Exhale

You exhale
Loudly
The signal
That you have something to say
But you aren't going to say it
And I don't ask
So
You exhale
Blowing out air
From the recesses of your lungs
As if you were running a race
And trying to catch your breath
I glance
You stare
Forward
And I don't ask
Because you want me to?
I think I'm just supposed to know
That's why you just
Exhale
Loudly
Because it's my fault that there is something
Heavy on your mind
And on mine
Air escaping in exasperation
With one
Or both of us
Maybe you have something to say
You just won't say it
And I won't ask

Skin

When I think about her
my skin rises up
like prickly heat
of children
on summer days
My face is warm
but my ears are red hot
this is how I know
what is dear
inside my heart
is on my sleeve
And I brush at it
to smooth away the evidence
of the chills that run
through my body
and seep out of my skin

Time's Not Soaring

I often find myself, at the end of the day, having run out of time. It never seems to soar for me. Just this incessant flapping and jerking back and forth over choppy skies. Is it me who fills my hours full of business and responsibility? I can blame my husband and the kids because they don't do what I want them to do so that I can do what I want to. Or I can, instead of completing the chores, stew until they come home from school then rant and rave and lose my mind because then there isn't enough time to finish all the things that I failed to do when I had the time and wasted it thinking about how I would make them all do it. Then they don't do it the way I want it done, the way I need it done, the way I obsess... And I still have to do them. And the more I stress, the less the children stress, and my husband will simply leave the room. So maybe one day, when the children are all grown and my husband is away on some fishing trip in the throws of his retirement I will feel the wind underneath me, pushing me up and over my stuff. And I'll find some extra time.

Fun with the five

Okay, so last weeks five word monologue is late...I guess I'll lose points, but better late than never. And, of course, to spice things up a bit, a clerihew

The words are: Pulverize, Cauldron, Forfeit, Sovereign, Shoals

A witch beside her cauldron fat
A sovereign soul is such as that
Some toad to pulverize and boil
To forfeit life for her mean toil

The toad inside the shoals had sat
His stature short and stoutly fat
But that witch was on the prowl
If not her, surely an owl

 

Book Review: "Voices of the Faithful"

Oh....I just can't say enough good things about this book. When I received it, my first thought was, "how pretty. It's such a pretty book." Ha! That's not even a fraction of what this book has to offer those who have devoted their lives to missionary work abroad, missionary work here at home, and simply to Christ!

"Voices of the Faithful" is a daily devotional. Each page represents one day. The first element is related scripture, then a short story and thoughts of a missionary somewhere in the world, and a short prayer.

The missionaries are regular, everyday people just like me. Mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors. They balance their family with their calling. They understand on an awesome, seein'-God's-face kind of level what their calling is, they have followed His voice and they love what they do. It is so obvious in their words. I was impressed with the dedication and devotion these missionaries have to their calling, the sacrifices they make and their perception of their purpose. I enjoyed the chronicaling of daily life and the message brought forth through simple daily living. Some entries are trials, some are not, some are revelations, all are poignant in the life of a Christian. Each devotion is followed by a short prayer focusing on the lesson learned and as is the theme of the entire book, guided prayer for missionaries all over the world.

This book is a perfect daily reminder of whose we are and why we are.

New Outlook

The skin of my blog, though adorable, was not working properly. So here I have changed it to one of the preset templates. I hope this works just fine...