Week Two of Advent: Prepararation

Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

The Second Week of Advent

I was raised Catholic, for at least eight years of my life anyway. From first to eighth grade the Advent season was a season of love in our school as we prepared for the birthday of our Lord and Savior. The season was more about the love of God than the love of gifts so that was our focus. In the morning before classes began, all of the children were called to the central hallway where we were tightly gathered. One child lit a candle and we all sang in unison, 'O come O come Emmanuel'. We would do this every day before classes began for the next four weeks. 

This was the season that our Christmas plays were put together and as a whole school we were in unison with one another, no grade was doing anything much different, we were all focused on the season in some way. Our classrooms and curriculum consisted of the Jesus Story, the memorizing of Luke, exchanging of Christmas cards, Christmas tree decoration, and all the adornment that we saw on the outside of school, during the next four weeks the holyday was magnified in the halls and classrooms of my Catholic school, St. Mary’s.

Every year since I converted from Roman Catholicism, Advent always held a special time of reflection, of coming closer to God through the lighting of candles, meditation, singing and rejoicing and, spreading love and listening, yes listening, to Him for the way I should go. My Lenten season is similar but that season is the season of renewal, advent is the season of reflection. Reflection of where you’ve been and where you’re going. A peace and contentment with the love of Christ. 

Last week my reflection consisted of Google Earth. Yeah, I know that’s odd but I went back home and looked at the home where I  grew up. The house on William street meant more to me than just the home I grew up in, the house right next door is where my cousins once lived and the house that I would eventually give birth to my first living son.

Sitting there looking at the house I grew up in on my screen, opened a floodgate of memories. The tall slender rowhome with its now brick facade but the same marble steps we used to scrub with comet to get them clean and white, were still there. The long narrow windows were present and I looked, with tears in my eyes as the kid in me remembered so many good Christmas’ decorating those windows. Memories of putting up the Christmas tree right in front of those windows, and the stairs, the winding stairs my sister and I would sit at the top of and secretly watch my mother place gifts under the tree. I’m certain our giggles gave us away. What good memories but oh the memories. 

I know I’ve written about my life and it not being the greatest childhood, (I know, I know, no one had a great childhood but mine was exceptionally bad) except for the Christmas season memories, they were always the best! My grade school was right around the corner from my house so as I visited my ‘old home’ I had to visit my old school, too. I think last week was for me, let’s walk down memory lane.

As I visited my old school the memories of the Christmas plays came flooding in along with the snowflakes I’d cut out or the Christmas construction-paper-cutout trees we decorated and placed around the halls, or the manger I built as a classroom assignment.

I remembered the Christmas play where I was in the back row of the stage standing on a milk crate in a line of students also balancing on a milk crate. Well wouldn’t you know, it would take little Joni to lose her balance and wipe out the entire row of kids as we all came crashing to the floor in giggles. The next year Sister Karl Ann made sure she placed me safely seated in the front row, with a small bongo in my hand as I played the Little Drummer Boy as we all sang.

It seemed I only allowed the good memories in as Memory Lane had changed over the years. I’ve worked so hard the past two years on letting the bad memories go into the Forgiven Pool where they could drown that they no longer held sway in my mind when Memory Lane opened up.

This is the week I prepared to face another Christmas, one in my new life seemingly a million miles away from my old life in Baltimore. Nowhere in my past did chickens and roosters come to my front door or turkeys would eat my birdseed. The only cluttered streets I see out here are when I drive two hours into Omaha where they have what they call ‘City Life’. It’s kind of funny, if only they knew what REAL city life was like. A rock formation in the far western reaches of the state constitutes a ‘mountain’ to them, and sand in front of a lake is what they deem ‘a beach’. To them, a city is where there are tall buildings and a nightlife. A nightlife that is kept at bay in the country living. They have bars out here but nothing like a real CITY has for sure.

Baltimore City's Inner Harbor

my playground as a child

Growing up in Baltimore City I lived right in the crook of the Chesapeake Bay, you know, that was a small portion of the Atlantic Ocean where there were numerous ‘beaches’ all a part of the shoreline of the ocean. Home of Fort McHenry where our national anthem was written by Francis Scott Key. The mountains in the tiny Maryland state escorted you right into Pennsylvania where even bigger and better mountains lined the landscape.

A canon at Fort McHenry facing the FSK bridge

Out here in the midwest often called, The Bible Belt, the land is flat, no matter what they tell you! You can see lightning in the sky over fifty miles away, sometimes a hundred miles away depending on the severity of the storm. The one thing I cherish out here in this new life? LOVE! The love of family is simply amazing out here. The love of God is monumental. The love of life is respected and Memory Lane to them is filled with cows, barns, dirt roads, steak, pulled pork (they call sloppy-joe) with taters and a huge pumpkin pie that grandma made from scratch.

cows on a farm off of a Nebraska dirt road

a barn, Anywhere, Ne.

In the wood framed houses of Nebraska and acres of farm, within each smokestack stood a child looking at a Christmas tree knowing what it meant to appreciate the joys of the Advent season and the welcome of love received when opening the door on Christmas Day. Yes, the road from there to here was filled with rubble but to me with every rock along the way, I saw within, a million mountains ready to climb and a summit to reach.

May the joy of the season walk you down memory lane and you remember all the love that God has poured out to you. His gift to you was His Son, His love for you immeasurable, His Light? Well, each one of us is His Light, it depends on how you see it. God Bless you all!

Luke 2:10-14 “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Thankful November?

Pss. 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Well, it is pretty amazing that November came around so quick. Seems like just yesterday it was Christmas. Five years ago today there was snow on the ground here, hubby was blind and life in the great state of Nebraska was fairly new to me. After a week long of reminiscing I need to get back on track this week.

I don’t know how man years Thankful November has been going on but I see the ‘challenge’ every year and think it is quite silly for ME, not so much so for the people who need a month reminder to remember what they are Thankful or grateful for.

Rom. 1:21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

You see, the challenge should not be a month set aside in November when we have Thanksgiving to celebrate, I think the challenge should be a 365-day event! Wake every day and be grateful for just one thing if not a ton of things, before signing off at night, tell the world what you were thankful for on that given day! 

That my friends is a CHALLENGE! When I wake up in the morning, I thank the Lord for another day to be alive on this planet and when I go to sleep at night I thank the Lord for getting me through the day and I always find one specific thing in my day to thank Him for; prayers answered, a car that runs, the dog that licks my nose, whether simple or big, I’m always thankful. 

Yesterday, besides being thankful for another day, I was thankful for Thankful November. I know there are many non-believers or passive followers of Christ but everyone loves a good challenge and struggling to find one good thing to be grateful for in a day is a challenge many can’t meet or are not up to the task.

While this November is an election year, too many souls are lost in the mire of hate, anger, and a sheepish leading of their life, that they NEED Thankful November to open their eyes to what REALLY matters in life. While I understand everything physical in this life matters (to an extent) I cling to the Spirit of life that feeds my very grateful and humble being.

When this year ends December 31st, I will still have my dignity intact and won’t have to look back at the shame I brought upon myself in the past year. I know, we live in a world that holds no shame for people spreading the hate, who delights in bringing angst to a day, and for some who wallow in the mire of deep-seated evil spread to the world.

At the end of the day I don’t look in the mirror and feel shame, guilt, remorse, pride or arrogance, I see me; the whiny, bratty me that the Lord shaped on a sun-filled morning thankful for another day of life but ready for my eight hours of sleep that I’m BLESSED to have. 

So when another month passes and everyone’s card is full for the 30 days of being thankful in November and I see hashtags like  #Thankful 30, I so wish it said #thankful365, #Thankful2016, #thankfultobealive. Seriously, this is what the world NEEDS!

I’m grateful for a movement that gets the world being thankful for what they have! I’m grateful for a God who loves me unconditionally and blesses me DAILY! I’m thankful for a blog that at the beginning of the year I wanted to end took on new life and meaning and I surpassed 2014 (182 posts) and my goal now is to surpass 2012 (202 posts) just to prove to myself my words mean something to someone and to ME! 

I could go on and on for all that I’m thankful for and my hope in my words is to see people surpass the Thankful November Thirty-day challenge and have it last the entire year possibly the rest of their lives! Finding something to be grateful for even if it is as simple as having another roll of toilet paper on hand when one runs out, being grateful for EVERYTHING changes you!

So light your days being grateful! Spend the month being Thankful… at the end of the year realize… you have more than thirty days of thankfulness to be grateful for! 

God be with each and every one of you to who I am grateful for!

God Bless!

Col. 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

Poetry Sunday ~ September Eleven

Isa. 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

***

September 11

I cradled my morning coffee,

my eyes they struggled to see

a horrific terrible tragedy,

unfolding in front of me.

Today’s background clutter,

seemed to take a second stance,

scrambling cameras everywhere,

gave rise to a deeper glance.

A plane had hit a building,

I couldn't believe my eyes.

the horror of a gaping wound,

of such an enormous size.

By now I'm jolted wide awake,

something was just not right.

I witnessed the impact yet again,

on the twin without a fight.

Billowing smoke and fragments,

scattered all around.

People frozen in a spot,

as objects fall to the ground.

Reports of other targets,

were coming into view.

My tear-filled eyes were wondering.

what this world was coming to.

In merely a matter of moments,

my blurry eyes did see;

heroes rushing into the scene,

as workers fought to flee.

The crumbling of a building,

number two not far behind.

The crashing of plane three and four,

had mentally boggled my mind.

I couldn't feel my fingers;

a wounded numbness arose.

I sat in total disbelief

as my body stood there froze.

Longing to be shaken,

from this nightmare that is real

my body shrouded in emptiness,

as I buckled to a kneel.

I prayed for love torn strangers,

whose faces dripped with fear.

I longed for welcome solace,

through the shedding of a tear.

The aroma of terror lingers,

as I'm trembling to the core.

I long for the taste of freedom,

which I sense will be no more.

A sleeping nation awakened,

by the trumpets sounding in heaven.

Altering our lives forever,

on the day of September eleven.

Copyright © Joni Zipp

written: Sept. 11, 2001

Isa. 12: 4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

God Bless America!

Faith

God, like faith, cannot be seen or proven, it must be felt within and carried with you daily. Allow your testimony of His blessings be your proof!

Heb. 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Heb 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Pss. 12:1 “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”

Pss 89: [1] I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
[2] For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
[5] And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
[8] O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
[24] But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
[33] Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
[37] It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

Isa. 25:1 “O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”

Matt. 6: 30 “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”

Matt. 17:17 “Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.”
[20] “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Acts 16:5 “And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.”

Acts 26:18 “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
[12] That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
[17] For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

God Bless you all!

This Is The Year

Acts 4:22 “For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.”

This is the year people point fingers and say there she goes, talking about ME! Rest assured friends, I in no way am targeting any single one of you; actually I am targeting you as a collective whole. If you find what I’m saying to be true or you feel a tinge of guilt, or shivers run up and down your arms like ants on breadcrumbs, then I am reaching YOU!

This is the year of change. I don’t know why I’m clinging to those words but upon rising each morning it feels as each day is a new day to embrace change. What goes in my body, food or drink or what goes in my mind, images or negativity, and what I allow to circle around me!

Things I plan on changing:

I plan on making a change in my writing first and foremost.
I plan on not allowing people and their negative views of the world, cloud mine!
I plan every day to post ‘what’s on my mind’ on facebook not with the annoying tactic of memes but with WORDS, real words! (hopefully)
I plan on using the benefits of twitter more (as a writer)
I plan on making new acquaintances this year that the Lord will lead to me. (or I to them)
I plan on changing the world with my words.

These are just a few things that have begun changing in just seven days of the New Year. They started surfacing in the end of last year but I didn’t feel these changes in my bones until the advent of the New Year.

I swore I would put the mourning-filled year behind me and by daggone it, I will! I got so lost in the grief of the year I forgot to mention that my niece and her husband had a baby as well as my nephew and his wife, both had girls! I was so clouded in the darkness I totally brushed aside the good that happened last year and good things DID happen, I DID marry my best friend, y’know! 

So as my plan for change is moving along smoothly there are things I plan on NOT changing:

I will not be changing my prayer schedule, which is daily in the morning and thoughtfully throughout the day as needed.
I will not be changing my praise and worship!
I will not be changing my faith. It will be as profound and earnestly as it has ever been for over forty years now with added growth.
I will not stop drinking coffee. < - - just a little smile thrown in there for you

Now go and change what you can, accept what you can't change and be who you are! God Bless one and all!

Quotation Saturday ~ A New Year is Coming

Quotation Saturday

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

“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it...” 
― Wilferd Peterson

“As I grow older, much older, I will experience many things, and I will hit rock bottom again and again. Again and again I will suffer; again and again I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won't let my spirit be destroyed.” 
― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen

“There is a LIGHT in this world. A healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometime lose sight of this force when there is suffering, and too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways.” 
― Richard Attenborough

LOVE

“We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky.” 
― Walter Mosley, Blue Light

“In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.” 
― Rumi

“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” 
― Mother Teresa

“If there's a thing I've learned in my life it's to not be afraid of the responsibility that comes with caring for other people. What we do for love: those things endure. Even if the people you do them for don't” 
― Cassandra Clare

New Year

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

“A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare
to the jeweled vision of a life started anew.” 
― Aberjhani, Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry

“Let me give you a New Year message: Believe in yourself, because no one ever achieved anything significant without believing in himself and no one ever will! Believe in yourself powerfully, especially when there is no reason left to believe in yourself because the ultimate bottom is the best place to start a big rise!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“A year of ending and beginning, a year of loss and finding...and all of you were with me through the storm. I drink your health, your wealth, your fortune for long years to come, and I hope for many more days in which we can gather like this.” 
― C.J. Cherryh, Fortress of Eagles

This year has been long and sorrowful. My prayer for the New Year is that 2016 will be a better year, full of life and love! May the wind sweep across my face and breathe into me a new life, a new aspiration so that all of the world will be consumed in the love and Light I know to exist. God bless you all.
~ Joni

His Sacrifice

Heb. 10: 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

His Sacrifice

He did not come as a flaming fire

The manger was His birth.

Angels danced and sang that night

As Jesus graced this earth.

Some won’t hear, some won’t see

He will rise and awaken thee.

He came in silence on a starry night

The great Emmanuel

The sages bowed before Him

A Savior’s tale to tell.

Some won’t listen, most won’t agree

His blood was shed for you and me.

He walked a wrinkled furrowed path

Our sin was His to bear.

Nailed upon the tattered cross

Yet not many gave a care.

Some will watch, some will flee

God in man now trinity.

He came to show us how to love

Not live in prideful hate

He offers us a straightened path

But narrow is the gate.

Some will follow, some will be

A Light for all of the world to see.

Matt. 7: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.