You know how I mentioned being all alone on the beach, while all the babes went with Brutus back to the barn? Well, I wasn’t actually, actually alone… my bad! Eustace has been going back and forth between myself and the boat dock, where Creed’s been working on ship repairs.
When Brutus offered to take all the babes with him for a couple of days, Eustace gave a hard pass! The poor camel threw up all over the ship for the entire first week out to sea… motion sickness is a real thing, you guys! Not only did he not fancy air travel, but the idea of being hauled across the land dangling between the legs of a dragon!
So, ya, I got me a sunbathing partner who stole my sunglasses, and my beach towel… cheeky bugger!
Have a fantastic Wednesday and remember, I sure do love you! Hugs
Thus far, the only thing that credit cards have ever done for modern society is rob us of the value of a dollar! It appears to me that much of today’s modern folk have no clue about how to properly manage their money.
We are shown from the time we’re young that to have things, one must have money. But we don’t reach for money anymore, do we? We just get a credit card and charge it! If you want good credit for buying houses or cars, you need to spend, but to spend you will need money. But, you’ve gone to the credit card because you don’t have money to spend. Are you following me? All we’ve managed to do is become bound to monetary obligations that we’ve no way to fully pay back. But we sure do tell ourselves that if we consolidate all these cards into one new one, with a lower interest rate, things will be fine, right?!
I’m not even going to speculate as to how many of us say that we will use the card during the month, but pay it off before the interest charges hit. Most never do! The card balance just begins to grow steadily, with each passing month.
Currently, our modern society is teeming with homes that are valued idiotically higher than they are actually worth… and you’ll need a bank loan… and good credit… and no outstanding credit card bills… what a farce! It’s a tangle of lies wound together into a nice neat little package, just for you and me, baby!
Gone are the days where a man was as good as his word, to be replaced with days of spend it if you got it… or even if you don’t… just charge it!
It’s hard to have my ship up on blocks, leaving me to sit here on the beach… alone. Creed is busily working away on the ship, so I don’t wish to disturb him, and Brutus took all the babes and flew back to the barn. The big wide world is no place for them to simply wander about, what with man’s fear of anything they don’t recognize or understand.
Besides, I left some important maps back in my office desk that we’ll need, once the ship is seaworthy. Lilly knows where I keep them, so she’ll retrieve the maps along with several other things we’d left behind. Tilly wanted to visit young Henry and the rest of the babes simply wanted to go along for the dragon ride… always the adventurers, they are!
So, here I sit, all alone on the beach and wondering what to do with myself for the next several days. I don’t often spend time away from them for so long, but it’ll be good for me, right? Why do I find myself lonely? Will they miss me, at all? What if they need a break from me?
I’ve always felt like I was simply too much! Too much emotion, too loud, talks far too much, cries more than most, and lives a life that wears folks out! I crave affection far more than a person probably should, but I just miss human touch, that’s all! Watching someone’s eyes glaze over as I seek to fellowship with them is brutally painful! It happens with everyone I encounter, so it’s not new… but the pain of it is always real, fresh, and damaging.
I’ve sort of chosen to avoid engaging others now, not that there are that many to avoid. I’ve three daughters who are living their own lives, keeping me firmly placed on the outskirts of their hearts… my fault!
I’ve no church family that calls me their own… my fault!
I’ve a husband whom I love deeply, but has never even picked up a bible once, in all of our 19 years of marriage… my choice!
That was my list of obligated listeners. Not a very long list!
Fortunately, I have discovered that with God, I am never alone! He listens to my incessant chatter, my prayers, my raging, and my storytelling. He captures my tears, mends the hurt, and fills the empty! There is none that can compare, to the God who has walked with me all these years… through all the good, the bad, the hurt and the heartache. When I make mistakes, he forgives and helps me learn to grow from the lessons.
When absolutely everyone else simply shrugs their shoulders in frustration or irritation, at my cries for help or attempts at sharing my heart… He stays!
So, now you know what I’m planning to do with my time over the next few quiet days… spend it with the one who calls me His own.
When I was pregnant with each of my daughters, I counted each and every day…
Don’t ask me about dieting because I counted each and every calorie til I broke down and binged… Don’t judge!
The point is, most of my activities through the years did nothing to help me lose track of time. But, since you’re already here I’ve decided to put my thinking cap on. I want to try and make you lose track of time.
Honestly, I only had to think on it for a moment! Three things immediately came to mind that I’m certain will satisfy today’s prompt.
Sleep has a two-fold bonus to it, when it comes to losing track of time. There will be times when I wake feeling like I’d only just closed my eyes. And, I’m fairly certain that I slept in the same position throughout the night.
Then, there will be those nights spent dreaming of beautiful and wondrous places. You know what dreams I speak of, don’t you. They’re the ones so fantastical that they couldn’t be real. Those are the dreams that make you want to fall back asleep, unsuccessfully attempting to revisit the dream. In futility, you strive to seek the place you’d just left off, before dawn had so rudely disturbed your slumber.
While I may not have mastered the art of revisiting a recent dream, there are many of my dreams that revisit me from years past. Sometimes, I can’t remember if they were dreams, or memories. It’s strange, but I can recall the first time I dreamt each of them. I can’t recall my first love, nor any of my childhood teachers, but I can tell you exactly when and where each dream began. Isn’t one’s memory such a tricky thing? Whether it be a dream or a memory, the emotions I felt back then are just as real to me now, as they were the first time…
Now that I went and got all nostalgic on you, it’s pretty clear to see why sleep is my favorite time burner! What would the world look like without sleep? That’s where dreams are made! I can’t imagine what the world might be like without dreams, can you?
Yeesh! I don’t want to think about that possibility… how depressing would that be? Whatever we do, let’s never stop dreaming!
We were all born with gifts, but only get one lifetime to use them. No one knows of their own departure date, so when you see an opportunity to use your gifts, don’t waste it!
Give as much love as you can, even when it hurts! No, this doesn’t have anything to do with allowing yourself to be used, abused, or discarded. It means giving of yourself without expecting anything in return… just do it for the sake of love.
Make the best use of your time, your life, your love, and yes, your might! Be the best version of who you are and to the best of your ability, because no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
If God gives you a gift and you don’t waste it, He will always bless the work of your hands. Why? Because He knows you to be a good steward of that which He bestows upon you!
Think in terms of a cup that has a leak in the bottom… not a major hole, nor unrepairable tear, but tiny little cracks in the bottom. Over time, the water slowly escapes through those tiny fractures. Or, better yet, think of a flower pot that has a hole in the bottom. When the plant is watered, if the water just sits in the bottom of the pot, it will destroy the roots of the flower. Thus, the need for the hole. Simply water the flower often enough to keep the soil moist, while letting the extra water drain off, allowing the soil to remain healthy and fertile.
You know me, always writing about rushing water and broken pottery.
Well, we did it! Don’t ask me how, because the main mast snapped five miles offshore, nearly flipping the ship on her side. Thank the good Lord, the ship righted herself, though the entire main sail sank into the sea. Another blessing was the free tow into land we were given by a nearby vessel. They’d seen the whole thing and rushed into give aid… Sailors are some of the nicest folk you’ll ever meet!
Anyways, the ship was pulled up onto shore. ..
The damage from that snapped pole was extensive! It caused two other beams to splinter, tearing through most of the other sails. That wouldn’t have been so bad, in and of itself, but when everything crashed over the side of the ship, it ripped all the side railing off and tore into the actual frame of the ship. Honestly, looking at the ship from dockside makes me glad to have made it to land, at all!
While I’m quite sad at how much damage was sustained, there were two huge pluses in all of this mess. The first huge plus was the fact that I’d already sent Brutus and the babes off in the little dingy, to land further up the coast. With the ship up on poles, along with scads of workers climbing in and out of it, there’d be no way to hide anybody. Something told me to send them on ahead. Thank Goodness for small favors, lord!
The second huge plus was the surprise that had been waiting for me on the dock…
You guessed it! Creed was standing there smiling at me as I climbed off the ship, like he’d been expecting my arrival. How on earth did the man do that? He always seems to know when I need him the most. Love is such a funny thing, always showing up in ways we never saw coming.
Oh! I think that I’ve settled on a name for our ship. How does “The Torrent” sound for our soon-to-be seaworthy vessel? With Creed in charge of the repairs, she’ll be right as rain in no time!
Journey With Me! 