Coffee and Hope

I’m sitting at my table with a cup of coffee as one of my communions. I have two dogs lying at my feet. I have a turkey sausage sandwich on an orange plate being gobbled quickly. Life is good.

Most of all I have my best friends with me as I write, drink, and eat. They have accompanied me my whole life but I was not aware until in my late teens. I have become more aware as time and life went forward. The ups and downs and twists and turns. The hills and valleys and mountain tops and bottom of the ocean floors. I’ll tell you more about them….

As I read through my last post, that my friend Ann wrote, a couple of lines stood out to me:

“I tried to wear them

These black and white lenses

That religion required.”

Well, religion is a tough one. I’ve been religious. I actually hate it when I am. You see, I am a Christian. Some of you may stop reading now that you saw that simply because it means a certain attitude, or religious rites, or hurt in your heart from some of the same “religion”. I understand. I even cringe sometimes when someone says to me that they are a Christian.

As I sip my coffee on a full tummy of yummy breakfast sandwich I am just one person that is going to tell you that religion is not what Jesus is all about. He wants us. He wants a friendship like none we’ve ever experienced before.

When you realize that it’s a personal relational friendship with God, Jesus His son and Holy Spirit you can breathe a deep sigh of relief. They are real and wonderful and free from laws and religion.

By no means am I saying not to go to a church building. But when you realize that every breathing hour of everyday can be accompanied by a living God your churches will look different. A whole new perspective opens up before you. Will all your troubles leave suddenly and life becomes full of rainbows and unicorns and puppies and kitties? No way! God never promised life on this earth will be perfect if we know Him. He did promise a boat load of other things such as, He will never leave us alone to face the hardships and challenges. He will make a way right out to the other side. He gives us a perspective of how He sees our life. He sees the whole picture – like a jigsaw puzzle. The end result is beautiful and He works through every piece with us.

Back to Ann and her story. She just didn’t fit into the religion and oppression she was born to. She was born to soar and create and be who she was made to be. Thankfully she was able to be free to leave and find her self and her own relationship with God. How many of you have lived a life that others made for you? I did. But I also was able to find who I was and set out on the journey I was made for.

This post is written for those who feel lost still. Those who struggle with not really knowing what to do or even feeling afraid of the world around them. Let’s face it, COVID threw the world a curve ball. So many of our old normals are gone and will not come back. Many lost loved ones and many are still recovering from an awful sickness. Burt I have good news for you. If you doubt that God can know you, that Jesus can be your friend, then I highly recommend you just set yourself off under a tree or on a beach or in your car on under your sheets, wherever you can be alone and just ask Him to show Himself to you in whatever way you need.

I’m going to give you an example of God meeting you where you are at…. I was parked outside an elementary school waiting for one of my grandsons to be dismissed from school. There was a dead sparrow on the side walk next to my van. As kids immersed from the building a group of three boys came upon said bird body. I knew young boys and dead bird were not going to be a pretty sight. Sure enough, as mosts kids will do, they began to poke and kick the bird body. I prayed that God would do something because a stranger parked at a school telling kids what to do never ends well. All of a sudden a seagull flies in and swoops down and picks up the bird body and off he goes. The boys were amazed and so was I even though I asked and God answered. It’s as simple as that Dear Readers.

There. I pray the best for all of you.

Enjoy!

Cate B

A Little Help From My Friends

Like a good many bloggers I have taken quite a long break from writing. No excuses, just haven’t felt it. I’m back now. And to start off my “backness” I am posting this piece written on FaceBook by my close Friend, Ann. I will write a followup on my next post. There is a lot swirling in my mind and fingers about this beautifully written truth.

Enjoy.

Cate B

Ann Lehman

17 July 2021 ·

If you grew up “plain” like I did, you know that there were many forbidden colors. In our world, colors were not all created by God. There were many worldly, sinful colors. And very few holy colors. There was an extreme black and white view of God and scripture. The following is a verbal processing, if you will, of the dismantling of that system for me. It’s an unapologetic declaration of freedom. And I’m letting that freedom ring for whoever else needs to hear it.

All of my life I have been told

There’s a left and a right.

There’s a black and a white.

No brilliant colors, no gray.

Not all colors are equal.

Not all colors are legal.

And wearing all the colors

Is what the ungodly do.

Surely the color scarlet

Is the symbol of the harlot.

And purple mocks Jesus

The way the soldiers did.

White is only for Sundays

On the only days we are pure.

Only the dark, the somber,

The muted, the plain

Only these evidence the humility

Required from Gods chosen.

Wearing light, bright colors,

Surely show hearts, full

Of deadly pride and poison.

I tried to wear them

These black and white lenses

That religion required.

But they tripped me up.

I fell flat on my face

In the filthy muck

Of suffocating shame

Of never measuring up.

They blinded my eyes

To the crimson scandal

Of GRACE that flows wild

Over the black and white

And changes it all

To rainbows of living color.

There’s black and white, true.

No denying.

But there’s a million more hues

Created by the One who spoke

The universe into motion.

Exuberantly breathed to life

Every color under the sun

And declared in full confidence:

IT IS GOOD!

So why should I try

To paint over it all

With black and white

And distort the glory

And living colors

Of the greatest love story?

Religion, take back your distorted lenses!

I don’t need them anymore.

Love healed these blind eyes

Now I see GRACE, a scarlet tide

Now I live found in full color.

In breathtaking, swirling hues of

Extravagant Love that lives

And breathes and flows

Alive and well and restoring

The black places of my soul

Where religion stole

Color, beauty, and innocence.

So let the River flow

Until it is all returned

To the way You intended.

Recent Art Work

Autumn Around The Burg – 2020

Another autumn in The Middle and I have to say it is perfect. With all the uncertainty around the globe, our seasons here have been splendid.

I have spent a lot of time pondering and trying to get motivated. Motivated to write, to paint, to create……

Let’s move on. The motivation is slow in coming. But here are some beauties of where I live. Enjoy!

You Want Me To Do What?

It has been a while since I wrote on here. I started this new painting journey and it took me away for a bit. I am back and I am still painting. That has been both fun and scary.

I try to relax when I create, otherwise, it becomes drudgery instead of joy. I want joy. So, recently I took on a project that was foreign to me. A young man commissioned me to paint him some paintings for his apartment based on what I saw already on his walls as his theme. He gave me the freedom to paint as many as I thought I should. I appreciated that because it meant less pressure on me. Artists like freedom.

I like and I want to view my life as not wasted. I want to soak up everything I can from whatever journey I am on at the time. Horses. The guy like horses. The last time I painted/drew an animal, a mountain lion/cougar, it looked like it had down syndrome. No offence toward anyone, please. It was bad. But I decided to learn to draw horses and create two paintings for him. What was I thinking? Why do I always go in deep? Good grief.

Well, It took me a while and I struggled with my lack of ability and nearly quit several times. But I hate to quit! By golly, this old gal will break the horse and he will come out looking good!

What happened was, a lightbulb came on one day and I saw that these paintings were for him. A weight lifted off of me when I realized this. It was then that I was able to draw the horses and finish the commissioned work and saw his smile when he received them.

For me, I found that the extra pressure of creating what someone else wants is my choice. However, doing this one took me into another level of confidence in my creativity. Will I do horses again? Right now I say no. But maybe might be more truthful.

Here is a sneak peek at what is hanging on someone’s wall…

Enjoy Life

Cate B

A Little Trouble

I haven’t posted in a while and I’ll tell you why. It’s a bit silly, but I find myself in a quandary. I was told I used all my media space on this site. I had no idea there was a limit. I love to take photos or attach some sort of media to my words. Now that I have no space to add more I backed off. Someone told me “no”.

I googled all kinds of articles to remedy this. For me, there is no easy solution. Well, I take that back. I could pay more money for an upgrade and, and what? I don’t see how much storage that will give me until I pay. I am a tight-wad. I do not succumb easily to dishing out the bucks when the powers that be tell me to.

So, I take this as a challenge to let my words, and words alone, do the communicating. After all, I have read tons of books with no photos, my mind became the motion picture camera, and it was always good.

So, unless there is a very simple way to clean my media library without going back and skimming years of posts to see if the photos in my library were used, I take the challenge of words being my pictures. You should have seen the young bald eagles I came across recently on a trip back east – picture them……

Thank you all for listening. And if any of my listeners have an easy, free solution and can tell it to me in plain English, not tech words, I have an open ear.

Enjoy!

Cate B

To All You Writers

I follow this site daily and found this to be one that is to be shared. So to all the poets, the book writers, bloggers, podcasters and the like…….

Pen to Paper – your Lion Bites word for today

God is calling the writers and even those who know that there is a book within them. To you who have put off and put off the challenge of sharing your story, today is the day to start putting pen to paper. He is saying, “It only takes writing one page at a time. I need you to leave a legacy for the next generation. Poets, come forth as well! Lift up your pens!”

Psalm 45:1
My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

https://www.propheticscots.com/2019/04/17/pen-to-paper-your-lion-bites-word-for-today/

Enjoy!

Cate B

A New Thing

As a child I was encouraged to be creative……sort of encouraged. My mom was a creative person, but her way of encouraging me was to have me watch John Gnagy, our version of Bob Ross. She bought pads and pencils and I was left to figure out if I was able to draw or not. That didn’t last long. I learned to sew and knit very basic. I learned to bake and cook and listen to music while singing my heart out in my room. No verbal encouragement came so I gave up very easily.

But you cannot throw away the creative juices that lie within you. They may lay dormant but they are always there waiting to spring forth when given just a hint of watering and sunlight.

So I have blossomed into a rather good crocheter and baker. But I get antsy. I recently couldn’t ignore the voice that kept gently bidding me to jump in deeper to the creativity. Then, through people I highly respect, I answered with a big YES.

Being a person who just loves my friendship with Father God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, I felt a strong tug to paint. But not paint precise images (thank God) but to paint colours. I just love colours. I am drawn to colourful things and they speak to me and actually bring out feelings and senses that otherwise just stay hidden.

So now begins a new journey. I started painting in a freeform-type of artistry. Whatever happens with this journey will definitely be a learning experience. At first I absolutely hated what I produced. But I kept them and am moving forward. I figure I will be the first one to get anything out my art simply because I need to see it in a new perspective – as God sees it. I think He likes what I produce, therefore, I need to like it too.

I even show my pieces to people. That is a new thing for me. I often ask why I couldn’t just crochet and give it away (I still crochet and bake – try and stop me!) But I know that this is the medium I am to do now. So here ya go, Dear Readers, a glimpse of my new thing…….

Enjoy!

Cate B

No. 1

I have long enjoyed the book series by Alexander McCall Smith about Mma Ramotswe and her No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. I normally like a bit more intrigue and adventure in a book but the characters that Mr. Smith developed are irresistible. They are so delightful that you could actually picture yourself knowing them or desiring to know them in real life.

My son contacted me about Mr. Smith’s upcoming talk at a Library near by. So, I signed myself and my husband up and invited us to eat dinner at my son’s house with the family. I didn’t get nervous until we actually started to get in the car. I know, there is no need to be nervous at a talk and book signing. But I was.

I adorned myself in my map of Edinburgh scarf – since I knew he was connected to the University of Edinburgh and lived in that wonderful city – and imagined talking to him. I then decided just to buy the book and have him sign it and listen to his talk. Simple.

But, having our own trip to Scotland last year and very fresh in my head, when I handed him my newly purchased book I let out a speed talk that even marveled my mind. Something like this: “I’m wearing my Edinburgh scarf we were there for Christmas and New Years and even marched on Hogmanay and our son just got his Masters from the University-Edinburgh and blah, blah, blah”. He actually managed to follow my rambling and interjected comments. I was thrilled, especially to get to tell my son over there that Alexander McCall Smith congratulated him.

I got my breath back once I sat in my seat, thinking of how goofy that was and… he was wearing a kilt!

Anyway, what a delightfully funny and kind man. My husband and I laughed out loud totally taken into his stories. He is as delightful as the characters he created. Thank you, Alexander McCall Smith, cheers to you and your writings.

Here are some poorly taken photos (with my iphone and star-struck hands)…..

Alexander McCall Smith

the infamous scarf

Read his books and have a great day.

Cate B

Happy Days

I haven’t posted in a while. But here I am, posting.

Yesterday, I set up a web page for my husband. I already had one on another host site and decided to move it to WordPress. They actually have a handy dandy way of doing that now. A click here, a click there and BAM!, it’s done. Then you just have to tweek a few things.

Well, the import was easy. For a person born in the fifties, that is 1950s, AKA, The Happy Days, I have somewhat of a grip on techie things. At least compared to some of my peers. But over the last six months I have noticed an incredible advancement in the cyber-space world.

Understand, I love advancing. I love the computer thing even though that was almost syfy in my youth. I do not speak the techie lingo but I was still able to figure things out. Until yesterday.

After two to three hours of googling and reading great info in another foreign language – at least to me it was foreign – I sought help from WordPress. After going through lists of possible solutions, which is difficult if you don’t speak computerese, I found a person to chat with.

I fell in love. I have no idea if this person was male or female but by the end of our time together I promised them a fresh pie if they ever came to my town. They not only walked me through the steps but they actually understood what I wanted to do and were able to tell me in my language. Geniuses! I can’t say enough about them.

I have told my husband many times to please learn how to do the basics. I tell some friends the same thing who want nothing to do with computer stuff. But, in all reality, it is not going away. Well, unless we lose all power and zombie creatures come and take over the world as we know it. Don’t be afraid. Really. It’s hard to us, but how can we even begin to speak into our grand children if we are closed to the world they live in. Let them teach you.

Don’t get old. Take it from this Grandma – you CAN do it!

Enjoy!

Cate B

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Pen to Paper – your Lion Bites word for today

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