Jacks and Lunes

I haven't written much poetry lately, but I'm feeling that draw to play with words like I used to play with jacks when I was a little girl. Do you remember that game? Throwing those silver spikes down and looking for patterns to emerge so you could ever-so-carefully pick them up by ones and twos and threes until they were all safe in your small, tight fist? There was no better feeling of triumph than to make it all the way through to the end without dropping a single jack!

Anyway, that's how I'm feeling about writing... slinging down words and hoping some cool patterns will emerge that will help me put it all together.

Yesterday at Poetic Asides Robert Lee Brewer posted his third poetic form challenge: the lune. (I went with the Collom lune version.) The phrase it will grow on you got stuck in my head while listening to an audio book and has come out in this poem about Adam and Eve and Sin. I cannot imagine how horrified Adam and Eve were once they realized what they had done... what having the knowledge of good and evil really meant.... to know evil is a terrible, terrible thing.

After the Fall

He told us:
It will grow on you
like baby soft

skin over a
skinned knee or beautiful moss
swaying in trees.

We were so
newly fallen and lost that
we didn’t understand

about pain or
parasites or anything else from
the Deep Evil.

It didn’t take
very long for us to
see that the

old Serpent was
nearly right in his words.
Sin became an

easy mantle to
wear, a comfortable bed on
which to sleep.

But he was
wrong, too – it not only
grew on us,

Sin consumed us,
body and soul, until we
did, indeed, die.

It seeped into
our bowels, our marrow, our
cells – permeating, absorbing –

until there was
not one thing left without
blemish, nothing pure.

We were steeped
in the Great Dark Knowing
and fed it

forward to our
babies and their babies and
all the rest.

Lies and murder,
hatred, jealousy, spite and anger –
Adam and I

birthed these into
the world the same as
Cain and Abel.

Now we watch
and wait for the One
promised, the One

Who will split
the Snake’s head open and
take off our

animal skins, then
place upon us the holy
robes of Righteousness.

I think I'll go buy some jacks and play with Mary today! Have a bloggy good day, friends! And I pray that you (and I!) lean today on the Woman's Seed who struck that old Serpent a death blow square on the head.

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Simple

For Tuesday
June 29, 2010

Outside my window.... a hot and humid morning with air as thick as potato soup. The sky is holding in a lot of water and I think it's supposed to let it all out sometime today. Hopefully, that will cool things off!

I am praying... for a friend whose mother was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I'm praying for her mother, too, but I know she is exhausted from the care she just gave to our friend who went home to the Lord two weeks ago. Now she's looking at the care of her own mother with the same dreaded disease.

I am thankful for... a wonderful day back at work yesterday and then a great afternoon and evening at home with family and friends.

From the kitchen... E shopped for and cooked an entire meal last night! All at her own initiative. How nice was that?! She made baked spaghetti, sweet peas, Caesar salad, rolls, and Brownie Goody Bars. Good job, E!

I am creating... nothing. Really. That's the weekWORD this week from Hannah. I'm a bit stumped on this one and am looking for inspiration. Any ideas out there? "Nothing".... Hmmm....
If you want to play along, just leave a comment with Hannah. The more the merrier!!

I am going... to work this morning, pick up M from drama practice, take her to Michael's to spend her saved up allowance, then home for housework and maybe watch Alice in Wonderland with M. Oh, and I promised to teach her how to play rummy, too!

I am reading... the Bible: Proverbs (hard for me... they seem disconnected... I would much rather read a story than a list of sayings, but I'm sure there's something for me to learn in there!), Colossians, and Romans. I'm casting about for the next novel to read. And waiting patiently for two commentaries (this and this) to come in from Amazon any day now!

I am hoping... our downstairs air conditioner only needs to be topped off with freon and isn't on its last gasp of life! Argh.

I am listening to... All Aunt Hagar's Children. I just started it and am on the first short story. Pretty good so far.

One of my favorite things... connecting up with other creative gals via the Internet, especially when they are fellow Christians. My friend CD told me about this group and I joined it yesterday.

A photo to share with you... the beginnings of a mind map I'm working on for a short story idea at bubbl.us. Pretty cool tool.

Have a simply wonderful week, bloggy friends! For more simple entries, visit the Simple Woman's Daybook here.

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Seven on Sunday

It's actually really early on Monday morning, but I thought I'd sneak in a "Seven on Sunday" anyway...

1. It's so very good to be home. I feel like it's been weeks, but really just days! I'm so thankful "home" is a great place to be!

2. Some friends introduced us to Christian comedian Tim Hawkins last night. Here's a video from him that's quite a hoot!

3. While at Bald Head we had dinner with Matt's old boss at their house in the marina. Bee-u-ti-ful!! They collect art from this artist. Pretty cool, huh? He's just over in Greensboro. I would love to go to his studio and just watch him work!

4. I'm allllmooostttt finished with the last Space Trilogy book (That Hideous Strength) by C.S. Lewis. Good, but creepy. Perelandra is still my favorite in the series.

5. Hannah should be posting the new weekWORD soon. I'm hoping to play this week after taking a two-week break. I have much to catch up on to see what these creative ladies did with dream and non-attachment.

6. I have a great idea for a short story. Now - execution, execution, execution! It's my writing goal for this week...

7. Speaking of goals and such, I've got so many lists floating around in my head... not to mention on sticky notes here and there! Here's a list of links to web tools designed to get your thoughts and ideas organized. There's ONE HUNDRED of them. Gulp. I'll have to put that on my list to read this week. :-)

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Mercy-Waves

Mercy: Compassion for the miserable. Its object is misery. By the atoning sacrifice of Christ a way is open for the exercise of mercy towards the sons of men, in harmony with the demands of truth and righteousness (Gen. 19:19; Ex. 20:6; 34:6, 7; Ps. 85:10; 86:15, 16). In Christ mercy and truth meet together. Mercy is also a Christian grace (Matt. 5:7; 18:33-35).
~From Easton's Bible Dictionary

I've spent an average of about five or six hours on the beach the last three days. Today I'm taking a break and sitting on a wonderfully shady porch that catches the ocean breeze. There are sea oats rustling beside me and I can hear (although not see) the ocean beyond. It's chilly enough that I'm keeping a beach towel near to cover up with now and then. Matt is down below grilling chicken for a Caesar salad lunch he's preparing for us. Life is good.

As I've sat on the beach, I've been thinking about waves. A friend who lost her husband six years ago told me that grief comes like waves, fast and furious at first, barely giving you time to recover from the last one. Eventually, though, she says the waves come with less frequency and with less power. But they never totally go away, she says, and sometimes a rogue wave raises its foamy head and knocks her unexpectedly to her knees.

I can see the analogy of grief as waves.

But- sitting on the beach this week, watching the waves come in... powerful and crashing, gentle and rolling... feeling the grief of the passing of a good friend and acknowledging that things just simply aren't "right" in this old fallen world... the thought has come to me that ocean waves could also be an analogy for God's mercy.

His mercy in my life has often been forceful and full of power. I have bowed before His majesty and grace.

And sometimes His mercy has been so gentle I've had to pay close attention to appreciate it, like the warm waves at the ocean's edge wrapping themselves around my ankles, my legs... the sand tickling my bare toes.

And at 41 (ahem, yes, almost 42, Ken, if you're reading this!), I have enough years to look back and see that His mercy has a few times come crashing down on me, knocking me painfully to my knees, causing me momentarily to be sucked under the water and lose my breath. Those types of mercy-waves can only be recognized in hindsight, I think. Or maybe as I walk further in this journey with Jesus, I will learn to see the mercy flowing through the waves along with the pain. Mercy is always there.

So -

I was sitting on the edge of the water Tuesday in my trusty orange-striped beach chair, reading a book, when Wham! a wave snuck up on me and slapped me full in the face, knocked my hat and glasses off, went up my nose and down my throat. Ugh. (My book didn't get a drop of water on it. Still hadn't figured that one out!) I guess that's another type of mercy-wave... the ones that wake you up from a stupor, work their way down deep into your insides, knock away the things you've been leaning on, the things you've maybe been depending on in place of God.

Even though I knew my friend's death was coming, it's been a kind of mercy-wave. I've been left with memories of her and what she meant in my life, but more importantly, it's caused me to sit back this week and think about my walk with God, where He's brought me from and where I feel He's leading me to.

Life is a blessing... and full of mercy. May you find yourself, like me, swimming in an ocean full of mercy-waves, bloggy friends.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Psalms 30:11,12

(For great reading on mercy try A Severe Mercy.)

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Simple

For Tuesday

June 22, 2010

Yes, I'm alive! Sorry for the long, unexplained blogging break... but I think I'm back~

Outside my window.... a golf course, a marsh, and the ocean. I'm sitting on a breezy screened porch at Bald Head Island for our family's beach vacation.

I am praying... gosh... for so much, a friend who is feeling lonely, a family who has just lost their wife/mother/grandmother, my very own little family and all our own individual needs. My heart is full and I am thankful to be at the beach where the ocean seems to bring me so much closer to God. I know He is always there, but there's something special about this place to me.

I am thankful for... the life of my friend who left us Tuesday to go home to be with the Lord. I will miss her terribly, but my soul has peace that I will see her again.

From the kitchen... Matt and his buddy M are grilling vegetable and shrimp skewers, hamburgers, and chicken. Oh - and a marvelous looking green salad appears to be shaping up nicely. Matt has been treating me like a princess here at that beach. I love him.

I am creating... nothing at all. I missed out on the weekWORD dream, but you can drop by Elisabeth's and see the links to all who participated. Also, this week's word is non-attachment and is being hosted by Sara. You can leave a comment on her blog if you'd like to play.

I am going... to sit on the beach and read, read and sit on the beach... take a nap... then sit on the beach and read, read and sit on the beach... maybe eat some ice cream... maybe go for a walk... maybe play in the waves with Mary. That's about it. :-)

I am reading... the Bible (Proverbs, Romans, and Ephesians right now.) I'm almost finished with A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller which is absolutely wonderful. Also, I'm just getting into That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. It's the last book in his space trilogy. I loved the first two and I'm sure I'll love this one just as much. It's been on my TBR Fiction-I-Own list for a long while.

I am hoping... The Boy and The Girl will join us here at the beach on Thursday. I'm looking forward to spending more time with The Girl. I like The Boy and all...

I am listening to... crickets chirping and frogs croaking in the creek just below the balcony.

One of my favorite things... the ocean, the ocean, the ocean! I love the smell of it, I love watching the waves roll in, I love looking for shells, and I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my shoulders. I even love the sand!

A photo to share with you... Mary and our puppy Sadie at the beach on Sunday! :->

Have a simple, restful, ocean-breezy rest of the week, bloggy friends! For more simple entries, visit the Simple Woman's Daybook here.

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Seven on Sunday

Happy Sabbath!

1. We've been gone for the weekend to our church's family retreat at the beach. It was a perfect time... not many planned activities but lots of freedom to just fellowship, walk on the beach, and just chill. So glad we got to do that!

2. I'm coveting this....

3. And this!

4. I walked, I walked, I walked! Yea for me! Walked both Saturday morning and Sunday morning on the beach. Now I just need to have the beach moved into my neighborhood so I'll have the incentive to get up and GO! :-P

5. Good Southern word for the week: traipsing

6. Want to play weekWORD? The word is "dream." Go to Elisabeth's to let her know you want to play.

7. Check out Scanwiches. I find it funny... and weirdly pretty.

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weekWORD: Transparent

trans·par·ent

\tran(t)s-ˈper-ənt\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin transparent-, transparens, present participle of transparēre to show through, from Latin trans- + parēre to show oneself; Date: 15th century

This week's word made me think of the Latin "coram Deo"....

“This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.” (R.C. Sproul)

Coram Deo: living "transparently" before God... the only Person I can truly ever show myself to.

And some food for thought from Soren Kierkegaard:

“Do you not know that there comes a midnight hour when every one has to throw off his mask? Do you believe that life will always let itself be mocked? Do you think you can slip away a little before midnight in order to avoid this? Or are you not terrified by it? I have seen men in real life who so long deceived others that at last their true nature could not reveal itself;... In every man there is something which to a certain degree prevents him from becoming perfectly transparent to himself; and this may be the case in so high a degree, he may be so inexplicably woven into relationships of life which extend far beyond himself that he almost cannot reveal himself. But he who cannot reveal himself cannot love, and he who cannot love is the most unhappy man of all.”

And another that made me smile from a favorite author, Bill Bryson:

“Among the many thousands of things that I have never been able to understand, one in particular stands out. That is the question of who was the first person who stood by a pile of sand and said, "You know, I bet if we took some of this and mixed it with a little potash and heated it, we could make a material that would be solid and yet transparent. We could call it glass." Call me obtuse, but you could stand me on a beach till the end of time and never would it occur to me to try to make it into windows."

If you haven't read his book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, try it! It's a wonderful read.

And, finally, John gives us a glimpse of Heaven:

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. Revelation 21:21

To see other weekWORD entries visit just a humble bee.

To find out next week's word (on Monday) and sign up to play, visit Elisabeth!

Hoping you (and I!) will live a "transparent" day, bloggy friends!

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Tree

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
~Joyce Kilmer, "Trees," 1914

While shopping Tuesday, Mary saw a gift card that had a cool design of a tree on it and said, "Mom, this looks like one of your doodles!" I had to try it, so here's my version. And, I love this poem, don't you? Hope you have time to look up and enjoy the wonder of a tree raising its arms to heaven today.

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Simple

For Tuesday
June 8, 2010

Outside my window.... a cool-ish June morning with a delightfully pink sunrise.

I am praying... for a very sick friend... for peace and rest and an easy home-going.

I am thankful for... a wonderful conversation with Mary yesterday about death and heaven and our hope in Jesus.

From the kitchen... a pitifully empty refrigerator!

I am creating... the letter 'M' for my letterPLAYGROUND collection and thinking about what I'll do for the weekWORD "transparent." (Go to just a humble bee if you'd like to play along this week! The more the merrier!)

I am going... to have a long day at work today. Ugh. I love my job, but have really gotten used to only working in the mornings. Today is an all-dayer. :-/

I am reading... the Bible. And that's all. Can you imagine? I'm in Romans, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Psalms. I'm in a reading slump just now. :-)

I am hoping... to take Mary to buy her first pair of "heels" this week and a new dress. Plus maybe a bowling trip and a visit to the Library.

I am listening to... The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's great!

Around the house... a pitifully large mound of dirty clothes. (This seems to be a reoccurring theme for these "Simple" posts, huh? I am an amazingly inept housekeeper!)

One of my favorite things... driving by Starbucks this morning at 5:05am and realizing, "Yes, by gosh, they ARE open!" Skinny Latte and one *tiny* vanilla bean scone.

A few plans for the rest of the week... things are all up in the air... Matt's traveling for work, we're supposed to be going to a beach retreat with our church... but nothing is certain right now.

Have a simply wonderful rest of the week, bloggy friends! For more simple entries, visit the Simple Woman's Daybook here.

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Seven on Sunday

1. See above!

2. While reading a (great) article in World Magazine this morning, I came across a reference to Evan Roberts, a preacher during the Welsh Revival of 1904/05. Poking around a bit, I found he preached basically the same thing over and over again:

• Confess all known sins


• Renounce doubtful things


• Obey the Spirit's prompting


• Confess Christ publicly

Good words 100 years later, I think. (See the World article for more on "doubtful things.")

3. I went with S and our girls to a friend's art show this afternoon. What a great way to spend the Sabbath... being amazed at the creative gifts God has bestowed. See my extremely talented friend's website here.

4. We sang Your Grace is Enough today in church. It's been clinging to me all day today, running around in my head, peeping over my shoulder. Yes, His Grace is enough.

5. Here's an interesting online magazine for you to check out.

6. And a place to get some great "old time" sermons.

7. So now it's thundering and I'm snuggling up in bed with hubby and two dogs... and probably a little girl who's afraid of lightening!

Peace and rest to you, bloggy friends!

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wordWEEK: Now

I immediately associated the word "now" with the idea of "time." And the question, "What if time grew on trees?" came to mind. What if? Maybe I could have picked some and used it to get the weekWORD done on time!?

Silly, I know.

(Colored in Photoshop)

I also dug up this quote from a favorite author about the present:

The Present is the point at which Time touches Eternity. Of the present moment -- and of it only -- humans have an experience analogous to the experience which God has of reality as a whole; in it alone, freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with Eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present -- either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself; or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure. ~C.S. Lewis

After a very physically and emotionally tiring week, it was soooo good to spend some time doodling and praying.

For more thoughts on "NOW" go visit Hannah, the host for this week's word.

For next week's word, visit just a humble bee!

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First Day of Summer

Mary's First Day of Summer project with her friend E - baking a chocolate cake with purple icing and chocolate sprinkles! :-)

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Simple

For Tuesday
June 1, 2010

Outside my window.... a drippy, rainy, cloudy morning.

I am thinking... about these verses:

You will not fear m the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
Psalms 91:5,6

I am thankful for... a God Who is near, husband, children, friends, church, home, job, and health. Truly, I am blessed. Lord, forgive me when I forget or when I take these blessings for granted... Help me to see them as what they are - gifts from Your Hands.

From the kitchen... today's summer project for Mary and friends: a chocolate cake with purple icing. ;-)

I am wearing... favorite jeans, favorite T-shirt, a summer cardigan, and my (new) favorite flip-flops.

I am creating... in my mind something for the new weekWORD hosted by Hannah this week. The word is *NOW* which is a great choice. Pop over there, leave a comment, and join the fun. It's been a wonderful exercise for me. For my recent doodles, go here. :-)

I am going... to be in meetings all morning. Ack!

I am reading... Lettering & Type (allllmost finished!) and the Bible (1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, 1 Thessalonians, and Psalms). Really, that's about it. I'm in a reading funk.

I am hoping... to walk, walk, walk this week! My walking buddy and I are signing up for this half marathon and Matt is planning to run the full shebang. I've made a plan... there are 26 weeks to get ready. Anybody out there want to join in? Let me know and I'll email you the training/walking plan I've put together.

I am listening to... The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I've read a lot of hubbub about it and wanted to give it a try. So far, it's quite got my attention! Anybody else read it out there?

Around the house... laundry, laundry, and more laundry. I did manage to get the yard looking fairly decent this weekend, so that's a positive. Matt's spending most of his spare time at Sean's house, so most of our projects are on hold. ;-P

One of my favourite things... laughing with Mary. I love the way her eyes twinkle when she laughs... and that they perfectly match her freckles and hair!

A few plans for the rest of the week... a lot going on at work this week to get ready for a workshop I'm responsible for on Friday... after which, I'm hoping to slip away to the beach for the weekend. June is going to be (hopefully) a month full of sand, sea, and sun!

A video I'm sharing... I saw this at Nicole's lovely blog and thought it was inspiring.

Hope your week has lots of color in it! For more simplicity, click over to The Simple Woman's Daybook.

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weekWORD

Hooray!

Hannah is hosting the weekWORD. Hop over to her blog to see what it is! Leave a comment on her post if you want to play. All you have to do is post your interpretation of the word on Friday!
It looks like a GrEaT word!!

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