Almost every weekend from Fall 1994 to Spring of ‘96, found me traveling home from college and back again. Those three hours of total drive time became a meeting place for me and God. Alone, without fear of what others might think, I found it easy to converse with my Creator. Many of those conversations turned to song. I would find myself praising His goodness and grace with lyrics I had never heard sung elsewhere. I always thought, “I should write this down when I get a chance.” But invariably the chance never came or if it did the words would be long gone having floated away with the melody.

Several weeks ago as I drove across town, contemplating the morning’s devotion, a song came unbidden to my lips. It had been so long since the Lord spoke to me in this way that I didn’t even consider stopping to write the words down. I simply basked in the marvel of the music. “Still,” I thought later, “it would be nice to have at least one of these songs written down.”

Fast forward a week or two. It is early and I am sitting in my devotion chair with my Bible opened and my notebook ready. But I am not reading. I am not praying. I am only reveling in the silence of our home and the blessed life I have been granted when the melody begins…

You made the heavens and the earth.

You gave the sun its birth.

And in the midst of all of this

You made me.

So small and insignificant

I feel like just a speck.

I feel so unimportant … and yet …

You came. You came.

You knew all of history and still You came

for the speck that I would be.

*

Rushing here, rushing there

Do I see you? Do I care?

My hope is in the car, the house, the things.

TV tells me I need x

and y and z and s and t and q.

Yet in the midst of all of this my heart cries

that all I need is You .

Please come. Please come.

I know I have forsaken Your way but

please come. Please come

and save the speck I am today.

*

Without You what do I have.

Nothing comes to mind.

You are hope and love and peace.

These things I’d like to find.

Please come.

For You I ask, I see, I knock

I hope You hear me pray.

It is You that I need -

the Truth, the Light, the Way.

And You come. You come

and You fill the speck I am today.

*

No longer lost, no longer small

for Your life fills my being.

My path is straight. The way is clear.

Praise from my soul doth ring.

You came. You came.

And now I’m walking with the King.

.

skip on over to Hubby’s blog and read this cute little story.  It’s autobiographical, by the way.  And if you leave a comment, you’ll make his (and therefore my) day.  Help a girl out, will ya?

Yesterday, when I (Sister) went in the den to get my karate suit on I saw a mouse run across the room.  I screamed and I ran and told Mom that there was a mouse in the house.  The picture you see is of Serafina, our cat stalking the mouse in the house.  When we came back from karate, we helped Serafina catch the mouse.  To help her catch the mouse we lifted up the couches with stools and she went under the couch and caught the mouse. It was too bad though that she never got to eat it.  We let it go outside.  And since yesterday, she has not caught any more mice.  And I hope that she catches them in the house but brings them outside and eats them not play with them in the house.

Elaine over at Blog In My Eye found this intriguing exercise.  Describe your life in exactly six words.  The idea comes from the book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure which sprang from this story. 

Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking our readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).

We’re not nearly on par with Hemingway around here but I made an attempt all the same.

*Jumped off barn roof.  Bloody nose.

*Took best friend’s guy.  So sorry.

*Crashed car while naming seven dwarfs.

*Almost married the wrong person.  Oops.

*4 credits from graduating.  Left college.

*Found true love. Growing a family.

Then I realized the task required not a series of six word thoughts but only six words.  Hmm, my life in half a dozen….

“All things work for the good.”

*****************

I don’t know if you’re supposed to tag anyone for this but I would be interested to see what Leslie would come up with because, being the Queen of Haiku and all, she knows how to say more with less.

I’m also curious about Jenni’s perspective.  Someone who boldly uses words like “troglodyte” and “proclivity” will most certainly rock this vocabulary exercise.

And if you feel so inclined, please play along.  You could even go here and submit your entry. 

Who know’s you might get published.

From the depths of my drafts folder:

See the Consumer

bigger, better, faster, more

Product Prisoner

On Monday Ann Kroeker reminded me how to make Cootie Catchers or as some people call them Fortune Tellers. The children and I have had much fun since then creating and using our own. A big square of scrapbook paper is perfect for this and makes them so colorful. Anyway, it occurred to me that since you could write just about anything inside that perhaps they would make a good Valentine gift. So that’s what I’m making for my sweetie this year. Hopefully, he won’t read this post before I actually get to give it to him - or maybe he will and he’ll smile at the thought of what’s coming. ;)  See, I’ve hidden phrases like ” ‘K’ is for …” or ” ‘H is for … ” inside so if he picks one of those I will give him a “K”iss or a “H”ug.  Make sense?  These examples are pretty benign (This is a family friendly blog after all.) and are not actually in my fortune teller. For my hubby of almost 10 years I came up with some more lover-ly phrases.  Phrases which I expect will lead to much satisfaction happiness at the Simple house.

******************************

shadow play of love

only a candle watches

rhythmic forms dancing

Have you written your haiku yet?

You’re a mom.  You’ve seen the list.  Wake up, shower & dress, feed the kiddos, dress the kiddos, start the laundry, play with the kiddos, reboot the laundry, have lunch, clean the house, cook dinner, get ready for bed, kiss the kiddos goodnight, deposit the laundry into an unused chair to be folded at a later date, spend a little time with hubby, sleep.  Rinse & repeat.  And repeat.  And repeat.  Just that basic stuff makes for a pretty full day week life Not full as in “filled to satisfaction” or “complete” but full as in “containing as much or as many as is possible”, in other words “stuffed” - as in that would have been a very enjoyable meal if I hadn’t felt compelled to eat every single bite on my plate along with the appetizer and the dessert because now I feel so bloated I can hardly waddle away from the table.  That kind of full.  And the problem with that kind of full is that while you may experience many things you enjoy none of them.  I forget this sometimes.  I spend so much time scurrying around trying to finish “the list” that I am unable to actually enjoy “the list.”  Fortunately, sometimes I remember too and sometimes I get really wild and crazy and throw “the list” out the window.  Those are the days we stay in our pajamas and eat pancakes for supper.  Those are the days we leave the breakfast dishes on the table and go to the park because it’s finally sunny and warm again.  Those are the days we read Seven-Day Magic from cover to cover stopping only long enough to raid the fridge for sustenance.  Those are the best days.

I’m rethinking the importance of “the list”.   I’m going to retitle it “Suggestions for Daily Operations”.  And I’m going to remember to throw it out the window sometimes.

“The List” keeps coming-

neverending pile of chores.

Let’s take the day off.

**Have you written your haiku yet??  One week left!**

Today begins the second running of the incredibly addictive Haiku Buckaroo contest hosted by Leslie at My Mommy’s Place.  Take a moment to do a little happy dance if you’d like, I’ll wait… or maybe I’ll dance with you. :)  Besides the opportunity to achieve Haiku Buckaroo-dom there are great prizes to be won including a copy of Me, Myself & Bob from yours truly.  Will and I just finished reading this outstanding book and I want to tell you all about it but Monday evening is date night at the Simple household so I must spend the bulk of the day chasing dust bunnies and turning our somewhat eclectic home into something more suburbia…. something that won’t frighten away the sitter.

spit, polish, scrub, clean

tidy children and the house

See?  We are normal.

I know you’re busy.  Who isn’t?  But take a break sometime today and head over here.  Shannon is hosting a limerick contest (with an ultra-cool prize!).  Even if you don’t win, you’ll sure enjoy reading some of the other entries.  They’re great!  I even tried my hand at rhyming.

***********************

Ode to Motherhood. … Can a limerick be an ode?? Hmm.

Please state your name and tell what you do.
My name’s “Mom”.
I live in a shoe.
I have children galore
so it’s never a bore
… especially the parts with the poo.

*sigh*

Look!

Christmas is here,

Gifts everywhere, Merry,

merry, merry Christmas - Merry,

merry, merry Christmas - Into the stores,

out of the doors, Funds going down, Ads all around

Merry, merry, merry Christmas - Merry, merry, merry Christmas.

Ching!