If you wore a WARNING sign that could be read by everyone who meets you and would warn them of something they should know about you, what would it say?
Beware of flying foot, destination mouth.
It’s hard to eat crow with foot in the mouth.
Today’s Writing Prompt: Warning
It Was
Moving on is about accepting what happened, not absolving it… You will mourn. Moan and groan and grieve. You are supposed to cry about these things. Kathryn L. Robyn
September 11, Essay Hug, Love, Live
2Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
The simple question continues to echo through my mind hours later.
“What is it, Mommy?” my nine-year-old daughter, Katherine, asked. “What
is it that makes some people do something so awful! What is it?”
The day was dawning as she questioned me. We were standing in
our front yard, the sky turning from grey to blue as we prepared
to take her to school. She looked up at me, her deep blue eyes
round, her innocent face expectantly waiting for an answer. Her
expression said “Mommy will know the answer. My Mommy can
take care of anything.”
I paused, looking towards the sky. The same sky that had just
carried passenger planes turned weapons of destruction plowing
into American targets. Targets I had seen personally. Targets I
could remember being built as a child in New Jersey. Targets that
are visual icons of New York and Washington, DC.
“Fear. Hatred. Misunderstanding. And the desire to keep people in
fear, hatred and misunderstanding.” I looked at my daughter, who
at nine is wise beyond her years. She was slowly nodding. I
continued: “People know if you are afraid, you can not feel love.
If you can not feel love, you can not feel peace. These people do
not want us to feel peace or love. They want to control us. We
won’t let them do that, though, will we?”
In a very short conversation, Katherine had brought my resolve
firmly back to me. She reminded me of a very important lesson
that lives deep within me. In the moments after I heard of the
devastation that was occurring so close to where I had grown
up, I was frightened to the point of near hysteria. I paced,
frantically worried about my children, my friends, my safety, my
country, my world.
Katherine reminded me that I could not feel fear AND feel love
at the same time. As I listened to reports from survivors, I heard
gratitude in their words. I heard an unusual peace. I heard light
among the tragedy.
We can love as we grieve the senseless loss of so many lives. We
can love as we pray. We can love as we donate time, blood and
money to the Red Cross and other charitable organizations. We
can love as we talk to complete strangers as we sort out our own
feelings about the tragedy. We can love as we hug our children,
friends and neighbors. We can love as we take an extra moment
to simply feel grateful for each breath. For each moment. For each
person whose lives we touch positively. We can love as we put
one foot in front of the other. We can love as we choose to trust.
We can love as we serve our fellow world citizens.
Later this afternoon I was with Emma, my four year old daughter at
the park. She came to me and I gave her a big hug. She looked at
me and stated simply: “A plane flew into a building. Lots of people
died. Lets talk about it”.
So we did. Plainly and with the vocabulary of a preschooler we
talked about what had taken place in New York City. She went
back to playing.
She returned to me and said, “Mommy, give me a nice big hug so
the bad guys can’t get me.”
So I did. Hug. Love. Keep the bad guys away. And when the bad
guys come anyway remember to hug. To Love. To trust. To feel
peace deep within you.
Hug. Love. Live.
July 07, 2005 Julie Jordan Scott
September 7, Evening Tidbit
Your best friend is the one who is your friend without expecting anything.
Grace for the Day
Writer Marjorie Holmes’s prayer, “Just for Today”.
Oh, God, give me grace for this day.
Not for a lifetime, for for next week, nor
for tomorrow, just for this day.
Direct my thoughts and bless them,
Direct my work and bless it.
direct the things I say and give them blessing, too.
Direct and bless everything that I think and speak
and do. So that for this one day, just this one
day, I have the gift of grace that comes from your presence…
Grace is available for each of us every day–our spiritual daily bread–but we’ve got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and try not to worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow. There will be.
Simple Abundance, Sarah Ban Breathnach
Not too big to sit on my Lap
August 25 was A1’s birthday. He was 11 years old. I was there when he was born, I fell in love immediately. He was 8 or 9 and sitting on my lap when I asked him how old he would be when he was too old to sit on my lap. He thought for a while and then said, when I am 12. I only have one year left. Maybe he’ll forget his time limitations.
August 30, Evening Tidbit
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t
Today’s Writing Prompt: Break
What item you own do you secretly wish would break so you could upgrade it?
I have had my set of cornell plates for years, how I would like a new set of dishes.
Committed
A week ago I was given some information about a situation that greatly affects me. As it stands, my plan for purchasing a house this year is on hold. When this was brought to my attention at first I was devastated. What was I going to do now? If I didn’t purchase before the end of November I won’t be able to take advantage of a tax credit. The housing prices are rising and I won’t be able to purchase for a long time. This dream seemed to have crashed to the ground and shattered in a million pieces…
But then the Lord came to me and asked if it was committed. Why yes the house is, the house on Merton was, but I had to work on getting the dream of a house by the end of this year committed, any house. As I worked the better part of that evening to get it all committed, the Lord brought such a great peace and comfort. I don’t have to be worried. And the prayer that I have prayed through this whole situation of, “Lord where ever, when ever and for how much” God knows what we can handle and if our desire is to be in his will, even if it is different than our own, he will give that grace and peace to be able to stand where he wants us to stand.
I am thankful to say that it is committed, the house on Merton, a house by November 31 and a house by the age of 25…God knows and will provide. If it is his will for me to have a house by any of these standards than it will be his miracle and he will definitely get all the honor and glory. If it isn’t his will, than we will just wait and see what it is, I am sure that it is destined to be the best for me and all those that are involved.
As for my offer on the house, I am not going to pull it, God is a big God. If it is his will, he will work it out. If it isn’t, he will work that out to. I just have to sit back, wait patiently and trust that whatever the outcome, it will be perfect.
Thoughts of Grace 