Loose Strings

Job 38:31 “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?”

Loose Strings

I need to tie up some loose strings from yesterday’s post.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that the day I came home from the doctors I went to sit on the back steps. I wanted to shed a few happy tears and just sit in a quiet moment of prayerful gratitude. I see movement out of the corner of my eye, and right there beside me was my Toady Frog. Yeah, I named him Toady Frog! He was there once again and every day I go out the front or back door, he seems to be near. He’s my new friend. I am actually in the habit now of opening the door and saying, “Where’s my Toady Frog?” If he’s not there he usually is by the next time the door opens.

I also wanted to mention all the stress I was under a month ago. My son seeking a job was really stressing us both, and I as his mother wanted him to succeed in his search, he as a fighter of all things young adult wants to move forward in life and for six months, nothing was panning out. Finally, he got a job he REALLY wanted. The first job at the food store was a food chopper at a salad bar, minimum hours and slave drivers behind the wheel. When the hotel called him, the job he REALLY wanted, he jumped at the offer of more money and more hours! He was happy, and so was I, until he asked for a week off.

Just so you know and I imagine the majority of you do, when your child (young man) makes a decision, it is his own and nothing can stop him. He wanted to take a bus trip out of the state and he had not really planned it out but he was determined. I let it all work out on its own (he eventually changed his mind) and it took my stress away immediately.

Then there was my husband’s tooth pain. I’m sure all of you can relate to a throbbing pain that keeps you up at night popping ibuprofen for what seems every hour on the hour, right? I’ve been there done that, myself.

In doing all of my research these past six months and my new love for coconut oil, I found that the coconut oil was used for tooth pain. Now I didn’t expect hubby to believe me because let's be honest, who would think coconut oil for tooth pain, right? Well, he researched it himself and sure enough, he read that it worked, too.

That night hubby was whooshing coconut oil in his mouth for five minutes. He said the thought of holding coconut oil in your mouth and whooshing it around sounded gross at first but didn’t taste all that bad. Now let me add here, he was ready to take off of work the next day because he was in so much pain and such as it was, it was a Sunday evening. The next day he arose and went into work. When we talked later in the day I asked how his tooth was, his words, “Not bad." He had only taken two ibuprofen because he ‘thought’ the pain would surface but the entire day he went, with no pain! He had made a dentist appointment that day but there was a two-week wait.

Night after night he did the coconut oil and now he swears by the stuff. By the end of the week, he was eating his sweets. The tooth no longer hurt! He went to the dentist when the two weeks were up, and he told his dentist about the oil. The dentist said that the person who had just left told him the same thing about the coconut oil! So here is Joni’s sage advice this day, toothache pain can be resolved with coconut oil. I have the organic coconut oil so I don’t know how well other brands work.

My doctor visit was mounting stress for me too. I knew I needed the visit but sure wasn’t looking forward to setting myself up for a letdown. But as you read yesterday, that problem was resolved too. Everything turned out okay! Waiting for the test results are not stressful because good or bad results, it will be the knowledge I need to move forward in my treatment.

Yesterday came and I woke feeling empowered. I felt like the woman I had been for the last month was gone and the Joni I knew myself to be was back in control. I was ready to face the world and my day after my shower of course.

It was my normal morning cleansing of myself but what happened when I went to dry my hair, I was not expecting. Electric shock! Yes, you read that correctly. I was nonchalantly plugging in my straightening iron and it happened, sparks flew, tingling ran up my fingers and in a micro second the utensil went flying out of my hands, fingers blackened and singed, yet I was alive. Tearful but alive! Grateful but alive! Shaken but ALIVE!

I began to cry and I called my husband in. He was sitting at his computer and came in and asked what happened. All I could do was hold up my blackened fingers and weep. He reached and quickly unplugged the instrument and threw it in the trash. There was an obvious short in the frayed wires. No fire or anything just a nice shock to my system. I jokingly told my husband, “If that doesn’t cure cancer, nothing will!” 

My strings unraveled and I let loose the ties that bound my soul. I’m good, all is well and Joni is almost back to her old self! Look out world! 

Matt. 18: 18 “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Blessed Bounty

Joni's blessed bounty of 2012

Pss. 136: 25 “Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

He’s In Here

As many people think of Christ up there looking down on all you do, or over there watching you, or even beside you walking with you, that’s a good feeling because you know He’s on the journey of life with you.

Now think of Him right here, IN you instead of over, beside or under. It’s like this: Say you’re invited to dinner and the host has a bountiful display of food for you, over there. That’s what reading the bible is like, the bible is over there sitting, just waiting for you to partake from. 

Okay, now the host says the food is ready, go and fix yourself a plate. You walk toward your bible, pick it up and begin reading. As you fix your plate you put all of the good food on there and then she says, don’t forget the broccoli, but you hate broccoli but this looks so nice you oblige her and take a few stalks. 

You begin reading your bible, filling yourself with all of the good stuff, happy, cheerful, loving good stuff then it happens, you’re full but have yet to touch the broccoli. There are some dark, bitter tasting words in the bible that you just want to gloss over but you don’t want to leave the host hanging so you indulge.

Oh dear, you’ve touched on rape, incest, murder, and polygamy. You’re tasting the bitterness of the broccoli and just want to spit it out and pretend you never had it but you begin to chew and chew and read and read so you can understand that ALL of the bible is the Lord’s buffet, broccoli and all. Mingled with the good is the ugly and all those words are left for you to discern whether you continue in the meal.

Now, you’ve finished the entire meal, you’ve read the entire bible, sat it on the table and wiped your mouth of any leftover gravy that might be on your lips. You walk away full, filled with the meal you’ve just eaten, filled with the words you’ve just read. You can see it as a fictional tale because honestly, some of that stuff was over the top fairy tale stuff. A whale swallowing a man and for three days he was in the stomach. A man called to build a big ark to carry two of every animal away from the impending flood, a man lying with the lions. Give me a break, right? (Oh there’s more crazy stuff for you to read)

You thank the gracious host and are on your way home, only to realize instead of leaving the bible on the table, you’ve taken it with you and it’s sitting in the other seat as a companion on the ride home. Your mind starts going over the wonderful meal you had with the mashed potatoes and delicious brown gravy, the juicy steak, meaty turkey and ham all of which melted in your mouth for you to savor on the way home.

The vegetables were a bit over the top with the likes of spinach and okra, eggplant and corn, carrots and yams, then the broccoli, the bitter tasting broccoli which climbed back up into your throat allowing you, in the quiet confines of your car, to let out a loud releasing burp. Ah, now you feel better. 

As you approach home, you glance over at your bible, you realize that there was some truth in there that you might want to believe like loving your neighbor, turning the other cheek when someone hurts you and forgiveness, yeah you like that one, the ability to forgive.

You arrive home. Do you leave the bible in the car, take the book with you, or place it in the trunk because it really wasn’t something you’re into? Your mind lingers to the host, the creator of such a grand meal that the remnants are still lingering in you. The piercing eyes, the heart of gold, the sweet laughter of a child on the merry-go-round, the host is lingering.

Imagine this: God being the host. He’s created such a grand meal in  the way of planet earth, giving you everything to partake of, the good, the bad and the ugly bitter tasting remnants. Man and woman were happy at one time with all of this bounty, so much so we had a day of celebration called Thanksgiving for all that we have.

Today, man has left the host in the trunk of the car pretending they didn’t partake of any of the hogwash they read over dinner. Some people got out of the car remembering the bible and took it with them carrying it close to their heart and went in the house to place it on the table, so it would always be close to them. 

What I’m saying is this, some people put Him back there to take Him for a ride, some put Him over there so they can glance at him once in awhile, while some see Him up there looking over them as they journey through life and me, I see Him IN HERE, my heart, my soul, my veins to always carry Him and His words with me and savor every last drop. How about you? 

Beauty ~ To Each His Own

Pss. 36:2 “For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.”

As some of you may know, I attended a Catholic school from first to eighth grades. Daily I wore the uniform of the plaid jumpers with a white collared shirt for five years, to the plaid skirt and white shirt for another three. 

I never had to worry about competing with looking good to the other girls. Each passing year the time came for me to receive my hand-me-down jumpers from my shorter sister. Yeah, I was taller than my sister by second grade and even with the awkward unleashing of the hem the length was still too short, for me. 

All the other girls had new pristine jumpers every year obviously from a wealthier family but me and my little jumpers, we made it through five years, and the skirts lasted for three. Only on weekends and after school did I wear different, more comfortable clothes and I always decided that this was when I was defiantly going to show my body in a way the nuns would scoff.

I suffered from low self-esteem as a child always trying to be different and I would dress to where I would be noticed, whether it was in butt bearing shorts, halter tops or painted on jeans. I was being noticed; icy blue/gray eyes, long flowing blonde hair, a perfect size zero. It didn’t take me long to figure out that men (yes grown men) were not looking at me (a child) because I was cute, they were looking at me like I was a raw steak being fired up on the grill and they couldn’t wait to stick a fork in me! Certainly not the attention I was seeking.

As I grew, I matured and realized I didn’t need that sort of attention; my tastes in clothing grew, as did my self-esteem. Sure I was now a perfect size six, still long flowing blonde hair and icy blue/gray eyes but something had changed within me; I found God. No longer was I dressing for beastly men, I was now dressing for God! I wanted Him to notice the beauty within me and I longed to please Him in every way.

The problem with that was I was still being noticed in my modestly covered up body but no longer seen as a steak on a grill, I was being admired as a beautiful woman. People saw something in me and I’m most certain it was God shining through me; I had finally become the modest young lady my father could be proud of and the person my heavenly Father didn’t have to turn His head away from.

It saddens me today to look around and see the young girls dressing like they want to work the strip in their hot-pants and boob bearing shirts but I also see that men have not changed over my lifetime. Since the beginning of time man has lusted after the female gender, sadly young or old. Women have always wanted to be looked at and some of us will go to great measure to see our esteem lifted. I would never go to the lengths women do today with all of the plastic surgery from their noses all the way down to their butts. They NEED to be seen and men NEED to look. 

How can I help these young girls? Do I judge them? Do I laugh at their foolishness or do I show compassion and understanding knowing I was much like them once?

Besides pray, I’ll write. The only way to look beautiful and I mean REALLY beautiful is when you have self-confidence. You don’t need tattoos and to be pierced in every orifice to feel confident; you don’t need to dress in slutty attire to attract a man. A real man is attracted to inner beauty that exudes from you whether you’re dowdy or absolutely gorgeous. The beauty you carry inside is what finds the real men to marry, not the false bravado you traipse around and taunt men with. You need to know you’re worth something to YOU not just an object for men to be their eye candy!

I’ve seen many young girls walk into church looking like they were going out to a nightclub and yes, I would think what on EARTH possessed them to wear THAT? Then I remember…I was once like that too; in time they’ll realize it is only for God they should look good for, not for the MAN beast or the WOMAN competitor. Build confidence in YOURSELF, dress for YOU, see your beauty as God sees your beauty! He doesn’t see you with dyed hair, tons of make-up – He sees you naked and bare and what He sees is BEAUTY!

For the non-believers please know, if you’re dressed as a lady of the evening and you’re attracting men and boys, know that they’re not worth the air you breathe if sleaze is what they’re interested in. Maybe it IS what you’re interested in; a life with no breath. 

Poetry Sunday ~ Unity

Gen. 9: 13 “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.”

Unity

In the midst of beauty lies

Darkness gathered round

I heard it in the stillness there

Uncertainty with a sound

Join the voices calling out

Be one with God and man

In the stirrings of the heart

The Light to which I stand

The rainbows arc dances loud

Across the sunlit sky

In the back a darkened shroud

I hear the people cry.

Rain explodes from the span

Puddles form from drops

Divided in a darkened sky

A rainbow then erupts.

One color never shines alone

They join to cast a bow

A shower of solidarity

Men and women wish to know.

Only God can be the judge

Of man and earthly sin

The rainbow is a promise

Of the flood we’ll never win.

Gen. 9:16 “And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”

 

 

 

Quotation Saturday ~ Memorial Day

The flag at Fort McHenry, Baltimore Maryland, war of 1812

Luke 4: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

In honor of Memorial Day, once known as Decoration Day when the graves of those who fought in the Civil War was decorated in remembrance of their service to our country.

Last night we watched the movie Patriot and you really get the feel of the bloodshed of the early 1776 war, as I imagine all wars. So in honor, memory, and respect for ALL who have died fighting, I give you my Quotation Saturday.

Honor, Courage, Patriotism, Hero

“They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this nation.”

~ Henry Ward Beecher

“A hero is someone who has given his/her life to something bigger than oneself.”

~ Joseph Campbell

“Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.”
~ R.J. Palacio

“For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”

~ James A. Garfield

“We come not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them.”

~Francis A. Walker

“And they for who their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldiers tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.”

~ Joseph Rodman Drake

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”
~ Thomas Jefferson

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.”

~ Billy Graham

“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”

~ Norman Schwarzkopf

“They are dead; but they live in each patriots breast, and their names are engraven on honor’s bright crest.”

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

~ John F. Kennedy

“And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.”

~ Lee Greenwood

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.
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