Time To Begin Again!

Everybody seems to have good intentions. As the new year begins, resolutions are set for the new year. I had good intentions in starting this blog several years ago. I allowed the circumstances of the day to stop my blogging. I could not remember how to access the blog but recently I found the old site. I decided to begin again. I want to start to write anew. My desire is to share general opinions, unique insights, humor, personal events and personal commentary. I am an older Christian gentleman, a partially retired educator and administrator, a storyteller, a singer/songwriter, a stand-up comedian, a father, a palpaw, and other titles which others have called me (some which I agree with and others I do not). Thoughts for the Day: At Walmart they usually have 6 check-out lines open, unless it's really busy, then they use only 1. If you honk your horn 1/2 a second after the light turns green, I will shut off my car, sit on the hood and wave at the passerbys for at least 2 hours. If at first you don't succeed you better not try to skydive. Until later.

A View from a Warm Room

Looking outside my living room window, I see a snow covered road. One that shows no tire tracks, no people, no movement. My car cleaned earlier in the day is covered with piles of fluffy powder. Wind chimes on my back porch play a fragmented song letting me know that the breeze still sings cold music selections. A small stream of water flows from the kitchen faucet, evidence that the temperature is falling and that the water lines need to remain unfrozen. I am chilled but not cold... protected from the frigid outside air. What about others? Are they safe and warm? Is there a family along side the rode in the car hit by a sliding vehicle? Is there a man hiding in a culvert trying to stay warm with whatever he can find? Is there a stray dog hunting for a place to hide? They fight the pains of real happenings, the bite of icy coldness, while I look out and worry....that I won't stay warm. Selfish.

A New Season

Today is a new day. A day that starts a new season. I haven't written in this blog for a long time. Many things have happened since my last entry and many footsteps lie in yesterday's shadows. There are reasons that seasons come into our lives. They allow old things to die, new things to live, color to enter our lives and times of sunshine to radiate brightly. Each season is necessary for the full development of the whole person. I am trying to embrace the particular seasons rather than question them. I notice that the seasons of our lives often do not align with nature's pattern. Today after a long winter and a bumpy spring I feel that summer is on the way. I have gone through a period of growth with my roots stronger and my limbs flourishing but it only came after dying out to many things in a very long winter. I am anticipating a wonderful summer. I yearn for a time when things I have planted grow beyond expectation, a time when the long warm summer days are numerous, and my spirit grows and soars. Somehow I understand...to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heavens... I can appreciate the diversity of weather because withstanding and enduring are things that have molded the 'me' of today. I need the warmth of God's love and the brightness of the sunshine that drives the night away. Sure the seasons will continue and life's weather patterns will change but the son can shine brighter today. That is my desire. Remember, seasons are only for a while, then the next will come. It's a part of life for every man.

When the Rain Keeps Coming Down

Many times in our lives things happen so quickly that we can't seem to understand or fathom them. Why is this happening to me? Why do these types of events always come in groups?
Why?
Recently, my life seemed turned upside down by mutiple life-changing events happening at the same time. I always say 'that God is building character in me' and somehow that allows me to view things in perspective. But times like these are hard to explain and hard to understand. And at times I can't do either.
One thing I can do, however, is to step back and view the events and try to see all of the factors that make up the events observed. I try to view all the happenings from the outside.
This week I was visiting my sister in Tennessee. The rain fell so hard that many streams and rivers were overflowing. Areas that seemed safe one minute became dangerous in less than an hour. A small child was pulled from a father's arms and was lost in the flood. An entire amusement park was under water with only sections of a large roller coaster visable above the water. Devistation... or that is what it seemed.
By observation of these events I concluded that it is up to us to determine when we give up. I'm sure there are times when these people felt like throwing up there hands and quitting. But they didn't.
One thing I know, I refuse to give up on life...on people. Because the events of our lives are topsy turvy, it surely doesn't mean the God has forgotten us. His love is magnified even more. Through kind words, a sunny day, a bird singing, a friends gesture and so many acts of kindness and love. Life is precious but it is hard at times.
When the rain falls so hard that I can't see, I must remember that when it stops (and surely it will) it may be followed by a beautiful rainbow and somehow I will be enveloped by it's beauty.
I must remember that soon I will forget how hard the rain fell..because I might be able to enjoy the flowers that will bloom in just a few days.
Be encouraged!

In a Room of Broken Dreams

I stared,
I listened,
I watched,
their expressions, empty and quiet,
blank faces, hollow glances,
sitting in a room of broken hearts.

I stared,
I listened,
the teachers shared their purpose, their story
opened up revealing their secrets,
sitting in a room of broken hearts.

No longer staring,
Listening internally,
I was able to talk, to face my fears
I, too, opened up and started to change,
sitting in a room of broken hearts.

I started to look through different eyes,
in every room I entered
and no matter the room, no matter the place
I realized, that I was
sitting in a room of broken hearts.

So once again,
I sit beneath the cross of the one I love,
and realize through new eyes
that this special guide, was always there,
sitting in the room of broken hearts.

For His heart was broken, too,
and to my surprise
as I looked closer at Him,
my heart started to heal again.

inspired by "Divorce Care Class" Beckley, WV
Terry W Farley

Found in the Rubble

In the pieces of broken dreams,
I saw a ray of light
It pierced the heavy darkness,
It broke the dead of night.

And when I bent to pick it up
O, the pain my heart did know
Yet, when I held it near my chest
New dreams began to grow

Dreams greater than imagined
Colors swirled into the sky
Rainbows splashed on hopes abandoned
Tears of joy filled my eyes

Not only did I realize
That I could dream again
Realities of imaginations
Created greater visions then

Now I dream of thoughts unspoken
Miracles of life anew
Things even thought impossible
Hidden from my eyes own view

And just to think had my dreams not ended
New ones could not be birthed to live
And the cascades of my dreams illusions
Could not allow me to forgive

And now I stand as dreams are living
Fondest hopes I claim it seems
But I never would have found the joy
Except for pieces of broken dreams.

Awakened

Awakened

When the sun has gone to sleep
And the stars begin to shine
I awake and start to write
And my words begin to rhyme.

Why is in the stillness
When all around begins to rest
That my words begin to flow
And the poet’s at his best?

Could it be it takes a while
To wind down from the day
That spins extremely fast
For me to know just what to say?

Or is it simply just a phase
Of restless desperation
That opens up the soul
And I find my inspiration?

Could it be when defenses start to fall
That true feelings start to surface
And when that realness finds a platform
It gives a poem its purpose?

Or is it life that takes a pause
To realize the reason
That the words begin to rhyme
At least just for a season?

I don’t regret a moment
When the thoughts begin to flow
Because it’s in those simple moments
That in my heart I finally know.

That God placed me in this world today
For in the brightest day or darkest night
I’ve been called to share my story
To sing, to laugh, to teach, to write.