Blogging for the holidays….

We bloggers put everything out there. The weaving of patterns on paper representing our innermost thoughts and feelings. Like the entwining of colors braiding our thoughts together in an array of patterns for all to see.  It’s love, hate, smiles, tears, happiness, sadness and sometimes even a feeling that is so overwhelming, like when you hold your child in your arms for the first time, that it comes from deep inside so strong you think you might explode. I feel it deep inside when a bird perches on a fence and looks at me as if he has something to share, or I see a leaf fall from a nearby tree with a flutter in its descending movement. I am told I wear my emotions on my sleeve, which I always found a funny statement. If they were on my sleeve, I would grab the ones I liked and shake the others off….or just change my shirt. But what I think they mean is I am emotionally charged. When I see something, it may shake my soul and my reaction pours out from within me…..where someone else may say “it’s okay, nothing to write home about”…..they just didn’t get what I was getting out of the vision. That is okay, since that person might be blessed with fact and logic that slips past me completely. I run on emotion….others on logic. It is what balances our world. When someone reads my writings and lets me know it made them feel good, they understood that situation, or just love my words, then I feel like I have people that “get me”. They may not have the experiences I have, but they are there, in that time or place with me when they read my blogs and a writer (want to be) can not ask for anything more.
It is my belief that writing satisfies our need to express experiences we want to share. Maybe our imagination is jumping with excitement or new ideas. Or maybe we just need healing. At the time of writing, those words can be pouring out of me at an alarming rate.
As the holidays approach us, we are reminded of our blessings and give thanks for all of them. We celebrate the birth of Christ and smile just a little bit more. When I give thanks or need help or healing, I turn to Jesus. When I am broken, I have to fall to my knees and look up to him and ask for help to heal, for myself and for others involved. How can I call myself a Christian if I do not believe what Jesus can do for me…..did for me. As I learned to be a person, He was there. When I made wrong decisions, He was there. Every time I cry, He is there. If I want comfort, He is there. I pray for others to heal or to realize when they are broken they too can fall to their knees before Jesus and pray for healing. Some people think being a Christian means doing nice things for others, helping the needy and being there for others, being compassionate….that God will take favor on you for being such a nice person. What God desires of all of us is simple to accept him as our Savior and to share his word with others. Living in his light makes all those compassionate behaviors come naturally, because he is in our hearts. But everyone must also look clearly at themselves to determine their rightness with God. Does everything look as good on the inside as the outside? One of my favorite books is My Heart-Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger. It’s just 28 pages, but speaks volumes. I don’t always like who I see in the mirror…..that is when I know it is time to go to His book and find words to learn by.
I may falter and think I can handle a situation on my own….God patiently waits for me to realize I can’t. That is when I offer a prayer up to God and in the morning light, new visions are possible. He provides me with a calm to help me put the words on paper that will soothe my soul and heart….and let the healing/learning pour in. God may not always agree with what I say, but he blessed me with a desire to write and so I do.
This year my Thanksgiving holiday will be spent in Escanaba, Michigan with Dan’s side of the family. They will make me feel welcome and loved, and we will have a great time during my first deer hunt. We leave tomorrow for our travel across the states. Though the colorful side of the welcome mat I was use to, tickles the air at times, and I am grateful for those time, I am hoping another year will change the dynamics of life and the welcome mat will be fully flipped back over. I am very grateful for the blessings I have, but Thanksgiving will not be the same this year. While I am gone, I will have limited internet (if at all) in the UP. There are no Starbuck’s etc for Wi-Fi use, so I want to wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving. I hope you will engulf your family with love, share some old traditions and create some new ones. But most of all I wish you all fun, happiness, love and a safe Thanksgiving.