Long Ago, Love Built a Bridge

Love Built a Bridge

The first time I heard this song, I just loved it, Love Can Build a Bridge by The Judds.

 I’d gladly walk across the desert

 With no shoes upon my feet,

Share with you the last bite of bread I had to eat.

Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine. Love can build a bridge.

 Don’t you think it’s time?  Don’t you think it’s time?

I would swim out to save you
In your sea of broken dreams
When all your hopes are sinkin’
Let me show you what love means

Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine. Love can build a bridge.

 Don’t you think it’s time?  Don’t you think it’s time

  I would whisper love so loudly

Every heart could understand

That love and only love Can join the tribes of man.

 I would give my heart’s desire, so that you might see

…The first step is to realize What it all begins with you and me.

. Chorus: Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine. Love can build a bridge.

  Don’t you think it’s time?  Don’t you think it’s time?

When we stand together,

 It’s our finest hour.  We can do anything… …Anything…

Keep believin in the power.

Love & Only Love….

Did you know that Jesus did build that bridge? God left his beautiful and perfect world in Heaven to become a baby, to suffer because of the wrongs/sins we have done, what we do wrong now and the wrongs that we will do in the future! This makes up for Adam & Eve eating the stupid apple because they were tricked by the evil serpent. Jesus died on the cross to become a sacrifice in our place. A simple example of this would be if my father here spoke up and said, “I will take Kathy’s spanking and go without TV for a month in her place. However, that is a much less profound example of His grace and forgiveness than Jesus did for us, His children.

Grace is favor and forgiveness, not because we did good things for Jesus, but because He loves us more than we can understand. Grace has more to do with an attitude or decision. We choose our attitude most of the time, our response to upsetting news or circumstances. Mercy is the action that results from the act of grace. Our Heavenly Father wants us to become more like Him little by little. Love more and more….

Through Jesus’ death on the cross, the veil between God and people was torn from top to bottom Matthew 27: 15. Pure, clean animal sacrifices were no longer required, as they were in the Old Testament and before Jesus died. Jesus changed it all. People did not have to follow 614 laws, an impossible task. Jesus became the bridge of Love between God and us. He took a bullet on our behalf. This means that we have direct access to God. I know it is hard to wrap your head around it (Me too)! I don’t know anything much about how the sun, wind, snow, stars moon…. were created but I see and or feel them, so I know they exist.  Here is a question for you; is love a feeling or is it a choice? I think I will tackle that question next time.

LOVE

Good IntENTions GONE AWRY!

What was that? Eliana @ 4 months

My sweet Eliana,

Grandma had no idea the flash would go off on her phone,

I ‘m just proud of you that you didn’t start to cry or moan,

I would never have done it if I had I could have known,

I apologize, oh precious one, I should have left you alone.

As a Child….

 As a Child

As a child of God, for you always, I pray

For my baby girl to be happy, safe, and well

In my faith, I will forever stay,

My Kristie may your babe make your heart swell.

As a child of God, for you I also always pray,

For my grand girl, still in the womb you still dwell,

For at least seven more weeks, you should stay,

I know with all my heart that you that you will be well,

Because you are a blessing of such beauty every day!

In Jesus name, for both of my girls, I pray!

My Spiritual, Acrostic Poem

My Spiritual, Acrostic Poem

A = Abundant hope, health, faith, joy and love

B = Beginnings anew in the freshness of early Spring,

C = Comforting words to calm the grief-stricken anxious mind and heart,

D = Daring to be brave, perhaps, soaring like the beautiful eagle,

E= Exalting people with words and deeds so they are lifted up. Eliana will do this for me because I am being elevated from mother to grandmother too.

F = Faith the size of mustard seeds to move great mountains (Luke 17:6).

G= Granting the Grace to forgive so He will also forgive us,

H = Heavenly place where God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit reside,

I = Inner peace beyond understanding or description,

J = Jesus, the Son of God, The second part of the trinity. The One who saves if we accept His gift,

K= Kindness is seeing Jesus’ face in everyone we meet.

L = Love God above all. Love and help your fellow man

M = Majestic beauty made by the most creative hands

N = New creation, new attitude.

O = Obedience in greater measure

P = Patience, the toughest of the fruits of my spirit to exhibit

Q = Quell the impulse to hurt others.

R = Radiant smiles to brighten the day,

S = Sweet serenity of the spirit

T = Temporal Earth is our temporary home.

U = Understanding and empathy for the pain a

V = Vicarious joy watching kids play.

W = Wonder as we look up at the sky.

X = Xanthous is the color of the sun on a fun summer day. Enjoy it!

Y = Youthful exuberance is a gift we should all share.

Z = Zest for love, hope, faith, and life.

What is It? A Bird? A Mouse?

Was it an odd bird?

My Cat was eyeing a Bat!

Maybe a strange mouse?

In response to:

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge CCCII: Bat&Cat

 

 

Hope & Lessons I am Learning

End of death, sin, agony and pain.
Abundant joy and life everlasting.
Savior for the broken, imperfect souls in every one of us.
Triumph over addiction, hate, loneliness, depression and tears.
Everyone who asks has a mansion in His heaven.
Redeeming grace, love and forgiveness He gives His children.

These are the the blessings that my husband, my parents my grandparents are now enjoying, yet my frail human spirit misses them all and thinks of them daily. Part of me longs to be with them, yet I am still here. This means that my job is not yet done. Due to my Cerebral Palsy, I did not expect to be. Several people told my Barry to expect to be a widower at a young age. The irony is that God had other plans and took my husband first. just last year.

I had grieved deeply before.  But, my grandparents as well as my parents were all very ill, very elderly or both. In any case, I had time to get used to the idea. I had learned that it is better that they go Home, away from me, that for me to pray for them to stay with me is very selfish on my part. This did not come to me in a flash of great insight, but gradually. I lost them slowly, inch by inch. I was aware of the magnitude of their suffering whether they spoke of it or not. I felt it!

With Barry, it was very different. I felt like he was stolen from me and our daughter. I watched her do CPR on him. I saw him being yanked to the ground as the EMT’s arrived. After 33 years 3 months 1 day and 22 hours, he was just gone in the blink of eye, before my daughter could tell him that we loved him. There was no denial nor bargaining with God. I tried. I was reading the last few pages of the book by Don Piper, 90 Minutes in Heaven.  I was told by someone to leave – they needed room to move around. Like so many times before, I was in the way, my chair took up too much space, and it kept me from being where I should have in the bed, holding his hand. Suddenly, it occurred to me that this was the reason that God had me read the book. I was to pray my Barry back to life. I prayed and I prayed. I could not lose him now. In a few months we would be in a position to buy a home of our our own, out of a major city. His tests had actually shown stability and his blood sugar and blood pressure were down. Therefore, death seemed impossible!  Up until I left him at the funeral home for the last. time, I held out hope for a miracle! His face looked at peace, not contorted in pain. The constant pain made him have age lines that he may not have had yet, but for the pain, The lines were not present in younger years. The biggest lesson I learned was God/Jesus does hear and respond to our prayers. Barry was finally free of pain and constant self-doubt. He never felt worthy or good enough on this Earth! From the look of peace on his face, I knew that he finally felt good enough, loved enough. That was  a miracle!  (Matt. 7-8). Also, Romans 8: 28. However, I wanted it done here on Earth with me to witness it, but God wanted it done a different way! Until, I left him, I thought it may be the ultimate Joke. He looked like he was having the best sleep in ages! There was a small part of me that expected him to suddenly awaken and say “Gotcha good that time, didn’t I?

Who was going to take care of me? I certainly did not want my/our daughter to carry that burden. The truth is I need a lot of help with ADL’s, otherwise, called essential activities of daily living. These include: bathing, dressing, transferring in/out of bed etc. Another lesson I learned is just how much our daughter is like her dad. Just at the time that my income went down a great deal and my rent was going up well past my total income, my daughter found a place which she could afford, just as her dad had planned, away from the city. While the care-giving situation has not always been smooth (it takes 6 people to take the place of my Barry). Naturally, that doesn’t even count the spousal things that go into it! BUT, my point is that God provides! (Matthew 6). Again, (Romans 8:28). Sometimes, it is just enough, but He is taking care of me!

 

FINALLY, I  was reminded that;

Love never fails on pastel background.

Imagination’s Magic

As I look out the back door just before the sun goes to sleep,

When all is quiet, I look out and I imagine a forest thickly deep,

It becomes much more than a few trees and bushes of blackberry,

In imagination’s magic, I enjoy a gentle evening breeze, light and airy.

Wonderful News

This is wonderful news for this screwed up world. It is a gift that is FREE and I don’t mean only free just in terms of dollars and cents. We can all be set free from bondage and fear that comes with life. Near the beginning, that sneaky, snake/serpent convinced Eve and Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. The world has been in a sinful state since that moment. I don’t claim to have all the answers and never will. Jesus does though. I believe that with every cell in my body and that is the greatest news ever! Death no longer exists for those who believe in Jesus; He satisfied all OUR SIN debt by His excruciating death on the cross, the most egregious form of death humankind has ever devised. Every drop of His blood poured out of His body. Even tougher to bear was the separation from God. Luke 19-24 tells the story.

 I cannot tell you why I still live in a wheelchair, although I have asked to walk countless times. Similarly, I asked for Him to save my husband’s life, however, he chose not to for some reason. I wish I could tell others why dreadful things happen to good people. Sometimes, God allows us to go through things so we have no option but to come to Him for help.

 8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.

“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

9For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so my ways are higher than your ways

and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

I can tell you that He has been with me even in those dark days right after Barry, my husband, died; however, I was too angry to notice at the time. My anger eased when I saw Barry at the funeral home. I studied his face with care. He had been a part of my life for 38 years and the love of my life for 34 (I knew it may be a long time before I would see him again). The face I love was so relaxed and free of pain. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I could not be more selfish. If I really love Barry, I would not want him to come back to suffer in this life. Ironically, I was reading 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. When I saw our daughter doing CPR on her dad, I thought I was supposed to pray him back to life like the man did in the book for Don. My prayers were not answered the way I wanted. Nevertheless, by reading most of the book I did get a tiny glimpse of heaven – it is much more majestic and glorious than there are words to describe it. The deepest love felt here in the world cannot compare to all the love Mr. Piper felt during his experience of heaven. No wonder Barry didn’t come back!

God wants all of us, his children, to be with Him for eternity. No matter how many honorable deeds we do for others, kindness won’t get us up to heaven. We must accept that Jesus is the son of God and that he died on the cross to atone or acquit us from all our sins/wrongdoings.  These song lyrics explain it beautifully:

            My Living Hope

How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke your name into the night
Then through the darkness
Your loving kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Who could imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The king of kings calls me His own
Beautiful savior, I’m yours forever
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the roaring lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me

Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the roaring lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus, yours is the victory, whoa!

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope

Jesus Christ, my living hope
Oh God, you are my living hope

Songwriters: Brian Johnson, Phil Wickham   

Here is a simple prayer to say to invite Jesus into your heart.  He always accepts our invitation and heaven cheers us on!

Salvation Prayer

Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of salvation. I believe that You came to earth to seek and to save people who are lost in their sin and I believe that You died on the cross as the substitute for my sin.

I believe that You took the punishment that I deserved for the sins that I have committed and forgave me all my sins. I believe that You died for me and that You rose again from the dead, and that whoever believes in You will not perish but have everlasting life.

I trust in You and I place my faith in You. Thank You for dying for me, forgiving my sins, making me clean and covering me in Your own prefect righteousness. Thank You for all that You have done for me. I receive You into my life as my Saviour and choose to follow You and serve You all my life. Thank You for hearing my prayer,

Amen.

Source: https://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/Prayers-for-Salvation#1313

Happy 99th Birthday to the Best Grandpa!

I Love You, Grandpa – May I Be Half the Grandparent You Were to Eliana

A New Chapter

I’d rather not marry twice,

he might be like freezing ice,

He may be as bald as balls on a pool table,

And not handsome like Barry or Clark Gable.

And I am sure not a beauty like Betty Grable.

These days, I’d meet a guy who thinks it’s a great prank,

to make me pay for it all and break my little bank!

I might meet a guy with a weird name like Esa

who has nothing better to do than run up the Visa,

Than I would just have to say as loud as I can, “Bye Felicia!”

The real truth is that there will never will be another you, another us,

that completes me like my only one. He was the minus to my plus.

The two of us were blessed. God and love made us a success.

Why settle for a distant second when I have had God’s best.

Anyone else would not hold my heart. Why settle for less?

Now, you can see why my life is a country song,

I will, someday, find a new place for me to belong!

Update 2024

I think I finally found a place to belong,

I still miss Barry very much; don’t get me wrong,

Now, I have a dearest grandchild, Eliana, big and strong,

And each Sunday, I sing to the Lord, my praise songs.

One day, after Eliana gets to know me well,

I will come to my REAL home where God and you dwell,

Not 1 thing will be wrong and all will be just swell,

Everything will be right, like before Adam and Eve fell,

Wild Waters

I went to Nooksack

Expecting placid water

Not Wild River!

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 498. PLACID and Wild.

Photo from Bing of Nooksack River Whatcom County, WA.

An Absurd ?

I love to see birds,

Much as I love writing words,

Do they fly at night?

Question, a bit absurd,

I am sure some will have concurred,

God so loves the bird.

https://ronovanwrites.com/tag/haiku/

2024 – My Wish for You

The Hope for the world

Came down in a simple bed,

So, we can start Fresh.

New Years is a chance,

For us to take a short glance,

To do well life’s dance.

Numbers 6:24-26

New Living Translation

²⁴ ‘May the Lord bless you
    and protect you.
²⁵ May the Lord smile on you
    and be gracious to you.
²⁶ May the Lord show you His peace.

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/64808775/posts/5056557209

We Waited Then, We Wait Again Haiku

Jesus felt the sting,

from Judas’ kiss of death, But,

He overcame it.

When all hope seemed lost,

Jesus came down from His ugly cross

Couldn’t keep Him from…..

His plan to save US,

From the sin that grips this world,

He’ll come once more!

More to Come…..

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 491. KISS and Sting.

Birthday Eve Haiku

Odd moments like this,

Cause my mind to reminisce,

Today, so long five-eight!

Mom’s-Mom & Eliana Haiku

She’s Mom’s -Mom great joy,

God’s gift, smiles bright like sun,

Lusterous and fun!

Mom’s-mom is her name for me, isn’t that adorable?!

It was a grand day!

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 486. JOY and Luster.

Love Heals a Broken Soul

Love of God’s Creation Heals the Soul

Love Made Me Feel Worthy

Thank you, God for blessing me with so many people in my life,

Thank you for letting me draw breath when I was born under such strife,

Thank you for letting me be a sister, wife, mom, and Grandma blessings all,

You have given me far, far more than I deserve, Holy One Standing tall.

Give my Barry a kiss and a hug for me on his birthday 64,

I love and miss him Lord, I could not have asked for anymore,

Thank you for giving me a husband to love and adore,

Until you took him Home with You to the glorious shore.

The Wheelchair Train