Forty Plus Miles

  Earnest Hemingway was once challenged in a bet that he couldn't write a complete fiction story in six words. He wrote one and won the bet. Since then I've been learning how to do this (as well as other unique, short, and creative ways to express powerful truths and offer encouragement to encourage and empower others through various forms of writing). These six word stories are JUST SOME of the experiments with this type of writing (others are included in the blog). The first is about a dog recovering from a bad accident (one I decided to include to inspire hope through perseverance for any struggling with setbacks). The second is about a man and woman trying to have a baby (I'll leave the rest to speak for itself there). The third is about a man and woman going on several dates and finding harmony and healthy connection after several bad dates with others. Sharing these as a group to encourage someone today with a lot of literary value. Thanks again for your su...

           Faith rises as the sunshine, even in the darkness. Hope speaks "Believe; for there is still good.". Grace pierces clouds of a dark valley, of a hopeless perspective, where lives brought low by failures find resolve to rise and try 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!

          When it's not about me, it doesn't always need to be; and that's okay. Sometimes I'll need time, moments to reflect and recover from all that happens in life, and here there is growth, where it's okay; but it's not always about me, and that's okay, cause it isn't always going to be.             Here I remember once again such grace, such freedom that comes in rememberance, in the truth: it's not always about me, and that's okay with me. 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 I feel invisible, I slip into it, walk through life and humanity undetected; sometimes. I revel in the lack of pressure to measure up, to be something instead of someone.            When I feel invisible, I embrace the grace, create in the quiet that is granted, and look again. Look again at what I value, what I believe, where I find my worth and identity. In the hidden there is room to grow and my soul rejoices.             When I feel invisible, forgotten, I reflect back again, speak back to myself, and remind me I'm not, I just feel that way sometimes. 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!

      Unless specified in the title, everything here is considered Non-Fiction. Just wanted to be clear about that for this blog. Thank you again for your support.

 Just a step and a prayer, Under the light from some nearby stove hood, Stepping forward in spite of fatigue, Taking some small moves toward big hope today. 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!

          Faith as a mountain that we must climb, through a conviction that allows us to grow. Believe as a height that looks bigger than us, but resource is still there if we're willing to look. Hope as a summit that we can see, that we can reach, if we would just believe, believe it's possibility.             So I'll climb, with the mustard seed assurance that I believe brings better. I'll reach higher than I once thought possible, refusing to stay in faithlessness. I'll plant action in the clefts of this massive mass before, remembering what Jesus once spoke, "faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains", where I'm placing my trust in Him more, daring to ascend in the power and presence of Him who I can do all things through; I just need to "climb".  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...

  Note About The Piece Below: Sometimes we face "mountains" that are difficult to climb in life, and "valleys" that test us when we just wanna stop and rest. Sometimes we step into our days not always knowing what will happen; but Jesus gives us grace to continue on regardless if we'll trust Him and follow as He leads. This piece was written with that in mind. May this be a blessing to someone today that He can lead them simply by placing faith in Him, trusting Him, and following Him as He leads. Still We Go On mountains high, in valleys low, steady and slow we go, to where we don't know; still we go. Walking in a knowing, knowing as we're going that Jesus is showing us the way. On mountains high, in valleys low, steady and slow we go, through a faith we show, that alone we don't go, following Jesus on mountains high, in valleys low, steady and slow....still we go. Sidenote: If any of the writing on this...

          Lights on the lane, revealing the hidden streets and memories beneath darkness that can be felt. Walking, through a heavy night that will end at a lonesome house. Here, now, beneath the street lights memories emerge and keep this old soul company; walking beside her through the old days now passed.           Lights on the lane, turn on one by one as the day leaves and the night closes in. Walking with "old friends" in her thoughts as she considers the passing of another dear friend where even the street lights can pierce her darkness long; still, she walks on. One more small stretch of walkway as loneliness calls her home, when solitude's grip is broken at a person's invite. A new friend calls her over, invites her in to her house after some friendly persuasion, simply sits for a while with her visibly troubled neighbor, then starts off the conversation with, "I lost my dear friend too, before I moved here.". Sidenote: If any o...

          Start simple, start small. Wake up, give thanks to God (even if it's gonna be a tough day). Take one, then another, steps to complete each task in the day, in each part of the day. Reflect, a little in each little "opening" in these twenty-four hours, remembering to focus on good while not ignoring bad. Live, dwell, in the grace of a day (busy or not), where you plant new seeds in the the soil of your soul, and you will thrive, not just overcome in this thing called living of life and what that really means. 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!

         Traffic, when life is busy and plans are made. Traffic, when things get faster, when life gets more intense. Traffic, when you just hope for some Sunday drive through another day that all of us call life; driving again at a manageable pace we long for.           Traffic, when you're just trying to "get somewhere". Traffic, when you're looking to overcome as you navigate the lanes of life we all know as hours and minutes in a day. Traffic, when you hope you can find a "shorter route" on the way to living.... when maybe it's about something else entirely.           Making a way down life's roads we all know as days, looking again at the congested points in this "commute", finding myself just grateful that I've made it through the "traffic" we all know as the unpredictability of a day; no matter how much "traffic" was faced today.  Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impac...

        Set a timer, writing whatever, healing however. Set a moment, schedule it, however long, to heal long and deep, fully in the hustle. Set a time, to write a rhyme, or whatever comes to heart and mind, even in a few seconds or minutes.          Set a timer, so I did, writing to release and process as I hone the process to heal, from life's busy, scheduling grace in that hard pressed place of life when you're running. 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 "route" made and the "road" is embraced. We enter these roadways called days with our " maps" of plans and itineraries and we're off. All is well 'till we meet the change. Sometimes small, sometimes not as these "potholes" greet our " vehicles" of goals and plans. Our peace is shaken in the encounter and our smooth "ride" somewhere is altered.         Sometimes it's big, and these "potholes" can put us on a different "route". Other times we're left unsettled for a moment and we just have to remember we're alright. "Tires" can "pop" and our plans need "repairing" , while other times we are met with other "repairs". The provision can be a literal one, or an internal one. The "potholes" of life aren't always pleasant, but peace isn't in circumstances; only in remembering we aren't alone or without help when we encounter...

           I'm beginning, in a day, in a morning, through the rush. I'm attempting, to put action to faith, hope behind actions that change it all. There are cracks in my confidence, fractures in my faith; still, it's there. I'm still hoping, and walking forward in my small seeds of belief in good possible, where I'm beginning to grow, slowly, no matter how many failings I find on the way there. 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!

            One picture, then another, moving together as a scene is created. One program, one minute as the scene plays out and a viewer is found: us. The same programs that play over and over and it brings no growth in the watching that imprints upon souls, that begins to be memorized while taking root in a viewing audience.               We've all seen the programs of our lives, the same scenes and lines of days and events that happen to us, make our core beliefs, and we felt powerless....until we changed channels. Until we stopped watching, giving viewership through focus to, and began to truly grow instead of letting the unhealthy reruns of our lives define us.                I'm changing channels, refusing to keep watching those devouring reruns of bad perspectives and habits that began to make me something other than me. I'm switching the stations and tuning into a new fr...

 Be; you are more than busy. Note About The Piece Above: Sometimes it's easy to ONLY see the "busy" in life (especially when busy). This is a reminder that I felt Jesus was giving me, that EVEN IN the busy, just be present and seek to build a contentment in those moments (no matter how long they are) by remembering you're more than what you do (or don't do; or get done).  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!