The Color Experiment: A Brand New World

Swirls of color,
Choose a paint and brush,
Wildly, therapeutically, move
One's hand across the digital canvas;
It's a brand new world.

Signature "my life,"
Colors and patterns
I see but can't always explain--
But that's okay, because "I get it."
Some things never change.

Lover of color, lover of light,
The best of the world,
blinking Christmas lights--
I feel secure in my chaotic bliss;
Every day, a brand new world.

Christmas Music--Post December 25th

I love Christmas Music!

If I love it so much--I mean, clearly, Christmas is one of my favorite music genres, if you will--then why do I feel strangely when I play it AFTER Christmas? Why do I feel like some kind of Christmas Music Police will come out of the shadows and drag me to some scary Inquisition if I listen to it after Christmas?

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"We were told you were playing Christmas music..." they would say, white light glaring in my face so I can't see anything but the outline of their forms.

"Where am I?" I say, faltering. My head is hurting. Have I been injured? I instinctively reach for the sore area--and find my arms are bound. "Why are my hands bound? What's going on?!" I say, demandingly.

"Calm down, Miss. I'm sure this is just a little misunderstanding...."

"Yes, I'm sure it is! There must be some sort of mistake...!"

"You have been apprehended," an authoritative voice spoke from the shadows, "due to accusations regarding your music preferences at this time of year..."

"My MUSICAL preferences...?" I say, astounded.

"Yes. We understand that you have been listening to..." he paused, dramatically, clearing his throat, "Christmas music."

"Yes..." I hesitantly agree, wondering why this is a problem.

"You will need to turn that station off until next year, ma'am. It's no longer Christmas. You'll need to wait until next November to play it again."

"Wait--" I started, "You're saying I can't listen to Christmas music...because it's past Christmas?"

"Yes," one of them said with finality.

"Or...Or what," I say, half-proud of myself for my uncharacteristic display of boldness.

"You will remain incarcerated until you agree to see it our way."

"You're going to put me IN JAIL for listening to Christmas music?!?"

One of them kicked over a chair. "It's past Christmas, ma'am. Post December 25th."

I felt fury course through my veins, a rage within that I couldn't contain. I managed to kick two people in the shins, one in the groin, and bite one guy's wrist before I felt the sting of a needle and welcomed darkness seconds later.

-----Will our Christmas music lover awaken in her own bed only to find this was a horrible dream? Or will she not awake again until next November? Tune in next time to find out!-----

Me and My Ipad 2/Laptop

For Christmas, Stephen bought me a new Ipad 2, and last night, we went to Target to get the ZAGGfolio which converts the Ipad into a laptop--with keyboard!!! I'm sooooo excited!!!

He didn't have to do this--I'm not someone who needs to have expensive gifts or technology--but he did, and I am soooo happy because it will allow me to have my own tablet to write and blog and organize my day and my (possibly!) new business!!!

So I just wanted to write this here...on my blog...to celebrate what he did for me. My husband is amazing, and he really pays attention to what I like and what I need. Honestly, I know that God above sent Him to me.

Thank you, Lord!!! I reeeeaally appreciate it!!! :)

Thankful 2012

I'm so thankful.

Though I'm the type of person who tries very hard to always say thank you to people who have blessed me (Thank you, Momma, for teaching me to be a woman who gives thanks!), or give a "thank you" note in writing (though I find this a challenge sometimes, due to my busy schedule), I am one of those people who fully realizes the futility of my efforts when it comes to thanking Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth!

Yes, I do thank Him, as often as I can, whenever I think about it. But somehow, on some level, it always feels inadequate. (Couldn't the seemingly "smallest thing" on my list be expressed in thanks for an hour or more?! And the "larger things," then, for days on end?!)

It's just that I am ultra aware of the fact that I could say my thanks to God as quickly as possible, one thing after another, for as long as I should live and never even get close to exhausting the list.

But I thank Him anyway. In hope that He hears "the heart" behind it all, knows that I long to praise Him, that I recognize Him for all of it, and I do mean ALL OF IT.

My husband and child.

My step-daughters and immediate family.

My church family and church.

My job and friends at work.

My relationship with Him, a growing knowledge of Him. His patience with me.

This beautiful earth.

His amazing Plan.

His boundless Love.

For Mercy everlasting.

For the GRACE I so desperately need.

For the Word of God.

For the Holy Spirit, alive and well, today.

For Healing, Wisdom, Peace that Passes all Understanding (and it does!).

For living in me, even me, and speaking to me, nobody me, like He does.

For music and paint and laughter and babies.

For rainbows and the vibrant colors He made for us.

For nature and all of its beauty. For waterfalls and ocean sand.

For caring about all of us, humanity. Every single one of us. And for wanting a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US--JUST AS WE ARE.

(I am humbled by His love and attention. The care and concern He has for us.)

I Voted Today

I went a day early to vote.

Technically, the day to vote is tomorrow. But I couldn't wait. I wanted to get there. I wanted to cast my vote. TODAY.

I don't take voting lightly.

In America, women have only been able to vote for fewer than 100 years. As we near the 100th Anniversary of a Woman's Constitutional Right to Vote in this country, I think about how much we take for granted.

There ARE days when I take these, and other, things for granted. I grew up with the right to vote, and many other rights awarded me as a citizen of the United States of America. Many other women around the world do not share these rights, or have access to them. I don't ever want to take these things for granted.

In addition to voting rights, I want to Thank God for the right to an education, the right to have an opinion, and the right to go to church and study the Bible for myself and discuss the Bible openly with others.

Yes, the U.S.A. has many flaws and many needs. But I am thankful for this nation. And I still believe in this nation.

That's why I bother to vote.

Sure, it would be easy to dismiss the elections with a "They're all crooks, anyway" mentality, but I believe in the process. I believe in the HEART of America and Americans themselves.

That's why I bother to pray.

I pray for this nation, and I tremble to think of this nation apart from God's favor and protection and love. I believe that we could NEVER make it, apart from Him. I pray for His people, all of them, to unite together, to stand for what is right, for WHO is right. I pray for revival to spread across this nation, for generations of Americans to rediscover what it is truly like to be a Child of God.

Yes, I vote. And, yes, I pray.

With all my might.

Nothing is Coincidence

"I am convinced," said Sister Arlene Logan, "that nothing is coincidence."

Sunday afternoon dinner included the company of one of my all-time favorite people: Sister Arlene Logan.

I glean so much from her every time I am in her presence--Sunday morning was no exception.

Are there truly moments of coincidence? Or, as we like to say, "happy accidents"?

God Moments

Today was one of those days filled with God Moments.

From the moment I woke up, I just felt a desire, a need, to connect with him. I got up and turned on Pandora Radio-- where I have a Praise and Worship channel that I enjoy listening to. Song after song, I just felt my spirit responding to the lyrics I heard.

One of the songs I couldn't stop singing--long after it ended on Pandora--was "Jesus Paid It All." That song just SLAYS me. He DID pay it all for us. "Jesus paid it all / All to Him I owe / Sin had left a crimson stain / He washed it white as snow." Those lyrics MOVE me, every time.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses, as well: "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He died for the POTENTIAL in us. That's incredible, really, when you really think about it. I mean, WHO DOES THAT?!?!

It also reminds of a verse that says: "No greater love hath any man than this: that a man lay down his life for a friend." You know what that means, right? That He called us FRIEND long before we chose to follow Him. That blows my mind.

While getting ready this morning, I felt the Lord impressing me to go look in a particular drawer in one of our dressers. Without giving details about the financial stress I had suffered the day before, I can tell you that I "discovered" gifts in that drawer he directed me to--gifts that would put the food on our tables tonight.

People can say and think what they want. But people who bash my Savior have absolutely NO IDEA what it's like to serve Him, to live for Him, to grow to know him more daily. I really don't understand why everyone on this planet doesn't want to at least INVESTIGATE our Lord.

Honestly, it reminds me of the lyrics of a song by Skillet: "You're the Best Kept Secret of My Generation / The Best Kept Secret of All Time / The Best Kept Secret of My Generation / And I I I I Found You Out."

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Just an hour ago, I sat around the kitchen table, eating a SPLENDID meal with my family. It was a meal that we enjoyed because of Him.

Another God Moment in a day full of God Moments.