Have you been High-Jacked?

Protect your heart and mind from all the virtual garbage. Easier said than done.
Have you wondered? Wondered what the world is coming to? I have for some time, asked why the limits keep getting moved and the bar has reached an all time low. the bar has been removed, or buried so deep, it cannot be found.  I feel like any and all opinions should be considered, but never ever accept hate as the message of choice. Seems more often than not with all the opinions and keyboard junkies, trolls, as they have been called, sitting there waiting to pounce has become a favorite pastime for many. I believe that the true journalists no longer have a voice, or have chosen not to defend to the depths of such rediculous stinky accusations from all corners to defend their profession. In the same way that Christianity has been high-jacked, so has journalism.

I suspect they might feel like their profession has been hijacked.
Like any noble profession there are standards, ethics and accountability. Those have gone by the wayside along with truth, integrity, and a desire to excel. Sadly, politics brings out the very worst of all the people who think that their opinion is always right and the only one that matters. Great journalism required studying the subject, checking the facts, and reporting objectively. If this sounds new, it most likely has never been heard by all the keyboard quarterbacks with all the answers.

I have been, and continue to be inquisitive. Since at a young age, someone told me that "just because it is popular, it does not mean it is right." Thus, I have always questioned the status quo. Not so much
 as a sport, but to have a better understanding. Now, when I hear something that is outrageous, or sounds impossible to believe, I question it. Always have, always will.  Some have called me a rebel, maybe because I do not agree with what is popular or support crazy opinions.
To that, I say  "Guilty."  No shame in my game for speaking out and speaking up. I would encourage everyone to read more, listen more, think for yourself, and, form your own opinions based on the truth. It is so much easier to keep up with than all the negative garbage that's flooding the digital world.
The TRUTH, will always come out, sooner or later, and while you are waiting, go ahead and do your homework, seek the truth, and question. Always question, not only your ideas but the things that are poured into your mind everyday via tv-Internet, and the world.
Now, I am off to high jack a good book!
Until next time- take the High Road, not the High-Jacked pot holed unpaved version.

Jesus said, "you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free. From John 8:32

High tide - how high is the water?

A trip to the coast, if you spend any time at all there will teach you. I love to watch the ships come in. With each wave I am reminded of the never ending love and grace found in the source of life itself.  Some days our oceans are calm and the waves are gentle, guiding us along. The sun is shining and the surf is up. Weather conditions are near perfect. Do you see it? The Horizon, it's just over that next wave, so you keep paddling toward the perfect wave. You rest for a brief moment, watching, Hoping to catch the perfect wave. Paddle, faster, now pop up on that board and stand- balancing, steadying yourself- there; ride that wave all the wave out. That felt good didn't it? Let's do it again!  Paddle, pop up, balance ride and repeat.  When the waves slow to a gentle roll and the breakers are gone, you can be sure that tomorrow they will return. Hopeful to get there in time to catch some of the power, you return to work or routine or what ever fills your time. Tomorrow, is never a given, we have hope that the sun will shine and the tides will return and retreat.
   I thought about that this early morning as I woke much earlier than I had hoped. Another day, and another chance to make the most of it.  So I popped up on the morning with a full 2 hours to make a difference-@3:30 am to vacumn and dust and tend things inside, before the  sunrise and the hope of catching the perfect wave.  But wait, I am not living on the coast. In the big old heart of Texas we have had lots of water, in fact, some say too much. It has caused disaster flooding and claimed some lives. Navigating the waters here is a lot different and not nearly as welcoming as the coastal waters. Flood waters are muddy and carry lots of things that get in the way of their path, with no direction or boundary when they are out of their banks.
Yet, all the while, God is there, in the midst to help us through our storms. Faithful to never give up on us, he proved it when he went to the cross. All you need to do is ask, He is the only Life preserver you will really ever need. Put it on and wear it proudly! Until the next wave or storm- keep on paddling. Xoxo

Trust your heart but verify. Stay on the road.

This looks familiar, have I been here before? As I look around this pin on my road map, it looks so familiar, I have been here before! Just when I thought I was lost, I see clearly now.
 It began 3 years ago with a change of relationship status and a new address. a new start if you want to look at it that way but, I frame it a little differently. I call it survival in a world of broken people. the most broken of all, me.
I see it! it is out there, the hope of reconciliation and getting back to what was. it is not going to happen this trip, maybe next time I stop there. There, being a place of Love and rest and safety. A place where you can lay your whole heart out there to soak in all the sunshine and warmth. For the last 3+ years I have been creating a new place of Love and rest and safety. A very protected zone around the heart of my heart.  A place that looks and feels differently, a place where healing takes place. I call it my hurt free pain free safe space.  It is a humble place in my heart that has accepted the failures of the past, the hurts and brokenness of my heart and laid them all out there in the sun to dry out.  This place of  quiet reflection has had a little noise going on lately. The noise  mainly of my emotions waking up, feelings that had been neatly packed away for many years and forgotten in a storage room somewhere. The feelings that stir the heart of a young girl when she sees something beautiful, the "Oh My" moments. Those feelings. They have been commanding a good portion of my time lately, besides figuring out the day to day making it through the stops and starts and just living.
My last road trip started in 1997. lasted 11 years, it is in the rearview mirror for the last 4 years.
I do not need another road trip as such, just a push pin, a marker on this map that will let me breathe and wait. Wait for not what the next destination will take out of me, but all I can pack into it. I know that if I just breathe, and wait, the map will be revealed to me. the feelings of sharing my heart with another human being that way will have to wait, until the path is clear. The Master planner of my life, God, has this. I have been trusting him mostly all my life since about the age of 7 at my first holy communion.  The wrong turns in life are just that, getting off the paved road and taking a gravel road to see what is there. Now don't get me wrong, I still trust, and I still love, but it is a much deeper trust and love that I have ever imagined. Not going to take it back, learning everyday to trust more and more, and knowing I cannot do this alone. Realizing I have never been alone, God has always been with me. What He has in store for the next years of my life on earth remains a mystery, but I know it is for good.
I almost made another wrong turn recently, with my desire to satisfy the longings of my heart. Thankfully, the low fuel light came on and I had to stop, check my heart and refill all the love.
I have made so many new friends in the last 3 years, that has been part of Gods plan, to surround me with loving caring people. for that I am forever grateful. 
"For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope" Jeremiah 29:11