3 Day 3 Quote Challenge Day Seven

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:12-14, NKJV)

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Fun fact – that’s my bike. My trusty banana seat bike. ❤ I’ve had her ever since I was a tween and I still ride her sometimes. Her name is SeaStar. (The decals say “SeaStar” so I always have called her that.) This is my “before” photo – I plan to give her some fresh paint sometime because the old is starting to peel off and she’s starting to rust. 😨 And I want to add a basket and a bell and new tassels on the handlebars – I think I pretty much want to try my hand at restoring her.

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Nominee:

Dream Filled Daughter

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A Somber Lullaby

When Sonny and Lion couldn’t decide who got my lap, they decided to compromise and share… 😅

Life is a like ballad
Every melody has a story
The endings are at times sad
But that is how it must be

It pulls at the heartstrings
Creating a somber lullaby
All of the melancholy things
Like saying forever goodbye

I remember the notes, his singing
Every tone touched the heart
And with his story completing
He slowly pulled mine apart

 

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I was browsing my old poems and stumbled upon this one that I wrote in 2015 for a gorgeous yellow tabby cat that I named Sonny. He died that year from either feline leukemia or some sort of feline aids, the vet wasn’t sure and said it wasn’t worth it to do the testing to find out because it wouldn’t make any difference. Anyway, we had many beautiful years together, and it was heartbreaking when it came to an end.

Sonny, sleeping in his “playing dead” position, which was his favorite

And later that year, another, a wonderful yellow long hair I called Lion ended up with the same thing and within a couple of months, was gone as well.

Lion, on my coat

My heart is feeling the same way now for Rabbit and Radar that it did for Sonny and Lion back then, so I thought, why not share this old poem for all of the beloved pets that have departed?

Thank you all for the prayers! ❤ I’m slowly trying to catch up on your wonderful posts and the lovely comments you’ve left me. 🙂 Hope that you are having a great week so far!

Broken Heart’s Embrace (Poem) & An Update On Life (January 17, 2018)

Tiger and Rabbit

Hello all! 🙂 It looks like I’m going to make up for not posting for the past few days by filling up your readers and inboxes today, haha.

If you have been following me long, you’ve probably noticed that I don’t talk about my life much in terms of personal life. And I still don’t plan to share a whole lot, but at the same time, I want to be a little more open. (The “An Update On Life” title was inspired by Maggie’s Life Updates – if you haven’t been to her blog, I encourage you to drop by – her blog is amazing. I linked to it there. 😉)

I’m still battling with fear a bit, but it wasn’t as bad as that one instance a couple of weeks ago. The unknown is scary.  Dwelling on what the future may hold can easily make the here and now more miserable than it needs to be. “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NASB) Why is it so hard sometimes to give things to God? I hold onto things for dear life that I shouldn’t be holding onto. Always thinking of the worst case scenario and then believing that will happen when that’s not necessarily true. I’m not omnipresent, omniscient, or omnipotent. I don’t know the future. It’s not as if worrying will actually help anything anyway, even if I knew the future. It wouldn’t change it.  It would probably do the opposite, for “…who of you by being worried can add a single  hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27 NASB) Really. Worrying would most likely take hours away from life, not just in the long run, but all the wasted hours worrying that could have been spent elsewhere are lost forever because once the time is gone, there is no way to get it back. But I do know one thing – as I go through life, Jesus will be with me, so I needn’t fear.  Now to convince my brain so it will stop worrying… (Haha, wow, this paragraph was massive. 😅 Moving along to the last part of the update…)

And as if that’s not enough… if you read my post titled New Year, New Things, you probably saw the photos of my cats that I shared. Last week, Rabbit died suddenly; you’ll probably recognize at least one of the photos below. It was a huge shock; I didn’t realize she was sick, she seemed fine the evening before, and I found her gone the next morning. She would have been 10 years old this Spring. In her memory, I’m going to post a collage of a few photos of her (and her siblings that happen to be in the photos with her) that I’ve taken over the years.

Rabbit and Tiger

Tiger, Rabbit, and Gabby

Rabbit as an awkward teenager

Rabbit

I’ve been an emotional mess for the past week for these reasons, as you can imagine. Also, because of all of this, I don’t know how often I will be posting on WordPress for a while. (I do, however, plan to catch up on responding to comments today if possible – I’m days behind! )

I wrote a poem last year for Rosie and other pets that I have lost over the years. In Rabbit’s honor, I’m sharing it below.

Broken Heart’s Embrace

Today it hurts too much
To ruminate on images of your face
Or your loving touch
On my broken heart’s embrace…

Pain dulls the delight
Of memories we shared way back when
Like a shade over the light
Until I wonder if it will come back again.

Remembering reflections
Moments of sweet and bitter sorrow
Mingle with recollections
That will be more cheerful tomorrow.

Someday it won’t hurt so;
The pain will be dulled by the bliss,
Tears of sadness won’t flow,
And will be replaced by joy’s kiss.

Born To Die

Image credit: Pinterest

One lonely star hung in the night,
A tiny point in the dark sky of light…

Wise men sought to give Him offerings,
Which of His death were foreshadowing.

Entered the world with a cry,
This Holy Child, born to die…

Wrapped in swaddling cloth,
And laid in an eating trough,

This Little Infant in the smelly stable,
Would grow up and be more than able –

To fearlessly fight the battle of death and sin,
To die to have the victory, yet rise again!

 

“Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2)

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)

**Thanks to T. R. Noble for mentioning in her post that the gifts from the Magi were for Christ’s death. I didn’t realize that’s what they were used for! 🙂

How Can I Doubt?

I’d like to thank Sharon for so kindly asking me to write a guest post for her blog, Life As A Believer. 😊 If you’d like to read the post in its entirety, just click the link below! (And while you’re there, browse around a little – she’s a fantastic blogger. 😉)

Life As A Believer

 By Penelope Payne

I’m worthless, my life is in vain;
Tried to fix myself, but superglue
Can’t hold me together; the pain
Inside is too great, I’m too blue.

Not the blue of the sky or ocean,
But the kind that has no cheer;
The kind that throws you in prison,
The kind that comes with fear…

Everyone would be better off without me;
I’m just a burden; I can’t pull myself out
Of the dark hole; they are just blinded by pity.
They don’t realize how good it would be without.

I’m a pathetic excuse for a creature;
No good to anyone, not even God.
It’s too late for me, of that I’m sure,
Adam created from dirt, me from sod.

Filled with guilt and despair,
Depression grabs my soul,
And takes me on the way there,
Down into the darkest hole…

I said I wouldn’t, but I’m done,

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Follow Your Heart – or, Be True To Your Heart? (a reblog)

This was one of my first posts, way back in July of 2016. I can’t believe it has been over a year ago! 😲 How time flies! Anyway… I’ve seen a few references lately about Following Your Heart and decided to reblog. 🙂 Hope you enjoy! ♥

Following Him Beside Still Waters

This blog post was inspired by two awesome blog posts I’ve read recently: one at Refreshing Spirit and one at SaylwithPens, that talked about the heart, morals, and the dangers of following what we feel. Thanks to both of you! 🙂

This is a common thing we, especially in our tweens and teens, are told to do, and I really feel the need to rant about it: Follow Your Heart – or, Be True To Your Heart. (No, this isn’t about the song in Disney’s Mulan soundtrack. XD) The phrase sounds innocent enough. But lets be real. What are the heart’s intentions?

Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Yikes! That sounds bad. Perhaps we can’t know the heart, but we can see what it desires:

Matthew 15:19: For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts…

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Life Is Like Riding A Bicycle

It’s week 75 of Three Line Tales and here is the photo and my response. If you’d like to join in, just click the link! 😉

photo by Meghan Yabsley on Unsplash

Albert Einstein once said, “Life is like a riding bicycle – in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

In addition to his wisdom, life is like a bike in that you can only peddle forward – if you look back for too long, you’ll crash into the future.

Therefore I suggest, as we move forward, we cherish the past, but take in the scenery as we ride onward.