For Such A Worm As I

Hello, folks!  Second day of Wintertide Tractations !   Today's word is Shine!  Start.  As I still mull over the happenings of this past weekend (my family's trip to Arkansas), I got to meet one of my mother's friends for the first time.  She, (whom I'll call Delia), and my Mother have not had contact in about 27 years.  Although I had heard her name mentioned a few times, I didn't know much about her and wasn't expecting to see her at our friends' house and anniversary celebration.  Wow, was I in for a bundle of blessings!  Throughout our one-and-a-half days together, I found myself going back for more conversation with her time and again.  This lady loves the Lord in such a deep way that I was prompted to consider my own relationship with Christ. Delia shone with a glow that was deep and soaked-in.  A gentleness and a beauty that could only come from time spent with the Lord day after day exuded from her.  Small of stature and qui...

Hello, folks! I have discovered a new word : Tractate.  If I understand correctly, it's a synonym for the word treatise or discussion and is currently out of use.  But perhaps this blog will change that. *wink* Since I missed getting to participate in the Write 31 month-long blogging party introduced to me by Kate Motaung , I determined that I would try my own version in December.  However, before I came up with that idea, when I was still thinking I could do Write 31, I asked my in-house word-crafter, Kyrie, supply me with 31 words which I plan to draw out at random and write about.  {And I have not fished through them to see what she came up with...}  I don't know whether I'll stick to the five minute time limit as I thought I would; we'll just have to see. Therefore without further ado, here is.... Collect!   Start.  When I look at the word Collect hand-written on a tiny sliver of paper in Kyrie's signature scrawl, I link it to the most recent...

  My cousin's fish died yesterday.   A strange way to open a blog post. Such an insignificant part of life, but a part that affected me.   We have been fish-sitting for a few weeks while our cousin was away.  He came to us in old-ish age and we worried over him and coaxed him to live and prayed that he would survive long enough to get him back to her.   We didn't know his name.  (I think I knew at one point...was it Julio?  I usually called him Buddy or Dude.)       Julio (if that was indeed this fish's name and not the name of one of his fellow-fishes belonging to said cousin) became part of our life for a few short days.  He would hang motionless in the water & we'd talk to him or tap his bowl, willing him to swim, or wiggle his fins, or show some sign of life. Suddenly, he would whirl about as if waking from some daze.  He'd do some speedy circles at the surface of the water and then pause, as if tired from the...

Joining the FMF group for a great word: protect .       Protect.  The word inspires so much in me. Today especially as I reflect on my Grandmother's short life of 86 years.  She went to be with her (and my) Savior, Jesus Christ two years ago today.     The Grandmother was a great example of protector.  At 80, she faced bringing her husband, my grandfather, home from the hospital after he experienced a debilitating stroke.  Hospital personnel said that she should put him in a veteran's home 60 miles away, but she was loyal to him and to the promise she had made to him 62 years earlier "til death do us part".  It was certainly no easy task as she had the carpet changed out for a shorter shag (easier for pushing a wheelchair on), and rearranged the furniture in almost every room of the house in order to make it easier for caring for him and to fit in the new hospital bed and lift chair.     The Grandmother also was...

  Recently Kyrie got some music that we used to listen to as a family when we were kids.  The singers, Harvest , made up a contemporary Christian group from the late seventies to early nineties.  It has been so wonderful to hear those dear songs again and, more importantly, to actually understand the words!  Before, I listened to them as a kid and sang along with some of the words, but now they actually mean something to me in my relationship with Christ Jesus.   This morning as I was working alone in the kitchen Kyrie had put on the music and I was struck by the words to their song "It's Alright Now".  "I remember the times I felt Your hand upon me, Lord   I thought that I would never rise again   For Your Spirit had broken the pride in my heart   I knew that I needed to make a new start   I wanted to feel Your love and know You cared   So I fell upon my knees and prayed, "Forgive me, Lord.   For livin' my life without Yo...

After many weeks of inactivity, I rejoin my FMF fellow-writers for some words on Rest.... Start:   My body is weary, my eyes are heavy.  I've gotten in bed too late two nights in a row and it's my own fault.    But I was just having too much fun with my dear friends and cousins during our back-to-back sleepover parties as we try to get in as much visiting as possible before they have to return to their home.     Yes, my physical self is weary and it makes my heart problems worse, too.     No, I don't have a medical condition you should be concerned about.  I just have some of the woes and problems brought on from living in a sin-tainted world.     I'm weary with a nine-month long inner struggle over a particular matter, an emotional roller coaster that has had me laughing and crying repeatedly.  I've been pained over it and blessed by it and have no idea what my part is to do with it now!   I keep turning t...

  "Do you want to be a cat?"   "Do I want to be a cat?" I repeated, making sure I had heard correctly.   "Mmhmm." The seriousness in the olive green eyes of my five year old friend told me that I had.  It wasn't the first time during babysitting that day that I had encountered the delightfulness of the child's "adult ideas"-free mind.  At other points, I had just had to laugh, wishing I could be recording the words and thoughts to share with someone later, (how many times I wished Kyrie was there for me to share a look and a laugh with!) but this was different.  Olive was serious and I needed to give this answer more than a chuckle.   "Well...." I thought for a moment.  Olive's three year old sister now looked up from the coloring book she was working on.  "No," I said slowly. "I don't think so.   'Cause if I was a cat, I would miss out on knowing alot of the wonderful people I know."   The ans...