Friday, December 26, 2008

One of My Favorite Christmas Gifts

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My oldest daughter has become passionate about ending modern day slavery. For Christmas she chose gifts for each of us that were all Fair Trade appproved. Many were from small, entreprenuership businesses. The gifts included a leather journal, Fair Trade coffee, a thumb piano made in Kenya, a small purse made by women in Guatemala and a soccer ball stamped with "Not For Sale". Most soccer balls are made by children, but not this one.

With each gift, my daughter included a note and a Bible verse that held a "clue" to the gift. The note she wrote for me is priceless. The best gift of all.

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1 John 1:4
"We write this to make our joy complete."

We write joy and tears. God, too, has written that in His book. His book has your name in it. He desires to create a hapy ending for you. Because he is the Author, He will.

This journal was made for Freedom. So was God's book. He wrote your name there because you are free from sin. Because Christ died for you.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Teaser Tuesdays

I just discovered a blog last night called Should Be Reading - wonderful blog! And she hosts Teaser Tuesdays.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

Pipe dreams he thought to himself, even while he was telling her about his dream winnings. But oh, how wonderful, he though, if everthing you talked about could come true! - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith pg. 34

For more teasers, go here.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Writing Prompt - Shiny Things

I hope you had fun writing about Shiny Things. I did! If you've written and posted your poem on your blog, please leave the permalink in Mr. Linky. If you haven't written yet, go write and then come back to leave your permalink. It doesn't have to be today - I'll wait for you. I can't wait to read everyone's poems!

Update - I really need a Mr. Linky lesson! If someone out there could help me out, I would be very grateful.

Here are mine:

Sun glints on french horn
Christmas jingles beckoning
Coins dropped in pail

~~~

Pulled from rinse water
Tumbler glides from soapy hand
Scattered shards of glass

~~~

Miniscule balls
Gathered together form one
Mercury sphere

(I know this last one is missing a syllable in the last line, but I still thought it sounded good this way.)

Your turn!

Haiku Writing Prompt - Shiny Things

Shiny Things will be the first writing prompt on my blog. You can write haiku or other poetry. I am no expert in writing of any kind, but I love to play with it. Please play along!

Traditionally, haiku is made up of three lines (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables). It's fun and kind of addictive to fit your idea into that form. Get out your Thesaurus and have at it!

I'll post a Mr. Linky on Thursday for you to link up your poem on your blog. This will be my first time to use Mr. Linky on my site, so bear with me!

Now, I'm off to write my own Shiny Things haiku! Don't forget to share your poems on Thursday (or any day after that)!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Open Letter to the Impatient Woman

Dear Impatient Woman,

I'm so sorry that you found yourself waiting behind my car on a busy Friday night only 13 days before Christmas. I know that you also were waiting to turn left onto a busy road and traffic was backing up. You must have had lots of shopping to get done. I understand that you got fed up with waiting on me to have enough space to pull out. I'm okay with you deciding to go around me and take another route.

But was it really necessary to "point 1 with your finger", as my six year old daughter saw you do? Really, did you have to use a vulgar gesture to express the fact that you had spent an extra sixty seconds in traffic?

For you, dear impatient woman, I wish all the joys of Christmas. I hope that you find peace and fulfillment and happiness. I pray your heart will overflow with love and joy. And when it does, please pass this love along to others. You have shown that your heart is in great need of the love that Christmas brings.

Please pass this love on, when God showers it on your heart. I'll pray that you won't be so hard hearted as to turn the love away when it is given.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a patient, happy New Year,
Tiffany

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

It has been over 30 years since I last wrote to you. Please forgive me. Thank you for all the gifts you have given me and my loved ones in the past. The Christmas memories have been priceless.

This year I do have a request. Could you reach into your bag of magical gifts and turn me into a Morning Person? I want to be able to get up at 5:00am feeling energetic and refreshed from a full night's sleep. I want to be clear headed and able to concentrate on my writing.

And could you make it so that my getting up early does not rouse any of my children, for that is counter productive. I want this time alone, to read my Bible, pray and work on my writing.

If you can't turn me into a Morning Person, could you bestow on me energy that lasts fully until 11:00pm or even mid-night? I would like to be clear headed and focused late into the evening. Not just awake on the couch, vegging in front of the TV, but creative and productive.

You see, the daytime hours that are my best are also taken up with necessary daily tasks that demand my attention and concentration. So you can see how I need these extra hours of high energy time added to my day. And if I could have these hours without the risk of migraines that lack of sleep usually causes, that would be wonderful.

Thank you,

Tiffany

p.s. If you can't give me this request, could you please help me carve out writing time with my current limited hours in the day?