God's Funny

As I stated in my last post, this has been a day of sadness... But good things are happening too!

For MONTHS I have been looking for ways to supplement my income. I have debts to pay, and I need to save for school. I have spent hours every day, looking for part time jobs and filling out applications. I don't relish the idea of holding down two jobs, but... You gotta do what you gotta do. But it was all to no avail. NOBODY wanted to hire me. But I keep trying... I sold an old keyboard, which was a HUGE breakthrough. I had been trying to sell it for months, and found that one of my coworkers needed it. Yay!

If you have ever read any of my previous posts, you know how much I love animals. Well, God's funny. He gave me a kind of head-smack a couple of weeks ago. I was sort of complaining, telling him how hard it all is, how I can't find work. That's when I got the "wake up" head-smack. It went something like this... "You love animals, right? And you have cared for ALL sorts of them for friends and family, right? You have experience with dogs, cats, horses, birds, and even piranhas, right?... Advertise as a pet sitter already!! God's pretty smart, in addition to being funny. I mean, what a great idea! Do something I LOVE to do, and get paid for it? Brilliant!

I started composing some ads... I posted on craigslist and facebook marketplace. As of this very moment, I have two paying jobs booked! One for a lady who saw my ad on craigslist. She has a whole variety of animals and wants ME to take care of them. Another for an acquaintance/friend of mine... She heard from our mutual friend that I was going into the pet sitting business and gave me a call! Not a bad start, eh? I am super excited! I get to help people and animals! I get to have fun! I get to make money doing it! Hooray!

God, thanks for the head-smack! You rock!

A Large Dose of Reality

Today was a sad day. Do you ever have those? Days when the darker side of reality presents itself to you in a new way. A day when you thank your lucky stars that you have the blessings that you usually take for granted... Today was that day for me.

I came face to face with some ugly reality today. Reality in the life of a person I met for the first time this morning. Reality that cuts your heart up into little pain filled pieces, and sparks anger deep inside. Sadness and anger. Anger at the injustice and at my inability to go back in time and prevent the pain this person is going through. Sadness that I can't. Sadness that there is nothing tangible I can do to help, so I offer comfort and love and pray hard (which, I guess IS a lot of help, now that I think about it). Sadness that this kind of reality exists so often in our world and that it often gets overlooked.

So I ask this of you, my readers: Take some time today, and actively seek out things to be thankful for in your life. And look for a way that you can help change one person's dark reality. Even a genuine smile can change a person's day, change their life. Here are some ideas I had, to get you started...

Thankful For:

1. A loving God
2. A family who loves me and wants the best for me
3. Food to eat and a bed to rest in
4. Friends to share my life with
5. A job to help provide for my needs and wants
6. The ability to articulate my feelings (So many people can't)

Change a Dark Reality:

1. Offer a smile
2. Hug the children in my life more often
3. Find ways to be helpful to people I take for granted
4. Listen to a person's story and let them know I genuinely care
5. Pray earnestly for those I know are struggling
6. Befriend the friendless

It seems like a lot when I list it out. A lot to be thankful for, and a lot of things to do to help. I do have a lot to be thankful for, when I actually take the time to think about it, and this list just scratched the surface... And as for the things I can do to brighten someone's reality, well, it seems like a lot, but can be done easily throughout the day if I look for opportunities, and it WILL mean a lot to those you touch...

God, sad as this day was, thank you for reminding me how many things I have to be thankful for. And thank you that you know the best way to help the person I met today and that you are faithful to do so.

Poetry Corner

Misdirected Flight

Drifting
Looking for the path
Wondering
Searching for direction

I lift my eyes
Your face is all I see
My direction is set
The path leads to you

Do I follow?
Is this right?
Will my heart be broken?
But how to discover...

I take a breath
I lift my foot
The step is taken
I am falling

Lost in your eyes
Thanking God I found you
I am blind to all else
I fail to see

I am undone in love with you
My heart flies, soaring
But your eyes have changed
My heart loses altitude

I lay, broken
My flight ended
The crash unexpected
I am left here

I pull the pieces of me close
Try to put them together
Attempting to forget the pain
I find myself, once again...

Drifting
Looking for the path
Wondering
Searching for direction
_____________________________________

Trying

Working so hard
Longing for a reprieve
Wanting so badly
To start the next chapter

But imagination has run dry
Ideas stretch thin
No wise words offered
No light bulb flashes

Dreams long forgotten
Started stirring a while past
The next chapter beckons
But where to begin?

I need inspiration
A thought
A sound
A word

But I hear only silence and
My own heart beating
My own breath catching
As I try one more time
To step out into my life