Your Friend, "HOPE."

HOPE:

 "A person or thing in which expectations are centered."

"The feeling that what is desired can be had."

It's the most wonderful time of the year... it is :) 
But in the midst of good tidings and Christmas cheer, it's no secret that the holidays often highlight  we've lost and now lack, or perhaps what we want and do not yet have.  And while we know the reason for the season, feelings of disappointment and loneliness still manage to seep their way in. The year wraps up and we're eager to cross over. We rejoice, but we can also be tempted to mull over missed opportunities, unfulfilled longings, and incomplete endeavors. 

You may be hopeful. You may be hopeless. 

And it could actually depend on the day (YIKES! and #nojudgment)..

But, if your hope needs to be steadied and is under attack - and if you've given up parts of your life to whatever may come, I'm writing to fight with you.

You'll need your hope in its purest form and most proper place to keep at life in every season. 
This is a virtue you cannot forfeit..

You'll need your friend. You'll need your HOPE.
HOPE IS NOT YOUR ENEMY.
(It gets better, keep reading!)

I Think You Should Know that You're Legal...

Ever wondered if you even belonged on this planet?! I know I have.. be it my quirks, and perks =) or something as simple as how I perceive and process any given day or situation...people are different.  I have laughed way too hard in the wrong moments, and cried watching the Animal Channel because I can't stand to watch when the baby deer loses mother deer and the lion comes and ---- you know what happens next. My heart can't take it!!! :( #circleoflife

But I've digressed. Back to the point. God is so creative in His placement that we
often come into contact & even do life with people who are so different from ourselves. At times, it's wonderful, but other times it can cause us to question our belonging. It may cause us to run

On GRACE & Progress: A 2016 Check-In.

Are you a Perfectionist?

Perfectionism rarely works out for the carrier, and I've been a bona fide perfectionist way more than I've allowed myself to just live and let live.

As freely as God's grace is given is about as hard as it's been for me to receive - but that's an exaggeration...  because grace, even in its smallest form, is still much greater than my occasional inability to simply exhale & take it all.

Feature Blogger #1: "Your Failures Are Not Final" by Shana Schutte

This one's good : ) .. Reminds me of why I wrote "Try."

Give yourself permission to obey God! And do your best...He'll do the rest.

Seasons, Change - Happy Fall!

Fall is Here!!

I love this season.. never liked it too hot or too cold so FALL and SPRING have always been my first loves. Yesterday, marked the start of warm apple cider and hot chocolate with whipped cream,  baked ham, sweet potatoes, greens and cornbread, layers of warm clothing, scarves and high boots.. this is my kind of life, anything that suggests cozy living..

What relief is it to us that seasons change on their own.. no human effort required; that every 3 months or so the sky knows what to do with its rain, the wind, determines either to settle down or throw itself around, the air, is either packed with hot moisture or chill, and we... deal with it : ).. Whether you're a summer person or winter lover, it seems like we're all waiting for our preferred living conditions to arrive... we're all waiting for change to come...

"Life Was So Different This Time Last Year"

Because it was different, and it still can be, twice over,  this time, next year..

Because I  saw this quote on Instagram years ago and quickly assumed it would only apply to me if I experienced some major life change like getting married or having my first child.

...Because I was wrong.
 And life can be so different 365 days from now all because you took a step... you said yes - you went out on a limb..

Embrace

I wrote this song one night as I considered how effective we could be in the kingdom of God if we truly grasped early on that we were called to be God's agents, his earthly angels, maybe?  ...If we were steady witnesses and distributors of His love, His goodness, and His heart towards all men.. If maybe...we weren't so focused on ourselves...

Writer Quotes..

 "A writer never has a vacation.
For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing."
- Eugene Ionesco

"Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen."

- Willa Cather

Quotes for Poets...

  

  "If it sounds like writing I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rythm of the narrative."
     - Elmore Leonard 

 The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. 

    - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

        "A poet can survive everything but a misprint."

 

        - Oscar Wilde

My LOVE Banner

"He has brought me to his banquet hall, And his banner over me is love."  (Song of Solomon 2:4)

This one, is everything...

When I think about banners, and what they symbolize...  I can only conclude that we are simply unable to escape God's eternal, uninterrupted, unconditional, very LOUD love... And who would want to?

"Constrained by Perfection"

I'm thinking Jesus told me flat out.. about two and a half years ago..

"Perfectionism is stunting your growth."

"Dear Church Baby..." Part 2

Dear Church Baby,

Believe again. Believe always..

You're preparing in time, for life in eternity. 

The "Never" Lies

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

Psalm 16:7

I woke up one morning, and all I could hear was...

"Never give in to the never lies...."

"Never give in to the never lies..."

...I don't remember having a bad day prior, or a restless, sleepless night, but this one thing rang out in my heart over and over and over again... it was as if I'd need it for life.. and I do.

Funny thing is, we all do.

How Do You Know You're a Writer?

How do you know you're a writer?

When you wake up with an abundance of thoughts and remain unsettled until you put them into words -- on paper, on a recorder, on a post it note, somewhere, anywhere...

How do we know we're writers?

When our experiences cast an overwhelming shadow over our years of living, and at young ages we become, old souls.. When you know too much, too soon - and there is much to wrestle with, much to reckon...You write..and there's rhythm, you write, and there's resolve.
  
You write, you learn, you grow, and perhaps... you should share.

To write is to conquer fear --  if with might you fight for a right to privacy: a right -  to your own life.

What selfish claim...

If you want to know what you're thinking, pick up a pen...

If you want to know what you're thinking, write.

If you want to know what moves you, pick up a pen.

If you want to know what moves you, WRITE.

Writers have one commission: With the amount of thoughts, questions, answers, resolutions and lessons that graze through the pastures of our hearts and minds daily... it is quite obviously God's will, that we write.

The world depends on its writers, its speakers, its teachers and preachers....  
... the people  who have fallen, gotten up, but given up their right to private note taking.  

A writer can't ignore the world out there, the people who have to keep living a long time after their dying. A writer understands that humanity needs to know... how to love and relate, how to survive, what to avoid, how to overcome... 

So then writing isn't so much a choice as much as you are chosen.

You really don't have a say in the matter.

You are a writer. 

You must write..