The first thing that comes to my mind this morning, would be the White Chocolate I promised I’d offer my family today! It was suggested to me yesterday, so the first thing that came to mind, was to fill this prompt with some yummy goodness!
White Chocolate cookies, and more…
Have a Blessed Friday… Hugs
My hubby is stealing me away, down the river of romance and fun, so I gotta go…
Frolicking Friday Fun it is!
Hugs!!!
As I live a solitary life, I rarely attract eye contact from others, let alone an encounter.
In honesty, I cannot remember any positive results from encountering random strangers… just sayin! While I’m sure that I must have, at some point in my past, come upon a stranger that left a positive outcome… however, none come to mind at the moment, sorry!
In light of how absolutely closed and distrustful our society has become over the last several years, I find this prompt question to be somewhat out of place; not bad, mind you, simply strange. Nowadays, folks don’t seem to want any encounters that are considered random! The general attitude I see reflecting off most peoples faces, is something akin to, ” I won’t talk to you, if you promise to not talk to me!” I find it rather sad! Sadly, even being the Chatty Cathy that I am, I haven’t been able to come up with anything to share, at least not at the moment.
Hence, the cookies being offered before bothering to attempt an answer to this daily prompt. I will say that I’ll be pondering this for a while. Perhaps if this question rolls around next year, I’ll have a better answer to share with everyone.
For now, have some cocoa to dip your cookies in…
I woke up so relaxed this morning, leisurely brewing a pot of coffee while simply staring out the window of our RV’s front door. I slept like a baby last night, without a care or thought or dream in my head. All was quiet!
Yesterday marked the day that I came to the end of my first real edit, of a project I consider to be a labor of love, if you will. As I’ve mentioned before, I’d been writing my first fantasy/fiction novel this last year, but God had other plans. Just as I was nearing the 2/3 mark of that particular project, I was led to set it aside and return to my own story; one that had been written this time last year. In truth, it was more like a fast food version of my life story, and I’m not even sure that more than 15 to 20 subscribers even read the whole thing. I don’t blame them! When I went back through and read it again myself, I realized how jarring and incomplete it was in so many places.
Over the last three months, God has been walking back through the paths of my journey with me, asking that I complete a work that He’d begun in me, so long ago. I believe that there is something, somewhere, within the pages of my journey that someone needs to read. What that thing might be, is not for me to say, or even bother trying to figure out the who, what, why, when, and/or where parts. In the end, I suppose that the only important thing I’m striving for, is to simply follow wherever God leads.
I wouldn’t say that I tore up my first attempt at writing down my story, but I will say that I broke it apart, added, changed and/or removed whatever was not necessary. No fluff! At first, I gathered a large amount of work I’d written over the last few years, wanting to share so many different things, and to be honest, make the book bigger! I thought I needed to build up the number of words and pages to produce the expected size of a standard novel. It was a nightmare, as the book I sought to produce, became so fragmented that even I got lost! I found myself at an impasse, unable to edit something I no longer recognized. Easter weekend was where I found my answer, while walking along the river and singing worship music. I heard God say, “No More Fillers!”
Letting go of societies expectations of what this book should be, in size and quality, I went back at it, boldly deleting great chunks of words I’d previously thought were so important! Something beautiful began to happen, as I allowed my actual Chief Editor to select the content to be added. By letting go, and letting God direct my writing, I’ve blown through all the barriers and obstacles that hindered my progress! In only a few short weeks, I’ve been able to successfully edit the project in its entirety, with last night being the last of it. Now you can better understand why I slept so well last night.
While you may be thinking that completing a novel, aside from the audio recording still needed, would be the most exciting thing for me right now, it isn’t! Something happened inside my spirit, on this second run at my own story; the memories were not so painful to write about, and not nearly as confusing. In just over a year, God has been healing and transforming my heart, as I never imagined could be possible! As I worked through the editing process, it was as if I were reading someone else’s story, though I knew it to be my own.
As I’ve always been a very passionate writer, usually it served me quite successfully in my literary endeavors… but not while writing my own memoirs! Perhaps this is why it’s taken me two attempts to write down my truths with purposeful passion, rather than passion based on pain and suffering. Now, when I look on my memories, I do it with love, peace, patience and understanding… Something only God was able to accomplish! Though the work is not over, the peace that dwells within my soul now, allows me to walk, write, think, talk and pray… in freedom!
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but aren’t we all growing in one way or another, based on decisions we’ve made?
I’m now in my mid 50s and my decisions over the years of my life have shaped my journey, in one way or another. This question, in a way, is like asking a blade of grass whether or not it made any decisions that helped it grow toward the sun…
Here, have a cookie…
Eustace wants to share some midweek pick-me-ups!
I thought this was a better picture of him, aside from the AI giving him an additional halfleg…
Speaking of half a leg, we’re halfway through the week, and nobody’s stuck a pen lid in the water dispenser… yet!
Over the years of my life, I’ve learned that if I say never about a thing, I will most assuredly end up eating my words!
To be honest, there isn’t really anywhere that comes to my mind, as a place I would not want to visit. What if there were a valuable purpose in going somewhere, that I might only know about, once I get there?
My existence no longer revolves around any woulda, coulda, shoulda, sort of thinking. I walk forward in faith, looking up at all times. I don’t want to miss anything that God has planned for me on this journey!
Here, don’t forget to grab your cookie…
One day I spied a small bird, simply sitting on a branch,
When I set out a bowl of seeds, the little fella did a dance,
Landing on the table, the bird gathered the seeds with care,
Through a mouthful of seed, a story he did share…
In the forest, he told me, was a family of mice
Who’d nearly been eaten, by a cat with a vice,
With their home destroyed, all their food had been lost,
The bird thought the seeds could be shared, at no cost…
I refilled the bowl of seeds,
suggesting he come back,
He could help out this tiny forest family,
whilst I give that naughty cat a whack!
My mother gave me birth, my dad gave me nightmares, my brother gave me scars, and my sister gave me sorrow and rejection…
My children gave me memories, while my husband gives me such unconditional love and encouragement.
My Heavenly Father, who holds all my memories in the palm of His mighty hand, allows me to hold onto the good ones and let go of the bad!
These are my hearts desire…
All three children born were miracles!
The best thing this man ever did for me, was saying yes, when I asked him to marry me! Neither of us realized at that time, how desperately we needed each other, and in ways we hadn’t even imagined. I am eternally grateful for the chance to walk side by side with this man, from the ashes of both our lives. He loved my daughters as if they were his own, and I feel the same for his children. It always amazes me, what love can overcome…
I’m gonna get this first edit finished by the end of the week, if it’s the last thing I do! Do you hear me, book, there’s a new sheriff in town!
Please forgive me if I don’t chat as much as normal this week. I’m going to put my best efforts towards completing this first edit of my memoirs. I’m feeling excitement, exhaustion, and quite a bit of emotions, all rolled into one purpose… get it done!
Hopefully, once I’ve completed this run through, I will make an audio version of everything in its entirety. From there, all that’s left to do is let it breath for a bit, listen to my own audio cut, and tuck in any bits hanging loose. I feel somewhat embarrassed to have taken so long in the completion of this task, but even now, the content is powerful enough to draw up great emotions. I find the need to work for a time, followed by a break, and then rinse and repeat.
I need to wrap this up though, as I feel God lighting a fire under me to get back to my other project, which is also nearly 2/3 of the way there. Perhaps I have used up more time than I should have, hemming and hawing about having to actually say that I’m finally done. In the end, I know that it will have been worth all the effort, if for no other reason than to please my God!
As I work towards finishing this first full work, it’s as if I can feel water sloshing over the edge of the literary dam that I’ve kept held back. While I’ve been distracted with cleaning up the beginnings of my literary river, the waters have been backing up. I can feel the splash of watery words dropping down upon my head, trying to escape the barrier that prevents them from landing on a page. They are all crying out to be written and shared, tired of waiting for me to release them. Like water that needs to flow, in order to produce energy and life, so to do these words seek to flow from my mind, and onto the page. It’s Time!
Journey With Me! 