When you are driving down the road and someone cuts you off without a second glance,
Did they think about you before or after they cut you off?
When they just carried on down the road,
did you show them some grace before or after you flipped them off?
Just asking…
Here, have a cookie
I saw a movie one time, about a man with a dream…
A dream to make the world a better place, heal the sick and bring happiness to all…
You know of whom I speak… Willy Wonka, of course!
I saw this prompt and went straight to candy! I will never forget the part where they toured the factory floor and were shown the Everlasting Gobstopper. It was supposed to be the answer to the worlds hunger problem.
Unfortunately, it never made it to store shelves thanks to dum dum Violet! She ruined it for all of us, in my personal opinion. Had the girl not scoffed a candy before they could finish trouble shooting the side effects, thereby tying Willy up in years of legal red tape, we might be fully fed by now… the whole world! Stupid Violet…
Anyway, I suppose my point here would be, even when what I am doing can be guaranteed not to fail, I still have to contend with Violets… they jump the gun, misuse my creation for nefarious purposes, or just never read the instructions for successful use of the item. We cannot get around human nature, nor the reality of being creatures of habit… no matter the best laid plans, humans can always throw a wrench in the machine.
Therefore, as far as the world goes… aside from the impossible Gobstopper idea, there is only one thing can be done with a guarantee of success. Believing in and walking with God on a daily basis.
Scoff if you like, I care not! I am simply being honest, in that I have only seen to date, ONE who has been able to do something guaranteeing success. Jesus! He knew so fully of his purpose that he walked that dirt path all the way up to that hillside, and voluntarily allowed them to nail his hands and feet on that cross. He knew the plan was flawless, because his father told him so… and what He did brought GUARANTEES OUT THE WAZOO!
To this day, there is a path etched into the world, left for us by Jesus choice to fulfill his fathers plan. I simply cannot top this, even if I were to fulfill Willy Wonka’s dream of the Gobstopper to feed the world. It would be kind of cool, though…
So, I’m sitting in the chair looking at the eye chart across the room on the wall, with that little doohickie in my hand, blocking one eye while I use the other. I do my best to read what I can, and as I look over to my husband I see him chuckling. “What’s so funny”, I asked him. He briefly tells me that some of the letters I was reading off the chart are not actually used on these tests. Letters such as Q and many others apparently confuse the brain. I went to my friend Google and asked what letters were not used. I should have asked which ones were used, because the list is actually quite small. The only letters used are C, D, E, F, L, N, O, P, T and Z. I have been seeing and reading Q’s, along with many other letters on these dumb things for years. How did no one ever mention this part to me, so I could avoid all this confusion?
I learned a great many things during this appointment, aside from my inability to read out loud properly. I have not one Cataract my friends, but I got a twofer… yay me! I was only aware of the problem with my right eye, but I was blessed with one for each eye.
The next question the doctor had for me was, “Did you ever damage your eye before, like an accident maybe?” I answered no, and was immediately taken back in my mind to when I was around 5 or 6 years of age. I had a sudden memory of being propelled into the dash of our car from the back seat… lights flashing, paramedics running everywhere, and then a memory of walking through the curtains in an emergency room from bed to bed looking for my mother and brother. All these years later in an eye exam room, I remembered!
So not only can I not read an eye chart, I apparently have a medical history that I forgot about. Funny how the brain works sometimes.
Anyway, he thinks that there was trauma that makes it look like I have Glaucoma, but not really have it… yet! Not sure about it for the time being, and they will know more when they remove the silly cataracts. They do not know why I developed them so early, as most patients arrive with this issue while in their 60’s and 70’s. I do have deep blue eyes and have spent most of my life out in the sun though, so that may not have helped the situation.
I will say that the idea of having someone put something in my eyeball, while I am watching, does put this vessel into a bit of a tale spin… I do NOT like being touched! Triggers up the wazzoo for this wild child!
I am so grateful that they have this little melt on your tongue thing that makes you not care what they do… and if I want to write anything, I need my eyes… so I am mustering all the courage I got and letting God do the rest. I have a surgeon with a wonderful bedside manner, as well as a very professional way of explaining the process and answering my questions, so God has chosen my path and I will walk in faith to do what must be done for my continued health.
Two things I discovered through this process, aside from not being able to read an eye chart, or remember major events in my past…
The first odd but encouraging thing was, when they dilated my eyes I gained 6 hours of the best vision of my life, as long as I had my glasses on. No clue why, but maybe it had something to do with being able to see around my cataracts better with my pupils wide open… don’t know, don’t care… just loved being able to see things clearly. I did not realize how long it has been.
The second discovery was the fact that my doctor has a great sense of humor, which is something that put both myself and my hubby at ease. I am considering finding a pair of those ridiculous contacts that make your eyes look different. I think I want the ones that make my eye look like a cyborg. I want to hand them to my surgeon as they wheel me in for the procedure…
**Be honest… you know that you would do this in a heartbeat if you thought they would go along with it!**
or maybe a Threefer…
This girl likes a deal! I go shopping for an item that I want and come home with a whole bag of other stuff… why? It was on sale! Today, I will answer the prompt and give you extra as well… why? As Castle says, “It’s what I do!”
Upon thinking over the years and what my goals and accomplishments might be, I find that I can actually name not just one… not just two… but three goals ladies and Gents… three!
The first goal was my children. I was told not to hope too much for a baby, due to permanent damage done by medications my mother took while pregnant with this girl. I conceived 8 times in my motherhood years, losing all but 3… but it was worth all of the effort, pain and struggle… They are such lovely creatures!
The second was to quit smoking tobacco… I started when I was 11 years old. I smoked for many years, stopping during the years of my childbearing goal. This girl did that part by the book, as they say! Finally, after 40 years I lay my last cigarette down and walked away.
It was one of the most difficult times and yet one of the sweetest. Why? Because God walked with me through the whole process. I was not alone through the night sweats, the headaches, nausea and agitation that comes with withdrawals. For the first time in many attempts at kicking the habit, I kind of just knew it was God removing this burden from my life… I had inner will power that had never been there before. Whatever you want to call it, I call it a Gift from my heavenly father.
The third goal was to write a book! Well, thanks to each and every person who stops by and visits the Lobby, I was able to finish writing my own story, which had been on my heart for many years. You kept coming back week after week to read the next part, so I found myself compelled to finish the painful parts. Thanks for that, by the way.
I always wanted to steal away somewhere quiet and serene and type out a story that maybe, just maybe would help another hurting soul. I never did find that special somewhere to write out my life, but I wrote it out none the less… and now I am diving into my next book! I cannot seem to stop writing, now that I’ve started.
This sort of stuff is what God can do, for me anyways. Not one of these goals could ever have been accomplished on my own, not my babies, my strength to kick the habit, or my ability to write. Every thread of my life belongs in His tapestry by his hand, not mine! There is so much power in surrender…
Maybe that got a bit heavy there for a minute so lets lighten the day back up with a treat.
Normally, I don’t give one named answers to these sort of inquiries, as I am not one to swoon over any particular artist verses another… I simply don’t think on it all that much.
However… if I were given no choice but to answer, well then, I choose Julie Andrews hands down!
I could give you a full list of all that the woman has accomplished, but I don’t intend to do so, because it would take me all day to look them all up and give you a rundown of each one . I will stick to my favorite of all favorites… The Sound of Music!
I’ll begin by saying that she made it look easy to raise that many kids at once, like she did in this movie. Maria could sing, she could dance, sew, tell bedtime stories, give young love advice, and hike! She was a trailblazer over those alps. A woman after my own heart!
When Julie Andrews sings, we can honestly say it seems like she is telling a story… like we do when we write. I raised my girls singing about raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens…
Julie brought Maria Von Trapp alive for millions of people, and I personally think this ability is what makes an Artist really great! I’ll bet she had you wanting to dance across that mountain field like she did, with a guitar in your hand. I know that I did!
I will tell you right now, it was that movie that gave me the idea to make my kids own clothes, so I taught myself how to sew and created my own design for the kids pajamas, rice filled teddy bears for colds and flus, and even a pull over fleece dog jacket for our furry family members. I suppose she gave me some creative inspiration.
Anyway, Julie Andrews is my pick for a fav, but let this not reflect poorly on any other artist out there… aren’t we all artists of one make or another?
Have a cup of tea… I am nervous over my eye appointment this morning so I am not hungry… besides, I don’t know about all you but all the sweets lately are making my teeth hurt, so for today it is simply tea. I have an assortment of flavors for you to pick from, so take your time and find your favorite flavor… mine is peppermint.
Today, I am experiencing failing eyes two fold… both my actual eyesight and my vision of the short term future are a bit cloudy at the moment.
The first eyesight cloudiness comes from having my eyes dilated by an Eye Surgeon. It’s time to figure out why my right eye is not working right… maybe I will be like Jamie Sommers in the Bionic Woman and get a high powered telescope eye.
The second eyesight cloudiness comes from thinking I could become Miss Mary Puppins for my daughter, full time! I have the perfect bag too! I could have made a special music video called sPOOPercaliFIDOLICKSYOUexpialiDOGSious! Funny, right?
Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke do it better… https://youtu.be/uZNRzc3hWvE?si=UwgCHh06OkegQeLw
Don’t worry, my daughter and I are still working towards a better relationship, just not the one where she has to drive to pick me up the night before, after working all day, only to bring me home the next evening after work as well. What can I say, she is a smart girl! It only took one time of trying our hairbrained idea, for her to decide that the puppy would be just fine with all the other flurbies there for company.
So, as I head off to get my eyes blinded for the day, I leave you with something fun I taped from last weeks babysitting adventure…
This is our first official Fall themed Monday Messages. It would have been last week, but I was playing hooky as they say. First I was playing with my daughters newest edition, Willow, and then we went on actual vacation. While we didn’t go anywhere in the physical sense, my hubby and I have been deep in the heart of a computer generated game adventure. I saved up my play days for when I knew we had an incoming expansion to one of our games. It might not seem like a big thing to most, but for us, the down time was overdue.
My Tuesday theme has been consumed by a certain flurby, so it’s going to become Willows World until further notice. Join me on Tuesdays for a bit of fun from the perspective of a fur covered toddler.
Audio #2 of My Truths is available in the lobby for any who wish to listen.
Live Novel Friday brings the next chapter of Brutus, so stay tuned…
This weeks theme for our Live Wire Potluck Sunday is everything Caramel. Give a shout out with any ideas of what belongs at the table.
Be there or be square!
There are so many unbelievably wonderful things to choose for my favorite, that I am not sure it is possible to pick just one, so I shall go against the stream and say Passion is my favorite pastime.
The purpose of choosing Passion for my hobby stems from the idea of selecting anything I want for a pastime as long as it stokes the flames of my inner fire. That place within the soul that comes to life as you pursue your dreams… I am sure you know of what I speak.
My soul will rise to the surface of life’s waters, by passion brought about from activities of many kinds. I have traveled, I love to cook and bake, I can sew and crotchet, I have grown gardens, I homeschooled my three girls for nearly 5 years when they were small, I have bred and raised dogs, cats, and horses… see, the list goes on and on… Passions.
I am not able to do most of those things anymore, due to age and life interuptus, but that which does not kill us will make us stronger, as they say. Where there is a passion there is a way… and baby I got A LOT of Passion! Why? Cause I got Jesus, that’s why!
As you may have noticed, I have yet to included this blog or even the ability to write, among our choices and it’s for a very good reason. I suppose you could say writing is, in fact, considered a pastime or hobby… as I am sure, for some, this may be true… just not for this human.
For this woman of Faith, writing is so much more than a passion because of the one whom I am most often writing about… God! It’s my father in whom I find myself constantly writing about, talking about, singing about, and dreaming about, and I shall make no apologies for being a Jesus Spammer.
So, to sum things up for you… Jesus is who I am, and stays off the table for a pastime or hobby, and I choose Passion for my hobby so that I can pick whatever I want. I am such a rebel!
One of my favorite baking passions is Cheesecake, to be specific, my homemade Snickers Cheesecake. In honor of this we shall all share in some …
Restorative Love
As I continue the journey into the life of Jacob and his sons, I keep finding myself back at the bottom of that well. I can only imagine how many times Joseph must have found his thoughts back there, as well.
How many times did he wonder what might have been, had his brothers not betrayed him the way they did? For that matter, how many times did Jacob go back over the suspicious disappearance of his favored son? I wondered about this when I read the part where Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain during the famine. He withheld Benjamin from going with the others, and the scriptures seem to only allude to his concerns for the safety of his only other son by Rachael.
I sort of think that Jacob realized the animosity present between his sons from the rivaling wives. Maybe he knew deep down in his gut that his own sons had something to do with things, back when he sent Joseph to check up on them that fateful day.
Then there is Reuben to consider… he had to live with the secret knowledge of what had happened for all those years, saying not a word. I bet he most certainly spent a good amount of his time wondering what might have been, had he tried to go to his father with the truth.
To even consider how or why Joseph was able to possess such all encompassing grace and mercy for the very ones that sought to end his life, one must look within themselves and their own pebbles cast. How many times have I looked back on my own ripples in life, wondering what might have been had I chosen a different path?
Trust me, I have thought on this many times, and I always end up at the same answer. I am not willing to risk sacrificing any of the good in my life, by altering or removing a past choice or mistake. It’s not worth it! Who I am is the result of all that came before, and I love the me God sees! I believe maybe this was true for Jacob, as well as any soul living with consequence. That means all of us, if you were wondering.
The ripples playing out in my pond, are the very things that give fuel to my empathy, my passion to share love, and my efforts to heal others. This has only happened because God interceded on my behalf, and has begun using every hurt for His good purpose. My heart tells me that this kind of restorative love, is by divine nature alone! Most deeply cast stones can only be retrieved by One who carries All authority! As you may know, the One who does the retrieving, also does not erase the ripple, but instead changes the end result… in my humble opinion.
Another thing I understand about ripples… some we cause ourselves, and some are caused by no fault of our own. I cannot say what went through Josephs’ mind and heart, as I am just speculating. Whatever he might have thought, I believe that Joseph didn’t choose his situation, nor did he do anything to apparently deserve what was done to him. He did however, make a decision as to how he would respond to what he was experiencing. This spirit of humility and forgiveness, however Joseph acquired it, was apparent throughout the entire story, as he grew to be the man God planned.
At the moment, I am right at the part of the story where Joseph has been testing his brothers before revealing his identity. I laugh at myself for coming up with the hairbrained idea of reading through the whole bible again from start to finish… It has been nearly a month now, and I am still in Genesis… lol. I am going to be in study til I am called home… hey, wait… that’s a win win in my playbook. What do you think?
“Jesus Does” by We the Kingdom, should capture the heart of Gods Restorative Love for us this morning before we chow down https://youtu.be/baz5tuV7X2Q?si=TVYt-w76asTReofd
Ok, so strap on your feed bags and dive in…
Sugar Rush!!! Sorry, not sorry!
I will not bore you with another day of history on our story after Covid, but I will say that I have learned to start storing up my possessions with the Bank of Almighty. Once I started putting my important treasures into this Safe Deposit Box, I have not had issues with losing things anymore. You should consider trying it!
I have adopted a different viewpoint in regards to possessions, as I literally had to, if truth be told. Letting go of material things is hard to do, so hard in fact, it took loosing everything to discover I had misplaced my priorities of what was truly important on my journey. My walk with God, my marriage to my best friend, loving my children and grandchildren with all my heart, and writing to you every day… these things are really all I care about.
I find it sort of funny that the acronym KISS is actually the best way to consider the whole affair… the God part, the possessions part, and the life part. Keep it Simple Stupid!
Have a candy…
Journey With Me! 