Sing to me in the morning
Sing to me through the night
Birds beckon the sunrise
Crickets welcome moonlight
Heaven's orchestra of creatures
sent to bring a sweet, joyful tune
announcing a new day with sun
Commencing bad ones with the moon
Faithful and persistent creatures,
Hidden birds and insects
Cyclical and melodic sounds of
lively musicians bedecked
Each carries a different note
All blending in harmony together
Background sounds many tune out,
Constants bringing comfort forever
An opus I can't live without
No need for radio or t.v
I simply open my windows and listen
It's nature's song ringing free
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A Battle and Loss
Like an old friend quietly standing by
The great evergreen was always there
I could glance outside my office window
and see it's wispy,green needles hang
Hundreds of feet into the air it stood
Several in diameter its branches spread
A shelter and resting place for many
A constant beam of strength to me
Now only a two foot stump remains
Two other logs lay on the ground
The wispy, green needles no more
Birds and squirrels left nests
Why was the tree cut down?
Across from it new oil tanks wait
Animals roam elsewhere searching
Can they find another place to dwell?
The great evergreen was always there
I could glance outside my office window
and see it's wispy,green needles hang
Hundreds of feet into the air it stood
Several in diameter its branches spread
A shelter and resting place for many
A constant beam of strength to me
Now only a two foot stump remains
Two other logs lay on the ground
The wispy, green needles no more
Birds and squirrels left nests
Why was the tree cut down?
Across from it new oil tanks wait
Animals roam elsewhere searching
Can they find another place to dwell?
Sunday, September 18, 2011
After the Storm
It is officially three weeks now after Hurricane Irene has passed through our communities. This past Friday I was able to purchase a new, used vehicle. I say new, used because I never buy new, only used, but it is new to me. I've learned a lot which brings home the truth of the old adage- Hindsight is 20/20.
Here are some of the lessons I've learned-
1. Storms do pass. Two hours after my vehicle was flooded, the rain had stopped. The water receded and the sun came out. However, the damage was already done. This leads me to my next lesson.
2. Tis better to dwell and park on higher ground. No one had ever seen the water rise that much or that quickly. I had no clue the parking lot would fill with almost four feet of water and neither did anyone else. I was worried about the power lines and trees coming down, but hurricanes mean WATER just as much as they mean WIND.
3. Know thy neighbors. At 10:30 a.m. there was just a puddle in the parking lot. Within a half an hour the water began to fill the whole lot with about five to six inches of water. One of the girls in the other section of the building knew it was my vehicle that was out there, but she didn't know which apartment I was in, so she couldn't knock on my door to let me know. After the storm had passed and my vehicle was towed out of the
lot with a backhoe, I learned the people in the basement apartments had lost almost everything. The water was waist high. I wished I had talked to them more. If I had known the water was rising down their in their apartments, I would've gotten my vehicle out of the lot sooner and helped them try to salvage more of their things. A lesson hard learned.
4. Respect and revere nature. I've always loved water whether it be to swim in, wade at the beach, take a hot shower or listen to it's melody while falling against my roof and windows. I have never feared it until now. Not fear in the sense that I run in terror from it, but there is more of a reverent fear I hold now. It is not to be trifled with. I wonder how many of the natural catastrophes we are experiencing today are due to our poor stewardship of the Earth we have been entrusted to respect and care for. It is as if everything is shaking and screaming-"Enough!"
5. It's a beautiful thing to live debt free! I have begun to understand this more over the past year or so, but having my vehicle counted as a total loss reinforced this feeling even more. Many told me that if I had a loan on my vehicle still, the insurance would have only given me enough to cover the loan and I would have nothing or very little left over to go shopping with.
6. It pays to save. Luckily I had some money I had saved for a rainy day so to speak. Good thing I did. I was able to take what the insurance company gave me and use some of my savings to purchase another vehicle.
7. God's grace supplies. After two weeks of talking to people, looking online and many prayers, one of my doctor's saw my mom and passed on the message from a patient of his. The man was looking to sell his father's car. His father had passed away earlier this year, so he was just looking to get rid of it. It's younger than what my other vehicle was and has less miles on it.
8. Cars are not closets. In my other vehicle, I threw anything and everything in it. When it got flooded I had to take all of that stuff out. Everything was drenched with yucky, brown, creek water. Blankets and clothes could be washed, but everything else I had to throw away. Eventually everything you put inside a car comes out sooner or later. It's better to travel light and not keep anything in it that is really important to you.
9. Do your homework. This is the first time I have ever researched the safety and reliability of cars online. Since I had to buy something new/used and I didn't want a car payment again, I had to do my homework to make sure that whatever I was going to buy would be something I could afford and would last me awhile. I also had my mechanic check over the vehicle to see how good it was. He gave it thumbs up. Decisions are well worth making informed.
10. Good does come out of bad. I would never wish this experience on anyone, but in reflecting I've come to realize there was a lot of good that came out of it. Not only do I have a slightly newer car with fewer miles on it, I've gleaned lessons that no one can take away from me. I also experienced receiving great kindness from people who were willing to help me in the interim of losing and obtaining another vehicle.
Storms come and go, but so does the warmth from the sun. I have felt the sunshine again and I am reminded of God's grace in and through it all.
Here are some of the lessons I've learned-
1. Storms do pass. Two hours after my vehicle was flooded, the rain had stopped. The water receded and the sun came out. However, the damage was already done. This leads me to my next lesson.
2. Tis better to dwell and park on higher ground. No one had ever seen the water rise that much or that quickly. I had no clue the parking lot would fill with almost four feet of water and neither did anyone else. I was worried about the power lines and trees coming down, but hurricanes mean WATER just as much as they mean WIND.
3. Know thy neighbors. At 10:30 a.m. there was just a puddle in the parking lot. Within a half an hour the water began to fill the whole lot with about five to six inches of water. One of the girls in the other section of the building knew it was my vehicle that was out there, but she didn't know which apartment I was in, so she couldn't knock on my door to let me know. After the storm had passed and my vehicle was towed out of the
lot with a backhoe, I learned the people in the basement apartments had lost almost everything. The water was waist high. I wished I had talked to them more. If I had known the water was rising down their in their apartments, I would've gotten my vehicle out of the lot sooner and helped them try to salvage more of their things. A lesson hard learned.
4. Respect and revere nature. I've always loved water whether it be to swim in, wade at the beach, take a hot shower or listen to it's melody while falling against my roof and windows. I have never feared it until now. Not fear in the sense that I run in terror from it, but there is more of a reverent fear I hold now. It is not to be trifled with. I wonder how many of the natural catastrophes we are experiencing today are due to our poor stewardship of the Earth we have been entrusted to respect and care for. It is as if everything is shaking and screaming-"Enough!"
5. It's a beautiful thing to live debt free! I have begun to understand this more over the past year or so, but having my vehicle counted as a total loss reinforced this feeling even more. Many told me that if I had a loan on my vehicle still, the insurance would have only given me enough to cover the loan and I would have nothing or very little left over to go shopping with.
6. It pays to save. Luckily I had some money I had saved for a rainy day so to speak. Good thing I did. I was able to take what the insurance company gave me and use some of my savings to purchase another vehicle.
7. God's grace supplies. After two weeks of talking to people, looking online and many prayers, one of my doctor's saw my mom and passed on the message from a patient of his. The man was looking to sell his father's car. His father had passed away earlier this year, so he was just looking to get rid of it. It's younger than what my other vehicle was and has less miles on it.
8. Cars are not closets. In my other vehicle, I threw anything and everything in it. When it got flooded I had to take all of that stuff out. Everything was drenched with yucky, brown, creek water. Blankets and clothes could be washed, but everything else I had to throw away. Eventually everything you put inside a car comes out sooner or later. It's better to travel light and not keep anything in it that is really important to you.
9. Do your homework. This is the first time I have ever researched the safety and reliability of cars online. Since I had to buy something new/used and I didn't want a car payment again, I had to do my homework to make sure that whatever I was going to buy would be something I could afford and would last me awhile. I also had my mechanic check over the vehicle to see how good it was. He gave it thumbs up. Decisions are well worth making informed.
10. Good does come out of bad. I would never wish this experience on anyone, but in reflecting I've come to realize there was a lot of good that came out of it. Not only do I have a slightly newer car with fewer miles on it, I've gleaned lessons that no one can take away from me. I also experienced receiving great kindness from people who were willing to help me in the interim of losing and obtaining another vehicle.
Storms come and go, but so does the warmth from the sun. I have felt the sunshine again and I am reminded of God's grace in and through it all.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Conversations
Do you hear what I hear?
Like nails pounding in a fence
So are the words of a gossip
Spewing forth, piercing another
"What kind of people are they?"
"Don't they have any consideration?"
"What filthy slobs they are!"
Like a horse without a bridle
Our tongue and thoughts wander
How does one steer them?
Words thrust forward like a knife
Are they true?
Are they kind?
Are they necessary?
Nails are for boards, not flesh
A tool for building not wounding,
conversation, intimacy
Like nails pounding in a fence
So are the words of a gossip
Spewing forth, piercing another
"What kind of people are they?"
"Don't they have any consideration?"
"What filthy slobs they are!"
Like a horse without a bridle
Our tongue and thoughts wander
How does one steer them?
Words thrust forward like a knife
Are they true?
Are they kind?
Are they necessary?
Nails are for boards, not flesh
A tool for building not wounding,
conversation, intimacy
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