I Love My Friends

I love my friends

I have a virtual family that lives inside my computer. I’ve known them for quite a few years and we’re often bouncing around the virtual walls and I have come to call them dear friends. They share snappy images of their treasured children, their beloved pets, their charming homes, their snow-laden paths, and their flower-filled gardens; they even get personal and share their intimate life of ups and downs.

Some of these friends are recent acquaintances while others are years long writing friends. Some are battling illness while others are rejoicing in health, others have parents or children that have passed, and others have parents/friends/family in the hospital. Many seek prayer, some seek peace and more times than not they just want to share their life with the world or a small portion of the world anyway. All in all they have become my virtual spiritual family whom I love dearly, enough to trust and give my physical address.

Some of my friends though, I suspect of being possessed by spybots. I haven’t been a part of the virtual world for too long but I learned quickly what spybots were, in essence making me set moderating comments here on my blog because they inundated the comment section with spam, not the kind you eat either.

Some of these suspected spybots over on facebook rarely have an actual thought. They smear the walls with other people’s pets, artistic homes and fatty food, while washing their mouth out with dirty laundry by posting anything and everything political that runs across their screen. These droids fill the airwaves with what they THINK we want to hear and see. Following the doo-doo wherever it may lead. It’s a conspiracy, man!

The spybot villains enlisted me also, I was thinking maybe that is how people really are supposed to portray themselves in the social media world, but it came back to bite me and I made certainly clear that I wanted no part in their shenanigans, and that’s that!

In my spirit-filled life-altering bout of change I see things differently now. I can see also that some of my compadres have seen the light too and have altered their change so that we can all illuminate the world together! BooYa!

I do have some of the wackiest, weirdest, strangest, lovable, fun-loving, God-fearing, compassionate and most awesome friends on the net and I wouldn’t trade any of them for the world… okay maybe one. No, seriously, I love them all dearly! I just had to put that out there in case they don’t already know that they change my world and make it feel right. They’re the bubblewrap that puts a pop in my day! Just sayin’.

The End is Near ~ Part I

Pss.71:21 “Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.”

The End is Near ~ Part I

Yes, that’s right, the end of 2015 is so close I can taste it watering in my mouth. After the tragic year I’ve had my tears have dried up for now, I’m not sure if it is temporary or not but I’ll go with God in prayer that He brings me out on the other end of a New Year!

My Christmas Eve was blanketed in grief and I realized how much I missed my mother and my father. With Dad gone on to better horizons, I knew the first Christmas would be the hardest but I had no idea my eyes had more tears left to give.

We had gotten word that as Steven’s aunt was driving down to Nebraska from South Dakota, she was run off the road by an eighteen-wheeler and her car was damaged, she wasn’t, physically. He didn’t stop to render assistance; he just kept on going. My goodness. My palm slapped my forehead, then my hands clasped together as I thanked the Lord for the chance to hug his aunt again.

I woke Christmas morning wanting to run to my mother and hug her but she wasn’t here, she was back home in Baltimore. I had to go on with this day and I knew I could make it; the one thing my father instilled in me was strength, and I would do it for him if not for anybody else.

Christmas day I found myself surrounded by family. This was my new family in marriage. Yes, they’ve been my family for 13 years now but this year they became ever more important to me. Sure I’ve always known that life can slip from our fingertips in the blink of an eye, but never more so than this year when I was hit with three prominent deaths in my family.

The aunt that was run off the road told me how ‘young kids’ stopped to help her. Her wheel was pretty damaged but they got it running enough for her to make it to Nebraska. I told her how I had prayed for her to have a safe journey and asked my angels to look out for her. She thanked me, she said “Oh they were there for sure!” At eighty years old you’d think she’d throw in the towel and stop these long trips but not her; I know we’ll see her again come Easter. She is one of the sweetest women I know! She reminds me of one of the nuns I grew up with in Catholic school that have a cherubic glow about them. That is her; she’s a Baptist, not a Catholic but she glows. Before I left to come home she touched my arm and said to me, “Could you ask your angels to watch me make the trip home?” She said that with such a warm gentle smile. I told her of course I would! (But in all honesty, I think she has her own angels surrounding her daily.)

I accepted the warm condolences of the family with watery eyes but not a full-blown cry. The love felt so comforting. I know cards and condolences have a special feel but a hug brings about a physical healing that I truly needed at this time.

My Christmas was full of contentment, love, sharing and caring! I’m not a person who brags and boasts of where I went and what I did or what I got; I feel like God doesn’t care about those material actions, He cares about what you FELT. Since God is LOVE, I was filled with love this Christmas and that means I got everything I ever wanted and all that I ever needed.

While the end of the year is drawing near and I DON’T make New Year’s resolutions, I anxiously await the calendar flip in earnest prayer! It WILL be a better year! It may also be a year filled with death and tragedy but I have the strength to push forward and move ahead and by God, that is just what I’m going to do!

Praise be to God!!!

Isa. 49:13 “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.”

What a Loss...

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever-lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
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Well it behooves me to say, I lost a dear friend in the writing world. Joan McNulty Pulver was a special person as all my virtual friends are to me, but she had a light. A shiny light that stood in the doorway when your entire room was dark; she lit the place.

Like so many others before me, she took me under her wing and nurtured our friendship. We never met in person but it really wasn’t necessary because she just had a way of making you feel like she was right in the room laughing and smiling with you.

When someone passes away, it reminds us of the finality of life. We know that if we are Christians and love the Lord, the person has gone on to a much better place than this and that they are no longer suffering with multiple illnesses, like Joan, that seemed to be hitting her a lot in the past year.

We go on day by day, but still, we feel like something is missing. Like our days won’t be the same because that person is no longer there as an arm of support. In the writing world, our arms of support are essential or you don’t have a leg to stand on. Joan was a dependable arm to hold onto and the place echoes with sounds because she is no longer physically present.

I also remember when I had lost another fellow writer, whose death hit me pretty hard. Miss Connie passed and we were all in there (WVU) saying how much we loved and missed her and I remember Joan coming in and saying, “She must’ve been really special. I can only hope I’m loved and thought of this way when I go.” I told her that boy was she! and she wasn’t going anywhere!!!

With each sickness, we lifted her up in prayer. With each virtual visit, she always had kind words to share. Her family is so lucky to have such a special mom, grandma, aunt, friend. They lost a major core of the very beating heart of the family and my prayers can only bring them comfort.

So on this sad day as I remember a friend, I need to remember also that she would not want me to be down. She would want me to laugh and smile and wish her godspeed, because again, she KNOWS she’s in a better place than any of us are down here on Earth.

Just knowing she isn’t here any more hurts in a somber way, but I know that a smile for her will carry her away to heights unknown. She will soar with angels and sing a new song in the realm of heaven. Let me tell you, God got a real special addition to heaven. He needed her more than we did down here. We have to remember her in light and love. We have to give her wings a breath of wind so she may rest, in peace.

Godspeed my friend *blows soft kisses your way*