Poetry Sunday - My Gift To You

John 14:10 “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

My Gift To You

God asked me to use the talents

That He had blessed me with

The sharing of the Word I hear

The truth and not a myth.

I sent the Word into the world

A message delivered to me

It was a ripple on the lake

For all the world to see.

The words they entered in my ear

And out of my fingers bled

My gift of writing words to you

Is where my soul was led.

God was pleased when he saw

My talent not gone to waste

The gentle words about His Son

I fed the world a taste.

Some people sit idly by

Saving their earthly treasures

Their talents, gifts and so much more

With all their worldly pleasures.

Rise up you sleeping people

For the new world that awaits

The life that’s left behind you

As you enter heaven’s gates.

A True Christmas Tale - poem by Joni!

 Job 10:12 “Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hate preserved my spirit.”

A True Christmas Tale

 A tale was told one Christmas eve,

Tis' better to give than to receive.

But I have no gift, my pockets bare,

I am but a poet, my poem I'll share.

I rose from my bed on Christmas day,

The sun was peeking down where I lay.

I crept down the stairs so I could see,

Had Santa left gifts under my tree?

I wasn't surprised, left unamazed,

I stood at my empty tree and gazed.

No gifts to give, my heart did ache,

But I would go on for Christmas' sake.

I threw on my clothes, rushed out the door,

Just what is all this excitement for?

I have no gifts to give to thee,

No presents were left beneath my tree.

So how can Christmas be happy and gay?

What is the secret that makes this day?

I swung open the door, to my surprise,

My family was sitting before my eyes.

Greetings exchanged, hugs of embrace,

Smiles that lit the entire place.

"We're glad you're here, accept this gift.

Maybe then your spirits will lift."

I saw in their eyes a special glow,

That sunk my heart, and let me know,

That they were giving with deepest love,

For God had signaled from above.

The spirit of Christmas is a radiant gleam,

That shines through the soul, in a warming beam.

I have felt that warmth throughout the year,

By spreading laughter, joy, and cheer.

But a chosen day was set aside,

For all of our arms to open wide.

So the gift I give has no ribbons or bows,

I'll give you peace that warms and glows.

I'll tell you I love you, I'll make you smile,

I'll see that your visit was worth the while.

I returned to my house, I plugged in my tree,

There sat a star gazing down at me.

I looked at the star with wondrous sight,

For God had appeared that Christmas night.

I was given the secret of Christmas eve,

Tis' better to give, than to receive.

Author’s note: I wrote this when I was 18

But it is still one of my most favorite Christmas

Poems that I wrote! May it go down in His-tor-y!

Merry Christmas to all

And to all a good night! 

That Time Of Year...

Job 17:11 “My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.”

That Time of Year

Well, my friends, it’s that time of year once again. You probably think I’m referring to the merry and joyful time of year with the lighting of the Christmas trees, the sounds of Christmas carols ringing through the air, the aroma of pine scent wafting through the house, children anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus with a little countdown calendar to Christmas hanging on the fridge. If you think that is what I’m referring to, you’d be wrong. 

This is the time of reflection for me, that leads to my New Year in April (Easter is my New Year, for those who don’t know me). Reflection is sometimes one of the hardest things one must do because being faced with truth, direction, and discernment; one is pulled in many directions of an emotional roller-coaster ride.

For nine years I’ve been writing this blog and statistics show more than five of those years two hundred and some odd days a year were spent writing and bringing a Light to your world. You may or may not see it that way but as you scan over the years of posts, you will be hard pressed to find anything negative that I’ve brought to your world.

1 Cor. 14:1 “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”

[12] “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”

I take my faith, God and my gift of writing very serious as many of you know. I’m not judging you and saying you don’t take your God given gift(s) serious, on this blog I am defining me at ALL times and if you see YOU in my words, well then Praise Be, I’ve done my job!

Heb. 2:4 “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”

I know some of you don’t see writing and not getting paid as a ‘real’ job, but let me tell you, it is the most richly rewarding ‘job’ of my life, and personally I don’t see it as a job unless you understand that all I do, I do for Him! This is why when I make a decision on something, I take it to Him and see what HE has to say about my decisions. It sounds crazy, I know, but it is my way of life and the way I’ve been since I can remember.

Last year the three deaths in my family hit me pretty hard, and a recent death of my too young to die, cousin. I know, all deaths take a certain toll on each individual but they hit me like I had not expected, scarring my heart and allowing a mountain of emotions and flashbacks to remain unmoved; an aunt, an uncle and my father all taken away from this earth. People say, “They’re angels in heaven now,” but you don’t know that for a fact and not even I can be certain that is where their souls drifted off to, thus leading me to a reflective and contemplative year, this one, 2016. (Please, this is not a debate on heaven and hell or a weakening or strengthening of faith, it is ME seeing to it that this mountain is MOVED! With God’s help of course.)

Hence my decision to shut this blog down, I did not just pull this decision out of my hat, I have been contemplating since the New Year began but the political infestation of negativity kept me writing to bring you LIGHT in an extremely darkened world. I’m sure you all know everyone was a victim of this political disastrous negative year. I watched as what I deemed pillars of strength in the ‘Christian’ community crumble and buckle to the negative impact of the role politics played in their lives. They were hurtful, hate-filled, anger driven, they stood on a higher than though pedestal, sweeping their voice around the social platform waving words as truth but realizing as they scraped themselves off the floor by years end, they were just victims of satan’s very cunning lure.

I don’t know if the people held any shame in their actions but I myself stood strong in the face of satan and spit in his face and walked with my Lord. There are repercussions with taking that stance just so you know. I AM NOT being judgmental here, lest I am judging myself, but the past two years have really given rise to ME and where I need to go. While my gifts of the Lord will continue to grow and soar, it might mean that writing for YOU may not be in the cards for the coming year, I don’t know yet.

Pss. 100:3 “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

My Spiritual Family, I do not label you as left or right, nor does God; you have stood firmly behind me on my journey all of these years, some new to my world, some who have been here for the long haul, you know who you are, and God has BLESSED me with each and every one of you! I don’t take our friendship lightly and I take into consideration your sage advice always.

I have another health crisis biting me in the face and this coming year will be a challenging one as I face it with faith but I’ll need your prayer always as I endure, it’s what keeps me going. Will I blog in the New Year? Will I close this down? I go with God and what HE tells me to do because He knows that I have utilized my gift and done everything for Him. I will never change that and I don’t care how much satan’s minions attack me, my God is greater than him and THIS I am CERTAIN of!

While this isn’t the merriest of Christmas’, I must say first, God is still making His presence known in my life whether it is the lost packages we ordered being FOUND, one on my neighbor's back lawn where I would have NEVER looked but my stray dog Riley led me to it via her dragging off her water bowl and me searching for it and finding the Lost Box! All the way to the parcel my mother sent arriving on my doorstep as we watched A Christmas Carol, and right as the ghost of Christmas past surfaced so did Riley’s wagging tail hitting the door alerting me to the gift on my front steps at 7:00 in the evening. Many memories of the past were in that box! I thank God He sent me Riley, a stray dog who has a heart of gold. 

God is Good, God is ever present and life in the coming year will be welcomed. I thank you all for being a part of God’s plan for my journey and may all of our New Year be blessed! 

Pss. 95:7 “For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,”

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good life! 

Deut. 4:32 “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?”

My Spiritual Family

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.”

My Spiritual Family

I’m always talking about my family back home and about my past but I think I’m going to write a little about this Spiritual Family that has taken me in for the past thirteen years, walked with me through my healing and has had a major impact on my life. 

It all started with Steven. He was the one who came on his white horse and carried me away from the hellish life I had known and lived in Baltimore. We had known each other online for ten months prior to meeting in person and he had read my writing, my poetry, understood my gift and thought that I deserved to be nurtured and taken care of. 

He got me started on the writing path with Christian Writers Guild and after I completed that course he enrolled me in a free 6-week writing course. My life did a 180-degree turn from when I left home. Like-minded people surrounded me and I was helping total strangers learn a craft I had only been new at myself. 

I always felt that I had a gift and back home it was never appreciated or explored. I was never ‘allowed’ to be a part of the internet because that was the work of the devil in my family and my ex-husband’s eyes. Little did I know it was streaming gift from God that would take me worlds away from the pain I had lived for nearly thirty years.

It was as if God placed a spiritual family around me that would nurture my soul on so many levels. These people would care for me, love me, help me when I was in need and just basically be the new family in my life, but I would never meet them face to face. I would only connect to them on a spiritual level meaning connecting through our writing and the virtual world senses.

Bob Hembree, (WVU) would introduce me to my writing family who consisted of Benning, Dixie, Debbie, Leona, Birdie, Shanna and a host of others, some of whom have since passed away, God rest their soul! This is the family that I would communicate with on a daily basis whether it was about our writing or our personal lives, we soon became a tight-knit loving writing family. 

Then the doors continued to open via Jason Elkins. I still don’t know what he saw in my writing that he befriended me, which then led to more of my God-sent spiritual family appearing almost out of nowhere. People of faith were drawn to me through either my writing, my blog, through facebook or Twitter. I felt a sense of God working in His wondrous ways spiritually to bring people whom He knew would care for me and encourage me. It was He who placed them in my life.

My spiritual family then became my fortitude of strength behind the woman you see today. Sure you can all read about my unsavory past and draw your own conclusions but I know that God set me on this path for a reason, maybe the reason is still being researched by me but I feel God wants me to change the world, one word at a time. 

While He placed me in my blood family, He also drew me away from the blood family that would hinder His purpose for my life. He had me give up everything I practically owned and as many of you have read in earlier postings, I only came to Texas with Steven, with my son and our basic necessities in tow.

I gave up my life to follow God’s grand plan and to this day I am still following wherever He may lead. If you are reading this and are a part of my journey please know, God handpicked each and every one of you to accompany me on this leg of the expedition. I don’t know if you consider that a blessing but rest assured, I most certainly do because you have all had a hand in the Master’s Plan. I feel extremely blessed to have met you on this journey. 

God Bless Everyone!

I'm Thankful! Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Chron. 16: 8 “Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.”

HappyThanksgiving

It is with joy and not sadness that I approach Thanksgiving this year. I’ll probably be filled with sadness the closer we get to Christmas when I get the blues because I can’t share yet another Christmas holiday back home with my family. I’m okay with that, it’s just the songs bring about a melancholy spirit that hovers around the Christmas trimmings.

I’m an optimist so I do try to see the good in everything. For some reason that gives me a sense of peace that washes over me like a soft summer rain. So this Thanksgiving I have to reflect on what I am thankful for. I know, I know, I just lost my father and CAN I find something to be thankful for? Yes, yes I can!

Yes I’m thankful for all of the normal things: a home, a roof over my head, food in the refrigerator and heat for the house. I am also thankful for more:

*I’m thankful that I had the years I did with my dad.

*I’m thankful that we shared the stars, the storms, and the rain.

*I’m thankful my dad stood by me for so many years, then allowed me to spread my wings and move far far away from home, knowing full well he’d never have the chance to see me again.

*I’m thankful my dad loved my mother so much and instilled in her the strength she would need to get through his death.

*I’m thankful my dad found God!

*I’m thankful my husband finally decided to marry me!

*I’m thankful for my son who has grown to be his own man.

*I’m thankful for shooting stars as a way to communicate with my dad.

*I’m thankful for my dog that has a wonderful loving family surrounding her on cold nights.

*I’m thankful for Facebook as a form of communicating with my family back home and the chance to watch my nieces (and nephews) children grow without ever meeting them.

*I’m thankful for my spiritual friends, the writing ones and the ones that I met through God’s leading them to me or me to them, who in a virtual way, wrap their loving arms around me and comfort me in amazing ways via Facebook.

*I’m thankful for Auntie Sue & Papa John and for Ben, for showing me their love extends past the virtual screen!

Let me just say, I didn’t need to do the 30 days of thankfulness because I am thankful 365 days a year; for being alive, for sharing God’s word and my faith, and for friends and family!

May each and every one of you have a safe a Blessed Thanksgiving!!!

I Give Thanks

For all we are and all we do

we give our thanks each day.

We live, grow, change and mend

I give my thanks and pray.

I thank my mother and father

for all the things they gave.

Within their hand they held my life

but only One could save.

I led the life He wanted for me

although the road was rough.

I never look back with any regret

the rocky roads were tough.

The path was laid before we were born

the forks were all in place.

Which we chose was a cosmic bend

that altered time and space.

I found a cross in my walk

as I wandered through each year.

Whimsical times and frenzied mind

He made it all seem clear.

The crystal shell lay in shards

glass was torn to pieces.

He put them all together again

my love for Him never ceases!

I thank the Lord for carrying me

through my most daunting days.

I’m mended now because of Him,

a path of new-found ways.

I'm No Angel

Pss. 103: 20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

I’m no Angel

I know that I’m no angel

Least not in the biblical sense

My Light doesn’t come from this world

I suffer no pretense.

The people will see my actions

And all that I convey

I try to be obedient

And serve Him throughout the day.

I know that I’m no angel

I’m a sinner just as you.

I walk amid salvation

My Lord will pull me through.

I know my God is watching

All things I do and say.

He sends to me a lost soul

That I might show the way.

I know that I’m no angel

I don’t profess to be

I only bring a message

Of Light that shines from me.

Heb 13: 2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Happy Birthday Christopher

Pss. 91: 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

To whom it may concern (or not) I am emotionally drained at this time and am in prayer for forgiveness, for understanding and for strength in fighting the enemy that sees me down and thinks this is the best time to attack. Just like him isn’t it? To kick me when I’m down?

You may say, “What’s wrong with her now?” Allow me to tell you.

Back in 1982 I found myself, a young teenager, pregnant. Two years prior I became a born-again Christian, so this pregnancy didn’t bode well with my Catholic family and me. My dad asked me what I wanted to do and without hesitation I said, keep my baby!

Talk about feeling unworthy! But by the grace of God I was saved and my pending due date was set for December 12^th of that year. By November of that year God had a different plan for my life and it was clearly evident to me.

On the cold Thanksgiving Day, November 28^th of 1982, I ate my meal and was feeling pretty sick with pains I assumed was gas. I was a child and knew nothing of what I was to feel, I thought the baby was moving around kicking me with no room to move with all that food I had put in my stomach.

The next day I arose, not feeling right. God and I had been talking, as we always did, and he was telling me it was time. Still young in my faith, I didn’t know how to interpret the meaning but I knew I had to go see the doctor because the baby had stopped moving.

I arrived at the doctors and my worst fear was realized, no heartbeat meant my baby had quietly fell asleep. I was sent to the hospital where they had ultrasound equipment to verify what I had known and felt. My baby was no more.

The father of the baby and my mother both went to the hospital with me and we all received the news, the baby was dead, gone, not meant to be. I was told I would have to allow my body ‘to reject the fetus’; those cold heartless words ring in my ear to this day! I would carry a lifeless being inside my body. I had to face my family and had to be strong or this would be the life of me.

Now keep in mind that my four brothers all hated the idea of me keeping the baby and had told me over and over again how I should’ve just killed ‘it’. My sister had her own issues with me keeping the baby. Only my mother, father and boyfriend had accepted my CHOICE in keeping my baby!

At 3:17 am on December 2, I gave birth to a son; a son who would never look me in the eyes. A son who would lay on that cold slab, never to let out his first cry. A son who made an angelic appearance at entry into the world by lighting the room to where even the doctor and nurse were mystified. Christopher Alexander was STILL born!

Pss. 148: 2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

I didn’t hold him, I didn’t do what now in hindsight I wished I had done and left the hospital later that day to recover at home. Mortified and empty I felt alone.

Everyone had assumed I would hate God for this and at my follow up appointment with the heartless doctor, he asked me how I was holding up emotionally.

“Well” I said, “devastated, empty, lonely, heartbroken. Every emotion you can imagine.”

He began jotting down stuff. “Are you angry at God for this?”

“NO!” I exclaimed point blank. “God took my son because He needed him. He is giving him more than I could ever imagine.”

He jotted more. In later years when I had finally got my medical records through unlikely resources, I saw that the doctor had jotted down ‘patient is unattached’, ‘shows no emotion’!

I wanted to sue the man’s pants off but again, I was a child; I knew nothing but I did understand forgiveness. I had to forgive this creepy, heartless, unfeeling doctor if I was ever to move on in life.

Every year it gets easier, but this year the memories hit hard because Thanksgiving fell on the 28^th. The flood of emotions were overwhelming to the point not one person in my world can understand, and I don’t want you to just to spare you the pain.

I’ve grown a lot in these 31 years; I still speak to the Lord, I hear him in everything I do and carry Him wherever I go. Maybe now you can understand my indebtedness to my Savior and why I am such a faithful servant.

For by grace was I saved and He has never ONCE let me down. I may fall in the pit sometimes but the enemy won’t sway me while I’m down there, I carry a LIGHT within never to darken.

Matt. 4: 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

A World of Words

World of Words

In this world we fight between good and evil. In this universe we have light and dark. In writing we relish the world of words.

Have you ever tried de-cluttering your writing world? I mean, taking words out of a piece of work to make it a tighter paragraph? I’m often called a drama queen and don’t worry, I don’t get offended because I know it means that I drive home a point. Whether in words verbally or written words, I drive a stake in the heart of the reader so they get the emotional gut wrenching point I’m trying to make.

I’m often telling writers to ‘tighten their work’ but by that I mean take out all the unnecessary words that I, and other writers call, fillers. I remember reading a friends work, and I told her, you have too many ‘ands’ in a single paragraph. She removed them, then showed her ‘editor’ the work and the editor told her the ‘ands’ worked.

To ME, the filler words bogged the story down, had me skipping through it like stones on water where I basically skimmed the story never really finding interest. She eventually went on to get the story published. I’ve never read the finished work, and I hope she is doing well in selling the book.

This is where I found myself less and less interested in writing. I was being asked my honest opinion, but no one really wanted it and didn’t like what I had to say. So why ask an opinion to begin with? Sure that extra set of eyes gives light to what you need to fix and work on, but if you’re going to shrug it off and think the person is wrong, then don’t ask. Find someone more trusting and stroking then I because I’m not going to stroke your ego, I’m going to be truthful and honest.

People read my work and are truthful and honest, sometimes even harsh but a lot of the times they were doing the butterfly stroke (easy) when I needed them to do a harder backstroke.

This is a world of words out here. I/we write. Let’s keep in mind that extra baggage in your writing is no different than a clutter-filled closet! It and your writing needs to be cleaned up and de-cluttered. This week’s posts was all about cleansing your spirit, cleaning up your environment and now de-cluttering your work.

Here are some tips in freeing your work so the sun can shine through the filtered words.

1. Take out a lot of the adverbs. I’m sure there is a more solid word for all those –ly words and such. If you absolutely need the word, then keep it, it might mean that it is a needed word.

2. AND makes a sentence run on and on. Use the comma, periods and semi-colons. They are there for a reason. If the word ‘and’ is a necessity, then keep the word, but don’t make run on sentences what your work is all about.

3. BUT is another overused word. I find myself using it a bit too much and am working on eliminating it from many sentences. Again, see words that are over used and eliminate them.

4. Use a thesaurus regularly! This is a must have in your writing arsenal. Most of the time an overused word can be repeated with a similar word found in the thesaurus. There is no need to repeat the same exact word over and over as long as you have a thesaurus.

5. De-clutter your writing. I can’t say it enough that cleaning up your work, tightening the paragraphs, cleaning up your workspace, cleansing your spirit all go hand in hand in the World of Words, remember that.

The History of St. Nick

Isa. 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
***

As you can see, this week has been a themed week. As a writer it is my duty to give to you vital information, whether it is about writing, learning or growing, I bestow knowledge so you can take what I give or leave it behind, either way, you glean an informative lot of info to put in your database of the ‘Knowledge Pool’. And since we are in the throes of the Christmas season, I hand to you the history behind our rituals, traditions and possibly convictions.

Doing some research, I delve into the man, the myth, the legend the lore:

Santa via wiki eyes
 

History of Saint Nicholas
 

History of Santa in America



The Christmas holiday is full of mythical legends, rituals, folklore and tales. First and foremost, Christmas is the celebrated birth of Christ. Second, we have a man, St. Nick, who believed in spreading gifts and good cheer, and third, we have a day where love, peace and joy collide during a season of glory.

The Roman emperor Diocletian commanded all the citizens of the Roman Empire, which included Asia Minor, to worship St. Nicholas as a god. I can not imagine being forced to believe in any one thing, be it a god or man. Free will allows me to believe what I want to believe as long as God the Creator remains front and center as my belief.
 

Yes, as a child I believed in Santa Claus. I was hurt and dismayed to find that my parents, the ones I trusted most in my life, had lied to me. It was a sad Christmas day when Santa no longer delivered the gifts. But on a high note? My parents cared enough to buy me all those gifts, along with their five other children, and place them neatly under the tree, only to be opened on Christmas morn.
 

I never lied to my son. I told him the truth from the very first Christmas. While others around me saw it as cruel. I saw it as standing by my moral high ground and took their slaps and cuts as stripes along a long journey of being a faithful servant.
 

So while there was no Santa, the spirit of the season grew in my heart and soul and I carried that year round to bestow on people throughout my life. With Christ and Santa living in my heart, I knew I would grow to be a strong, caring, nurturing person. After my mistakes were forgiven, I made sure that I perfected my soul, enlightened my spirit, and gifted myself and others around me with my presence.
 

Do I believe in Santa? Yes. My son thinks me crazy, but Santa’s giving spirit dwells in me, what can I say, he’s an honorable man. Do I believe in my Lord and Savior and the true documentation of the Holy Words shared for centuries? Wholeheartedly!
 

“There is no greater gift in life, than the gift of love. Give it often and freely.” ~ Joni

Blog Blog Blog

Matt. 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
***

Well it has been a week or so since I’ve really blogged. I keep up on my Quotation Saturday and Poetry Sunday though so you all have something to come here and visit me for.

You might ask, “What have you been doing? How are you?” Well, let me tell you, I’ve been doing a lot of running around, getting Adam ready for his first day of school. Literally, his first day of school. He’s been home-schooled, and he wanted this, so as any good mom, we always give them what they want.

He’s gotten all of his shots, been to the dentist, been to the eye doctor (he now wears glasses) been to register for school and in between all that I’ve been mentoring at F2K Free Writing Course. And I’m on the ball, so my blog got a little left behind.

I did receive this in the mail Wednesday during all my busy-ness. I stop and check my mail and thought I’d share with you, my readers, my fans.

During the month of July, the International Blogging Recognition Council (IBRC) had the pleasure of reviewing your blog One Voice, A writers blog.  Your blog was referred to IBRC through our Refer-A-Blog program.  "Quotation Saturday" was the topic that the Council reviewed. Based on the review, the Council has recommended that your blog receive IBRC’s designation of “Recognized Blog”.  IBRC reserves this honor to those blogs that effectively connects with the audience and promotes the sharing of ideas and experiences.


Did I get a certificate of accomplishment? Did I get a Medal of Honor? A button to place on my wall to show my excellency? No, I got recognition of my hard work by someone other than Adam and Steven. I have a lot of my friends support, but sometimes this blogging business feels all in vain. “Who’s reading, Who’s commenting, What is the purpose of all this?”

I had been questioning where to go next. Get a job when Adam starts school or continue writing and pounding the streets of the Internet and submitting until my fingers bleed? Well I think this in some way helped me with my decision. God had said to “continue with the TALENT that I gifted you with.”

That’s easy for Him to say. We need money! And my writing is not paying any dividends. BUT here’s the clincher, do immediate rewards from a paying job satisfy the very soul that you live and breathe to nourish? No, it doesn’t. People will and always have said, “But it doesn’t pay the bills.”

And my response, “Are ye of little faith?” God has provided for me for well over thirty years now, am I supposed to do what ‘people’ say, now? I don’t think so. With God all things are possible and sorry to dampen your spirits ‘people’ but I TRUST God more than I trust you and your opinion.

Let go and Let God. I live God, I don’t just believe. :) godspeed to you all.

Poetry Sunday~ A True Christmas Story

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.." Isaiah 9:6
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A True Christmas Story

A tale was told one Christmas eve,
Tis' better to give than to receive.
But I have no gift, my pockets bare,
I am but a poet, my poem I'll share.
I rose from my bed on Christmas day,
The sun was peeking down where I lay.
I crept down the stairs so I could see,
Had Santa left gifts under my tree?
I wasn't surprised, left unamazed,
I stood at my empty tree and gazed.
No gifts to give, my heart did ache,
But I would go on for Christmas' sake.
I threw on my clothes, rushed out the door,
Just what is all this excitement for?
I have no gifts to give to thee,
No presents were left beneath my tree.
So how can Christmas be happy and gay?
What is the secret that makes this day?
I swung open the door, to my surprise,
My family was sitting before my eyes.
Greetings exchanged, hugs of embrace,
Smiles that lit the entire place.
"We're glad you're here, accept this gift.
Maybe then your spirits will lift."
I saw in their eyes a special glow,
That sunk my heart, and let me know,
That they were giving with deepest love,
For God had signaled from above.
The spirit of Christmas is a radiant gleam,
That shines through the soul, in a warming beam.
I have felt that warmth throughout the year,
By spreading laughter, joy, and cheer.
But a chosen day was set aside,
For all our arms to open wide.
So the gift I give has no ribbons or bows,
I'll give you peace that warms and glows.
I'll tell you I love you, I'll make you smile,
I'll see that your visit was worth the while.
I returned to my house, I plugged in my tree,
There sat a star gazing down at me.
I looked at the star with wondrous sight,
For God had appeared that Christmas night.
I was given the secret of Christmas eve,
Tis' better to give, than to receive.

Are YOU a HERO?

Are You a Donor?
In today’s world people overlook necessities and just run headlong into their own little cosmos. They never stop to think of other people and getting ahead of the game to them means, success at winning the game.

Have you ever thought about becoming an organ donor? You see stories on television where one person donates a kidney, and you say "Aww that is so special, I wish I had the nerve to be that brave."

We’re in an age that everyone can be a hero to someone else! Why does someone wait until their loved one is tragically killed to be approached to ask if you’d like to donate their much needed organs? What is everyone afraid of?

I have a friend who needs a cornea. He has to wait until someone tragically dies and hopes that the young cornea is available to him. There is urgency with cornea donations. Apparently the cornea doesn’t refrigerate and keep for weeks. Five-days tops is the maximum time for corneas. My friend had a cornea transplant in his left eye a few years ago and I was saddened to hear that a young man of eighteen had committed suicide and his parents donated his organs. Now he desperately needs a cornea transplant in his right eye, or he will stay ‘legally blind.’

When we die, our bodies become shells. Empty cavities where all of our innards are taken out and tossed in the garbage. Our death means something to only our immediate family and friends. By donating your organs, your death becomes a significant part of someone else’s life who can keep just one small part of you alive and living!

Having a part of you alive gives solace to your family. Knowing parts of you are still in existence gives them the feeling that they can move on in their life knowing you are still alive somewhere. Spiritually your soul lives on,(some may disagree) so why not on a physical level, keep your organs alive? If you believe when you die, you die, you’re gone, out of this world never to be heard from again. Why would you remain selfish even in death? Wouldn’t it become your last sacrifice? Wouldn’t donating your organs make you somewhat a hero to someone else, making you a legacy in someone’s, anyone’s mind?

In this day and age, you can still be a hero! You don’t have to pull someone from a flaming fire, save someone from a flooding car, retrieve a cat out of a tree, you can donate an organ and to a family become the hero of legacy proportions in their minds and your family’s minds.

Think about it. Be a hero. Keep YOUR life…alive! If you’ve always felt a failure, this is one instance you can make your family proud! Do it for you, if not for someone else.