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My musings, my rambles and I welcome you. |
   LIVE WITH INTENTION.  WALK TO THE EDGE.  CHOOSE WITH NO REGRETS.. DANCE IN THE LIGHT APPRECIATE MY FAMILY & FRIENDS.  |
| December 01, 2012: What is your most prized possession? The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46 (NIV) These two parables have always puzzled me. No, I get the meaning: anything worth having is worth the sacrifice, like heaven, salvation and spiritual peace. The thing that bugged me as a child was now what. The man with the field and treasure has sold everything. He will eventually have to sell some treasure to build a house or work the field. And the merchant, he only has one pearl. He’s going to have to sell it to live if he truly sold everything. Such are the workings of the mind of child and even now I wonder about the rest of the story. As for me, I am having trouble answering the question. Is a prized possession a costly possession or a well-loved item? Or both? I have a ring my husband gave me. It is a beautiful pearl with diamonds that I had asked for on one of his first overseas trips. He gave it to me with much ceremony. I wore it, showed it off and then one day saw the pearl had dropped out. I felt terrible and my husband replaced it with a caveat. The pearl was much more expensive than I ever dreamed and if l lost it again it would not be replaced. So it sits in a box in a safe giving joy to no one. My engagement ring is the same. A delicate white diamond that is too precious to wear so in the safe it sits. My wedding band is another story. It is white gold almost too big for my finger and gets banged regularly. Because it is plain, I can wear it at work. I love it because it means I belong to someone. Someone cares if I call, come home at night or take all the covers from the bed. The wedding band doesn’t look like much but I love it. I guess it is my most prized possession along with the heart that gave it to me. Lani |
| Prompt - November 29, 2012: What are your pet peeves? If I was a wonderful, loving, at peace with the world human being, I would say my pet peeve is bullies. I hate people that bully. Or I would say I hate people that are mean to baby ducks, kittens and puppies. Those people make crazy. I could say people who disrespect old people (a group that I am fast joining) are contemptible. That could be a major pet peeve. Yes, those are bad things. But I am not a wonderful, loving, at peace with the world human being. I am a small minded, mean, pinched hearted person so my major pet peeve is coffee cups. "Coffee cups?"you say. Yes. Picture it. A beautiful gleaming kitchen, all the dishes happily splashing in the dishwasher and then I spy it: the lone coffee cup from breakfast sitting at the end of counter, mocking my clean kitchen. And later as I am dusting, a coffee cup on the bedside table in the bedroom left from last night’s pot. Of course, I call for all coffee cups to come to the kitchen to be washed but I usually have to wait for the coffee wrangler. The coffee wrangler shows up once every other week rounding up coffee cups from near and far to jump into the dishwasher. Have you ever seen what grows in a coffee cup after it’s been sitting for a week? Bleaching coffee cups is another pet peeve and not to be trusted to the coffee wrangler otherwise known as my hubby and the only coffee drinker in the house. Yuck! Anyway, I need to figure out how to get the coffee wrangler to visit more often and keep the doggies (cups) rounded up. Lani |
| Who is the one person who makes your life better? Well the easy answer would be God as he gave me this life. He gives love and support when I ask for it, but He is not above letting me make my own mistakes. Better not easier, seems to be His motto. I choose my hubby. He definitely makes my life better. In fact I have an entry devoted to him from the last blog challenge that I completed. "Time reveals Character"  Time is still revealing what his character is and he is a character.  I also choose my dog. He is my constant companion when I am at home. He loves lunch meat, popcorn and anything dropped from the stove when I am cooking. If I am at the computer or lost in a book, he will nudge me as if to say “It’s time to play, to go outside, to eat, to do something else.” He gets me outside of myself. Speaking of which, there is a squirrel he tells me that needs chasing. Later Lani |
** Image ID #1901871 Unavailable ** I am sure dear readers you have notice to "Blogging Circle of Friends " logo and all the prompts. I joined this group to jump back into the mix of readers and writers. I also wanted to make new friends and strenghten some older friendships. To be a better writer, I think the routine of writing everyday will help. And it did. I have completed my first goal which was to have a "blue week." I have written something everyday for 7 days. I was afraid if I said too much about the group and/or my goals I would crush myself under the weight of EXPECTATION! I want to learn to carve out some time for myself and my writing. Life shouldn't be all housework and jobs. Anyway I'm thankful to blainecindy for hosting this group. It has been a fun week. People have been kind and interesting. The prompts have been thought provoking. The hardest part of this challenge is writing after working a 12-hour day to beat the midnight deadline.The good thing is that I can think about the prompt all day and plot before I commit to the 'net. I am making another but I will keep it to myself for a while. HIGH EXPECTATIONS could be lurking ready to pounce. Let me know how you think I'm doing good, bad or indifferent. Lani |
| PROMPT: My family and friends love me. But they like me because . . . Can I say straight up, I hate this prompt. Why do friends and family like me? I haven’t a clue. And if I did, I would probably mess it up. This reminds me of a story. (You knew that was coming didn’t you?) When I was in college trying to get into nursing school, I met with a guidance counselor. We did an interview/oral essay in her office. The questions seemed routine: why do you want to be a nurse, who were your influences, etc… But her last two questions really threw me. Why do you like people and do they like you? I think I answered something like “People are cool, interesting and I love learning about them and helping them. I don’t why people like me.” The counselor replied “Surely you have friends who like you.” I answered, “Of course, I assume they like me. After all, we’re friends.” “Lani, I know you from around campus. You have some fine qualities. You don’t know if people like you?” “How can anyone know what’s in another’s heart? I can only go on their behavior. I hope they like me. I assume that they like me. I can’t know.” “Sure you can.” Oh please! What was the answer this counselor wanted so I can get out of here? And what answer is going to keep me out of nursing school? I began to sweat. “I really don’t know. I just hope to try to be a good friend to my friends.” Scribbling furiously on a notepad, the counselor seemed disappointed at not finding whatever she was looking for in my answer. Thankfully that weird discussion didn’t keep me from nursing school. These days, I still don’t really have a clue. Some of the lack of self-awareness is related to my ADD. Non hyper ADDers tend to be a little self-absorbed, a little spacey. We live at our speed in our own little worlds. I have been periodically taken to task by friends who felt my behavior was thoughtless, unkind or random. And it probably was but it was also because I was not paying attention to the situation. How to end this? I didn’t mean this to be a self-absorb pity party. I think I need a drink of this wine, the Milk of Human Kindness with Ghost of Christmas Present. Lani |
| PROMPT: If you could have three wishes, what would they be? Wishes are dangerous things as far as I’m concerned. Well, maybe not wishes themselves but the wish granter. Demons, fairies, elves and leprechauns are notoriously unreliable in any story I have ever read. And they all seem to have some kind of hidden agenda. Geniies seem particularly capricious. In “Who Censored Roger Rabbit?” by Gary K Wolf the genii took malicious joy in granting wishing that expired or had a hidden twist. Cinderella’s fairy godmother’s wishes only lasted until midnight. Angels cannot be trusted either. Demons have been known to masquerade as “angels of light.” Isaac Asimov told great demon wish granting stories in Azazel. The demon grants wishes exactly as they were asked. This can be a problem if you get exactly what you asked for. Think King Midas. Okay forget the granter of wishes. What does the most common wishes look like when granted? World Peace: What does that look like? Does that mean we all become the same and uniform so that there is no longer differences to fight about? Or does everyone but me disappears so there is no other humans to strive against? Or do I get transported to an empty world for a world of peace? Next most common wish: a large amount of wealth. What does that look like: money? jewels? gold? Where does it come from? Am I going to have to defend my life against the drug dealers the money was stolen from? If the wealth is legit, how do I explain the sudden wealth to my accountant? Good health and long life or immortality are other common wishes. How would that work? I remember reading about the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses when I was a child. In one of the books was a story of a goddess who fell in love with a mortal and asks Zeus for immortality for her man. He granted it. However as the man aged, he became a cricket. The goddess had forgotten to ask for eternal youth. Her sister learned from that mistake. Instead of asking for immortality for her man she asked for eternal sleep. Okay, Okay I can feel the eye rolls. What would I wish for if there were no strings attached, no twists no problems? I don’t know. I have everything I need. I wish I had more money to help others but I do the best can now. I wish I had better social skills but I am working on it. I wish I had better health but a lot of my problems are poor choices. I could change. I have a feeling that one reason wish granting is not real life is that there is a purpose in the striving. God is probably watching and guiding our lives to see what kind of character and spiritual muscles we build. I think fairy godmothers would just get in the way. Lani |
| Here is a video that makes me smile and is thoughtful. and like the last child, I am grateful for everything. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7089602n Lani |
| Prompt:Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. What do you have to be thankful for? I have so many blessings it’s hard to name them all so I’m going start with the One who gave them to me. I’ve written some of my favorite Bible verses and why they help me count my blessings. Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1Corth1:20 This verse is a favorite because it knocked me out of my prison of intellectualism and rationalization. Who am I, the created, to put God into any kind of intellectual box? God has to be bigger than me, outside of me or He is not God. Because of this verse, I know that I know that God exists. I am so thankful. Why not John 3:16 "For God so love..." because first I had to believe there was a God before I could believe He would be interested in saving me. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12 I love this verse because it helped me to decide to marry. At the ripe old age of 32, I decided I had enough of dating and men especially church men. I would be single and be happy. And I was until future hubby walked into my life about 2 months after I had this long conversation with God about what I had decided. Of course, future hubby messed my whole world up and when I found this verse, I knew God was speaking. I am very grateful God doesn’t hold us to our plans but carries on with His own. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Tim 1:7 NKJV I have depression comorbid with ADD. This verse reminds me I’m not crazy. Depression whispers fear, self-loathing, apathy and despair into my ears. 2 Tim gives me hope and something to hang onto until my meds, my exercise and my behavior plans kicks into action. This verse also reminds me I can’t hide or use the big D as an excuse. Hope and help is what I find in it and I am extremely thankful. Happy Thanksgiving everyone Lani |
| Prompt - November 20, 2012: The topic is skydiving. Would you do it? Or have you done it? Swede Johanson: Gunny, I'm afraid of heights. Highway: So am I. Swede Johanson: You are? Highway: Jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft is not a natural act. So let's do it right, enjoy the view. Come on. From the movie Heartbreakridge It’s not often that I get to quote Clint Eastwood in real life but as to skydiving. Not no but hell no! There is no reason compelling enough to get me to jump out a plane. However being a woman and contrary as MaryMary, I think going up in a hot air balloon would be cool. The rate of ascent and descent, would be under my control. I could take photos; wander the countryside meet new people. If I were indulging in comparisons, skydiving would be racing a hydrofoil boat on a river and ballooning is tubing down a lazy stream. It’s all relative and perspective, I guess. My hubby thinks I’m nuts because he has skydived but never ballooned. He thinks ballooning is the less safe option because of the fuel required. I dunno. Either way, if something happens, everything is up in the air. Sorry couldn’t resist.  Lani |
| Blogging Circle entry Nov 19 November 19, 2012: What advice or words of wisdom would you like to leave for those who come after you? There is a story about a minister who was asked what he would do if tomorrow was his last day of life. He didn’t hesitate in his answer,” I would get up, kiss my wife, pray morning prayers and eat breakfast. Then I would visit my parishioners especially the sick and offer comfort. I would come home to work on my sermons and letters...” The person who asked the question was puzzled. “You would have a perfectly ordinary day?” “Yes, I am where I want to be and I am doing the work God has set for me. What else would I be doing on the last day of my life?” What better advice is there but to be happy where you are and do the work God has for you? As to that, I have some housework I’m trying to be happy about especially since some relatives up North are struggling with fixing their homes. Have a Blessed Day Lani |
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