Do You Remember…

Houses with Wheels

I have lived in many different styles of residence throughout my life, including what I refer to as houses with wheels.  I have mentioned in the past that I had issues with these, one of which was the utter freedom with which creepy crawlies could infiltrate my domicile.  Thought of a funny example the other day, cause remember, I am currently living in a 32-foot RV.  Call it a funny way for bringing back memories, but I was watching a livestream of my favorite gaming community, Neebs Gaming, and everyone in live chat started laughing about encountering spiders in the worst places.  From there, my mind went spinning backward to approximately 10 years ago…

I remember it being summertime, due to the fact that the heat was the cause for all our doors and windows being ajar.  My middle daughter and I had been out running errands, and I was the first to race to the bathroom!  I lived with a teenager, so I mean race!  I thought I had scored a big win as I sat down to do ma thang, but looking to the side for the toilet paper, I changed perspectives really quick!  Resting in comfort, directly upon my needed paper, was the biggest Wolf spider I had met, and there had been many (for another story).  I am not even going to attempt describing the absolute animalistic form I took while extracting myself from close proximity to the little demon. But I did make it to the bathroom door, just as my daughter arrived to investigate.  Later she told me it sounded like the toilet had fallen through the floor (another story for later). 

I came up with the brilliant idea for dispatching the offending predator.  We were going to hit it with my running shoe from the doorway, that way there would be no one close enough to be eaten.  It sounded like a plan for heroic success and my daughter fully supported me, as I was the one with the shoe, and she was safely behind me.  The best way for me to explain it is to go play by play here…

I flung that running shoe with the expertise of a pro ball player, aiming directly for the roll of toilet paper, where the ravenous creature was planning our demise

Upon contact, both the running shoe… and the spider… came flying in slow motion back at us

We both screamed, tripped over each other, ran into the bathroom door, slamming ourselves into the same room with a man-eating demon intent on consuming us both…

Don’t be scared, it’s ok!  We got out!

Needless to say, my husband came home to find a broken bathroom door, a child busy texting our near-death experience to her friends, and a wife sporting a small doorjamb impression on her cheek, with a tale to tell…

Your never gonna guess…

Daily writing prompt
Who do you spend the most time with?

Psalms 139

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

You perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

You are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in—behind and before;

You have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake, I am still with you.

If only you would slay the wicked, O God!

Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

They speak of you with evil intent;

your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them;

I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Beloved…

Daily writing prompt
If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?

I will let you in on a little secret…I did not choose my new name…

But I have no Doubt who gave it to me!

Investigating Truths…

Episode 8

Looking Up!

Believe it or not, this flower is actually a good three feet above my head! I would not have even noticed it, had I not paused for a moment to rest my aching back. I am not sure that I want to go as far as to say that I am glad I injured my back. But I can certainly appreciate the lessons gained from my recovery process. One of those lessons is that I need to slow down!

I learned to slow down both physically, as well as mentally. In the physical realm, too much of a good thing (walking) is never healthy without taking the time to make sure you are capable of pacing yourself. I am learning to slow my walking down, and also to take days off for a refuel. Selecting regular days to rest is something I have to force myself to do. Mentally, I think it is also very necessary to do the same thing…

Take a day off!?!

While realizing that it can be difficult, it’s so very necessary that we take a mental day off, once in a while! You know, shut the brain door… close the shutters to our internal house windows.

I hope you weren’t’ expecting me to expound on the mental day off, as there are too many self-help resources that have already saturated the market on this subject. Actually, I am not even going to spout anything useful in the physical activity department. I just like to “walk” you into an insight I’ve gained, rather than just throw it at you like a water balloon.

Beauty and goodness are all around us! Each and every day, the sun rises to reveal these things. It carries on toward darkness, til it’s replaced by the rising of the moon. Over and over, again and again, this happens. We’re given so many opportunities to see and experience all that God’s created just for our pleasure and enjoyment.

My insight, if you have not already figured it out, is this: Slow down, and take the time to LOOK UP!

Keepin it simple…

Daily writing prompt
List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?

One would imagine that a writer would have a list longer than ones arm, readily available to regail you with insightful pearls of wisdom. Ya….No! Don’t get me wrong, I am a writer and I have read enough books to fill a small library. And trust me, I have many things I could pull from them to impress.

What I will do, is share my three favorite books with a quick why attatched. No fancy bells or whistles...

Hinds Feet on High Places by Hanna Hannard – It brought home to me who God was, to me, at a very delicate time in my life.

The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – For me, this book was almost a preparatory step towards my salvation.

The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman – This book not only opened my eyes in how to love my girls, it has shaped how I try to fulfill love in others, children and adult alike. For me, this book was a life changer!

Talk about the GOD…

Daily writing prompt
What fears have you overcome and how?

Yup! I am just going to fling it out there! I used to fear being laughed at, judged, turned away from, and the like, if I had the balls to stand up for Jesus!

How did I overcome it, you ask? I got brave…

How did I get brave? I got serious about speaking the truth…

How did I get serious? I burned out…

I burned out in the church, I burned out as a mother, I burned out being a plaything to others…

Then I quit! I told God to screw off!

I ran into the wilderness, where no one knew His name so I need not speak of Him…

I found myself in a place where the only name that would come to my lips was His…

The enemy knew His name, just as I did…

When I shouted out of my God, the earth shook and the enemy fled…

I am a terrible judge of character in people and it has cost me almost all of ME…

I speak the name of God everywhere I go, because if you stay, then I feel safe in His name, His presence…

If I speak of God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit, you should only feel good after our encounter…

If not, then go…

I will still speak of Him for you…

I will stand in the gap…

for HIM!