My Day

I awakened this morning, planning to be in control.
I showered, and started in on my roll.
I had it all planned in my mind, every step of the day.
I had a light step, as I went on my way.
THEN...
It all crashed around me!
Telephone calls I couldn't ignore.
Tasks taking two or three times longer to complete than I'd planned.
People with needs for help.
Now, instead of dancing, I feel like this.

Ok, Lord. What is my next step?
Bring myself to a stop to talk to You and then LISTEN?
Now what?
How do I get myself straightened out?
How do I calm myself? Refocus?

Mmm – there is a verse I love. Psalms 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God."
I need to take time to focus on who You Are!
You are Marvelous and Wonderful! The great I AM!
And what does I AM mean?
Always present. Always the same. Always everywhere.
There is no place one can go without I AM being there!
Just think of the power in that verb!
He is my God, my Father, my Friend!
(I could go on for pages and pages, writing about HIM.)
Then, there is His Son, Jesus.
My best Friend! Someone Who never fails me,
Who always understands, is honest with me, always loves me.
His Holy Spirit, Who lives in me, Who teaches me, Who speaks to me.

"Be still, and know that I am God."
I'm taking a deep breath! And smiling just a little as I relax on the inside.
There's still noise around me. Confusion. Voices calling me. Distractions.
But, this time, they are all filtered through the Holy Spirit's ears.

I will dance because my Lord loves me,
not because my lists are made and I've got it all under control.
He will help me get done what He wants done.
My responsibility is to listen to Him. He then puts things into their proper place, creating the design He wants in my life today!
That design may be different than I'd planned, but it will be
beautiful as He puts HIS cross stitches in place.

Voni

My brother, Clio

2009 10 19

He is two years younger than I. Almost died with polio in his early 20's. Badly crippled for life. Never gave up - did things the Dr's said he'd never do.

He went back to university and got second degree - this time in music. Taught at a Christian college in Idaho. Rode his motorcycle. Went hunting in the mountains with his jeep. Had horrendous heartbreaks in his family.

Always shares about God and Jesus wherever he goes.

Sang with his guitar... one man show, for many events. The past years, he's been working in prisons, teaching Bible and choir... Driving, walking with canes, wheelchair, difficult to move... but he always there!

A stubborn man - or he'd have never done all he did. A fighter... (and he and I’ve also “strongly disagreed” at times over the years. ☺)

He's still fighting. Pneumonia several times. Leukemia. Diabetes. Medications. Chemotherapy. And he’s still going and teaching and singing.

He loves God, and he loves those men and women in the prisons.

What a brother!

Voni

"Brazilians call SAUDADE: a longing for something so indefinite as to be indefinable. - All things born of the soul that can only be felt." — Anthony De Sa

Memories of past moments of joy that come flooding into our minds when a melody is played.
Missing the sound of a beloved voice.
Nostalgia that overwhelms us.
The longing to once again walk in scenes from the past.

At times, as a memory is in the process of being made, the knowledge that this time is so fleeting, and it will soon be over.
The awareness that “just on the other side” we’ll see loved ones who’ve gone on before us.

Learning to love, experiencing moments of joy – and then they are in the past.

Sometimes, the consciousness of life, memories, loved ones – all out of reach, overwhelms me. Tears prick my eyes, a lump in my throat. I cannot live scattered over the globe where all my loved ones live: children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, friends – ah, so many. I’m unable to reach out and touch them, those living today, nor can I touch those who lived in my past.

I have the sense that life is so much more than what I see and touch. The emotions of joy, loss, and longing engulf and almost overcome me.

Then God’s Spirit reminds me: There is a time coming when it will all be united and fulfilled: past and future. God will bring it all together. ALL of our loved ones, all those beautiful sunsets and sunrises, feeling the glorious breeze on a spring day as the cherry blossoms move in the wind, smelling the apple orchards in the fall and new mown grass in the summer, roses and lilacs, seeing and hearing a fire burning in a fireplace, feeling its warmth, the smell of guava, fresh pineapple, a rain storm coming on a hot day... the sound of waves and waterfalls and the heavens thundering a mighty symphony of sound mingling with a full symphony orchestra and choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus and we will be there experiencing a completeness never imagined.

There is coming a time when you and I will no longer experience SAUDADES. Only joy, fulfillment, wholeness as the Son of God sits on His throne and we, men, women, children and all of nature, create a NEW SONG of delight in His presence that fills the heavens and all the universe!

Saudade, loneliness and sorrow may walk with me today. But God’s NEW TOMORROW is coming, and my heart rejoices.

Voni Pottle