Wordless Wednesday/Why I have not been blogging lately. ("ACHOO!")

Wordless Wednesday (Random Things I See)

Jot it Down Tuesday (cleaning house)

While cleaning house, I came across this folded piece of paper.

It's not unusual for me to jot down thoughts, tuck them away, and forget about them. Eventually, I rediscover these sporadic writings, and throw them out. I don't know why I bother writing randomness in the first place. Just one of my quirks, I suppose. Anyway, I thought that I'd share this one before throwing it out. Tuesdays are typically my free writing days, and this...well, this is REALLY free. As in, total randomness. The piece below is nearly identical to what was on that paper, aside from a few corrections that needed to be made.

There is a tree.

 

Beneath it gather shadows; shadows hold time. 

Time swirls in the shadows, sending butterflies on their way, flitting and bending in the breeze. Dreams dance on the wings of butterflies, sending enchanting thoughts to the flowers. 

The tree sees it all, feeling time bend its branches. It creaks and moans, and screws its limbs into glorious arrangements of chaos. Time flies on winged dreams. 

Dreams grow on flower petals. 

Flowers share their fragrance of longing.

Longing? 

How can such beauty long for a tree's chaos? 

The flowers sit in the trees shadows, and dream...

...but the butterflies do not stay long. 

Substance, chaos, time...they are far more fascinating. They are what gives the tree life; character. The flower is beautiful for a season, but the tree holds a lifetime of endurance, resilience, and grandeur. No one carves their name in a flower, but a tree holds Time's engravings, telling stories, living on...

Do you enjoy free writing? If so, please link up with Heather, at the  E.O..

And, no...nooooooo, I wasn't eating "special" mushrooms when I wrote this. LOL

Cheering you on & checking the fuel gauge,
Layla

Let Us Give Thanks...Even on a Manic Monday

We aren't doing the traditional Thanksgiving thing this year. We opted for a little road trip to Arkansas, with no itinerary to follow. We simply hope to have some sporadic FUN,

while avoiding the "Thanksgiving Coma."

Keeping with the spirit of this holiday, I wanted to include some happy, thankful thoughts in this Manic Monday post.


I won't mention the fact that today was the ONLY day of school this week, though you'd never guess it by the *sighs* and *groans.* I'll never talk about the two time-outs, and possibly one attempt at cheating (yes, cheating) on a test. There won't be a single entry about the printer running out of ink, or that I planned absolutely nothing "Thanksgiving-ish" to do at craft time.

Nope.

Just going to talk about...

...the fact that it rained all day (which is a GOOD thing for Oklahoma)...

...and that I felt energetic enough to make a pot of chili, a dish of corn bread, and a cake.

I'm thankful for planned trips, happy smiles over dinner...

 ...and...

...the way that Tate serenaded us from the shower
(We could hear him all the way into the dining area).

I'm sure there were a lot of "turkeys" and "hams" attempting to make your Thankfulness Manic Monday more, er...interesting, but I'd love to hear about the Pink Fluff Dessert parts of your day.

Do share. :)



Cheering you on & checking the fuel gauge,
Layla

PB&J

Once upon a time, there was a boy. 
Let's call him, "Beautiful."

There was also a girl. 
Let's call her, "Priceless."

Aside from each others company, and the additional children in the orphanage, Beautiful and Priceless were all alone. Abandoned by their parents, they were forced to put their brokenness into the hands of dispassionate caretakers.

Each day, uncertain. 

Each moment lacking in the security that every child needs to snuggle deep into childhood's innocent embrace. 

No rain to dance in.

No hot cookies to munch on after school.

No parents to sing lullabies.

No tucking in, picking up, swinging around, holding hands, or wrestling matches.

No Play Dough.

No new pink dresses, or toy cars to zoom...zoom...zoom!

Until, one day...

...when Compassion walked into their lives. With only one look, Compassion knew, in full, why she had traveled this far. It was for these children. She had no idea what God's plan was, or how she could help two children who were not adoptable because of a law in their country. 

She just knew that God had melted her heart right into theirs. 

That was enough. 

One beautiful, healing moment after another, Compassion finally had to return home.

Home.

How can you have a home in two places? Yet, this is what she had! How could she leave these children? They needed her, and she needed them!
She would be back.

Yes, little ones, 

she would be back. 

Until then, she would keep track and send whatever they needed, no matter the cost. Compassion knew that her God was big enough to provide whatever these children needed. She would come back the minute time would allow...

...not a second's delay.

While Compassion was thousands of miles away, the cold fingers of uncertainty grabbed hold of Beautiful and Priceless. They were whisked off into the unknown. 

 

No warning. 

No map to follow. 

Gone.

Compassion had to fight her way through darkness. 

Her God went before her, and gave her direction.

An arrow on the map.

A glimmer of hope.

Were her children truly there?

Were they safe?

Compassion found out that the children had been moved twelve hours away from where she had spent those bittersweet days.
This would not be an easy trip...

...but...

Compassion's God is so big, that He gave her wings to fly.

A miracle.

An airplane

that seemed to appear out of nowhere, 

ready for her use, 

as soon as she was back in the children's country.

Right now, Compassion is packing her bags, planing to fly back into the arms of Beautiful and Priceless.

She has no idea if they are really where that arrow is pointing.

No idea if the compass is broken.

Will she find that airplane waiting?

Is she crazy to dream, even for a moment, that she will embrace Beautiful and Priceless again?

Compassion knows her God is big enough, despite her fears.

She knows that, when her faith trembles, God will hold her steady.

She knows that now is the time for battle.

Warriors are being called in, because this is no Fairy Tale...

...this is Real Life.

This is the battle in which she and I are calling in forces of Prayer Warriors.

There are sensitive details that I cannot share, so I hope you don't mind my "Fairy Tale" version. The story is true, but the names are made-up. I can share "Compassion's" name: Jaime.

She is a co-founder of "Delivering Hope."

 

Though I have given Priceless and Beautiful fictional names, their real names do begin with "P" and "B." Since I cannot post a pic of them here, I wanted to leave you with this acronym/pic:

PB&J

"Priceless"

(In danger of human trafficking.)

*

"Beautiful"

(In danger of begging on the streets.)

*

 &

"Jesus"

(Their Protector)

Cheering you on with victory in Jesus,

Layla

Commercial Break

Today's commercial break is brought to you by: Generic Benedryl.

It is effective in fighting severe allergy attacks AND punctual blog updates.

Please stay tuned for the conclusion of this week's posts.

(Post should be up before midnight, Central Standard Time.)

Cheering you on & checking the fuel guage,

Layla

I Don't Want to Change the World

Yep, that's right, I don't want to change a thing.

My original plan was to contain this week's heavier topic into two parts, ending it on Wednesday.  Please indulge me, as I feel compelled to share what has been on my heart today, thus turning it into three parts.

 God doesn't need me to change the world. He doesn't need me for anything.

He wants me.

This is beyond humbling. If I were to die this very moment, the world would continue to turn. The breeze would continue to blow. There would be others to pick up where I left off. So...

 Why should He bother with me?

My faith is weak. My body is weak. I mess up BIG time, ALL the time. I don't listen when I should, and I don't speak up when I should. I have pity parties, and I have selfish moments. 

Yet, He desires to be with me.

He isn't calling me to pray because He cannot work without my voice. He isn't rendered speechless when I am.

Even so, I am commanded to pray without ceasing.

If you are a child of Kind Jesus, then you are commanded to do the same thing. Why??? He LOVES to be with you, chat with you, cry with you, hurt with you, teach through you, and experience your expressions of joy over every good and perfect gift.

He is the Father of the heavenly lights.

You and I are made in His image!

If we are His, then He cannot hate himself. He looks at us, and He sees REDEMPTION. His ear bends to hear us. He longs for us to come to Him with all things, before we seek anyone else.

He does not need us to change the world.

He alone can do that.

 Jesus invites us to be involved in His miracles. Miracles that will bring healing to this land. We get to be HIS hands and feet! He calls us to love, laugh, cry, provide, rescue, protect, adopt, embrace, and endure.

Humbling.

When those lies start creeping in, and you feel them whispering about how small your faith is, how weak you are, or that you must be kidding yourself:
 

"Why on earth would He continue to love and use me?"

Remember:

 "Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with Him,

we will also live with Him;

If we endure,

we will also reign with Him.

If we disown Him,

He will disown us;

If we are faithless,

He remains faithful,

for He cannot disown Himself."

(2 Timothy 2:11-13)

Did you catch that last part? If we are faithless, HE remains faithful! It is not to our glory, but to His!

Nope, I don't want to change the world. 

I'd mess it up BIG TIME.

I do want to walk with my Daddy, and be a part of what HE is doing through me...

...and through you.

Cheering you on & checking the fuel gauge,

Layla