When I say Just Breath, it goes far beyond the act of just inhaling and exhaling! To truly let go of this world’s angst, and all the gnashing of teeth that wears at our peace… and Just Breath!
Be at peace with the knowledge that things of this world, can be observed, but shall not permeate one’s spirit while resting beneath the shadow of the Almighty!
To purposefully practice the form of physically exercising my lungs… choosing to breath out all the burdens of this world, and breath in the pure and sustaining peace that passeth all understanding…
His Peace… I take in the very breath of my Creator, My God!
I love purposely allowing God to be the very air that I breath…
I know that we were all hoping for a letter from Squagon today, but the Pinion King didn’t give us the OK on passing notes back and forth, til late last night.
So, guess what all the babe’s are doing, right now? You guessed correctly, if you said that they were probably all busily writing letters…
The young messenger sent from Pinion Valley was quite respectful and friendly, confiding that he was becoming great friends with the young prince. Apparently, Squagon is also hard at work, putting together his own letter…
Brutus has been given clearance to pick up and drop off all the letters each Friday, beginning tonight… and only under the deepest cover of darkness. I fully understand the king’s reasonings for this rule, as we’ve no desire to spread mass panic among the inhabitants of Pinion Valley, with an enormous dragon floating over their heads…
I can’t chat for too long, as I hear Boomer calling for help with his letters. I really need to be on deck for these first messages, ensuring I see bright and happy faces among the babes once they’ve completed their notes… they’ve been missing their friend, so.
Oh, before I go, I’ve made some good progress with my study of our Twilight Dreamers… and Beatrice introduced me to her three daughters.
For now, all that I can tell you is that while they might appear to look somewhat like their mother, they are each quite individual and unique in their own ways…
It’s been a bit difficult to learn much about Ishah, as of yet, due to the fact that I fall asleep almost as soon as I sit down near her… she just makes me feel so peaceful that I loose track of any thoughts, and my mind drifts off… like floating down a lazy river.
Now, Awshah is the polar opposite of her older sister, being so incredibly bubbly and joyful! She hardly holds still, and I’ve yet to slow her down enough to understand what she is saying, or singing… because that’s mostly what she loves to do.
Oh my goodness! Oodah might be tiny, but she is the softest and snuggliest little flying bean! We all keep taking turns holding her, and she never seems to tire of the constant hugs. She leaves you feeling like you’ve just been wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold morning… and then handed the most delicious cup of warm cocoa you’ve ever had! Personally, I think I would trade my favorite comforter for an Oodah, if I could.
Anyway, that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far… well, as much as I’ve time to share with everyone. Besides, I’ve spent longer than I’d planned, as it is… and now Tilly is beginning to call for me, along with Boomer. What I wouldn’t trade for a patience blanket! There’s still more dreamers left to meet, so there’s still hope…
As I’m soon to be looking back at 55, I think my path is pretty firmly set in one direction… God’s!
We’ve recently answered a prompt, regarding taking a risk at something new, and another prompt asking if we were guaranteed not to fail, what would we attempt… so I’m not sure how many more times the prompt can try to beat a dead horse, as they say.
Still, I realize that not everyone has seen these questions before, so I shall do my due diligence at answering with something decent, for those that are new to the daily prompts.
To answer this prompt here, today, straight up… While I have pursued multiple different careers throughout my younger years, I’m no longer interested in any of them. Add to that, the fact that I’m not considering any new directions at all, aside from the path I now follow… this one’s a deal breaker on any other pursuit I’ve ever chased after!
My career pursuits involve following only One CEO, One Leader… One! How boring and confining, you might be thinking. On the contrary, my friends. This career path has me fully engaged, at every moment, and in every action or thought. I walk with a magnificent Leader, who has me in the word, on my knees in prayer, feet on the ground out here in the trenches… and fully sustained, at all times!
My life is full of joy, adventure, action, suspense… and He has me constantly on the move… and with Him, at all times.
In all my years, never have I been hired by someone who knows me better than He does… and I’ve not been fired yet!
Before you start thinking that I’m lazy or something, maybe living the posh life, and too comfortable in my current position… you might consider my resume before being too quick to form an opinion on this matter:
0 to 13 years of age, severe childhood trauma
13 to 18 years of age, ^#$%^&^
18 to 34 years of age, pregnant 9 times with only 3 born to me, divorced, denied by the church, disowned by my family, and abandoned by those I knew as friends.
Lost and running in the wastelands for 16 more years… 16!
The rest of my career credentials, as well as my production timeline, will be within the archives of My Closet. I’ve already shared far more of my job description than anyone should have to wade through… and no, there won’t be a cover letter to accompany this Responsume…
But I did make cookies…
Honestly, I don’t know how these exec’s are going to get anything accomplished, with their mouths stuffed with cookies… sheesh guys, slow it down!
As I like to keep the pictures of our Barnyard Babes always fresh, once again, I grabbed my handy dandy picture taker (compliments of the AI generator).
It was a bit of a struggle at first, as the babe’s haven’t been in the best of moods, lately.
Fortunately, I think the activity lifted their spirits some, so there’s that!
I’m glad to say that we got it done, the babe’s and I, and now all we need to do is sort through the lot, picking out our favorite shots!
While I’ve left the final decision to Miss Tilly and Brutus, it won’t do any harm if I share my photo’s with you folks… just for fun. Who knows how long it will take for the lot of them to decide on things, and I don’t feel like making everyone wait.
I realize that you might have noticed some changes in the babe’s appearances, since the last set of pictures were taken. Try to keep in mind, sometimes sorrow changes how one appears to others… at times, hurt can seem invisible to most, often going unnoticed! Well… I noticed! That would be why I thought to make mention of it today, so that you wouldn’t be overly concerned about the obvious sorrow that clings to the edges of the photos.
No matter what I tried, Tilly never did smile for the camera… so, I finally quit fussing over the poor thing. I can assure you that Brutus is watching over her, carefully! The tiny mouse has held a special place in the dragon’s heart, ever since she came to be with us in the barn.
Since we’ve all been watching these tiny one’s for so long, I’m fairly certain everybody will see how small both Dinky and Boomer have become. Dinky is normally small, but she’s been so blue since Squagon left that her brother won’t leave her side. In a panic, Boomer shrank himself down to her size… and now he refuses to return to his normal size, until after his sister’s color improves! I’ve been letting them both sleep in my office, on top of the slippers that I keep under my desk. Oddly, it has been helping them sleep a little bit better.
While Lilly seems to be taking things in stride, I’ve noticed that she spends a lot more time alone, writing page after page in her little personal Journal that I bought for her, earlier this summer. She smiled for my camera, but you can tell that her heart wasn’t really in it! Still, she participated in things and by the end of the day, was a little more chatty with the rest of us.
In honesty, I’m not sure that Awzee Clawzee has any clue of what’s been going on! No matter what I ever do or say to the little guy, the only response I get out of him is “Whoooo?” Oh well, what he doesn’t understand should hopefully not hurt him, though I will still keep an eye on the little fluffbucket… just in case.
Sorry I took so long with all my photo disclaimers, but I just thought you’d want to know how the babe’s were feeling, what with the absence of our nutty little flyer, of late.
F.Y.I., we might be getting our first mail exchange this weekend, if the Pinion King approves of our correspondence with Squagon. I will be sure to let you know if we get mail.
“It’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs but what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom.”
Now, I bet you’re trying to figure out what on earth I’m talking about, as far as answering the prompt. Lucky for you, I plan on breakin it down for ya! As Castle says, “It’s what I do!”
If we assume that my ship is a metaphor for my heart, or spirit if you want to call it, then the quote might look something like this:
It’s not just flesh, blood and oxygen that sustains this vessel, that’s what the human body needs but what a heart is… what Wiwohka’s heart is really filled with… is freedom!
Now it should make more sense to everyone reading this blog response. I’m proud to say that I’m still alive and breathing, singing His praises, sailing in freedom through life’s many storms, and dangers!
In a world where black is white, up is down, and right is wrong, we may sometimes feel as if God isn’t paying attention… or is sitting idly by, while we suffer through things that He could easily rescue us from. Our human hurt, confusion, anger and/or grief overwhelm us, blotting out the SON!
For me, it is very easy to become discouraged about my circumstances, when I naively begin assuming that He isn’t paying attention. If I let myself, I can have a myriad of differing types of pity parties… all in an instant, if I hold to my own understanding and forget to look up!
Look up for what, you may be wondering? When I look up to see what God has done, is doing, and will faithfully continue to do for my good, and my future within His purpose!
It is so frustrating to observe how we humans have such a propensity to take our eyes off of God when things are going good, but when we experience anything beyond our understanding, rather than being angry at Satan and his minions for the wickedness they’ve caused upon this earth, in our hurt and confusion, we blame God!
Oh, we don’t blame Him for causing a thing… no no, we just like to blame Him for apparently doing nothing to help us!
For so many, it is far easier to make a list of what God wouldn’t, couldn’t or won’t do for us, his children… than to believe and trust in who we know He IS!
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
When I am struggling with a thing, regardless of what or how difficult it might be, I tell you this… I go to His word!
Writing down a list for you, reflecting my grief credentials and qualifications, might be great for playing the “I’ll show you my scars, if you show me yours” game, but not for expressing genuine empathy to others, who are hurting desperately, over a thing.
Another blogger wrote an article the other day about understanding why God seemingly steps back and allows bad things to happen to good people, refusing to intercede. That is an age old question… mainly because humanity has a habit of circling the wagon, as far as repeating a thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.
Things went sideways from the moment Satan tempted Eve, and in turn, Adam. We could go all the way back to asking why God allowed Cain to murder his brother, Abel? Or what about the flood, why didn’t God let anyone else on the boat… well, that was ultimately their sinful choice, if you want my two cents.
Or, how might things have gone with Abraham and his son, Isaac? How must the man have struggled with the why’s, as he walked his only son up that mountain to offer him as a sacrifice to God, on blind faith? Did God actually ever make him kill the child… of course not! It was all about the man’s faith!
Let us not forget Joseph in the well, Moses and the Israelites, or King David, all those years before he was actually sitting upon the throne. Oh, the questioning and doubts they must have wrestled with, deep into the shadows of the night! We don’t have all day, so I’ll leave you with one last example before you go:
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39
Just in case you were wondering, the Son of The Most High God felt our human emotions… though HE overcame all of it, for our sakes!
When I am in the depths of things beyond me, I hold to that!
We sinned
But He wouldn’t turn away…
We turned away
But He wouldn’t abandon us…
We denied Him
But He wouldn’t refuse us His only Son!
I ran, I fought, I raged, I sinned, I screamed for Him to just smite me… blot me out of His vision forever…
The mood around the barnyard has been rather sad, as of late, due to the sudden departure of Squagon. Earlier this week, as I sat studying in my office, a thought occurred to me, regarding our guests within the rafters.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that the arrival of our Twilight Dreamers, as I like to call them, occurred suspiciously around the time of Squagon’s kin disappearing from Acorn Valley!
Right about the time that I sent Brutus to start searching for them, young Squagon began having bad dreams, often waking in tears. The tiny squirrel’s nightmares were the reason I’d gone and sought answers from the Holy Rollin Ravens, if you recall the musical and cryptic song they offered up.
There were a number of nights that I simply slept in the barn, as the squirrel’s night fears began to spread like a sickness through the barn, causing quite a disturbance among the rest of the babe’s. No one was getting much sleep, including myself, what with all the crying and asking for a juice cup!
It seems to me, like, right about that time, we discovered our little guests appearing up in the barn’s rafters. Oddly, as soon as they showed up in our midst… the nightmare’s of each babe, began to subside and fade away. All that is, except for young Squagon, who still continued to suffer within his little dreams, though not as badly as before.
Anyway, I’m still digging into my memories of that time, to seek a number of answers that are yet missing, regarding the connection between Squagon and our little dreamers. Nothing worth knowing is ever that easy, so I’m still studying.
When I say studying, what I really mean is observing. I know little about these small flying creatures, but one of the first discoveries was their sleep schedule…
Why do you think I’ve begun calling them TWILIGHT dreamers? Yup! They are nocturnal, or awake during our sleep time, if that helps. What this means for me… a great deal more coffee than usual, that’s for sure!
I’ve set myself a schedule of observing their activities for several hours each night, while the babe’s are all dreaming… and yes, that’s where I chose the Dreamer portion of describing our guests. Early on in their stay with us, I noticed that these little things are the most active during the time when the babe’s are sleeping.
The strange little creatures spend much of their wakeful hours, busily flying silently overhead of my little ones sleeping hidey holes. What are they doing, you might be wondering? Well, I was wondering the same thing, so I camped myself in the corner of the barn for an entire night, just watching and listening.
Guess what these little things do all night? While they flit to and fro across the barn, occasionally hovering over one babe or another, these little dreamers are singing softly, sometimes even praying tiny little prayers of comfort and rest. In case you were wondering, they are rather quiet, even when they are singing.
I had to put ear phones in and listen through a high powered recording device, just to hear them.
I’ve still so many unanswered questions, as I’m sure you do too, but only time and continued studying will truly uncover all there is to learn. What I can tell you is that I’ve begun getting to know one of these little night flyers. She caught my eye, right from the beginning! I compare her to popcorn, because everyone knows how popcorn in the microwave can make the whole room smell yummy! That is Beatrice!
I’m still getting more familiar with my new friend, so you’ll have to wait until next week to learn more of her, along with her kin. I think that I may have struck gold with Beatrice, as I think she may be the eldest, and possibly the most knowledgeable of the bunch!
While I will be sharing everything I discover, if you have any suggestions or first impressions about all this, I welcome the help!
I recognize that Thursdays are normally when I write about my thoughts, but just this moment… there aren’t any thoughts. It’s as if I’ve somehow discovered that elusive Nothing Box that men swear by!
It’s rather nice in there… all spacious and peaceful. Metaphorically speaking, my brain’s barn doors are just lazily swinging back and forth, from a soft heavenly breeze.
I’ve been simultaneously reading through the Psalms and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for several weeks now. While I’ve read them many times over the years, this has been the first time reading both Old Testament and New, side by side.
I have to say that if you read the Psalms next to the four Gospels… it’s an amazing experience! Reading through passionate poems by David and other Psalmists, and then moving to read through Jesus’ life, I’m seeing the life and holy purpose of Jesus, from those looking toward His coming… to those that watched as He came to earth, fulfilling each and every prophesy foretold.
I don’t know, my bible always has this familiar feel to it, upon first opening it for a re-read… but then I find myself getting lost in it, as if it were a brand new book that I’d never before read. It really is true, you know, the scriptures are God’s living and breathing word! Whenever I pick it up, he’s right there with me… I can feel his presence, as of one sitting close by.
I suppose that today it just feels good dwelling in His presence… and I’m in no hurry to leave.
But, I will walk over to the microwave and reheat my coffee. OOh, and grab a breakfast muffin… mmmmmm!
So, remember how I told you that my brain doors blew open yesterday, while I was taking my trail walk?
I spent the rest of the afternoon, and then even more hours this morning, doing research. I began digging deeper into the story behind our bat thingies that are flying around in the barn. Remember them?
It turns out that there is an entire community of them, roosting in our rafters. When I discovered this… I was inspired!
One by one, each of their little faces and personalities began appear. Quickly, they found their way out of my brain pan, and all the way onto the page, so to speak.
I’ll introduce them to you in the order that I discovered them. Keep in mind that while being cute and adorable, each one of these creatures carries something very valuable within their tiny little frames.
For today, we will simply make introductions, so as to give each of you a chance to make your own initial impressions, without my intrusive input… there will be time for that later.
From first to last, there are ten…
We begin with,
Mother of,
And,
Then there’s,
and her little one,
Next we have,
and his little brother,
Followed by,
and her orphaned cousin,
Tune in next week, as we learn their story, their purpose and the gift carried within each of them.
*P.S. No spoilers will be forthcoming, so don’t even try. As they say, all good things come to those who wait…
Yup! With only two intersections to cross, I got there… and two hours later, I’m just sitting down to write.
It was wonderful, I tell you, simply divine! Remember me telling you that I was missing my literary mojo, with this living in no mans land stuff? Well, oh my! I found that sweet spot… just inside of those two hours in the fresh air.
Long story short… my brain doors flew open, somewhere around mile two, and now it’s once again the Willy Wonka Factory in there!
I leave you with a song that should leave you with a visual of how I’m feeling right this moment…
Journey With Me! 