To My Old Door Mat

You are severely unappreciated.
Your folds and crevasses are now worn and lumpy.
Your original crisp form is now crimped and creased.

You have been stepped on, scuffed up and sullied by the nasties of this world. You’ve been pushed into corners and trapped against walls by the harsh door you are so eternally married to. You are torn and tattered; your hairs are mangled now. You are stained by mud and drowned in water on a regular basis. Boarding restrictions do not provide you any protection from the cruelty of time and nature.

You are beaten down every day, but you have no legs to walk away. You remain. You serve all who enter into your abode and wish them well as they leave without ever acknowledging your hospitality.

Thanks for always being there for me, old friend.

I do not deserve you.

On Being Used

At what point do I draw the line?
When can I say “enough is enough?”

I am too unselfish. I am used
I am too forgiving. I am taken advantage of.

I am my father’s child.
What would he do?
When would he call it quits, pull up anchor and leave?

I am my Father’s child.
What would He do?
When would self-sacrifice and servitude turn to suffering self-inflicted?

I am at an impasse.

Satire about Satire?

Is it possible to write a successful essay or narrative (anything really) concluding that satire is incapable of effectively establishing an argument?

Hmmmm…

Your Smell Lingers (unwanted)

your smell fills my mind with disgust. it squeezes my throat till I cough, wishing to forget your revolting memory. i cant cleanse the room; i cant rid my heart of your smell.

i cant spit you out. i cant cover you up with a fine fragrance. you linger here- unwanted and relentless. my mind says ignore you, but my body cannot do so. i cant rid this place of your stench, your odor, your memory.

my face contorts into complex shapes attempting to accurately depict the disgust and disdain which is rendered by such foul breathing air. covering my face is futile. preventing breath prevents smelling your smelly smell, but preventing breath prevents life. i do not wish to live with your smell, but i do wish to live…

what a dreadful burden to bear.

you dont deserve to enter into the shelter of my nostrils. nobody deserves to smell your smell.

leave me.

No Harbor in the Sky

Whisked up in the winds of Spring, I am lifted.
Carried along by the leaves strung across the sky,
The breeze chills my naked cheeks.
Flying away, it reveals the warmth freely gifted by rays of sunlight.

The trees are far below me now.
Scattered bushes identify as freckles on the surface of the earth.
Fields of roses blush its fair complexion.
They hide scars left behind by rivers of tears that once streamed down its face.

Birds above are now feathered friends gliding beside me on this free journey.
Their presence is reassuring and inspiring.
Here and there, they stay long enough only to wish me well.
They grace me with fluttering ecstasies then return to their private endeavors.

Tossed into the dense heart of the clouds, my hasty breath is kindly taken from me.
Moisture collects and nestles on my neck and hands.
Swimming in the air is much less involved.
Resistance gives way to my flailing arms.

The need to breathe is present no more.
I am prostrate to nothing and feel the absence of pressure.
Released, I relinquish my worries.
The backstroke is better here in the sea of blue.

Breathe easy.

Float along and make land where you may.
I will remain without direction in this one-man vessel.
My harbor is no longer necessary.
I will not be tied down.

I am sailing free.

Oh I Wish...

Oh, I wish I could just live my life by doing what I am passionate about! I feel like I could get so much more accomplished if all I had to do was this:

• Eat
• Sleep
• Pray
• Read my Bible
• Take photos
• Write
• Hang out with my girlfriend
• Hang out with friends and/or family

Yep… that would be a pretty sweet life. I know its completely unrealistic for now, but it never hurt anyone to wish for something better; let’s just face it- we have to do a lot of boring, meaningless, or time consuming things that we would rather not have to do. I am not looking for comments saying, “yeah, well that’s life and you need to get used to it or get over it.” I already know that  I just feel like wishing for more (or in this case, less) today.

I haven’t been keeping up with my photography as much as I would hope to because I am currently lending my camera to a friend who is taking a photography class. Oh well. As long as I get to use it every now and again…. it may in fact make me appreciate the joy that it brings me if I can’t do it as much as I’m used to. With that being said, here are a few photos that I was able to take over the last few days.

How We See Us vs. How God Sees Us

Our eyes are limited. They see the here and now. They see the tangible and physical. They allow us to view the world around us in an incomplete way, and as a result, the way we view ourselves is unnatural. We can try to prepare ourselves so that we look our best in our own eyes and in the eyes of those around us, but we do not know our true beauty.

If we cannot see all that we are as creations of God, we can never fully understand the love and care that He has for us. We may think that we are ugly, beautiful, cool, lame, smart, dumb, or somewhere in between, but in reality we have yet to see the magnificent glory in which God has made us.

Psalm 139

New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
² You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
³ You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
⁵ You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=NKJV