Of courtship sweet, of tongues and eyes
and varied things
Of dancing feet, of sashes, skirts
and sundry things.
Of dancing eyes, of cups of coffee
that she brings.
What more can I say to her this night, I pray?
What more can be prayed by me this day, I say?
I say.
I say.
I pray.
I daresay.
Of life so sweet, of lips and songs
that she sings.
What more do I say?
I rejoice this night and laugh this day.
I dance upon the moor and I pray.
I pray.
Tag: writing
Tears of Joy
Hello friends – and a happy Tuesday to you all!! I am going to write a quick update here before work begins…because this weekend has been quite a whirlwind, not at all the “free and relaxing” weekend I thought it was going to be! Well, it was a beautiful three day weekend but somehow I found a way to cram many many things into it. Hmm. Not one quiet night, what has become of me!!? Anyways! Friday night, had a fun time going to Torchy’s with Angela and John and having some good catch-up time with them(and delicious tacos, natch!) Saturday morning…somehow I got the brilliant idea that I needed to run since it’d been a while. So I got up uber early(to beat the heat, etc. Oh Houston) and ran my long run(10 mi). After I was halfway through, body was feeling great and so I was thinking I might push it to 13…but sadly my lack of hydration caught up with me about the 8 mile mark and so I most struggled those last couple miles. I decided not to be foolish and just finished my normal run. Anyway, once I hydrated, I felt great(albeit quite sore rest of day. And day after. And day after…) and I got to enjoy a nice coffee and reading morning at home. Eventually I went out, did various errands that needed doing(and buying books for people in Aberdeen, hurrah! I shall not name them here, just in case they’re reading this. Which is probably doubtful). Then I popped over to Starbucks for some online and writing time(which was very unsuccessful – I’m struggling with current story sadly). At this point, it was about 2pm and I realised I was very faint and dizzy and getting a headache. I wondered why. And then I remembered that I had sort of forgotten to eat anything all day. Even after my run. Oops? So I went to Trader Joe’s, got some hatch chile mac’n’cheese(which was quite good!) and then ate that at home while watching college football(which has returned! Houston beat Oklahoma and Texas A&M beat UCLA and Texas beat ND…so all is well in the state of Texas today).
And wow, this entry is a bit ridiculous – I am rambling overmuch and I would apologise, but I’m not done yet. I shall try to quicken the pace though, as I do need to start work soon. So where was I? Saturday? Oh yes. Right. So, after watching a bit of college football, I had plans with Jared to hang out and watch a movie at my place. Sadly, he had to cancel because of some family plans that came up…but since I have awesome friends that invited me to something else(thanks Lea and Marianna!), my evening did not go wasted. Went to the Miller Outdoor Theatre and enjoyed some quality baroque music and some even more quality conversation with the aforementioned Lea and Marianna. I got home at some point and promptly fell into bed. Sunday! Sunday was the day of days. Church(which was marvelous and encouraging and God exalting!), then missions prayer time, then had some good sushi with Jonathan and Julian for lunch. Afterwards when I was back at my place, invited Julie over for tea and reading time, but sadly(not really!) we got no reading done and just had a great time talking and talking and talking instead. She is such an encouraging and dear friend! After that…Jared came over and we had some dinner and watched the Texas-ND game(instead of movie, because who needs a movie when you have football?). And unsurprisingly, while we watched the game, the best part was just talking about life. And thus ended my Sunday, in which I got approximately one hour to myself. And I am not complaining one bit.
And…er, I really need to cut this off here, even though I haven’t even talked about yesterday(Labor Day) yet. Oh well – just know that it was good and God blessed. As always. I must simply praise my God for always blessing me oh so much. Of course, there are some parts of life that are sorrowful and so we must grieve. But when I am enjoying life, I must recognize that it is God my Father who has blessed me so – and I thank Him and Him alone.
This morning, I heartily enjoyed listening to my newest mix CD…it is maybe my best yet. It is all hymns(do not laugh!) and it is beautiful. It is very unoriginally entitled HymnSing and it contains pretty much all my favourite hymns. Singing them in the car this morning as I thought about the love of God…oh what tears, oh what joy. When someday God grants that I may return to Him(oh come that day!), I do hope that some of these songs are sung. Oh how wondrous it is, to think that the blood of Jesus has paid for all my sins. That is my theme, my song. I will at some point post the track-list, but now I shall simply end this very very long entry(my apologies, dear friends) and leave you with this…
Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o’er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
Think what Father’s smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee,
Child of heaven, canst thou repine?
Neon Haze
Morning, all!! Quick update time. It’s a wonderfully sticky Monday morning here in Houston and as the day slowly lightens, thought I’d let you know what I’ve been up to lately as I sip on my peppermint mocha…
In actuality, this weekend was a nice and calm one, which I appreciated much. Friday night, went with Sammy to a random church’s young adult group meeting, where he was engaged to preach. He was much blessed by God and preached mightily on 2 Samuel 11 and the effects sin has on us. Powerful, convicting and encouraging – God be praised! Saturday, I got many random errands done, then went to Natalie and Andrew’s engagement/wedding party in the afternoon, where it was awesome to celebrate their soon marriage!! Sunday was church and afterwards, I went straight home and did various household chores before finally sitting down and having my dinner of leftover lasagna and a tomato salad. And…with my dinner, watched Return of the King. It’d been far too long. And even more fun was me and Maryanne watched it in sync, so we got to text each other random comments back and forth as we watched. Fun times…just wished we lived closer so we could watch in person!!! Alas. Oh! I also was much engaged in writing yesterday afternoon…got a powerful urge to put a story to paper, even though I am now doubting my literary powers and ability to do the themes of this story justice. I’m about 2200 words in and halfway done, but it is most rough so far and I am unsure whether it will get to where it needs to be. We shall see. I need to fly now, but shall leave you the opening…sorry to be such a tease. Love you all, my friends!!
A window stained, spattered with raindrops and grim in both general aura and appearance. Thunder rumbled in the far off distance and the harsh neon lights glared into the window, through the rain streaked plastic and into the cramped room. The room, mean in appearance and dim lit with a single lamp beside the bed, had a singularly utilitarian appearance. A bed, a sink and a mirror. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing more was needed. Nothing less was used.
A Note
Hello friends…and happy Monday!! I don’t have time to write long, but thought I should dash down a few words here, even though I can’t properly chronicle the weekend! Alas. Still, a good one was had(even though I was busy every night and didn’t quite get in a relaxing rest night like I had planned!) Still, I can only thank and bless my God for all His goodness, for all His love. I was able to sing praises to my God in a hymn-sing that John put on, Friday night…oh so joyous!! And then dinner and good chat with new friends(plus John!). Saturday involved a quality coffee morning and many more conversations at the Maresh’s, followed by watching the new Jason Bourne movie with Julie(it was a good movie…but definitely not up to the standards of the previous three. Oh well. Still awesome seeing Matt Damon be amazing on the big screen!!) Then I had a craving for lasagna so of course…had to go home and make that for dinner!! Julie came over to help me eat it and we watched so many good Olympics events(and had some good chat interspersed!). Saturday night was an excellent Olympics night…Mo Farah taking the gold(again!!) in the 10k – so thrilling, especially as I remembered watching it from my Calsayseat flat four years ago!! – then Michael Phelps dominating in the pool one last time…Sunday, many more fun things happened, but I simply don’t have the time to write about them now!! Sorry for this poorly constructed, somewhat rambling entry, but just wanted to write these things down so that I always point back to them and…remember the goodness of the Lord. Be well, my friends – take courage and live today for the glory of our God and Father!!
A Most Profound Loss of Place
Hello friends!! It’s Saturday morning here at Starbucks and I’m just about to leave…I actually am forced to leave, because I need to go pick up my car from its annual inspection. Here’s to hoping it passed! (It better have…) Anyway, this Saturday is set to be a very productive one(I hope), since I plan on doing a bunch of cleaning at my place and following that…some solid writing time just needs to happen. I’ve been meaning to write something substantial for some time now, and I swear, I shall force myself to do so. Since Starbucks writing clearly isn’t working, going to just ensconce myself in my living room at home and hope my couch isn’t too comfortable to keep me from writing something properly beautiful. We shall see – I must at least experiment and get myself out of this extremely bad habit of not writing! (Oh and as always…if any of you have some writing ideas/prompts you would like to share, I would be ever so grateful. Truly) Now, I must fly. Peace my friends – have a most glorious Saturday!!!
A Situation
The loss of oxygen was actually not that alarming, considering the circumstances. Multiple alarms warbled in imperfect harmony and far too many lights flashed persistently on the status boards. Irritated at her ship’s newfound desire to self-destruct, Juliet jerked her control cord to a new setting and hissed quietly in frustration. It was going to be close. Groaning in arrhythmic stutters, the chamber around Juliet’s pilot pod began to heat up. This was not entirely unexpected, but a bit too soon for comfort. Juliet glanced at the altitude indicator again and bit her lip. She needlessly tightened the strap on her rebreather and flipped the final switch. In one last protest, the structure surrounding her began to crumble into nothingness. Outside lay blackness and flame. Juliet leaned her head back and sighed. An explosion of soundless beauty. And then, the lights came on.
Closing her eyes, Juliet asked in barely concealed anger, “So how’d I do?”
“You died,” came the disembodied voice in her earbuds. “Again.”
“Really?” scoffed Juliet. “Well then, let’s run it one last time.” Her eyes flashed purple fire. “Again.”
So Neatly Written
Hello, dear friends, and happy Friday! I sit at my desk at work, minutes before the clock ticks over to working time, but I couldn’t resist just saying hello. I’m drinking my peppermint mocha and pondering deep thoughts, like say…what shall I do this weekend? Actually, I’m a bit stunned – I’m going to be in Houston all weekend, a shocking development! Been traveling so much lately, it shall really be quite nice to be at home and get some proper rest. But for now, one more day of work, so no rest for me(yet!). Have a most blessed and wondrous day, my friends.
Fingers drumming on the tabletop,
coffee mugs littering the counter,
clamorous chatting fills the kitchen,
Something comforting, this home sweet home.
Closer Creeps the Night
Beth sighed as she sat in weary anticipation on the front stoop. Hearing a car approaching, she looked up warily, only to see a little black ’88 Volvo approaching. Not her ride. Actually, she had no idea who the driver was, and she knew most people in the neighborhood(naturally, as she’d lived in that same neighborhood for most of her 19 years). After the Volvo drove past, she put her head down again and watched the late autumn leaves tumble down the sidewalk in front of her. The leaves seemed to be dancing with gleeful abandon as they darted by, rejoicing in the winter-tinged air. Beth shivered. She didn’t share the sentiment. Pulling her orange coat closer around herself, she sighed once again. Where was Rich at? He had promised to pick her up at the crack of dawn, but as the early morning light spilled over the sleepy neighborhood sprawled out in front of her, Beth started to worry. She tended to do that a lot, particularly when things didn’t go according to plan. And in her life, things had a tendency to not go according to plan. Unfortunately. Beth rubbed her arms again. She was cold and irritated and still not quite awake. A squeal of tires skidding around the nearest corner shook Beth out of her brown study. In a flash, she hopped to her feet, grabbed her small knapsack and started walking towards the street. Rich’s lime green monstrosity jumped up next to her and she tugged on the door handle violently. Time to go save the world.
Penstroke
A morning where a
darkness reigns throughout the land
and yet there is a wind that blows,
a return of sweetness and decency
mayhaps.
A morning where a
bowl of oatmeal upon worn table sits
and brown sugar swirls in dreamy paths,
a return to first love and hopes fairest
maybe.
A morning where a
moonlit herald sings in quiet wonder
and I hear a call to that far country,
a return to truest tales of yore
perhaps.
First Blush
A mount untraveled,
a tree not blooming,
a flag yet unfurled,
and the sweet colour
of the pale of dawn.
I look upon a crescent moon
and I sigh
in unbridled wonder
that there could be such
beauty.
And behold
tulips blossoming in purest white,
stars singing sweet and strong in dazzling night,
fields of wheat rippling in warm sunlight,
that music bliss and those blue eyes bright
oh behold!
Beauty
that there could be such
in unbridled joy now
and I sigh –
I look upon a waxing moon.
The path is winding through the wild moors,
The trees stand tall and kiss their brethren,
And upon the terrace of brick and stone,
look and behold the aching sweetness –
oh the tale of dawn.
Something Weird 