life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “laugh”
life abundantly
It is an ongoing temptation to think of ourselves as living under a curse. The loss of a friend, an illness, an accident, a natural disaster, a war, or any failure can make us quickly think that we are no good and are being punished. This temptation to think of our lives as full of curses is even greater when all the media present us day after day with stories about human misery.
Jesus came to bless us, not to curse us. But we must choose to receive that blessing and hand it on to others. Blessings and curses are always placed in front of us. We are free to choose. God says, Choose the blessings!
– Henri Nouwen
www.henrinouwen.org
overwhelmed with love
To be peaceful is to be free from expectations and to want nothing from anyone. Take the initiative and be generous. Lead the way and do something. This is the secret to being content in all circumstances. – unknown
I am walking through a difficult part of the path right now, and yet it is a really peaceful time as well. The past 22 years have brought me to this moment, and all is well with my soul. 
My faith has been tested in the fire and is not a theory! It is real, intimate, living, breathing life in me. The shadow of Jesus, who for so long I could not identify with, has become the true lover of my soul, my best friend, my peace, my joy, my everything. No one can take away what I have experienced in these years, it has been an incredible revelation of God.
I feel I am, once again, at a beginning. It is exciting. It is overwhelming. As I keep letting go, this wave of love is washing over me, and it is truly pure joy. I am overwhelmed with love.
I am on a walk of faith, like others before, and with me in this present moment. I do not see the path ahead as of yet, yet I have great peace because I know the way is there waiting for me as I walk forward into life, purpose, mission, music, community.
I wish I had more to bring, but all I can do is bring a love song which is my desire to obey, even when it’s hard, even when I don’t see the way, or completely understand the why. It really is just my reasonable service for all that God has done for me.
To God alone be the glory!
I am finally in Ohio!!! More tomorrow!
I am so thankful for this amazing trip I just took to Connecticut & Boston!!! Still driving! 3 more hours…
don’t loose the simple definition: God is love
Yes, the people around us, and these lives we lead, are becoming more and more complex. There is no denying that the world is becoming a smaller and smaller place, as we have faster and faster means to get anywhere we want to go. Nothing seems to be very simple, yet at the root of everything in our lives, hearts, world is this one simple need: to feel loved and to give love – to be accepted and acknowledged for who we truly are.
Into that need comes our creator and He wants us to realize this truth: He IS love! We are His beloved! Pure and simple. He makes sure we all know – if we don’t have love, and live love – we have nothing. There is nothing else that is this important. Nothing else that is life changing and world shaking.
Today, sift through all your laters of complexity in your over-stimulated, over-scheduled, uber busy life and ‘turn up the quiet, cause love wants to dance’!
for the love of all elements of writing: words. paper. pen. thoughts. reading. imagination.
and I open a fresh page
paper lined with endless possibility
of meaning, of words,
of understanding, of hope,
of choices, of thoughts,
of who I am and
who I desire to be
space between words
holding it all together
in a framework of idea
I write this with ‘ink joy’ flowing
a smile on my lips
for the gold foil polka dots
and the quotes that make my heart sing –
the simple
yet so rich and complex gift
of a pen and a piece of paper…
– al
4/13/12
words are very powerful and important
Words Colour Our Behaviour.
Words! They are all around me! I see them. I use them. Harsh words, soothing words, biting wo
rds; words that give pain and sorrow; words that give joy and pleasure. They are vital to communication. When words are spoken there are reactions, negative or positive. Either thoughts are triggered or emotions fired or actions performed. Words colour our behaviour. And how lovely it is to hear words that are calm and free from rancour and aggression. To hear words that lift the soul and leave it with renewed vigour. Such words come from always seeing the best in people and situations.
– Unknown
you gotta find your truth!
Ok, this cracked me up – and made me a think! So true for most of us! Yes, I have ‘the need to please others’ so ingrained into my thinking, it seems I battle it every day!
I watched an unconventional wedding video a few minutes ago of my eldest daughter, Krista, who turned 25 yesterday. She is a beautiful, smart, incredibly talented and giving woman – who is very blessed to have a relationship which has given her something she has always been searching for – unconditional love and friendship. This has been my prayer for her for so many years – that she would be truly loved by someone for who she is. That is all. Unconditional love is the key to living.
Her lifestyle is not what I would have chosen for her – she is in a world which can be dangerous and I worry about her and where her choices can lead. I want only good for her. However, it is her life and her choice to live how she has chosen. I wish her, and my new son-in-law and grandchild, only happiness and I was moved to tears by the words they spoke to each other, the healing which this love has brought to her. I know the depth of her emotion. I know how much she cares and loves. I know how badly she has been hurt by life, by my own actions as her mother – when I made choices no mother should have to make and she got caught in my choices, in my pain and her own – as a child she had no way to understand, nothing but pain and hurt from age 10 on. She was in a world which she did not understand and which did not understand her.
I am so grateful and happy for this place in her journey and how much this love is restoring to her. I am hopeful that I can be a part of her living, of her joy and her future – the love, heartaches and blessings and hard times.
Yesterday, as I thought about the day she came into the world – the most beautiful baby ever born up to that minute (ok, I’m a little biased on that one – haha), I was so overwhelmed by those feelings I had as I looked in her face for the first time and prayed that I might keep her safe and be a good mother to her. It has been an incredibly tough journey and I have failed her in so many ways, yet, I have loved her, and her brother and sister with a love which is bigger than I can ever put into words. My mothers’ heart has placed these children in God’s hands and I am so blessed, more than she may ever know, that she is my daughter.
There are no accidents and I trust God has plans I cannot see. I do not have all the answers – I believe unconditional love is always right and the way to healing. All I know is – I am so blessed and so thankful in this moment. I know for sure that life is good – we are good. God has declared it and it is so!
life: acoustic & amplified 