The Artist

Sunrise, vibrant yellow, red
As the morning breaks
The sun slowly rises
And I awake
Green trees, green grass
Envelope the land
covered as a velvet coat
Created by Gods hand
Abundance of flowers, opening
Pink, yellow, white, orange
Ever with His canvas
His brush covering every inch
Baby blue shy above
Billowing white puffs, floating by
As far as the eye can see
Dots across the sky
Hills, valleys, planes of
Brown and grey
Reflecting light waves of color
Burst through this day
And people, multi colored
Reflecting bits of light
Rushing around, things to do
While day is bright
Then the circle comes fully around
Red and yellow, an amazing sight
Blue, black, fills the expanse
With a stroke of His brush
The artist bids, "Goodnight"

Anticipation

I was doing dishes tonight, when a thought popped into my head.  This thought was about shopping.  The first of August is in a few days and I would like to buy a few things.  Not really a bad thought to think, but the feelings that went along with that thought wasn't to good.  You see, along with that thought, I felt joy, an anticipatory joy.  I told myself, "I can't wait to shop!"

You may ask, "What is wrong with that?"  What I felt, only took a few seconds, the first thought was; shopping, then the anticipation, the joy, and then guilt.  I know myself a bit and I know that I don't always feel that same joy when I have to study the Bible, or go to Church.  A lot of the time, I feel that the study time is my duty as a Christian, also going to Church and spending time with the Lord.

After the sequence of thoughts, ending in guilt, I had another thought, "How does God feel about what I am focusing on?"  I need to get my thoughts and feelings in line with the Bible, I need to feel that same anticipation and joy for God!  So I looked up what the Bible said on the subject.

In Luke 12:22, Jesus said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or your body, what you will wear.  Life is more important than food, and the body more than clothes."  Jesus says it again in Luke 12:29, "Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it, for the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.  But seek his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well."

I want to be in right standfing with God, so instead of feeling joy when I am able to buy myself clothes or food, I will feel joy and anticipation when I am near God.  Collossians 3:12, 'Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."  And as the Holy Spirit does it's work in me, I will feel that joy when I am clothed with these things, not with things of this world.

It is hard at times learning to love an invisible God, but we can know Him and we can love Him.  1 Peter 1:8 says about Jesus, "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious Joy."  I want my joy to be in Jesus Christ, our Lord, in my God.

In The Desert

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil."  Matthew 4:1


God was pleased when Jesus was baptized.  Matthew 3:16, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water.  At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him.  And a voice from heaven said, 'this is my son whom I love; with Him I am well pleased."  But right after He was baptized, God sent Him into the wilderness to be tested.


I don't understand why this happens, but it does.  We do something good, in Gods eyes, then we are taken into an emptiness, or depression.  Maybe it's so we don't get prideful, I'm not sure.  Some of the best things that I have done have been followed by depression, or by testing, and if I don't remember this, the testing is very hard to get through.


In Matthew 4:2, the Bible says that Jesus was hungry from fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.  And when He was weak, Satan came to tempt Him.  Satan offered Jesus several ways out of His chosen path, but Jesus fought back with scripture, with the word of God.


It is so important to learn scripture, and the Holy Spirit will bring that scripture to mind when we are in need of it, but first we have to get it into our minds, study and memorize, and be ready for the ambush.


Tips for getting ready to battle:


1. Pick out scriptures that mean something to you.


2. On Paper, print out several scriptures then cut each scripture out.


3. Tape the scriptures up anywhere you spend a lot of time.


4. Every time a scripture is in front of you, repeat it, and repeat it often.


Then: Pray and refocus


Also: Learn songs, it's easier for a melody to come in to your head.


The adversary is waiting to attack.  We have to be ready for conflict, so yes, study and memorize scriptures.

The Gift Of Parents

Parents are a true gift from God and they should be treated as so.

I was not the best teenager.  I suffered from anxiety and depression from as young as I can remember.  I had my first taste of alcohol when I was in the sixth grade, and I loved it.  It made me feel bold and out going.  I drank off and on through the next five years.

Between the 6th and the 8th grade, I could sneak wine or whiskey from my parents cupboard.  When I got into high school, I would ask people outside the liquor store in our town, to buy alcohol for me.  Getting the alcohol wasn't the problem, the big problem was how alcohol changed my personality.  I went from being a shy sweet girl, to a brat with a bad attitude.  Because of my attitude change, things changed in my home.  I had been very close to my parents, but drinking brought out all of my bad feelings, and I treated my parents horribly.  There was one time in those ten years that I will never forget.

My Dad was the most gentle, loving man that I have ever known, and my actions and my attitude never changed how he felt for me.

I was in the 9th grade.  I was drinking almost every day, self medicating.  My parents didn't know that I was drinking, they just knew that I wasn't acting like my old self.  This caused great friction between my Mom, Dad and me.  I started caring more for alcohol, then for my parents.  And then to top it off, I ran away from home.  I spent three days on the road.  I made it to the beach and that is where I got caught.  I got taken first to the police department, and then home.  I really didn't understand how much I was hurting my family, and at that time I didn't care.

While I was away, my dad, in an effort to find me, went to a hang out of mine.  He talked to some of my friends for the first time.  And after coming home from my adventure, I found out just how much my dad loved me.

I was in my bedroom when my dad came in and closed the door.  He had a serious look on his face.  He said, "How could you?"  I wasn't sure what he was talking about.  Then he explained that one of my friends had told him that I was adopted.  It was just a joke to me.  I thought it was funny to make up a story about not having any family.  What could it hurt.  Apparently, it hurt my father, deeply.  He started to cry.  I had never seen him cry before.  Even in the state that my heart was in from drinking, I was touched.  I had no idea that my father loved me so much.  I never meant to hurt that man.

I would like to tell you that I changed at that moment, but I didn't.  I continued to drink for two more years.  But the Bible tells us to, "Train a child in the way he should go and he will not depart."  Proverbs 22:6.  I did come back to the Faith and I did change.

Ephesians 6:1 says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise- that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on the Earth."

Three years ago, my dad became bed ridden.  He had so many health problems.  I had the opportunity to take care of him for his last six months of life.  I thank God for giving me that time with him.  I was able to show my dad just how much I loved him, he was a true gift from God.

T.V.

Ok, once in a while I just like to write something different


Why is this darn T.V.on
24 hours a day
Does anyone care what I think?
Or what I have to say?

Sit-coms, old movies, the sifi chanel
They all make me sick
And now it's time for Maury
He's giving me a tick

Is this really life?
This fake life passing by?
Keeping up with the Kardashians
I need a moment...sigh

Where have our minds gone
When we have no where to go?
Help, I'm being sucked up
Into this T.V. show!

Turn it off, just turn it off
And open up a book
But it's not all mindless chatter
I'm learning how to cook

ABC, NBC, CBS
What shall I choose?
Today I might watch Opra
What have I got to loose?

And I hate those happy endings
All that kissing and mushy stuff
It makes my stomach turn
I tell you, I've had enough

I should take a walk now
I'll turn off this T.V.
Oh, but E news is on!
Okay, just one more show you'll see!

Father-Teacher

My Dad, a Father, a teacher
Knowledge he earned through the years
I can smile as I think back
Then I blink away a few tears

Three years since he's passed
Into Heaven to wait
We will be together again
God only knows the time or the date

We really had a house full
Seven at home, when I was small
He taught me so many things
Though I wasn't the best child of all

Dad, older and wiser than me
Just knows the best way to teach
For him it came so natural
Though I was a little hard to reach

His hands were worn by years of work
I noticed as he pointed to the lawn mower motor
Fingers that are rough but strong
He said, "This is a spark plug, this is a rotor

His stature, tall and slim
He had my full attention
He said, "It works the same
As most any car engine"

Auto mechanics is one thing he taught
As Dad explained this working engine
I think of his dark hair, dark eyes
Then he pointed out the piston

The Lord made us in His image
Myself and my Dad, who I am a part of
I will always be his child
And filled with his undying love

The teacher with a huge heart
Is one more memory for me to hold
I pray for the happiness he possessed
As each new day unfolds

Authority

My oldest daughter, Christina, has a giving heart.  She also loves kids, so she volunteered to help out in the nursery on Sunday mornings, at Church.  She was young at the time, maybe fifteen, so she didn't have much experience with young kids.  I came to watch how she was doing, one Sunday morning.  What I noticed was that she was given the authority, by the Church, to take control of the kids, but she wasn't very good at exercising that authority.  She would say to them, "Everyone, please sit down and listen."  Or, "Please don't run, or climb on the tables."  But the kids did as they pleased, ignoring Christina, as they did what they wanted.  I watched as she stood in the middle of the commotion, trying her best to get them to listen.  She didn't stand her ground, she was unsure of herself, and the kids could sense that.  She didn't fully understand the authority that she had been given, and the kids ran around her, taking advantage of the situation.

A boy, Nicholas, the same age as Christina, was also given authority over the class.  I noticed that when Nicholas told the kids to do something, they listened and responded to him.  Nicholas exercised his authority by standing his ground with those kids.  Even though these kids were to young to understand respect, they gave this boy their attention, and did the things that he asked them to do.

Both Nicholas and Christina had equal authority, but these kids listened to the boy and not to Christina.  This situation got me thinking about Jesus, and the authority that He gave us as believers.  Like Christina, some of us are timid in using that authority, because we don't fully understand it.

In Matthew 10:1, Jesus called his twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits, also the authority to heal every disease and sickness, in His name.  In Matthew 18:18 and 19, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.  Again I tell you, that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my father in Heaven.  For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

It's been many years and Christina has graduated Collage, now.  Even though she lacked the cofidence to control her kids in the nursery, she has taken the time to develop the skills that she needed to control and teach a class of kids.  Nicholas, the boy in the nursery, understood and used the authority he had been given, in the same way some believers understand and use the authority Jesus has given us.  And like Christina, in the nursery, some believers have to learn and mature so they too can use the authority given them by Jesus.

After collage, Christina took a job at a day care facility.  She also worked there with young kids, the difference being she learned and understood the authority that she held, and she exercised that authority over the kids, and they did listen.

Matthew 28:18-20, "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everyone I have commanded you.  And surly I am with you always to the very end of the age." 

One Small Pie

I mashed the dough between my small fingers, and my mom reminded me, "Connie, don't play with that dough to much, it will make the crust tough."  So I shaped the dough into a ball, kind of, and I put it on a floured surface.  Mom helped me to hold the old heavy wooden rolling pin and made the ball into a smooth flat circle.  We somehow we got the flat circle into a little ceramic dish.

Mom cut the pealed apples into thin sections.  I picked each piece of apple gently up and delicately placed each piece into the dough covered dish.  Mom sprinkled some sugar and cinnamon on top of my creation, then she placed the mini apple pie into the hot oven along side two full sized pies that she put in before mine.

I wanted to plop down in front of the oven to watch my pie cook, but Mom told me to go out side while she cleaned up.  "I'll call you when it is done,"  Mom said.

I ran out into our patio to play with my dolls, but who could play at a time like this? I've never baked an apple pie before, I've never baked anything!  But today I just thought I would ask,"Mom can I help?"  I asked, and to my surprise, she brought out a stool for me to stand on and she handed me a bit of dough to actually make my own little apple pie.

I will never forget this, I thought to myself as I dressed my doll in a casual outfit that she could bake a pie in.  Then I re-enacted the baking scene with my mother doll and my half sized five year old doll.

"It's done!"  Mom called after what seemed like hours.  "Here it is,"  she stood holding my pie, dark hair, dark eyes, a beauty with a wide smile, and she was smiling at me.  I touched the pie, it was a little bit warm.  "It's been cooling,"  Mom said, then added, "It's almost time to eat dinner."

I made it through the baking time, now I just have to make it through dinner.  I could hardly stand it, I felt so excited.

Dinner seemed to lag on.  When it was done, we cleared the dishes before dessert.  I thought to myself that it was almost time!  I remember feeling such happiness, I could have been shining!

I walked over, picked up my little pie, the thing that I was so proud of, the thing that took up so much of my thoughts, today.

The little pie, it smelled so sweet, I cradled it in my small hands as I walked to the table and placed it in front of my mom and dad.  "I made this for you,"  I exclaimed.  They looked surprised, then delighted!  And me, I felt warm and satisfied.  The feeling of giving, there is nothing like it.  That is what I learned that day.

Acts 20:35, "Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'"