Month: August 2021

Heartburn

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School buses are barreling by, and the summer heat hangs on.  Excitedly I await my favorite season.  The hot winds will cool slightly, and the leaves will fall in position.  Not being here with you, in this space, has caused a disconnect for me.  I’ve longed to write.  Each day I’ve been ready to see you-to read your thoughts of the world around us.  Simply, I’ve missed you. 

My heart burns for victims of devastation and tragedy.  Yet, in our own lives we MUST celebrate.  What can you celebrate today?  I’m celebrating another granddaughter! 🤍 My family is my greatest blessing.  Although I’m not near all of them I still celebrate them. Just days after her birth I published my first children’s book.  None of us have easy journeys. And there are days we may want to “throw in the towel”. Instead, let’s throw around some good news. With faith and belief, I will “press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Jesus Christ, is calling us.”-Philippians 3:14  

Heartburn

Tragedy after tragedy fills the screen.  Meanwhile I’m able to freely grab my cup of coffee, worship how I please, wear what I want, and shop as I need.  My rights are only limited by my own common sense, judgement, and wisdom.  Should I choose to go rogue on rational there will be consequences.   I feel heartburn coming on.

Countries suffering for rights while we fight over masks and mandates.  Temperatures rising and falling with the waves of wastefulness.   The waste of human life. Wasted money to entertain us.  Wasted food as others starve. 

I have heartburn.

My heart burns for the needy in my neighborhood.  My heart burns for the brave who battle.  My heart burns over barbarian behavior.  My heart burns because of devastating disunity.   My heart burns over tactless tension.  My heart burns over fiery feuds.  My heart burns over illogical indifference.  My heart burns due to habitual hate.  My heart burns due to jabs of judgement.

How can I reduce heartburn? How do I digest the dreadful?

Stop gulping greed. Chew chatter fully. Loosen cliquish clothes. Avoid the Acid.  Stand up straight with sensitivity. Elevate with empathy.  Swallow small bites of sincerity.

I’ll deter heart damage while I can.

Friends may your hearts blaze with blessings.   May your hearts ignite with inspiration. May your hearts inflame with inexplainable insight.  May your hearts scorch without scorekeeping.  May your hearts light with laughter.  May they burn for beauty.

My heart boldly begs for a breakthrough-and a hope in humanity.  May our hearts burn with love.    

Have faith 💚

This is just a cover of a copyrighted song by Anne Murray; uke cover -Anne Murray Me–just an attempt at one of my favorite songs and artists. I hope we can all share good news!
A local hometown Annual Festival and Finley enjoying the creek!

Happy Birthday, Missouri!

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In honor of Missouri’s Bicentenniel here is a “sneak peak” at the beautiful illustrations in Faith and Finley Tour Missouri! Thank you Gage Becker for making our home state picture book come to life.

Missouri became the 24th state on August 10, 1821. Have you ever visited the “Show-Me” state?

Check out these famous Missourians!

  • Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • George Washington Carver
  • Mark Twain
  • Maya Angelou
  • Harry S. Truman
  • Ginger Rogers
  • Chuck Berry
  • Walter Cronkite
  • Thomas Hart Benton
  • Sheryl Crow
  • Eminem
  • John Goodman
  • Ellie Kemper
  • Jon Hamm
  • Kathleen Turner

Winston Churchill delivered his famous, “Iron Curtain” speech at Westminster College in Fulton, MO. Pretty cool, eh? The Show-Me state is also “unofficially” known as the Cave State. Did you know there are over 6,000 of them? The Pony Express, Lewis and Clark museum, Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Gateway Arch National Park, great food, music, and kind folks–these are varied highlights in my book for the Missouri fans!

Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy a variety of activities with 91 state parks and 6 National parks (to stamp off in your National Park Passport book). Lakes, rivers, streams, and trails splatter our state! There are so many places in my home state that I still need to visit.🤍

Don’t just fly over Missouri. Come and stay a while (let me know if you visit the Branson area). Visiting other states is a joy to me; particularly mountainous regions (with low humidity ;-). But I’ll always be proud to call Missouri home. 🤍

“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” -Mark Twain

Have faith 💚

Blind Spot

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It flashes at just the right time.  Cars are whizzing by and unknowingly to me, enter my blind spot.  Radar sensors are used to warn me when other drivers are in an area near me that I can’t see.   An audible warning and two flashing small cars on my rearview mirror also indicate traffic approaching from the side. The backup camera keeps me keen too. How did I ever drive all the years prior without these features? 
K.L. on the road

Why couldn’t I have been born with blind spot indicators?  When something I can’t see approaches a danger area, I want flashes and audibles please!  An elevator “ding” won’t work.  Slow music would paralyze me with peace.  But a loud sound of nails on a chalkboard would get my attention…fast!

Unfortunately, we all have blind spots.  As a leader I would count on team members to help point them out to me (a kind manner proved mammoth). 

Although I don’t have a physical blind spot detector, I do have a spiritual blind spot detector.  To some it may just be a gut feeling.  Or a sixth sense.  Maybe it’s pit in the stomach that gives you a sour soul sensation.  As a life-long people pleaser I’ve experienced some crashes that I knew, at the last moment, I could have avoided.    But many times, our blind spots can be something in which we’re unaware.  For some a blind spot could be a result of not facing reality.    The danger is there.  But you can’t see it because you have chosen to not believe any other way but yours. So many of us believe we are less biased than others.   These patterns are destructive.  But for the Holy Spirit.

Alongside faith and belief, I rest on Isaiah 11:2-3, “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him-the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord.  He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.”

It’s never easy to recognize those things that would no longer protect what we believe to be true of ourselves.  Once you understand these perhaps you won’t veer into the blind spots of others. Staying aware is my soul sensor.  Awareness of triggers and dangers that keep me swerving.  The reactional recovery must be accompanied by wisdom and truth.   It’s time to buckle up!

Simply, the things I love should be for the sake of God, rather than for their own sake.  And that love will provide perfect sight.🤍

One day last week, on a crowded two-lane tourist-area road, I saw a man standing outside his car. This particular road is curvy. Talk about blindspots! His car, inconveniently, was out of gas on the midway point up a hill on which there was NO view of approaching cars. I could see the looks of frustration around me via mirrors. Cars were trying to PASS ME (I was 3rd behind him) with NO VIEW of oncoming traffic; and in a no-passing lane; imagine that! 😉 NO ONE was going to help him. “Ok, I have the nudge God, I’ll stop!” Safely I pulled as close to him as possible, window down, and shouted, “How can I help you sir?”

“Do you have a gas can?,” he replied.

“I don’t, but get in and I can run you to the Dollar Store up the road!”

This went against anything I’ve ever taught others about “stranger danger”. But see, I just KNEW. The humidity was about 90% on this 90-something summer day. He looked terrible and sad. Was it my gut that knew? It was more than that.

I introduced myself. He said, “I’m a surgeon and I can’t even save myself!” My heart sank as he shared about his family calamities; friends, it was a LOT. Sharing my sympathy and promised prayers for him, he shared his name.

“Our family doctor (from another small-town Missouri) throughout my childhood has the same name!” He replied, “My Mom says he ain’t worth a d*#^!” (and I saw a grin form on his hot face). I quickly turned to look at him in surprise as he said, “That’s my Dad.”

Coincidence? We arrived at the store and I put my own Father on speakerphone. “You’re not going to believe this!” Their conversation ranged from sharing about the kindness of strangers to the gratitude to his Dad for taking care of our family for so many years. It’s a small world.

Some of us believe the world is too large and dangerous. Sure, there are dangers. It might be just outside your front door or across the globe. But just the opposite can be experienced if we pay attention.

Paying attention is important. I’ve had a similar incident in which I wouldn’t have stopped. Maybe my blind spot sensors were going off! But either way, helping him on this blind spot became the blessing of my day. I’ll not forget it.

Have faith 💚