Needs/Wants
I want to be involved in an inviting church.
I want friends who will hold me spiritually accountable.
I need to have conversations about Jesus and spirituality.
I need to be challenged
I want to feel needed.
I need & want to help in any way I can.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Dr. Pepper (2011)
Have you ever been walking and taken a sip of Dr. Pepper only to simultaneously have to sneeze?
So you inhale in preparation for said sneeze, only to choke on your mouthful of Dr. Pepper?
Then proceed to shoot it out every possible facial opening, till you're crying sticky Dr. Pepper tears?
...because I did that today...
So you inhale in preparation for said sneeze, only to choke on your mouthful of Dr. Pepper?
Then proceed to shoot it out every possible facial opening, till you're crying sticky Dr. Pepper tears?
...because I did that today...
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Good day (2011)
It's a rare occurrence when just the sight if something leaves me speechless.
Last Saturday I found the market an hour before it closed, whizzed my car into a spot and was in a mighty hurry to snatch vegetables and yummy snacks.
I was covering a story for the paper and Zach wanted to go to get food for the week, so we made a date out of it.
So we arrived and we were having casual conservation, but as we get close enough to get the feel for the crowd something changed.
I took one look and stopped still.
The weather was perfect, children played in the lot, musicians tried out songs for tips. Booths piled high with bins full of homegrown vegetables met my eyes. Freshly baked bread lined tables, and that fresh, growing smell of countless green things tumbled together greeted my nose. I walked slowly in, amidst tables of seedlings and cheese stands. Hunkered next to stands of fresh, local beef were fresh flower and craft stands.
I wanted to stop, right there in the entrance, to take all the toppling beauty in, for that market jolted my soul. Some sleeping part of my heart that once lived, and loved, much closer to the earth was awakened.
Even though I am thoroughly immersed in technology and the university atmosphere presently, I did spend my last few years in Kentucky. My grandparents and aunt had acres of land where I spent many summers. There were three ponds and a garden that bore bright vegetables, which we fought daily battles with ferocious bugs to cull a few, ruby-sheened tomatoes. But all of it was my delight, all of it a new world for my taking and my just-wakened little soul was keenly aware of every whisper and scent of the earth as it sidled up to greet me. The musty damp of a barn corner, the heady green scent of fresh-mown grass, the fragile perch of a butterfly in my hand.
I couldn’t have said it out right, but some hushed corner of my heart knew that my outdoor world was rife with wonder, with growth that never ceased, colors that waxed and waned, scents that came to me as if from another world.
I hunger for that in my modern, streamlined life. Sometimes, amidst a day of cars and phone calls, social networking and computers, I yearn for earthiness with something akin to homesickness.
One step though, in the Farmer's Market, and I was back in the tumbled, gorgeous world of my childhood, where every corner of creation whispered a secret I yearned to know.
That afternoon, I shook myself back to reality and grilled all kinds of tasty treats. The meal was perfection.
I was sad to leave this small world of a place in which the wonder of my childhood greeted me at the entrance. The sight compounded all the old mystery I felt, all the remembered savor of earthy things into a few words of wonder.
Last Saturday I found the market an hour before it closed, whizzed my car into a spot and was in a mighty hurry to snatch vegetables and yummy snacks.
I was covering a story for the paper and Zach wanted to go to get food for the week, so we made a date out of it.
So we arrived and we were having casual conservation, but as we get close enough to get the feel for the crowd something changed.
I took one look and stopped still.
The weather was perfect, children played in the lot, musicians tried out songs for tips. Booths piled high with bins full of homegrown vegetables met my eyes. Freshly baked bread lined tables, and that fresh, growing smell of countless green things tumbled together greeted my nose. I walked slowly in, amidst tables of seedlings and cheese stands. Hunkered next to stands of fresh, local beef were fresh flower and craft stands.
I wanted to stop, right there in the entrance, to take all the toppling beauty in, for that market jolted my soul. Some sleeping part of my heart that once lived, and loved, much closer to the earth was awakened.
Even though I am thoroughly immersed in technology and the university atmosphere presently, I did spend my last few years in Kentucky. My grandparents and aunt had acres of land where I spent many summers. There were three ponds and a garden that bore bright vegetables, which we fought daily battles with ferocious bugs to cull a few, ruby-sheened tomatoes. But all of it was my delight, all of it a new world for my taking and my just-wakened little soul was keenly aware of every whisper and scent of the earth as it sidled up to greet me. The musty damp of a barn corner, the heady green scent of fresh-mown grass, the fragile perch of a butterfly in my hand.
I couldn’t have said it out right, but some hushed corner of my heart knew that my outdoor world was rife with wonder, with growth that never ceased, colors that waxed and waned, scents that came to me as if from another world.
I hunger for that in my modern, streamlined life. Sometimes, amidst a day of cars and phone calls, social networking and computers, I yearn for earthiness with something akin to homesickness.
One step though, in the Farmer's Market, and I was back in the tumbled, gorgeous world of my childhood, where every corner of creation whispered a secret I yearned to know.
That afternoon, I shook myself back to reality and grilled all kinds of tasty treats. The meal was perfection.
I was sad to leave this small world of a place in which the wonder of my childhood greeted me at the entrance. The sight compounded all the old mystery I felt, all the remembered savor of earthy things into a few words of wonder.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Today (2011)
Could it be that it's genetic?
Or perhaps it's just my fear.
Could be, maybe, I’m wishing
I was somewhere other than here.
Maybe it's my chemicals
Or it is nothing at all
Regardless, it doesn't matter
When my emotions take their fall
Could be, it runs in my family
Maybe it runs in my small town
Perhaps it comes just from me
Whenever I feel down
I'm probably just dramatic
It appears that I'm just weak
It’s only because there is far too much
That I hope for, long and seek
It could be I need to sleep
It's possible this, too, will pass
It could be, very soon, I’ll get better
Perhaps this madness won't last
Or maybe I'll go crazy
Perhaps I'll lose it all
It's possible I'll be fine
I'm just so conditioned to fall.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Ropes. (2011)
My elephant cycle
I read about a man who was in Africa. I'm not sure if it was leisure or work, but it isn't relevant.
What is relevant were the elephants he saw. Huge elephants being transported in a group from one place to another by a trainer.
The elephants were bound by a small rope tied around their leg. These huge elephants, large & majestic creatures, could have easily broken free from these flimsy constraints. But they did not.
The man was confused by this, so he asked the trainer, "why do these beautiful animals just stand there when they could so easily break away?"
The trainer said, "well, when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them, and at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." The man was amazed. These animals could break free at any moment from their bonds, but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were. The powerful and gigantic creature has limited its present abilities by the limitations of its past.
Like the elephant, how many of us go through life holding onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us refuse to attempt something new and challenging because of our so called mindset?
Your attempt may fail, but never fail to make an attempt. Choose not to accept the false boundaries and limitations created by the past.
I read about a man who was in Africa. I'm not sure if it was leisure or work, but it isn't relevant.
What is relevant were the elephants he saw. Huge elephants being transported in a group from one place to another by a trainer.
The elephants were bound by a small rope tied around their leg. These huge elephants, large & majestic creatures, could have easily broken free from these flimsy constraints. But they did not.
The man was confused by this, so he asked the trainer, "why do these beautiful animals just stand there when they could so easily break away?"
The trainer said, "well, when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them, and at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." The man was amazed. These animals could break free at any moment from their bonds, but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were. The powerful and gigantic creature has limited its present abilities by the limitations of its past.
Like the elephant, how many of us go through life holding onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us refuse to attempt something new and challenging because of our so called mindset?
Your attempt may fail, but never fail to make an attempt. Choose not to accept the false boundaries and limitations created by the past.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Love, Love, Love (2011)
This is my favorite song in the whole world. It has helped me and healed me so much. I just wanted to share it.
Andrew Peterson - "Love is a Good Thing"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cKPF50T15w
Here is the video if you'd like to listen :)
It knocked me down,
it dragged me out,
it left me there for dead.
It took all the freedom I wanted and gave me something else instead.
It blew my mind,
it bled me dry,
it hit me like a long goodbye,
and nobody here knows better than I that it’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It’ll fall like rain on your parade,
laugh at the plans that you tried to make,
it’ll wear you down till your heart just breaks and it’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It’ll wake you up in the middle of the night,
it’ll take just a little too much.
It’ll burn you like a cinder till you’re tender to the touch.
It’ll chase you down,
swallow you whole,
it’ll make your blood run hot and cold.
Like a thief in the night, it’ll steal your soul, and that’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It’ll follow you down to the ruin of your great divide,
and open the wounds that you tried to hide.
And there in the rubble of the heart that died you’ll find a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
Take cover, the end is near.
Take cover, but do not fear.
It’ll break your will,
it’ll change your mind,
it’ll loose all the chains of the ties that bind.
If you’re lucky you’ll never make it out alive, and that’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It can hurt like a blast from a hand grenade,
When all that used to matter is blown away.
There in the middle of the mess it made - you’ll find a good thing.
Yes, it’s worth every penny of the price you paid - It’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing, - do not fear.
Andrew Peterson - "Love is a Good Thing"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cKPF50T15w
Here is the video if you'd like to listen :)
It knocked me down,
it dragged me out,
it left me there for dead.
It took all the freedom I wanted and gave me something else instead.
It blew my mind,
it bled me dry,
it hit me like a long goodbye,
and nobody here knows better than I that it’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It’ll fall like rain on your parade,
laugh at the plans that you tried to make,
it’ll wear you down till your heart just breaks and it’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It’ll wake you up in the middle of the night,
it’ll take just a little too much.
It’ll burn you like a cinder till you’re tender to the touch.
It’ll chase you down,
swallow you whole,
it’ll make your blood run hot and cold.
Like a thief in the night, it’ll steal your soul, and that’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It’ll follow you down to the ruin of your great divide,
and open the wounds that you tried to hide.
And there in the rubble of the heart that died you’ll find a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
Take cover, the end is near.
Take cover, but do not fear.
It’ll break your will,
it’ll change your mind,
it’ll loose all the chains of the ties that bind.
If you’re lucky you’ll never make it out alive, and that’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
It can hurt like a blast from a hand grenade,
When all that used to matter is blown away.
There in the middle of the mess it made - you’ll find a good thing.
Yes, it’s worth every penny of the price you paid - It’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing, - do not fear.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Wedding Bells (2011)
Weddings, a ceremony where two individuals who love each other commit to spending the rest of their lives together. A father meets his future son, he doesn't like him at first because no one is worthy of his precious daughter. A mother is worried whether or not she is ready, but teaches the daughter how to survive without losing her own identity when she joins herself with another. The importance of the bond lies in the balance of trust and survival, communication and interaction, emotional and sexual interaction. The man is in charge of being a leader in maintaining the balance between these things. They are all pieces in the Jenga game called marriage.
Life is your opponent. Life will try to take you down. Life will take away pieces necessary in holding the rest of your pieces together. You have choices to make constantly, and the balance that you and your partner share directly impacts decisions. Your past, life, impacts your decisions as well. Do you choose to rise against, or succumb?
Life is your opponent. Life will try to take you down. Life will take away pieces necessary in holding the rest of your pieces together. You have choices to make constantly, and the balance that you and your partner share directly impacts decisions. Your past, life, impacts your decisions as well. Do you choose to rise against, or succumb?
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