Miss You, Dad

Today

I missed my dad.

My hubby and I

Went hiking.

It was lovely…

and good exercise too.

My dad

Loved nature.

He spent many enjoyable hours

Walking through the woods

Behind our home.

It is one of my children’s

Most cherished memories:

Hiking with their papa.

I realized last summer,

As I sat enjoying

The peace of the country,

It was something

I could have shared

With my dad.

While I was growing up

I was too busy

Wanting to be with my friends.

I didn’t like the outdoors…

the bugs

the snakes

etc

etc

etc.

I feel differently now.

Oh, I’m still not a fan

Of bugs and snakes

But I do enjoy

The many sounds

And beautiful landscape.

Today

I missed my dad.

But today

I rejoiced

In sharing creation

With another wonderful man.

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness (Psalm 96:12-13 NIV).

Domestic Flights

Up at 4:15.

Brainstorm picture book ideas.

Download the rough draft of a friend’s TidBook.

Discuss a possible writing opportunity…

And the future of paper publishing.

Watch episodes of a favourite show with S & D.

Wander around Port with hubby.

Watch more episodes.

Receive message from middle child…

Back at college for his fourth year.

Try to figure out what to write here.

Realize most of my life is about

Domestic flights.

And for that

I will be forever thankful.

An extraordinary ordinary life

Is fine by me.

Love you guys lots and lots and lots.

The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful! My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways…(Proverbs 23:24-26 NIV).

Choices

While I don’t believe

If I do everything right

My life will be

Turbulence free

I do know that

I can make

Good choices

Or

Bad ones.

Some of them concern

Obedience to the Flight Manual.

Others are simply

Good choices for me

Things like

Washing the dishes before bed.

It doesn’t sound like a biggy

And for some of you

It’s never an issue

However

I’ve often neglected the kitchen

For days at a time.

Since I got the place

Tidied up for

My daughter’s book party

I’ve tried to keep it

In decent shape.

When I wake up in the morning

To a clean kitchen

It always brings a smile.

And then there’s

That tricky concept of balance.

Yesterday

I spent far too much time

Checking Facebook and my email

Not to mention succumbing to

The onslaught of fluctuating hormones.

Today

Social networking is relegated to specific times

After I’ve completed specific tasks.

These kinds of thing

May not give me wings.

However

If kept in proper perspective

They can’t keep me earthbound.

What does give me wings?

Going to sleep

Talking to the Flight Instructor

And waking up

Doing the same.

Making review of the Flight Manual

A priority

No matter how many times

I read it.

Once I’m ready for the day

I can take

My list of destination

(aka my to do list)

And head for the skies.

I simply must make

Good choices.

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness (Romans 6:13 ESV).

Grounded

Responsibilities – Numerous

Ambition – Non-existent

Menopause – Today’s winner

The Most Important Friendship

Writers meeting last night…

Incredible group of ladies.

They always make

My heart soar.

After the meeting

I grabbed a Timmies

With one of the members.

It was nice to catch up.

Ah, friends…

I just love ’em.

Recently

I’ve been challenged

As to the nature

Of real friendship.

If I spend no time with my friend

Maintaining a relationship is hard.

If I simply read about her

It’s not the same as

Personal interaction.

If I know what’s important to him

But never act on it

What kind of friend am I?

If my friend is in

A supervisory position over me

And I ignore his direction

Our friendship will be strained…

To say the least.

If I don’t set aside time for my friend

She may wonder if we’re

Friends at all.

And so it has been with

My Most Important Friend of all.

He’s never far from my thoughts.

I sincerely want to please him.

He always makes himself available.

He gives me all the tools I need

To follow his direction.

He is infinitely patient.

He never belittles me.

In fact

He loves and honours me

More than I could ever deserve.

So

My excuse

For not doing my part?

I could list dozens of reasons

But I have no excuse.

So

Today

I make it my aim

To work on,

To fly to new heights in,

My Most Important Friendship.

The righteous choose their friends carefully (Proverbs 12:26 NIV).

Sparks Fly

This morning

There were sparks

In my oven.

I’d made muffins

And was going to put in

A second pan

When I noticed

The light show.

It looked like

A little tiny person

Was playing with

A sparkler.

No flames

Just a white hot glow

And miniature fireworks.

I thought it best

To turn it off.

To be extra safe

I called my hubby

An expert in this area.

And yes

It’s the element.

Not just the remnants of

An overflow.

Sorry folks

No homemade oatmeal muffins.

Not today anyway.

A trip to the hardware store.

A few minutes in the kitchen.

And voila

It’ll be fixed.

Would that things were

So easy

When sparks fly

Between people.

When my kids

Were young

I had a nasty temper.

I was often

Hurtful and very vocal.

These days

I have wonderful relationships

With my three, now grown.

Sparks virtually never fly.

Can I take credit?

Absolutely not!

It is a very real testament to

God amazing grace.

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16-17 NIV).

Divide and Conquer

I fly forward.

I fly back.

I fly forward.

I fly back.

So

What’s the solution?

Choose a destination

And don’t stop flying

Until I get there?

Sometimes.

I can then look back

Over my route

And rejoice

In how far I’ve come.

There are other times

However

That just isn’t practical.

There are tasks that need to be accomplished

Simultaneously.

And when that’s the case

I have to make short flights.

Say London to Toronto and back again.

Take

For example

The reading I have on the go.

If I divide the number of pages in the book

By the number of days until my deadline…

Self-imposed or otherwise…

I can read x number of pages per day

And set it aside.

A commuter hop if you will.

If I divide my responsibilities

And conquer today’s goals

I’m still on my way

To The Destination.

When it comes to goal-setting, I’d like to refer you to today’s post a http://janetsketchley.wordpress.com/

Do it Anyway

I promise to soar…

Right after I wake up.

No

I won’t really nap.

But after 20 minutes of

A Jillian Michaels workout

And a 25-minute walk

It does sound very appealing.

Actually,

After a little recovery time

And a little lunch,

I feel somewhat energized.

Though I am gonna feel it

In my shoulders

For a day or two.

That’s the way it goes

With physical exercise

And a lot of other things.

First

I have to make myself do something.

Next

I almost wish I hadn’t.

(I may feel that way

For a while.)

And then

There’s improvement.

And I remember

Why I do it.

The trick is perseverance.

When I don’t want to do

What’s good for me,

I should do it anyway.

When things seem to get worse

Before they get better,

That doesn’t mean

I shouldn’t do…whatever.

When I eventually see improvement,

Its often a good indicator

That I’m on the right track.

That I’ll be able to

Fly higher.

Fly faster.

Fly longer.

…suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:3-5 NIV).

The Journey

As I sit on the tarmac

Looking out the window

I see

The airport terminal

And surrounding fields.

Apartment buildings

And skyscrapers.

As I take to the skies

I see from a new perspective.

Below are

The clusters of houses

And the patchwork fields.

As I climb still higher

I lose sight of them.

I pass through

Wispy cotton ball clouds

Playing in the blue sky.

As I break through

My mind clears.

The dome of blue

Stretches on forever.

Billowing mountain ranges

Of cumulus clouds

Reflect the sun’s brilliance.

So

Where am I now?

Sitting on the tarmac

Anticipating what’s ahead.

Taking to the skies

Looking at

What’s below and behind.

Playing among the clouds

Not yet able to see what’s ahead.

Or am I soaring

At heights that take my breath away

With nothing but

Beauty and possibility

In sight.

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

The Right Route

I began working on

A new project.

I could have

Barreled ahead and written

All four pages,

But I decided to check

And see if I was on

The right track.

Turns out

I was slightly off course.

Whew!

Changing a 250-word opening

Is far easier

Than rewriting a 1000-word article.

How many times

Do I continue to fly in the same direction

Only to find out it doesn’t line up with

The Original Flight Plan?

I remember from geometry class

How tiny a one-degree difference looks

At the beginning.

However

The longer I travel in

The wrong direction…

Even if I’m only off by “that much”…

The farther away I’ll get from

Where I’m supposed to be.

I hope I’m learning to check in

Before the right route

Isn’t even within sight.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV).