God’s Calling and Where To Find Me

So, how’s that for a title to a post?  God has a purpose in the lives of each one of us and sometimes this purpose changes throughout our lives and in different stages of our walk with Him.  In my case I think He and I have gone full circle and we are back to a calling I have known in my soul since pre-school.  I am to write.  As yet, my financial provision is still a mystery and I admit when it became clear I was to be a Christian/Spirituality themed writer and poet, my initial reaction was “But Lord I have to eat and have a roof over my head.”  He has a plan for that too and well . . . this human is sometimes accused of thinking too much, so I think He’s holding back on details to teach me more.

Funny and sometimes scary thing about walking with the Lord is that at various points the GPS doesn’t provide clear signs.  So, the choice is to pull over and park or to cruise along knowing there’s enough gas in the tank and snacks and water in the back seat and knowing He’ll not let me get too lost.  So, I’m cruising along a pretty road with lots of trees and flowers and trying to be blessed by them and not worry about His doing His part.  I’ve been looking for new ways to share my God-given gifts and ways to expand as a writer and praying about it and along with some other things He and I are working on, I am now a contributing author/writer on the following three blogs.  Please be sure to check them out if you haven’t yet.  The variety of writing and writers is wonderful and the talent is as well.  I am blessed to be a part of these sites:

Poet’s Corner 

Armor of God

The Christian Gazette

Thursday Thoughts Quote of the Day

A get to the heart quote!

You must speak straight so that your words may go as sunlight to our hearts.  - Coshise -

There Is NO Right or Wrong . . .

or is there?

I was reading something earlier and a word used stuck with me.  It was used correctly, I thought, but somehow I was caught by it and had to look up the word origin.  That was an aha moment for the origin did not in any way mirror the definition as we know it today.

Neither what I was reading nor the word which caught me are the point of this little bit of “wisdom” though.  They were only the sky writing which made me look up and wonder . . .

Did you know that if we misuse, misspell or mispronounce a word often enough in society that dictionary publishers will revise the dictionary to include our error?  Furthermore, after a while and with enough revisions the original intent is often forever lost?  It’s true.  I’ve seen it.  I am one of those peculiar folks who research these things.  My use of the word peculiar was deliberate.  It is not the word which inspired this post, but merely a tie in to another blog post, I admit.  That was one in which I amended the definition of the word peculiar to its true and complete meaning – one in which I am happy to label myself with.  But, to return to my point here . . .

I believe the frequent alteration of word definitions speaks clearly of you and of me and of our society.  All too often, our poor choices and mistakes of judgment go uncorrected.  We don’t elect to grow, to learn, to rise to the occasion . . . we merely change the rules.  Sad, I think.

Right and wrong . . . does it still matter?

Read Any Good Magazines Lately? Help Me Help Others

Hey all!  I am updating blogroll and will be naming it “recommended reading” and am seeking your help.

Through reading one of your blog posts, I discovered a WONDERFUL publication called Time of Singing, which is a quarterly Christian Poetry Magazine/Journal which has been in existence since 1958.  Had it not been for our family of writers here, I’d have missed out on this great read AND missed an opportunity to potentially be published in it some day.

I would love your help in finding other inspiring treasures.   They can be print media or e-zines, and my only request is that they be inspirational/Christian.  If you know of one which is traditional values based but might not call itself Christian, that will work too.

I ask you to please put a link to the publications you like in the comment section to this post and I will update my blogroll to include it.  Thanks.

Daily Prompt: Bedtime Stories

The Challenge:  What was your favorite book as a child? Did it influence the person you are now?

Oh, I am a bit late seeing this DP Challenge but I simply must answer it for there is a definite and immediate name, book, and direct influence on my life!

There is a book, which I still have, and loved from before I knew how to read.  I looked at it at bedtime and every other chance I got.  The pages are worn not from age but from the frequency they’ve been flipped through.  The book and author not only influenced the woman I am now but helped set a path for my life, my outlook on the world around me, and my writing to this very day.  His work also helped to form the means by which I express myself spiritually and through which the Lord uses me to share Himself with others i encounter on my path.

The book:  A Child’s Garden of Verses

The author:  Robert Louis Stevenson

I have been in love with poetry and with nature from the first time I heard his words about birdies, swings, the sea, and more.  Oh, the adventures, the glorious sunshine streaming through his words and more.  I saw a world I didn’t know and it had music, it was full of color, and it was one I hungered to see and interpret artistically myself.  What I didn’t know was that the author of these words which so touched me came from the pen of a man who was always quite physically ill . . . indeed from the time he was young.  Amazing. Stevenson was born in 1850 and Scottish – I as well have Scottish ancestry.  His writing and poetry have touched so many generations!  His death in 1894 has not changed this as new generations still discover the magic from his pen, just like I did.  I cannot imagine my own writing becoming the legacy that his did, but I cannot look at a bird, a swing, a cow, or an ocean wave without knowing they are beautiful, magical, and possess a power and unique purpose . . . just as every one of us do.  To learn more of this man and his legacy, click here.  Want to change a child’s life forever?  Teach them to love reading!  Buy them a book!  Read to them!

Daily Prompt: Seven Days

You wake up tomorrow morning to find all your plans have been cancelled for the next seven days and $10,000 on your dresser. Tell us about your week.

Wow. that’s a whole lot of money in my world just now just as it is in the lives of many folks I know.  The first thing I’d do is deposit this into the bank and get out the checkbook.  On the way home from the bank I just happen to pass by my church, so the first check written would be one for ten percent which I’d donate to my church.

The second check would pay off unsecured debt.  The rest of the week?  I’d go on a retreat and pray to discern the Lord’s plan for the remainder, His plan for the next steps in my spiritual journey, and for certain in thanksgiving for the miracle of provision provided.

There is a beautiful place to go for said retreat and quiet time . . .

It is a place I’ve gone to for day trips and have hungered to spend more time there . . .

I’d sit beneath the tree and pray . . .

I’d enjoy the presence of the Lord without distraction of earthly things . . . .

I’d gaze at flowers, listen to birds, bask in sunrise and sunset and see Him in every single one . . .

I’d light a candle and read His word . . .

and talk to Him some more, being certain to take the time to listen.

I’d be the pen in His hand, writing as He enables me . . .

and my week would be filled with Him day and night

As my week comes to a close, I’d fall into step with Him certain of His love.

Seven Word Sunday

Nut bread . . . mocha java . . homemade and yummy!

Top 10 Award!

I am blessed to share with you that Betty Bolden and

Jesus Is My Joy

Ministries/Devotions

has presented me with a new blog award!  I woke this morning to find that she’d nominated me for the Top 10 Award!  Thank you so much Betty!  I encourage you to visit her blog and am sure you will be blessed by her writing and her heart for Jesus!

DP Challenge: Cupid’s Arrow – A Poem

 

Unrequited

Here I sit

Listening to the music,

Wanting to dance

And wishing you were here with me.

I wonder if you realize

The depth of my secret hunger

To be hugged,

To look deep into your eyes,

To see that special spark

I’ve seen before

And wished it was for me?

I could tell you how I feel,

Yet here I shyly sit,

Toe tapping

As I hear a different song

And look off into my own secret space

Envisioning your softly worn

Slightly rumpled

And delightfully disheveled

Favorite clothes,

The curl of your hair which I long to

Slip my fingers through . . .

And wondering if maybe

You are shy as well?

By Martha L Shaw = © 2-14-2013

—–

Care to participate in the DP Challenge?  Click here for information!

Most Influential Blog 2012 Award!

Thank you so much to Wendell A Brown for nominating me for the Most Influential Blog 2012 Award!  His blog, Forever Poetic, never fails to bless and inspire me and his comments on my blog, other blogs I read, and his own blog, always touch my heart and reflect Christ in the most encouraging way through Wendell’s Christian love!  I urge you to read this blog.  You will want to return often!

Most Influential Blog 2012 Award

There are no rules to follow to accept this award aside from the following:  within six months you must pass the honor on to the blogs that have influenced you the most, and are deserving to receive the award, which will label them as being one of the Most Influential Blogs of 2012 as well.  Clearly this award is all about the blessing and passing it on to others!  

My nominees are listed below in no particular order.  They have greatly influenced me and touched my life on a regular basis and I thank them and congratulate them for being among the Most Influential Blogs of 2012: 

http://crustybreadblog.com/2013/02/13/potato-chips-for-lent/

http://mychristiancoffeeshop.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/can-being-a-good-person-save-me/

http://ellenolinger.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/fields-and-trees/

http://writingsistersblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/14-great-love-quotes-from-writers/

http://mrbnd.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/you-would-have-asked/

http://seraphim6.me/2013/02/12/some-days/

http://patromine.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/angels-of-reconciliation/

http://hodgepodge4thesoul.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/ultimate-love-is/

http://iftodaywehear.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/under-his-shadow/

http://lscotthoughts.com/2013/02/12/a-choice/

http://gegebearbear.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/daily-prompt-whoa/

http://www.aroundeverycornerat.blogspot.com/

http://revelationsinwriting.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/knowledge-to-know/

http://mrbnd.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/give-me-a-drink/

http://keziahcarrie.com/2013/01/22/just-keep-breathing/

http://womenswindow.com/2013/02/10/5336/

http://girlwiththepen1118.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/the-current-of-knowing/

http://ptl2010.com/2013/02/13/turning-things-upside-down/