Archive | February 2017

For the Joy of Kelsie

Feb28

img_5468I was five years old when my paternal grandmother passed away…my parents did not tell me. Years later they said she’d been sick from the day I was born… Hopefully, the two situations are unrelated! My thought is, my parents just wanted to protect me from the reality of death at such an early age. Of course, not long after that our dog ate our hamster so I was pretty sure we would never see him again. Hamsters are easily replaced, not so with grandmas.

My dad didn’t let on that he was sad, at least not to me. I never noticed a tear or a change in his daily pattern… up early and off to work, home at 5:30, dinner with the family, and an evening in his overstuffed easy chair. At five, I was fully into entertaining him with a silly dance, front and center. I would sing him little songs I knew or made up, then sit on his lap where we’d make silly faces, chat, or just sit quietly. More than anything, I just wanted to be where he was. Truth be known, I worshiped Him.

At the time, I had no idea that not only did I fully desire to be with my dad, but he also wanted to be fully with me!

I didn’t know this until I felt this way with my own two boys, and even moreso with my grandchildren. (Sorry, Sons!) I distinctly remember Christmas 2009 and how I was particularly encouraged by our little seven-year-old granddaughter, Kelsie. My dad had passed away the year prior and, due to illness, my mom could not be with us for our annual family gathering… for the first time in my entire life. I know now how blessed I was and am to have had her so long. So back to 2009 (I get sidetracked, in case you hadn’t noticed)… just as I began to feel quite melancholy and close to outright tearyeyed, along came Kelsie in her bubbly, carefree fashion…

Grandma, you want to come play with me in my room?

Did I? You better believe I did! Her love and inclusion snapped me out of my not-so-mini pity party faster than the smell of chocolate chip cookies! As we walked up the stairs to her room, my tears were replaced with her joyful childlike chatter and afternoon plans for us to dress up and play with all of her dolls! When Kelsie played, her entire room became a City of Barbies, American Girl dolls, Cabbage Patch dolls, Teddy Bears, puppets, Disney Princesses, My Little Ponies and then some! After all, it takes all kinds to make a City! And Kelsie… well, she just wanted someone to be fully there and I love her so much that I couldn’t help myself. The fact remained, I needed her to be fully there too, and she was…just at the right time. What joy she brought me then…and still does to this day!

Is that how my dad felt about me when he lost his mom? Did my silly dances, songs and faces keep him laughing, living and loving through the loss of his beautiful mother? Though I can’t speak for him, it sure rings true in my life with Kelsie, and her two siblings and three cousins!

And then of course there is our Heavenly Father… By now you are most likely expecting this part. 🙂 I have to think that since He planted these emotions in us as parents and grandparents, and since we are fashioned after His image, He feels the same way about us… only galaxies bigger, eons better and oceans purer!! And death is more of a reality to Him than we can ever imagine… How His heart must ache to see a soul He loves go into eternity without coming into relationship with Him. And then maybe at that very instant He catches a glimpse of you singing and dancing before Him in true worship, and His tears turn into a smile. Doesn’t that thought make you smile too?

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John‬ ‭4:23-24 NIV‬

“A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.” Psalms‬ ‭84:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Come, let’s shout praises to GOD, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns!” Psalm‬ ‭95:1-2‬ ‭MSG‬‬

The bottom line… Not only do we fully need to enter our Heavenly Father’s presence in joyful worship, but He wholeheartedly desires to be fully in our presence as well! Like Kelsie, we can ask Him… “Father, You want to come play with me in my room?” My guess… He wants to! For reals! 🙂

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John 4:23-24 Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from NIV® Copyright 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®

Psalm 84:10 Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Psalm 95:1-2 Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Even If

Feb27

Music speaks to our souls so deeply and this particular song brings John 6 to mind.

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

But without missing a beat, Simon Peter answered him…

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.

‭As you may or may not know, even with this strong resolve, Simon Peter slipped up a time or two, even to the point of denying three times that he knew Jesus at all. But Jesus didn’t leave him there, and later showered him with grace asking him if he, Peter, loved Him three times.

Peter answered each time with even greater conviction than before…

You know that I love you.

Jesus gave Peter a total do-over… I can’t tell you how many He has given me… and Peter went on to live out that love never denying his Lord ever again, even when it meant his own death. I have to think that on that day he may have said again,

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.

Oh Lord, give me, give each of us, that strong resolve to love You, serve You and trust You to the very end… Even if!

‭John 6:66-69, John 21 NIV® Copyright 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®

Bloggers and Apostrophes

Feb8

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Today is a landmark day…my first ever blog now has twenty whole followers! That is so encouraging and yet SO scary! Yes, it is encouraging to think there are twenty people out there who just might actually read what I have to say, and it is extremely scary for the very same reason! Twenty people might actually read my stuff!?! Nonetheless, I am encouraged!

I’m a blogger. What’s your superpower? —Unknown

You see, I don’t want to be a good blogster (Is that a word? Let’s call it a Dori-ism), I want to be a great one…but a huge part of being either is the ability to combine passion, thoughts, feelings, knowledge, wisdom and understanding into written form in such a way that it makes sense to other people. This might be a good time to mention that my brain – where thoughts are all over the map – is a reeeeally scary place to live! Oh yeah, I’m talkin’ scary here! However, there are many times when thoughts are few, amounting to less than an apostrophe, or a comma, but I really like saying the word apostrophe so let’s stick with that. (See what I mean?)

Forget about someone’s resume or how they present themselves at a party. Can they blog or not? The blog doesn’t lie. —Nick Denton

So, here I sit day after day, sometimes with a full heart and empty screen…other times with an empty heart and a jumbled mess on the screen. And once in a while, sometimes twice in a while, something becomes blog-worthy…from my novice perspective, that is. I take the leap, post the blog and wonder if it will actually help anyone on their journey through life. You see, helping others matters to me. But even if no one else is affected, the process of moving ideas, feelings and thoughts to paper (or computer screen as it were) generally pushes me one step further on my journey as a writer…aka blogster. <sheepish grin> Eventually, it is just nice to know that someone else cares about something you pour your heart into.

I had a personal blog, but why does anyone care that I went shopping for hats? —Chris Hardwick

Reading other blogs, maybe yours, helps tremendously to see how other bloggers approach their thoughts and put them into story, and to glean from their expertise. And though I sincerely admire your knowledge, wisdom, wit and style, I also know the best lessons are those we walk, sometimes crawl, through ourselves. Just as physical growth doesn’t happen when one child watches his sibling eat and exercise, neither does practical growth. I need to feed my heart, soul and mind with information, then exercise the skill (Lord, help!) of writing firsthand in order to grow in writership. (Yes, I like to invent words.) Struggling through every blunder, along with celebrating each glorious victory, is what I believe is refining who I am and who you are as a blogger.

Everyone should have a blog. It’s the most dramatic thing ever. —Jessica Cutler

We’re all on this unpredictable journey called life together, walking side-by-side at times, walking alone at others. Either way, it is comforting to know that out there in Bloggerland, there are other wandering pilgrims…a-hem, bloggers…staring at empty computer screens or jumbled messes with puzzled looks on their faces wondering if any of it will ever make sense to anyone, even themselves, especially during run-on sentences! Growth can be painful, and though my stuff is definitely in the refining process, I truly thank you for not throwing the oil of discouragement into the fire. We generally do enough of that ourselves from what I can tell.

The bottom line…the likes, kudos, applause, even flattery at times, can lift the spirits of a novice (sometimes floundering) writer in a heartbeat! Yes, YOU have been such an encouragement to me…to like some of my stuff and to use some of your personal writing time to comment. I only hope that I can be as much of an encouragement to you on your journey, whatever that might be! So today I just want to say…Thank You! Gracias! Danke! Merci! Grazie! Toa chie! And hey, I like you too! —Dori 😊

P.S. I should also mention that I edit my own stuff…thus, the misplaced commas. But I really wanted to say apostrophe again, so I just did! 😀

©Celebrate His Love, 2017

Another Poem about Quietness

Feb1

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“He giveth quietness” O Elder Brother,img_5208

Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain,

Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow,

That in our losses we might find our gain.

“Of all Thy gifts and infinite consolings,

I ask but this: in every troubled hour

To hear Thy voice through all the tumults stealing,

And rest serene beneath its tranquil power.

“Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwelling

In the still air of faith’s untroubled day;

Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside thee,

My hand in Thine along the darkening way.

“Content to know there comes a radiant morning

When from all shadows I shall find release,

Serene to wait the rapture of its dawning–

Who can make trouble when Thou sendest peace?”

Author Unknown, Streams in the Dessert. 1/31