One Drum One Life

I've always danced to the beat of my own drum. I've always been slightly different than the rest of my friends. I have a tendency to be deep and go deeper still. Not everyone appreciates this and that's okay.

I don't appreciate shallowness so I guess we're even or at least balanced. What's the lyric from the band Jars of Clay (one of my favs)?

"Blessed are the shallow for depth they'll never find".

I search for depth. I search for meaning. I search for truth. I seek righteousness. I seek love. I seek to understand and to be patient. I mostly seek God and I must say, I've never been disappointed for He has met me more than half way.

But I understand why some don't dare search for deeper meaning. It gets sticky. It's not easy. It's not easy to look directly at yourself, scars and all. It's awful sometimes. We can be so human. We fall. We crawl. We scrape. We hide.

Again, quoting Jars of Clay

"If I were not so weak, if I were not so cold, if I were

not so scared of being broken growing old, I would be . . . frail".

Wow. That's so deep and awesome. Think about that. All the things we want to be in this lifetime - we can be all of them - yet we're still frail.

Perhaps that's the blessed message of love. You are frail. You cannot live this life without the Holy Intercession of God. Well, you can try, but depth you'll never find.

All knowing God still puts breath in your lungs every morning. He puts love in your heart and intellect in your brains and strength in your bodies for many reasons. Mostly His own.

Go deeper if you want to find the real purpose in your life. While there is still time and breath in your lungs, go deeper still.

Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

This blog is dedicated to readers that are interested to learn about others through love, kindness and support. These are the readers that I am interested in reaching and corresponding with.

There are some however, that come out from the darkness with their ugly, disruptive, adolescent mindsets. Be aware of them. They are imposters and merely a distraction.

If someone like this contacts you, rebuke them instantly. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. They know who they are and they would prefer to remain imposters. Reveal their true identity and they become powerless. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

Children of the light continue to shine on. God is watching.

As for the rest, get saved man, get saved.

Love and life are made manifest every day in every breath we take, if we choose them to be.

Love and life can be included with morning tea, afternoon lunch, dinner and dessert and if you're lucky, everything in between.

Despite our circumstances.

I realize how hard that is, how hard life can sometimes be, and how easy it is to give in and compromise where we shouldn't. But don't. Don't backslide. Stay the love and life course.

1st Corinthians 13:4-7

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

13"And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Realize that by the Grace of Almighty God you are here but for a moment on this planet, in this universe, in this galaxy with the rest of human and spirit kind as well as all living things.

What you choose to do with this moment effects the entire universe, least of all your individual world.

So, in the face of a life or death choice "choose life" as Jesus commanded quoting Moses.

The Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy talks about blessings and curses, life and death. This is really powerful. I've read through the Old and New Testaments and these passages have always stayed with me. Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy with means "second law". After forty years the Israelites were about the enter the Promised Land of Canaan. But before they did, Moses wanted to remind them of their history, all that God had done for them, and the laws they had to continue to obey as God's chosen people. Bet you didn't know that it was Moses who told the people to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength' in order to continue to enjoy God's blessing.

Interesting to note that these Holy Words are only 320 pages into the Bible. I've included the whole Chapter.

Deuteronomy 30
Prosperity After Turning to the LORD

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.

5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today.

9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Offer of Life or Death

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Can I get an AMEN! Wow. Moses was serious. Loving God has many benefits. Choosing to turn your back on God, not such a good idea.

The choice since the very beginning has always been ours. It is there for the taking. You can either embrace life or not, blessings or not. Be prepared though. Your choices have consequences.

As for me and my house, we are and always shall be in great anticipation of the continued blessings the King of the Universe prepares to bestow upon us. We shall receive them with great gratitude and humility and will declare that we have these things and can do these things because of the Great God we serve.

If you are experiencing a deeper awakening than ever before, you are not alone. There are millions of people on this planet at this very moment who are sending out Agape love, healing, and prayers, despite their circumstances, to everyone and anyone in need.

You can tap into and receive that energy by focusing your attention on love and life and healing. Ghandi said "be the change you want to see in the world". Begin by praying for the world, your world.

Choose life and be a part of the shift in our mindsets to seek after the things that are not of this world.

Dreams and Visions

Last night's dream was interesting. I dreamt it was a beautiful, calm, still night. I was alone, standing in what appeared to be an alley - or my backyard standing next to a familiar fence (we just put in a new fence). I was in a safe place. In the light of the night I saw some mist moving around me and then I looked up to see a full moon. I was completely filled with the knowledge of His Presence and I began to pray thankfully to My Most High God . . .

...would you believe something off into the distance called me away and I woke up to a ringing phone. ugggghhhhh!

I forgot about the dream until now. Truly, what a blessing to have such a great and awesome dream. My immediate interpretation was...Holy Emmanuel (meaning God with us; or God with me). Wow! That's humbling.

Psalm 8:4 "...what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him"?

I spend time in prayer seeking His Holy Countenance and then I have a dream like this one with Holy Mist and I know God is with me. I know God makes my path straight because I ask Him to. When the unpredictability of life happens, as it does everyday, I pray. And I tell you from the depths of my soul that Romans 8:28 is true.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." People always leave that last part out...they always say "...God works all things together for the good..." period and they stop there. But the rest of that Scripture is extremely important, "...for those that love Him, who have been called according to His purpose".

I believe we are all called to the Creators' higher purpose and whoever responds with openness and love and is ready for duty -- get this -- r e c e i v e s. Receives the necessary gifts, talents and faith to minister to and heal the world. That's what life is all about. Simple huh?

I am compelled to pray, seek and communicate about spiritual matters. I am in awe of the love I feel inside and I believe it can only be emanating from and returning to its source.

I make myself forever available to that source of light, love and miracles.

I believe that dream was God returning to me all the time that I put in. God knows the spiritual manifestation inside of me that is growing and is eternal. He knows that's the part of myself that I love to nurture most. He should know since He's placed that desire inside of me and He reinforces those notions every day (and every night : ).

Mighty Lessons Learned

One of the biggest mistakes that I've ever made was not allowing myself to feel something, whatever that may have been at the time.

Perhaps I was going through a painful experience and instead of facing it head on, praying about it, talking about it (with the right people) I would either pretend I wasn't feeling it, or numb myself by getting into even more trouble.

That set me back monumentally. It's self sabotage.

I realize we do these things because it's hard to feel bad feelings, sad feelings, insecure or frightening feelings. Sometimes life is not all sweetness and air. Sometimes it's damp and heavy and musty and depressing.

I have found that over time it is best to acknowledge and accept whatever it is. You have to eventually anyway if you want to lead a healthy, productive, evolved, illuminating, conscious, forgiving, nurturing (to yourself as well as others) and gift filled life.

If you allow yourself to turn away from that which haunts you, you will only continue to be haunted. Perhaps it will show up when you least expect it.

We trick ourselves into thinking 'this or that' doesn't bother us. That it's all under control. But then the ripples on the surface of our lake break, and the cycle of pain and denial begins all over again.

It becomes a re-living of that very experience that you thought you'd put behind you. It taunts you. It teases you. It has all the power over you as long as you choose not to face it.

Once you do face it head on, however, the flood gates of anxiety, fear, pain, sorrow, remorse, anger, they all release and come to the surface. At that point, you can either turn away because it's too much or you can work through it. You might get sicker before you get better, but like any infection with a little care it will clear up.

I have many emotional scars that I tend to. All mighty lessons learned. I don't try to deny that they exist or that I once felt a certain way in particular. I am who I am. I went through what I went through. Life happens to all of us and it makes us stronger in the end, I am convinced because I am proof.

Today, I am living in the present moment. If something arises on the surface and bothers me, I tend to look deeper to find the root (if there is one). I will allow myself to feel. Feel the sorrow. Feel the loss. Feel the insecurity of it all. If it is a deep rooted feeling and I know the origination, I pray and meditate and give that over to God. I 'give it over' to God by releasing it into the air, into the Spirit, into Grace.

God waits all day for us to give Him our struggles and He happily takes them and replaces them with peace, strength and a sense of space where there was none before. That space can then be used by God to teach us about the true essence of the strength in growing and evolving from humanity into Spirit.

Embrace the evolution and rejoice! What you are to be you are still becoming.

Love & Namaste

With Faith Like A Child . . .

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love photography. These are some images that I am very proud of. They make me laugh. They make me cry. Mostly, they make me smile.

Following are some of my most favorite people on the planet. They are the future of both spirit and humanity. In some cases, I believe the image captures both. They are intelligent, hysterical, creative, soulful, playful, generous, warm and full of love (to say the least).

* * *

Loveglee

If I hear this is as good as it gets one more time, I'll scream.
It's as if everyone is sleeping trying to wake from a bad dream.
Where dulldrums and daily-to-dos are a nuisance and a bore.
Day in, day out, life has become to some a chore.

When did we become so sad and so cyncial?
Probably when we made hand washing so clinical.
Everything we do, we disect and over analyze.
Every good deed we berate and cleverly criticize.

It's no wonder most children today are on prozac.
It's less about hyperactivity and more about lack.
Lack of joy, self esteem and a soft place to land
and being given a lift up when they can't even stand.

But how do we lift up others when we can't lift up ourselves?

Perhaps start by thanking the cups on the shelves
and the dishes and the forks and the butter knives and such.
They are waiting for you and don't ask for much.
Just keep them clean and at the ready they will be
to hold your toast and cradle your tea.

And don't forget the food that's stored up in your pantry.
Like manna from above, those with eyes let them see.

Taking out the garbage is a ritual to hold dear
every day, every week, every month, of every year
is a new opportunity to clean up your mess

To get rid of the clutter and perhaps live with less.
Less of the sour, bitter and tainted
More room for thankful, grateful and sainted
As good as it gets? We need some humility.

We need some lovepassion. We need some loveglee.

Tonight thank the bed that you'll fall into without looking.
Tonight thank your husband for doing the cooking.
Tonight thank the stars for wanting our wishes.
Tonight thank your Maker for overflowing dishes.

Tonight thank your prayers and your Spirit for praying.
Tonight kiss your wife and thank her for staying.
Tonight thank the locks and the doors that secure you.
Tonight thank your dreams that inspire and implore you.

Tonight if grateful is all that you are
Tomorrow's road will not seem so far.
Tonight if a thankful heart is truly yours
Tomorrow you'll gladly do your chores.

New New

Obviously this is the old pool coming down. It was great while it lasted and we had a lot of fun in it. I'm pretty sure the girls hold the record for volley ball but the guys might protest that notion.



















Old pool gone. Old fence in background still standing. No privacy. See cars?



















Ah, much better. Now, they can't see us and we can't see them. Sweet.

New pool going up. Took about four hours. The water is another story completely.

New pool in place. Water going in slooooowly. Takes a long time to fill up a pool. So far about a day and 1/2.


























Precious water. I'm trying not to spill a drop as we put gallons into the pool. I'll use what's in the bucket to water the plants and bird baths. I've used about 5 buckets full so far.

Next we connect the filter and set up the deck alongside so we can actually get in the pool. The water is really cold so getting in the pool probably won't happen for a while.

Let me take this moment to thank God for all of His blessings and abundance that we should be able to have a beautiful house with a yard, a new fence to replace the old fence, a new pool to replace the old pool, enough water to empty the old pool (old pool water used to water the pines behind our house) and enough water to fill the new pool.

Extra water. What an amazing blessing.

God is great. He has always provided more than enough. God be praised.

Love & Namaste,

The Glory of God Shone

Ree & Jim's Rainbow

Photo taken on cell phone.

Yesterday, late in the afternoon the sky opened and there was a downpour. I had to run a pick up my husband from work. On our way back, the rain began to subside and as we were driving, I said over and over "There has to be a rainbow"! "Where is it"?

I was looking all around and just after I had said it one more time, Jimmy said "There it is"!

And there it was. We pulled over as fast as we could and we were ecstatic. It was magical. We love rainbows. We see them all the time. I think we will them into existence (don't we all).

They remind me that God is with each every one of us. Of course Holy Scripture refers to it this way ... Genesis 9

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

That's what I'm talking about. God actually reminding us that though the road may be rough at times, it gets better. It gets better because God in us makes it so. Embrace God and you embrace the Illuminating Light of Life. The Light that leads the way.

Yesterday's rainbow and Gods' promises are eternal. Yayy!

Love, Light & Namaste

Out With The Old . . .

Spring is a great time to spruce things up on the outside as well as the inside.

We've painted the outside of our house and we've taken down the old pool. By next weekend, it will be replaced. As if by magic.

No, not really. Taking down an old pool is a ton of back breaking work and we did it ourselves.

It turned out to be a pretty smooth operation. Jim and I compliment one another. He rips and tears through and I am methodical, so between the two of us, we look up and stuff's done already.

We're both so thankful that we're healthy enough to do this type of work. I know a lot of people that aren't. It was very satisfying. This is our home. These are our projects and we sink our teeth into them. We wouldn't have it any other way.