BonnieLeigh


It took a great while!

BonnieLeigh Bronte Hendry

December’s blessing.

Thirty hours of labor to a C-section, they are both doing great. Below is BonnieLeigh’s baby blanket pieced by Great Aunt Rhonda Leigh Bronte Brown.

High Hopes/ Expectations

High hopes, youthful dreams, and expectations come true with planning and hard work. Dreams without feet are balloons that float away or pop. Youthful dreams need honing, just like our thinking needs honing.

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another. God calls us to train each generation.

WE NEED strong leaders in our church. We need men to be the spiritual leaders at home, at the church, in the community, and in our government. OMGosh, I think of our Founding Fathers who formed our Constitution on biblical principles. These men weren’t alone. Women took a stand, too. They argued, worked, and honed this document as a construct for all people to live. America was the country that ended slavery and the country that was the catalyst for ending it worldwide.

Perfection may be a goal usually unattainable, but a goal to work towards.

I heard a true story once about the African Elephant. Men hunted for the big bull elephant, which had a devastating effect on the herd. The young bulls went wild, attacking the herd, villages, etc., and had to be put down. The big bulls were gone to train them. Today, I see young bulls (young men and women) running around without purpose or direction. Some find causes to fight for, others fight self-serving avenues, but most get into trouble. God designed the family with a man and a woman to train their children. Remember, the family was established as the basic societal unit from which the community grows.

The Jews waited for their Messiah to come.
Some believed and some did not.
Some could see the beauty of his arrival,
scriptures to attest and authenticate.
We wait today for his return.
Some believe, and some do not.
Our hope is in Jesus.

I remember this song from my childhood. The ant doesn’t work alone. Hard work and determination lead to success. Train up children, and they will find their way through life’s problems. I believe God’s Word is true.

Just what makes that little old ant
Think he'll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can't
Move a rubber tree plant

But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopes
He's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your gettin' low
'Stead of lettin' go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

When troubles call, and your back's to the wall
There a lot to be learned, that wall could fall

All problems just a toy balloon
They'll be bursted soon
They're just bound to go pop
Oops there goes another problem kerplop
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Gratitude Nourishes the Heart

As gratefulness flows from your heart and touches the lives around you, it becomes a blessing.

Flip a switch, and there is light. Turn a knob for warm water, cold water, drinkable sweet water. Simple blessings, luxuries that millions do not have.

Not one day is like the other. Each day is a gift to appreciate. With our eyes, we see the world. With our hearts, we feel life’s vibrations. A life filled with gratitude is a sweet awareness of the day’s blessing.

Don’t let hate, disappointment, or a grandiose sense of self-importance steal your joy. Do not covet what others have, be thankful for who you are.

Piglet noted that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude. A. A. Milne.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith,... and overflowing with gratitude. Colossians 2:7

Country Living/V Sharp
I am greatly blessed
I am highly favoured
I am deeply loved
And so grateful.
https://www.everydaygyaan.com/release-expectation-and-experience-appreciation/

Hide

My first thought was of how I’m hidden in God’s hand. In heaven and on earth, God is present and near. I’m enclosed both behind and before. Things I cannot see or understand are clear to Him. Darkness and light are the same to Him. His sight is like an eagle by day and an owl by night.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Psalms 139 apply to my earthly body and my soul. God knows me like parents know their children. When children are playing in the backyard, one child cries, and the mother gets up. Parents can interpret a baby’s cry by saying he’s fussy, hungry, or lonely.

As we grow in the Lord, he gives us hind feet and makes us walk in high places. (Habakkuk 3:19) He encloses us both before and behind and goes before us. Jesus said to come and rest when your burdens are heavy. Let me teach you, for I am gentle at heart and will give you rest. (Matt 11: 28-30)

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land
He hideth my life in the depths of his love
And covers me there with his hand
And covers me there with his hand

When our work on this earth is done, we will be with the true rock of ages, the cornerstone of our salvation. I’ve hidden my soul in the cleft of his hand.

Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord is my strength, and He has made my feet like a hind’s feet.

Psalms 139: 5 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before. And laid Thy hand upon me.

Wander: Don’t let our Veterans wander, bring them home. Help them find peace.

Veteran’s Day is a day to say, “I see you.”

How we remember
is how we heal.
Look, see the tangible.
Say I'm here 
I see you
I will listen

To wander is to move about aimlessly or to stray or get lost. We ought to look and see how our veterans wander and are at a loss for words by pulling out of Afghanistan. The 13 soldiers who died, Americans left behind, were supplying the enemy with the ammunition used to kill our citizens who were left behind.

It takes time to look and see the tangible sacrifices that veteran families endure daily. The effects of war on military families are vast, varying, and lasting. We enjoy the liberties today at a cost we are unaware of, paid by others who serve to protect our freedoms.

Wondering where to start? Look a little deeper to find a veteran you can support and encourage. Pray daily for honor and peace over our nation’s military and our brothers and sisters who are on the front lines, keeping the peace.

This is how we remember and how we heal. To really stop and say I see you and will listen to your stories.

Veteran/D-Day
My Step-Dad: S E Pierce

For my brother, Marcus Bronte (Army), and James Willis Bronte (my Dad, Korean War/ Marine), Charles Riley (Army), Thomas Ballard (Air Force), and Donald Beel.

Gran and Fairy Tale Fishin’

Fairytale Fishin'

Let’s go to the pond. 
Fairytale fishing is best-
when Gramps comes along. 

No buckets, no boats,
And no carrying large totes. 
Just Grandpa and me. 

A pole in each hand
Crickets wait by the pond bank 
Gramps catches our bait. 

A nibble, a tug-
A fisherman feels the line-
Waits to jerk the hook. 

A flip-flopping, splash 
Reeling in a big fat bass. 
Little ones go free. 
My Gran

is an alien,
not the kind from outer space
but another place.

Tock-Tick, tock-tick, tock
Gran's house mingles with the past
Time ripples backward

What, no game controls!
Gran's and electronic foe
Her phone sits holstered.

But, I'm never bored.
I made the mistake of saying so-
once.

Gran swishes me off
to hunt for hidden treasures
with only one clue.

Treasures lie within.
Only the bravest of braves
dare enter-'the Boardroom'

She's a game wizard
I'm the assigned scorekeeper
We battle with cards.

Gran's the marble champ
Her marbles have names-Galaxy
Star Dust, Jupiter.

The universe rules.
She's the brightest star around
I believe it's true.

We follow all rules
though we rearrange a few
Mom is cool with that.

I pick the veggies.
Cheesy cheese and pizza sauce
topping my deep crust.

Peel, double whop-POP!
Biscuits laid out, cut in half.
Fried, light, and golden.

Crispy and warm, Yum!
Sprinkle on sugar dust for
a delicious treat.

Sometimes, I forget
Hold your tongue, hang your towel
after the shower.

Growing up is hard.
Every day learning is new.
But I'm not alone.

Gran's shoulder is there.
Reminding me of blessings
in following rules.

Mom's dismayed to see
fingerprint flowers displayed
on the windowpanes.

Leave them there, my dear.
They remind me Hope was here.
Then Grand winks at me.

We made those flowers
with air breaths and fingerprints
intentionally.

We watch old movies
reels, tapes or DVDs.
How can that be me?

But it was Mamma
giggling with Granny Sue
swinging from my tree.

Tock tick, tick tock tick
The clock chimes it's time to go
Love you, see you soon.

Mom, I hear you say
that Gran is an alien
Is that really true?

Just bits of silliness, dear.
Gran said the same thing
about Granny Sue.
We were best buddies.
She loved me like Gran loves you.
Granny was special.

Yesteryear refers
to another time and place.
Now, I understand.

Grandbabies creates
rite of passage for all
parents to become

GRAND>

Flower Powered Bi-ways

Xeric ecosystem
Desert wildlife host
Saguaro cactus flower


Sun-loving shrub
Xenomorphic hibiscus
Aussie delight

Xenogeneic
gene transfer evolution
clueless aftermath
Sonoran Desert
nature’s pollen connector-
Saguaro Cactus

Leptos fly at night,
guided by scented highways
sequence migration.

Mutual survival,
eco-system sustainers
man, land, and the bat.       

Flower-powered bats
following the nectar trail,
hunt by smell and sight. 
Submission to Trouvaille Review March 2022

Leptos' flight guided 
by scented highways,
Saguaro Cactus

ABOVE the Fray

What type of movies do you watch? I don’t watch horror movies, R-rated movies, movies filled with foul language or nudity. Besides, who wants to pay 20 bucks to be cursed at and insulted. How often have you said something and someone’s snickers because of an inappropriate reference that you are unaware of?

How do you live above the fray?

God said I can no longer strive with man to Noah and commanded him to build an Ark. God said to Moses, ‘I will destroy these people and make a nation with you.’ Moses prayed for God to change his mind. Those people didn’t enter the promised land. They wander in the wilderness for forty years. God would have saved a whole city for ten righteous but found none, so He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. How did Lot live above the fray in such a city?

I pray for the end of drug and sex trafficking because of what little I see. My husband commented on the underbelly of illicit activities. When he said that, I envisioned a black mass with tentacles stretching out, sucking the life out of people, hidden in the darkness. But today, people are flaunting their actions as if it is their right. A vast and black underbelly of sin flipped over for all to see.

God the Father turned as God the Son took the weight and depth of sin upon Himself.

I think of the line in the movie Blind Side when asked how did he make it through. He replied, “I close my eyes.” The meaning in that line is to refuse to take part. It does not mean to close your mouth and refuse to call out what is wrong. God’s Word is the sword of Truth and makes clear what is true and what is a lie. Identifying your sex beyond a male or female is a lie. Marriage is between a man and a woman. These are not statements of hate, just the truth.

How do you love people, love the sinner, hate the sin, and live above the fray? We are to close our eyes to sinful acts because of how it affects the soul (meaning run from things that can suck you into a life of depravity, don’t participate. The statement: it’s okay to try, that is a lie). Joseph had his robe torn off him running away. Proverbs 1:15 Do not walk in the with the sinner, Keep your feet from their path. v. 30.

Proverbs 2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, discover the knowledge of God, and wisdom will enter your heart.

Jesus is the name above every name and through Him, peace will come. God calls us to live above the fray, walk in the truth of His Word, provide a loving hand of comfort to those in need.

by Bobby Pancake

Freedom -the ability to think freely/by RL Brown

A mind free to think 
Imagines, reasons, then decides
to act with forethought.
Haiku by RL Brown
C S Lewis/PIC: stories.gordon.edu

CS Lewis said that imagination is key to reason. But your mind must be clear, lucid, looking beyond instant gratification to see a reasonable danger. Reason trains the mind, and imagination helps you see beyond what you know. Reason will test, decipher, and separate subtleties that snare. You are ready to think -to act beyond just yourself.

The drug trap. A mind clouded by dreadful need. The loss of love for others and cherished memories turns to disdain. Careless attitude in life that drags you down into the depths of despair. Despair is so great that it takes you over an unimaginable cliff. Drugs trap you in a body and steal your life and freedom.

To imagine means to explore possibilities and reason is to weigh actions with consequences with a depth of understanding and proceed with full knowledge, ready to bear consequences. Marx was an elitist fool who lived off others and yet abandoned his children to starvation. Marx was the type of man who celebrated the death of his uncle, so he could live off his Uncle’s wealth without producing any of his own. China and Russia only pulled out of poverty because they allowed for free enterprise. Our country is not perfect, but it allows for everyone’s life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness… and all that goes with that, great success or great failure.

A mind free to think will imagine, reason, and then decide to act. R L Brown

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Added 6/13/23
Virtual is a hoax
Reality is hands-on
Dewey’s Thoughts  

Imagination-
is key to wading through
dense weeds.   

A mind free to think
imagines, reasons, then decides
to act with deep thought.

@Bleu_Owl deep, Dewey, dense. (CSLewis) (John Dewey)
#HaikuSaturday #haikuchallenge 
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  2. Pam Dow's avatar

    Thanks for sharing! Joining you from FMF #23 this week.

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