They Know It's Wrong...

Ezek. 34:11 “For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.”

They Know It’s Wrong...

They know it’s wrong, yet they still do it, sin. Why is the moral compass so set on headed South? People know right from wrong yet they still CHOOSE to take the wrong over the right thing to do. They feel the temptation pulling on them like two magnets attracted to each other, the pull is too strong to show any kind of resistance.

Satan knows what flavor of sin to bait his hook with and time and time again man chooses to nibble on the bait instead of being the better fish and swim away. Take for example the political year. You can smell rancid satan odor in the air, you know you’re being pulled by only one thing and instead of resistance you jump in head first and go to battle with him. What does he offer that is so sweet tasting that gives you a reason not to fight?

God’s way is not an option, it is a necessity but so few feel HIS pull. They’d much rather jump in the dung heap and swim with the fetid parasites than dance with queer little angels who always seem too happy and filled with joy, choosing the higher road instead of squirming with the vermin on the lower road.

I think political years are poised so that we can really see with a bird’s eye view of just whom it is that we call a friend. I know after this election year is over I’ll still be holding on tight for the strength and armor of God to wrap around me and continue to show me the teensy bit of light that might still be left in all of them who chose to go south.

It’s not a left or right choice, it’s a north and south choice and so many people have chosen the south because of the warm comfortable fit that it gives them in an angry society. The bitter men all bundle together moving in a rampage shoulder to shoulder as they march for what THEY believe is right but if you look down upon the masses from an eagle’s perspective there is only a few here and there choosing the right direction and the masses that are headed south are too numerous to count.

From up here (yes, I’m soaring like an eagle) it looks as if God is separating the good and the evil putting them all in little Easter baskets. I think Ishtar (who Easter is derived from that everyone blindly celebrates thinking it a Christian holiday) would be very happy. 

From Wikipedia: "Woe to him whom Ishtar had honoured! The fickle goddess treated her passing lovers cruelly, and the unhappy wretches usually paid dearly for the favours heaped on them. Animals, enslaved by love, lost their native vigour: they fell into traps laid by men or were domesticated by them. 'Thou has loved the lion, mighty in strength', says the hero Gilgamesh to Ishtar, 'and thou hast dug for him seven and seven pits! Thou hast loved the steed, proud in battle, and destined him for the halter, the goad and the whip.'
Even for the gods, Ishtar's love was fatal. In her youth the goddess had loved Tammuz, god of the harvest, and—if one is to believe Gilgamesh —this love caused the death of Tammuz.”

My new year has begun (thank you, Mike, for remembering) and as usual, I have my blinders on. I don’t want to be a witness to the world collapsing all around me. I don’t want to see people that I trusted fall. I’m losing hope in the world and people in general. I always tried to see the good in people but blindly I’ve been led on and they’re just as wicked as the next person. I thought that Mardis Gras was in February, why are humans still embracing the masks?

I hold onto the tiny rays of light that do make it through to my world and is not the false pretense of the enormous amount of people who have headed south with their immoral compass. They know it’s wrong and if only they knew what truth and Light looked, tasted and smelled like, I believe the world could be a better place to live.

I think I’ll nestle up here on a branch, a Branch that was extended to the world but they were too caught up to see the beauty of it all. May God have mercy on our soul. 

Proverbs 11:18 (NIV) “The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.”

Poetry Sunday ~ In The Day

"The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves. The worst verbal abuse comes from our own tongue. The most negative influence is the devil on our own shoulder. The cruelest judge is the one staring back in the mirror. The person really withholding the love you need is you. No one will ever out-do you at your own mind-games. You must stop doing this to yourself!"  ~ Bryant McGill

Pss. 37:30 “The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.”

In the Day

Praise the Father, Praise the Son,

Praise the great and Holy one.

In the day when no love shines

The haughty man will rise

Holding there within his hand

The truth behind his lies.

In the day when people think

That wisdom comes from shores

It sails along the currents feed

Right into open doors.

In the day when man is fooled

By fancy ways of talking

Finding face with a false god

A feeble form of walking.

In the day when man can serve

Two masters in his pride

Humanity will surely fall

And nowhere can man hide.

In the day when man can love

Relinquish earthly hate

Walk along the path with Christ

And enter Heavens gate.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son,

Praise the Great and Holy One.

Pss. 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”

Poetry Sunday ~ In His Glory

Luke 23: 34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

~ In His Glory ~

(c) Joni Zipp 

I’ll deeply inhale the mornings breath

walk through the day of your death;

Weep as tears falls from the sky

raise my eyes to ask You why?

Why did you leave us, why let man win

to bury the burden of human sin?

Will we sit idle and watch as you hang

forgetting all the Hosannas we sang?

Will we remember the blood on the cross

as we lust for life forgetting the loss,

can a man walk ‘round with his head held high,

knowing you came if only to die?

Agony washes through my veins

my heart laments for all of your pains.

I don’t pretend as hypocrites do

to immerse in honor every holiday or two.

I walk in the path that is set before me

trying to bathe in all your glory.

You rise to bask in heaven's glow,

and gave to me the right to sow.

I’ll carry your words, I’ll heal my heart

knowing that you will never depart.

Man tries to mask all that you’re seeing

not knowing You’ve leaked into his being!

I drench myself in the beckoning light,

that cradles me through day and night.

I drink from the cup of all your words

that fill my soul like fluttering birds.

My heart weeps red but unlike you

it only seeps my garments through.

Your bloodshed gives to me new birth

a righteous soul unveiled on Earth. 

All rights reserved: © Joni Zipp

Matt.28: 19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Quotation Saturday ~ Life, Love, Spirit

1 John 4:13 “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”

“I do not celebrate the Pagan holiday of Easter. I celebrate a New Year, a new life, a new love for life and Spirit. I celebrate a resurrection of everything within me; my Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. May your day be a celebration of Christ in YOU. God Bless.”
- Joni Zipp

LIFE

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” 
― William W. Purkey

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” 
― Oscar Wilde

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” 
― Douglas Adams,

LOVE

Jesus to me, Joni:
“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.” 
― Pablo Neruda

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” 
― André Gide, Autumn Leaves

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” 
― Martin Luther King Jr.

SPIRIT

“We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being.” 
― Hermann Hesse

“It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters,” 
― Amit Ray

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” 
― Albert Einstein

NEW YEAR

“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, 
Whispering 'it will be happier'...” 
― Alfred Lord Tennyson

“For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning."
― T.S. Eliot

“May Light always surround you;
Hope kindle and rebound you.
May your Hurts turn to Healing;
Your Heart embrace Feeling.
May Wounds become Wisdom;
Every Kindness a Prism.
May Laughter infect you;
Your Passion resurrect you.
May Goodness inspire 
your Deepest Desires.
Through all that you Reach For, 
May your arms Never Tire.” 
― D. Simone

links:

He Rose!

Chronology

Thoughts For Good Friday

Gen 1:2 “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

What if this world was a reality television show for other planets? 
Look at it this way, it IS a reality tv show to God and He is watching us and what we do with His world. 

God’s nature, in essence, is Love, Life, and Spirit

Everyone who knows me knows that I am indebted to God and am eternally bound to Him but as I blog, I try to see God from a non-believers perspective and try to relay the message for the reasons behind so many believers in the Word. 

I personally can’t fathom a ‘no such thing as God’ theory. To think that millions of molecules just formed into existence that we call human, and the same infrastructure formed into the animal species lower than man. If you believe in evolution then why have the human species stopped evolving?

If you believe dinosaurs were on the ark that Noah built, in the form of alligator’s and crocodiles then you believe in evolution, not a supreme Creator who made everything ‘in the beginning’ who was happy with what He created. You might find a group of scientists who believe that theory and try to sell you THEIR version of creation but if we are to believe that God himself is the creator, please don’t spin an evolution tale on the dinosaurs and confuse people.

1 Cor. 14: 33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

I’m not indebted to God and trying to dissect the words of the bible at the same time. I live for God because through Him the bible taught me to live, love and be filled with the Spirit that has been indwelled in me since conception.

I don’t put a spin on the Word, I don’t judge people for being different than me and demand that they live by the word I live by and that is just what has caused so much dissension in the different beliefs of the world.

I know atheists who don’t believe in God but believe in a spiritual force. Sorry guys, that spiritual force that is driving you is the same spiritual force driving me but my Spiritual force is Sacred to me and you don’t feel that your spiritual force is sacred and that is why you feel uneasy with the world and all their ‘hokey pokey’ beliefs.

Just like the Apocrypha, the books that were TAKEN from the original text of the bible, maybe unbelievers feel like we’re leaving something out and not sharing the entire story with them. It’s as if us religious nuts are holding a secret away from them. 

Maybe when THEY [unbelievers] read the bible they saw incest, rape, murderers, a mean and angry God who people followed out of fear. They never saw any truth because they were blinded, backhanded by the truth. Does that make sense?

They see miracles as coincidence, technology as a part of evolution, and good and evil as masks people wear. I see miracles as a thread of hope and as a promise kept. I see technology as evolution since the beginning of time when the first fire was lit to now when we light our stoves with the turn of a button. 

I believe Jesus is the Son of God, just as I believe the Immaculate Conception took place. Why do I believe in the Immaculate Conception? It is no different than the Earth being conceived from nothing (time and space) and made into something (breathed into life). Just as the Earth suffered through growing pains, with the dinosaurs, the ice age, Jesus had to experience the same suffering so that the entire earth, not just the animal and human kingdom, could be saved from extinction. Through Resurrection Sunday, the Spirit saves us. 

The (loose term for non-believer) Atheist of the world seeks out simplicity. In a nutshell, I’ll give it to them. The Bible can be surmised in three words: life, love, Spirit. Life [God], love [Jesus], Spirit [the trinity, three in one]. You’re right atheists’, the rest is just stories that man has told only from the life [God] in them. We spread the Word because it is the life [God] and love [Jesus] in us and it permeates the soul through the Spirit. 

Atheist and Christians are not going to like what I say next. If you have life in you, you have God in you. If you have love in you, then you have a piece of Jesus in you. If you have life and love in you, the Spirit LIVES in YOU!

1 John 4: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

On this day, Good Friday, the day that man has set aside for us to celebrate the journey toward Resurrection Sunday, I am not here to give believers the Words and beliefs they already know, understand and embrace, I’m here to do just what Jesus did and that is to give hope to the lost, confused and the weary. 

Your grace is enough!

Half A Century

(google image)

Jude 1:2  “Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.”

All of my life I’ve lied about my age. When I was 16 I lied and said I was eighteen so I could get served liquor in the bar. When I turned eighteen, the drinking age was changed to twenty-one and wouldn’t you know it, I lied then too. Funny thing is, when I was nine and going to the bar with my mother and father I didn’t need to be a certain age and I was very good at being mischievously sneaky in getting a drink. 

It began earlier in life when I used to go to bingo with my mother and you had to be sixteen but at twelve I didn’t look sixteen and by the time I did look sixteen I didn’t want to go to bingo I wanted to go to bars. What a phase. 

Many people are ashamed of their dark past escapades but I can’t hold shame because it was the years that I was forming being shaped into the person I am today. Just so you know, I quit drinking at twenty-one because there was no more mystery and excitement and well I had already been married for four years at the time so life was steam-rolling ahead.

Even when I first entered this windowed world at thirty-seven I lied and said I was twenty-nine figuring I was the older woman to younger people, and the younger woman to older people, if that makes any sense. Even a few years ago, my nephew (by marriage) asked my age and I instantly replied closer to forty than I am to fifty. 

Even at CHURCH I told my friend whose wife is the same age as me that I was over forty and not near fifty. He replied, “Good because once you hit fifty, it’s all downhill from there.”

So why do we lie about our age? I have my guesses but the reality is, we are all too eager to be older then when we get older we miss being younger. Reality has a hold on me now, I’m NOT getting any younger and yes I’m getting older, just like everyone else. Maybe I’ll finally catch up to my friends who are all nearing sixty or older.

My friend said that it’s all downhill from here but darn, I’ve never started climbing uphill or had that moment of an uphill so why do I go downhill from here? I don’t. I stay myself and take what is tossed at me in the winds of change and embrace it for what it is, change! 

The year of change is taking on different hues and as I celebrate 50, and my mother celebrates the day back home with me, (yes, I was born on my mother’s birthday) and we keep climbing UPHILL to that stairway of heaven that awaits us at the end of this journey, I embrace the odyssey. 

To all the people who wish me a happy birthday, I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I have never in my fifty years had a birthday party for myself, my mother always had a cake that said happy birthday, Del and as a side note the cake would have ‘and joni’. My birthday was never a celebration of me and I learned to accept that. A birthday is just the day you mark yourself and shout out to the world I MADE IT ANOTHER YEAR! People are happy that you’ve made it another year and thanks to facebook many people get to celebrate your day in some way with you. 

While my life continues on and I can rejoice living another year, I’m not done climbing yet and the hill seems steeper and steeper with each step. I will move onward and upward no matter what limitations my body has and now when people ask my age instead of saying ‘over the hill’ I can say ‘still climbing’. I’m okay with that.  Teeheehee

As Holy Week this year includes my birthday smack dab in the middle, I will continue on the path of sharing all that God has filled me with in my life and through me you will see a spirit-filled woman who is truly blessed in every sense of the word. 

God bless each and every one of you as He has me!

Angel always…godspeed!

Jude 1:3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Getting To Know Him

I spoke of God in me, now I’d like to let you all know how YOU can get to know Him. I alluded to the fact that knowing God is very different than just reading about Him and visiting a place He calls home. It is so much more to getting to KNOW Him. 

“The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows. The more I love Him, more joy He bestows.” ~ H.S.

First of all, you begin with talking to Him. Like an old friend you don’t need high and mighty salutations, you just need to be you; because only He knows the real you, hidden secrets and all. This is usually called prayer. 

Pss. 5:3 “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”

This isn’t the time to ask him for things, if anything this is the time to thank him for all he has done in your life no matter how minuscule, thank him for the food you eat, the warm home you live in, the shoes on your feet and anything else you’d like to thank him for.

If you feel that you’ve gotten all of those things on your own accord then you really need to search who you believe God is in your world. If you’ve always felt a supernatural presence in your life, rest assured it is God not some part of your over-successful vain imagination. 

God has been with you through all of your life, He’s just been waiting for you to get to know Him. Then and only then will He make himself known to you through channels you once believed were mere coincidence, you will now see that it was God all along trying to communicate with you.

Second, you’ll want to pick up a bible. I prefer the King James Version but choose what is easiest for YOU as you read about Him and get to know Him. You’ll see that for thousands of years men were dedicated to him and his promises and men to this day are still committed to Him. We Christians don’t follow Him because he let us down but because He has lifted us up.

Luke 11:28 “But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”

Now some will read the bible and say it is all hokey-pokey. You’ll read about a sea parting, a bush burning, a lion and a man, a whale swallowing a man? Blind seeing, lame walking, lepers leaping. Well, lepers’ leaping was mine but I bet they were leaping with joy when they were healed. But you get my meaning, some astounding things take place in the Bible that is sometimes hard to swallow, this is where faith comes in; faith in believing these are true testaments by living men.

I can attest to the fact that miracles still happen. My man was blind for 2 and a half years and it was nothing short of a miracle that has him seeing again. Take a look back at my posts from 2011(on the left) that entire year was a miracle. You’ll say something like, it was the doctor and an operation that got him seeing again, and you’d be right, but the miracle was the road we took to get there and the positive outcome. It could’ve all gone differently but faith in God got us through the entire ordeal.

2 Sam. 22:50 “Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.”

Third, visit God’s home and worship Him. There is nothing more soul soothing than going and singing praise to the friend who is always going to be there for you. Now if you find a church where they’re asking for money more than they’re preaching about God then get yourself away from that place and find one that you find comfortable in like an old shoe. THAT is the place where God is dwelling.

Acts 2:47 “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Our pastor always tells us that church is not about giving money, it is about praising God, if you want to give then give but they never ASK us to commit to giving so much a week. It is always OUR choice if we give. 

Fourth, surround yourself with like-minded people, if you don’t know any, don’t worry, God will lead you to them or them to you, but rest assured, you WILL meet. With them you will SERVE the Lord, whether helping out at the nursery on Sunday, making food, doing crafts, there are numerous ways to serve the final resting place you will call home, the church and house of God Himself. 

1 Cor. 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Remember this, the church is just a building it is the PEOPLE who make it God’s home. You should be able to wear what you want, never feel judged and feel like you just stepped into your grandma’s house for a visit, comfortable and at home. 

Pray, read, believe, visit, praise, serve; these are the steps in getting to KNOW God on YOUR level, not what some mega-church minister touts. Be careful not to be swayed by false prophets who claim to know ‘the truth’ but are really wearing sheep clothing all the while a wolf in disguise. If you can’t find their truth in the bible, more times than not, they are lies to lead you away for Him, the God you can ALWAYS trust. He doesn’t promise you that the road will be easy but He does promise to be with you every step of the way. 

Matt. 7: 15 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

The Revelation Song ~ Kari Jobe

I picked the Revelation Song because it is one of my favorite worship songs. If you can listen to this song and it not give you cold chills then there is something seriously wrong with you. Nah, just kidding. It doesn't touch everyone in the same way but you have to admit, it is a pretty awesome song. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. God Bless!

My favorite part goes like this:

"Clothed in rainbows of living color

Flashes of lighting rolls of thunder

Blessing and honor strength and glory and power be

To You the only wise King"

Filled with wonder awestruck wonder

At the mention of Your name

Jesus Your name is power, breath and living water

Such a marvelous mystery" 

Strength and Power!

God In Me

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

When people meet me for the first time they look past my outer beauty and see something they might have never known or seen in someone before; they see God in me. To a non-believer they’re seen scratching their heads in wonder, wondering what it is about me that makes me different. Then I speak, if I did not carry God with me, I will leave those people scratching their heads but as soon as I speak they see it, that thing that makes me different, they see God in me. 

Eph. 4:22-24 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

When attending Church, people have a tendency to walk out the door still the same person who went through those doors. If we have an ounce of faith in what was said behind those doors we will walk out renewed and wear a different layer of clothing; a new man.

We can read and believe until we’re blue in the face but if putting on a new spirit does not renew you then you have missed the gift that God has given you of being a new person in Christ. We’re not the same, we’re different and non-believers can see Christ in you.

If you walk out of those church doors and are the same beer drinking, hate spewing, judgmental person then you are missing the message being delivered and not learning to live with Christ in you. People will then see you as a non-Christian and as such you contort the very meaning of deliverance that Christ brings to the world. You’re setting up shop of becoming known as a hypocrite who knows the Word but doesn’t know Christ. 

Phil. 2:1-5 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

We can’t live like we know Him if we don’t make an effort to get to know Him. Reading the bible is not getting to know Him, attending church is not getting to know Him; living with him in us is the only way we can feel the personal connection to Him that causes us to be renewed in the spirit. 

Here’s an example of what I mean. When you read To Kill a Mockingbird, do you know Atticus, do you know Gem and Boo Radley? No, you read about them but you don’t KNOW them, they can’t live vicariously through you by just reading about them. Let’s say you went to Harper Lee’s house, does that mean you know her? You read her book, visited her house so does that make you an all-knowing friend of hers? Not at all, you have to have years and years of a relationship with her to even KNOW her. 

When we go to our mother and father’s house we know them. We know where they put the forks and spoons, we know where the spice rack is, we know which bedroom is theirs; we know because we lived with them throughout our life and have taken all that we learned from them with us out into the world. 

If our father has passed away, we still carry him with us and we still see him in little things like an old hammer he used or an old song he used to listen to; we smell him in different foods and colognes because he is living in us because he is with us in spirit.

This is the difference in reading the bible, going to church and saying we KNOW God. We cannot know God unless we live WITH Him. We carry Him with us out into the world because He defines our world; He IS our world. 

If we read, believe and go to church we cannot in all good conscience come out and spread the word saying we KNOW Christ, we have to LIVE with Christ to say we know Him. In all we say and all we do with all that our Father has taught us over the years can we carry Him to the world.

It would be very vain of me to say, I am God; it would be smug of me to say, I am Jesus; but it would be truth to say that God is IN me because I’ve known Him my whole life and the Spirit of my Father dwells within my soul.

Rom. 12:1-2 “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Poetry Sunday ~ Hosanna! Hosanna!

Matt. 28: 19 - 20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Hosanna! Hosanna!

***

He gave life to the dead, cleansed the impure

healed the sick, became all lepers cure.

Fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind,

revealed the innocence of a child’s mind.

If you were thirsty, He gave you to drink,

Washed away sins with nary a blink;

Of His eyes we shined while light was dim

righteousness filled our cup to the brim.

Turn your cheek from the one that maims

seventy times if you burn with flames

Forgive, forget, move on I say

I’m reaching out to show you the way.

Disciples slept while Jesus pleaded

to let him live unless he was needed.

Crying out He returned to die

while all looked on, not batting an eye.

They rejoiced and sang; praised his name

Hosanna! Hosanna! Into town he came.

Fronds of palms were laid at his feet.

All glory to Jesus our Savior we greet.

But lo and behold this man betrayed,

was scourged and beat but never swayed!

“My Father, My Father why have you forgot,

I gave them all that you said they’d have not.”

With one last breath, he gave up the ghost,

shedding blood where man needed it most.

Our sins are forgiven our God came as man

In a wondrous fete, generations will span.

Will we remember the sacrifice made?

Can we ever honor the price that was paid?

Do we respect all things that He taught

our souls are free for sin His death bought.

My Glorious redeemer, Savior and King,

I bow with honor my soul shall sing.

Hosanna - Hillsong

Hosanna - sung by Hillsong

Any music video I post is a song that touched me very deeply as I was and am growing with our Lord. 

This song Hosanna inspired poetry, it inspired a new step, a new walk with faith, love, hope and growth. May this song touch you as it has touched me.

As Holy Week is about to begin tomorrow with Palm Sunday, I thought this song was very fitting for the occasion. 

God Bless You all!

Angel Always... Godspeed

Pss. 104:4 “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:”

Have you ever had one of those really good weeks where you wonder when the bottom is going to drop right out? It’s been that kind of week. 

Let me take you back two weeks when a dog, a yellow lab rounded the corner of the big blue barn-shed beside my house. Timid and scared, she made her way through my garden, around to the front of the house only to come back and sniff me out to see if I was an evil master or a good angel that she could trust. Anyone who knows me, knows she found a good person to trust in, right? 

I put up signs the next day looking for the owner, I searched lost dog sites and Facebook Lost Pet society to see if ANYONE owned this beautiful but scared dog. The one dog I saw on FB was named Reilly and this dog, for some reason, was responding to that name, but after posting a pic, the lady said it was not her dog. 

I own a dog, a pretty sizable female dog, so keeping Reilly is not an option but every day I’d wake and find her on my front steps or curled up in my garden. The days pass by and she’s still here letting us know she isn’t going anywhere. 

She has one of the deepest barks I’ve ever heard and keeping my neighbors and myself awake at night was going to be a serious problem! I bought a leash to hook her up to in the evening for when she goes on her midnight romps of chasing deer, skunk, raccoon or whatever she can bark at and it is working. She fell silent the nights hinged (a long chain with a collar) to a tree so I’ve since let her off to allow her the freedom, she barks it’s back on but this intelligent dog knows, just knows what I’m doing or trying to teach her. 

I posted a pic and my niece, Sara, right away said she looked like a dog I used to own named Shannon and that I just HAD to keep this dog. Another friend said that I HAD to take care of her because, Angel always? (my signature from way back) And that God would never turn ME away (yeah, the guilt card) and I’m kind of buying it but my husband has not softened up to her, yet. My sister said the dog was an angel sent for me. Oh my…

This was right around the time my husband lost his job but also right around the time he applied for a new job and got a call right away. Now, we can’t feed this oversized dog AND our oversized dog AND feed the family since well, no job and the time it will take to get money from the new job. Everything is stacked against me, or so it seems, from keeping this dog.

My neighbor has two small terrier dogs, a miniature Chihuahua and Reilly seems to think they’re her play toys. One day she played with them all day acting like the puppy that she is, not hurting them mind you, just jumping all around them telling them to play. Being older dogs they wanted nothing to do with Reilly. It brought back some unsettling memories of me as a child wanting to play and no one wanting to play with me because I was annoying or just the riff-raff type that their mothers wouldn’t allow their kids to play with. (Thanks Reilly)

Just so you know, I HAVE been feeding Reilly and giving her food and maybe THAT is why she won’t leave. When a thunderstorm hit the other night I was totally nervous for this dog being outside and I tried so hard to get her into my shed but she just shied away from me. Yesterday’s rain had me calling her again but she sauntered off and went under my neighbor Lisa’s trailer that she keeps as a doghouse for her dogs. It is just a trailer full of junk like old books and papers, magazines, old rugs and stuff. Reilly is one smart dog!

That brings me to today. Yes Reilly is still here wandering around this big old run down Turkey Ranch and greeting us when we walked out the door this morning to take my son to get his driver’s license. He had to take the same test that he failed three times before. But today would be different yes? YES!

Different from the other times was Adam’s optimism and confidence. I allowed him to wear my thumbprint necklace, which is a thumbprint of my deceased father. I wanted a part of my dad to be a part of this day. When Adam walked out the door of the DMV with a MALE who was going to test him, I knew, I just knew that this would be the day he passed! I even said, “He’s going to pass.” Just by seeing whom the tester was.

The other times he had a female to test him and Adam was not confident with them. This time was different Adam left with a smile and returned with A SMILE! A smile that signaled to me, he passed! I cried! I didn’t bawl my eyes out but tears began trickling out of my eyes. He came out the door with his temporary license in his hand, a smile on his face and I gave him the biggest hug ever! 

The week has been richly full of blessings. My mother has seen to it that we can make it until we get a real paycheck again by sending me ‘a treat’ which will buy me food and me taking care of Reilly is essentially ‘paying it forward’.

May the week continue to be joyful and prosperous as I head into my birthday week!

Angel Always, Godspeed.

Ezra 5:31 “Now when I had spoken these words, the angel that came to me the night afore was sent unto me,”

Reilly

This Is The Air I Breathe

People always say, "What is it about this God of yours."

Let me tell you, this song says it all. If the video doesn't play, here are the words that say everything that my God is to me.

This is the air I breathe

This is the air I breathe

Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread

This is my daily bread

Your very word spoken to me

And I I'm desperate for you

And I I'm lost without you

This is the air I breathe

This is the air I breathe

Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread

This is my daily bread

Your very word spoken to me

And I I'm desperate for you

And I I'm lost without you

And I I'm lost without you

And I I'm desperate for you

And I I'm lost without you

I'm lost without you

I'm lost without you

I'm desperate for you

I'm desperate for you

I'm desperate for you

I'm lost without you

I'm desperate for you

I'm desperate for you

I'm lost without you

I'm lost without you

I'm lost without you

I'm lost without you

I'm desperate for you

Poetry Sunday ~ Never Fear The End

Pss. 30:12  To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Never Fear the End

I walk the place I fear to go

Where all men one day travel.

The breath of me hangs on to life

While the other threads unravel.

I press my toes in the snow

No fear for the taste of cold

I tiptoe with the brush of frost

My tongue is tipped with gold.

Rays have reached the horizon

Stretched out in welcome prayer.

I slowly walk to greet them

For the end is hidden there.

I’m bathed in a bastion of beauty

Unveiled is the Light within.

I raise my hands in mercy

Washed away is clinging sin.

I remember all the moments

As they pass before my eyes

Warmth and love surround me

I hear it in their cries.

Every tear becomes a puddle

Of this new life I must swim

Sorrow is then converted

Into a glorious hymn.

My body dripped in sunshine

Not yet for you my friend.

I softly whisper for all to hear

The righteous don’t fear the end.

Quotation Saturday ~ Mercy

Luke 1:50 “And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.”

Compassion

“A human being is a part of the whole called by our universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” 
― Albert Einstein

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.” 
― Tahereh Mafi

“Compassion is the basis of morality.” 
― Arthur Schopenhauer

“How would your life be different if…You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day…You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.” 
― Steve Maraboli

Empathy

“for there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.” 
― Milan Kundera

“It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.” 
― Henri J.M. Nouwen

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” 
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Mercy

“there is a God, there always has been. I see him here, in the eyes of the people in this [hospital] corridor of desperation. This is the real house of God, this is where those who have lost God will find Him... there is a God, there has to be, and now I will pray, I will pray that He will forgive that I have neglected Him all of these years, forgive that I have betrayed, lied, and sinned with impunity only to turn to Him now in my hour of need. I pray that He is as merciful, benevolent, and gracious as His book says He is.” 
― Khaled Hosseini

“The Lord's mercy often rides to the door of our heart upon the black horse of affliction.” 
― Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” 
― Abraham Lincoln

“What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature when he had a chance!'
Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien

Animals

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

“Man is the cruelest animal.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

“People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.” 
― Paul McCartney

Understanding Confusion

Mark 4:13 “And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?”

Have you ever felt like a stranger in a strange land? Have you ever felt like everyone around you is speaking a different language one that you don’t quite understand? I imagine that that is what many felt like when Jesus was out there speaking in parables and they just didn’t get the message.

I understand their confusion because that’s what gets me confused when I see fifty different translations of one verse in the bible. That is why I only read the King James Version because it is the most understood version by ME. Take for example the simple verse below:

King James Bible
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

New International Version
For God is not a [God] of [disorder] but of peace--as in all [the congregations] of the [Lord's people.] 

Isn’t that basically changing the words of God?

New Living Translation
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God's holy people.

English Standard Version
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

Berean Study Bible
For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,

Berean Literal Bible
For He is not the God of disorder, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

New American Standard Bible 
for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.


There were too many more to list but you get my meaning, right? Why all of the translations?

Here I go digging and researching. I apparently am not the only one confused by so many translations, apparently hundreds of years before me there was confusion on the rewriting of the original bible.
http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/

This link led me to more digging and understanding. Not that my brain can store all of this information but on some level, I’ve had it stored already for many years, go figure. I found it interesting that the original bible contained 80 books instead of the ones we’re fed, 66. 

“Up until the 1880’s every Protestant Bible (not just Catholic Bibles) had 80 books, not 66! The inter-testamental books written hundreds of years before Christ called “The Apocrypha” were part of virtually every printing of the Tyndale-Matthews Bible, the Great Bible, the Bishops Bible, the Protestant Geneva Bible, and the King James Bible until their removal in the 1880’s”

Not everyone was happy with the inclusion of the Apocrypha. Before my internet days I had read the Apocrypha and had no idea that they were part of the original KJV of the bible. I didn’t have the enormous amount of information at my fingertips as I do today. 

I found this paragraph most interesting from greatsite. Com:

“As Christians, we must be very careful to make intelligent and informed decisions about what translations of the Bible we choose to read. On the liberal extreme, we have people who would give us heretical new translations that attempt to change God’s Word to make it politically correct. One example of this, which has made headlines recently is the Today’s New International Version (T.N.I.V.) which seeks to remove all gender-specific references in the Biblend whenever possible! Not all new translations are good… and some are very bad.”

And this:
“Let’s be ever mindful that we are not called to worship the Bible. That is called idolatry. We are called to worship the God who gave us the Bible, and who preserved it through the centuries of people who sought to destroy it.”

I think people miss this point entirely thinking that the book is to be held as a sacred piece of paper even if it was a newly printed version of all that they believe in. That made total sense to me; we are not to worship the Bible we are to worship God alone. I think that is a fact many lose sight of in their search to be Christ-like and preaching ‘the Word’.

In conclusion I’ll end with this: We must decide whom it is we worship. Do we worship words, man or God? We are allowed free will so really we can worship whom we want, do what we want and believe what we want. But remember, your soul is counting on you to do the right thing whatever that means to YOU!

Bucket List

2 Pet. 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

We watched a movie titled Bucket List. It starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, two exemplary actors looking every bit their age but they still shine. I recommend the movie to anyone who likes non-sex and inspirational movies.

Without giving too much away, the story is about two men who have a bucket list of things to do before they die. It kind of had me thinking of all the things I’d like to do before I die.  I more than likely won’t complete my bucket list but I can dream, can’t I?

My number one thing to do is to get back home and see my mother before SHE dies and before I meet the maker.

My number two thing is silly. I want to sleep beneath the stars all night, a tent, a sleeping bag and a candle (or lantern) but preferably no snakes.

Number three has already been attempted but I want to succeed – I want to pet a cow! Yes people, you read it right, this city gal wants to pet a cow! If I could pet all farm animals that would be the icing on the cake so I won’t push it.

Number four is to have my inspirational poems self-published. I need my name to live on and don’t want to burden my son or husband by having them publish my work AFTER I die. But then again, isn’t that when most poets become famous for their work? Hmm… I’ll keep that in mind.

Number five – well I haven’t really gotten number five yet. I’ll have to let you know on that one. 

I’ve done so much in my life that actually making a bucket list of things to do is really harder than it sounds. 

Horseback riding? Done that. A trip to Disney World? Been there done that and I think I’m the only child who walked away from there saying, well let’s not go THERE again. Florida to me is like hell with candy canes, yeah that’s what it is to me. (I like snow and cold weather, keep that in mind.)

I’ve ridden a train (for twenty hours to be exact) to the aforementioned hell with candy canes. At the end of our ride, somewhere in Florida, the train derailed, one of the cars did, and we had to sit for hours before we got moving again, so no a train ride is not on my bucket list of things to do anymore.

You’d think climb a mountain would be on my list? Well, as a kid we used to summer vacation in the Pocono Mountains and mountain climbing was on our list and that along with horseback riding is what we did, as well as swim and bask at an isolated lake. All of the vacationing folk were pretty much gone when we arrived in late August so we had the entire community to ourselves. We stopped going when they turned the quiet place into a skiing community, which took away the beauty of the solitude it was exceptional for.

The Pocono Mountains is where I fell madly in love with the night sky. Billions upon billions of stars blanketed the sky in a shimmering diamond mine sort of spectacle and returning home to the city life left me yearning for the night cover that the mountains gave to me. Hence, the reason I want to sleep under the stars before I make my way to heaven. 

I’ve never had the wish to go skydiving or bungee jumping so that’s not on my list and my fear of heights helps with that part of the list. Basically, my list boils down to getting in touch with nature and all of her living, breathing animals; that to me brings me closer to God.

So my number five is really petting and seeing as many farm animals as I possibly can.

There you have it…at that point I can die in peace knowing I have lived a full life not of wants and needs but of the love of nature and all of God’s creatures. This is MY Bucket List, what does yours look like? 

4 Ezra 14:14 “Let go from thee mortal thoughts, cast away the burdens of man, put off now the weak nature,”

Content

Ex. 2:20-21 And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.

You could see this post as content [kon-tent] significance or profundity; meaning:
a clever play that lacks content.
Or: substantive information or creative material viewed in contrast to its actual or potential manner of presentation:

Or content [kuh n-tent] satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.

I was going for the being satisfied with what one is or has but it can also be seen as significance. I see a problem that has risen to record proportions in a nation of contentious people. They are not happy with what they have or with whom they are, causing an upheaval of indecisiveness.

Rom. 2:8 “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,”

Not only do I see this in the (I never talk about) politics, but in people’s lives. They are never content with the blessings they have and always seeking out more, whether it is more clothes, a bigger house, more selection or more choices, then they’re left confused wanderers by not being content with what they have. 

Why can’t people be content? People are no longer impressed with integrity, kindness, humility and generosity; they’re too busy being overcome by anger and hate as if something has possessed them that they’ll never admit is happening.

“I still get very high and very low in life. Daily. But I finally accepted the fact that sensitive is just how I was made, that I don’t have to hide it and I don’t have to fix it. I’m not broken.” ~ Glennon Melton

We must be able to overcome the dark force that is waging war on our souls so much so that we act like a roaring lion filled with hate, not a gentle Lamb like Christ. It is much easier to come out and attack, lash out at anyone and everyone who doesn’t have the same perspective as we do and yet we find ourselves clinging to the ones who are also filled with the maliciousness.

One of the hardest things to do in my Child of God walk is to forgive, to love my enemy, to turn the other cheek. People see me as either naïve or blind to reality but do they ever see me as a Child of God? No, and yes, do you know why? They’d rather pick a negative connotation not knowing it is an evil dark force that is drawing them to the conclusion. 

You see, they are the ones blind. They are blind to the blood of Christ that they claim is seeping through their veins. Jesus knew the men who were killing Him. Did He choose to lash out and spew hate filled words to carry Him to heaven? Did He choose to separate himself from the prostitutes, the poor, the lame and the different?

I know what you’re going to say. He was a better man than you. Yes, this is true but He is the one whose words should be first out of your mouth, not the ones that satan chooses for you.

We’re human and we are weak but He is strong! He is the one who has the strength to overcome the evil in the world and instead of rallying around satan, without demeaning hate-filled words, whose end has been prophesied about and will come, Jesus’ end is just the beginning.

When you are filled with love and joy part of the time in your daily living then you are not filled with Jesus all of the time. Being human allows you that right to choose good and evil.

I choose to overcome the evil force playing tug of war in my soul. Do you think it is easy? Do you think Joni just wakes up with her head in the clouds? No, she has to work at being there like everyone else but again, it is her CHOICE to choose good over evil.

Being content with all that I am and all that I have, not wanting more and more keeps me grounded in the here and now.

Phil. 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Quotation Saturday ~ Peace

Job 22: 21 “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.”

CONTENT

“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” 
― Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

“My Crown is in my heart, not on my head:
Not deck'd with Diamonds, and Indian stones:
Nor to be seen: my Crown is call'd Content,
A Crown it is, that seldom Kings enjoy.” 
― William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part 3

“Poor is the man who is not content with what he has.” 
― Rita Gonzalez (and too many to list have said this)

“Don't get caught in the trap of always "Needing" something. Needing something always projects your mind into the future as if you have it and is the opposite of gratitude. Be content in the present moment.” 
― Matthew Donnelly

GRATEFUL

“As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness -- just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.” 
― Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Ingratitude to God does not rely only on our refusal to give the verbal thanksgiving due to Him, but also resides in our inability to appreciate his gifts and potentials in us by leaving them untapped.” 
― Israelmore Ayivor

“I have been finding treasures in places I did not want to search. I have been hearing wisdom from tongues I did not want to listen. I have been finding beauty where I did not want to look. And I have learned so much from journeys I did not want to take. Forgive me, O Gracious One; for I have been closing my ears and eyes for too long. I have learned that miracles are only called miracles because they are often witnessed by only those who can see through all of life's illusions. I am ready to see what really exists on other side, what exists behind the blinds, and taste all the ugly fruit instead of all that looks right, plump and ripe.” 
― Suzy Kassem

“Gain strength. Suck up energy. Make a point of appreciating the fragrance of the flowers and the beauty of the sunset. It is like armor. When you take a moment to practice my message you can then be armed with an ability to be detached. One is meant to forgive, to forgive and be compassionate.”
 ~ Kuan Yin

SATISFIED

“Is God satisfied with you or could it be that God looks at you and fails to see a man, only a bunch of flesh Full of self, and missing out on the purpose for his or her creation? What does God see, think and feel when he looks at you?” 
― Sunday Adelaja

“He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.” 
― Baltasar Gracián

“You will never be satisfied until you are completely satisfied with God.”
― Jerry Kinard

“Live your lives in such a way that you would be sure you are productive, effective and satisfied on all levels.” 
― Sunday Adelaja

PEACE

“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.” 
― Dalai Lama XIV

“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” 
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“You have peace," the old woman said, "when you make it with yourself.” 
― Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

“Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on.” 
― Criss Jami

NEWNESS

“Change is like the skin peeling off of a snake. It is slow. It is sticky. And sometimes you have to rub against a hard place to pull yourself through it. But in the end, you realize that it was worth it all to get the new place and new person you have become.” 
― Stella Payton

“And in the evening
After the fire and the light
One thing is certain: Nothing can hold back the light
Time is relentless
And as the past disappears
We're on the verge of all things new” 
― Billy Joel, - River of Dreams

“How different every hour is from the one before!” 
― Marty Rubin

Weather the Storm

Pss.148:8 “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:”

Many many people go through trials and tribulations but not everyone handles the storm they’re passing through in a graceful manner. I’ve been through too many storms to count but always I try to hold my head up in optimism and trudge through the blaring winds that season my face.

I don’t allow the storms to break me instead I let them build me up into a stronger being. By writing about my storms, I share with you the fact that not all storms are damaging. Take for instance Friday when my hubby came home from work and told me he lost his job. Granted it wasn’t a great job to begin with but it was a job. 

Him being ‘disabled’, blind in one eye and limited driving, he has to take what he can get which makes finding a job pretty challenging for him. He’ll never be able to go back to the forty-hour workweek like he had when we lived in Texas and he worked for UPS on the high-income end of the tax bracket. No, since he went blind for two and a half years it humbled us beyond measure. We took on a new way of living. 

We normally take on storms like brushing hair out of our eyes; we just whip them away and move onto the next challenge. That’s how we roll. This time is no different; I didn’t shatter into a million pieces nor did he when he was ‘let go’ to put it mildly.

I twiddled my thumbs anticipating the anxiety he must have felt being the breadwinner of the household. Since I’m disabled, can’t work and can barely take care of the household things that need to be done around here, of course I wondered what his next course of action would be in this matter.

Monday he was online filling out applications and Tuesday he received a call for an interview on Wednesday and Wednesday found him at the job interview and it ending with ‘come in Sunday to train’!!! Wow, talk about a storm passing over! Praise God!

There are drawbacks but none my man can’t handle. It’s not a lot of hours but he can’t put in more than 30 with his limited driving. He can’t drive in the dark and cannot exceed a sixty-mile radius, which really puts him for whatever job is out there in the Kearney area that is willing to work his limitations into their schedule. I know with summer months we get more daylight but many won’t work around him to satisfy their job requirement. 

It really stinks being limited but hey, living in the midst of a storm constantly is a learning experience not too many could handle. We weather these storms wrapped in God’s loving arms and just when you think it is settling down, WHAM another storm.

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to PASS, it’s learning to DANCE in the rain!”

I wonder why a candle with that quote is prominently displayed on my table? Because I love dancing in the rain. When God tosses a storm my way, I don’t run and hide under an umbrella, I let the rain roll down my cheeks, I let the wind blow through my hair, I sometimes tremble at the ferocity of the lightning but then I still, dance in the rain.

God’s like that sometimes, He tosses storms your way to see how you’ll handle what He throws at you. You either become a testimony for His greatness or you hid under a rock, the choice is always your own.

Isa. 25:4 “For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.”