January Third - Change

Rom. 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

January 3rd, 2019

“Make a POSITIVE change in the world by changing YOU first.” Joni

I’m full of these quotes. I think I’ll put together a book of quotes that are solely mine or should I say soulfully mine! I thought with the new year I’d see a change in people. I dunno, I think I expect people to realize the minute things in life like I do and sometimes they can’t even grasp the big things. I have to shake my head, I’ll pray in hopes I’ll see SOME change this year in others, not just myself. 

Change is hard stuff, I know. It’s not to be all puffed up in words, change is about taking action to move! How many people make new year’s resolutions, only to set themselves up for failure. How good that must feel when people tell themselves what a failure they are because they couldn’t change ONE thing. I never make resolutions and I never ay I'm going to do something and not do it, what a letdown. Stress-free living is not about letdowns.

Today the dismantling of Christmas took place. With the absence of Adam, this Christmas decorating and tearing down had a new back-breaking meaning! Talk about change! My son is now at his own place making his own rules and doing his own thing, while we had to accept the change and do things a little differently this Christmas.

Last night, I took all the ornaments off of the tree and boxed them up, readied them for the basement. I didn’t overdo it because I was sitting in my wheelchair and hubby placed everything on a small tv table so I had easy access to wrap and box the tree ornaments. He would do the tree and lights while I would do the other ornaments, mainly my snowmen! 

On this day, the tree came tumbling down so to speak, and we had the house looking like its old self in no time. I even had time to take a shower. Ah, the beloved shower that I missed for well over thirty days! Don’t get me wrong, I used the old-fashioned bucket and rag to bathe but it certainly is not the same as cleansing the whole body shower! 

We are now finding peaceful common ground. He is relaxing in taking care of my every need, and I am finding a sense of peace in being able to care more for myself. I have new freedoms in washing, and cleaning and do the Suzie Homemaker jobs that I LOVED before my accident. It was a stress-free Christmas and a relaxing calendar change, so much so my blog became a memory for a spell. I need to get back to telling my story but wanted some fill-ins for the New Year! 

The New Year - a blank page for you to write in every day to make a CHANGE! Change is free, not easy but free! Find the freedom in CHANGE! 

Transforming

Rom. 12:2 “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.”

Transforming

There are numerous scientific studies that show the way we habitually think changes our physiological makeup in our brains. To me, it shows that the biblical verse telling us to be transformed means so much more than just follow Christ. I read so much more into scripture and it is never a clear-cut literal meaning to me when I read something from the Holy Bible.

God wants us to be transformed. He didn’t want us following the ways of the world because He knew even back when he was creating, that this world would be corrupted and we needed to be strong in our minds to stand up against the wiles of the world.

2 Cor. 11:13-15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

When I write about healing this dastardly disease, I in no way think I’m doing this all on my own. I know there are many out there that think I’m crazy, “change your diet and heal” how silly is that. If that were the case doctors would be prescribing healthy food change instead of the poisons they so often dish out, right? Wrong. Doctors are trained to dish out pharmaceuticals. They’re not in the health business nor will they promote it. They to me are no different than drug dealers, they just have legal means to get through the red tape.

While I’ve always been a follower of Christ, being transformed is a whole different matter. When you think of someone who has gone through a transformation what is the first thing that comes to your mind? That they’ve changed in their entirety right? Not just something as physical as a nose job or facelift. Facial physical features usually conjure the words, they’ve had work done. Think about that, there is a difference in a physical transformation and a spiritual metaphysical one.

Rom. 2:19 "And art confident that thou thyself are a guide to the blind, a light of them which are in darkness."

I myself am not conformed to this world but there is always room for growth within the realm of transformation. While I may have physically appeared to be transformed on the outside, this illness has caused me to transform on the inside as well. If I were to look at an x-ray of my insides I more than likely would be looking at the transformation this disease has wrought on all the cogs of this machine I call my body.

Now if a doctor looked at my x-rays, as they have, seeing everything askew, the first thing they offer is drugs, not health and diet changes. They want to physically chop me up and radiate me and I just don’t feel like conforming to their method when God Himself tells me to ‘be transformed’. Again, a transformation is nothing physical to ME!

If I thought in my mind for a minute that the slice and dice method was for me, I’d go that route with no hesitancy. Instead, my mind is conformed to the way of God and I’m being transformed physically, mentally and spiritually! 

It’s ironic, have you ever wondered why you need a doctor in the first place? You botched up your health (temple) and you need the doctor to pacify you. You NEED the drugs. To transform your health is quite difficult so the road most frequented seems like the right road to take. It is quite obvious to me that I screwed up taking care of my health, so when the doctor offered a pacifying method, I chose to go to God and see what He says. I need to clean and take care of my temple (body) and treat it as the sacred place of God if I’m ever to survive this disease.

1 Cor. 3:16- 17 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

Here I am today, in a transformation stage. I feel like a butterfly inside the cocoon wriggling and squirming, waiting to be set free. Then it happens, I wake one day and look in the mirror and don’t see the same ol’ unhealthy person that used to be there, I’ve been granted wings to FLY.

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

He’s arrived. I waited; He showed up and gave me wings to fly, to be transformed, to heal, inside and out. He gave me the ability to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. He’s allowed me to soar and not be conformed to this world. I am transforming!

All praise and Glory to God!

Ten Things Money Can't Buy

Pss.40:4 “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”

Manners - We live in a nation where please and thank you have gone way to “yeah, text me sometime.” We’ve lost all sense of politeness and maybe if the new generation teaches kids manners the world would change but parents today would rather a machine like a tablet, iPod, phone, computer, and television raise their kids so they won’t have to.

Morals – You don’t have to be a religious person to teach your kids morals. If YOU have morals then this would flow from you to your children but if you don’t care if your children have a moral compass more times than not you’ll raise a self-centered child that feels life owes THEM and not the other way around; grateful for the very food on their plate! They NEED to know right from wrong from the very beginning.

Respect – People today don’t have the respect for their elders the way in older times. I’m not THAT old but I know respect and taught my child to respect ALL people, not just one race. I never once heard my dad call his wife his ‘old lady’ but kids today call their girlfriends their old lady before they’re even married. It is a derogatory word meaning he/she is chained to this person but wishes they weren’t. THAT is not respect, that is entitlement when kids are raised with no moral compass!

Common sense – Kids today definitely don’t have the sense God gave them, take God out of the equation and kids still don’t have the sense their parents gave them. Their common sense is flushed in a sewer somewhere and they’re happy just sitting behind a screen. Children today don’t want or NEED common sense in their minds because they have no aspirations for anything other than ‘just living’.

Character – And I don’t mean Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse as a character either. Character is defined by the way you think, feel and BEHAVE. Even adults today lack this aspect of their personality and I don’t know why. They were raised in a generation where they were taught respect but when a child grows and forms his own character, sometimes their moral compass does not sway the character they need. They allow their character to build off of the hate they have for people and the world and thus lose any sense of a personality with character. They and they alone have deformed their character thus giving them a false personality.

Class – This is right up there with respect. A person with class doesn’t need to be rich or hold their tea in a proper way, class can be defined with the way you treat people. If you treat all people the same as you would say, your mother, you have class. It’s respecting ALL people in the same manner as you would treat the most respected person in your life. Example? When you’re with a bunch of the guys, you curse like a sailor, but would you speak that way in front of your mother? You lack class. 

Integrity – The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Honesty is one of the hardest things to live by. Too many choose the route of a fib or a ‘little white lie’ but this my friends defines your character. If you can lie about something ‘simple’ it makes it easier to lie about something big and more times than not you’ll choose the fib over the truth because the lie makes you look better, where the truth might allow people to see the ‘real’ you.

Trust – Remember I just mentioned honesty? Well, trust goes hand-in-hand with honesty. People trust you to tell them the truth but when you’re caught in a lie, it chips away at your trustworthiness.

Patience – Patience is the ability to wait. We live in a world now where everyone wants what he or she wants and they want it NOW! There is no patience in waiting for the right time, the right way or the right purpose. This is obvious when you’re driving down the road, doing the speed limit of 60 (or 75 for that matter) and someone comes up behind you, rides your tail and waits for an opportunity to SPEEEED around you! Mind you, you both wind up at the same intersection or red light, but sometimes you can see the speed-demon in a ditch because they lacked patience!

LOVE! – The world has lost the interpretation of love. They say they love but know, these people only love their mother and have no room to love anyone or anything else. They say they love God, but you can see in their actions that love is just a term they use again, to make themselves look good, feel good and like they have good character. 

The entire post I deliberately left God out of the equation you know why, to show you that it is morality that is lacking in the world. People decry, it is the lack of God but I’m here to show you these ten FREE things on a moral compass are lacking and thus, there goes the world. WORLD! Not just our country.

Bonus, the God factor: 
Faith – The ability to believe in things unseen. 
Hope – That all things are built trustfully and honestly on this thing called faith. 
and Charity – Matt. 7:12 (NIV) says it all: 
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

MTOC ~ Day Three ~ Choice

“When faced with senseless drama, spiteful criticism, misguided opinions, walking away is the best way to stand up for yourself. To respond with anger is an endorsement of their attitude.” ~ Dodinsky

I have laid my past to rest and crawled out of the darkened pit with my fingernails intact as well as my dignity. While I could have lashed out at my sister for her insensitive ignorant remarks toward me, my son and my husband, I CHOSE the higher road and continue on with my life that I have built for myself. Not with the help of any blood family members who remain anchors that weigh me down. I now look to my Spiritual family to lift me up on a daily basis. 

We ALL have a choice and while some will cling to the bitterness that shapes their life, I CHOOSE not to allow anger and bitterness to define who I am now. THAT my friends is God in me. It isn’t any scientific psychological mumbo jumbo, nope it’s that God mumbo jumbo that I keep telling people about. 

I have a friend who over reacted to something she had seen. Apparently Kirk Cameron is doing a tour giving HIS testimony of Christ. While he has the star quality that I don’t have, his words are going to be faced with pretty much the same criticism I’m faced with in my testimony. Us God people are just freaks of nature. I along with millions, and possibly billions are all wrong and all freaks of this ‘God’ we speak of. 

What did Kirk Cameron say that ticked my friend off? 

He said, "Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband's lead, not to tell their husband how he ought to be a better husband," he says. "When each person gets their part right, regardless of how their spouse is treating them, there is hope for real change in their marriage."

She raged on, (I won’t share her entire post for privacy reasons) but this is some of what she said:

“If this is what being Christian means, then I don't want any part of it.” 

What she said, loosely, is that she heard Cameron say that women are to be servant slaves to their husband. His sister Candace said that she agreed with Kirk and is submissive to HER husband but what my friend missed was the CHOICE of the entire message. I think she missed the point that we, men AND women, are to love, honor, respect and cherish one another. Not be slaves but to honor one another.

I don’t judge her for her opinion on the matter because it is what I see as a national problem with the message that Jesus was trying to convey. People mix the Old Testament with the New Testament and make confetti of the words and dish out what suits them. They dissect the word to fit into their little world, they use the words like wet clay and try to form those words into a belief system that suits or doesn’t suit them. To ME, it looks like they’ve made an ashtray out of the Word of God.

They try going to church but again, they’re met with confetti and don’t understand what is being said. They’re looked over, gawked at and made to feel like an outsider so they flee from the church never to return. They hear people TALK about the Word of God but for some reason, they don’t SEE the word of God working in people. Is that because the Bible bearers ACTIONS are not equal to what they are saying? 

It’s a fine line sure, but also, it is a matter of CHOICE. When you look at the starry sky at night lit up like diamonds scattered on a sunny beach do you see a disorderly array of stars or do you see things like Cassiopeia, Orion or the Pleiades hiding within the astrological signs? This is the same thing when people hear the Word of God or people speak of the word of God. Others hear a disorganized message or they hear a divinely orchestrated message hidden in there. 

Last year when my dad passed away, I couldn’t make it back home and it gripped me for months, the guilt, the hurt, the suffering pangs I felt. My sister in her obvious dislike for me (I’m not going to pretend otherwise) had said, “Well YOU made the choice to leave here!” I rightfully said, “Yes, yes I did, I chose LIFE over death.”

I had suffered back home and nearly lost my life on more occasions than one, so leaving my husband WAS a choice of mine, a CHOICE of survival. Those people enslaved me and kept me bound by their misfit whims of dysfunction and I just assumed that that is how life was supposed to be. I prayed often for deliverance from the hell I was entombed in. 

It wasn’t until I found freedom in the land of Texas was I able to see the outside world and after months of suffering anxiety attacks nightly, running off hyperventilating on the dark streets of Texas, I slowly got a grip on what reality looked like. My years and years of prayers were finally answered; I was free from enslavement. 

God put me on a path and only because my choice was Him did my world start to turn around and I saw the light of day. When I tell people of Christ, it isn’t from a high and mighty pedestal, it isn’t from a wealthy sculpted upbringing, it isn’t from being shaped by a defective family, no, it is from a woman who CHOSE God over living to the conformity of man. Yes, the same men who wrote the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments. 

I live for the mysteries of God. You’re right people, the Bible is a bunch  of words, supposedly the divine intervention of God Himself, but it isn’t until you CHOOSE the Holy Spirit to live IN you will you ever grasp the meaning of one word or message from the Holy Bible. 

Acts 15:7 “And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.”

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

Poetry Sunday ~ Come To Me

Matt. 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Come To Me

Come all who are heavy laden

The burden too strong to bear

Come one come all you sinning men

In My arms feel no despair.

Rivers of living water flow

I see the streams in you

Come all who are heavy laden

The cross is the least I can do.

Come all who are heavy laden

A shadow veils your face.

Come to me you restless spirit

Be free of this sinful place.

Come all who are heavy laden

To rest your weary soul.

I am the Lord your Savior

Through me you can be whole.

Isa. 59:1 “Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:”

Poetry Sunday ~ The Path I Walk

Job 24:13 “They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.”

The Path I Walk

The path I walk I walk alone

My Lord my God His light has shone

Round about me to light my way

The path is not so lonesome today.

The path I walk the road is long

My Lord my God His love is strong

Round about me to see me through

This path for me and not for you.

The path I walk filled with debris

My Lord my God has set me free.

Round about I’m free to roam

The path I walk ‘til I’m called home.

Pss. 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Poetry Sunday ~ Alone Am I

Pss. 102:7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

Alone Am I

Alone am I in the confines of my mind

Left for no one but me to see

Running along in these empty halls

As an echo sounds as sanity calls.

Forsaken am I can anyone bear

The care and love of life

Amnesty airs forgiveness of lies

Solitude speaks silence of eyes.

I dared to go where lightning glared

Its fingertip on my soul

Searing a hole in loneliness cold

Breaking the mold if truth be told.

Seclusion aims an arrow set free

On me it callously claims.

Alone am I in the confines of free

Left for no one but me to see.

 

 

~~ * ~~ * ~~

A Perfect Day?

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

A Perfect Day…

Yesterday was as close to perfect as I can ever remember. We rose early in the morning, anticipation was high and excitement filled the house; it was Christmas day. I won’t go into detail of what a glorious day it was by not waking and running right to facebook to see people sharing love pics and well wishes.

After my day of relishing the LOVE of God, spending the day with such an endearing family who actually knows what the meaning of LOVE is, then coming home, stuffed full of some good home-made eating and relaxed with some tea and a movie. The camaraderie of family and stories and just idle loving banter made my heart swell three times bigger yesterday.

I rose today feeling good and refreshed only to peek in on facebook and saw what was LOVE sharing days ago, turned into a pile of hate filled people calling people names and acting like two year olds instead of the mature men and women they claim to be. I guess when popularity and loneliness rules your world, you have nothing better to do than call people names and wholeheartedly agree with those other folk calling names. A sad day.

Pss. 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

I’m living in a world full of hate. They try to dress it up with cute pictures but dig not so deep the surface of their skin, they’re bitter souls lashing out at whoever will listen and from the looks of it, hundreds of similar people (they call friends) LIKE it.

The month of reflection has led me to believe that this world is a lost cause. I try to see the good in everything but here lately the negative hating is turning me against all the love I seek to see in the world. I cannot and will not be a part of the evil that is slithering into lives and being accepted. After-all, the laws of the Lord only apply to a select few while others fashion the law and candy coat the Word to suit them when they need it. Dress it up and call yourself a Christian. To be honest, if this is the way Christians behave, I sincerely don’t want to be a part of that religion.

Do you know the word I’m defining here below?

Psychology: (no longer in technical use; considered offensive) a person of the lowest order in a former and discarded classification of mental retardation, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25??? The word is idiot.

The word offends me just as calling a person a retard offends me. It offends me when prejudice and racism collide, just as religion and all those so-called Christians collide.

So are you telling me, people, that YOUR I.Q. is higher than that of the person you called an idiot? Seriously? Look in the mirror. Judge YOUR life before judging someone’s life.

I’ve been offended by one too many people of the supposed intelligent stature who uses this word like dipping their cookies in milk. Tastes good, might was well use it while the going is good. Jump on the bandwagon and wee, wee, wee all the way home.

I’m obviously not worried about offending these people who name call because it is quite evident they have a scholastic degree, make thousands upon thousands of dollars and are productive people of society. No?

I’m tired of all the hate, I’m tired of surrounding myself with people who live and thrive off of negative lashings to feel good. I’m tired, just so tired of trying to be turned into something I’m not. I think I need a new outlet for being alone, filled with love and wonder, in a world full of hate.

Isolating myself is an option; one I don’t look forward to but I’m just so tired of negativity affecting my being that it is my only choice. There is no place else left for me in this sinister world unless I want to be conformed to this world and in my heart and soul I don’t feel that is what God has in mind for me. I'll let all the scholastic, hard-working, higher people enjoy it.

People have taken this Icy Palace I have built for myself and melted it into a puddle for them to stomp through; they have taken my High-horse and set him free to roam unleashing him to a society that would rather see him dead and on their plate for dinner. As long as they feel good, let go and let live. Maybe I’ll have something positive to write about in the New Year.

So much for the Perfect Day…

Jer. 5: 28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

Is Freedom Free?

Matt. 24: 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Is Freedom Free?

What is freedom? Our forefathers fought for our freedom; Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, etc. etc. But today we live in such a culturally diverse land, exactly which religion is free? We are being overrun with immigrants, and do they get to have the same freedom of THEIR religions or is it jut the Christians?

We have the Jewish who have practiced their religion in America freely, the Catholic’s have had a prominent roll in America, now we’re being bombarded with the Muslim religion and I just have to wonder, what religion is going to be stopped if we are to remain a FREE country? Did our forefathers mean ALL religions? Unfortunately they didn’t have a time machine and the ability to see into the future.

Sometimes I have a hard time loving my country. While some will blame ONE president and continue down a hate-filled non-Christian like path, others will blame the real culprit, the screwed up congress. While some, like myself just scratch my head in wonder. How did we become so messed up?

Eighteen members of the Republican Party have served as president for a total of 88 years, while only fifteen of the Democratic party served for a total of 85 years. Now while many many Americans BLAME the Democratic Party for everything from why they don’t own a home, to why they can’t find a better job, to why their mother is a practicing Atheist, are they really blaming ANY party or just their own misgivings and shortcomings?

People die on a regular basis and now days in America, everyone blames Obamacare. I hate to tell you this but back in 1974 my grandmother died of Lung cancer. She HAD insurance and this year my cousin died of cancer at the age of thirty WITH insurance, so why are hundreds suffering with cancer now saying it is because of there lack of being insured under Obamacare that they are losing the battle with cancer?

I’ll tell you why. NOBODY wants to die and EVERYONE wants a fighting chance with healthcare. I’m going to tell you a little secret, as hurtful as it may be, not everyone will live even if they HAVE healthcare. Hundreds of millions have died with healthcare before all this Obamacare came about so who did they blame then?

I just read of a veteran who died three or four minutes away from the emergency room because the hospital had to wait for an ambulance to transport him, which took thirty minutes to arrive! He died before they arrived. Hospital protocol called for him to be transported via ambulance as opposed to nurses or doctor’s wheeling him over to the emergency room not three or four minutes away.

This is America people! This is the country who sends men and women to war to bravely fight for OUR freedoms while we sit tapping out our hate for the president of the year of your choice, for them only to return home and have that very government turn their backs on THEM?

This is the country thousands flock to seeking FREEDOM, get free meal tickets, free homes, free healthcare, while American veterans suffer?

Yes we have more freedom than say Russia, China, Africa, North Korea but at what expense is this FREEDOM? At the expense of our own men and women? We are a Godless nation. I can’t be proud of that. While everyone else is out celebrating the fourth of July with a family picnic, plentiful food, fireworks and celebrating with alcohol I’m sure, do they realize what we even celebrate fourth of July FOR? Freedom? Tell that to the vet who died!

While I can see hundreds maybe thousands of pictures ‘honoring the men and women’, ‘honoring this country’, I don’t get it, I just don’t get it. Posting a pic doesn’t seem to be honoring them, paying their medical bills is honoring them and that is just what our government should do.

While I’m very happy to be IN America, it is at times like these I’m not very proud to BE an American. And it has nothing to do with any ONE president it has to do with a culmination of bad choices of MANY presidents that makes the U.S.A a laughing stock.

Jer. 17: 17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

I Have to Wonder

Deut. 28: 46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

I Have to Wonder

I have to wonder what path we’re on

For seasons we’ve not seen

The Lord is coming to wipe us out

On satan you cannot lean.

For every incident that happens

We’re all about who is to blame.

I have to wonder why all point fingers

But never at their own shame.

I stand upon a Rock of faith

It never allows me to fall.

I have to wonder why men deceive

Not embracing the beauty of it all.

I have to wonder why idols are built

For demons who cannot save?

I’ll keep my trust in a LIVING God

For promises kept and gave.

My life as a Christian will shine

I want all of the world to see.

My testament of a faithful God

They’ll wonder why I’m so free.

Pss. 40: 5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Pss. 71: 7 I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.

Poetry Sunday ~ Free

Pss. 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Free…

I want to tell the story

of how I was set free.

One day I heard a quiet knock

the Lord said, “Look to me.”

I gazed upon a glorious sight

all thought of me insane.

I told of how my skin was bronzed

while standing in the rain.

The weather dark and dreary

how ever could that be

I told of how the Lord had come

and said please look to Me.

I stood before the Glory

there without a name.   

I felt the spirit within me lift

My soul He’d come to claim.

Although I fell to my knees

He gently lifted me

I raised my eyes toward Him

He said, “Child come to me.”

Forever changed by His love

all darkness turned to Light.

My God and all His glory

instilled in me new sight.

I have to share my story

of how I came to be.

My Lord, my King, my Savior

said, “Child you’re now set free!”

Pss. 54: 6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

FREE! Audiobook Giveaway

I have a lot of writer friends and as such, I KNOW they are all avid readers/listeners also. I also know how people are when something for FREE shows up, they stand up, run and grab themselves one if they can get at it quick enough.

Well as most of you know, my beau runs a successful audiobook review blog. He may not be loaded up in the follower department, but he knows his business. He was once blind, a determined man, that is when he began the site, but recently (October 10,2011) he had a cornea transplant which restored some of his vision and he turned a so so (bleh) blog, into a pretty awesome (YEAH!) blog.

He’s affiliated with MANY publishers who send out audiobooks for him to review and he has gotten quite an arsenal of good reads that he, even if he listens to three a day, cannot get through them all.

So he started his once a month audiobook giveaway, which is just what it says, a FREE audiobook giveaway. How he chooses which book goes up for grabs is beyond me, but as he goes into his fourth successful book giveaway, I deem it a success. Here’s how it works: you comment on his book giveaway, LEAVE AN EMAIL where to reach you, and that’s it. Wait for the end of the month, and one lucky commentator will walk away with the audiobook in hand, FREE of charge.

The deciding part. How does he choose one person? Well that is simple, he waves his magic wand, no no I’m kidding, he has within his bag of tricks many-sided die. Yup an eight sided dice? (Old Dungeons and Dragons game, don’t ask) lol He tells me how many people have responded CORRECTLY and *I* use the die and roll. Easy peasy, quick and easy!

I say responded correctly because many don’t leave an email address and Stormcrow has a way to go around spam bots like writing, audiobook-heaven at gmail dot com (your email address there) See? He can put it together and email the winner but he is no detective, where if you leave no email, he can’t hunt you down via the masses of people on the internet. So please, in the giveaway, PLEASE leave an email address or you become disqualified for the freebie.

And there’s more. Believe it or not, one of his publisher friends at Griffyn Ink is offering a FREE audio giveaway too. They approached him, asked if he would give away their book and as the good guy that he is, he obliged. Same rules apply! Leave a comment and an email address!

From Audiobook-heaven: “That’s right, we’re giving away one copy of each A J Scudiere audiobook listed. If you have a preference as to which one you’d like to win, please note that in your comment and we’ll do our best to oblige but there are no guarantees. The three audiobooks will be given away in MP3-USB flash drive form.”

So there you have it writing friends. Free! Free! Free! Now have at it, as my gift to YOU! :D

Poetry Sunday...He Is

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

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

Prioritizing!

1 John 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
***

As a new month begins so does the need to prioritize. Have you ever just been wandering around, doing things just to do them, then find that you’re not really doing anything at all anyway? Well, that’s how it has been here.

I’m not mentoring F2K this session (the free writing course I’m always talking about) and that was one of my main tips in the prioritizing scale. It totally drained me back in the February class, and this time I chose, enough is enough, it’s time to think about me! Not that I’m selfish by any means, I just know there are things more important in life right now, and while I love aiding and assisting the new writer, I have to think of my sanity or I’m not going to be in any position to help anyone else.

I woke this morning and decided that facebook would not be my first stop. That place is a ridiculous mess also, but it is where I can connect with my sister and niece daily, and touch base while inspiring people so they have just one positive to begin their day. Can you imagine never hearing anything positive? So my goal is to greet people in the morning with a note of something positive and be on my way.

Today though, not even handing folks a positive note felt right. I read that Osama Bin Laden was killed and it drew some really uneasy emotions in me since I’m not a political person to say the least. I remember him coming onto the scene as the mastermind of the devastating events of 911, I knew we were looking to kill him, but that’s about it. I'm not up on the latest gossip.

As I write this, I peeked into facebook and was going to just pass on a positive note but I was immediately slapped upside the head with negativity. I can not stand it, when this free country rails against their own president. If it isn’t one thing it is another. And in the history of my life, the Americans who are FREE, choose to degrade, belittle, demean every single president that is in office. (Even the favorites like Kennedy and Reagan.)

You’d think that people would have more important things to do but these folk are bored, tired, angry, bitter, heartless, emotionless people, who have nothing better to do in life. They’ll claim they’re just tired of the government, but tell me, who isn’t? Would you prefer living in a Third World Country? Pakistan possibly? Korea, Russia, China?

Be grateful for EVERYTHING that you have. Stop holding onto bitterness no matter WHAT country you live in. Make the most of the daily life that you must live, and that is NOT slinging mud at others. We are here, we have one shot at life and energy is being wasted on negativity where it could be spent on prioritizing the more important things in life that will get you through a day.

Live life to the fullest does not mean be full of hate and anger people! Fill all those holes in your life with LOVE and maybe your world will be a better place to live, if not for others, then for yourself!

F2K ~ FREE Writing Course

Writer’s Village University is offering once again the seven week, awe inspiring FREE writing course! Yes it is free! We have eight mentor’s on hand to assist you through the seven weeks. You can pay $25 for one-on-one mentor assistance if you want, but hundreds possibly thousands have sailed through this course without the one-on-one assistance.

There you will learn the basics of writing. Some people join to see if writing is for them. They’ve dabbled in writing all of their lives and just need something to jump start the writing bug once again. Some join to refresh their knowledge and to get their muses pumped in a way that no other course can offer.

We begin with orientation week where we all introduce ourselves and get acquainted with the boards. We click links, roam the halls, peek in on other rooms and get to know the folks you’ll be spending time with over the seven week period.

This isn’t the place to self-promote! We don’t allow the boards to become clogged with people posting their websites. We do have a profile page where we can list our website, our accomplishments and a word or two about you.

We start with character, move on to the senses, we’ll dapple in POV, then we plow ahead with plot/theme, then a finale short story!

We also have some new things for the writer this session. Every week, when you post your lesson before midnight Friday, your work will be read by a mentor and offered up for possible publication in the F2K Ezine! Mentors do not choose who or what work gets accepted, all rooms get an offering and the students will vote! So be sure to make friends and read others work!

Also we offer a Certificate of Completion! Upon completion and active participation, you will be able to download a Certificate for you to print out and frame and hang on your wall, this added bonus will encourage YOU, my writing friend, to keep on writing! You’ll see that yes, as a writer, YOU can accomplish great things.

Use the link if you’d like to join. Many who have visited my blog have joined and loved what they got out of the FREE course, so maybe this is the step you need too?

We begin October 6th. You’ll get an email with your password, so KEEP that in a safe place because you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENTER UNTIL OCT. 6TH!!!!

One lady who signed up was so mad she was ready to ‘join another course’ because it offered her more. The class doesn’t even begin until Oct. 6, so how would she know what this course offered? She was just upset because she couldn’t GET IN. There is nothing there. Nothing to miss. Nothing to make you mad!

Writer’s need patience! This woman obviously has a fuse as short as *KABOOM* upon the touching of a match to the fuse! ;)

Join us on OCTOBER 6TH, and judge for yourself what all the hoopla is about!

Hope to see you there!!!

F2K ~ FREE Writing Course

New and Improved F2K!

The art of writing is not a skill you just stumble upon. It takes awhile to master all the things that go into writing and sometimes we need a course to help move us into the next level of our journey.

Writer’s Village University offers a seven week FREE Writing Course, to refresh your muse, if you’re already a writer, or to dapple in the craft if you think it might be something you’re interested in; either way it is FREE and you have nothing to lose.

This session was the most exciting in all of my years mentoring. We have 8 classrooms, 8 volunteer mentors, and over 200 hundred students divided into those rooms. Now that may sound like a lot of people and a little intimidating, but believe me, after the first week, the students have either lost interest, life intervened, or find that this is just not for them. But this session, it was as if all the students stayed around to finish the course.

Our first week, the Master Administrator, Bob Hembree, switched the format of the board on us. The mentors were learning the boards as well as the students, but we adapt quickly. Why the switch? The old format was dated and Bob wanted to move us into the 21st century. Apparently these things take time to build and it wasn’t ready until we had all started in f2k. It went smoothly, like butter on bread.

New doorways were opened; we had a Social Scene, in a facebook like setting, where students came and introduced themselves, made friends, and uploaded avatars. Groups were formed, discussions were broached, music and photos were shared and we rode into the sunset of newness with a finesse that rattled the world of writing. The classrooms remain private and professional!

A bonus this session was that of a certificate of completion! If you posted your six lessons, gave ample feedback in these seven weeks, then you were rewarded with a Certificate of Completion. You could not just post the lessons and get a certificate. We are a peer to peer feedback course and if you don’t participate in giving feedback then you have not completed the requirements of the course.

We also produce people seeking publication and one woman had her lesson six accepted by an online magazine. Although we require your lesson six to be something NEW that you write FOR THIS COURSE, she had obviously written and submitted the story weeks prior to this course. Everyone was like, “I helped critique that!” But lo and behold, it had already been in the hands of the publisher before your crit.

That’s okay. We take pride in seeing one of our own publish ANY work! :) Congrats Kriti Bajaj on her work The Dream Catcher!  
 

We will have new doors opening again this session come October 6th. Possible publication in our new f2kzine? Bait bait bait... lol I don’t need to bait anyone, this course stands alone on its strength in producing writer’s. It sure doesn’t need me bragging about the course. 

Hope to see you then!

Important: Lessons and Classrooms will not be visible until course start date.

Poetry Sunday ~ The Woman in Me

Ps. 54: 6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

***
The Woman in Me
(c) Joni Zipp

***
Insanity washes over my face,
broken shards there to replace
the inner me I cannot trace.
I love me all the more.

I lay the pieces on the floor
parts of me wash ashore
the me I was long before
I love the me I am.

Where is she, the fearful one
hiding out behind the sun
no longer in fear of coming undone
I love the woman who is.

Sadness calls, I cannot hear
through the window I tend to peer
at hallowed shadows coming near.
I love the woman inside.

On the cross He died for me
all my sins washed out to sea;
on the mend my soul is free.
I love me all the more.
All rights reserved: copyright © Joni Zipp

F2K ~ FREE Writing Course

Can you believe it, another (that makes two this year) F2K is winding down and a new one will begin. The new one begins on July 7th, 2010, so register now as the halls fill up.

Wait. What is f2k you ask? I thought you’d never ask.

F2k is a free (yes I said FREE) writing course offered by R.J. Hembree and Writers Village University. In this shrinking economy, pockets are emptying at a rapid pace and rarely do we get something for nothing. I’m here to assure you, that f2k is free, totally free.

No text books needed, but we suggest you order the Magic and the Mundane by P. June Diehl, but it is not a requirement and many students have completed the course without ever looking at a textbook.

The classrooms are made up of Mentors, who volunteer from WVU, and students, that would be you. It is a peer to peer feedback system which has been a tried and true method of success and this is the very reason that it remains free.

We have writers from all stages in their writing. Some are published hoping to hone in on a few skills to help them further their revisions. Some are beginners who want to learn the secret of writing a story. Then there are the hobbyist who love writing and join to refresh their memories of why they love writing in the first place.

The course is seven weeks long and many bail out due to extenuating circumstances, life is happening to them, or they just lose interest because they realize that writing is work!

The first week is Introduction week, where everyone meets everyone else. You have a week to get familiar with the site, roam the halls, and read ALL the guidelines. Then the following six weeks is work! Writing, sharing, giving and getting feedback.

The next six weeks are laid out as such: Character introduction, Activating the senses, POV, Conflict, and Characterization.

There is no hurry for you to get a lesson done. If you miss one, you post it anyway and hopefully your new friends will read and critique it for you. You have an entire week to post an assignment, give feedback to others and move all writers in the right direction.

A lot of people feel they have nothing to offer another writer, but believe me, even an, “I think this sentence is awkward,” is a step in the right direction of helping your fellow writers.

Now allow me to tell you this. This course is NOT set up for you to boast and brag about your website. In fact it is highly frowned upon and many have been let out of their commitment and removed for trying to self-promote their site. I hear/read people say, “But I just wanted to show the people what I’ve been writing.” Well good for you, tell them in your intro that you’ve written before, don’t promote your website to get a message across.

If you’re serious about learning. If you want to move forward with new skills. If you truly love writing and are looking for a totally free writing course, then f2k is the one for you.

p.s.
DO NOT TRY TO GAIN ENTRY UNTIL JULY 7!!!!!

Poetry Sunday ~ Shadow of a Man

Job 3: [9] Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

***

Shadow of a Man
(c) Joni Zipp
***
He sits alone
shadows silhouette;
shattered sanity
his breath on loan.

He’s not there
glowing in gloom
an empty shell
is in the chair.

Darkness is stark
his self worth
leaves him cold
a soul in the dark.

Carries pain
through veiled sun
flickering light
falls like rain.

Rise up I say
you’re not unaided
walk with me
in this world today.

Speak to me
allow me in
walk this path
Light sets you free.

All rights reserved: copyright © Joni Zipp