Father Time

You wanted to see the world,
but at 8 you couldn't leave the yard.
At 16, you had no car.
At 21, you had no money.
At 34, you had no baby-sitter.
At 50, Father Time tells you it's too late.
And you tell him to eat your dust!
   ... from 1995 issue of Good Housekeeping
    
I ripped the Ginkgold advertisement from the 1995 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. I was a little over 50 years old and knew it wasn't too late. I would tell Father Time to "eat my dust."

Feeling like I had enjoyed every stage of my life, I still wanted more. I wanted to walk, run, travel, have new experiences, meet people, make new friends.

Now, some 15 years later, I have had more time to walk, run, travel, have new experiences....; however, I still am eager for more. I am thankful for my new experiences; I am also thankful that I am eager for more. It indicates a zest for living, and I embrace this.

We have a God-given desire to be purposeful, validated, relevant for His kingdom. Perhaps this is why we are always looking for something else. .... and we will keep looking until Our Creator takes us to a heavenly home where we are no longer searching for purpose and relevance. Until, then, tell Father Time to eat your dust.

Words, Words, Words....

Be careful of the words you say                           
Keep them soft and sweet
Because you never know from day to day
Which ones you'll have to eat.


I wasn't thinking of K. McCarthy's words when I wrote "Poppycock." When perusing the dictionary one afternoon, my pointer finger landed on poppycock, and I was amused.  Such a funny sounding word with connotations worth exploring that I determined to write a poem.  Other fun words came to mind:  nonsense, staccato, babbling, swelling, blazing, blather . . .

                            Poppycock

They sit with potbellies

Cups of tepid coffee

And comrades

(They think)

Fellow soldiers

In the fight against apathy

Stirring emotions

With opinions about everything

Speaking nonsense

                                             In blatant staccato

                                            Babbling, gloating, swelling

                                            With empty talk

                                           Becoming contagious

                                          Everyone expounding

                                            No one listening

                                            Blazing with blather.

Words.  Some, simply because of their sounds, are more entertaining than others:  huggermugger, haberdashery, cantankerous, gobbledygook, snollygoster, widdershins, whippesnapper, bloomers--to name a few.

Looking for children?

These are real words.  Huggermugger connotes a contradiction--threatening and cuddly at the same time; whereas, the real meaning in its verb form is to keep secret. Snollygoster is a mythical creature that  preys on children and poultry-- or an unprincipled but shrewd person.

Reading Dr. Seuss to grandchildren, I realized the blast Seuss had with language--using comical combinations and creating new. . .

                                        

Poppycock?  I don't think so . . .

Crunk-car

Ga-zoom!

Googoo goggles
Ichabod is itchy
Zike-bike

. . . and, decided to try a tale on my own . . .

An Incomplete Fairy-y Tale

While attaching the orange cummberbund around her tiny waist and a bright bauble at her neckline, Splenda felt the collywobbles in her tummy.  Being awkward in social situations, she wondered why she had allowed her sister, Higgle, to finagle her into attending Spillville's annual hootenanny.

A soft moan escaped her lips; Splenda remembered: Higgle had not been asked by anyone.  Not wanting to show up alone-- no one did that!--Higgle had niggled Splenda until she finally said yes.

Doodling with the curls that drooped at her neckline, Splenda slumped on the bed feeling downright despondent as Higgle waltzed into her room.

"Ready?" she demanded.

Higgle's bouffant was blanketed with various ribbons.  Bloomers peeped beneath her razzamatazz skirts.  Her winkle-pinchers produced a gait Splenda had not previously witnessed in her sister.  Nincompoop came to mind.  Splenda wanted to giggle.  Giggle at Higgle?  She could not.

Nor could she say anything.    

****

 

 Speaking, communicating, sounding with lips and vocal chords--amazing what we can do?  Entertain, tease, share, comfort, explain, complain, compromise, love . . .

 God cares about your words.

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, 

sweet to the soul 

and

healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

And, sometimes, it is best to use no words at all--as was the case with Splenda.

During these moments of stillness, 
 you will often sense the infinite love

and power of your Creator--and, 

He, in turn will speak directly to your heart.  

(Day 12, 365 Daily Devotions for Women)

***

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Psalm 46:10

Have a fun week with loving words be they entertaining, kind, or compassionate...

 

He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not

How was your Valentine's Day?
A week has passed since.
Were you thrilled, surprised,
disappointed with the gift, attention,
or lack thereof?

He loves me; he loves me not.... comes to mind.





Each of us is so human that loving consistently and selflessly is difficult. Human-love has its ups and downs... he loves me; he loves me not.

However; God-love is different:
 He loves me; he loves me; he loves me.
You get the point.
With God-love there are no ups and downs; it is unconditional; it is sure.

Still with me. If you have time; read the "love" letter below. I discovered it years ago in a Christian magazine...

Dear Friend,

How are you? I just had to send you this letter to tell you how much I love and care about you....  I waited all day long, hoping you would talk to Me. As evening drew near, I gave you a sunset to close your day and a cool breeze to rest you, and I waited . . .

I saw you fall asleep last night, and I longed to touch your brow, so I spilled moonlight upon your pillow and face. Again, I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk. I have so many gifts for you.

You awakened late and rushed off for the day. You looked so sad, so alone. It makes my heart ache because I understand. I try to tell you in the quiet green grass; I whisper it in the leaves and trees, breathe it in the colors of the flowers. I shout it to you in the mountain streams, and give the birds love songs to sing. I clothe you with sunshine and perfume the air. My love for you is deeper than oceans and bigger than the biggest want or need you have.

We will spend eternity together in heaven. I know how hard it is on this earth.  ... and I want to help you.  ...  Just call Me, ask Me, talk to Me; it is your decision. I have chosen you, and because of this, I will wait. . . Because I love you.

Jesus

Considering Emotional Intelligence

The first intelligence test was created in 1905 by Alfred Binet and Théophile Simon to determine which French school children were too “slow” to benefit from regular instruction.  Scary? ... too "slow" to  benefit from regular instruction?    
 

 

The IQ test still exists for varying reasons and is given in a number of ways; however, the EQ test is a newer concept, and there is no standard test that I know of to determine it. Thank goodness!

 

EQ, or emotional intelligence, refers to relationship skills and includes things like compassion, self-awareness, self-control, stress management, and optimism.

 

Our IQ test is somewhat fixed due to heredity and environmental influences at a young age. However, our EQ can be improved.

 

Jesus not only modeled EQ but he desired for us to do so.

 

 Galatians 5:22,23 speaks of the fruits of the Spirit being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. .. and vs 25 . . .

 

 since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

 

Sound emotionally intelligent to you?

           

                                                           

Echo Words

 

 
 


An echo is a word or phrase coming back to the listener --after the first word or phrase is spoken.

As a child, we had fun echoing in an empty room, in a canyon or valley-like area.


Words from the past that have hurt badly enough to never be forgotten sometimes "echo" in our brains when we find ourselves in an empty room, isolated. Or, in the valleys or canyons of our lives.

We've accepted these words in shame. Or, we fight back and attempt to destroy the thrower with words of our own--more echoes. Both unproductive.

How do we stop it? Staying out of the canyons and valleys of our lives seem like an obvious solution. However, sometimes we land in these places without warning, unaware: those closest to us hurt us with words---perhaps due to their own pain and hurt.

It happens. No immunity, here. When we do end up in this place, it helps to know that God feels your pain, He sees your pain, He knows it, He cares.

 

He asks you to respond as He would: With LOVE...

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

The idiom, wake up and smell the coffee, is used when someone is misdirected or uninformed and may need encouragement to re-think a possible stance. Personally, I enjoy a good cup of coffee in the morning. It doesn't have to be Starbucks; my Kuerig One-Cuper makes a fine cup. The aromatic smell of coffee, itself, got me started. I just finished a Guatemalan Coffee Pods pack and want to keep the package just to smell it.

If you google coffee-history, you'll find words like Ethiopia, monastery, the 15th century, and lively birds. Obviously, another topic for another time.

In a recent conversation with a friend, over a cup of coffee, she shared that she was a Christian (sort of), but didn't know if she believed in this heaven/hell stuff. I stifled a wince. I have recently been reading/listening to a Beth Moore Bible study on Daniel. Yes, the Daniel of-the-Lion's-den. You may remember that Daniel interpreted King Nebuchanezzar's dream. This dream covered the times to come for them and for us. Thousands of years of history have recorded the fulfillment of this prophecy. Who are we to think that the rest would not possibly come true?

Yes, God's kingdom will come and fill the whole earth.

Wake up and smell the coffee!

Questions With No Answers

 I've asked a couple of questions recently... ones that were easy to answer.

How/when do you pray?

Do you remember your first sin?

I'm winding up with two--

       questions that are very connected.

What is unsolved in your heart?

 What questions have you locked away?

 

It seems that all the why, what for, when, how, where questions that rumble around inside our heads are connected to issues that are unsolved in our hearts. For me some of the unanswered questions I have, I have had for years, even decades.

 

I have to remind myself that God's understanding is not my understanding. How could I possibly "get" something that the Creator of the Universe "gets."

 





Rainer Maria Rilke wrote ... be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and... try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue...

This is a rather interesting way to consider what is unsolved in our hearts, our locked-away questions. Dear friends, life is a mystery. Chapters unfold in sometimes scary, sometimes incredible ways. But, God's finger is on everything. So: trust.