Bouncing in puddles
Singing on a rainy day
Storms cannot stop us
.
Waiting for sunshine
Can take a very long time
Don’t take a rain check
.
Weather every storm
Get up and put your shoes on
Puddles await you
Photo by Luna Lovegood on Pexels.com
Day #26 of my A – Z series, “What Makes Me Happy?”
ZESTINESS
When life is full of zest,
Filled with gusto, liveliness and charm,
Your get-up-and-go keeps sprinting,
You own a zest-filled farm!
Your happiness factor explodes!
Your animated spirit dances, and DANG,
You’re contagious! Your zesty zeal
Infects all who are touched by your tang.
Do you need a new, effective zester?
Is your spice rack running low?
Start an A-Z happiness list today
And watch your zestiness grow!
What is your Z word that makes you happy?
Day #20 – T = Trust
It’s been quite a ride! My A-Z series on “What Makes Me Happy?” Is drawing near an end, but today I TRUST you’ll continue reading, and I’ll continue to be inspired with new, pertinent topics. Thank you for being here. The ability to TRUST makes me happy 😃
T rusting brings
R espect and
U nderstanding and
S afety to vulnerability
T rusting is essential
In a world where parents feel a need to teach their children NOT to trust, we must be the models of trustworthiness. We must exude the love 💕 and safety we wish covered the earth.
The opposite of trusting is mistrusting, of course, and that creates worry and anxiety. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could feel free as a people to just trust? To just teach trust?
It’s probably Pollyanna thinking… unrealistic, you say. But, can’t we teach caution without teaching fear? Without causing worry and anxiety?
My go-to guide is Scripture. Jesus shows us the way. He talks about the birds being clothed so splendidly, so why worry about what we’ll wear. He showed us how He fed the multitudes, and told us not to worry about where our next meal is coming from. “Do not fear,” He taught us.
Philippians 4:6-7 is Paul’s message to the people of Philippi in which he cautioned them about worry. “Don’t worry about anything;” he wrote, “instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
So, the way to live in TRUST is to read, study, and apply the TRUTH of Scripture. Trust in God. Trust in what Jesus taught us. Sounds simple, huh? No, it’s not.
In today’s world we worry about safety. We hear of innocent people being murdered all the time.
In today’s world we worry about international affairs, divisiveness, wars, prejudice, and how it’s tearing us apart. We feel helpless to create that peace Paul wrote about. God’s Peace. Where is it? How can we exude it? How can we be the change we want to see in this world? How can we trust those people and situations that seem so untrustworthy?
My only solution is to remember the words of Paul, “Pray about everything.”
And remember/think about the words that remind us of how our simplest acts can make a difference to those we touch… and to those whose lives are affected by what we do.
R. Buckminster Fuller wrote, “Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.”
Like tomorrow, if you’re in the USA, we can each make a difference. Go vote (if you haven’t cast an absentee ballot already). Every vote DOES matter!
Reach out to your neighbor in love. Reach out with help to a friend in need. Reach out to a fellow blogger with affirmation. Tell them that the words you just read made a difference for you. They resonated. Trust that your small acts add up to big differences.
Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. In your shared weakness, you exhibit trust and you strengthen others.
Just TRUST!
He’s gotcha in the palm of His hand. Here’s my mantle in this season of Thanksgiving. Remember to thank God for all the ways He loves and protects you. Trust Him!
May the peace of Christ that surpasses all human understanding be yours today.
Day #13 in the A – Z series of “What Makes Me Happy?”
Haiku on Mountains & Mornings
Mountains and mornings
Lift me up, help me to rise
Above yesterdays
Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com
This week a young life was lost. Tragically, the brother of a dear friend who goes ATVing with us was killed in a two-car accident right here in our Madison Valley. He worked in our local nursing home. A compassionate, caring, handsome young man with so much to give. All loss hurts, but untimely death is so devastating.
I was looking forward to introducing him to our grandson who is coming from Switzerland next month to live with us for awhile. I know they would have been fast friends.
My heart is hurting. And especially for the family and friends he leaves behind. Pray for his brother, Joe, and the residents and staff at our nursing home, will you? I know they are grieving. I wish I could help.
The following Haiku was prompted by this tragedy:
One moment in time
Never to return again
So treasure each breath
.
God bless you, my blogging friends. Live in the NOW. Love, Laugh, and treasure one another. Live in love and gratitude. We just never know what each day will bring.
Recently I posted an A-Z list of what makes me happy. One of my blogging friends responded and suggested I use those items as titles for future blogs. I like that idea, and decided I’d take her suggestion. But I had two items for each letter of the alphabet. I’ll choose just one of the two each day and see if I can keep at it for 26 consecutive days. I’ve never made it to more than 9 in a row in the past. So here we go!
Day #1 = Antelope
Meet Little Annie
She was the neighborhood pet
Fish and Wildlife killed her
Well, that little Haiku didn’t end the way you expected, did it? Why would the Fish and Wildlife authorities euthanize such a precious creature?
Annie was abandoned by her mother. Neighborhood kids found her in the bushes on their property. Not wanting her to starve, they began feeding her milk from a baby bottle. The mama antelope never returned. Eventually, Annie followed the children to their home.
As the weather turned colder, Annie began sleeping in their garage. During the day she roamed free. She made friends in the “hood.” Folks loved her. Naturally. She became bolder, and would enter people’s garages if their door was left open. One person decided she was a nuisance. She called the Fish & Wildlife (F&W) folks and told the children that she had done so.
Alarmed that they may have done something wrong, they told their folks about the disgruntled neighbor lady. Afraid of what the authorities might do, they called a friend whose house borders a nature preserve. The friends relocated Annie to their beautiful property that has a creek running through it.
Before Annie’s location was discovered by the F&W, and before she was able to be adopted by an antelope herd in the preserve, we visited her one last time.
Annie kissed us, ate out of my husband’s hand, and bid us good-bye, blinking her beautiful, long eyelashes. We all prayed that she’d link up with a herd.
No such luck! F&W found her, put her in their truck, brought her to their local headquarters and euthanized her! 😪
I know there are laws. I know people aren’t supposed to feed or tame wild animals. But, come on!! Wasn’t there a place she could have lived happily? A petting zoo somewhere or an animal preserve where she could have been placed far from people?
We live on a piece of property in Montana where the antelope come through daily. It’s the antelope freeway in our back yard. I often film them in that space between us and the neighbors. I love them! I’ve learned so much about them as I watch their migration from the mountains behind us to the Madison River east of us. But, I let them keep their distance. And I pray those Mamas keep good track of their babies!
Enjoy one of my videos! That’s Bob and me talking to them.
❤️ Rest In Peace, Annie ❤️
Mother Theresa said, “Peace begins with a smile.”
I believe it.
Do you?
Shortly after we
Moved to Montana,
I joined the
Madison Valley
Writers’ Group.
Smiles helped me
Make friends.
Shared writing
Helped us
Get to know
One another better.
.
Here is a poem
I wrote back then.
It’s still pertinent
(maybe even more so)
Today… don’t
You agree?
.
A Smile
.
“If you see someone without a smile,” the old saying goes,
“Give ’em one of yours.” It’ll chase away their woes.
It won’t hurt you a bit and it don’t take no time.
Might even be returned, and won’t cost you a dime.
.
If you see someone without a smile, maybe they just need
The kind of cheer you got – to bring ’em up to speed.
You might throw in a handshake, or a “Howdy, how ya be?”
Might be their first friendly touch in a day or two or three.
.
Might be they’d like to tell you how they truly are,
‘Cuz usually when folks ask that, they don’t really car.
So, add some hospitality to the smile you send their way,
And shucks, you never know, ya might just make their day!
Oh, and by the way,
That’s my DollyWolly,
DeDeBee’s Smile.
Ain’t it great?
“Peace begins with a smile.”
I don’t control
Others’ noses.
Some say I reek!
Others say
It’s a Holy Fragrance.
.
Because I know Him,
Because I praise Him daily,
I adopt the joy of His Presence,
And come out smelling
Like a rose.
.
Because I love Him,
Because I immerse myself
In His Scripture daily,
I come out smelling
Like a rose.
.
Because I worship Him,
Because I hang out with Him,
I absorb His fragrance
And come out smelling
Like the aroma of Christ.
.
You are His fragrance
In a world of smells.
You gather His aroma
As you know, praise, worship,
Love, and hang out with Him.
.
God Bless You,
My special Blogging Friends.
Immerse yourself in Him,
And you’ll come out
Smelling like a rose, too!
Open Your Gifts
Open your gifts
They allow
Your creativity
To flow
.
Open your heart
It allows
The love In you
To flow
.
Open your mind
To allow
Truth to
Flow in
.
Open your hearth
And allow
Weary Souls
To enter
.
Open this day
With joy
To let the
Son shine in
.
Today’s a gift 🎁
Open it!
Twenty-seven years ago I wrote the poem that’s framed in the picture above (when I still considered myself a kid). I presented it as a birthday gift to my mom. When she left this earth a few years ago, I inherited the poem and the ceramic, musical mice in the teeter-totter that accompanied it.
Yesterday a blogging friend wrote a piece about “Balance.” She asked if it gets easier to find balance in life as we get older. I recalled this poem and told her I would post it today.
Rereading it now with 27 extra birthdays under my belt, I believe the “IFs” in here still are relevant today. And without that foundation of love, I would imagine finding balance is a bigger life-long struggle than it is for those whose home, mother, family and friends provided the love and stability we all crave.
What do you think?
.
Life is Like a Teeter-Totter
.
Life is like a teeter-totter,
Full of ups and downs.
Kids learn to roll and toss with it,
To shake away the frowns,
If they have had a loving home
To lean back and reminisce on when they roam.
.
Life is like a teeter-totter,
Full of bounces and of bumps.
Kids learn to rock with a jolly jump
And shake away the lumps
If they have had a loving mother
To hug them tight and with kisses smother.
.
Life is like a teeter-totter,
It works better in pairs.
They keep each other balanced
And handle life in shares –
If they have had their mother’s arms
To guard against abuse and harms.
.
Life is like a teeter-totter,
Full of laughs and silly giggle.
Full of noise and wonderment –
Girls to squeeze and boys that wiggle –
If they have been secure in love,
Both from home’s hearth and God above.
.
Thank you, Mom, for filling my life
With love. More ups than downs, for sure.
You seemed to know my every need.
For every hurt, you had a cure.
Happy Birthday, Mother dear –
I thank God every day that you are near!
.
.
If you had a happy, loving home, with a mom who provided that sense of security and the ready help when you needed it, I bet you are able to keep life’s teeter-totter in better balance than those folks who missed that connection. How would you characterize your childhood? Did you have a mom who helped you have a greater chance for a balanced life?
Hugs to You !!
Inspire to Love
Let the SonShine!
You inspire me to respond
Learning to Live; Living to Learn; Learning to Love; Living in Love
