loving life

There are certain things I love about life. Morning coffee and crisp fall air. I love to watch the piliated woodpeckers come to my window feeder, hang upside down and eat to there hearts content. And I love the beautiful sound of the Cedar flute. American Indian culture and Pendleton blankets rank highly in what I love about life. I am pretty much crazy about good writing and great music. An inspired piece of art will bring me to tears. There is nothing better than a good laugh that takes your breath away. I often wonder why as a society we concentrate on the negative, the hurtful and the sadness. There certainly is plenty of that to go around. But I will ask you the same question I asked the boys I work with this week. What makes you happy? Think about these things. Did you know that in your brain the grateful center and the fear center are in the same area. So if you are feeling grateful, you cannot be feeling fearful. So, how about a big does of Thanksgiving! Let your feast this year be more than turkey and dressing, let it be a feast of spirit and love. Make a list each day and if you have a loved one in that list let them know you are thankful to them..... oh and by the way, thank you for reading my blog, you are all incredibly beautiful people. Think I will add you to my list!!

signs

The sky in the picture just reminds me of life, of my life. Rich with texture, clouded in mystery and surrounded by darkness that is penetrated with light. I know that many people feel a sence of anxiety now a days. We are surrounded on all sides by fearful media and the internet can be an onslaught of misinformation. Young people are vulnerable to the hateful messages online. I feel so bad for them because they don't have the experience to know that light is forever stronger than darkness. I wish each young person could see the beauty of who they are and the possibility of a fulfilling life. It is with spirit eyes that we see past the dark clouds into the light. And unfortunately our society is becoming a society of eyes wide shut. I have wondered what the fascination is with haters, people bent on spreading negativity. Why so much attention is given to them. Perhaps it has just become a familiar spirit to us, a morbid past time. Maybe it takes too much effort to concentrate on the light. But our young people need some lightness, some laughter, hugs, affirmations, some unconditional love. They are living in a world most of us older folks didn't have to live in, shattered homes and shattered dreams. They need and we need to know that prayer, faith, hope, love can repair shattered dreams. Light will always conquer darkness!

hope

When I was a little girl, I really believed that when I would blow the wings off the dandelion that each wing would carry my prayers. As an adult...I still believe that. Each wing is a prayer to God to intervene in the life of those who need love and encouragement and especially hope.
Every week I get the honor of working with 20 young hurting souls. I get to make them cookies and try to make them laugh. I know that their needs are way bigger than what I can give. So I keep these little wings in my heart and blow them up to the Creator and ask for mighty help and mighty love that can give these boys what they have never gotten in their homes or in their families or in their community. There is a world of hurt out there in need of a lot of prayer and a lot of sacrifice and a whole lot of love. I have been blessed with loving parents and a whole community of support. I have been blessed to be taught from childhood that someone out there beyond this small finite world really cares and that I can send a small childs prayer or a big adult burden and expect that help is on its way. If we can tune into love instead of political correctness and religious separation I think we could actually make a difference in this world. After all there are plenty of angels wings just waiting to lift our prayers!