Since we have a boat, and we have the freedom of the seas to travel, the world is our oyster! Only one problem… not everyone is here, yet!
If you’re wondering who we’re missing, as all the babes are on board, let me explain. Remember last winter, just before the barnyard and babes disappeared? If you recall, our young miss Tilly met a boy in the forest, while she and Dinky were gathering pine bows. Well… he was sort of overlooked in all the chaos of tracking down all my lost ones. I feel awful about it, especially since it has caused Tilly such heartache! I found her below deck this morning, crying herself silly. She tried to settle herself when I approached, but the moment I sat down beside her, the mouse began to bawl again, and didn’t stop til she fell asleep in my arms. As she was drifting off to sleep, mingled in amongst the tearful snuffles, I could hear her whispering the name “Henry”… and it all came rushing back to me, in an instant! We’d forgotten all about young Henry and his family at the old Church down the road from our barn.
How could I have overlooked them? I felt awful! You guys, we have to search for them, before any adventuring can happen. There is absolutely no way that we can have any fun with a love sick mouse aboard…
I don’t know about you but that face makes my heart hurt, and Tilly deserves to be happy. So, stow all the supplies… weigh anchor… lift the sails…
We make for the river that leads inland, toward the place we’d found young Squagon, remember? Somewhere out there is a young mouse that we simply must find…
Where are you, young Henry? There is a mouse who loves you so…
I think that dreams say a great deal about who we are… on the inside. Before you start preparing for some kind of mental health episode of some sort, I’ll leave that to the professionals, thank you very much! My thoughts and considerations will be looking at our character, our personality, or we can label as our true self, if you will. As I always tend to do, let me explain what I meant by my initial statement.
First off, I want to break dreaming into two categories here, one being a waking daydream, while the other is a sleeping dream. Waking daydreams are the ones in which we control the dream in its entirety. Obviously, the sleeping dreams are when we’re not awake, therefore we have no conscious control of what goes on in our dream, nor any control of the outcome… we just gotta ride it out, so to speak.
When I write these thoughts out, I’ve no intention of trying to figure others out, based on their dreams! I guess I’m writing out something that I’ve discovered about my own personality and tendencies, that’s all. Some say that they don’t really dream much, while others dream often and deeply… people like me.
Being a child from trauma, I sought fantasies and daydreams from a very early age, as a way of safety or escape, if you will. To this day, I can vividly remember things from those years, most especially the dreams and recurring nightmares that I experienced. Weird, right?!
Anyway, I had one of my re-run daydreams from when I was small, just the other day. As I was thinking on the memory of my dream, I noticed something sort of funny about myself, or, the way that I saw myself in the daydream. It made me want to look back through some of the other dreams, just to see if I did that in all of them. Guess what I discovered? I did, in fact, see myself in a particular way, when it was a sleeping dream and another way when it was a daydream… just two starring roles… two!
In every waking dream that I created, I cast myself as the assistant, the helper, the heroin through heavy lifting! I was either Charlie instead of Willie Wonka, or the Mad Hatter instead of Alice, or the child who helped Dr. Doolittle. Even to this day, I never see myself as the heroin or hero in anything… always, always, always, I dream myself behind the scenes. In my stories, it feels better to focus on my desires for the cast members in the tale. I think that’s why I prefer you to see me through Tilly, Eustace, or any of this site’s characters when I write. They seem to capture who I am, there within the pages of their stories.
The sleeping dreams are a far different representation of how I saw myself back then, and even now, today. That little girl only experienced the nightmare portion of the dreams, for many, many years. I was a frequent bed wetter, and struggled with severe anxiety. I had no one to talk to, no one to comfort or rescue me from my hell. I’m sure that this is why my waking dreams were so intense and real to me. I even learned how to wake myself out of my night terrors. I actually began to flip myself from my bed and onto the floor, so as to force myself awake. That child was always running, fighting and/or in pain during those dreams. Over the years, I changed in appearance as I grew into a woman, wife, and mother, but I still continued to be the victim… or the villain. Yes, I even saw myself become the villain, but what could I do? I had no control, there in the depths of my darkness.
Ok, no more of that part, as it’s not who I am now! Now? God holds my dreams in the palm of his hand, shielding and comforting me through anything I may experience during my sleep, which is now rarely more than a goofy recap of what I’d watched on television the night before. It’s funny, because the transformation within this wild child has been miraculous, to say the least!
Waking daydreams are now filled with a purpose, not my own, but of one who is so much greater!
Night dreaming is no longer a place of fear, but of peace, protection, and security!
I’ll not forget the child of my past, no no, as she is the one who survived!
I’ll not forget the lost wild one, for she is full of fiery spirit, and tenacity!
While I may not ever be a hero of anything special, Charlie did end up with the factory, so that children would hold onto their dreams!
That child who followed Dr. Doolittle… they carried on the doctor’s work to care for others, whether it was a Push-Me-Pull-Me or the captive sea lion… always the less fortunate!
What do I daydream about now? I dream that everywhere I go… I smell like cookie dough, pulling children’s imaginations along with me, just like the pied piper! For all the rest of you… I pray that I leave a trail of cookie crumbs in my wake… get it, wake… hehehe!
Laughter, as they say, is one of the best medicines… for the body, mind, AND Soul!
I love watching things that make me laugh, but to unwind, I need specific kinds of things to make me laugh the right way… the unwinding way!
Musicals!!! They have to be on the top of my laughter list… Remember Mary Poppins? Remember the scene where everyone is stuck on the ceiling because they couldn’t stop laughing? Here…
One of my fav’s!
There are those times that I need to watch a comedy or two, but there are those days where I binge watch Dry Bar Comedy, where the jokes and stories are funny… not rude, crass, or gross. My kids are all grown and gone, so I no longer have to put up with that stuff.
Last, but certainly not least, I love to laugh with friends. Whether we watch something together, play online games together, or simply talk on the phone… again, laughter is often the best medicine for what ails ya, which this prompt refers to as “a demanding day”. Just sayin…
While I realize that it’s only Friday, it’s not just any Friday, is it? This happens to be Easter weekend, as I’m sure you already knew. I can’t help but get excited, bursting with unashamed words of praise, honor, and worship for my King, my God and Creator. Why? Because I know that Sunday’s coming!
Not just any Sunday, as you well know. It’s Easter Sunday!
*Disclaimer* I will proclaim my belief in a single God, One Son, and an act of such utter love and sacrifice that cannot be denied! Whether you believe in God or not, does not diminish His belief in you, nor lessen His love for you!
Praise be to the King of Kings!
Promises were fulfilled!
Death was defeated!
The temple veil has forever been torn!
We are free to come before God, himself, the very creator of the world, without fear or shame… Because God made it so, by sending Jesus Christ to walk this earth, without a single stain or blemish of sin… utterly perfect! Yet, he willingly sacrificed his own life on the cross, for doing absolutely nothing wrong… nothing! That sacrifice fulfilled prophesy of a covenant, a promise given us, by God.
This sacrifice defeated Satan, broke through all judgement of sin, and opened a bridge between us and our creator… a doorway, if you will.
Now, when I come before the throne of God, I’m washed in the blood of His one and only son, Jesus Christ! All the stain of my sin and shame are erased, and not just erased… replaced! Replaced with God’s very own Holy Spirit, which dwells in me now, today.
I plan on celebrating all weekend, and I pray God’s blessings on each and every soul that visits this lobby. May you also have a truly blessed Easter!
Again, I know that it’s only Friday… but Sunday is coming!
All those years ago, in the heart of a desolate child, God reached down and plucked me from the clutches of the enemy… in every sense of the words!
Utterly lost and forgotten, until He sought me out!
It’s been quite a journey since…
Dream of anything…
Snacks, of course…
Through anger, fear, and the nightmares that haunted me, I fought God for years. I refused to let go of the very things that were destroying me from the inside out… memories! Mine, theirs, the memories became baggage that only gained weight with the passage of time.
The good, the bad, and all that lay between… He never let go of this broken one, this forgotten child. After all the things I did to push God away from me, He still held on with such intensity, I could no longer deny Him!
Truly, I am walking this earth because of the grace and power of God, and God alone! Positive, oh yes… I’d say that encounter had a very positive effect on this child!
Oh my goodness, have I got Babyitis, just now! Perhaps you’ve heard of it, or possibly even suffered from it, at one time or another.
It came on quite suddenly, if I’m being honest. Usually, the symptoms are small and slow to appear… at least, that’s how it’s been for me, in the past.
Not this time! I was not prepared for it to bring me to my knees (metaphorically) in the middle of Walmart, yesterday. There I was, innocently looking at yarn, with the hope that I can make one last baby blanket, before my arthritis robs me of this passion. This has to be one of the most important blankets I’ll ever craft, as this baby seems to have become the bridge in which God might mend something that I, myself, broke. Sorry, I went sort of deep, there for a moment.
Anyways, I found some really adorable colors to work with, as we don’t yet know the gender of this upcoming little blessing. Here, I’ll show you…
Hopefully, this will become something lovely… and I’ll show you update pictures of my progress, just for fun!
So, there I was in the aisle of crafts, with my chosen yarn held firmly in my arms, when something caught my eye. I spied a stuffed bunny ear… and I cannot be held responsible for what occurred next. It wasn’t my fault! I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of all those symptoms of Babyitis.
My poor husband had a hard time keeping up with me, as we were heading toward the check-out. Finally, he says, “why on earth are you walking so fast… wait, what’s in the cart that you don’t want me to see?” Busted!
No worries… Babyitis comes with a positive perk…
I think it makes one smell like either chocolate, or cookies… or both! For some crazy reason, whenever I have an symptoms of Babyitis surface, my hubby just smiles softly with a strange look in his eyes, similar to when he drinks the cocoa I make… weird, huh?!
When these crazy symptoms first surfaced, yesterday, I did attempt to promise that it wouldn’t happen again, but then changed my mind. While I may be able to exercise some amount of restraint, being the mature adult that I am, I cannot say that this won’t happen again… in fact, I have a feeling that he’s going to have hide any spare change laying about!
Reaching land after being at sea for such a long time can be like standing upon the sand, as the sea pulls the waters back into the depths. It feels like you’re moving while standing still, as the sand moves beneath your feet. I stand upon the shore of a new land (sort of), having nowhere to go, but forward into the unknown. It feels both exciting and confusing, as you’ve no idea what’s beyond your vision, or where the path will lead.
We’ve spent the last five years living in the same small space, climbing over one another, and putting one foot in front of the other… adrift in uncharted waters!
We’d forgotten how to live without constant and immense pressure, pushing at us from all directions; often forcing us to move fast, while leaving everything behind! When you live for so long with little on hand, you become accustomed to letting things go, and/or making due. I am a bit shocked at how much that was lost along the way to this particular shore. For goodness sake, I haven’t had a vacuum cleaner for five years, let alone a working oven, or a working toilet (that was only in the last year and a half). I guess, my point here would be that I feel a bit lost and out of sorts, when it comes to living like a normal person.
I will be taking another week off from writing, in order to focus on rest and recovery from a very costly time at sea. The physical toll it has taken on us this time has been costly, so rest and recovery are the priority, at the moment. Spring quarter will begin for my husband in less than 2 weeks, so he’s going to be getting his first taste of college without the pressure of homelessness and loss hanging over his head all the time, thank goodness! He’s nearly there, with only spring and summer left on this degree. It’s incredible how well he has done in the midst of such turmoil, and I’m so very proud of his commitment to finish… and finish well!
Me? I have another book to write, but first, it’s time to put the first one out there…
It’s time, wouldn’t you agree? If God deems it time, then I’ve no doubt that it will be done. I shall enter this new part of the journey with the grace, faith and confidence given my by my Creator, going wherever I’m called to go. I’ve always loved a good adventure, how about you?!
F.Y.I. , these new shores are quite beautiful from where I’m standing!
When you blow a tire on your car, out on some dark stretch of highway, no amount of crying, raging at injustice, or wishing for a fairy godmother to appear, is going to fix that flat! You gotta get out and get to work… sometimes, it just is what it is…
Journey With Me! 