2010-Nothing but Blue Sky

The year will be over in a matter of minutes-never again. In some ways that deserves a big, THANK YOU, but if I stand on my head in the middle of the room, it looks differently, and I say- I'll miss you. That's the way it goes year after year. 2009 put me into a hard banked turn on a very big learning curve. I learned a lot and, in turn, curved my path. I think that covers the definition of learning curve. I ran off the road, over a median, and on to a new highway. The ride was a little bumpy for awhile, but I like the scenery I see popping up in my peripheral vision. I especially love the view out my front window because as far as I can see ahead in 2010- THERE'S NOTHING BUT BLUE SKY! That calls for a HAPPY NEW YEAR! What a lot to look forward to for all of us.

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans11:29

Peace.

Love, Linda 

Onyx Eggs and White Elephants-Thank you, Nikky

Nikky, you can host a houseful of people as if you were forty, not twenty-seven, and I am thankful for your wisdom, inventiveness, stick-to-itness, and hospitality. You have made my life easier because of your strong sense of responsibility. Tonight, we ate soup and breads and traded onyx eggs and white elephants. People were everywhere, kids were everywhere, food was everywhere, paper was everywhere, and you were everywhere.

I left your house with a "white elephant" box under one arm, a beautiful picture from Sally, a gifted book from Stacy, and a calendar for Darren from Calvin, a bag of sharing. I walked the half block home to my house full and thankful. The sky was incredible, the moon illuminated my path. God cherishes you and honors your love and your labor. Thank you, Nikky.

Words from Proverbs that remind me of you.

A child who loves wisdom makes a parent glad.

Discipline your children, and they will give you rest; they will give delight to your heart.

The wise woman builds her house.

Get wisdom;get insight;do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a fair garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

I am sure that if you had a tiara you could rule the world!

I love you.

Mom

Peace.

Waiting for Shannon

It's almost year's end, and even though life seems incredibly busy, there's still time to be made for one more holiday best, when sisters and nieces come from out of town, and little boys, brimming with car fever, pile out onto the driveway looking bigger and somehow wiser, and frazzled grownups pile out, too, looking a year older than they did ten hours prior. I find myself in a fragrant kitchen working frantically to get everything in place for dinner. I walk to the front door and stick my head out and look down the street once, then twice, then three times. On the fourth trip, I stop and admire the evening light settling in with a glow that mirrors the glow in the fireplace and the lit candles and the little Christmas tree still standing on a table in the living room and the love of family. As the light fades, I watch anxiously for a car that seldom comes down our street.

In our search for purpose and a meaningful relationship with God, we work through cycles of change. The ebb and flow of holiday traditions remind us of that. The decorated tree is down; the annual parade has marched past; the craft show has sold out; the school plays have dropped their final curtain, and the New Year is almost upon us, but not every milestone of 2009 is overturned, yet, because right now, I'm watching down the street anxiously-- waiting for Shannon.

From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live; so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him-though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.'  Acts 17:26-28

Thank You

 

When I look at the immense beauty of the sky, I sometimes hear the melodic voices of my high school chorus, traveling through years of winters singing, "And the glory of the Lord."  What comes next? "Shall be revealed."  Seven-fold Amen.

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.      Psalms137:1-3           

Peace.

Love, Linda

What's Bound is Bound...

Until you unbind your Christmas package and remove the colorful paper and maybe a bow, the present remains a stored treasure, a box full of potential fun or beauty or practicality. I might put a box in your hands that shames all other boxes, but if you don't open it, it remains bound up inside, a box of possibilities. The act of unbinding is in your hands, literally.

We bind many things on earth. The things we bind wrapped in tradition, such as marriage, birthday celebrations, and holidays are approached with fanfare and emotion, so we consciously know that they are binding. Some things are evidenced as bound by legal paperwork or special documents, such as contracts and wills. We know they are binding. However, sometimes we sign an agreement, without reading it, and we're shocked because we inadvertently find we have committed to something unknowingly. Does that mean we aren't bound to the agreement? It may take lawyers and courtrooms to decide, and the unbinding is usually not done with ease. Therefore, until a higher power says otherwise, we are bound. It behooves us to be careful of our bindings, especially since we are told that what we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and what we loose on earth is loosed in heaven. I think those words weigh heavily. On a scale much bigger than Judge Judy, we are accountable to a higher power for everything we've bound and unbound.

Exactly where is this heaven where all things are bound? I don't know, except it's where God is. I have hints from scripture that it's not just a place far away but here on earth and even within us. Could it be everywhere that God resides? Is there any place untouched by his presence? That is why I say the statement, "what is bound on earth..." is heavy- and binding. I think one way we bind things is through deeply felt prayers of emotion or deep, emotional communication, with or without words. The Bible tells us the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Effectual and fervent indicate deeply felt emotions. I would say to all, watch yourself. Deeply felt emotions connect directly with God, binding our will in the heavens. Make sure to bind what you want bound and to clearly unbind what you want unbound. That verse not only adds the creator God to the math, it also indicates the immense power given to each of us. I think in order to be more mindful of our heavenly agreements we should guard our thoughts and emotions by staying attuned to them. We may be wrapping and taping a box full of potential we had no intention of binding.

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18

Possibly a new perspective...                                                                                   Peace.                    Love, Linda  

What are you picking at?

Warning. Prepare yourself for a bit of gross in the first paragraph. When I was a teenager, I had acne. I knew it was bad when Daddy suggested I go to the doctor for it. We didn't go to the doctor unless we were near death.  I had a bad habit of "picking" my face. O.K., that's not a lovely thought, but there is a point here. I'm fifty-three years old, and to this day, I wear the tiny scars of my teenage "picking."

When I taught middle school my first year, I remember the shock I had at how many seventh and eighth graders "picked" on each other. They might start verbally sparring for fun, but inevitably, if it went on too long, it would end in a fight. There were some kids who gained power over others by constant picking. It's bullying and can lead to horrible consequences if not dealt with in a timely fashion. We see evidence of unbridled bullying on the news every night. It scars deeply.

Growing up, I lived next to a family that had two children, a boy and a girl. The girl was a year younger than me. I remember how the brother and sister "picked" on each other. Then, the mom would pick on the daughter and threaten her with a belt for picking on her little brother. It was a normal way of life for them. It was a daily, sometimes hourly, routine. I saw the daughter years later as a mother doing the same thing to her daughter, living with a belt sitting on the end table of her life. Picking scars spread, grow tissue, disfigure relationships, and sometimes give birth.

I'm trying to finish my state licensing paperwork for our shop, Midtown Cycles. It should have been completed weeks ago, but a regulatory consultant in Tallahassee keeps sending back my copy of an invoice for our business I had to have approved by the state. The first time he sent it back with a note saying that on my signature line I did not use 12 point font ( I used 10), so I had to redo it and send it back. I did, and he sent it back to me again. This time, he highlighted the word "signature" written in 12 point font, and he rejected my form because he indicated that it must not say signature. It must say "signed." Pick, pick, pick. I wonder who picks on him that he feels the need to pick. For that is the nature of picking;it begets picking, which, in turn, can create scarring. If unchecked,scarring can grow tissue that spreads, infiltrates, and binds.

So, I began to wonder why I was getting "picked on" believing that I "reap what I sow." As much as I don't want to admit it, I think I have some people in my life that I pick on. Just ask my husband. It's not blatant or nasty, but it's not necessary, just habit. It masks itself in defensiveness. Picking is contentious. It blocks the flow of freedom of the one picking and the "picked." In the words said often by an old neighbor I used to have, "It's not what God intended." God offers us the gift of faith, the antithesis of picking.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is,there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

Peace.

Love, Linda

Mama's Blessing

My sister,Martha, suggested I share this story with you. It's from my Christmas Collection. Mama is no longer with us as she was when I wrote the original. I lost my copy, and Martha scanned hers for me. I tried making it larger but had difficulty. I hope you can read it and share in our blessings.

Merry Christmas!

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the

world. John 1:9 

Peace.

Love, Linda

Christmas Eve 2009

Real "figgy" pudding tastes like Fig Newton's, only better. My son-in-law made it for dessert for our Christmas Eve dinner. I now have a visual for the second verse, at least I think it's the second verse, of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." I actually like figgy pudding. I couldn't write last night because of the mix up with my phone lines, but I am back on line again, and I wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas. Here's something from my Christmas collection.

The Sunflower
The cardinals and squirrels tipped the seeds out of the little wire feeder in my flower garden on to the mulch, and one seed decided to grow and keep growing ; then it stopped. It just sat in the sun for awhile, soaking up the rays and following the light with its shiny face. Then, one day, it started producing seeds by the hundreds when I blinked, so I harvested them and put them in a baggie in the bottom drawer of my refrigerator just so I could wrap them up in little, green filmy pieces of cloth to give away on Christmas day. I just couldn’t keep all those seeds for myself. I made little flower shaped boxes for the seeds and cut my pieces of green, filmy cloth and shiny ribbon. Then, I opened the drawer to the vegetable bin and took out the bag of seeds. They were molded, so I gave away empty, little flower boxes that year and learned a lesson about seeds, plastic bags and vegetable bins.
Merry Christmas!

What?Christmas is tomorrow? No way!

Come on guys! We gotta go shopping!

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 

Luke 2:78-79

Peace.

Love, Linda

a not so delicious layer cake

This was the task at hand:  Please take my home phone number (for 2823 Deerfield St.) 407-891-1333, and move it into a bundle with a new business account at 1206 Delaware Avenue,and replace my rerouted home phone number with a new number. I made first contact almost a week ago. I spoke with, let me see, one, two, three...nine different people. I spent approximately four hours on the phone with these different people. All of them were kind, and many sounded as if they were being helpful, but really, they were tossing ingredients in a big corporate bowl of layer cake. I was just a remote customer in one of Julie's cafe worlds who would eventually buy the cake because it was the most accessible and cheapest in town. I told them, and retold them, my story, and they told me what I wanted to hear and moved on to the next call. I sound as if I am complaining. I actually am a bit, but not really. My intent is to just discuss a societal illness using a personal anecdote. I felt lost in a not so very delicious layer cake that was only half baked.

Today, I spoke with a woman who really listened to me. She took time to break the whole scenario, that I had shared with eight people prior to her, into bite size pieces. She went back to the original recipe and realized that it was not a cake recipe at all;instead, it was a recipe for disaster. I just had to say that. O.K., too much drama, but it was a mess, so much of a mess that they had to dismantle everything that anyone had tried to do along the way, throw out all previous work orders, and start from scratch. Scratch cake always did taste better to me, especially when baked by someone who cares. This cake metaphor is getting a little sticky, but I think it expresses a point. It's getting late though, and I am not sure how to succinctly wrap the point up, so I'll just end with this. Thank you kind lady with the an accent that sounded like someone from Southern Ohio or Kentucky who took the time to listen to me closely, who cared enough about her job and customers to take action, and who was willing to admit that things had not been done correctly, buy they would definitely be fixed. If I could give you the totally baked and most delicious layer cake in the world award, I certainly would.

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else.   Galatians 6:4

And for some reason, the whole "number the people;don't number the people thing" in the old testament seems to connect to this societal ill somehow. This is from a section of 2 Samuel concerning "The Census Plague." Verse 10, "But afterward, David was stricken to the heart because he had numbered the people. David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, I pray you, take away the guilt of your servant; for I have done very foolishly."

I can't seem to get any pictures to upload tonight, so I just say to you, good-night and

Peace.

Love, Linda

A Very Special Gift

It's getting very close to Christmas. It even feels like Christmas today, but I've been working at the new shop so much that I've done little Christmas shopping, and I didn't make gifts this year as I usually do, but I did write a new poem, so this will be my gift to anyone who takes a moment to read it. I wish you all a peaceful, happy holiday.

 

A Special Gift

Entwine me in a holly wreath;

bind me as a bow.
String me on your Christmas tree;
let my presence glow.
Sing me for a carol;
share me as a kiss.
Pass me to your favorite friend,
a package wrapped with bliss,
a box that never empties,
a heart that overflows,
the gift of love for Christmas-
forever grows.

Peace.

Love, Linda 

Talk about BaLaNaCe

When I was in  high school, a very long time ago, I loved P.E. I took it four years in a row, voluntarily. Litigation didn't demand strict enforcement of rules as it does now. We used to run track barefoot and play soccer-barefoot. The bottoms of my feet were, and still are, thick like shoe soles. My toes were sometimes swollen from soccer kicks and hard shins, but shoes were still a no go. It was some kind of Florida rite to passage that I avowed to totally. Bare feet had disadvantages, but they had benefits, too. One of the benefits was the balance beam. I couldn't walk the beam very well in shoes, but I handled it much better barefoot. I could feel my balance and use my soles to keep me on the beam. Even then, I was never a gymnast, but I could walk the beam without falling off. I still find myself walking curbs occasionally. I like that simple challenge. Balance is of the utmost importance, but it seems it's seldom brought to the front of the class or put on stage for examination in our Western culture.

I read something today that spoke of animals as creatures of balance because they accept their "nowness." They follow the needs of the moment and let nature lead. They create balance in nature, when left to their own devices. Man, on the other hand, is always seeking and desiring change. We're wired that way. It's integral to that in us that makes us co-creators of our world, but it can create drives that make us loose balance. Hmmm... I' m not sure where to go with this. It's just a thought, talk about balance, but I know that for seventeen years, I was given a little, black and white dog, Abigail, that became an important part of my balance. She lived to literally stay by my side through motherhood, my father's death, cancer, marital strife, and Mama's death. Abby died two days after Mama. I knew Mama and Abby would die together because I saw them meet Daddy in a dream I had in the fall before their spring deaths. Abigail lived seventeen years, which was always my favorite number. Some things are just too coincidental to be an accident. That small animal created balance in my life.

I don't have another dog, yet, but I watch my daughter's dog, Beau, when she goes out of town. He's getting old. He's a big, over grown, smelly Rottweiler with bad skin. I love that dog. He's as calm as bath water and so simply adoring. He is the epitome of balance. This morning, early, I went to let him out since Nik was in Jacksonville. It was cold and clear, and he was unusually frisky and almost playful. When I left the house I stopped at the end of the driveway to take a picture of the rising sun...something else that gives me balance. It's time to wrap this up. I have a batch of Amish Friendship Bread coming out of the oven. Here's a final thought. There's a way we can all add balance to this frazzled earth. Live a life of love. Love is balanced.

So that no one can criticize you, live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Philippians 2:15

Peace.                                                          Balance.

Love, Linda

What's in Your Parking Lot?

The Winn Dixie parking lot is not extraordinary. There are black and red shopping carts, an assortment of cars and trucks, lines on the pavement, signs  for instruction and advertisement. It's blacktop and nondescript. 

Car's come and go, and if I'm not careful, I sometimes walk in the middle of the roadway, lost in thought, until the presence of an unyielding vehicle enters my consciousness, and I quickly move to the edge. Many others and I appear to hurry in and hurry out. Push the cart, push the groceries, push the cars to move, push, push, push. We get in our automobiles and drive home to rush the groceries into the house. Today, I unloaded the groceries, made a sandwich, emptied the dishwasher, and ate lunch, all at the same time. However, I did something before I got home that made my day a little brighter. 

In the parking lot, I was caught up in my world of pushing when the sky above the store caught my eye as I was loading the back of my car. I stopped what I was doing and got my camera off the front seat, and for just a few minutes, I looked at the sky- really looked at it.

I saw this...

and this at the parking lot.

My pause made me sky conscious, so before I unloaded the groceries, I walked around to my backyard for one last peek. I just had to look one more time, and I was not disappointed.

Height Words

For many reasons, the connotation of higher ground is, as far as I know, always positive. It may not be used during a positive experience. For example, "Move to higher ground" is probably an  indication that something is not quite the way it should be, but the actual "higher ground" is always the better place. The use of heights or higher ground is very biblical. I've seen "higher ground" phrases throughout the Bible, with a widespread inference that it is a protected place, a better place, a coveted spot. I like the idea of it so much that when I flip through my marked up Bible, I can find verses underlined or notes in the margin by words pertaining to being "lifted up" or "mighty rock," height words. The opposite lines used to indicate an undesirable state are words such as "I sink deep in mire." Mire is a bog or mud, and the term is used to indicate sinking, as in mud. That doesn't sound like something I want to do, so I put my focus on the heights.

One lyrical "height" verse I have  underlined in the book of Habakkuk is in chapter 3 verse 19. Habakkuk is a very short book that is difficult to spell even with the word zoomed in at eye level. Don't even ask me how to really say it because I have never ended it with anything that sounds like K. Verse 19 is the last verse of the book. It reads like this in my Bible:  "God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights." I like the idea of my feet being quick and graceful, not hoofed, and once again, if I am going to be somewhere special, I want it to be in the heights. The verse is, for me, a lovely thought. However, I read another version of the verse recently in a devotional book by Charles Stanley that gave me a brand new impression of Habakkuk 3:19. It's still a lovely thought, not because it makes me say, Ahhh...No, it's a lovely thought because it makes me laugh, and that is a wonderful thing, too.
Here is how it reads in his book. "The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.(heels?)" What's your visual on that?  lol

From Mary's Collection

Peace.

Love, Linda

A Christmas Sky

Note: The new batch of bread is very lively! I'll have two bags two share in a few days. Who wants dibs?


It's been a long, busy day, and I'm sharing something from my Christmas collection. It's a reminder to me since Darren and I have been so busy setting up Midtown Cycles. It's time to stop and linger in God's presence for awhile.

Under a Christmas Sky

Crystal strings of silent, white sheep

transverse sparkling blue,

a Christmas sky

inexhaustible for anyone who stops-

who looks up-

who lingers.

Yet, sorrow still stirs and hunger abounds.

Listen, to the sounds of the struggling season;

Yet, laughter still fills this place with its sounds

under a Christmas sky,

a giveaway for everyone who stops-

who looks up-

who lingers.

Teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Peace.

Love, Linda 

Justice for All

I was flipping through my Bible looking for an idea for today, and I read this verse. It's in Exodus 23:2. It's in the section of Exodus where social and religious laws are being introduced. Although I am  a bigger fan of the New Testament (but I love Psalms), the laws were established to give us a guideline for loving one another. Mankind needed them. I thought it was interesting and worthy of a place of its own. It reads:

You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing;when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice.

I know that verse captivated me because I am involved in an arbitration with many supporters and no support. I am not judging anyone for this because I love my friends and family and do not want them distressed; however, I feel for them. I have no regrets for my actions. That is a clean, burden free feeling. I would repeat my actions again because I know I was speaking up for what I believe is truth for our students in the situation, and I even had the "beloved" data to back me up. I have research and "best practices" to back my position and years of experience, also. However, I was shut away from my peers for sharing my views, and my position was cut out completely. I want peace for myself and my quiet supporters. That's why I rarely speak of the situation any more in social settings or in my blog, but that verse said to me in a very strong voice, share me.

 

Mary's white Christmas. 

This is my brother-in-law, Ron!

That's NO AIR snowball!!!

and this is my sister, Mary. Love you, Mary.Thanks for the beautiful pictures. Happy Holidays!

 Peace.

              Love, Linda

I'm Dreaming of an Orange Christmas

God IS Love

The first two pictures on the left are my front yard before I mowed it yesterday afternoon. Do you see the difference between them and the third picture farther down the page? Look closely. It's not as easy to notice in a photo, but I  notice it. Look at the clean lines of the edged sidewalk in the last picture. It's not as if the first pictures are bad in any way. The yard is still relatively neat, but I notice the difference. I feel great satisfaction after mowing grass because of the immediate gratification of the finished product. I can look at my handiwork and say to myself, the grass looks nice. If I get such a sense of fulfillment from mowing the grass to exemplify its beauty, imagine how God felt when he completed his work creating the vast heavens and earth, phase I. Imagine what he felt like the first time he created man and looked at his handiwork.  Now, imagine how he felt when he first looked at you and saw that his work was good. 

We live in a society fraught with fault finders and proponents of negativity. I here extremely "religious" people promote a God,who the Bible says IS love, as a negative fault finder who has somehow been recreated in our image. We spend an inordinate amount of time feeling guilt, inferiority, and depression in America. We read the "love" chapter, I Corinthians 13, at countless weddings, yet I'm not sure we connect those words with the creator God who abides in us. God is love. These are characteristics, according to I Corinthians 13, of God:

Love(God) is patient;love(God) is kind;love(God)is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Love (God) does not insist on its own way; love(God) is not irritable or resentful. Love(God) does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. Love(God) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love(God) never ends. Chapter 13 begins with these beautiful words, "If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love(God), I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal."  Maybe that's why much of the media sounds so loud.                                                                                                 

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 1 John 4:16b

Peace.

Love, Linda

Natural Beauty

This morning was special because I spent the start of the day on the back porch and in the back yard-still. I haven't had many chances to be still lately, or should I say I haven't made many opportunities to be still. The fog layered across the field behind the house like a storybook picture. The morning light began to break across the yard waking the birds. The old oak filled with tiny sparrows and even my little, shy cardinal showed up for a split second while I was in the yard. The second picture is my attempt to capture him on film. He was right up in those branches. As you can see, he got away again.

I did capture a lovely shadow shot in the early morning light of a baby woodpecker that visits every day. He poses beautifully. He doesn't have a bit of stage fright. Shortly after this shot, he flew to the tree next door and overtook the territory of a scolding squirrel that was three times his size. They had a verbal debate. Then, the squirrel gave up the seat and ran down the tree. That "pecker head" (a favorite phrase of my father-in-law) has real leadership potential.
 
I sat quietly and listened to the voices of the birds. 
What melody! I wish I could share that with you. 
They had practiced all week, I think, for their Sunday solos.  
It's incredibly easy to miss God's presence in our daily life when we miss his natural beauty.This IS the day that the Lord has made;let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24

Peace.

                                                      Love, Linda

The Bread is Back and a Wish for You- All in One Post

 Note: I brought back a picture of my Amish Friendship Bread because THE BREAD IS BACK! Thanks to Vivian (or not) I now have a new batch, day two, of Amish friendship bread starter. I asked for it because I long for it again;however, time will tell how this relationship will turn out. The last endeavor was fraught with drama. This one is off to a great start. I brought home my starter in a butter container (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. Of course, it's not. It's bread starter) and I set it on the kitchen counter. It had a few hours in a warm car while I was in cantata practice, which may be part of the reason for the explosion. No need for alarm. The starter is fine. I was in the office looking at something on the computer when I heard this strange, loud POP! I ran to the location of the noise, the kitchen, and looked around. I couldn't see a thing awry until I noticed the lid to the I Can't Belief It's Not Butter Container NOT on the container but on top of my toaster about a foot away. I think THIS is going to be the batch of all batches! I bet after eating a warm, buttery piece of  this pending bread, we will have big muscles! It will be completed around Christmas, so watch out. You may be the recipient of its spawns.

And now on a calmer note-something from my Christmas collection.

Sunday Morning Wishes  
tick…tick…tick…
flickering flames, soft candlelight
and that long, s l o w cup of
white coffee while sitting on
the cordovan recliner.
tick…tick…tick…
The clock.
Snap, crackle, but I won’t say
the other word,
or I might take you to another place
besides my safe, warm living room.
The fire.
The whir of the icemaker just stops,
and the ice behind the scenes
transforms in quiescence…
(I once saw these words on a
Popsicle box,
quiescently frozen confection.)
Silently.
I think and write, 
suddenly, prayers well up in my heart,
prayers for peace, and prayers that
this Christmas season will be filled
with love that opens our
hearts to laughter,
and our eyes
to the good in each other.
tick…tick…tick…

Return,oh my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. Psalms 116:7

Peace.
Love, Linda

Writing for Peace and for Prosperity

I"m sitting at a newly assembled desk in an office that's barren and cold right now, but not for long. We're working on making our new business a warm, friendly and efficient place. I just finished starting a new blog for Midtown Cycles. I'm thinking about what needs to be on that blog, but I am at the initial stage, so I don't know for sure what to include.  I just know I need to get us "out there."  Today, I got the sight up and introduced us to the world. Probably not much of the world, yet. That will come. It's my blogging for prosperity, and I like doing it because it will promote a shop that I know will bring us good, solid income.  The building of something new and watching Darren fulfill a dream is icing on the cake.

However, the time I spend blogging for "prosperity," is not the passionate endeavor for me that "Dear Friends" has become. I am grateful today for this amazing world of technology that allows me to market our business on a forum that is incredible in its potential for expansion, and even more, I am thankful for the ability to share daily with my friends writings that hopefully inspire lovely thoughts,blogging for peace. That's my new favorite past time. Thanks for sharing it with me.

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those, who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  Luke 1:78-79                                                                      

Peace.

                                          Love, Linda

If you give a late professor with a doctorate twenty minutes...

I'm a teacher;although, I no longer actively teach as a career. This blog is part of my gift on paper. I do it because it feels right. Sometimes I get a niggling thought for the blog in the middle of the night when I wake up to pad off to the bathroom. I'm fifty-three. The trips have become more frequent. O.K. too much. Anyway, that thought will stay with me throughout the day and pop back in my mind periodically. However, I try not to obsess about it. I try to stay involved in the activities of the day. It's a miracle my brain hasn't exploded, previously, with the  swirling energy of worries, irritations,responsibilities, and creative ideas all fighting for what I once believed was a closed, limited space between my two ears. Now, I try more often to allow my creative outlets to happen. You can tell by that last sentence I'm not fully there because I'm not sure I can use "try" and "allow" in the same breath, obviously a work in progress. I find that if I trust the message to be there some time during the day, and I promise myself I will write it every day, it will come. I 'm not grading the message right now, just commenting on it's origin.

In spite of the fact I teach and follow other "teachers" I value greatly, we are only messengers. The origin of, for the sake of this piece I'll call it "universal truth," comes from a source that needs no human voice, yet uses them often. It states in the Bible that we are taught by God. It tells us to listen to his voice. It reminds us that we have an advocate that will lead us to all truth. That's deep. Just writing it made me pause and hold my chest for a moment as if I wanted to grab hold of that teacher and say, "Speak a little louder to me more often. I don't listen very well at times!" Where does that voice reside? In me. Are you thinking about this? I mean really thinking about it? If you are, it's O.K. to stop and contemplate it awhile. I did while writing this, and I just want to say thank-you to my teacher.

The advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. John 14:26

As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it taught you, abide in him. 1 John 2:27

Peace.

                                                          Love, Linda

                         

Connected to the Source

You may remember a time when you were starting a new project, whether small or large, the tangible was probably more in the mind than in reality at the onset. That's where we were just a few short weeks ago when we started to build Midtown Cycles of St. Cloud. We actually began with the space you see full of one man's treasures which we moved next door. Then we made it to this point in development. We are now getting closer to our goal, but we are not there, yet.

When we first started working, we had to use a generator for our power source. Every job was just a little more complicated due to starting the generator, tolerating the noise, making sure it had gasoline, dragging around cords. Now we are connected to the city's power source. We walk in the door, flip on a switch, plug in a machine, life is simple. Why? We've got the BIG power now. Isn't that just the way it goes. Life is simpler when we're connected to the real source of BIG power. In a few weeks, after more thoughtful organization, planning, and purchasing, we will be on our way as a real business. Then, we will use our connections to connect to others. That's when business flows.

For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. Hebrews 4:2

                                                                           Peace.

                                         Love, Linda

Praying for Yesterday?

If you read my previous blogs, you may have come across the book title The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggert. I am slowly working my way through it since Darren and I are building out a shop for our new business, Midtown Cycles, and it's taking a lot of our time. I may be making slow progress to the last page, but every time I sit down and read that book, it makes me think. I like that in a book. Today, I read about a scientist, Leibovici, who did an experiment very meticulously to debunk the idea of using the scientific method to study prayer. He did a tightly controlled experiment on the effect of prayer on hospital patients with the same illness, looking at death rate, quickness of recovery, and length of fever. The group that was prayed for suffered fewer deaths but not enough to be of statistical significance, but, wait, this is a big BUT,(don't be silly, that has two t's) there was a very significant difference in the time it took to heal, duration of fever, and hospital stay for those who were prayed for, AND, this is weird, his "pray-ers" prayed for people that were ill between 1990-1996 in the year 2000. The results caused Leibovici all kinds of grief, and he tried to emphasize that he had proven his point, but too many people were looking at his discovery and saying, Hmmm.... I certainly did. It really doesn't surprise me because the whole idea of time being a linear movement forward is no longer  scientifically based. It's just something our brains find comfortable to live with because we look at cause and effect in that order, and it fits our limited views of the universe.

Along that line, I bring you Acts 3:19. "Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out." O.K., when did your sins happen? Before now? How can you wipe out something that no longer exists? Or does it? If so, where does it exist? I won't keep going. It's getting late. Just something to think about along the same lines as Leibovici's experiment.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8

                                                                           Peace.
                                      Love, Linda

No doubt about it...

Once upon a time, the Oliverio's went on a trip to Montreal Canada in a blue rented van. We traveled up the Eastern coast visiting tourist sites along the way. We dashed around Washington D.C. and made our way north to Niagra Falls. We stopped at Hershey Pennsylvania and traveled through the chocolate factory and ate fluffy pancakes with real homemade strawberry ice cream on top at Crowder's Dairy Restaurant. We visited  the battlefields in Gettysburg. We stopped at my friend Mary Beth's house in a tiny town in New York while she wasn't home and turned all of her furniture around to face the walls. Then we left for Niagra Falls. We rode on an omnibus in Montreal, and I will never forget Nikky, then four, running into the bathroom after turning on the television in our hotel room yelling, "Mom, Gargamil put a curse on the Smurfs,and they all talk funny."

It was an adventure, and as adventures sometimes go, it had its edgy moments. We were chased through the mountains of Pennsylvania late at night by a crazed tow truck driver. I remember praying out loud over and over for God to save us. We got stuck in traffic on the belt around D.C. with a four year old who had to go to the bathroom. We stayed in Montreal during a flash flood and the lobby of our hotel flooded. We followed a detour off a country rode in French Canada that had no route returning to the main highway, and none of us spoke enough French to ask directions. Somehow, we ended up in Syracuse, New York and ate wonderful pizza and drank cokes with real ice. I remember the trip vividly, and through it all, God was with us. He always is- through the fun and the frenzy. What remarkable assurance.

Do not fear or doubt, for God is your guide. 
2 Esdras 16:75





                                                       Peace.
                               Love, Linda

Light Exposure

Note: Look in the column to the left of today's blog. After the first day a blog is published, if you want to read  a recent post, you will find it there. If you want to comment or read comments, click on the "No comment," and it will bring up a screen for you to share your views. Older posts can be found in "Archives." Thank you for visiting Dear Friends.

This morning it was crisp and clear. The sky was incredible, and it felt and looked like Florida winter. The morning sun revealed a bit of heaven itself today. I cannot imagine living without that beautiful light. 

A few weekends past, I was eating Saturday afternoon lunch and watching the History channel in the living room. It was a special on scientist working at, I think it was, the South Pole. O.K., I didn't take notes. They lived inside of a giant enclosure and only saw artificial light for months on end. I'm glad we're made differently and some people have a tolerance for dark because I'm sure they learned something significant while there that will probably enhance living for mankind;however, it will not be me that answers the call of the frozen, dark wild. 

Certain natural light exposure gives me a feeling of closeness to nature and God. Sometimes, I feel as if a fissure is in the wall of the universe, and I have been given a special sneak preview. I like to think that makes me special. I would wrap that feeling up and give it to anyone who has not experienced it, if I could. I hope when you read this, you will watch for it, too. When it happens to you, share it with a friend. Hey, I think I just started a multilevel marketing program. What will we call it? Have a remarkable day!  

                                                                                                           
Those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God. John 3:21 
 

A Time for Angels

Christmas time is angel time. No matter what happens throughout the year, we come back to angels at Christmas. For most of us who grew up in church, angels were as much a part of Christmas as baby Jesus. They were heralds of his birth, and pictures in our stories.They were creatures we took for granted with very little investigation and no questions asked. If you ask a random group of people what they think of angels,  I am sure the answers will vary, but I bet in every crowd, someone has an event they witnessed or were a part of that they profess involved an angel.

I remember a day in my early twenties when I was leaving my parents house on California Avenue in St. Cloud. I backed out of the driveway and headed north. Not even a block from the house, a little girl on a bicycle rode straight out of the side street in front of my car. I closed my eyes and slammed on the brakes. I knew I had hit her because there was no way I could avoid her, but I didn't feel it or hear it. My hands gripped the steering wheel;my whole body shook. I looked up, but she wasn't in front of me. She was already on the other side of the rode and headed away from my car. I think an angel saved us both that day. Just as I know a creator God exists; I know angels exist. I won't argue the point with anyone because we all choose our beliefs, or at least, I believe we should. However, I am happy I believe in angels, and I am glad that we remember angels at Christmas. I think they deserve a little more press.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Psalm 34:7

Peace.

Love, Linda