May 27, 2012 |
I’ve always loved the dual purpose word: Beat (a rhythm, an action). Class (a group, a status). So “resume” and “resume’ ” aren’t exactly the same thing, but… it’s late, so that’s all the brain-power you get from me right now.
This post is scheduled for Sunday, but I’m writing it Friday night. Actually, I’m linking it.
It’s going to be a non-writing weekend for various reasons, plus I’m trying to boost my blog popularity (like that’s anything new). So the following is a list of my Very Important Posts from the last few months. These are the posts that have either been nationally featured on BlogHer.com and/or received great attention in other ways. It’s sort of a review, if you will. My Resume’.
In a few days, I hope to resume my blog writing intently. Along with two devotions, the book series, the correspondence course, and the short stories for contests/submissions.
I missed posting “What’s the Word? Wednesday” on the 23rd, but I’ll have a new one posted next week.
In the meantime, feel free to click on these (or any posts) and leave your comments and feedback.
And now for (I hope) your reading enjoyment, the Frankly, My Dear Mojo reading list for May, 2012:
Lessons Learned: The Louie Edition
How to Survive a Midnight Movie Premiere
More or Less: 29 Words
What I Learned on Women’s Retreat [The Big Whammy!]
The Long Goodbye: What FLASHPOINT Means to Me
Prom!
Dear God, Did You Forget About Me?!
What’s Your Writing Style? Creatively Overcoming Writer’s Block
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Meal Memo in a Jar
Davy Jones is Dead
Permission to Write
New Inklings Press
Mojo TV Review: “Once Upon a Time”
Teeter x Totter
A Good Name
Following Fabian
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
May 26, 2012 |
During this week, I’ve found myself singing hymns. Not intentionally. They just roll out of me as easy as breathing. I don’t even know I’m doing it until I hear the sound of my own voice.
“Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art” have been two of the top three.
“It Is Well With My Soul” is the third. The story of how it was written makes it even more dear to me right now.
Horatio Spafford was a successful attorney in 1870’s Chicago, who suffered several tragedies in a short span:
- 1871: Spafford’s only son died at age 4 from scarlet fever
- In late 1871: The Great Chicago Fire consumed and destroyed much of Spafford’s extensive investment properties
- In 1873, Spafford, his wife and four daughters bought passage on a ship to Europe for a family vacation. Spafford had to stay behind to finish some business transactions. On November 22, the ship collided with an iron sailing vessel. Spafford’s wife Anna wired him a telegram that simply stated “Saved Alone.” His four daughters had died.
Spafford quickly found travel overseas to meet Anna. As the ship approached the area of the earlier tragedy, the Captain brought Spafford to the deck. After passing the location where his beloved daughters had died, he went back to his cabin and penned this beautiful song.
It is a great comfort to me this week, to know that even in this chaos of death, God is still in control. While we hurt on earth, there will be a day when we no longer suffer heartache.
I’m not ready, not willing, to get back to “normal”: to do the every-day tasks that still need doing. To smile more often than not. I’m not ready to let go of the pain. I’m not ready to get a good night’s sleep or not catch myself crying now and then. I’m not ready to lie to my daughter and tell her it will all be okay and that someday it will go away.
But I am at peace.
And while I continue to pray for Something Good, I am still filled with the peace that God is in control.
In the absence of everything else, that’s all I need to know.
It Is Well With My Soul
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Horatio Spafford
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
May 25, 2012 |
Dot’s friend is having an end-of-year sleepover for the Senior class girls tonight. It’s the first night I’m alone since last week. Since the Big Before and After Moment.
We’re doing okay. There have been some difficult moments, and some good ones. We’re going to be okay. We’re not there yet. But we know we will be. And just knowing that makes it okay to be where we are right now.
I’m taking advantage of this solitude by watching “The Sound of Music”. For some reason, I’ve been singing the songs all day. Mostly, I think, because last night I asked prayer for “Something Good”. We just need something Good. Something stable. Something… a change. Anything.
And once I spoke those words out loud, I thought of “The Sound of Music”. Christopher Plummer singing “Edelweiss” has almost always been my favorite moment when I was younger. As I grew older, I began to appreciate him and Julie Andrews having their moment with “Something Good”.
So, if even just for three hours, I’m tuning out the world and the hurts it brings; and I’m singing. And listing A Few of My Favorite Things.
- Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals
- Christopher Plummer in a green-collared suit, singing
- Pastors available by instant email
- Enough FLASHPOINT episodes on the DVR for an entire day without stopping
- My rice steamer that makes cooking easy and thoughtless
- Chocolate Martini
- Family
- Friends who let us talk
- Friends who hug us when we don’t want to talk
- Tears that are able to fall
- Our cats (*Cats have more “human”-like emotions than any other animal; which is why they are so empathetic.)
- Megan, who let me hijack her birthday breakfast to talk about weird things like anything but what I needed to talk about
- Julie, April and Judy who are my Bible Study women
- Dot’s friends who are by extension, my almost-kids
- Nathan and his family, who are by extension, our family. I’m so very proud of him for his honors graduation. Way to go, Nate! (If I can call you “Nate”…)
- The new birds that keep showing up in our yard
- My church, my Pastors, the staff, the prayers
- My Mommy, who is still my MOMMY no matter how old I am
- My Dot, who lets me be her MOMMY no matter how old she is
- Yard lizards
- Music
- Writing
- Truth
- Knowing that Louie is no longer suffering, and knowing that someday our hurts will also end
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
May 24, 2012 |
You remember my writing partner, Megan, right?
Well, today’s her birthday! And of course I couldn’t let the day pass without publicly acknowledging what she means to me.
She is my Personal Barista
She understands Disney better than anyone else
She brings Lord of the Rings to the Table
(that is, the Writing Table… it really inspires her!)
She totally gets that I’m crazy enough about Narnia to make a room for it
She’s the other half of The New Inklings writing group.
She started her own blog to support me with mine…
The Fairest One of All
But she actually has a life outside the laptop, so her last post was in November.
She tried watching FLASHPOINT for me,
and lets me talk about Ed and Spike like they’re real.
She understands
My three-hour writing limit
My need for caffeine
My multi-taskiness
and the ability to plot while cleaning.
She gets me.
I even have a Pinterest board dedicated just to her
so when we have writing inspirations, we can link up that way.
And because she also puts up with me
and the idiosyncricies that befall a writer,
She deserves the
Best
Birthday
Ever.
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday, Dear Megan!
Happy Birthday to You!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
May 23, 2012 |
What I learned from The Boy:
1. Love always. Not matter what. Don’t let others tell you otherwise.
2. Smile like you have a secret, and people will want to talk to you.
3. Smile when you’re in trouble, and you won’t have consequences.
4. Play with your food… but only after you’ve eaten a lot of it.
5. Be honest. No matter what.
6. When it doubt, write it out.
7. Have fun. No matter what.
8. It’s okay to be sad, but never give up hope.
9. Dance. A lot.
10. Take pictures. A lot.
11. Take walks. See the world around you.
12. Be social. Be very, very social.
13. “If you love something set it free…”
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
