Author Archives: Patricia Ann

Inspired by Bloggers

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You know what I love about blogging? It’s the inspiration that comes from other bloggers. I had full intentions of taking a break from this new favorite pastime, and catch up on reading posts that I’ve not had too much time to delve into. But it didn’t work that way, because reading made me want to write! Reading other’s blogs gave me new incentive, and the next thing I know, I’m back on the page.

Yesterday’s post by Katie got me started again, and then I read one of Butch Dean’s poetry posts, The Days of Youth. Well, that got me to thinking about my favorite self-talk: “I miss the me I used to be” and that led to another brand new poem which will be today’s post.

THE ME I USED TO BE

I miss the me I used to be,

the things I used to do,

I miss the energy and verve

the vim and vigor too.

I miss the way my feet could dance,

the way my body bent,

contorted to the Limbo

as ‘neath the pole I went.

I miss the feel of garden soil

where once my hands did dig

while scrunching down to plant the seeds

before my joints got big.

Yes, I miss the me I used to be

and all the things I did,

but even though the body’s old,

inside I’m still a kid.

©July 2014

And you know what else? I have a fantastic family, a wonderful church family, and now feel I have a blogging family as well. Life is good!

 

And People Are Listening

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This morning I read a wonderful post by one of my favorite bloggers, Katie. She writes about how a former professional baseball player spoke in church about his relationship with the Lord, and how he could never do the things he does without God’s hand in every part of it; that God get’s all the credit for his talents and gifts.

Katie went on to write that we must never fear people’s reactions to our words of love for the Lord, and we must never shy away from giving glory to God for everything he has blessed us with. She says we are urged to share the Word of God with others. We are compelled to spread His teachings whenever and wherever we can. She says to speak up for the Lord, speak your heart. Those who are willing to truly listen will know you are speaking His truth and will be blessed by your words. Katie tells us that this young man speaks proudly of his great faith and love for the Lord. And people are listening.

Wow! Thank you, Katie.

In my book, My Precious Life, my first thanks goes to God. Without him this book would not exist. Guaranteed!

The feedback from sales of the book is very encouraging and I would like to share, in part, two of the many comments that have come to me.  The first comes from the UK where a gentleman wrote a review on Amazon.co.UK: “I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Wonderfully uplifting and a ‘makes you feel good’ life story. Thanks for sharing this with us.”

And this came via email just last night: “Dear Patricia, I have just finished reading your wonderful book. I couldn’t put it down!! I admire you for writing it but more than that I was touched, saddened and encouraged by all that your life represents. Your very firm faith shines through each chapter. I know this book will have a positive influence on many readers and will point them to God.”

That last sentence is key. It is why I wrote the book.

“Wonderful book” and “I could not put it down” are the most repeated comments. It makes me smile–and I think God might be smiling too.

As I said in one of my other blogs, “To God be the glory, great things he has done….”

Once again, My Precious Life can be found online at Amazon or ordered at your local book store. People in my little corner of the world can get it directly from me.

Thanks, Katie, I hope you don’t mind my sharing part of your blog today. 🙂 It is just so apropos!

 

 

Peace, Poise and Power

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These words showed up twice in my devotions this morning after I said my usual “What do I write about today, Lord?” prayer.

Some borrowed words will make up part of today’s blog: words from the Bible and other writings. It was John Randolph Price who said “live your life with peace, poise and power” in his book Practical Spirituality. This sounds pretty simple but in reality, is pretty hard to practice when life gives you a smack about the head and ears. But, that is exactly where these words fit in. Pray for peace, practice poise, and feel the Power; God’s power!

St. Peter says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)

My current trial does feel quite strange, something I never saw coming nor dreamed would ever afflict me. So, poise is called for, and is forthcoming.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13) Yes!

All this is to say that no matter what surprises life has in store for us, there is an answer.

And so, I come to the end of one hundred blogs in one hundred days. Hurray! To those who have enjoyed and looked forward to them, I say, thank you very much! For those who have not, I apologize. We cannot be all things to all people. I realize that, but it doesn’t stop me from hoping, as this poem I wrote in 1984 implies.

LET ME BE A BLESSING

Let me be an inspiration

to the would-be uninspired,

let me soothe and comfort

when a mind becomes too tired.

Let me have the insight

to know when there’s a need,

let me be a blessing, Lord,

and do a loving deed.

Let me lend a helping hand

without the need to ask,

let me ease the burden

of another person’s task.

Let me bring some happiness

and let there be a time

for me to be a blessing, Lord,

to those whose lives touch mine.

©1984

And now I go forth to live my life, to the best of my ability, in peace, poise and power.

Until we meet again…♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetically Speaking

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There seems to be a rash of poetry crashing my psyche these days. It could be a good thing for those of us who like poetry, and not so good for those who don’t. Having said that, I have learned a lot from poems. Especially Rudyard Kipling’s IF — “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, and blaming it on you…” (very important) or DAFFODILS by William Wordsworth — ” I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills…” I never pictured William as a lonely fellow (very comforting). How about “When I have fears that I may cease to be before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain…”–John Keats. (Is that fuelling my furious blogging these days?) And then there’s The Power of You, penned in 1998 by yours truly.

THE POWER OF YOU

If you would be more powerful,

release your ego,

let it soar!

Let the roar of you subside,

look inside,

see the power of you

released to empower others…

not destroy them

with ego.

©1998

Now that I’m closing in on blog one hundred, I have to rethink whether to stop. Faithful followers are asking me to “keep on  blogging”, so with that in mind, it will depend if the blogging muses will still be forthcoming with words of wisdom (or not). Tomorrow is another day–time enough for decision making.

Living to Learn

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Do you love to learn? There is not a day goes by that I do not yearn to learn something new. Realizing that even pain is a chance to  gain an insight into life’s lessons, what I’ve learned over the past couple of days is to listen to my heart even more often, and to search it for clues as to what brings so much distress, both to ourselves and others.

What I learned (although it is really a re-learning) is we cannot control other people’s thoughts, nor how they choose to interpret life’s messages (and life offers so many messages), or if they even want to learn. How are we motivated to look at life and its challenges? By paying attention to what shows up on our blackboard, and not being too hasty to erase it without looking at all the angles (hypotenuse not included).

Of course, all this is in my humble opinion, but one thing that came out of this morning’s soul searching is the following new poem. It has been a while since a brand new poem has shown up on my pages, and here it is.

BUT WHEN WE DO

Is to love those more

who love us less,

the answer to

broken-heartedness?

Love heals all things,

the pain subsides,

though tears at times

still touch our eyes.

Help us Lord,

to learn from pain,

that we may not

cause hurt again.

But when we do,

may we be wise

and brave enough

to apologize.

.©2014

I’m learning that as life draws to a close, though we expect to live happily ever after in our winter years, the damn snowballs keep flying! And I’m too old to duck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Am I to Cry?

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It is so easy to throw a pity party…just invite me, myself, and I, a few bad memories, a couple of hurtful comments, a large box of super soft tissues for the tears and you’re off to the doldrums!

And then some uninvited guests show up. People who actually care about you; who are ready to cry with you, if needed, but more importantly, are there to let you know you’re not alone in sadness.

One such guest showed up this morning, online, and shared with me the story of her cousins who were momentarily about to lose their precious seven-year-old son to cancer. This dear little boy is losing, or has lost, as I write, his battle with that demon disease. I’m crying for this friend and her cousins.

A similar story came my way a couple of years ago, via another friend who witnessed almost the exact same scenario with friends of hers and their seven year old grandson.

A fellow blogger reminded me of the story she posted of her mother succumbing to cancer’s clutches, and the crushing feeling of helplessness she experienced at that time.

And then there was Kristiana, a dear little member of our church, whose face I can see to this day, who also left her family and friends in a state of sadness for her loss, but also a state of happiness for Christ’s gain. She was thirteen and had fought her battle for nine years.

 

And so I’m reminded, although we don’t expect to be hurt by the ones we love, it happens: whether by death-which is out of our hands-or unkind remarks, which are also out of our hands, we are, if we are caring people, going to be hurt. Guaranteed. It goes without saying, if we don’t care we won’t hurt.

As always, God has a way of catching me off-guard and causing me to smile through my tears. It happened at nine o’clock this morning, when the child in me began to sing “Jesus loves me, this I know…” and that’s all I needed to know. Everything else is secondary.

So, who am I to cry? Just another person who bleeds when cut, and thankful for those who come by with bandages.

May God bless all those who stand by with those boxes of tissues. I love you.

 

 

 

Is Anyone Listening?

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Yesterday I posted a blog about a friend of mine who is dying of cancer. I described her plight and asked for prayer. Guess what? The blog received 0 comments and 0 likes….with two exceptions; one via email from a friend who said this:

WOW, that was powerful! I found this blog especially
poignant…….You have really missed your calling! I get far more
out of your blogs than going to church and listening to a sometimes
boring sermon. You have really had a positive influence on my life.
So, maybe you should continue on with what you are doing and get the
word out there to people like me. I am serious about this! Keep up
the good work.
Your forever grateful friend….Sandy F.

And this from a friend on Facebook: My prayers were given…God bless her! Gail J.

For them, I will continue blogging.

Other than that….Nothing. Zero. Zilch.

So I’m wondering…what are we doing with all these messages coming our way? Reading them and saying…”Oh, that’s nice” or “What a load of crap!” OR thinking, “that’s not my problem, I have other things to write about.” Is anything getting through to us?

That ZERO day almost caused me to give up on my goal of one hundred blogs in one hundred days. But thank God, Jesus did not give up on me because he was too busy doing other things or thinking of other people, or attending His own agenda. So I won’t give up either.

King Solomon said in Proverbs 1: 5–let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance–

My friend is still dying of cancer, and I am still asking for prayers–please and thank you–is anyone listening?

 

 

 

Advice Well Taken

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On July 5th, I posted “Some Good Advice”. It seemed to be a bit of a flop. Always curious as to the “why” of things, I wondered if a different title and some serious editing would change the results; so here is my first reblog….

The first time I was asked to prepare and present a prayer to our congregation a few years ago, my knees knocked, my voice trembled–no–shook, and my mouth was so dry the words seemed to stick to the roof of it.

Once, I was asked to write a poem and read it aloud to over two hundred and fifty people. The thought terrified me, but it was for our Pastor’s tenth anniversary, and rather than disappoint, I pushed through the same fear and symptoms as the first time.

At some point I came across the following advice taken from different sources, and it eased my speaking burden somewhat. It also appeared to put a new slant on my writing; I found words seemed to come much easier. I’d like to share it with others who may sometimes feel the fear of facing an audience with their own written word.

ON SPEAKING/WRITING–

Polish and elegance can sometimes leave an audience quite cold. Experience and sincerity never fail to move them. We can never bring to anyone else an experience which we have not had ourselves.

We must always be willing to learn about ourselves. The last thing that most of us know is ourselves. It takes humility to know oneself.

Ask God for a calm spirit and the right words to say.

Unlock your inner strength; talk of those things that will make people the better for listening to you (R.W. Trine)

God gave you a message to share…don’t keep it to yourself. (Our Daily Bread) (I think!)

The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary. (Isaiah, 50:4)

I am the Lord your God…I have put my words in your mouth…(Isaiah, 51:15,16)

Even as the Lord was preparing you to serve in his church, he was preparing others to be in a position to receive what you have to give them. He has paved the way for your ministry to be effective. In other words, others need what the Holy Spirit prompts you to prepare and give them. (Relying on the Holy Spirit…Charles Stanley, page 90).

Looking back, I can see how all of this advice worked for me in three talks I gave: Not to Worry, The Way I See It, and one about My Precious Life, before it was published.

Was it advice well taken? I think so.

 

 

 

Dying to Live

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A dear friend told me yesterday that her oncologist and other doctors have told her “there’s nothing more we can do for you.” And so sent her home to die. She is a beautiful, vibrant woman between middle age and the “golden years”, and in my opinion, too young to have that prognosis.

And so I began to think about this thing called death: how it comes to every single one of us. No one can escape life without experiencing it, and no one can do anything about it. It is our final act of living. What comes afterwards depends totally on what we believe. I choose to believe that although it is our final act on earth, it is not our final act. The curtain may come down, but is drawn up again–for the encore, if you will. (John 3:16) And to me that is super exciting and worth a round of applause.

What we can do something about is the way we live our lives before the final curtain.

Is there some good we can do? Let’s do it.

Is there some habit to break? Let’s break it.

Is there some wrong we have done? Let’s right it.

Is there animosity to be dealt with? Let’s deal with it.

Is jealousy hurting relationships? Let’s trade it for trust.

Is selfishness a problem? Let’s give until it hurts.

Is a dark mood plaguing our happiness? Let’s try to work through it.

Is someone being hurt by our behaviour? Let’s change our behaviour.

Is our life reflecting true love? Let’s make sure it does.

In all life we should try to remember what is commonly known as “the golden rule”:  So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you…Matthew 7:12. (KJV ) It is so important to remember this.

There are those of us who will do some soul searching, and those who won’t. How will you pave your road to death, and your path to Heaven?

To get back to my friend, she is in fact, dying with dignity, yet still searching for life through alternative ways to kill the cancer that is killing her.

She has discovered the truth of true friendship through the generosity of those who care so much about her, that they are doing everything to help her really live her life to the end.

She is one of the bravest women I know: while facing her own mortality, she is thinking of others, and laying the groundwork for their wellbeing after she is gone.

I’m hoping she will tell her own story on my blog in a few days, if she’s up to it, but in the meantime, may I ask for world-wide prayers for this dear soul who is dying to live?

It Is Finished!

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my book

It is not what you may think of from reading this blog’s title.

Yesterday, I received an email from Westbow Press saying my books have been shipped. It has been a long process from December 26th, 2012, the day My Precious Life was conceived, and began life in the womb of my laptop, to this soon-to-be delivery date.

Two things came to mind when I read that email. The first was Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 7:8, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” (KJV) I say this because right from the beginning, I was picturing the ending; the day the book would be published, and I would hold my new “baby” in my hands. That took patience! Each little glitch in the birthing process had me telling myself, “This too shall pass–be patient.”

The second thing that came to me was a quote from Louis L’Amour, American author: “There will come a time when you will believe that everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” This struck me as truth also, because now my “baby” must go out into the world and begin to make itself known to friends and strangers alike. Where I thought that the first words I wrote in My Precious Life were the beginning, I now realize that the last words I wrote are also the beginning.

So you see, just as those last words of Jesus on the cross, “It Is Finished”, were only the beginning for us, I have to believe that my own thoughts, it is finished, when I put the last period on the manuscript, were only the beginning of MY PRECIOUS LIFE.

As posted in other blogs, please look for my book on Amazon.com and other online book stores by linking to MY PRECIOUS LIFE.

This will help my “baby” take its first steps into the world. Thank you for your support, and remember, whatever you think is finished in your life may be just the beginning.