Saying that spirituality is important in one’s life seems uncomfortably broad to me, personally. Nowadays, referring to spirituality can go in many different directions. I’ll answer the question from the perspective of a child of God.
In honesty, I live a spirit-filled life every single day! It’s a very deep and intimate relationship with my maker, God himself! He is my comfort when I am sorrowful, my strength when I am weak, and eternally faithful to sustain me, in all things.
It’s kind of like traveling through a desolate and parched land. Know where your water sources are, if you wish to survive the sands! I’m fairly certain that water flows throughout the desert, deep underground. It’s there, but the traveler must know where to find it. After you’ve traveled to to those sources enough times, their location becomes embedded in your muscle memory… you just remember.
As far as my actual spirit-filled life, the bible is one of my water sources. That muscle memory I just mentioned? In this instance, I’m referring to my brain’s ability to recall a thing I’ve read and/or learned… you know, use it or lose it! Then there’s my prayer life, which is my source of sustenance, peace, grace, forgiveness, and so much love… I’m in the presence of my creator!
As for that spirituality part of the prompt, I am filled with the Holy Spirit, which is part of God’s spirit, sent to dwell within this vessel. It says so in the bible,
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13, 14
Anyways, that should answer the prompt in an honest and honorable manner without dragging things out for hours. I could, you know!
Because I love you, I’ll settle for handing out cookies instead…
If ever I’m feelin down, or just plain overwhelmed with life in general, I bake!
Depending on the reason that get’s me in the kitchen, what I might bake varies, greatly. Breads bring comfort, whether sweet or savory.
Quiches, casseroles, and stews comfort loneliness, somehow. I think they bring back memories of my mother, my daughters, and even the good bits of my own childhood. There weren’t many but I cherish the ones I have…
Now, if ever my moods of being overwhelmed are simply due to stress… well, that’s when sugar gets involved! Stress baking is most often going to have chocolate and/or caramel in it. Not always, but most often, anything having chocolate in it, is for my husband. He loves chocolate! While I’ll admit that the man loves most anything sweet that I bake, it’s the chocolaty bakes that make his heart the happiest.
Now, chocolate works fantastic in most of my cookies, mousse’s, and pies. But I’m rather talented at baking an unforgettable Snickers Cheesecake!
Sometimes, things are a mixture of stress, aggravation and/or any other factors that give me an excuse to bake… oh, did I just type that? Ok, fine! I just want to bake, ok? I have days where nothing makes me happier than baking a really good pie! Apple crumble, or a cherry cobbler… ooh ooh, and don’t forget peach cobbler. Nothing tastes better than a good cobbler with some old fashioned vanilla ice cream (I just buy that part)…
Yesterday, I shared about the changes in my health, coupled with my need to completely change my diet. It’s not that I need to lose weight, because I don’t really eat most of what I bake. The problem is that I taste everything I bake, so I have to find some satisfactory substitutes for some of my ingredients. THANK YOU, GOD it’s not sugar, chocolate or anything in the sweet department! It’s the flour, the butter/oil, and any dairy. Never fear, my sweet cookie eaters, for this shall never stop my baking self-care, no no…
Caffeine free, lactose-free, Gluten-free, low cholesterol, low sodium is not the end… it’s only the beginning!
Besides, much of what I bake is done for putting smiles on others faces! That’s the part that makes me happy, more than the flavor of the bake! Now take your cookie…
You’ll never be able to taste the difference… Honest!
Currently, I’m laying low and allowing my system some serious down time, if that makes any sense. I realize that I said body heal thy self, but it’s a bit more than that. While my mode wishes it to be so, I’ve placed myself in the hands of a rather competent physician, opting for a compromise in the “do it myself” department.
Careful selection of medications paired with a radical change in diet should hopefully allow my body to do some internal repair and restoration. I’d like to say that I was an iron clad warrior through our little sojourn in the wilderness, but it wasn’t exactly like that. Sadly, no muscle bound wild woman roared out of the darkness, but rather, a very exhausted, sick, and humble grandmother of six literally limped into this apartment. Can you believe it’s been two months already? Well, something like that… I’ve honestly lost track of time.
One of the medications I’m currently on is used for repairing the lining of my stomach. It must be taken four times a day for at least a month, possibly longer. The struggle has been to take the prescribed four doses without eating for several hours on either side of each dose. Add to that, my diet now restricts lactose, gluten, and…………… caffeine! Nooooooooooooooooooooo!
Yes!
It’s actually not so bad, now that I’m used to decaf with non-dairy creamer mixed with oat milk. So far, so good, right?!
This last rough patch simply took more out of me than I wanted to admit. My mom had several strokes, a heart attack, due to both a history of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. She was also a diabetic. The woman oozed bad health for the entirety of her life, eventually passing from Dementia. This last set of bloodwork really made me pay attention to this history. I did a bunch of reading on the relationship between cholesterol and blood pressure, and I don’t want to follow my mother’s health journey. I’ve got a new grandbaby due in November, you guys. I need to be on deck!
So, until things start going in the right direction, health wise, I focus on nothing more than sleep, medication, reading, working on my final read through of a manuscript, and eating like a bird. Honestly, I don’t even mind eating sparsely right now, what with all that medication in my stomach. Not much of anything sounds good, aside from oatmeal and bananas.
The good side of this seclusion is that my imagination is on fire!
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying myself with adventures on the high seas, along with wrapping up this first novel. It’s time to begin the second volume. What better way to prep for it than to read the first story again, so it’s fresh in my mind.
Just because I’m turning lemons into lemonade Wiwohka style, it doesn’t mean that I’d recommend such a radical shift in lifestyle to anyone. This has been my modes operandum for a lifetime… feast or famine… highs and lows… joy and grief! Nothing in life worth having comes without cost, nor can we always have what we want without the cost taking it’s toll. I wanted to smoke cigarettes’ as a kid and it took me 40 years to quit! I wanted children and lost five babies in the attempt to bear the three beautiful girls I’ve got! I wanted my freedom from my first husband and it cost me the relationships I had with all three of my children! So many lessons in life have taught me how entwined the good is with the bad. No matter how hard we try, we cannot seem to have one without the other.
There wasn’t any point in trying to re-answer this prompt, as my memory hasn’t changed, nor have any of the character’s in my story about that first crush. Instead, I went and pulled my original prompt answer up and set to work, touching up the edges… and adding cookies, of course!
Ok, so maybe this is more about the shoes than the boy, but still…
His Name was Louie and we went to school together, but I’m not certain how old we all were… maybe 5th or 6th grade?
He used to sit on the steps in front of our school during lunch break, every day. There was a group of boys who always congregated around him, fully inflating his ego, maybe. I would wander over to where they sat nearly every day, hoping he’d look my way. In my silly mind, I was sure that he liked me by the way he always smiled and laughed at what I thought was funny. In reality, it was probably him just being kind, as I think he must have been a nice kid.
One particular afternoon, I had worn my new Cherokee Wedge high heeled shoes just to look especially pretty. They were really just giant floor level erasers, I am certain of it!
Anyway, as soon as the class bell rang, I was up and off to freshen myself up in the girls lavatory. Feeling like a model, I began my promenade down the corridor toward the school’s courtyard. Out the doors and down the steps I sashayed, coming to stand near the group of boys that always crowded around Louie.
Now my friends had been teasing me earlier that week, regarding my view of how he must feel about me. They all said I was just making it up. I was intent on showing them all!
I started up my usual flirty convo, laying on the demure smiles and light giggles that were supposed to be what you did to get a man. What happened next must go into a play by play of sorts, or a back and forth screenshot for your brain…
*I teased him about something, and to this day, I have no idea what it was…
*He made the gesture as if to pursue me, maybe to tickle or pick me up in his arms to circle me around in the air for the world to see his true love for me, showing all those girls a thing or two… wait… ok, maybe that was my thoughts, but all he did was lean forward with a smile on his face… I know Right? God bless my imagination!
*I turned around, thinking him to be in pursuit, and proceeded to run across the entire front courtyard of our school, just like Julie Andrews did in the Sound of Music. The only differences were, for starters, I was wearing those ridiculous eraser shoes. And, the other key thing to remember is that he was NOT following me! I thought he was, but never looked back to confirm.
*When I got to the other end of the yard, I turned to realize what had actually been the scene…
No one following me… me running like a Robin Williams version of Julie Andrews… the majority of my classmates rolling on the grass laughing… and to my horror, ALL the boys on the steps hooting and hollering to join the choir!
We were all so young, and it might seem as a bad memory, but it one of the funniest things I remember doing, and you know what, I think that nice boy really did like me. I actually remember him laughing with the others but he didn’t look like he wanted to. Honestly, I think he felt bad for me…
Kids say and do some of the funniest things, and I am forever grateful for all of my youthful funnies, as I am sure that you are as well. I was and am a pretty funny person! Not because I am a great mixer of words and jokes, but because I can laugh at myself without being judgy, and I love to tell others about something I did that I thought was really silly or funny, and they get to laugh with me, not at me. There is a difference!
What follows is something I shared back in 2017, and wasn’t originally a response to this prompt, at least I don’t think it was. At first, I was going to title this response “Beautifully Broken” and share a poem that I’d written last February but I quickly changed my mind when I saw this old entry. While it was a distance down memory lane, I believe that it still carries some deep truths.
I know that we all, at some point, ask ourselves the question, “Who am I?” The easy answer would be to look at the past and add up all that we have done to date. I am sure that if I were wealthy with a following of friends that adored me, I might feel quite accomplished. I suppose it would be easier to justify mistakes and costly losses, reassuring myself that it has made me who I am so it was worth it. How much money would it take for me to be OK with that last comment? How many friends would it take for me to not feel regret over any hurts that I have caused due to my selfish mistakes in life? I am not saying that I want to walk through my life in misery over my past failures, but they are there all the same, always floating in the shadows, seeking to pull me down into the depths of despair. Being a human with faults and imperfections embedded in my nature is quite daunting, and yet God sees me as a precious treasure…go figure. Rather than dropping a rock on my head, He lifts me up, and always seeks to reassure and encourage me with His grace and mercy. It seems that my brokenness and failures are where God teaches me the most about who I am. He does not seek me and love me because I am so good, but rather, because I recognize that I cannot do anything without Him. I am not expressing my feelings to teach some big lesson, nor am I judging anyone else who may have an easier life than mine; I am simply sharing my heart in regards to my relationship with Christ. I am on a journey of self discovery and what I have found is that Who I am is Christ in me. I have accepted that I cannot do anything without Him. I have spent nearly 50 years trying to do it on my own strength and have left a path of mistakes and regrets that I will carry to my grave. But the difference now is that I do not carry them alone, but with the strength, forgiveness and love of my Heavenly Father, who walks before me, behind me, beside me and often carrying me. Who am I? I am Redeemed, Reborn, Renewed, Forgiven, Cherished, and a Child of the Risen King!
While my favorite thing about myself is belonging to one much greater than I… my cookie baking skills are rather impressive (virtually speaking, of course), wouldn’t you say?
You do seem to come back for more, so at least they aren’t terrible. I’ll admit they might sometimes come with hair, feathers, or a bit of fuzz off the floor, but still.
Truth be told, I think that’s where the magic comes from…
Yes, we are still sailing through uncharted waters, but I suppose that one might say we’re not really ready to seek dry land, just yet!
You see, we have a new passenger aboard our vessel, a very hairy, rather confused, and terribly frightened one! While I realize that we should be in hot pursuit of a lonely little troll named Peanut, sometimes things happen that force us to shift plans, temporarily, of course.
Not to worry, though. Just now, it’s only early in summer and we’ve plenty of safe sailing weather left to us until the fall season begins. As soon as we are once more within sight of land, I’ve a good idea where to locate the little guy.
For now, we’ve a case of need that sits before us, right here on the deck of our ship!
First things first… calm the terrified creature, before he tries to jump ship on us!
While I am very well acquainted with dogs, which the creature sort of resembles, I’ve no idea what to think of the wings, nor the seashells that seem to be embedded within his chest. Canine fur… check! Seashells and wings… wait, what? Do I pet him or not? I’ve been trying to talk gently to him, but I don’t think he understands anything I’m saying, at all!
All we thought to do was quietly sit near him, hoping our presence would ease his fear. He’s not frightened of us, mind you, but something about a ship fills the creature with terror, possibly from bad memories of his beginnings. I’m not entirely certain. I’ve been quietly observing him, while the babes are busy trying to feed him cookies. They’ve decided that he’s merely a fluffy dog with wingy thingies, as they put it. I’m not so sure…
Yes, he does really resemble a dog if you focus on his face and body build, but I’ve never actually seen a dog with fur that’s the color of the sea, have you? The entirety of his chest and underbelly seems to be more hardened seashells, than fur. His wings and tail sort of remind me of a great bird, like something off of a Jurassic Park film. While he may have been on some sort of vessel, at one time or another, it’s almost as if he came right out of the sea, itself!
Whatever one might imagine of his origins, it doesn’t really matter at this very moment, does it? It’s not going to help us calm our newest family member, nor aid him in finding his sea legs, which is necessary if we’re to travel anywhere.
Not only do I need him to be calm and settled, but if we’re to keep him safely hidden until we get back to the barnyard, we really need to understand each other on some level. The first thing we need to do is give him a name, so that he can learn to recognize when we call to him… something better than “hey you” or “here doggy”, which seems rather misguided, as I don’t think he’s really a dog, at all!
Beings as he’s such a gentle creature, it seems that he should be given a name that reflects this nature. While I may be rather good at telling tales, one’s name should be taken far more seriously… so I googled it… don’t judge!
After some heartfelt searching, a name appeared on my computer screen that caught my eye…
*Some content has been generated by an artificial intelligence language model, in combination with data sourced from Ancestry records and provided by BabyNames.com.
The name Osric finds its roots in the English language and carries the weighty meaning of God ruler. Its origin can be traced back to early medieval England, where it gained popularity as a given name. In those times, individuals often held a deep reverence for their spiritual beliefs, and the combination of God and ruler in one name sought to embody the power and authority attributed to individuals who were appointed by divine will. Throughout history, the name Osric has remained relatively uncommon, primarily appearing in English literature and royal pedigrees. In literary works such as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a character named Osric is introduced as a courtier, known for his grandiloquent speech and flamboyant personality. This portrayal reflects the name’s association with nobility, as befitting a courtier in medieval times. Despite its rich historical background, the name Osric is now rarely used in modern-day society. The changing cultural landscape and the preference for more contemporary names have contributed to its decline. While its regal connotations and divine allusions may still hold appeal for some, Osric has gradually become an obscure choice for parents seeking to name their children.
Somehow, it just seemed to fit… and honestly, I still don’t really understand why. Fortunately for us, we have plenty of summer left out in these waters to figure it out!
We’ve begun to simply call him Osrig for short, sort of like a combination of Osric and Gentle, if that makes any sense. Even if it doesn’t make sense, it still seems to make his eyes twinkle every time we call him by that name.
I’m truly hoping that somebody spots this message in a bottle… or else, this letter was for naught…
I could, in fact, easily go back to bed for several more hours, truth be told! But, the prompt wants to know how I plan to redo what I did yesterday, so I’ll give it the ole college try…
Let’s see, I was up at 5 a.m. with a stomach ache, so I took my meds, made a cup of peppermint tea (not coffee… how shocking, I know), and spent several hours in scripture. It always seems to settle me, giving me peace within my own little storms.
Anyway, from spending time in the word to writing, both on the feed and my own personal projects, my day rapidly began to disappear… almost like fog rolling away from the shore, just as the morning sun’s golden rays force them to dissipate.
When my writing was finished, I baked several pies, one apple/peach and the other was cherry cobbler. With my stomach being on the fritz at the moment, I had to substitute the pie crust with a graham crust which worked rather well, in the end.
Trying to balance all this new medication with my eating schedule has been a bit rough, so my poor husband has been forced to fend for himself, of late, as my tummy doesn’t know whether it’s happy, sad, irritated, or down-right angry with me.
I finished my day finally, feeling nauseous and super tired, most clearly due to my 5 a.m. wake-up call, compliments of my spiteful roomie, IBS. I crawled into bed at only 7 p.m. and was asleep shortly after my head hit the pillow.
So, long story short… I haven’t any plans for how I want to retire, as I’m still recovering from yesterday!
I cannot say in words how deeply I love this guy! He is the best man I have ever known!
He was born into adversity, scarred by childhood trauma, overlooked by the system, the church, and family members that looked on in apathy!
From the ashes of a life that nearly robbed him of his own, this man has walked on, steadily, stoically, shouldering others burdens with a heart as honest and truthful as any I’ve ever encountered in this world!
This tough looking, hard headed, relentlessly faithful, tender hearted, softy is my hero! He made sacrifices for the betterment of his children that some would not understand, especially his children, but they were choices that came from a the heart of a good man! A man that loves his children deeply, after a life that should have left him heartless and cold to others. Not only does he love his own children with such unfathomable depths, but he lavishes my own three daughters with that same unconditional love!
Happy Father’s Day to the man who still stars in all my dreams!
As for all of you,
This is my Father’s Day Anthem for every good man out there, from sea to shining sea!
You are men among men, raising up the next generation of good men and women, alike! From the depths of my heart, I want to say thank you to all of those who still stand, still walk forward, still carry others burdens with hearts full of love, hope, grace and mercy!
To all of the good men out there… May God bless and keep you, along with all those that nestle beneath your mighty wings!
Technically, I suppose that you might say my heart belongs to God, my husband, and my baby girls… but, it’s still tucked within this vessel and it hasn’t stopped ticking!
It’s been injured, torn, and at times, completely broken into what felt like a thousand unrepairable pieces… but it still keeps ticking!
It was the very hand of God that started it ticking, some 56 years ago, and it could stop at any given moment, if it be my time… but for now, it keeps ticking!
One’s heart is a miraculous thing, actually! Though it be only an organ that pumps blood through the body, providing oxygen, it is so much more than that! A heart actually feels pain whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual! None of the other organs in the body give off a physical sensation of emotional pain, nor spiritual suffering like the heart does, in my opinion. I’m unaware that my kidney or spleen ever throb with deep sorrow when I’m nursing grief or hurt feelings, but maybe it’s different for others… whose to say.
I did really think on this mornings prompt, as it was rather specific about choosing only one item. And, it had to be both the oldest thing we owned and also used every day.
I may have used my own heart, abused my own heart, broken it, lied to it, stolen from it, taken it’s love and given it away for all the wrong reasons…
Journey With Me! 