{ I Fell Asleep at the Library }

 

I fell asleep at the library

As I browsed through a dog magazine

I dreamed that my dogsled was winning

The closest race ever seen

What a shock when I found myself wakened

Yelling “MUSH!” to a kid in a chair

I was standing atop a computer

And whipping its cords in the air.

I fell asleep at the library

With Extreme Sports locked in my hand

Exposed on an ice-covered mountain

In a windy and dangerous land

What a SURPRISE I encountered

Returning from Dreamland to see

I was scaling the non-fiction bookshelf

Preparing to climb to floor three.

I fell asleep at the library

While reading a mystery book.

 I slurped on a neon green popsicle

While tracking the trail of a crook

I awoke and the childrens’ librarian

Was staring and glaring at me,

I’d been licking the sides of the pages

(with drool dripping down to my knee.)

I fell asleep at the library

While hearing a pirate tale

Here I am on a ship in my nightmare

And the mateys are hoisting the sail

“How strange,” said one dad to his daughter

(As I look down into the deep)

“He’s walking that line on the carpet.”

(But I’m walking the plank in my sleep)

I fell asleep at the library

Now in a big cozy chair

In my dreams I ran through a forest

Chased by a big purple bear

He grabbed ahold of my shoulder

And opened his mouth real slow…..

But then I heard mom say, “Hey buddy!”

“Wake up now —  it’s time to go!”

© Lisa M. Luciano 2015  😊

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/rhyme/

Rhyme“>

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{ Magnetic }

I didn’t get a free book or anything for writing this mini review ~just so you know. ☺

I just discovered a book I want to read: Why Nobody Wants to Be Around Christians Anymore…and How 4 Acts of Love Will Make Your Faith Magnetic by Thom and Joani Schultz.

LOVE.  It is how the early Christians showed they were radically different. It’s still how we, as Christians in the 21st century, shine as “lights in the world.”

True agape love is rare & magnetic.

Agape [Greek word for love] says, “I will love you when you are unlovable.  I will love you still more when you don’t love me back. I will keep loving you no matter what.

I haven’t read the book yet, but I peeked…

The 4 acts of love are:

• Radical Hospitality
• Fearless Conversation
• Genuine Humility
• Divine Anticipation

Yep,  I’m gonna learn a lot from this book 🙂

“First John 4:9 says, “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (The Message). What does it mean to “live through” someone? Jesus is reliable and, once you get to know him, irresistible. His love never fails, and that’s the kind of power source that never runs out. His is the kind of light that never dims. Wouldn’t it be great if it were obvious to anyone who knew us that we were living through Jesus? It can be.” 
― Thom Schultz, Why Nobody Wants to Be Around Christians Anymore: And How 4 Acts of Love Will Make Your Faith Magnetic

Magnetic“>

{ Life Lurches }

After traveling on level lands

(Blessedly monotonous)

Like a train,

Life lurches.

Rushing on

Dangerous and fast

Taking my breath away

Pressing through unknown tunnels

And hairpin turns

Until the Conductor

Guides and glides into familiar flatness

I smile, sigh and wait

For the next surprise.

 

photo ~ Antoine Beauvillain
Lurch“>

{Root Canal & Cucumbers}

These are called gutta-percha points.  They are approximately 28 mm long & used as root filling material in dental treatments.

I recline in the chair, hazy and apprehensive.

“So…what will happen today?” I ask on this third visit to tackle my wayward tooth.

“So, Dr. Mike will check the tooth, and if it looks good, he will insert one of these — obviously without the handle.”

It looks like a toothpick with a small bulb at the end.  Surely the bulb goes IN and the toothpick part is the handle?

Nope.  The toothpick-like structure is the part that gets slipped into the tube-like canal behind the tooth.

I am sitting in a dentist chair, mouth gaping, praying that the numbing agent doesn’t wear off.

It’s a solitary moment in one’s life.

Bantering dental jargon flies over my head.

My thoughts swing like a pendulum between those prayers and the plans I have to process buckets of cucumbers from the garden later today.

I’ll be chopping and slicing cukes and filling the refrigerator with pickle jars.

For lunch we will eat cukes and dip, and other finger foods. Without toothpicks.

 

Solitary“>

{ Making Lists }

Is it fact or urban legend: that checking boxes off my lists releases endorphins?

It’s funny to think of a time when people didn’t make lists

or use planners

or phone calendars.

Did the pioneer women check boxes off lists?

 

Get the fire going

Catch, kill and pluck a chicken

Churn butter from yesterday’s cream

Start the soap making

Then start breakfast

 

(They got more done in a day than I do in a week.)

 

“If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.” — Woody Allen

 

Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Organize“>

Word Prompt of the Day:  Organize

{ Mo’s Jump–as told to me by 13-year old Massimo. }

This isn’t Mo.  But it looks authentic to the story.

When I arrived at the northern Minnesota cabin, my uncle’s home looked calm and inviting.

I had no idea that 24 hours later I would be jumping off a cliff into a lake.

Later, I heard about the jumping rock while devouring a hearty plate of spaghetti. I didn’t determine to do it then. I looked forward to seeing the rock, and possibly watching somebody else jump off.

After a solid night’s sleep, morning activities, and more food, we piled into the boat and sped across the lake.

We arrived at the rock, which stood three stories high above the sparkling waters.

I stood there at the top. It seemed like half an hour before I got my courage up.

After I decided to jump, I ran and leaped into the air. When I landed in the water, my hands stung. But otherwise, nothing hurt.

When I swam back to the boat, smiling Julia let down a rope and I climbed up. Grandma and Uncle Nick said, “Congratulations!”

It was too windy to talk on the ride home. I was left to my own thoughts.

“If I had the chance, I might do it again. Then again, I might not.”

This is the amazing Mo.

 

“There is a big difference in life between a jump and a fall. A jump is about courage and faith, something the world is in short supply of these days. A fall is –just a fall.” 

--Ian Morgan Cron

“They say: Think twice before you jump. I say: Jump first and then think as much as you want!”--Osho

“He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch.” 

--Jean-Luc Godard

{ Birthday Wisdom & Spumoni }

Spumoni Ice Cream

Today is my birthday.  Though gray hairs are glaring at me in the mirror, I don’t care.

I am hoping to bite into some serious chocolate birthday cake and spumoni ice cream (if I can find my favorite flavor in the store.)

First, I wanted to bite into some nuggets of wisdom from the Bible book of Proverbs, chapter 10. They are listed here & paraphrased by me.

These bites are time-tested and calorie-free.

Enjoy.

1. Don’t be lazy.  It leads to poverty. (Proverbs 10:4) By the way, August 10th is also National Lazy Day.  Ironic.
2. When you indulge in upright, wise, holy living, your memory will be a blessing to those who knew you. (Proverbs 10:7)
3. A babbling fool will come to ruin– (perhaps by her own mouth?) Don’t babble. Think about what you say before you say it. (Proverbs 10:8)
4. Love covers all offenses, irritations, and little annoyances. (Proverbs 10:12)
5. Foolish talking will bring ruin dangerously close. (Proverbs 10:14)
6. When you let a lot of words exit your mouth, you will err – without a doubt. (Proverbs 10:19a)
7. Whoever restrains her lips is prudent (wise, sensible, well-advised.) (Proverbs 10:19b)
8. The blessing of God makes a person truly rich.  And, that blessing doesn’t come with bad side effects. (Proverbs 10:22)
9. To a wise person, finding truth and applying it is FUN. (Proverbs 10:23)
10. Staying on God’s path is protection. (Proverbs 10:29)

Glaring“>

Word Prompt of the Day:  glaring

Cake Photo Credit: Markus Spiske

{ Sixty Plus Cheers for Clee }

To amble (word prompt of the day) means: to take a leisurely, pleasurable walk.

This is the way my 60+ year old cousin Clee got her college degree.  After working different jobs and becoming a homeowner; and in the middle of her creative life, walking the lakes, loving her life and family, she accomplished a milestone.

She’s 60+ and just completed her architecture degree.

I don’t even think the college kids who shared her classrooms knew that she was old enough to really remember the Beatles.

While participating in projects; making arches in the brickyard and constructing cool metallic screens, she quietly ignored her age and got the job done.

I’m really proud of that girl in the robe, hat and tassel 🙂

Amble“>

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/amble/

{ William O. Cushing }

William O. Cushing, hymnwriter

Why do old photos look so scary?

This is actually a nice man: pastor, generous giver and hymnwriter. In the nineteenth century, when $1,000 was a lot of money, William O. Cushing gave his entire life savings to pay for the education of a blind girl.

One of his earliest hymns was the song, “When He Cometh,” which compared Christians to jewels whom Christ would gather when he came.

William Orcutt Cushing was born in 1823. By reading scripture for himself as a teenager, he became a believer. At eighteen he was convinced the Lord wanted him to become a minister.

When He Cometh~ hymn based on Zechariah 9:16-17

On that day the Lord their God will save them,
    as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
    they shall shine on his land.
 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!

When He Cometh

When He cometh, when He cometh, To make up His jewels,

All His jewels, precious jewels,

His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,
His brightness adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty,
Bright gems for His crown.

He will gather, He will gather
The gems for His kingdom;
All the pure ones, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.

Little children, little children,
Who love their Redeemer,
Are the jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Source material from here.

Word prompt of the day: shimmer

Shimmer“>

{ Daily Zucchini }

Daily Zucchini

Supplied like modern manna

Eat & don't complain.