Forty Plus Miles

           I watch them fall, memories that remain only in me. "Leaves" in a tired soul falling from a worn tree, worn but sturdy still. I watch life change in the old "rings" of my trunk most know as a body. I see the days pass and the hard "seasons" of years fall dead in the present.            I look once more, slowly taking in the painful change of living and the sun rises and shines upon me, good is plain to see when light shines on it and I look upon it; I must remember to be willing to look though. Slowly new memories sprout as "leaves" upon the days and moments I live, colorful and inspiring they remind me, (this aged tree of a life) to hope again...for where you are planted you can always start new with the days given you. Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), plea...

  Note About The Piece Below: recently as I walked through some difficult emotions there was a grace upon it, and with that God-given grace there was a better understanding that sometimes it's okay to be in those emotions (sadness, discontent, etc.) as long as we don't stay there, and they aren't given power over us. Some much darker emotions we NEVER walk through, NEVER GIVE power to (such as hate that gives way to abuse, rage, etc. ). Yet more common ones (such as sorrow) can teach us the value of joy and actually solidify what is good. We all need release of these more common unpleasant emotions. This piece demonstrates that. This is someone's...."permission", that if you're not okay right now, it's okay; just don't stay there. You.can.overcome.         Chasms call and I'm left to wander, wander for a time through the darkness. Chasms cry out to me, invite me in, to walk their dark valleys and pits. The darkness bids me enter and stay a whil...

  One line of five times, Nearing a new form to write, Each line showing steps. Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support! 

       Courage, in the face of adversity. Courage, when fear says to back down, says to run.....but I wouldn't, not this time; there was too much at stake. It would've been easy, but nothing would change (and it needed to change somehow). Our purpose is a mysterious thing, and I needed to fulfill mine, needed a life change, so I stood my ground and continued on.        I knew it would come at a price, that I'd have to face alot. I also knew, however, that the price paid would be worth it, that life needed to change for growth. This is where I set out. I walked for what felt as years, through the mists, my footsteps the only visibility known for days on end. I climbed mountains, ones that terrified me and made me question myself. Capable was not a word in vocabulary then that would describe me, until I made way through these treacherous climbs. I forded rivers and rafted across lakes with what I could find. I never knew I was capable of such feats!...

  A Note About The Piece: When working yesterday, I was considering a right and Godly attitude. I was reflecting on how it's easy to get focused on ourselves in all seasons of life (an unhealthy approach to life). It was then these words started appearing in my mind; this creed or declaration of what my family and I will do IN ALL SEASONS of life: we WILL worship, give glory to Jesus (the fact that it's all written in W words is simply a God-given added bonus).  When (A Poetic Experiment) When we wrestle, we will worship. When we wane, we will worship. When weak, worn, wholly worn, we will worship. Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support!

       A morning and a day; the beginning. A time and another foot forward; slowly. "Keep going. Remember...remember how far you've all come...you and your family. ", I remind myself, thinking on this busy start to a new week.          An end and a beginning; as a month closes and leaves, making room for another to start. It will be busy, it will be hot.. very hot, but we'll take another foot forward, another step THROUGH the valleys, remembering the same Savior (Jesus) we believe and trust in doesn't change, something I'm grateful for; thank You Jesus. Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support!

                 Driving by she'd see it, the run down old house defeated by time. She'd pass it and wonder what it was like, who once lived there, and where they were now. She'd see it and continue to her destination, feeling a sadness for the place of long silent memories.              Another day and the old place would come into view again, she'd consider the same questions, and continue to her destination, feeling a sadness once more for the place long forgotten. Days then weeks would come and go and she'd pass the old house. Worn sides and a battered roof would be observed by her again; and then she'd consider her rented place. Her temporary dwelling was remembered as she listened in the passing of the old house to new stories told her. Visions of a clear yard and a fully restored house replaced the misery she saw there in this long abandoned structure as she thought to herse...

Rise, relentlessly; remembering resilience redeems. Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support!

        "Noise, so much noise in this busy world.", he'd think to himself. Day in and day out it'd be deafening at times. The constant activity that produced noise became too much, and he came up with a plan. Using his lunchbreak he'd book a room at a bed and breakfast in the countryside. It would only be for a weekend or two, but he'd make his plans.           The week would come and go and the noise would always stay; until that long awaited time. He'd pack up his stuff, and leave for two days. Driving and driving and driving he'd reach the quiet environment and find the relief he needed. The owners were kind. The place was clean. All was serene. As the weekend progressed on he'd find himself clinging to the place and it's peaceful environment. Noticing how much he enjoyed it, the owners began sharing how they were considering selling the place and retiring (for they were older). Upon hearing this Mark couldn't believe his ears and was he...

Note About This Piece: One morning I kept hearing a song in my head. I was torn between wanting to simply enjoy it (my inner child-like nature if you will), and wanting to get some much necessary tasks done. This was my attempt at showing that inner struggle in sort of a fun way you might say.          I'll hear the music play, then I hit pause. A song will play in my head though I'm not ready to dance yet; for there is work to do. Pressure is felt, tearing focus I search diligently to mend, praying through each task I set to finish. The fun loving nature reaches through adulthood to hit the button, letting that song in me play. The adult reminds him that there will be time for fun later. I continue past the protests to the progress; determination rises to overcome the stalemate. Some music plays, another pause, and I am whole again....thankfully.   Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was...

         It’s always a struggle: seeing good. A journey taken daily of worth. "Can I do this? HOW do I do this? Will it work, if it does how do I manage it well?",  questions that plague this busy mind. Overthinking I guess. Self conscious, absolutely. Stopping before starting, yet this is shifting; I know. Doors open as I walk halls of thought and emotion.  First cracking then opening. Sometimes it's only a few, other times just one , hope and good shine into the darkened hallways of me. The day before me changes, and my unhealthy self with it.  Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support! 

       When the ashes aren't flames and the pressure restrains, I'm stirring a fire in the embers seen dying. Watching as flames fight to rise, something that hasn't escaped my notice, seeing them breaking their gray walls that keep them imprisoned, as I'm stirring a fire.         Back and forth stirring, I toss useless thoughts and destructive emotions that hold me back in the kindling of new fire as motivation rises; watching as fire burns again!         Hope wakens me to life and I am alive again, as I'm stirring a fire in the dying embers of me, the ashes of unhealthy and restraining ways that grows and empowers me to live once more! Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support!  ...

          I let it overtake me: despair, deep sadness thick as clouds, seen for miles within. It was suffocating, taking the very air that was my motivation; this is dwelling.            I felt the night. Dark surrounded me completely, and still, strength was found in each step taken, each prayer uttered to simply persevere. It was difficult, and in the struggle a different vision was given, a perspective if you will: there was more to this journey than only what was wrong or bad. This is acknowledging.            I kept walking, through it all, these dark valleys, the hardships and sorrows known and obvious. Every progression through was necessary. I knew if I stopped I'd never make it out. I knew if I ignored it, I'd never overcome and grow from it all. This is the difference between dwelling on all that's wrong and acknowledging it. As I walk I find this is why it's important to take the right approa...

        I'd see the street and keep moving, remembering the dangers that lie down it: some house where mean-spirited people with wicked plans often dwell. Other times I’d simply do my best to travel only so far down these areas or pass by such houses as covertly and quickly as possible recalling again what I remembered of these troublesome ones; this would solidify my reasoning to avoid these areas.                   I'd look for the dangerous faces in the crowds, and if present I wasn't. Constantly I was aware and on guard against those who meant harm and would be willing to act on such evils. There I met with others. There I weighed who was who. There I did my best to have fun while being ready to defend against dangers of many kinds, regularly listening for news of the day to not be caught in trouble. I remember the adventures. The times of fragile alliances still lingers in memor...

        Unforgiving, the hard ground of failure, the one just met by hopeful souls flying previously, carried high above with wings called confidence that lifted them high in everyday living.           Broken, this conviction of the once impossible being possible now no longer in view. Broken wings a painful reality to these: the injured in self-worth. "Should I try again? Is it worth it? Is it even possible?", questions that swirl around them, within them, as a storm. Some never get off the "ground", left in their failures, while others still attempt to rise above it all. The pain of the fall still there with each trial run made, yet the glorious heights call out; the time of succeeding remembered and wanted. The resistance of hardships known when experiencing this confidence isn't great enough to stop us; so we rise up to ascend again. We reach in flight to succeed at every task attempted, to do more than simply remember we can be conf...

          Twists and turns enter my vision, and I am bracing myself for the wild roads ahead. Back and forth I'll ride.... still I'll ride these wild ways. Travelling unpredictability I'll continue forward in an attitude of prayer, remembering I can't " 'own' these 'roads' " that seek to fight back without my Savior here.               Along such winding ways I'll make way down these untamed ways riding in tandem and parallel with each and every kind of road called days, "travellers" called humanity in all it's diversity encountered along the journey. Here I am left to " 'own' these 'roads' " of life, these wild ups and downs, twists and turns of all a day brings where I'm struggling to rise and overcome that I may ascend above what may come my way.... though I am not alone; thank You Jesus, for not leaving me alone. Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life ...

   Slowly forward now. Small progress past the hardships. One step becomes two. Letting go; growing. Releasing clutter today; junk within to grow. Through tired days here. Tired ways walking slowly, still walking again. Practicing new here. Other ways to live and speak. Better living now.  Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support!

          Welcome to here. Right now. Where the slate is clean and the day is open to possibilities. Life is waking up. Dawn is yawning and stretching in it's rising.           Welcome to now; where anything is still possible, and we can use it or lose it. This strange moment of transition in our lives, one we all want, all desire to make the most of, all react to differently.           Alot hinges on this present moment, on our engaging it (or not), on response to it period. To be fully present in it can be overwhelming, stressful, an unachievable task. This is where I am. Welcome to here; where I am tired, overwhelmed, while also wanting to make the most of this gift of a day. Welcome to now; when patience and focus don't come easy, where wanting a calm that produces quality and productivity is hoped for....so I listen. I let the words speak to me of God-given instructions, make a reasonable list of to-dos that...

     In the seconds and the minutes music plays. Each day is performed in many ways, heard in many hearts. Are we listening though?        In the quick pace thunder drums, play the loud instruments of many kinds and we are spurred on. In the slow pace enters a waltz introduced by the long and drawn out sounds in us all. Sorrow grips us in melancholy notes we are slaves to for a time. Joy lifts us in brighter melodies we receive with ease.         Here there is "music", rhythms of life we know for each moment, "songs" in the seconds and minutes of each day played out; to learn to live life with this empowering approach is how things can change. Here in the songs of souls we will learn how to respond best, be productive and impacting in a good way, so long as we will listen to the "rhythms of life" and learn to "play along". Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact ...

               Lily unlocked the back door of the thrift store using a key that didn't belong to her. The night had been a heavy one as she wrestled with her worth in the old house of her family, the one she felt unworthy of being in; still, the inheritance was left to her and she had no other path but forward.                The key was begrudging and refused at first to open the way before her, leaving her vulnerable to the temptation to just walk away. Again the painful memories would flood her soul and she’d struggle to even look at the door much less open it. Rationalizing her escape from a sense of responsibility would have been all too easy, but she made the attempt again. An ear piercing screech assaulted Lily's hearing with the turning of the key and the opening of the unknown: what would remain before her (for she had not been there for years). From some unknown plac...

   While reviewing older blog posts and writing I posted, this wild idea started forming in my head. I'd like to think this is "Divine inspiration", Jesus giving me creativity I could never have come up with on my own (especially through the busyness that I've seen in life lately which has been taking a lot out of me); though I'm not sure.           The idea was to combine a few older poems into one poetic essay or non-fiction piece (with a few added lines or "tweaks" to work it all together). This piece uses rainy and stormy days as the metaphor for hard days and seasons of life, and how it can be tough to "create" anything (writing or not) called "While" (posted below). I'll also share the poems directly below that in their original forms. May this writing experiment be a blessing to encourage and empower someone today (especially if you're struggling to create something (whatever that is); and thanks again for your su...

        One day years ago I was with a friend and he was driving to a video store to return something he had rented (yes, I am revealing my age here LOL). It started to rain some as we were driving into town (which wasn't very far). It wasn't a heavy rain, but one where most people would put on their wipers. At this point, however, my old friend didn't put his wipers on, and I asked him why he didn't put them on as I called out the rain that was hitting his windshield. He said something at one point that has never left me even in my 45 years of living, "I can still see through the raindrops". At this point as I reflected on the fact that I was looking only at obstacles and what was wrong before me (the raindrops on this windshield of our perspective), it really struck me.         As I drove into work one day, my windshield was dusty on my side, yet I could still see past it. It was here that I remembered that profound time of life and I start...

        In pieces life doesn't always make sense, it may even seem illogical. In pieces it can appear as though there is no progression forward.           Even here though in pieces there is still a forward progression, still healing, though it is a little at a time. In the shattered seasons it's easy to get discouraged, embrace defeat, even entertain the very idea to simply give up and never rise from these broken states of being. In pieces though healing still happens when these fractured parts are sorted through and made right (when they are "worked" and put back in their proper places); though this is different for each person. Here in what isn't "put together" there is still hope in pieces that seem beyond repair. We just need to be willing to gather our broken pieces of us and bring them to Jesus to put us back together, to seek His help and leading; after all, He knows our pieces and the completed puzzle of who we a...

          Usual, or so we think, one more day in one more week and we are left feeling "blah." "It's the same thing.", we might argue. "Nothing's changed.", we might state, yet, it's not the truth. This is something I've even wrestled with from time to time, thinking there's nothing new in the middle of life. This isn't just a "usual" moment (or moments) though; this is the opportunity to live different. Sure we may be doing "the usual" things, meeting deadlines, fulfilling our "to-do lists" of required responsibilities, yet we can choose to find good even here.             Even as I write (or type) these words I feel the sting of failing to do that very thing at times: rejoice in a new day. Maybe life's difficult right now. Maybe plans have failed and depression has set in. Maybe it's something else that keeps us from seeing and believing any good IN.THAT.MOMENT; yet it's still there.      ...

 Note About The Piece: "What if grief could become a person and walk alongside you, even help you find closure and healing in your grief?". This was the question I sought to answer when writing this piece.         Rumors carried and travelled far. Stories of a mystical place that gave an equally unusual experience every time it was encountered. No one was certain of it's origins, only that there was something never to be forgotten that happened there every time it was entered by someone. It was high, long, and the journey was always saturated with a mix of emotions. Remaining in an ever present state, calling to all who needed change it stood. Two points connected and spanned in more than one way. Shrouded in both wonder and power the place invited and terrified all who entered, the unknown always the thing that made the most impact. On each side one would meet then leave, never the same way they arrived, always speechless at first from the encounter, struggling...

         Somewhere in the dark I'm writing, lights turned off but one or two. Day announces it's arrival the way a persistent neighbor may, piercing the windows and doors as I take notice.          The week has been busy, and sleep has too, reminding us we're human, that it's okay to rest. Somewhere in the still, in the calm, I'm building a small place in this small place; I'm building renewal, release, and restoration. Here there's new, and I'll write it again.  Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support! 

              Over the years I've had to work past the fear of failure (the fear of trying even). I'd like to say I've mastered this area; I'd like to be honest even more though. Everything has been trial and error over the years. Here's how to do this thing. Here's how to think. Here's how to feel. Here's how to believe this or that, and so on.               It's been exhausting at times, and more than once even defeating when the floor of failure is hit. There remains the temptation to not get back up again in those moments (we've all been there). One thing in growing through trial and error though is to REMEMBER what's good (what's worked). We can get lost in what hasn't and believe the lie that NOTHING will. We must remember that it doesn't have to be perfect, that there must simply be some sort of forward motion (and this can look different for us all). Sometimes (many times) it isn't always an actual action...

               "This is all I can do.", comes the thought to us in our daily lives (one even I wrestle with at times); yet here something else is present. That thing that appears ordinary and boring. That task, that "same old thing" where we can think there isn't something better, that there isn't more.....so we stop.                  We've all been there, I've been there, and then we look again and see something else Jesus shows us. Maybe it's perspective that births gratitude or encouragement. Maybe it's confidence that grows to do that "same old thing" toward it's best (instead of "just enough"; though sometimes we simply need to do "just enough" ; that's okay). In what we know there is an amazing God-given resourcefulness (creativity at work) that makes things EVEN better (whether they're easier to do or not). Where amazing happens when we look again at how to hone what already is to it's best...