Mood

The sky was gray this morning, yet a light shone on the world and the colors of spring were vibrant. The sun shone for a while, then the clouds darkened. In the distance, thunder's speech was deep and solemn. The clouds cried a little, but with no relief; the sky is still troubled.

The darkness persists.

Um, guys... that's a parking lot...

Destination:

Scrabble!

Puzzle using all but four letters! Do you see anywhere we could have added them?

Courage

February 20-26 is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Courage

What is courage?
     What is beauty?
          What does it mean to be an example?

Is it being fearless?
     Is it being flawless?
          Is it never making a mistake?

Or--

Is it doing the right thing even when it terrifies you?
     Is it recognizing your immeasurable worth, finding strength and
     confidence in how much God values you?
          Is it trusting God enough to walk forward, knowing you will misstep
          sometimes--and being willing to backtrack and start again when you
          do?

Oh my friend, how can I tell you how I feel? Watching you struggle and break, unable to fix what's wrong, unable to ease your way--only to listen, to tell you I love you, to tell you I'm here if you ever need anything. This is something you have to do, but I will walk with you. I will cry with you. I will wait with you until the day God heals and restores you. We will see that day together, and then we will rejoice! Until then, never forget:

You are courageous.
     You are beautiful.
          You are an example.

And you shall be victorious.

Beauty From Pain

I love you.

Under the Eaves

Written June 2010

The heavens are sympathy today,
Expressing my feelings just the way
I wish I could.

Under the eaves I find my chair,
Breathe in the darkening air
And sigh.

My heart is wild; so is the wind.
Direction and drive cannot be reigned in
By any hand but God's.

Thinking, wishing; dreams and fears--
I gaze up through the clouds' tears
So often like my own.

But today my heart is worn.
Feelings abound but the drops won't form.
So I lay my head back on the chair;

I close my eyes,
Cry inside,
And let the rain soak my skin.

Thick and fast comes the downpour
Like blessings from the hand of my Lord
Even in the midst of my stormy heart.

Thunder rolls around the sky;
The clouds begin to dry their eyes.
I am soothed.

Ready for Spring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viewer Update

At the end of this past week, we hit over 1,000 views of the blog! I believe that's usually a time that bloggers are excited about, so *woohoo! celebrations and confettis galore!*

;)

All joking aside, I am happy about the increasing number of dcyo--oops, "hits" that is. Haha, sorry about that; I accidentally hit the keyboard shortcut to change my keyboard to Dvorak instead of QWERTY layout! The numbers have definitely gone up since I revised the blog, which tells me I'm headed in the right direction.

One more interesting update--you all are quite a diverse audience, which I love. There have been at least twelve countries represented in my program that keeps up with viewer stats:

America
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
Finland
Germany
Japan
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

India

One of my favorite countries

Web Site Registry...

....And just HOW OLD do they expect people to be? They really think someone 160 years old will be registering online for a test?

(You may have to click the picture to enlarge it, so you can see it clearly.)

Sanctity of Life

Some people are recognizing Sanctity of Human Life Day today, the third Sunday in January, and others are recognizing it next Sunday, January 23.

What is the youngest baby you’ve ever seen? A day old? A few hours? Less than a minute? I’ve had the privilege to assist in a couple of labors and witness the birth of two precious babies. I could see them crowning—could see the tops of their little heads before they were even born. Does that mean I saw them before they were alive? Some would say yes.

At what point does an embryo or fetus become human or alive? What scientific or logical evidence do you have for that time you just thought of? Most people I’ve talked to believe that a fetus becomes a living human at some nebulous time “pre-birth” but cannot tell me when the magic moment is. A zygote will certainly develop into a baby if everything happens as it should, just as a baby will develop into a child, and a child into an adult. So what is the difference between a newborn baby and a just-conceived zygote that makes one human and the other not?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, I urge you to search until you find a reason that is backed by scientific and logical evidence. The only satisfactory answer I’ve found is that there is no essential difference between a baby and a newly fertilized zygote—that they are both alive and human. If you reach a different conclusion, please comment below with your findings and your evidence. I am truly seeking truth.

Allow me to tell you about a powerful, painful experience I had. Recently, I saw an embryo who was probably about 6-7 weeks old (an estimate based on size and situation). It was perfect! From head to rump, it was about half an inch long. I could see its clear skin, dark eye spots smaller than a pin head, and tiny, tiny little feet and arms. That is the youngest baby I’ve seen, and I went home and cried. It was beautiful, just beautiful... and it had died.

This is a life-sized model of an embryo at 9 weeks’ gestational age—two or three weeks older than the baby I saw.

Please, if you do nothing else after reading this, give serious thought to the question of when life begins. If you believe that human life is valuable and deserves protection, this is not a subject you can avoid.

Power Outage

My City

Every city has a shadow--a place behind the tall buildings and fancy shops.
It's an area forgotten, ignored, intentionally overlooked--a place full of people with great need.

     "My landlord's threatening to kick me out."
     "I got nothing."
     "The courts took away my niece's little boy, so I keep him. He's handicapped, and I got to take care of him before [I take care of] me."
     "I been out of work."
     "I'm blind in my left eye and they're going to amputate my right leg."
     "I'm only part-time, so I got no money for medicine."
     "I go to the ER every Saturday and Sunday because my sugar shoots up."
     "How do I take care of myself?"
     "Where can I get help?"

Grey skies overlook dingy buildings and crowded streets.

In this city's shadow lies a little white building with bullet scars on the doors. Cold rooms, exposed pipes, and cracked walls every month surround the shadowed people reaching for light.

The crosses on the doors show the reason for the bullets--and the reason this little building is yet full of prayer, singing, and blessing. Hope bustles around with food, clothes, groceries, and health checks. People who live in their own shadows--cancer, miscarriages, physical needs--serve their neighbors with smiles and "God bless you"; and their light overcomes their pain.

Hope is alive; grace is lived daily; and love shines all the brighter because it's found

In the shadow of the city.