Poetry Sunday ~ I Am Here

Jer. 23:4 “And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.”

I am here

I am here Lord thirsting for your presence

Carry me away in the fruit of your essence

I am here

I am here

I am here to bask in your radiant light

Bathed by your breath in the midst of my fight

I am here

I am here

I am here Lord with the door open wide

Waiting for your touch to fill me inside

I am here

I am here

I am here with you Lord my arms raised high

I worship you Father with every tear that I cry

I am here 

I am here

I am here like a shepherd that sheep will follow

I am also the carcass all empty and hollow

I am here

I am here

I am here waiting for you to carry me home

To the place where shepherds and sheep freely roam

We are here

We are here

All praise and Glory to God!

Matt. 9:36 "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."

Bouncing Back After A Fall

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” 

Bouncing Back After A Fall

As much as I hear other people whine and complain about politics, life, bills, and setbacks, my biggest complaint this year is SNOW! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d be complaining about too much snow, but here it is upon me now!

After this Sunday’s high of sixty splendiferous degrees, Monday was crash and burn let out the snowfall! Snow it did, all day! It never amounted to much but we finally had a week of a thaw that melted snow from as far back as Christmas, I was never so happy to see the resurfacing of the brown palette.

Monday, the white returned to the ground. Granted it was beautiful, granted it snowed the entire day but produced nary an inch but it was back, causing traveling headaches. The white was back on the ground, the bitter cold kicked into overdrive and we’re back to fluffy socks and big sweaters. For a couple of days, we enjoyed long sleeves but no need for a sweatshirt, scarf and gloves, and those were days topping out in the thirties. It’s not that I’m whining about cold and winter, my gripe is in the extended duration of deep cold spells. Yup, winter is like that! I KNOW!

While the negativity I feel with each snowfall now tries to tear me down, I am clearly in a bouncing back mode and am letting nothing beat me up! Scientifically, “crying is one way that the body removes stress chemicals,” from The Truth About Cancer. Sunday was a crying day and I do allow myself days of downtime because this upbeat, peppy all the time, no pain and just soaring gets to be a tiring chore like the shoveling of snow, instead of an accepted way of life.

I bet some of you are saying ‘you could’ve just went the chemo route and you’d already be in remission.’ You don’t understand this disease any more than I do. As a matter of fact, you and I don’t know any more about this illness than the big bad doctor. He’s just doing what they’ve continued to do for thirty and forty years. Times have changed. There are new ways of beating this Big C but the studies take too long and the doctor doesn’t wish to embrace these new ways so, in the meantime, people die all because of tradition. Their pockets are amply lined with money from insurance and the pharmaceutical companies and people are going out to pasture!

My body speaks to me and God speaks to me. John 10:27 says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” For ME, the choice was simple, to follow that still small voice and go where He leads me. Here lately my body is telling me that something isn’t working and it kind of threw me off because I was having good, productive, pain-free days. Slowly the pain was sliding back into my legs and my back, walking was pained, muscles strained and with the winter's lack of sunshine and outside activity (besides shoveling snow), I was feeling a bit discouraged, what was wrong? It had to be something in my diet that I had changed.

You see, when you’re on such a strict protocol of food that you eat, the food then tells you what is wrong, like the recent frozen processed pizza I had. No, it wasn’t just that one pizza, it had to be something else. The only thing I could think of is wheat bread or organic oatmeal. I’m leaning more towards the cause being the WHEAT! 

I started allowing wheat bread into my diet around January first because I listened to other BC women who said that wheat wasn’t bad for our diets, go figure. I give up bread for a year and soar, let wheat bread in and crash. Really it is a no-brainer to figure that one out. 

Matt. 11:16 “But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,”

I hear the term ‘sheeple’ in the political arena often and since I’m not into politics and don’t allow that negativity in, I assume it is a derogatory remark of ‘stupid people’ following along after every wind that blows. (Please, there is no need to elaborate for me, thank you.) I conclude this summation because sheep have no survival skills like other animals, no way of fending for themselves; set them in the wild and they will be slaughtered because they need a shepherd to guide them. I think on a religious term sheeple can be the people following Christ the Shepherd, we seem dumb because we’re following along after a non-living entity (to others) and the zombie effect has a hold on us.

I only feel dumbed-down when listening to man and anything HE (or she) has to offer me in way of the ‘direction’ I should go. I listened to the BC group of women because they are going through the exact same thing I am going through with the Natural Protocol route and thought for a brief moment that maybe they knew what they were talking about. Granted they have a lot of knowledge on the subject but I’ll say this again, what works for one does not work for all.

Deut. 8:8 “A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;”

At one time, the wheat, barley, and figs were of purity, not tainted by man. Man dusts these grains with chemicals, modifies them for the almighty dollar, making people sick in the process.

Through those links I shared, can you see what I’m up against? I’m up against man and his destruction of man! Maybe at one time wheat wasn’t such a bad grain, but with the rise of organic everything, there is more to the story that ‘man’ isn’t telling you. It’s okay, you have a doctor with his prescribed candy to make you feel better. I think the term ‘sheeple’ should stand for man following man, period! To ME, that is EXACTLY what it means. The main thing that makes me ‘different’ is I follow the One and the only living God. As soon as I listen to a man (or woman) I fall, crash and burn. Interesting.

Back to my strict protocol thank you very much. Run along now, Billy is running up the hill after Bobby, and Janie isn’t far behind with Tommy in tow seeking the candy that Timmy is offering.

Jer. 12:13 “They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

Luke 6:49 “But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

I'm Tired...

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." Isaiah 30:21

I’m tired…

Have you ever been so tired of life that you just want to climb in a shell, meditate (which to me is PRAYER) and leave all the clutter on the screen behind? Well I am!

Note: I’m tired of all the liking, all the twitting tweeters, all the clutter that fills a page.

Tired of being put down, led around like a puppy on a leash, being mislead, disrespected, unappreciated, the feeling of being unloved. I’m just tired of it all. (pity party about to ensue)

Every day I wake feeling good, glad to be alive, then it happens, I read the Yahoo news feed and the comments, and did you know that the mere mention of God draws so much hate and thumbs down? I think that is why Facebook doesn’t have a thumb down button because it would cause a virtual cyber riot!

I’m tired! I try to lead my life in a respectful manner, show others respect, share the word of God and am always most certainly persecuted or misunderstood. This is the life I chose and one where God has chosen to walk with me down this murky path, never to be left alone. Nothing in this physical world can fill me spiritually like the Fluent Waters of God.

Although the physical world and many of its people lets me down, the spiritual world NEVER lets me down and thus I need to hide for a spell to allow it all to make sense. To you, it might not make sense. To you, you’ll fan through a few words, roll your eyes and continue on thinking blah blah blah, there she goes again. Yes siree! There I go again!

And go I must. To the two or three who have been there for me and actually understood me and comforted me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You won’t be forgotten as I hope in some small measure, neither will I be forgotten. I’m grateful for the few He has placed in my life!

Pss. 23:

[1] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
[2] He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
[3] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
[4] Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
[5] Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
[6] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Poetry Sunday ~ Standing Strong through the Storm

Standing Strong through the Storm

***

The waves in life crash all around

I fall to my knees onto the ground

The Lord my God He keeps me warm

Standing strong through the storm.

I feel I walk in sinking sand

Judged for things in which I stand.

The waves they gush without a form

Standing strong through the storm.

I raise my head so I can be

A future bright for all to see.

A woman that shall not conform,

Standing strong through the storm.

I’m in a world where many sleep

A shepherds light for all lost sheep.

Before you you’ll see a woman transform

Standing strong through the storm.

My footprints I will leave behind

Fully sighted no longer blind.

The Lord my God will keep me warm,

Standing strong through the storm.

Words for Wednesday

Runs into thoughts for Thursday...

Psalm 9: 1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

***

Today I was going to write about my friend and her poetry book, The Vines of Life . Julie Jennings is quite the inspirational woman with inspirational poetry to back her up!

I met her through WVU, Writer’s Village University, she’s stopped by and visited me here a few times, and whenever someone from WVU needs a little support, I’m there for them! It’s what I do. I’m a true friend. I love all people! But most of all, I love helping people.

I keep telling my fiance’ that I could never be a rich person because I would give my money away to those in need before I ever helped myself, that’s just the way I am. :)

So today, I got sidetracked with thinking of my father. He was put in the hospital on Monday, bleeding internally and whenever someone calls me crying, especially my mother, my heart aches to be there for them, her in this case.

My mother and I, when I lived back home in Maryland, were extremely close. I lived next door to her for thirteen years and when I moved a mile away, she sold her house and moved right around the corner. We were inseparable.

My dad was always the loner type guy, but my mother and me, like two peas in a pod. Funny, caring, loving and would bend over backwards to see someone else happy, and forget about ourselves. This made leaving home the most difficult thing I had ever done in my life.

Once I moved, I realized it was the best thing for me spiritually and physically because I knew, I had never really grown up, I always had my mother taking care of me no matter what situation I got myself into. And believe you me, there were many situations. (long story, read my autobiography when it finally gets published.) *wink*

I’ve been away for seven years come May 18, only returning home once, when my mother had a stroke. My sister is not as supportive and close as I was with my mother and my brothers (I have four) are all in dysfunctional stages of their lives. And keep in mind, I’m the baby of six and my eldest brother is 54. I’ve been diving into writing for the past seven years and my world has taken on new shape and meaning. What can I say, now I help writers write right! I’ve been a writer all of my life but the past seven years, I’ve taken life and writing more seriously!

My dad is home now and I knew when the phone rang that it was my mother, going to tell me my dad was safe at home, and sure enough it was her. After fifty-six years of marriage, those two are inseparable. Maybe my leaving was intended for them to get closer, because I know that since I’ve left, they’ve knitted themselves together like never before.  Sickness and health, richer and poorer takes on new meaning.

With this Sunday being Mothers Day, I think of all the great mothers out there, hopefully myself included, and I think of the people whose mothers have passed on and are now alone without that best friend there to guide and care for them. In some way, I take on that roll and nurse all the kids, whether young or old into the path they were meant to be. I’m a shepherd and all of you are my sheep. :) What a wonderful gift.

On that note...I am rich beyond belief!