Month: November 2015

Shades of Gray: a # haiku 

This week Ronovan gives us the words black and white as our haiku writing prompts. There are plenty of ways to go with these words but only one comes to my mind immediately – shades of gray.

either black or white
we see what we want to see
mainly shades of gray

In our society today it is all about the shades of gray – everything rides in these shadows. But the truth is not all relative as many insist. Almost everything, if we were to be honest to our heritage, comes back to black or white, dark or light, good or evil, of God or of the devil. Yeah. It really is that simple: there’s no fence to straddle, you have to choose a side.

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Editing #haiku

A pair of haiku from this week’s prompt words from The Secret Keeper.

with red sharpie pen
editing close to complete
breaks my heart to see

her red pen slashes
sharp break from original
not even close now

Editing immediately came to mind, slashing away old-school with a red marker, when I saw the prompt words. I wasn’t sure which I liked better so I decided to share both. 

Prioritizing 

The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season is officially upon us now that Thanksgiving has passed, in my opinion anyway. I anticipate that the next few weeks will be filled with many obligations between family and church. I figure that I’m going to need to prioritize things and blogging will probably be one of the things that slides to the back-burner. I do hope to continue to participate in the Writers Quote Wednesday/BeWoW and Ronovan’s weekly haiku challenge but we will see how it hashes out. 

I’m also looking at starting into some new ministry ventures, both in my church and independently, that will likely take up a fair amount of time. And since these things are so close to my heart they will be closer to the top of my “list”.

I received the news, on Thanksgiving Day no less, that my application for licensing and ordination as an independent minister was approved. This has been a long road for me and I was so pleased to finally get through the process. As soon as my credentials arrive I plan to become licensed to perform marriages in my state. I’ve also enrolled in a leadership training and chaplaincy certification program, too, which will be taking up some of my spare time. These are some of my independent endeavor in ministry. 

NACM Logo 
In my church we are planning many new things that I’m very excited to be a part of in 2016. Some of the things we plan to implement include: social media engagement, blogging, podcasting, new small group studies, and new youth services and activities. The opportunities that God has opened up for me to serve are humbling and amazing to me, all of which I’m so very grateful for. 

So, in the coming weeks my posts may well decrease as I concentrate on, in my opinion, more important things. I may update on how things go here; I’m not sure that the interest in “those” posts will be here. I may, instead, post them to my other blog so you might want to check it out from time to time; I also post a daily verse and/or devotional there. 

I will try to keep up with all of you, especially those who participate in the above mentioned activities. If I miss you know it’s not from lack of interest, rather lack of time.

We Create

This morning I ran across a haiku by Al the Author I really enjoyed. It also happened to be linked to a writing prompt I’ve been meaning to join in on but keep forgetting from The Secret Keeper. 

Well, there’s no time like the present (before I forget again!) to toss my poem in the writing-ring:

a gift
a handmade work
or a poetic verse
love is the reason we create
not coin

Unlike Al, I wasn’t able to get all five words in a haiku; kudos to him again for that!

(Written in the Cinquain form.)

Thanksgiving #BeWoW #WritersQuoteWednesday

 Being Thanksgiving Eve I thought that a quote about being thankful would be most appropriate for this week’s BeWoW and Writers Quote Wednesday post. I think that this one pretty well sums up my idea of what thanksgiving ought to be.  

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”
– Henry David Thoreau

Thanksgiving shouldn’t be just a day of feasting and football. Thanksgiving should be a way of life that we choose daily. 

Movie Night: part two

(Part one may be tead HERE.)

She stared at the blank Skype chat-box for what seemed like hours, only her reflection looking back at her. Finally she said “Stop it!”, as she tossed the iPad onto the sofa beside her. A tear ran down her cheek as she thought about the nightmares that had haunted her recently. 


Maybe it’s because he’s so close to coming home, she thought. That has to be it; my imagination just running wild. 

The evenings were so lonely these past months. The nights were the worst; an almost unbearable hush filled the once vibrant home. The house felt so empty with just her there. Thankfully she had reminders of him everywhere she looked. Be it in “things” or memories, his essence was still present, though it diminished a little with each passing day, like the light of a lamp dimming as it burns it’s last drops of fuel. 


Six more weeks!, she thought, that seemed so long. But it’ll go by fast – I hope. 

The last few months she had been taking a cooking class at the local community center every Friday night. One of her co-workers had suggested it, knowing that Friday evenings were especially hard for her. It had been an excellent idea, too, though she strenuously resisted it for weeks. Now it helped replace their movie nights with something constructive – more so than sitting sobbing on the sofa. 

She picked up the iPad to put it away, thinking about those last words she’d said to him, Be careful tonight, wishing she could take them back. She hadn’t told him, or anyone, about the nightmares; he didn’t need to know her extra worries and she didn’t want the extra council from her friends about them. 

(Linked to Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes.)

Life Given: a #haiku

This week Ronovan brings us a new challenge, as he does weekly, with two new prompt words that work well for my style of writing. 

life in a shambles
far away from the Father
Son gives His for me

Each of our lives, no matter how together they seem on the outside, are far from perfect; many times we find ourselves in a complete mess if we are honest. Any Christian will know what I mean when I say we go through seasons when we feel so far from God, though we really aren’t. 

Unbelievers are completely separated from God. They are in a spiritual shambles until they accept that and seek Him and His grace through His Son, Jesus. 

Jesus’ life was never in a shambles; he led the perfect, unblemished life no one else ever could. I’m not implying that He was in a mess the way we are in this haiku; I want to be clear about that. Rather, on the cross He was separated from His Father to take on our mess – our sins – and pay our penalty, a debt we could never pay. 

Hanging on the cross, suspected between the heavens and earth, Christ called out:

Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

All alone He bore the sins of all mankind for all time so that we might be able to be reconciled to God. As the old hymn says, “Oh, what a Savior!”.