Small Stone, Day 31

A burning throat longs for warmth,

A foggy mind for clarity,

Promised by grinding of coffee beans.

The water heats,

fragrant aromas release,

beckoning the taste, the touch.

Freezing hands seek the heat,

As thoughts clear for the dawning day.

Small Stone, Day 30

 

This month I joined in with the Mindful Writing Challenge Jan 2013.

The rules were very simple: 1. Notice something properly every day during January.
2. Write it down.

These are also called "small stones" and these become "A River of Small Stones."

The month is drawing to a close. I have written the small stones but didn’t always get them posted each day. I decided not to post them while I was engaged in the blog hop. Some are okay, some are bad, and one or two I like. So, a few minutes a day for the month yielded a few lines of writing that I find acceptable, and I think that’s great! I always wrote the “stones” quickly—never spending more than ten minutes or so writing them. I plan to keep writing small stones until I have forty that I like. Then, I will put them together in a book and add some insight into each one.

Someone asked how I can do projects like this while I’m writing or editing a book. Since these are very short and nonfiction, I can spend just a few minutes working on them and don’t need my normal quiet routine to do so. It’s kind of a break from what I consider my real job—that of writing novels.

And, so, here is Small Stone, Day 30—The Computer

Computers come and computers go….

the way of viruses and worms…

wearing down outside and in…

Or, simply discarded for the newer, sleeker, lighter ones.

We seek, never finding the one problem free.

Resolutions—Better Late Than Never

I resolve

• to be calm and still
• to allow God to work through me
• to have no expectations
• to answer with a smile on my face and in my voice and heart
• to forget aches and pains, both physical and mental
• to help others
• to know I am never ignored
• to put away selfishness
• to allow God to use me in the way he sees fit, not putting my own preconceived notions of how it should be, but simply allowing my life to unfold in his grace
• to surrender all to receive all
• to follow wherever he leads, even in paths of darkness, for he is the light and will be a lamp in the night, or especially in the night. All I must do is open my eyes wide with wonder to be filled with his light.
• to not mortar the brokenness.
• to leave the cracks, so that his light shines through the broken places.

Amen.

(I’ve been somewhat busy so far this month. I put together some of my blog posts together and uploaded yesterday to Amazon. It’s also up on Smashwords. It’s free on Smashwords and will be free, eventually, on Amazon Kindle. I also participated in Small Stones. And, I’ve just finished a blog hop. Hence, the lateness of this post.)

Small Stones, Day 22-29

Antlers, Small Stone, Day 22

The husky retrieved antlers

Larger than those boasted by hunters.

No, not discarded, for none would lose such a trophy.

At least not willingly.

Shells, Day 23

Memories flood the mind

of the beach trip where I learned

the value of family, even, or especially,

when things go awry. 

The bad fades of lurking danger

and only love and laughter remain.

Life, Day 24

A rooster struts and frets his life away

Yet is memorialized in statue.

Candle, Day 25

Reviled and praised in song,

Blowing in the wind,

Burning at both ends,

Flickering to right wrongs,

Out, out, brief life

While Satan grins

And all is rent asunder.

Help, Day 26

The walking stick hangs by the door

Extra strength for those without enough,

A reminder of the riddle--

Four legs in the morning

Two legs in the day

Three in the evening

To be answered soon.

Harden Not, Day 27

Outside the bones dry and harden

Inside they live, support, strengthen,

Provide life and a frame

for all.

Waiting, Day 28

The basket, filled with plates,

spoons, forks, and cups,

Waits for the decision to be taken down

Before days become too late

And no one is left to partake.

Dimming, Day 29

Turquoise flashes in the light

Eyes framed with thick lashes

Yet streaks of red mar the sight

Still seeing with compassion.

Back to the Future Giveaway Hop

Welcome to my Back to the Future Giveaway, hosted by I am a Reader Not a Writer and  Book Haven Extraordinaire. 

Clothed in Thunder, a historical romance set during the Great Depression, picks up exactly where we left off in Thundersnow. Jay realizes that though she's always loved Michael - did she really know him at all? And what about Drake the Snake? Could he really shed his skin and become a completely different person?

Will Sarah Jane fulfill her dream of becoming a veterinarian? And of the two men in her life, who will she choose? Michael, the man she has always loved, or Dan who professes he has changed? This is a coming-of-age story of a young girl. It's a story of faith, good friends, family, and a willingness to see the best in others, even when they surprise and disappoint.

When all around is clothed in thunder, Sarah Jane has only one refuge...In the Shadow of the Cedar.

Clothed in Thunder is book 2 of In the Shadow of the Cedar series. Thanks for stopping by today! Now it's time to warp through time to the next blogs on the hop!

 Congrats to Kimberly Holgate, the winner of the Amazon Gift Certificate and the ebook copy of Clothed in Thunder!
However,I have tried to contact her through her email address but have not received a response. Tomorrow morning I will choose another winner if I do not hear from her.

Small Stones, #14-21

Popcorn

When heat expands water within,
the protector, the husk, cannot stop
the popping.

 

The World

Too much.
A heavy blanket shrouds my soul,
weighing me to exhaustion.

 

Foggy Day

Another day,
fog creeps in,
clogs the mind,
robs the joy,
mobs the bones.
Ache begins and
dogs my steps
until flogged by the sun
into retreat.

 

Stones

Rocks
diminish
into
minuscule,
minute,
small
stones.
Tiny,
tiny
rocks
become
sand
washed
by the sea.

 

Tiredness

Sometimes we try too hard
to preserve and persevere.
Only rest preserves perseverance.

 

Brain Weary

Brain robbed of memory
is weak and unfocused.
Yet robed in strength
must create.

 

Room

The waterpark flume

transports us

down the slide

just as we once

escaped the womb

to discover the expanse.

 

Discernment

Icy water
soothes
summer's thirst
yet freezes and paralyzes
in winter.

Small Stone #13, Envy

I read the words

of love and more--

A passion after years of togetherness

And I split asunder with envy.

My husband has not such a way with words.

Then my soul mends

for actions speak louder than words.

Small Stone, # 12, Wordless

Chaos,
Conflict,
Chatter,
Clatter…
No words come.
I do not observe
I see only the dark recesses of my mind.
Not a pretty picture.

Small Stone 11, Real vs Easy

Small Stone #10, Moss on a Stepping Stone

Small Stone, Day Nine: Red and Green

Small Stone, Day 8: The Intruder

Small Stone, Day 7

Small Stone, Day 6

 

A rooster decorates my cup--

A reminder to wake.

The dark coffee inside

Does the job.

Working and Small Stones, Day 5

I'm working on a book cover for Moonbow. I think I getting close but not quite there.

I'm also gathering my blog posts from 2012 into a book, Thirst, A Forty Day Devotional.

And, I'm writing a "small stone" each day in January. I'm toying with the idea of writing one each day for the entire year. At the end of the year I can publish them in a book. Still thinking about that one. Here's today's small stone:

 I decided that yesterday's small stone needed a period and wound up rewriting it. Writing is rewriting and rewriting and rewriting. Here's the new version with the old:

Small stone from yesterday.

Yesterday's small stone rewritten.

Alone

A flower is blooming at the base of the oak tree. I’ll upload the picture later today.
The flower was the inspiration for my Small Stone, Day 4.

One Spring Snowflake

Blooms out of season

Alone does not rob beauty.

It enhances it.

Of Apples

I'm joining in with the Mindful Writing Challenge Jan 2013.
It's very simple:

1. Notice something properly every day during January.
2. Write it down.

This is my third “small stone.”

Beauty in the Knots

I'm joining in with the Mindful Writing Challenge Jan 2013.
It's very simple: 1. Notice something properly every day during January.
2. Write it down.

Two rooms in our home have walls of rustic pine. For the challenge today I observed the wood. Below is a picture with the words I penned.

Beauty exists in the knots.
Those that do not destroy
strengthen and enhance
that which already exists.
Tough fibers flow
and nourish the growing tree
and now decorate our lives.

Foggy Morning

I'm joining in with the Mindful Writing Challenge Jan 2013.

It's very simple: 1. Notice something properly every day during January.
2. Write it down.

These are also called "small stones" and these become "A River of Small Stones."

Here's Day 1--

Foggy Morning

Blankets wrap me in warmth;

Still the relentless cold seeps through.

Only weak rays peek through the window;

Dense gray fog drapes over the world outside.

The light dims, yet morning comes with the new year.