Picket Fences

When I picked up my phone yesterday I had the thought, I wonder what is happening on Facebook today. My next thought was, I hope nothing bad happened . The first post - something bad had happened in Vegas. I looked at the news. Are there any words to express about something, that my mind cannot grasp, had  happened? Then it got personal when I discovered a couple of my family members knew people who had lost their lives at this concert and others who were injured. I have no words. I cannot grasp who or why would do such a horrible thing. And whenever I think of what the people at the concert went through, while running away from the bullets, there is no words, only tears. I am not normally a name caller, but no matter what his mental condition was at the time, no matter what his reasons, only a little coward would do what he did. The people had no way to defend themselves. No way to counter attack. Purely an evil cowardly act of violence. And the point? There is none. Hat

Philippians 1:6 ..."being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." NIV Philippians 1:4 says Paul prayed with joy for those in Philippi. He was confident God was working in their lives. Is there anyone you worry about spiritually? May all worries turn to a confident prayer that God who "began a good work will carry it on to completion."

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Newspapers, and the News on T.V. are like a political battlefield. There is some real hatred for our new President. It has brought out violence and discord in America. Many people feel threatened as many did when President Obama took office. There is also some real hope for our new President. There are people who are excited about what could happen in our country while he is in office. This too has brought out a lot of discord in America. I wasn't the President of the United States, but at one time I had a job where I was caught in the crossfire of work politics. It was awful. I went through all of the necessary steps to secure the position in the company. I got it over a person who other's believed was a shoe-in for that job. Every decision, even after going through meetings and approvals from those who needed to approve the decisions, was met with disapproval. I was the bad guy making changes in the company. Changes that needed to be

    Dear God, I smell rain! It smells so good. I wish, as I sit here, drinking my coffee and writing in my journal, with my daughter beside me reading, I could fully enjoy this moment. There are threats of thunderstorms today. I am not a fan of thunderstorms, as you know. I fear the loud sound over my head and I fear that tornado's may follow, even though we don't have many tornado's here in this area. It's hard for me to stay in the moment and rest. My imagination goes all over the place from the wonderful smell of rain, to tornado's. In many areas of my life, where the smell of rain may be, I fear the bigger storm may happen. I fear things will go out of control and I will be stuck with the pain of the aftermath. I take a sip of coffee, smile at my daughter reading, and breath in the beautiful smell of rain. Enjoy this moment, I say to myself. A time of perfection in a big chaotic world. However, I know Father, it is not chaotic to you. You can see al

I felt a sense of relief when I saw the “W” meaning “withdraw" next to the technical  writing class on my student schedule.  I had wrestled with this decision for a few weeks after I realized technical writing was not for me. I wanted it to be for me. I had plans. When I first started school a year and a half ago, every quarter I tried to get into that class and finally this quarter I did. I dreamed of how I would soon learn to be a technical writer, bid for work, and then have a flourishing career. I didn’t even get out of the gate before I knew…it wasn’t for me. I am not wired that way. I am wired to write a completely different way. I often wonder where on earth writing is going to take me?…I know I have to plug along and do my best at what I am wired to do. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I know I can do good things with this craft of writing. Good things.

Author’s disclaimer – This is a fiction story. I just happen to think about what this soldier might have experienced and wrote a completely fictional story about it. I am not a Bible historian or any other thing like that, just a fiction writer. Letters From A Soldier To the followers of the man Jesus, I am writing this letter in the hopes it will be kept in the upmost confidence. I am certainly under the belief, none of you owe me that respect, and completely understand if you were to turn this letter over to my commanding officer. With that in mind, I have been under such dire duress since the day the man named Jesus was crucified. I am willing to face any consequences to come, if only I may make clear to you what I discovered on that day. I can still see his eyes. After a scourging, in which he should have died, we stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. Then we came up with the idea of making him a crown. It was a crown of thorns and we shoved it deep into his s

Matthew 27: 45 -55 The Death of Jesus 45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[d] 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54 When the

            Photo by Wayne Swanson The other day I went for a walk without wearing a coat! Absolutely loved it. Spring weather is on its way. Despite the fun over the Winter, the season seemed LONG! I am craving Spring more than I have in years. This winter was colder than it normally is. We probably seem like sissy's in the Pacific Northwest to those who live in areas where it is minus degree weather. We complain about our cold weather when it is 20-30 degrees out and close schools when a snowflake falls. It's damp here, and the cold seems to settle in to a persons bones and stay forever. Also, it was dark. Mornings were gray. The afternoon light hours seemed very short. The darkness set in very early each day. Dark chapters in our life can blow out the light in a persons soul. It can lead to depression, loneliness and other negative things.    Life gets scary when the dark settles in for too long. When there are those long nights of wondering if a lov