Tag: Writing

Living the Good Life

Daily writing prompt
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
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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.

Shawna Lee

Daily writing prompt
If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?
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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.

Stupid Humans!

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!




Stupid Squirrels!

Daily writing prompt
What notable things happened today?
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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!

The Trickster

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


















The Outhouse on the Hill

Though just a child of long ago

I remember still

The narrow crooked rocky path

And the outhouse on the hill

It creaked and groaned against the wind

And possessed an awful smell

Yet proudly stood beneath the trees

And served its purpose well

I love the comforts of today

Like running water and silly frills

Yet still I think of ages past

And the outhouse on the hill

~ Sandi

Call it What it is . . .

Daily writing prompt
What public figure do you disagree with the most?
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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.

Stop the World and Let Me Off!

If you could unzip my skin, you would see my wounds. But, unless you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, you will never know how much it hurts.

Sandi Staton

I have episodes when I feel that everyone I love has died. The feeling is so overwhelmingly dark and painful, that I just want to curl up and die. Sharing those feelings with my medical doctor a few years ago is when he diagnosed me with BPD (borderline personality disorder). I had never heard of it before, so I went online to see what it was, and discovered that he was right. And, for the first time in my life, I had a better understanding of my anxieties, fears and phobias, and noise intolerance. Why rejection feels like my heart is in a wood chipper. Why depression never goes to sleep. No matter how hard I try not to go there, I get sucked into the maddening cycle of ups and downs, of feeling okay for a few days, sometimes weeks, then falling back down to the pit of hell, and clawing my way back out again. It’s murderous! A never-ending torment of feeling good and then bad, and then like a demon from hell. I’ve been like this all my life. Social gatherings are sometimes so painful that I avoid them. It’s true, my home life was as dysfunctional as the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. But through my own blood, sweat, and tears, I am crawling towards recovery. I dove into the murky river of lies and deceit in search of the truth, and a more functional way of life. It took guts. It tore my world apart. It opened my eyes to the brutal, emotional abuse that I endured. And there, in the deepest parts of my battered soul, I saw God. No judgement. No finger pointing. No demented glaring eyes. But, rather, I saw arms open wide, eyes filled with tears, and a smile bigger than the universe. And sobbing in His embracing arms of steel, I felt the depths of His warm and tender love.

I still struggle. I’m still learning and growing. I still take three steps forward and two steps backward. But I will never give up! I know God didn’t create me this way. God doesn’t maim, He heals. God doesn’t hate, He loves. God doesn’t laugh when I fall, He cries and picks me up. He brushes off the dirt of the world, takes hold of my feeble hand, and walks beside me every wavering step of the way.

Isaiah 48:17 NIV
This is what the Lord says . . . your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”