Genesis 5:24 NIV Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more because God took him home.
Heaven is looking brighter and clearer every day And the more wicked this world gets The more ready I am to leave How I loathe the hatred and lies The shootings and killings The butchering of babies still in the womb Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Where is the remorse? The shame? When was a lie ever the truth? Who opened the door to the pit of Hell? Do my prayers and tears reach Heaven? Has God turned His back on His creation? Or is He waiting for one more soul to believe in Him? The world has become a giant monster of evil I don’t want to be here anymore I’ve seen and heard enough I’m old and tired My feet are bruised and sore My legs tremble in weakness The walk has been long and arduous But I continue pushing forward Continue trusting and believing That at the end of the road Jesus is waiting to carry me home And I’m excited about that!
GOD I grew up thinking that God was looking down from heaven, arms crossed, frowning, and shaking His head in disappointment; a stark contrast between what I read in the Bible and what I was taught in Sunday School.
He’s your Heavenly Father, they said. His love is higher than the mountains, deeper than the ocean, they said. His love is unconditional, they said. You don’t have to earn it, beg for it, clean yourself up for it. Good or bad, it’s all yours, they said. My brain believed it, but my heart didn’t feel it, and I couldn’t settle for that.
I’m a sensitive, emotional human being that relies on my feelings, and if I can’t feel it, I’m paddling against the current of emptiness, frustration and confusion. And I can’t live like that. I have to feel God. I want, I need, I can’t live without knowing, believing, and feeling God in my heart.
So, I kept searching; crawling through the wreckage of my past, facing the ghosts, grieving my losses, wrapping my arms around the truth, cursing the lies and deceit of the people that said they loved me.
And there, in the midst of the wreckage, sat a shadowy figure staring into space, oblivious to the world in which he lived. My dad; in the flesh, but absent in the spirit.
Suddenly, in the crashing waves of anger and grief, I found my answer. When I finally opened my crying eyes, I saw God; smiling, arms open wide for me to come and feel His highest, deepest, unconditional love of my Heavenly Father. He was there all along; I just couldn’t feel Him. Now I do.
FAMILY That’s where relationships are born. That’s where parents love, discipline and protect their children, make them feel safe, and teach them how to spread their wings and fly. Family is the potter; children are the clay. Either they are lovingly shaped and molded into something beautiful, or they are ruthlessly marred and disfigured for life.
RELATIONSHIPS There’s no gentle way to put this: my family was screwed up. The most important relationships I always wanted, I learned to live without. For the sake of my own sanity, I walked away; I said enough!
I want to live a happy life. And, when I became a mom, I broke the chains of child abuse and loved my one and only child unconditionally, no strings attached. And as a result, he is a loving, caring human being, an awesome son, husband, father of four, and grandfather of nine, beautiful grandchildren.
There are no conflicts that we can’t work out. We all come together, laugh, work, and play together, because we know how important wholesome relationships are for each other’s well-being in a world that grows more stupid and evil every day.
CONCLUSION If we want a good life with a beautiful, flourishing flower garden, we have to do everything within our power to care for it properly. Otherwise, it will dry up, dwindle and die. And that’s no life at all.
She was beautiful with her long, raven black hair, dark eyes and golden bronze skin; a stark contrast to my fair skin, red hair and freckles. Even her name was beautiful: Shawna Lee. We were kids when we met, and though I have long forgotten her face, I have never forgotten her name. So, when I got married and became pregnant, I had the perfect girl’s name picked out. But I had a boy, so I saved that lovely name for when I had a girl. Sadly, due to childbirth complications and neumerous surgeries, motherhood was a one-and-done deal for me. However, when my short-lived marriage ended in divorce, my X remarried and named one of his two daughters, “Shawna Lee“. I don’t know why, but I’m glad he did. Goes to show that like people, some names are special and will never be forgotten.
Look at her! She’s about to throw a hissy fit Did she really think she could trick us That a flimsy screen could keep us out Humans! They have the brains of a jelly fish They forget that we’re invincible That we can skitter up a tree blindfolded Hang upside down on one leg Fall from the highest tree and keep going We are slinkys with fur Acrobats with bushy tails Magicians with better tricks We are cute Funny Cunning Destructive A big fat pain in the butt! We are kings and queens of the neighborhood Thieves of squirrel resistant birdfeeders Comedians of the universe And like it or not Curse every last one of us Hang us from the treetops We are here to stay!
Look at that! Wrapped around the bird feeder like a slithering devious snake I’d like to cut off his bushy tail and strangle him with it! Just when I think I figured out a way to keep the squirrels off They figure out a way to latch back on Bella does a good job chasing them away However, I have a better idea But killing animals isn’t in my blood I could let my neighbor do it He loves killing pesky critters But my conscience would keep me awake at night My brain would never shut up about it And my heart would shrivel up and die So I took the feeder down But the birds weren’t happy So I hung it back up Now the squirrels and the birds are happy Wonderful! Everybody’s happy but me! But come tomorrow Or the day after tomorrow Or a thousand days after tomorrow My tiny human brain will out-smart them I pinky promise I cross my heart and hope to die On my mother’s grave I will find the perfect solution To out-smart every last one of them Just you wait and see!
He lives in my brain Such a trickster is he Causing chaos and confusion And frustration for me But he doesn’t care Not one little bit And continues his mischief With no plans to quit I awake from my slumber With grand plans for the day To declutter my house And put everything away I pick up a box filled with trinkets galore And begin to plunder In search for more So consumed in my frenzy The hours slipped away And the house is more cluttered Then it was yesterday And the beat goes on From one day to the next Till one day for sure I’m gonna break that trickster’s neck ~Sandi
2 Timothy 3:1-4 There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God . . .
Biden is at the top of my list. Call me crazy, but I once believed that the government was for the good of the people; honest, God-fearing, fair-minded, compassionate, just. Silly me. I’ve never been more ashamed of a president than I am of Joe Biden, who, in just a few short years, has turned our country upside down. How can any of us, who believe in doing what’s right, support an administration that is doing so wrong? None of us are perfect; we all make mistakes. But when we keep making the same mistakes over and over again, they’re no longer mistakes; they’re habits of pure evil. I’m not speaking against a particular political party; I am speaking against the injustice I see operating within a government that has gone wrong. A government that has become lovers of themselves, rather than lovers of God and the people they have promised to serve.
Straight From the Heart 