Psalm 46

In light of all that is happening in our world which can be frightening, the following excerpts from Psalm 46 (NLT) rang so clear to me this morning that I decided to pass them on. I pray these ancient, but relevant words will give you hope today also as together we face the natural disasters, wars, and general upheavals in this tumultuous place we live in. Remember...

"God is our refuge and strength,
     always ready to help in times of trouble,
So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come
     and the mountains crumble into the sea.
Let the oceans roar and foam.
     Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" (vs 1-3)
"Be silent and know that I am God!
     I will be honored by every nation.
    I will be honored throughout the world.
The Lord Almighty is here among us;
    the God of Israel is our fortress."  (vs 10-11)

To God be the glory forever and ever!  God bless you dear friends.

Talking Dog

I know this is a lazy way to post on my blog...forgive me, but this is the BEST!!!!!!!! 

Jay and I have a great little mini schnauzer named Sherman who's most important activity to him is EATING and I can so picture him saying this to us!!!
I have a very close friend that used to babysit Shermie and forwarded this video to me.  Thanks Shirl!!!  TOO MUCH....

Get ready for a good belly laugh!!!



Some folks are outrageously clever....

American Idol Fan?

A frog fact is heavy on my mind this morning. If you place a live frog in a pot of cold water on the stove, then turn on the burner, the frog will remain in the water as the temperature rises to boiling because of the ever so gradual change in the water temperature, and won't even realized he's being boiled alive.

I confess I feel very much like that frog this morning and have been all over the internet trying to find a place to express my shock and concern about the American Idol results show last night. I confess, I've been a faithful fan of this show since it began 10 years ago. Last season, it disturbed me that Ellen Degeneres was one of the judges because of her openly gay lifestyle, so I was glad she chose not to be one this year. Steven Tyler replaced her, and has been a bit much for me, but I've considered his critiques of the contestants kind and have enjoyed some of his wit inspite of...

I really hate judgmental people. I like to be positive and try to be more open to the way others choose to live and "love them" with that unconditional love that I experience daily from the Lord, but...at some point it's time to draw the line. Last night (Thursday) the AI results show was the last straw because of the performance aired by woman "GaGa." (I refuse to call her "lady.") 

If you saw it, you might better understand my concern than if you did not. Her appearance and gyrations at the piano was pure porn. We switched it off because it was so disgusting, but my heart grieved and is grieving for the young preteen girls they'd shown in the audience earlier, and the 700 million + viewers following American Idol, so many of whom I know are young people. Why? I'm naive enough to believe they tune into AI to watch undiscovered young singers compete and perform. Idol has morphed into so much more.

I've been that clueless frog in the pot of water...yes. I'd been noticing more and more skimpy outfits and sexually oriented performances (Jennifer Lopez' video included), but just tried to dismiss it as "art." I've been so deceived. My heart breaks anew today for so many young people who've been and will be exposed to such nastiness sprinkled throughout what is generally considered "family" entertainment.

I'll finish the season off watching Scotty, Lauren and Haley's performances on Wednesday night, but the Thursday night results show is out, and American Idol is off the very short list of shows I watch.

I was in boiling water, and I almost didn't realize it.

Toss those potato peelers...

A friend forwarded this little bit of magic to me so I thought I'd BLOG it since my poor blog has been neglected for so long...Hope you find this as helpful and instructive as I did.

Pantoum-ming Again

The pantoum-style poem seems to suit me fine...I will eventually want to move on but today will share another pantoum I wrote in response to a workshop assignment.

Each of us thought of  five words that have weight to us. One of mine was "process."  Each participant thought of the first word that came to mind when they heard "process" and I wrote each of their words down. This gave me the following word list, which we were challenged to use in a poem. It's a great exercise and I was fairly pleased with the result. 

Poem extracted from the following word list:   Process, design, progress, mind, journey, maze, time

Too Slow

by Susie Talbot

She tried to pry open a rosebud

To make a flower sooner

Because it takes too much time

Wanted to see the flower

To make a flower sooner

She forced the rosebud’s progress

Wanted to see the flower

The opening process too slow

She forced the rosebud’s progress

To see its lacy design

The opening process too slow

Wanted to rush its journey

To see its lacy design

With more than her mind

Wanted to rush its journey

Tore through its maze of petals

With more than her mind

Because it takes too much time

Tore through its maze of petals

She tried to pry open a rosebud

Okay now.  The next challenge was to turn this poem into free verse rather than a pantoum with the repeating lines.  So this is the result of that.

Free Verse:

Too Slow

by Susie Talbot

She tried to pry open a rosebud

To make a flower sooner

Because it takes too much time
The opening process too slow

Wanted to see the flower

She forced the rosebud’s progress

To see its lacy design

With more than her mind

Wanted to rush its journey

Tore through its maze of petals

She tried to pry open a rosebud

Which one do you like best--the first or the second version?  Thanks for your input.

Where Have I Been?

Where haven't I been is the answer...5 week trek to Australia nearly ruined this blog!  We had a great time, then Christmas came with our wonderful children and their children...amazing families, and then, and then, and then. So now it's January 16 (I know that because it's on the bottom left-hand corner of my screen).

I have continued to write, and have since been to a poetry workshop where we were taught different forms of poetry. I learned the Pantoum and P and I are good buddies now. Its form repeats lines and seems to work well for me. (Those of you who know me, know how adept I am at repeating myself.)

I've written several pantoums, but am ready to share "Poem Whittler" with you. Hoping you enjoy it and, if it interests you poets out there, pick up the Pantoum pattern and send me one of your poems.

Pantoum

Poem Whittler

by Susie Talbot

I must say I love, as a poet

When lively rainbow thoughts

Tumble out of a rubble of words

Onto a page, exposing their wily truths

When lively rainbow thoughts

Flow from a willing pen

Onto a page, exposing their wily truths

A thing called a poem is born

Flow from a willing pen

The poet holds in her hand

A thing called a poem is born

And creation repeats its song

The poet holds in her hand

A mighty and precious gift

And creation repeats its song

From Creator to poet to you

A mighty and precious gift

Tumbles out of a rubble of words

From Creator to poet to you

I must say I love, as a poet

A Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Prayer and Praise

Beloved Redeemer

by Susan Talbot

Beloved Redeemer I’m asking You to

reshape me and mold me to be more like You.

My heart needs repairing, it’s ripped and it’s pained.

My mind needs renewing; this world is insane.

Too often I fail You, forgive me again.

My sin overtakes me around every bend.

Your kindness and gentleness draw me back in.

I’m loved by Christ Jesus - He died for my sin.

My Father’s provision supplies every need

to overcome sinning like lust and like greed.

I fall down on my knees in this physical state.

Until life is over I’ll patiently wait,

for heaven to graciously welcome me in.

That day I’ll rejoice, no more struggles with sin.

His grace is magnificent, eraser of hate,

in mansions above we will all celebrate. 

This weekend we lost one of our Mission Royale friends to a car accident. I dedicate this poem to Dave's memory, to his widow who remains in critical condition, and to the other couple with them

who are also recovering from injuries and the pain of loss. We are so saddened by this news.