“Death is an exit ramp to a new highway.” Max Lucado, God Came Near – God’s Perfect Gift
I saw what you did in the driveway
Bruce and Bonnie had lived in the same house for 30 years. The community had grown up around them. At church, everyone was talking about rising crime. From full on home invasions, to things missing off a clothes lines. Crime had missed them. However, Bruce and Bonnie decided the smart thing to do would be invest in a security system. They did their homework and landed on a Ring. One on the front door would cover the front side of the house. The other one over the garage would cover the side. As money allowed, they needed 2 more.
Bruce called to Bonnie “love you”, as he left to go to work. She was having issues this morning and was lingering in the bathroom. “Love you babe.” The sweet little jingle of the doorbell alerted her that he was leaving. There were always 2 jingles. One as he walked out the door. The other, as he backed the SUV out of the drive.
Three jingles. Her heart skipped a beat. Something bad was happening to Bruce, she just knew it. Her phone was just out of reach. On the other side of the sink. It might as well have been a mile away. Or dead. What if a bear or a burglar was attacking her poor Bruce?
She had to check. A quick duck walk from the commode to the phone, then back. Bonnie had her prize.
‘My poor Bruce,’ she thought, ‘is lying hurt in the driveway’. Nervously, she opened her app. There was Bruce; standing straight as an arrow. He was peeing on her Azalea. For years, she had been blaming the neighborhood stray. Laughter filled the bathroom. It wasn’t the animals that were killing her plants. It was her husband.
Now she would have to apologize to Bandit.
Where is god?
🛑 Adult content, language, drugs, abuse (multiple forms), please read with discretion. May be a trigger for some readers. Reader discretion advised.
This story has massive amounts of adult content. So much out of my wheel house, here’s to something different.
Even our most beloved Bible figures struggled with God. Look at Moses. Yes, Moses. After Moses had been leading the Israelites for a while, there came a time when he expressed his disappointment/anger toward God because of all the problems that were associated with leading such a group. He even told God, “If you are going to keep treating me like this, please kill me now.” (Numbers 11:10-15)
Bible characters who got mad at God | The Disciple’s Road
There is a saying, “if God brings you to it, he will help you through it.”
Where is god?
Prison
Maggie died when I was 35. She had family but they never spoke. I never knew why.
After probate, everything had been left to me. I couldn’t. Didn’t know how. After a couple sleepless nights, I went to see the attorney that drew up her will. We set up, The Chico Foundation and turned her property into a rescue for Chihuahua’s. In honor of her beloved Chico.
I told the police where to find their bones. My parents. The detective in charge showed me pictures of the place. A tree had grown up in the middle of the old car frame. Looked like junkies had set the trailer on fire. All was left was the metal frame and sheet metal from the roof.
Did you know God lives in prisons? A roughneck preacher covered in tattoos came to the prison once a week. I never felt that still small voice warnin’ me about him. To me, it seemed he picked up where Maggie left off. I got saved. Then baptized. But I struggled. I struggled with regret. I didn’t regret killin’ my parents.
Questions filled me. Questions the preacher was able to get out of me. There were times we would go out in the yard and just fist fight until I couldn’t fight anymore.
He wanted me to get mad at Maggie. I couldn’t. Didn’t want to. There was so much Maggie couldn’t do. Hands tied by useless laws and lazy people.
But my parents; I was plenty mad at them.
Maggie. I thought about the story she told me of the rocker. ‘Do we let bad things define us’? I had. I let my parents define me as a murderer. My life was useless and worthless.
“Has it really been?” Preacher asked. I was stunned. He pulled out the video of Chico’s Place. The room filled with the happy sounds of barking dogs and laughing children.
“That was Maggie.” Tears rolled down my cheeks.
“You could have sold everything she left you and ran. You had gotten away with double murder for years. But you didn’t run.”
I sniffed, “so where is he?”
The preacher smiled. Showing off a gold tooth. I had never noticed that before. “God is everywhere. He’s in the plants and sunlight. He’s in the soil and air. You got baptized, you welcomed him into your heart. He’s in you.”
Vacation
Take this job and shove it!
Toes in the water.
Butt in the sand.
Oh, I’d love to call it quits.
~
I’ve got better things to do,
then worry about your stress.
Cool ocean breeze,
9 to 5, get a clue.
~
Change my latitude!
Yes!
Come get me salty.
Change my attitude.
~
Work, work, work, til I’m black and blue.
Aching head.
Tired body.
No! Don’t let this week be through.
Lost Past; A Star Trek Story
Paramount Global owns the Star Trek franchise. This is a piece of fan fiction based on Star Trek the Next Generation
The voice
“You are a very good friend.” Geordi heard echoing in his ears. He couldn’t tell the gender of the voice or the direction from which it came.
“What?” He was shaken. Darkness enveloped him.
“Anyone else would have left him.”
“Who are you?” Geordi tried to move but he seemed paralyzed by the darkness.
“That doesn’t matter.” The voice began to take on a different tone.
“Yes, it does.” Out of the darkness came a light. A pink ball of light slowly came toward him. It seemed to examine him. He watched it as it moved around him. “What do you want?”
“You are a very good friend.” The voice was becoming more and more feminine. The light stopped three feet in front of him, hovering.
Geordi began to calm down, taking a deep breath. “Yes, I try to be.”
“Data needs good friends right now.”
“Surely we all do”
“What is your name?” Its voice was recognizable now.
“Are you Sher?”
“Answer my questions and I will answer yours.”
“Geordi.”
“Well Geordi, I am not Sher.”
“You sound like her.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you in danger?”
“That depends.” The light disappeared. Geordi woke up on the floor. Data was gone.
“Data?”
“Yes.” He appeared from a secret room. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing.” He got up, tugging at the bottom of his shirt. “What did you find?”
“We have this ship mapped completely wrong.” Geordi joined his friend in this room. It was filled with skinny long drawers. Data pulled a drawer out. These are the blueprints for the ship. They are numbered and signed.”
“Signed? By who?”
“Me.” Data pointed to his signature.
“You designed the Jormungand?”
“No, I was dictated to. I drew her vision.”
“This is just too confusing.”
“Imagine how I am feeling.”
Data closed the drawer as he collapsed in the floor.
Jolene got run over by a cart: to the tune of Grandma got run over by a reindeer
Jolene got ran over by a cart
In the pet department at Wal-Mart
You might say all pet owners are friendly
But as for me and Shirley, we disagree
She had been lookin’ at sweaters for Chico
Took one too many steps backwards
And Bubba ran her over with his cart
Look out – there she goes
Bubba pushed her out of the way
Not even an oops or sorry
He filled his basket with Alpo
Quickly rolling down the aisle, out of sight
Jolene got ran over by a cart
In the pet department at Wal-Mart
Little Chico didn’t get a new sweater
Bubba took more than dog food on his roll
When we wondered over to the chip row
Here he comes!
She moved just in time
Bubba almost got her again
Jolene got ran over by a cart
In the pet department at Wal-Mart
You might say all pet owners are friendly
But as for me and Shirley, we disagree
*A cart is a motorized wheelchair. And this person really did try to run me over. There wasn’t anyone in Wal-Mart but him. And he was going where he wanted to go. He didn’t look up. Didn’t say excuse me or I’m sorry. He was laser focused on where he wanted to go.
Waste not. Want not.
Where is god?
🛑 Adult content, language, drugs, abuse (multiple forms), please read with discretion. May be a trigger for some readers. Reader discretion advised.
This story has massive amounts of adult content. So much out of my wheel house, here’s to something different.
Judges 19
I have written a past post about Judges 19. Judges 19 – Poetry & More I have great struggles with this story. Why did this happen? I don’t know. It is hard to process.
Where is god?
God conversion continued
“LOVE!” I shouted.
“Humans have taken the Bible, God’s word. God’s love letter to his children and with the help of sin; have manipulated it. Abused it. Used it. And have turned it into an ugly thing.”
“What about me?” I pounded my chest, fighting back the tears. She simply pointed at the little house I was staying in. My anger was instantly replaced with confusion.
She smiled. “Where do you think that came from?”
“You.” The tone of voice I used was to let her know I thought she was an idiot for askin’.
“God gave me the knowledge to use my income wisely. To prepare for the future. To be ready when he called me to be. He provided us both with roofs over our heads. Food to eat. Clothin’ to wear. The ability to learn. And to share.”
I started pacin’ on the carport; “he’s a dead beat! He placed us here and left us!” Big tears rolled down my face, “WHY?”
“If you walk down the road and ask 10 people why; you will get 20 different answers.” She set the rocker in motion with her feet. “My grandpa built this rocker. A storm blew down a mighty tree. One he could never have cut down himself. His wife was pregnant with their first child. He wanted to give her a special gift. One that would be as special to her as she was to him. He decided (after a trip to town) a rocker was what she needed. For her and the baby. He wasn’t a carpenter. But building a rocker was important to him. It took all the wood from that tree for the rocker.”
“Why?” I blurted out. “That’s like using a single tree to make a toothpick.
She smiled, “he wasn’t a carpenter. He didn’t know how. He would make a piece. It wouldn’t work; he would make another piece. He finished the rocker 2 months after the baby was born. For the tree, falling during a storm was one of the worst things that could happen. It was no longer able to live and grow. For my grandpa, the idea of that rocker was so far out of reach. It might as well have been a new car. Imagine wanting something so bad, that you taught yourself how to make it.” She got up. “Over the years, it’s been sanded and repainted. Me and you, we are this rocker. Ever nick. Ever scratch tells a story about the life we have lived. God sands down. Teaches us. Molds us. And when we are ready, uses us to further his kingdom.”
I sat on the carport as she sat in the rocker. “That makes no sense to me.”
“I never wanted a dog. Even thought I was allergic to dogs. When Chico was going to be homeless, I couldn’t let him go to the pound. That decision to bring Chico into my life; that wasn’t me. That was God. He had a plan for both of us. Through Chico, God has soften my heart. Sandpaper. Made it bigger. Sandpaper. Taught me how to care for something other than myself. Sandpaper. Do I love him, yes? Does he grate my last nerve, yes? He tries my patiences and when he’s gone, I will grieve. That will hurt. But I can’t imagine not having made that decision to keep him. It has been expensive. Pure breed dogs can have all manner of health issues. Chico taught me to love. Sandpaper.
“At one point in life, I lost my job. I worked at everything I could do to keep money coming in. Sandpaper. When I got back in the work force, I scrubbed toilets. But, I did the best job at scrubbing toilets that I knew how. Sandpaper. The manager appreciated my hard work and offered me a better job. That taught me that I needed to be wise with my money. Sandpaper.”
I let out a long sigh, “so you choose to give God the credit for all the good. And sin all the bad?”
“I choose.”
“Why?”
“This life is too hard. Bad things happen to us every day. Do we let the bad thing define us? Or do we let God sand us? Can we learn from that bad thing? Can we use that lesson to help others? God allowed Satan to let all manner of bad things happen to Job in the Bible. Satan bet against Job. That he would crumble under the weight of despair. God said, ‘no he won’t. Do your worst. He will remain faithful’. Job lost everything. Even his wife encouraged him to curse God and die. But he didn’t. He stayed faithful. In the end, God blessed Job beyond his wildest dreams. Some people call me weak, uneducated, self righteous. The names are endless. But the names people choose to call me are water off a ducks back.” She smiled.
When I asked, she would read the Bible to me. We started out with Bible stories for children. Then; as my curiosity grew, she started more in-depth lessons. She also gave me a warning, ‘be careful of false teachers. The world is full of them’. ‘How do you know’? I asked. Her voice rings in my head every time I hear a new preacher, ‘false teachers are all smoke and mirrors. They say one thing but do the exact opposite. Pretenders and showman. Listen to that still small voice. It will guide you’.
Celebration of Appalachian Women
My best friend and a friend of hers came up with the idea of empowering women by hosting a conference. It is a series of educational and entertaining classes designed for women. Over the past years there have been such classes as: The Law and You, how to fill out an EPO, car care, heart health and more. For some of the more fun classes; there has been, how to be chic on a budget, a yoga class, journaling, or some sort of craft class. I think the past 2 years I’ve taught a class and will be doing so this year.
I’ve been an active part of this for years; in one roll or another. Since I’ve started down this writing journey, I decided to add to my participation.
A business can decorate a table through sponsorships. They can decorate it themselves or pay us to do it. If you self decorate, there is no cost. However; if we do it, there is a small fee involved. Over the years, we have had some amazing table decorations. Yes, there is a prize for the best decorated table. So here goes Chico’s Mom. Sadly, don’t think I can win. But that’s okay.
Ever since she said I could decorate a table; I’ve been planning for this.
I decided not to put my bigger books out; sticking with journals, poetry, and the coloring book.
The class
I have a book of poetry called; Waste not. Want not. These are all things I do living a frugal lifestyle. My bestie said one day, “you make this a game.” So I decided to really make it a game. Patent pending. I hope.
The original concept is a board game. But for a class this size, I thought a question and answer style game would be more time efficient. The questions are mostly based on the poem. But I have added a few that I’ve researched to expend the play time, if needed.
For the lady that gets the highest score, will win a basket. As of right now there are 41 in my class: How frugal are you? A fun game to pull yourself out of the mess your finances are in. This is not financial advice.
Basket:
Waste not. Want not., 2 dish towels, sawing kit, 2 cosmetic spatulas, 2 soap bags, travel sized first aid kit, eye glass repair kit, 6 piece set of screw drivers. 2 lock top trustable storage containers.
Quote for today:
“The gates of hell are locked from the inside.”
C S Lewis: The Problem of Pain
Poetry & More 