Todays prompt question gave me a great opportunity to look within the pages of this site, seeking to answer the mission or purpose of what gets published here in The Lobby!
Instead of giving some wordy explanation of what goes on in here, I began pulling up pictures of what I think that I try to do, but maybe you all see it differently. Perhaps I should be asking you what you think my mission is from your vantage?
My intent is that this site reflect how I choose to live, or my mission, if you will. We have all heard the adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, so my desire is to allow my actions to reflect what I wish to be seen as my mission. It is as follows,
To believe…
To seek…
To dream…
To give love…
To share hope…
To speak the Truth in love…
To go when called…
and to fight every battle on my knees…
I think that sums it up! While my mission fluxes and flows, often changing with the tides of forward moving time… my belief in The One Who is Unchanging will not waiver… ever!
What I think of myself and what you might think of me can be any number of things, but my hope is that you see a light in the darkness…
While I don’t think I said anything requiring a cookie to get through, I still want to give you one just because…
When I read the prompt question, my mind immediately went to a picture of a quilt, handmade, of course! The seamstress cuts and measures out each square, being sure to leave extra in the piece for sewing to all the other sections… this way the quilt is just the right size and not smaller than planned. Measurements are very precise, otherwise, it could swing the other way and we end up with a quilt that is too big.
Looking back to when the first person sewed together a blanket and then to this day, we have kept the same size measurements, for the most part. Aside from some creative twists that have brought us BlanketJammies, sharable sleeping bags and the like, we have retained a sizing standard for a bed cover… why?
What if we just started making a one size fits all family blanket, that just runs throughout the house, leaving holes for heads and arms, in whatever room you had to be in during the day… why not? Who cares that it won’t fit in the standard Washer/Dryer, or that it would require an entire Family Size bottle of detergent for each washing… we can just wait for a rainy day and drag the whole thing outside for a washing. It would be a great family activity, as it would require every able bodied member to hold it up off the ground while it rained… but wait, we also could just hug each other as hard as we wanted, without hurting anyone, because we need to squeeze all the water out before our blanket could dry.
Now I know that I’ve taken us all down a weird Rabbit Hole Idea, but it is with good reason. The scenario that I created is very unrealistic and… in truth, quite odd! My point is… so is the concept of living a longer life! God started things out giving mankind hundreds of years to their life, moving in time to limit us to only 120 years… He had a reason for it, and I fully trust it was for our own good! We screw things up in the 120 years we are given, and adding years onto this would be very useless. After all these generations we are still arguing over Racism, Equality, and Governing of the people… it does not fill me with comfort to think that they could then extend the terms of office in the White House… uh uh!!!
There is a line from an old movie I once watched, where one of the characters uses an analogy of a skein of thread holding a tapestry together… and I like analogies! Forming a picture in our minds helps to reinforce an idea, making it easier to remember a lesson or skill we’ve taken the time to learn.
My favorite verse in the Bible comes out of where… you should all know this about me… Psalm 139! While I won’t read you the entire chapter, I will leave you with my favorite part…
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. Psalm 139:15,16
I’ve been woven into Gods Tapestry and He knows where both my beginning and end are… I’ve no fear because I’m surrounded by so many other threads that make up the whole of our earthly quilt! I plan on dwelling in my one day at a time plan, since that is all I am actively taking part in… there is no promise of tomorrow, that I’m aware of! Our creator is the most masterful of all Quilters, building by a design that is flawless, so I’m going with that answer, concerning, What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life…
I pray that you think on this with each bite of the cookies below!
Since we have already passed through the idea of whether to look in the past verses the future, thanks to one of last weeks prompt questions, you already know that I don’t look back but forward only… the past is done and gone.
Plus, this is Sunday and I’m listening to worship music and the song playing right now is this…
I had to share it because it answered this prompt better than I ever could… “light a match, leave the past, burn the ships and don’t you look back”…
God gave me my answer for today’s prompt so if anyone takes issue… take it up with Him!
The prompt said two very key words here… freeway and say! Ummm, am I the only one here that thinks this to be a bit dangerous?
We have enough problems with folks trying to commute and simultaneously eat breakfast, do their hair and make up, have conference calls and binge watch a dog surfing in Hawaii, while steering with their knees.
I think it would be kind of silly to add more Side of The Highway Death Notes to people… if I’m to be fully honest!
Do you realize how fewer accidents and quicker commutes folks would have if we all just left our phones, food, and make-up in our bag on the passenger seat, while focusing on the road in front of us?! We are all careening down a road at a pretty fast clip, in nothing more than a big Band-aid tin… remember those tiny boxes with the pop top lid?
Personally, I would like to keep the lid on my box and not run into the car in front of me, while I’m busy reading the Billboard sign about who the best local AUTO ACCIDENT Lawyer is, or what the nearest Amusement Park looks like, as I zip by!
I have two favorite things I’ve seen and heard from inside my car that I will share…
I once read a Bumper Sticker on the truck in front of me that said, “If you get any closer to my bumper, I will flick a booger on your windshield”… very on point here I think!
I also heard a joke on the radio once that said, “When I die, I want to go peaceful in my sleep… not screaming and crying like all the passengers in my car”!
Let’s all just keep our eyes on the road ahead and leave the reading for an armchair!
When I wrote the title to the prompt this morning, my plan was headed in one direction, and God pulled my heart somewhere else, but the title still fits completely…
As I began to type my response, I had an immediate picture of when Jesus was overturning the tables inside the temple, with such righteous anger! The people had turned sacrificing in the temple into a marketplace for profiting instead of propheting, if you get my drift! Leave it to us humans to make everything about us… and I am not immune to this behavior, f.y.i.
I, myself, am not above withholding my love from others, if I feel wronged in anyway or don’t get the attention I think I deserve! Isn’t that kind of similar to the temple situation? The ones setting up shop to sell only the best white doves or perfect lambs for sacrifice… only the best for God, and a bit for the pocket of the holy serviceman doing the selling. How did they get from being holy servants of the temple to the marketplace of holiness they built for themselves… uh oh… I said it didn’t I? Self… ouch!!!
Without being too long in the tooth here, the greatest gift that I think anyone could give to me, would be to simply love whomever is near you… just because you can, without any thanks or recognition… just because you can SEE them in need! That’s it!
This is an ouch statement that I aim at myself, as I am just as guilty as anyone else for having selfish motives… we’re humans… it happens!
With that being said, it doesn’t mean we have to be this way all the time, but it does take attitude and effort on our part, as children of God. So, to put my money where my heart is, I offer a completely free “I love you, and I see you” here in the lobby for anyone needing it… help yourself and take as much as you like… it’s refillable, indestructible, and guaranteed to be real… it says so on the back of the package I got from the manufacturer! I have been getting shipments from Him for years now, and I have yet to ever return the product!
While I could answer the prompt in its current form, I find the question intrusive!
Now, if you asked me what I learned, or perhaps what kind of trouble I found myself in while attending said establishment, I’d be happy to answer… but not NOW!
If you were thinking that I don’t want to answer because I didn’t go to college, you would be incorrect, as I carry degrees and certifications that I’m quite proud to have accomplished in my life. It’s just none of your business, unless we are chatting together and you asked me about myself.
This is where my problem with the prompt question lies… it’s like a computerized newspaper that just fills up with everyone’s personal information and then simply shares it with the entire planet in one fell click! Has everybody simply forgotten three very valuable letters in the alphabet… you know, T…..M…..I!
In all honesty, it baffles me, in a world where Identity Theft is a real problem… we freely give out personal names, intimate information about our lives, as well as pertinent personal information for filling out a credit application! No one needs to know my school history here, my personal political views, nor what I ate, at whatever restaurant I happened to be dining in last week! Have we all simply lost our minds?
Now, had the prompt asked one of my alternative ideas, like what did I learn or what did we do for fun while gaining an education, I would have been happy to answer. I have a ton of stories to fill these prompts, but I can’t spend all day, every day, correcting and adjusting these prompts for WordPress… I have other things to be writing about that are much more worthy of reading, in my opinion.
While I am committed to not being flippant with my answers on the Daily Prompt, you will see my MeeMaw surface to lecture folks on things that should be common sense to us all! We are writers for crying out loud… give us writer questions that allow us to be creative, not something that a friend would inquire about. I don’t know about any of you guys but I’m not on a friend basis with any of the WordPress developers… just sayin! We should all be exercising more caution while using social media, and this site is a form of social media, with the same risk of trollers, lonely hearts, and souls with nefarious behavior wandering in and out of each of our sites.
While some may not be bothered by the very personal questions, I will say that I am, and fully intend to belly ache about it some! The internet and social media are a double edged sword, so be very careful how you wield it!
Living the way we live, at the present time, means my playtime is reserved for trail hikes in the park with my squirrel friends, and my writing. I still don’t have the ability to safely drive, so I do not go far from my hobbit hole, as I affectionately call it!
That being said, my mind is free to go wherever it desires… meditation, prayer or reading is the fuel for my inner playtime fires! Who else can say that they get to spend hours a day, just dreaming up things and writing about them? If there were a bunch of activity and people floating in and out all the time, I’m not sure how much writing I could successfully get done.
Ask any child who encounters me or any animal I have ever owned… I AM FUN! I had my grandson fully believing that we had a hilarious Troll that lived in the culvert just across the yard… I KNOW HOW TO PLAY!!!!
If you look back over all those stories I told you about my girls when they were small, you can see how much we played. They learned about magic Christmas Trees, a mouse that could trade Chapstick for baby teeth, and many more stories that I spun to fill their dreams.
With life rolling forward and leaving childhood in the past, I am left with nobody to play those games with anymore, in that fashion.
I had no intention of letting playtime die off, so I searched and searched… and then I found YOU! You are where I pour my imagination and dreams, hoping to bring a smile to your face or brighten your day. Every time you visit to read my wordy words, it makes my heart happy.
My playtime is in the world I like to create for others, gaining so much joy out of bringing smiles… or sometimes think about hard stuff in a lighthearted atmosphere, hence all the cookies you’ve had to eat!
Everybody that has seen the movie Mary Poppins, should have picked up on the fact that she just wouldn’t quit, no matter the obstacle. In my opinion, Mary Poppins embodied playtime, all the while, teaching valuable lessons to those children… as well as their father. All these years I have dreamt of owning a magic Mary Poppins bag, though all I have to show for myself thus far, is a purse filled with broken peanut shells, grocery store receipts, lip balm, and a bunch of stuff I can’t remember why I kept.
As far as answering the prompt question, playtime for anyone is whatever and wherever we make it… we all have playtime available in our hearts and minds that just needs to be let out! I think that might be the secret side of that phrase young at heart. Below, is the actual definition given by the dictionary, but it certainly doesn’t do it justice, in my opinion…
: thinking and acting like young people : active and having a lot of energy
I have to say, I didn’t expect the definition to be so short and loosely defined. It should read, Young at heart: verb Thinking and acting like young people that don’t need everything handed to them on a silver spoon, and continued activity of play and adventure, even after the body is no longer cooperating… just saying.
Playtime, for me, is to dream stuff up and write it out for you guys… whether you read it or throw it away. I play as I write and you have to choose to play along and read… playtime is our choice. If you would like to join in my fun, I play here every single day!
F.Y.I. all my cookies have no calories, because I replaced all the sugar with dreams and adventures, so eat as many as you wish… and let’s play!
For me, both as a writer and a human being, my biggest challenge is being seen… by anyone!
You may have noticed that I call it a challenge and not a problem or an impenetrable obstacle, because the only thing that has to be tackled is timing… the right place to be, needs to be achieved at just the right moment in time! Yes, I used that word twice in the same sentence. I want to make sure you get my meaning here. Time, in all sense of the word, moves, whether it feels slow or fast! I used it once and by the end of the sentence, it was there again! It simply followed me as I wrote out the thought.
Being in the right place at the right time, is the only safe way to jump onto this moving bus without getting run over by it, or simply left behind at the station. There are so so many talented souls everywhere I look… some quite successful while others never catch the bus. Does it mean that one is better than the other or tried harder… sometimes it can play a part in things, but most often it’s no more than timing!
While I admit that Brutus will take a bit more work for me, as I have never written an actual Novel… I wrote Tilly in a day! God’s given me the content, the dreams, the imagination and the tenacity to get it done… my challenge is not in the creation and journey of writing something, it’s in getting it where it’s meant to be… in your hands…
And this is why I said that it is a challenge but not an impenetrable obstacle… I will walk by faith, stepping where my heavenly Father steps… no need for fear of things here… it’s all about His timing!
I saw the question this morning and immediately saw a problem… the time line!
According to the definition, which I have included below, this feeling of Nostalgia must come from the past.
a sentimentallonging or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.
I have several problems answering the question in its current form, one being the concrete time of the PAST, the other problem comes from finding a memory that is pure happiness without any sorrow following in its wake! With any problem, or let’s say obstacle, my hat goes backwards and my eyebrows furrow forward with determination, challenging this literary Goliath with my tiny typing fingers.
I’ve written scads of things that reveal how my past is fully saturated with beauty and pain all rolled into one! Enough said!
I believe that it IS possible to be nostalgic for what is to come, based on both the past and present journey. I am looking forward to being home, more than any dream or memory I have in my noggin!
Don’t think that I expect you to just agree with me, without any examples or evidence given, so I shall present my Prompt Rule Breaking Case as best I can…
I am a Christian… a born again Believer and a chosen child of God, therefore, it stands to reason that I will live, eat, breathe, and speak the Word of God. To do this fully, I believe fully in the entire Bible… all of it! I accept the truth of that book as the living breathing words of God! This book is my evidence of what is to come… the good and the bad! I believe that we were never promised an easy walk, as this is a broken and fallen world, so buckle up Buttercup! The bible also tells, in countless entries of what is to come, for all of us. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m well aware of how bad it looks back in my history, and I can’t wait until I see His face at the end of this life!
I will share with you my version of Nostalgia, coming from the future! How can I do this, you ask? Well, if the words of the bible are Holy Writ, then it stands to reason that this future is guaranteed to be there for me when I arrive!
Since I have no human understanding of what God will actually look like when I arrive, I sort of have this vision in my head of what it might look like to Him as I enter the gates. The vision may sound comical, but I do think that God has a great sense of humor. Imagine God all squared up, like a baseball pitcher, at the gates with a mitt in one hand, leaving the other hand poised to assist. As you look out into the clouds beyond the gates, you begin to hear the thunder, followed by bolts of lightening shooting across the sky. Next, you see commotion in the clouds, followed by a massive tidal wave that literally thrusts me up over the edge and sends me like a high powered missile toward my Creators’ waiting arms.
As I often say, to anyone stopping long enough to listen, Go Big or Go Home… or better yet, Go Big AND Go Home!!!
In your face prompt box, Ha!
Here, some of you may need a handful of cookies on this one…
Journey With Me! 