing for her life, but she did it! She made a new life for herself too, but wouldn’t you know it, her hubby found her, as all abusive husbands do and what happened is... you’ll have to read it and find out. 

She bought a picture and somehow Mr. King painted many levels of the canvas for us, the reader. A story in a story if you will. That is what I strive to do in my life. I try to paint a picture of myself, a portrait for you to glance at. Then I embellish it by wearing jeans, fixing my hair all nice and applying makeup, but never really hiding the true me underneath.

In my words you may find the drama, but underneath it all, you will see the true me shining through. And know that deep down, the true me is a writer, through and through.

Growth is the only evidence of life. ~John Henry Newman, Apologia pro vita sua, 1864

This weeks lesson ~ Dialogue

We’re onto lesson five (whew, I made it) and lesson five is dialogue. In the quiet hallways I no longer roam and assist, my classroom is the only haven that I’ll stay and lend my hand to the student. They have done so good this session and I am proud of the writers that I will leave behind in two weeks. They have all come a long way in these past five weeks.

This week we move on to dialogue. Now dialogue is tricky in that new writers think that a tag of he said/ she said in a lulling poetic voice, is what is needed after every person speaks. I have seen writers add so many tags that you’re left looking at all the tags to see who was speaking or what the conversation was to begin with.

Is that what you want? People trying to decipher the ‘who’ is speaking, or looking at your words fly by and rolling eyes at your inept writing skills? No, of course not. We want our reader to embrace our words, hug them like a comfy blankie! We want the people who might actually pay money to read our words to be left with a feeling of ahhh...not a feeling of nahhhh.

Some tips on writing dialogue, portions from Jenny Wiehardt:

1. Always use a comma between the dialogue and the tag line.
ex: “Mark could you come here for a second,” she bellowed in the empty room.

2. Periods go inside the quotation marks. And since I am in America, I give you the American English rules. Other punctuation like the semicolons, dashes, question marks and exclamation points -- goes outside unless it directly pertains to the material within the quotes.
ex: “I don't want any stupid cake," says the guy who goes to Europe and the Middle East. "Where's the champagne?" he says, and laughs.
In the next example, the question mark goes outside the quotation marks because it is not part of the material being quoted:
Did he say, "We should all go to the movies"?
Also note that the sentence ends with only one mark of punctuation: the question mark. In general, don't use double punctuation marks, but go with the stronger punctuation.
(Question marks and exclamation points are stronger than commas and periods.)
 

3. When a tag line interrupts a sentence, it should be set off by commas. Note that the first letter of the second half of the sentence is in lower case.
ex: “I hear footsteps,” she said, “they’re coming down the hallway now.”
Notice also, the continued piece begins in lower case.
 

4. To signal a quotation within a quotation, use single quotes:
This one stumps me a lot of the times in my writing,
ex: "Have you read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ yet?" he asked her.
 

5. For interior dialogue, italics are appropriate, just be consistent.
That means when the person is speaking to themselves.
ex. Janie thought, here we go again.
 

6. If a quotation spills out over more than one paragraph, don't use end quotes at the close of the first paragraph. Use them only when a character is done speaking.
***
Sometimes punctuation is everything in dialogue. I’ve seen where the author punctuates the one person speaking in a conversation, but then the author forgoes it when the second character is speaking. It’s a matter of preference and when the novel/story is published, the editor will surely help you decide on which to use.
 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the tips of the day. Now get writing and most of all...Write Right!

Moving On...

Let go of those who bring you down and surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you.

author unknown
***

It’s not all about me, and it certainly isn’t all about you. Every time I write a post someone says, “I know you meant that for me.” or “That was targeted at me.” I say, “Please get over yourself, it is NOT about YOU!” I guess their arrogance gets the better of them. Watch this, I’m going to say, and YOU know who you are, and I’ll catch all kinds of backlash for that.

This is a writing blog. This is my experience with writers or those that wish they were writers, or those that pretend to be writers, or even for a good Christian friend, who might want to become a writer. This blog is for those who want to grow in the writing world. Not walk around in a psychopathic state and grab a bunch of demented others to drive on the insanity train with them.

I’ve decided to move on safely. After yesterday’s sermon about, “It’s not about ME, Lord, it’s all about YOU!” I have decided to move on in the writing world and join a few writing sites that cater to my type of writing. Maybe a poetry site, perhaps a Christian site but truly as far away from the idiotic, impractical, irrational, irresponsible, loony site that I have been associated with and is now trying to put me on the deranged train also? I don’t think so.
 
I call it a frenzied place, because even after an apology, I am continuously attacked, and taunted, all the while I watch as some people (supposed friends) stand by and support that type of evil. I honestly don’t need that in my life and I am glad that my Father has seen that I am important enough to save from the paranoid people who live in their own little fantasy world.
 
We’re writers, there is bound to be a little loony behavior, but when it borders on the unhealthy cusp of evil, vindictive, back stabbing behavior, I  move on, not a problem.  Does that mean that evil wins? No, surely not. I have forgiven them, I have prayed for them and the Light of God will wash over them and their skin will burn because of so much love encompassing them.
 
I don’t hold a grudge and I have no hard feelings to those who think that their life is full and complete if they taunt and torment. I hope they realize their life is empty, and I pray for them to wake up and act like they have some sense; or don’t, but you will have to torture someone else, because My Father has asked me to put this little fiasco, behind me.
 
And just think the next lesson up is Dialogue. I wonder what ‘they’ll’ think if I blog about ‘their’ Dialogue? Oh my. Remember, nothing is secret. My life is sacred!

***
 “If you can keep your wits about you while others are losing theirs and blaming you, the world will be yours.” -Rudyard Kipling

Poetry Sunday ~ Autumn Sings

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.
~John Burroughs
***
Autumn Sings
***
Silently they turn
from hues
of lime and mint
they’ve paid their dues.

Brown and curled
they cried
leaves cling
and boldly died.

The gusty wind
softly sweeps
letting go
the wilted weeps.

Souls are lost
a leaf it clings
a new dawns rise
Autumn sings.

Ex. 18:22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
***
Ps. 16:7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

Quotation Saturday

VANITY

The surest cure for vanity is loneliness. 

~Thomas Wolfe
 

Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt. 

~Benjamin Franklin

There is nothing so agonizing to the fine skin of vanity as the application of a rough truth. ~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Cure yourself of the affliction of caring how you appear to others. Concern yourself only with how you appear before God, concern yourself only with the idea that God may have of you. 

~Miguel De Unamuno

GOSSIP
 

No one gossips about other people's secret virtues. 

~Bertrand Arthur William Russell, On Education, 1926

The Puritan's idea of hell is a place where everybody has to mind his own business. ~Wendell Phillips, attributed

Gossip needn't be false to be evil - there's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around. ~Frank A. Clark

It isn't what they say about you, it's what they whisper. 

~Errol Flynn

BELIEF
 

What matters is not the idea a man holds, but the depth at which he holds it. ~Ezra Pound

This is how humans are: we question all our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to question. 

~Orson Scott Card
 

He does not believe who does not live according to his belief. 

~Thomas Fuller

Men never do evil so thoroughly and cheerfully as when they do it for conscience sake. ~Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 1670

REALITY
 

There is an objective reality out there, but we view it through the spectacles of our beliefs, attitudes, and values. 

~David G. Myers, Social Psychology

Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces. 

~Sigmund Freud

Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion. 

~Democritus

Few people have the imagination for reality. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe“Your arrogance ruined you. Your gossip deleted you. Your vanity and ego carried you. But you are ignorant to reality, blind to truth. Grow up, face life, and Praise God!” 

~Author Unknown