Gotta do, what I gotta do...

Gen 1: 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Do any of you remember the Village people from quite a few years ago? Yeah, I remember when...they were popular, free spirited, zany and crazy and people just loved them. They were a small group of different characters, not a whole lot of songs to remember them by, but they were popular in their day.

This is how I feel here lately. I have outgrown my once  popular Village. There was a time when I’d wake up, eager to get in there and help, but now as things have shifted, times have changed, I wake to find it a Village of Society; a facebook for writers. It’s a clique of people and while the newcomers are finding delight in it all, it will one day wear off and become a lack luster place, and they too will move on, just as the old timers who once filled the halls.  I no longer want to be a part of the insanity and am slowly weaning myself of the place, and I have to let the Village People move from my world.

Gen. 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

I think you all know I’m not a big fan of facebook and wonder why I even signed up to the place. It being a good place to share my writing, and saying hi to a selected few friends that I have, even facebook has lost its luster. Sometimes a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do, and move over to let some one else pull the heavy laden pain bearing sled.

Since October...I’ve been in a lot of pain. To be honest, I’ve had very few people even care. I have people praying for me and as I continue down this road, it is all and surely will be enough to get me through the Christmas holidays. I don’t go around facebook saying, “Hear ye, Hear ye, Joni is in pain! Woe! Woe is me!” If they read my blog, they know. I have two family members aware, and that would be my mother, (whom I talk to every single night) and my Dad, whom she tells everything to. That’s it. When family and friends find out, they’ll say, “Wow I didn’t know! You didn’t say anything.” Well Joni is tired of all the dramatics; if you say you love me, you’ll KNOW what I’m going through! Ahh, feel the love.

Prov. 13:14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

So as you deck those halls and jingle them bells, there are a lot of people doing without this year, and not just material wise. Comfort wise. What people need is a comforting friend who understands and is willing to REACH OUT to help. Words are vanity, action is priceless.

As I go into the new changing of the calendar, a lot is going to change for me. Instead of everyone and everything shifting on me, it is my turn to shift on them. I’m not saying that in a bitter tone, I’m saying it as a realization of things that need to be done so I can soar and achieve what I need to achieve in the new year and leave all the excess baggage on the carousel of insanity.

Listen up! Joni is having some serious major health issues that she needs to tend to. Go on without me but just remember, I was there for YOU! 

Thank you and God Bless!

Prov 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.

Put off until tomorrow...

Deut. 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

 ...what you want to get done today. Yesterdays words of wisdom were from my mother. “It could be worse.” Remember I told you she tells me that all the time? Well last night while telling her of my ailment in my back, she said, “Well put off until tomorrow, what you want to get done today.” I scratched my head and started laughing, because my mother means well and since her stroke six years ago, things don’t wrap around her brain right.

But it got us both laughing, and at this point I need it, really need it. The tricky part is, how am I going to relate that to writing?

Okay, here goes. I tell all the students in the writing courses to NEVER put off writing. I tell them it is essential to get what is on your mind, onto paper and write, write, write. You can’t stop and edit, you have to keep writing or the muse will be gone in a puff of smoke. It’ll be airborne and fizzle out and the next day when you try to recapture it, it’ll be gone!

So don’t take my mothers advice unless you’ve overworked your body into a ripe old age whilst still young, and need to give it a rest! Her words are for us only to rest when you have a God slap moment, and He says, it is time to rest.

As you sit at your computer for hours upon hours, you are whittling your bodies spinal cord. Always remember to leave that place that you find so much enjoyment in and remember to walk around, exercise those legs, move that body. Some bodies have overworked all their lives and when sitting at the computer, it has become a disease that will eat and nibble on parts you never worried about because the computer kept you blind to the inner infestation. DON’T put off until tomorrow, what needs to be done TODAY!

I’m going to wrap up this week with the blessings of this year. Just to name a few.

1. My faith ~ My faith is a blessing because as troubled waters wash over me, it is my faith, that keeps me grounded.
2. My Church ~ It is through my church that I see the people as lit candles in a darkened world.
3. Sight ~ Taken for granted, people go on every day amusing themselves; they survive on the me factor, and when something is taken away, THEN they take notice. SIGHT is a blessing, cherish it.
4. My writing ~ I am blessed with my writing. If it was not in me to write, surely I would not be alive.
5. Snow ~ Although I don’t like driving in it, it is a beautiful layered purity that melts my heart and cleanses my spirit.

Thank you Mrs. Sue and Mrs. Carol for being a true friend and giving me hope in each new day I’m allowed.

It could be worse...

Inspirational Writing ~

All this talk about genre has me thinking what genre my novel falls under. Well, its a spiritual thriller, mystery laden, ghosts, angels, and toss in some thrilling uncovered mystery, and a possible time warp and you have... a doggone good novel is what you have.

That is what I’ll be working on during my hiatus in mentoring. I’ll begin the task of revising my novel while working on my health issues that are plaguing my days and nights. This way I’ll feel as if I’m still hands on in my writing, while everyone else is at class whooping and hollering and having a blast living it up.

My mother always has a way of saying, “It could be worse.” And I have to agree with her on that one, it could be worse. But let me remind you that she always says that right before things actually do get worse. She means well in her ways, but sometimes I just have a problem with accepting that theory.

It could be worse. Now there’s a concept we need to look at while writing our novel. Keep those words in mind as your hero has fallen out of a tree, crawled to the highway and is signaling for help. Does a savior come and rescue her? Think “It could be worse.” Then make it worse, she crawls into the path of an about to be picked up hitch-hiker, she calls out for help and as he turns to look at her, his face resembles that of Freddy Kruger! Her heart sinks, but just remember, “It could be worse.” She could have met up with Hannibal Lecter, when all of a sudden the man driving the car gets out to help, and it IS Hannibal Lecter!!!

You see, maybe my mother is not all wrong. Maybe she has something there with that, ‘It could have been worse theory’. As I go through trying times repelling the dark force that wants to fill the hole in my life, as I fill it with the Light, the forces tend to battle it out and I’m in the middle, swirling and twirling and in the end, the light wins, at which time I will stand up and whisper under my breath. “It could have been worse.”

There’s a point to be made here, I’m certain. With Inspirational Writing, you can always talk about the good and the light and the love of the Lord, but your audience more than likely is in a dark spot and can’t relate to a word your saying. Reaching out to their level. You have to give them the depths of the hell that you’ve been through; every slimy shimmering taste of it so they relate, then dish out the light so they drink in the benefits of all that was worse and how you fought to make it better.

In a world where people struggle with their Faith, it is quite easy to see all the Light, surround themselves with what they think the light is, but it is too soon that they forget that the dark exists. “The dark only has power if you let it.”  The most untrue words I ever heard spoken. When the dark has its tentacles wrapped around you while you are breathlessly grabbing for that one ray of light. The dark friends, people, acquaintances all feel you and tug you dragging you into the road, only for you to be spotted by Hannibal and Freddy.

It’s a war out there in this world of Light and Dark...but hey, it coulda been worse...

Genre

Have you gotten a genre all picked out that you like to write for? The lines are sometimes blurred but publishers accept many along the blurred lines because the genres mix and match. I think sometimes people make up their own genre then the publisher says, "Hey, we accept horror and fantasy, why not publish mystical spiritual?"
 
Are you writing to entertain? To inform? To persuade? Setting the purpose for writing is just as important as setting the purpose for reading, because purpose influences decisions you make about the shape and form your writing will take on. And this is why we have a genre to categorize our writing.
 
When researching GENREs, I never got a clear picture; that was so strange because I thought genre meant: Mystery, Horror, fiction, historical fiction, non -fiction, poetry, etc. but I kept running into list like:
 
The different genres of writing include descriptive, expository, narrative, persuasive, poetry and technical writing, and a combination of these are usually used for any given body of writing.
 
The National Writers Union bases its organizational structure on three very broad genre groups: the book division, for both fiction and non-fiction writers, the journalism division, for magazine and newspaper writers, and the biz-tech division, for business and technology writers. In addition, they include a special caucus for those who write prose and poetry.
 
I can see why now, we as writers have a hard time organizing our work and the need to classify where to send out work if we don’t understand the many genres being accepted in today’s writing world.
 
The type of list I was going for was something like this:
Action-adventure -- features physical action; the knock down dragged out missions of take no prisoner--ALIVE. Many times set in forbidding locales such as jungles, deserts, or mountains. May be historical fiction, containing facts.
 
Crime -- centered on the criminal society; told from the point of view of the perpetrators. Ranges in tone from lighthearted "caper" stories to darker plots involving organized crime or incarcerated convicts.
 
Detective -- has become almost synonymous with mystery. These stories relate the solving of a crime, usually one or more murders, by a protagonist who may or may not be a professional investigator. This large, popular genre has many subgenres, reflecting differences in tone, character, and it always contains criminal and detective
 
Mystery -- Think ‘whodunit’ in this category. Technically involving stories in which characters try to discover a vital piece of information which is kept hidden until the climax. Keeping the reader enthralled throughout, I might add. I might also add spiritual Mystery to this. Not having the gore elements of horror. Also Paranormal fiction fits in here along with horror.
 
Fantasy -- Think Lord of the Rings;  unrealistic, make-believe things exist in imaginary worlds such as wizards, dragons, griffins etc
 
Horror -- Bloody, gut wrenching, spine tingling, gore.
 
Romance -- Love! A couple meet, fall apart, and in the end live happily ever after. Not to be confused with, Eroticism!
 
Science fiction -- Think of extrapolated, theoretical science and technology; A lot of new planets are in this genre
 
Western -- Primarily set in the American West in the second half of the 1800’s. Has romance, and cowboys!
 
Inspirational --  A term that refers to fictional or non fictional works with religious themes and aimed at a Christian audience.
 
There is also added categories :
Childrens -- targeted audience kids under 8
 
Young Adult (aka YA) -- young people from 10 and up because let’s be honest, many adults are readers of YA
 
Adult fiction  -- can get by with foul language and topics

I hope you enjoyed today's Genre piece. Categorized as  Informational!

Come on 100th Follower !!!

Let me be your Inspirational Blog...

I began this blog in 2005, deleted 2006 and it wasn’t until 2008 I took it to a more serious level. I started this blog with the intention of writing about the paranoia in this society, then after becoming a mentor and not having much down to earth  assistance out there in the writing world, I decided to make my blog about writing. By down to earth, I mean writing pages that are targeted to the novice. Always plenty of pages on the technical stuff, but the small stuff that we as writers need to know and are eager to learn? I wanted to reach those writers.

Then the followers began marching in like soldiers, and I was well on my way to happy in seeing all the folk enjoying my blog. I care for and appreciate each and every follower, even if I don’t get comments, I know they are there, reading behind their screens, drinking coffee perhaps, and *I* being their morning paper. (wow, can someone say run on sentence here?)

That’s a good feeling of being read. Now I know what drives all those popular published authors onto bigger and better writing days, readers! I wrote a post about me one time and I saw comments appear. My readers were enjoying my writing posts but they also were enjoying hearing about me and my life. I began having post about Writing, but also about Me. This combination drove my followers up, because I think deep down, we all want to know what really makes a writer tick. Even if they themselves were writers, closet writers, they were more about writing, not divulging personal issues about themselves.

I think my followers realized that Joni was a complex writer, spilling her guts about herself, and spreading light through scripture,  love through my heart and soul, and giving some pretty good advice on writing, while sharing very informative writing links.  It was then that One Voice ~Write Right began moving along into a new era. Poetry, Quotations, personal issues and plausible Writing Assistance became a virtual  must read. Okay maybe that is pushing it; Must Read? But it has become an endearing read, and a Good Read, so much so, my hits are up, my visitors are up, I have flags from all the different countries that visit, and with the change of my layout, people are liking what they are seeing!

As my dental woes mount, the needed thousands of dollars for the amount of work necessary, along with the damage to my body and health that the dental woes are causing all the way down to not taking care of myself, will all fall on me in avalanche fashion as the year ends. But I am here, a living testament of true faith, I stand as the miracle of sight was brought into this realm of mine, and I hold my head high and push onto the next leg of this interesting journey God has placed me on.

Now if I could just get that 100th follower, my new year would begin on a high note!

Why Write?

In today’s world, many people seek so many different things and I think this is why chaos ensues. Many of those people who cross my path (in the writing community) have had college degrees, good paying jobs, money out the gazoo, and yet here they are, coming to writing after retiring or just tiring of not being fulfilled in their dream.

They have always wanted to be a writer, felt the calling, have written since they were kids, but never really pursued a writing career. Then there are those people who like writing and dive into wanting to become a writer and try their little hearts out, studying, learning, blooming and growing, often times getting discouraged because they don’t see any results.

I write to inform, touch people,  raise awareness, or to offer something to this chaotic society. Writing isn’t all about fictional tales, horror stories, or tell-all non-fictional tales; writing is a form of release. I write to heal myself. After going to a ‘doctor’ who is really a Nurse Practitioner allowed to run a small office in a small town, I realized that sometimes we need healing that they can not offer. I was sent for x-rays, have gotten no results and it has been two weeks, not one call. Whereas I went to the dentist, got some relatively not great news, and when I got home, the dentist called to see if I was okay!

Amazing.

We live in a world where technology has made enormous advances, yet I am left in pain because the NP is not concerned with me and my health. This saddens me, but not enough to give up writing. I have to give up mentoring because at this point, I need to focus on me. I have many friends living with daily pain and now I am among the crowd who endures. No medical coverage, I too endure.

So why does one write? Why would I continue to write if I am going nowhere in my career choice? Because besides my Lord and Savior, my writing is my healer. It is my safety net, my blanket that keeps me warm on these bitter cold days. If I focus on a topic, I can belt out a good 1500 to 2500 words a day AND get my mundane chores around the house done. Although, in previous weeks, my mundane chores have taken a backseat, and just breathing is a welcome relief.

This year has been one of the strangest years I’ve lived. Miracles have taken place in my life, pain has surfaced, but also therein lies an utter joy and happiness and I find it in my writing. Whether a poem, a blog post, or encouraging another writer to be their best, the writing gift that I hold in me, is a blessing that I must share with others.

Why do I write? It is a God given talent, if I didn’t write, then my talent is empty and wasted.

Poetry Sunday ~ God Made You

God Made You!
***

God made you
especially for me
awaited the seconds
that we could be.

God made you
He shaped the mold
gave to me
a world of gold.

God made you
to endure great pain
family umbrella
to shield the rain.

God made you
not to be blind;
only to seek
and one day find.

You found me
and you found Him
We were both there
when life got dim.

God made you
a righteous man
He made me
by your side I’ll stand.
***
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
MY LOVE!

Poetry Sunday ~ Broken Beauty

To the love of my life, as we embark on yet another journey of our lives! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!! 

Broken Beauty
***

Take me as I am
broken beauty
a small token
forlorn duty.


Hold me
as I crumble
I will rise
newly humble.


Hear me weep
all my sighing
I am me
beauty dying.


Touch me
worthy crown
all my heart
falling down.


Lift me up
to the skies
as my world
slowly dies.


Find me
in the mire
peel me
from the fire.


Guide my soul
to the realm
where God alone
mans the helm.

Quotation Saturday

FEAR

You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.
~Mary Manin Morrissey

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
 ~Marie Curie
 

Keep your fears to yourself but share your courage with others.
~Robert Louis Stevenson


The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.
 ~Henry Louis Mencken

Panic at the thought of doing a thing is a challenge to do it.
~Henry S. Haskins


FATE

Sometimes, perhaps, we are allowed to get lost that we may find the right person to ask directions of. ~Robert Brault

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. ~Jean de La Fontaine

We cannot bear to regard ourselves simply as playthings of blind chance; we cannot admit to feeling ourselves abandoned. ~Ugo Betti, Struggle till Dawn, 1949

You know that saying, that when God closes a door he opens a window, well, sometimes out of nowhere he'll do you one better and he'll kick a whole wall down. ~Ryan Murphy

FAITH
 

Faith is not without worry or care, but faith is fear that has said a prayer.
~Author Unknown
 

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog.
~Corrie Ten Boom
 

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
~J.R.R. Tolkien

Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch.
~Ramona C. Carroll


FRIENDSHIP
 

A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
~Leo Buscaglia

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
~Albert Schweitzer

If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it. ~Edgar Watson Howe

A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.
~Donna Roberts
 

Thank you Miss Carol. For relieving my fears, making sure I keep my faith, and being  what a real friend is, a true blessing!
~Love Joni

The Angels Called

Ex. 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
***
~~The Angel’s Called ~~

The angels came from mounted high,
cradled his soul I don't know why.
Wrapped in fleece-like softened wings;
silenced now he no longer sings.

Nestled within a tidal womb
fertile bed becomes a tomb
Shrouded in the serene abode
a vacant place his body stowed.

Earthbound duty not his call,
a rain of stars on him did fall.
Whisked away before I could hold;
a lifeless body lay there cold.

Summoned to be an angel himself.
Journey of breath put on a shelf.
Though I miss his earthly duty;
I savor now his angelic beauty.

Today is the BIRTHday of my son, whose eyes I never saw, whose heart that didn’t beat, whose arms were never touched, for we never did meet.

Happy Birthday to Christopher Alexander
born -- 12-2-82  moved on 12-2-82

The Light Show

1 Kings 6: 4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.

It happened on Saturday, the 26th of November. I was allotted the time of rest on the 25th, and I knew, I just knew I had two eager kids who wanted the tree to be assembled and lights and bulbs adorning the limbs. Did I just say kids? Plural? Well I meant, my man and my son. How bad of me.

Anywho, I woke up, not feeling able to do anything and I just prayed, “Please God, give me the strength to get this day moving along and allow the light show to be embraced by my family and I. Please! Please! Please?” So after movement began in the house, stirring was a welcomed sound, thus I began.

I dusted the furniture, began humming Christmas tunes, (that was to signify that we might get moving.) Steven looked at me as if to say, “You okay?” And my returned gaze said, “No, but we’re getting this done!” I told them of the plan (not that it was going to go off without a hitch) but they were on my team, so it was a win win for me. Christmas music playing, we started.

Adam descended the stairs and began bringing up, piece by piece, the Christmas ornaments. For every step he took up, he carried down a nic-nac or something that would be put away until after Christmas. Huffing and puffing,  and puffing and huffing, the Christmas ornaments adorned the shelves, the manger stood firm with the lil people in their places and pardon the pundit here, it was ‘beginning to look a lot like Christmas... every where we turned’ !!!

Adam took a break, I made some sandwiches, stopped to sit on the heating pad after popping some ibuprofen, then it was back to the assembly line we went. Adam was bringing the tree up. It weighs more than 50 lbs of awkward dead weight, so limb by limb it was carried up the steps, until the huge box was able to be carried up.

Steven and I were on this end, waiting in the living room and assembling the tree, while Adam, the lil trooper, kept going and going. After the tree was upstairs, he carried up the lights and bulbs, and was still at this time carrying stuff down the dreaded steps. And all he asked for was...a Pepsi! I said “YES!” and on he went lugging this and that, traipsing here and there, then finally, the first set of lights were now on the tree.

Steven and I were wearing thin, my back aching, my legs useless as I sat on the floor as a referee. Adam took over for the second and third pair of lights and now it was ornament time. I sat in the desk chair hanging ones at eye level, and Steven and Adam were moving around the tree and bringing it to completion!

More trips to the basement for Adam after we cleaned up any remaining mess, and the light show was a hit!!!

Then I had to find the energy to make supper... I did; afterward, we all collapsed. I on my sofa and him in his cap, Adam settled down, for a long nights nap!!!


Hark the herald Angels sing...Glory to the newborn king.

Thank you Dear Lord for prayers answered!

***

Pss.136: 7 To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:

Techie? Not me!

"You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated." - Maya Angelou

I’m no techie, I’m a writer. But being such, I should have a little knowledge of this machine that does the majority of my writing for me. Well, it collects what I say and records me like some kind of futuristic tape recorder with printout abilities.  Yeah, typewriters are a thing of the past and some kids will say, “Man, you’re old, a typewriter?” Yes boys and girls, before the advent of this here thing called the virtual world of technology, we were like cavemen embracing the tools before us, and one of the tools was, a typewriter.


I often times miss the simplicity of my old electric typewriter. I could sit for hours upon hours, with a book; (yes boys and girls, a BOOK made of paper, bound into a front and back hard cover.) it was called a thesaurus and it was always at my side. Typewriter and book, things the tech world rarely comprehends.


Then a new dawn came and overtook our lives and we evolved from cavemen on typewriters, to techies, to surfers, to bloggers, to riding the shores of the information highway. It enveloped our lives like a tidal wave and we rode the swahbuckling massive wave like marshmallows, getting absorbed and melting our way through life.


When I sought change for my blog, since I’m not a techie, I went to my nearest and dearest, Master Stormcrow! He has a way with this thing that I truly don’t envy. Even when he was blind, he kept two blogs going, adding content, making a writer out of himself, embracing the technology of newness, just without 3-D color pixels. (Pixels, is that the right word?) lol Maybe he could see pixies, I dunno! But anyway, he can take a computer apart with his eyes closed (or when blindness owns him) but as soon as his sight was restored, the blog world and he met and he became enamored.


Yeah, sure he liked seeing my beautiful face *cough cough*, and the sky and trees *blah blah* and the grass and leaves *yada yada*, but what he enjoyed tremendously? Surfing the net and actually SEEING what it has been up to in these two years without sight, and that is when he took his blogs and made them  more appealing to the wandering eye.


If you’re a techie, you might appreciate seeing changes, if you're blind for ANY amount of time, you’ll appreciate the changes even more. So all these changes going on in our life and world around us, made me want to stand up for myself and make some necessary changes. And the changes are a rolling, with the grace and finesse that I actually look like a techie myself. Okay stop laughing!


In a world where darkness tries to overrun all that we’ve accomplished, as we embark on new beginnings and embrace the changes before us...we must not lose sight of the fact that WE are HUMAN first, not a computer. Our minds are our motherboard and our bodies the hard drive. Keep that in mind and maybe your future will be full of the LIGHT that God intended!

"Keep a diary and one day it'll keep you." ~Mae West

What a difference...

Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

...a day makes.

Wow, all I can say is, WOW! I said I wanted change, and I just can’t stop looking at my blog page and thinking, Wow! Now this is change! Many years have passed through in my life and many have been full of change, but this one has to be the one that will stand out as one of the most exciting years of change. This is why I wanted the drastic overhaul of my blog, so you all can change with me.

I decided a few months back that things needed to change in my life. After I made that decision, oh about the end of September I’d say, that was when things began to swiftly change. I peeled off layers of pain, let go of the darkness that tried to swallow me, left it to build it’s own little playground of dark matter and I moved on, at a snails pace.

I was consumed with life! You know this thing we must live, in a physical world. Life, the reality of things in real-time happening, not virtually. I got off of the maypole, slid across the sand on gravel-burnt knees and embraced, LIFE.

Have you ever read a book, gotten so consumed with the character(s) that you lost track of time and space? That’s a writers job, to make sure you are consumed with their characters so much so that you forget your reality. That is exactly what the virtual world holds in its clutch. Sure, some folks will say, “There are some good things too, that the computer holds.”

Sure there is, and just like God himself is a struggle to find when you are in the pits of darkness, the computer wraps you in its tentacles, squeezes you real tight, until you are gasping for breath, never really knowing who you are or the insanity that has taken over your life. You dig and plow your way though the mire, stab through the muddy waters, and find pieces of the light as you surface.  What am I saying? That the computer, IN MY OPINION, holds more dark than LIGHT!

In October, a realization hit me, that it isn’t about consuming myself with the virtual world. Life is not about building walls of defense to protect yourself. You should be able to freely live and appreciate the snowballs that are tossed in your face, and with great strength, brush away the powder!

Life is about change, characters are about transformation, story line is about variations, so why would we not take the precious care of our lives as we do with the characters and worlds we form? You can not produce something of context, if you haven’t taken the time to shape the content of your life.

It’s not about consuming all you can of the virtual world, because change only comes when you’re brave enough to tackle your inner world.

Change is in the air...

Job 30:18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.

***

Can you smell it? *sniff* *sniff* It's called change. I’m about to embark on change in my writing career. Not sure I know exactly where I’m going to wind up but I’m gonna begin by changing the look of my blog. No nothing is changing with the content, I’ll still give writing tips and squeeze in a few personal pieces of my life, but really, the change is going to be within.

As his sight was restored, he will return to a lot of his old things, old stomping grounds like surfing pics (thanks for the redo up top), artists, songs, music while I heal this worn out body and find myself moving on into the future wherever God needs me on the next leg of this journey. By years end I should have a clearer picture of where I’m headed, whether it is up or down, falling flat on my face.

The writing life can be a lonely place. You find yourself on the edge of sanity many times. You create characters that call to you in your head, then your paranoia rises and the voices get louder and louder. You sit at the keyboard tapping away at keys as if your in a marathon, running and running with no end in sight.

You get tired of always running here and there and everywhere winding up no place special. And that is where I am at right now. I sit here second guessing writing. Can you imagine? I’ve been writing all my life and now at the young age of  *muffled age* I’m second guessing myself? Again, I allowed others to define me and where I am going, knowing full well they don’t hold the key to the door in which I need to go. While they were maliciously tearing down the walls, I was strategically building them back up and figuring a way to peel them from the floorboards and eliminate them from my life. Can I ask, did Jesus WELCOME Satan as a friend into his home? NO!!! In Matt.4:10, He commanded,  “Get out of here, Satan.” And I will do the same by eliminating the intruders from my life.

I only feel alone because everyone, and I do mean everyone, around me has let me down. How much family support do I have? None. I’ve been in pain for, let’s see, October, all of November and the only people that know of my health are my church family, and my writing family. Who has expressed concern? Those same folk. ALONE! Alone am I! So as I move toward change, I have decided to gradually move away from being a thread of help to writers, and actually focus on ME and MY writing.

I will not let my blog go and that is the one thread that will keep us all tied together. Maybe you comment, maybe you don’t, maybe you read and actually glean some info from this blog, whatever the case, my heart, blood and soul is poured out in this blog, and you all, have become the characters in my life, that keep this blog going. I will not let you down, like everyone out in this world has let me down! If anything you know of me, *I* am not like them, I’m a character to be reckoned with and we’re on a journey and the tale is far from over.

Not only are the seasons changing... everything in life is changing.

Job 13:13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
 

Isa. 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Poetry Sunday ~ Seasoned Spirit

Job 8: 13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:
 

Seasoned Spirit
***

The lights are all lit,
candles aglow
that time of year
this I know.

The brisk wind blows
the chill is biting
consumers all flustered
grabbing and fighting.

So sad a day;
he follows the ghoul
beaming in pride
he looks the fool.

Walk in the spirit
a troubled task,
for those who try
the dark ones mask.

There’s more hidden
within the season
than walking around
always people pleasin’.

You hold the key
the spiritual walk;
choosing wisely
with whom you talk.

Your words will fall
on deafened ear
if you’ve faked the path
that was all laid clear.

Choose the stone
on the gravelly road
to spiritual growth
the Lightened load.

Settling on
the lonely clique
leaves you outside
the righteous pick.

December comes
seasons unfold;
remember your spirit
don’t tag it as sold!

Light and Love
Warmth and Joy.
Trust and faith
are yours to deploy!


Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Quotation Saturday

                                    Baltimore's Inner Harbor...
                                                  ...HOME!

GIVE THANKS~
 
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.
~Melody Beattie

For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves, we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet.... Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long?
~Rebecca Harding Davis

Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness.
~Robert Casper Lintner

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.
~Meister Eckhart

Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks - I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. ~Irving Berlin
 
We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning.
~Albert Barnes

It is delightfully easy to thank God for the grace we ourselves have received, but it requires great grace to thank God always for the grace given to others.
~James Smith

For hearts that are kindly, with virtue and peace, and not seeking blindly a hoard to increase; for those who are grieving o'er life's sordid plan; for souls still believing in heaven and man; for homes that are lowly with love at the board; for things that are holy, I thank thee, O Lord!
~Walt Mason
 
God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"
~William A. Ward
 
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
~William Arthur Ward
 
And though I ebb in worth, I'll flow in thanks.
 ~John Taylor
 
Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now. 
~A.W. Tozer

I have strong doubts that the first Thanksgiving even remotely resembled the "history" I was told in second grade. But considering that (when it comes to holidays) mainstream America's traditions tend to be over-eating, shopping, or getting drunk, I suppose it's a miracle that the concept of giving thanks even surfaces at all.
~Ellen Orleans
 
A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.
~Cicero

~ FAMILY ~
 
To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.
~Barbara Bush

Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted.
~Paul Pearshall

The Day After: Part II

Jude 1:25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.  (NLT)

Through all of this, I have been literally brought to my knees in humble prayer. Thanksgiving was a day to give THANKS and nothing short of all thanks, was given to Him.

I awoke in normal fashion, wobbling through the house while opening the blinds (with the wand) to see such a wonderful ray-stretching sunrise. I waited for sounds to fill the house before I did much else. The sounds began just before eight a.m., and after wishing all my writing friends a happy Thanksgiving via facebook, my day went on.

I made it to the kitchen, as Steven woke and opened all the blinds, via pulling the string, to the very top of the window (that’s his new thing since gaining his sight back.) He came to help me load the bird without wings into the baking pan. It was ten by the time I finished cleaning Tom turkey and prepping it, then Steven took over like a mad man!

I mean that in a good way. He wanted me to rest and as he knew my wobbly legs wouldn’t hold up to the normally exhausting day, he took charge in a way a blind man never could have. Well he could, but it would have taken him extra time, but how glorious is it to see your once blind man, scurry through the house looking like he had sprouted wings on his feet?

We were invited to his moms house, and my dear friend from church wanted me to come give thanks with her and her family, but with Steven still acclimating to sight, he wanted to take the day in and drink from the scents of the day and the hurriedness of making a holiday meal. He just wanted peace and serenity and to share it with Adam and I.

As we sat to eat the hearty meal, after our prayers, we each took a turn saying what we are thankful for. Adam went first, me second and Steven cheated by saying he was thankful for everything! :) Yeah, the ol guy is coming back at full force. Although the doctor won’t allow him to play his sax, and the Christmas get together with family out here on the farm, might be put off, we move forward. He will be fitted for glasses come December, and this will give him much more vision! The doc also told us that the eye can take up to six months to a year before it is completely healed; thus the need for prayer continues.

We normally put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving (that has been our tradition for nine years) but this year, this day is a day of rest. He can’t lift more than ten pounds and well, I’m completely incapacitated on being able to lift and walk up stairs, so we will get it done when we get it done. We’re in no hurry, but I think I have someone here who is eager to SEE the tree and all its lights! AMEN!

Christmas holds none of the old world traditions for me. To me, the tree is a symbol of life. The lights to me are a symbol of the Light of the world. The ornamentation of the tree holds memories of each year that passes. The manger is the symbol of a Savior who was born (although it may have not happened on the 25th of December.) Christmas has never centered on Santa, and since my son was born on the 27th of December, it has always been about Light, love, joy, and birth!

I send to you the joy that you find within your heart to celebrate a season that has been overly commercialized, over sold and ticketed as a gateway into the New Year with drinking, lasciviousness, and idol worship. May you find your family’s honored tradition, respected and embraced. And may you understand that love and Light is what this season is all about! Give thanks this Christmas. Allow Thanks and a giving heart to live all year long. And may you all be blessed with a living miracle.

The Day After

Ps 63:5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.  (NLT)

Here it is Thanksgiving past already. The day we all await to arrive, it comes and goes so quick, then you’re left with still feeling full upon wake-up. That’s right Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we hurriedly move towards Christmas; but wait, let’s recap the building up to Thanksgiving so we don’t allow the day of gratitude to pass by without a mention.

As many of my readers know, I often open the vein into my world, and I thought, “What better time, than when you are all at home ignoring me today?” But I might get a few who care to actually scurry in here as you sit at your computers. Welcome to my world.

Right before Halloween, I began hearing Christmas music playing on Wal Marts sound system. There is no time to waste when it comes to the Day of Giving and getting, stress, and noise, lost joy, and loud toys. I’m not a bah-hum bug by any means, but if man is going to decide that Dec. 25 is Jesus’ birthday, shouldn’t we show Him SOME respect and celebrate it in a proper fashion? Nah, man is too weak for that. The respect we show the Lord is by televising women in bras and panties, waltzing down the runway? And men sitting there drool faced lusting in great pleasure? And human beings allowing this? A sad sad society we live in!

Thanksgiving is left in the dark as we speed right through the Thankful meal to get to the stores either at midnight or early morning as we absorb like a sponge, all that the media has fed us and we fall prey to the demon that grabs us. We are mighty thirsty for what that demon offers and I sit here, just enjoying life. Happy to wake up and see a glorious sunrise, not caught up in a world that wants me to conform to their rituals and self absorbed habits.

Some of you may also know that Thanksgiving was going to be extra special for Steven, Adam and myself, since Steven got his sight restored, and by golly it was the best Thanksgiving I’ve had possibly in all my life. But it was not without its twists. Since the many Omaha trips have taken a serious toll on my body, I sat planted on the sofa, unable to do much except enjoy the comfort of my heating pad.

The month of October was full of pain from a tooth that was screaming for help, and by mid-October, my legs and back could really feel the strain of seven hours of tense filled driving, over five times that month. By Halloween, and the success of the cornea transplant was a go, my body collapsed, literally. My legs wobbly like rubber-bands, pain shooting in my mouth, everything that could possibly attack me, did and had its pleasure.

My fight, was to see a dentist, done! Tooth gone and pain in my mouth somewhat subsiding. Then my numb legs, I knew I had to see the doctor; I thought, this is pretty serious. I CAN NOT WALK, and when I do, it’s five steps and I feel like my legs are jell-o. Blood tests came back all clean. Now I await the x-ray results and hopefully SOMEONE will give me SOMETHING to relieve this pain and misery, or it is GOODBYE CHRISTMAS for me!!!

Not that Christmas is all about shopping to me, it is all about bright lights and celebrating the appointed birthday of my Lord! I love the lights, I love the living mangers, I love Church and my church family, because they are whom He placed in my life, MY life, at this time, since no one else (except a selected few) has taken notice.

All Glory and praise to the living Spirit that dwells in me!

Happy Thanksgiving ~ I'm Thankful... ~

Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude! ~Henry Ward Beecher ~


I’m thankful….

I’m thankful for that one warm ray,
that shines on me to lighten my day.
I’m thankful for the dewy grass
that tickles my toes as I pass.
I’m thankful for the fragrant air,
that wafts on by without a care.
I’m thankful for the torrents of rain
that soaks my skin; releases my pain.
I’m thankful for the budding flower.
that blooms in glory, a scented shower.
I’m thankful for every timeless season,
new bark; new bough with endless reason.
I’m thankful for all the joyful bliss,
that graces my cheek as a gentle kiss.
I’m thankful for being allowed too touch,
that one lost soul whom needs so much.
I’m thankful for every little thing,
that has no worth, but smiles they bring.
I’m thankful for the minuscule,
for that where my soul can rule.
I’m thankful for all my eyes can see,
breathless beauty from God to me.
I’m thankful for all of this and more,
the love of life, the chance to soar!


In this day of thanks, may you too find a rose in your heart and blessings on your soul. May the sun drench you in warmth as the Light embraces you. Have a Glorious day!!!

2 Chron.4:15 ~ For all things [are] for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Poetry Sunday ~ The Tree of Life

Gen. 1: 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
***
Tree of Life

In the vision of my eyes,
I see the world in a disguise
playing with the human emotion
like a child without a notion.

I scan the open field of dreams
everything clearer than it seems.
Wandering round in an enlightened state,
hoping my words don’t come to late.

Can you feel the life of you
within the world of confusion too?
Upon the doorway of mystical bliss
there is a lot I feel I miss.

The trees they prosper with each season,
some are wounded with good reason.
Getting stronger from each storm
within each branch about to form.

Life it takes us for a spin;
seasons strengthen us to win.
This world is one we all must commune
lets play our lives in an angelic tune.

Sin will compromise our feat
sacrifice is our only mete.
When we serve the One who is True,
the tree of life will flow through you.