It’s Fools Day

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Fools day

They look upon me with pity

Because I’ve no one on my arm

Why’s it gotta be

that I’m not real without someone to keep me warm

I have a lot of dreams

But they don’t mean anything

To anyone

To anyone

 

I’ll guard my heart

Better than before

Don’t let those wolves come in

Even when they knock nicely at the door

 

Simplicity is felicity

Burning out the dross

If I can tell you something

Lessons in the loss

Why chase boys

When there’s Less sadness in your dreams

Happiness is found

in unraveling the seams

I put my money where my mouth is

Invested in a risk

For you, I gave pieces of myself

Has to be a reason for this

 

I’ll guard my heart

Better than before

Don’t let those wolves come in

Even when they knock nicely at the door

 

The easy route was to toss it out

And burn the framework to the ground

Silence in the shoreline

Nothing’s safe without a sound

I’ll choose a storm chaser

Who finds beauty in unrest

traveling for travelin’s sake

who can be happy in the mess

 

I’ll guard my heart

Better than before

Don’t let those wolves come in

Even when they knock nicely at the door

~lme

10 things my parents instilled in me for which I am forever grateful

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  1. A faith in God- it’s not their faith now, but I’m thankful for a foundation to know the Maker of the universe who holds my life and happenings in His power.  They taught me where to go for wisdom.
  2. The concept that church is not about a building- it’s about all followers of Christ worshipping all across the world.  It expanded my worldview that there are others like me loving and serving the world around.  No matter where I go, I will have family.  I have blessings I haven’t even ever met yet.
  3. The sense that I’m not entitled- I drove a Buick Park avenue I bought from my aunt for 20 bucks just to say we purchased it.  My brother and sister both had to drive it.  It was not flashy or cool, but it was a first car.  We had to learn the value of driving something to humble us while others got new mustangs and jeeps.  You have to start low on the rungs of the ladder or you’ll fall fast from the top
  4. A love and interest in people- my parents welcome people into their home.  They want to know about what they do and where they come from.  I feel their interest and enjoyment of people has become an integral part of who I am as a person.
  5. Buying from thrift stores and on sale is wise.  I used to be super embarrassed when my mom made us shop at Goodwill.  Now, it’s what all the cool kids do.  Go figure. We hardly ever bought anything new unless it was a solid pair of shoes.  Now I know how to live simply and how to find deals without being in massive credit card debt.
  6. An attitude of gratitude- My mom made us write thank you cards for gifts and thank the host and hostess for having us.  I know now about common courtesy and how that can lead you to have a lasting attitude of gratitude for all you have been given. 
  7. Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes- I despise when my mom tries to get me to see the other person’s point of view when I’m angered.  Ultimately, though, this is helpful in not being a me-centric person.  She tries to remind me that my perspective is not the only perspective.
  8. A healthy work ethic- Because of them, I learned that nothing will be gained without some valiant effort.  If
  9. It’s all a fly speck in the scope of eternity- my parents taught me to focus on the bigger picture which will ultimately minimize my persisting cares and pains at heart in the present moment.  I’m grateful that I am not only living for the here and now.
  10. Less of a focus on technology at home and more on music, laughter and spending time together- I did not grow up with the internet in my childhood home.  I’m not saying the internet is bad.  I used it every single day.  But I’m also saying that we need to consider the time we spend with technology and whether it’s productive or wasteful.  As a family, we enjoy laughing together and swapping stories about our lives.  We find people and circumstances hilarious and love sharing our views of the world around us.  We always shared evening meals together at home and built community in a relaxed setting.  I hope to do the same thing should I have a family of my own someday.

So for all of these and more, I know I’m blessed.

~lme

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4 things you should never put in the hands of someone else

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Your sense of worth– this should belong to God alone and come from Him.  In Him you have meaning, not in someone else.  A human being’s love or lack thereof should never be something that fulfills or destroys you.  “We should not look to be filled with a mate, we should be filled with God.”  -Berry Kercheville.  

Your sense of happiness– they don’t get to be in control of that nor do they have the right to take it.  If the apostle Paul could learn to be content in whatever state he found himself, how much more should I?  “Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.” -Abe Lincoln.  Are you choosing happiness and positivity today?

Your blood pressure– because they really don’t deserve to take years off your life either.  People will wrong us and hurt us throughout our entire lives.  We can choose to be upset.  Or we can pray for help through frustration and eventually come to a place where we say- they aren’t really worth being upset over.  God gives and then He takes away and ultimately He knows what we need even more than we do.  When angered, think… what can I do to serve instead of following the rabbit hole of how deeply have I been hurt?

Your faith– they can help you get to heaven, but they can’t carry you all the way and vice versa. Friends and family should not hold precedence over your relationship with God.  Putting Him first means putting all others beneath, including career, hobbies and entertainment.  If someone or something is pulling you farther from God than closer to Him, it may be time to reconsider that relationship. 

So take care of your soul.  Guard your heart from evil.  Stand firm in the faith.

~lme

photo Credit- thanks to Library of Congress photosream

Screaming at empty walls

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Photo Courtesy:  This Florida photostream

 

Screaming at empty walls

Anger slipped in the back door

She saw me sitting all alone

Distance is a subtle killer

when it meets a stone

Thought that you were someone

But I always overthink things

And now at an empty wall

For days, I have been screaming

 

All I ever asked

was a show of your concern

But your eyes were focused

On what you say you want

they all say they seek love

But their stories all undone

They just want the chase

And then they’re done

 

 

The pieces that you left behind

I will burn so slow

As peace to recompense

In the silence that I know

This is a dimmer switch

In which you shut me out

Your kind is so destructive

Then surprised when the gold doesn’t pan out

 

Happiness is not a gift

Delivered by one man

Respect yourself my dear

even if they won’t

Heed my words, guard your heart

I should not have let this horse run

I knew better than to love the west

The land of setting sun

~lme

Rest in Peace

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Photo Cred:  Library of Congress flickr stream

Rest in peace.

Ok this isn’t what you think, so don’t think I’m being morbid.  Peace.  Peace that passes all understanding that guards our hearts and mind as God tells us in His Word.  Peace comes softly at times.  And the most amazing peace is when you come to know through God’s help the right path to take.  Sometimes the things I thought would cause me to ache for months are much less painful than I expected.  Time heals and reveals.  Maybe there’s an ease in age.  The people who used to make me upset don’t rub me as wrong anymore.  And the peace in knowing that God will provide for me in His own time is super comforting.  Who else do I have to impress in this great big place but the Maker himself?  Sure I see others receiving blessing and their lives changing around me, but I must not be shaken.  I am one soul who knows that God knows best for me and will send me exactly what I need if I trust Him.  I have seen many friendships come and fade with the sunset.  I have experienced disappointment in others and the world around me.  And I’ve come through it with perspective and experience. 

I have watched my country continue to breed materialism until we are soaking in a self-sick and sin-sick place full of people who have lost their zeal for simple pleasures.  We can no longer enjoy lying under an oak tree in the summer or having an actual conversation without feeling unimportant as the other party continually checks their phone (I too am guilty of this).  Challenging ourselves to connect to the actual world instead of the digital world is something we should consider.

Amidst all of the annoyances and challenges is peace.  We can rest in a state of peace knowing that so much does not matter.  Not how much we procure.  Not how successful we are to our peers.  Not how beautiful our face is.  Not how lean our body looks.  Not how big our muscles are.  Not how hilarious we are on twitter.  Not how happy of a relationship we have with a significant other.  And not how much money we make.  For we are all on the same playing field.  And we are ultimately in submission to the Almighty who created heaven and earth.  One day all of these extensions of ourselves will fall off as we rise into Heaven to be forever with the One who knows us better than any person on this earth.  Work to be found faithful 🙂

2 Corinthians 10:18- “For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.”  Let’s stop caring what others think.  Let’s stop trying to attract the opposite sex or the big-name producer or the money or the fans.  Let’s just try to be commended by God and work hard at what we do and the rest will fall in place.  Live in peace.  Act in peace. Rest in peace.

~lme

Part of the Cure or the Disease?

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Photo Courtesy:  The British Library

“Am I part of the cure, or am I part of the disease?” ~coldplay

This lyrics struck me as they played in my car today.  Am I the first or the second of these?  I’m sure at first each of us would wholeheartedly say yes, I’m part of the cure!  But wait, before you answer so quickly, here are 4 areas in which to consider whether you are part of the cure or the disease….

  1. Being part of the cure means you don’t spend all your time in things that only benefit yourself.  This would be the antidote in a self-sick world.  It’s easy to shop for yourself, feed yourself and spend time with only the people you like.  But really, is that what we are called to do and be as people of God?  I believe there are reasons that being trapped inside our minds and not serving others is unhealthy.  We have to get out of ourselves.  This will lead us to contentment and happiness.
  2. Being a part of the cure means you make decisions about your circle of friends, people you date and those from whom you seek advice with more than superficial things in mind.  I’ve often been struck when people try to set people up with someone who “loves music” or “loves to travel.”  Having a bunch of similar “likes” doesn’t mean you connect with someone nor does it mean they value the same things you do.  It also does not mean they will be someone who will spiritually lead you in a direction you need to go.  In fact, deciding who you will ultimately spend the rest of your life with means you consider more than yourself.
  3. Being a part of the cure means you are different than the culture around you and you’re ok with that.  The way we dress, act, talk and live out our daily lives should look different than others.  The way we react to situations should cause others to stop and think.  And counter-culture can also involve the many gadgets and distractions around us.  Sure, it is easy to have superficial conversations and also relationships, so it’s important to fight that by working at it.  As we “advance” in technology it seems to me that we’ve begun to “dis-advance” (I just made that up) in our interpersonal communications.  When I see a couple at dinner and the wife is on her phone, it seems a little sad to me.  I’m starting to wonder if the reason we can’t make true relationships work is because our base of online relationships are built on superficiality such as “likes” and “comments.”  When we have human connection in the same room and choose to connect to a device, what does that say about us?
  4. Being a part of the cure means you strive to see people as souls, not as beings from whom you can take what you want.  Don’t see people as merely physical beings to fulfill what you want but rather have their best interest at heart.  It means you say things that are difficult at times because it will help in the long run.  Being a part of the cure means curing yourself of only seeing the earthly, here and now perspective.

Fill your cup at the well

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Photo Courtesy of: The Swedish National Heritage photostream

As you age, you begin to realize that all the discouragement you feel in the your imperfect friendships with people is fixed in the perfection of God.  Think about it.  The failings of others are contrasted in the things He does everything perfectly.  Someone doesn’t give you time?  God is always there for you, always.  Anytime you need to talk, He has a listening ear.  When you can’t explain yourself to a human, the Holy Spirit can intercede in the groanings of your soul as you tell God.  People hurt you?  God has good in store for you, despite how hard you’re fighting and failing daily.  When you feel like people only want to use you or abuse you, remember this.  God wants what’s best for you and wants to bring you home.  That’s why he left a book full of love letters and words to help you stay on the straight and narrow.  Relationships will fill you full of questions.  God doesn’t desire to keep you in total darkness.  He says when we search for Him with our whole heart, we will find Him.

So be seekers.  Be learners.  Be strong in the Lord.  Be lovers of good.

Go.  Be.

~lme

Lyrical poetry for your mid-week

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Photo Courtesy:  Swedish National Heritage photostream

Green

~lme

I pack a punch

Right to the gut

With a song that I wrote

since I only had so much

I live in a world

You have never seen

Ethereal forests

Filled with evergreens

Remember when there was intrigue

In a disappearing act

Where do you go

When the others act like that

I sought advice

in comrades I knew

but they could not console me

in the mystery of you

I will strive for the higher path

No matter how I’m hurt

I seek comfort in someone else

To the man who won’t desert

Filling up the holes

Where the others fall so short

The one who teaches creation

Is the only one who can bind what’s sore

You don’t sing me to sleep

I do that on my own

The silence is my symphony

I won’t take water from a stone

Love must define me

But I must guard my heart

No matter how it unravels

I know I finish what I start

Thursday thoughts and things to think about (the “th” sound)

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Photo Courtesy: George Eastman flickr photostream

10 affirmations to look in the mirror and remind yourself today….

  1. No one, and I mean no one, gets to determine your happiness.  They can’t steal it or conceal it- do not give them that power.
  2. Even if no one laughs at your jokes, you are hysterical in your own right and will find those eventually who will love your humor and wit.
  3. No matter what quirks, glitches or funny personality traits you have, you are beautiful and belong in the world.  And anyone who picks out those instead of seeing you for what you really are isn’t worth your time.
  4. You never have to explain yourself to those who don’t truly care about you.
  5. You can only know what people reveal…. Otherwise, you aren’t a mind reader.
  6. Kindness is a way to live, act, talk and carry out with everyone you meet or have as blessings in your life.
  7. Words and actions must go hand in hand or they begin to cancel each other out.
  8. There’s gotta be a reason that the mind and the mouth were made as two separate pieces.  One should be used before using the other.
  9. Instead of talking about everything you hope to do…. Just go do it and shut up.
  10. Don’t ever believe that you aren’t wonderful, valuable, intelligent or belong in this great big world.  Because everyone does.  Sometimes it just takes finding your niche before it begins to make a little sense.

You are perfectly perfect…. So check out this perfectly perfect song 😉  I’m in love with Elizabeth and the Catapult right now.

Happy Thursday dears…

~lme

More than Enough

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More than enough

by the lovely songwriter from the band, Elizabeth and the Catapult.

Once in awhile

More often than naught

I forget that I forgot

That I got what I got

For a good reason

Though it may not be much

It’s more than enough

Once in awhile

I relax in my seat

I forget what is missing

I kiss fear on the cheek

I feel the light on my back

Though it burns with regret

It’s more than enough

So remember on this mid-week day…. you’ve got a lot to be thankful for…. even if you don’t have all the answers. 🙂

~lme