Another Repeat

The Two

when i discovered the two
i could not help but feel the intensity
it was round a campfire
where songs were sung by which i was muted
in awe of these strangers singing my story
the ones who never knew me
yet with unequaled harmony recalled my life
my ears and heart hung on every breath
an awkward moment tossed in
mercy, they said, mercy
it was an unforgiving honesty

i heard behind the tune
i stared into the core of my self
fascinated and fixated i listened
losses and crosses and strange circles
queens and kings mounting stairs
leading to towers and trees by the roadside
on the way to revelations

do you see them
arms open like shutters flung
releasing what would otherwise suffocate
it the motion that lifts
emotions that carry
burning and burying
reaping and keeping
bare feet touch not the ground
clouded and crowded
the internal fight and the flight
they bring it all into focus
yet no one else can see
no one else can hear the same words

i wish i had said it myself
but then i might have missed the point
year upon year
they are always with me
is it they that conform or only myself
or is it merely dictated circumstance
the chance of romance or simply self fulfilling
was it from before or what was to come

and still today i am fixed on the memory
around the fire where bare feet leave traces of light
and i remain mute even now
in wonderment of the ones who never knew me
yet with unequaled harmony could recall my secrets
my heart hang on their breath
mercy, they cried, mercy
it is an unforgiving honesty
that flings open the shutters with a force that shivers
to the depths of my understanding
and i ask, do you see my heart wide open

Rachelle LeCount
11-2011

This Week

For several years, it has been our custom to vacation in Helen Georgia during the week of July 4th. Last year the heat took more of a toll on me than I was willing to admit, even at the time, and we decided to consider moving our regular Helen trip to a cooler time of the year.

Also, we had family visiting from out of town.

The one thing I missed most was visiting Zuzu's Petals Rock Shop.

But I must remind myself that sometimes change is necessary and "to everything there is a season." [Ecclesiastes 3] 

I am behind a bit this month in regard to blogging. I've occupied a good bit of time this last week in word studies and hopefully I'll get around to writing about some of that.

The topics have ranged from the seven declarations made from the cross, to circumcision of the heart, and then some.

More soon. God willing.

Weekly Wisdom

I like this site christnotes.org. There a message of the day and lesson for the week.

Weekly Wisdoms for the week of June 25, 2012

Jesus is the way -- not an add on, an extra, an option, or a supplement.

In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There is no other way.

Yet many people think that they can be saved through other ways. Religion is not the way; your pastor is not the way; baptism is not the way; church membership is not the way; doing good things is not the way. There is only one way to be saved: Jesus.

As a well-known song proclaims: There is only "one name under heaven whereby we must be saved" -- Jesus!

Salvation comes down to this: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him (John 3:36).

Similarly, 1 John 5:12 says, He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. It is clear that Jesus is the only way.

You are valuable not because of who you are, but because of whose you are.

What is it that makes you valuable? What makes you feel important? Is it your wealth? The fact that you're well educated? Do you feel important because you get lots of cell phone calls, so that must mean you're popular? Or do you feel valuable because you have a high position of leadership at work?

While it certainly isn't wrong to be wealthy, well educated, popular, or in leadership, we must not let those things define our worth and value, because things can (and likely will) fail us. Cars break down; houses burn down; profits sink down; and with them, our self-worth falls down.

But God declares that you're worth everything to him -- you're worth all Christ offered. You are not your own; you were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). That price is the life of Jesus.

You are precious in God's sight -- you're his child (Ephesians 1:5). Almost every parent would agree that his or her child is the most precious thing in the world; and that's the way God views you! It's no wonder God labels his people as his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 14:2).

Don't let wealth, education, popularity, status, or anything else define your value. Know that you worth everything to God, because you're His.

Something I wrote a while back.


Folds of Eternity

Time folds around itself
Even though there is no crease
No turn and no set direction
Continually and simulatneously
All things are one
Boundless and limitless and eternal

He created
He spoke
Not at the beginning
But within The Beginning
The Lord created all that is
There was no beginning as we think it to be
Just as there is no end

Eternity folds in on itself
Shapeless and formless
But not without order and purpose
It expands and it dances and shifts
Eternity is not a constant fixed measure
It is not a line from here to there

Out of the vast free and formless nature
Of Love itself
He created all that is
And all that ever will be
As tomorrow existed in The Beginning
So I also
I existed even then and was with Him.
A created child
Not begotten but eternal
As I’ve been promised The Eternal Future
Also have I an Eternal Past
They are one in the same

© Rachelle




Lyrics
I'm so sick and tired
of all these things
that drag me down
I've got no where to go
they say that life
is in these hands
you give everything
you give yourself away you give
and still you choke
and find yourself running for the door

come and take me home
lead me to your door
take me where you are
lead me to your door
at least just for a while

its some kind of life
forever days
we're in the cold
unfamiliar way
so take this fear
and fade it out
it won't make me sad
cause I get sentimental lord
in other ways
and I don't want to let me down here anymore

so come and take me home
lead me to your door
take me where you are
lead me to your door
and let me in
just let me in
and let me leave
just let me leave this world
come on now let me leave this world
at least just for a while

Proverbs 31

The passage begins with "Who can find a virtuous woman?" (click link for context). Wow. That's a lot to try and live up to.

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

She is like the merchants ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

She girdeth her loins with strength

She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

She looketh well to the ways of her household

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. 

That sure if a lot to try to live up to. I wonder how many women read this and become frustrated because either they don't feel they can live up to the ideal or because even their efforts go unnoticed, try as they may.

Nonetheless, it's written there for a reason. It's always been a favorite of mine and even though we may never fully achieve it, it's a goal worth striving for and all those things are qualities to be desired.

If Heartaches Were Nickles

New Playlist

Playlist.com won't let you embed anymore. Bummer. There are very few embeddable playlist sites out there. You can, however, create a playable list with youtube, but unless you go to an outside site and get a special code the video window is way too large. I even tried one side that lets you make a small audio only player but there's no option to skip to the next song, which is a problem too.

For now I have a small playlist available (see side column) which will allow skipping past one song and on to the next, but you cannot see the list itself without clicking the link and looking at the playlist on the youtube channel.

Oh well. That's life.

Playlist

Uuugh. 

Playlist changed it's site. The old playlists don't work now. This means I'll have to search for each song again to make a totally new playlist and embed the new code and adjust the width.

Oh well.

P.S. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins was wonderful. Absolutely riveting.

Appreciation

During my morning reading and meanderings around the world wide web and my Bible verse of the day, a common theme seemed for form in my mind.

Too many people don't learn to appreciate where they are and what they have. Always in pursuit of what they believe is better... the proverbial Greener Pasture. But that pasture is an illusion.

God has asked that we learn to find our contentment in what we have. That's the key to happiness.

Happiness isn't about being overwhelmingly giddy or always jumping for joy. Happiness is about acceptance and finding the beauty in the everyday things. Someone who's there for us... the little things they do that we often take for granted.

We all do it at times. We all fail to see the beauty that lies in our own back yard. At times, our own gardens and lawns and walkways don't seem quite as lovely as our neighbors, or those we see in magazines. It's a shame, really, that so many of us believe in the "if only..."

If only, I had that. If only, I had something different than what I have. If only, I had a fancier car. If only, I had a sexier woman/man. If only, I had more money. If only my house were more luxurious.

Well, "if only..." is an illusion and the Bible teaches us that. Where your heart is, that's where your treasure will be. And God knows, if you can't learn to appreciate the treasure you already have, those other things aren't really going to make you happy either. So we must set our hearts on things that are truly of the most value; always remembering that only God Himself can help us see precisely what those things are.

It's all a matter of perspective. All a matter of what you choose to see and focus on.

We should all spend more time enjoying what we have, right in our own back yard, instead of wishing we had our neighbor's. Keep in mind, their yard has weeds and pests and leaves to rake, too many rocks or too few flowers. You simply can't see it from the distance.

What's Going On?

As is obvious, I haven't posted much lately. That's due to several things, one of which is that I've been reading the Hunger Game series by Suzanne Collins. Very good reading. Well written. 

I haven't seen the movie, as I don't go to the theater. I always wait until it's out on DVD. It simply costs too much to go out to see it and I can't pause it and there are more distractions.

The series is great though and I highly recommend it.

Also, our boy shih tzu, Griffin, swallowed a bandana from the groomer. Who'd have thought he could do that? It ended up costing us a trip to the emergency vet (anyone checked those prices lately?) and some serious surgery.

And there was Mother's Day and some doctors appointments and several other things thrown in there. Enough to keep me muddled a bit and not terribly focused on blogging.

I recently saw two of the cardinals (see previous posts). At least two of the three survived. Possibly all three but I have only seen two. I know it's them because they have a strange mohawk head. Two females. They look well fed and I'm thinking they have just left their parents.

Anyway... that's my update. 

Stay tuned for an actual blog post some time soon.

Cover

When another group or person covers a song like "Comfortably Numb" is has to be really good to interest me much. Particularly a song as close to perfection as the original Pink Floyd version. But this one does intrigue me and there's a dreamy quality to the vocals... something ethereal that they brought to it. I like it. It won't replace the original, but it's pretty good.

Far Away

It's not uncommon for me to become overwhelmed by the multiple thoughts in my head. Until it calms down, it is simply too difficult to articulate.

I will say this, however... I wonder how many people understand how to crawl inside the music. Crawl inside and pull it around you like a blanket, until you don't know, for that brief time, where you end and the music begins.

Anyway, I'll just post a song for now. This is a nice one for today.

Far Away
Dishwalla


Just the other day, I was looking for myself again
Trying to put back all the pieces, back to the way they were
Sometimes it's not so easy, when you have so many voices tell you what to do
I think I've got it now, but I can't be too sure

Far away as I shoot across the sky
Far away to the corners of my mind
Sooner or later it will slowly come back to me

If I could build a spaceship
Would you fly away with me, or would you stay?
A million miles an hour
Flying circles as we orbit round the earth
If I stuck my head out the window, do you think it'd clear my head or would it burst?
I guess it's all the same, but at least it wouldn't hurt

Far away as I shoot across the sky
Far away to the corners of my mind

And the voices in my head
I think they've finally gone away
Far away (far away)
Far away (far away)
Sooner or later they will slowly come back to me

Fledgeling Cardinals

The third post/update on our little Cardinal chicks.They are fledgelings now and I can't believe how much they have grown in just 9 days. It's amazing. I don't know how many more good pictures I'll be able to get now that they have left the nest. They'll soon be a handful for Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal and difficult to keep up with.

Cardinals still feed and tend to their young for 25-50 days after they've left the nest. Then they mate again and have a late summer brood.















At 8 days old, they have grown so much they fill up the nest.














Leaving the nest at 9 days, I can't believe I actually got this shot.













Posing for his picture.














This one looks a little more disheveled.

Happy Easter

"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there."
- Clarence W. Hall

"Thy dead men shall live , together with my dead body shall they arise . Awake and sing , ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."
- Isaiah 26: 19


This is an old song by Carmen. A musical skit, of sorts, more than a song. It has a touch of humor but it's actually quite moving. The lyrics are included.

More Cardinals Nesting

The three babies cardinals are thriving. I'd estimate they've tripled in size, if not more. Here's a picture of Daddy Bird and the growing babies at 3 days old, then at 6 days old.













Above, a fine looking Daddy Cardinal.













Above, they are 3 days old, they are finally audibly chirping.













Above, at 6 days old, you can tell their eyes are beginning to open. The one on the far left hasn't yet swallowed the little green bug that mommy bird just poked in it's mouth.

More on the nesting habits of Cardinals HERE

Cardinals Nesting

A pair of Cardinals built a nest in a large bush outside our bathroom window. We've been watching Mrs. Cardinal lay and brood her eggs for about two weeks. Finally, this morning, the first one hatched. Then the next and, at last, the third.

I've been talking to her through the window and occasionally opening the window and talking to her through the screen. She has tolerated me more than I expected. A few times she stayed on the nest even while I pushed the screen out far enough to snap a shot. Photos aren't so clear when taken through window screen. Go figure.


Above are three speckled cardinal eggs.


Above, the mother cardinal broods her three eggs.


Above, the first hatched baby, just minutes old.


Above, we see all three eggs have finally hatched.
This is their first day of life. Weak and wobbly, and very tiny.