Rabbit and the broken Pony

The Rabbit and the broken Pony

Rabbit came home from school with his owner, Lucy, after farm day at school. 

Rabbit had seen all types of other toys that looked all torn up, but he kept hearing over and over about 'real' rabbits and 'real' puppies, but he couldn't find anything that looked as nice as he did. 

Disgruntled, and mildly confused, Rabbit asked the Broken Pony when  Lucy brought him back home. 

"What does it mean to be real? Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" 

Pony laughed at him.

''Real isn't how you are made. It's a thing that happens to you," he said. "When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become real."

Rabbit wondered how he was ever going to figure his 'real' mystery out if he kept asking this Pony. 

So he tried again, using a different method. He was the new model after all, and Pony was terribly outdated. 

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked. "Or bit by bit?''

The Pony thought for a minute about it, and just when Rabbit had given up he said, "It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time."

"So, what kind of time are we talking here?" Rabbit asked. "I only have a shelf life of about 1 year; only a few months before the new model comes out. Is there any way to speed this process up?"

"Not without it hurting, things like this take time," Pony said. "You don't get to have everything your way."

"But why?" Rabbit demanded, growing more and more impatient with this Pony's crazy ideas.

"Because it isn't about you," Pony said as he started to limp away.

"Then who is it about?" Rabbit asked.

"It's about your relationship with Lucy. It's not about the rules, or the color of your fur," he said.

"Then how am I ever supposed to be real?" Rabbit asked, somewhat dejected at this thought. "I've never been taught anything but cute and fluffy." 

Pony stopped, turned around and smirked at the Rabbit. He saw the vigor of his youth and desire to become this 'real' he had seen at school. 

"It doesn't happen often to toys who break easily, or have sharp edges. You know, those toys who have to be carefully kept," he said. "Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose joints and look very shabby."

Rabbit was stunned. He had never considered Pony as anything but broken before. His limpy leg was all taped and held together with a half Popsicle stick that was still half purple from Lucy's snack the other day. 

"Are you telling me I have to look like YOU to be real?" Rabbit asked. 


"Rabbit," Pony said, looking at his broken body. "These things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to the people who don't understand."

The Choice. (2011)

How much does He love us?

So much.

Enough to die,
To fight for us
To take the fall

But most all, he gave us freedom

Freedom to turn our lives around
Freedom to fall and run into walls
Freedom to make mistakes, to learn

Or not.

He gave us the freedom to choose.

Can you imagine someone saying, "I let my innocent son die tragically after being tortured for you, but you don't have to love me?"

Of course we can't.
Of course we take that for granted.

When we as Christians, or wanna be Christians run into trouble from our past, we can only hope and pray that those who are immediately impacted will see past our sin and see who we are trying to be.

We can only speak our sorrow, ask for forgiveness, and hand the situation over to God to handle.

Unfortunately sometimes as Christians we have to back off and let God do His thing. It is never fun knowing we aren't the superheroes we lead ourselves to believe we are.

I can only imagine Jesus being ridiculed in his final hours, thinking, "I don't wanna be the one to say goodbye, but I will. 'Cause in the future, you're gonna come back around."

It's hard to see people turn their backs on you, but just imagine the pain God felt watching his son. Actually, he couldn't bear the sight, the ultimate sacrifice.

Sometimes the only way to really know God's strength is to let go of what holds you back from seeking out.

Maybe it's losing someone you've cared about for a long time. Maybe it's losing a lot of people you thought had your best interest at heart.

We may be saying, "I don't wanna be the first to let it go." But we need to teach our hearts to say, "But I know, if you, my God, have the last hands that I want to hold. Then I know I've got to let them go."

It is one of the hardest things I've had to do. I've had nights where I cried and ached for people, where just one more of anything would cure all my wrongs. It's a really weak and humbling place to be.

But my promise is to do my best to wash away everything, each and every day until God comes home to collect me.

Seasons & Society

Soft, gentle, without a cause.
I run toward a light that moves.
Pain like this gives me pause.
I failed a lesson I thought I knew.

In my past I've struggled to speak. So God has called me to express. Satan tries every way to show me that I'm weak.

Not safe.

Trapped within a wall. I let this affect me, my lack of faith.

Kind words are lost on today's society. More and more people are hurt by the absence of kindness and love in our churches. Our lack of forgiveness speaks volumes more than our false praises.

It dries a heart that was ones filled with love for others.

Where does it lead? To dust and dust alone; the grave.

Caring for one another has been put aside. It is replaced with anger and deceit. Our words say, "violence is the only answer." It opens painful doors which should be kept shut and closes doors that should be open to opportunity.

We all have walls built up. Our most challenging task is to reveal ourselves, flaws and all, so one by one, the bricks will fall.

Society tells us our wall keeps us safe from the world outside. The choice is who to let in and who to keep out.

So many people so little trust; yet each has a spiritual gift; each we are called to love. We live our lives with opened eyes closed mouths.

All we can see is a fading life, from color to grey, not black or white. Slowly but surely life fades away, home is where I’m headed; don't waste today.

Friendships

I was reading an article earlier on friendships and relationships and how some people struggle with anxiety and depression, especially during Christmas and the holiday season.

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. What you want to do, is try to figure out which category your friend fits into. When you do, you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a reason, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. You are experiencing some sort of difficulty and they are there to assist you, to provide you with guidance and support. Reason friends are able to help you physically, emotionally or spiritually, depending on your need. For those of religious beliefs, they may be considered a miracle, or a godsend. They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Reason friends are only meant to be temporary. They will, without any wrongdoing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Whether this be death, or an argument in which one of you walks away. They may disrupt your comfort level by forcing you to take a stand.

What we must remember is that our need has been met, our desire has been fulfilled and their work is done. Your question has been answered, and now it is time to move on.

Now some people come into your life for a season, because in certain times in life we are required to share, grow or learn. Friends will often come into your life and bring you peace or make you laugh. They may educate you in things you have never done before, and they usually leave you with a feeling of happiness and joy. It isn’t fake, it’s real, but it is only temporary - for a season.

These are people that later on will become acquaintances. When you meet in passing later on, you’ll smile and wave, possibly make small talk and catch up for a few minutes.

Lifetime relationships teach you lessons that will impact you forever. These relationships are very special, and are things you must build upon. These relationships are the hardest, but, when successful, leave you with a solid emotional foundation. Your responsibility is to accept the lesson, love the person, and utilize all of the other lessons that reason and seasonal friends have taught you.

The Checklist

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.

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...

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.