The solar wind blew but we are safe, despite the predictions, the earth stood still
We are alive and well. The year will bring good tidings of love and hope!
The sun, the moon, the stars and all other planets danced with the earth.
Another year, hope reborn, desires rekindles.
To all my friends and people unknown, I wish you Joy, Peace, and
May all your dreams come true.
With love from me to you!
Happy New Year!!!
Sunshine (Photo credit: Emdadi)
”I will not wish thee riches, nor the glow of greatness,
But that wherever you go, some weary heart shall
Gladden at thy smile, or shadowed life know
Sunshine for a while.
And so thy path shall be a track of light,
Like angel’s footsteps passing through the night!
(inscriptions words on a church wall in Upwaltham, England, Petworth, West Sussex)
******
These words gladden my heart and I hope you’ll find wisdom in it friends!
Much Love.
Always:)
(Photo credit: Andreas Krappweis)
This is a true story, please read on…
Gross darkness blanket our street as ravenous fever raged through my body like an inferno. My mom mopped my body with towels trying to bring the rampaging fever down. I watched with trepidation, my lips parched and dry.
It dawned on me that if I survive the night, I would be in the clear, but morning was like light years away. My mom looked at me with a mournful expression in her brown expressive eyes.
”You should have given your consent.”
”No mom,” I whispered with a vigorous shake of my head. I refused surgery because I had premonitions it would only worsen my condition.
Let me rewind back, to a week earlier…
I was a boisterous nineteen year old university girl. I was popular, well liked and friendly. Hardly would you see me with a frown, I was always smiling, why not? Life was good. My boyfriend ( now my husband) was one of the nicest man on campus, my course work was excellent but everything changed one windy night when I had a sharp pain in my left ear.
I thought nothing of it until almost a week later when I couldn’t hear properly, my condition rapidly disintegrated overnight and my boyfriend brought me home. My dad bundled me into his car and off we go!
At the hospital, the doctor did all sorts of tests and the final verdict was I had a growth in my ear and surgery was the right course of treatment but I refused and he sent me home with some medications. My neck was immobile, I couldn’t turn my head, I couldn’t eat and my ear hurt like hell, it was as if my throat was on fire! I was now torn between the devil and the deep blue sea, I chose the sea and my dad brought me back home.
I strode to my room and laid on my bed wondering if I had made the right decision. An earlier explosion on a transformer had plunged the street into darkness, my mom had left a lantern in my room but it suddenly went off. I listened to my breathing as pain racked through my body. The pain killers and antibiotics were powerless against the ferocious attack and I slowly drifted off into a dreamless slumber.
I don’t know how long I slept for but I woke up to a strange feeling, I was no longer alone, I wanted to call out but my voice was gone and I prayed this simple prayer.
”God, if you are real, please heal me now,”
prayer.. (Photo credit: aronki)
Few minutes after my prayer, I heard soft tapping on my bedroom floor…one…two…three and I felt a hand on my left shoulder and I heard this words,
”I am here,”
And peace washed over me and I was off again, this time around I must have slept for hours because when I woke up, everywhere was silent.
I stood up and the first thing I realise was, I could move my neck.
My throat was clear and my white night-dress was soaked with pus coming from my ear, I could swallow.
I’ve been healed!
That experience was so real and I knew God answers prayers. That was my first tangible experience with the supernatural!
That was one of the reasons why I write supernatural thrillers, has anyone else experienced some strange encounters? I’ll love to read your story.
Thanks for reading my post:)
English: Peak of Bear Mountain (Connecticut). Taken with digital camera in June, 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My heart bleeds for the pointless killings of innocent children in Connecticut… My heart bleeds and I whisper a prayer of comfort to those hurting parents and children. The deaths are unimaginable, the pain unbearable.
Hopes dashed, dreams quashed, the pain indescribable.
Destroy all these guns, arrest this evil monster, this happens too many times. Beautiful, innocent children, they’ve got no sin, no stain yet cut down so early. My heart bleeds, my prayers to the parents affected. Words fail me!
When shall these killings stop? When shall the insane heal? This happens too often, something must be done. Children must be protected, nobody deserves to die, least of all children.
As a parent, I offer my prayers, my tears fall and I hope for a miracle.
My fingers are numb, my eyes are heavy, my heart is….
Looking for answers.
Why kill?
I have no answer, I just whisper a prayer.
Please pray with me…
The lighthouse keeper Hans Petur Kjærbo is changing the bulbs in the lighthouse of Akraberg, which is the southernmost place in Suðuroy and in the Faroe Islands, except for Flesjarnar (scerries). He lived in Akraberg for some years, but moved away after the Christmas hurricane in Dec. 1988. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The year 2012 is slowly drawing to a close and I can’t help but reflect on so many things that has happened to me and the beautiful people I am privilege to have rubbed minds with. And while reflecting, the lighthouse keeper came vividly to my subconscious mind. I have mulled over the duties of a lighthouse keeper for days on end, their usefulness, are they necessary? Or just an oddity to be added to a necessary feature? And it hit me with a bang, lighthouse keepers are SAVIOURS, they prevent catastrophes from occurring, according to Wikipedia and I quote;
”A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning lenses and windows. Electrification and other automated improvements such as remote monitoring and automatic bulb changing made paid keepers resident at the lights unnecessary. In the US, periodic maintenance of the lights is now performed by visiting Coast Guard Aids to Navigation teams.”
You all know I must be heading somewhere with this but just check this out again, also by Wikipedia;
English: North Reef Lighthouse, Queensland – Lighthouse keeper (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
”Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbours, and can also help in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the cost of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational systems.”
We all have our ”lighthouse keepers” and I think we should be thankful for having them in our lives. We should appreciate, nurture and never allow them disappear from our lives. Our ”lighthouse keepers” could be our spouses, our friends, our families, colleagues at work, writers who inspired us by their works, it could even be something we read in our blogging community because I can testify to it that I have been nourished by incredible posts written by people in this beautiful community, I am blessed and eternally grateful to such great writers!
Love ? I love love love you. (Photo credit: @Doug88888)
You all know my quotes by now, life is too short… Live well, love well, appreciate your friends and people who have been sources of blessings and inspiration to you, ignore people who put you down, forgive quickly so you don’t rot, be a source of blessing to others and 2013 will be a great year indeed if you abide by these rules (wink)!
I just want to say to all my wonderful readers, you are my ”light keepers, my friends” and I appreciate every one of you.
My eldest son celebrated his tenth birthday today! Hooray!! I am also working furiously to release the second edition of my novel, ‘The Feet Of Darkness,” (Wish me luck) and ”Tales Of Five Lies” is doing okay, thanks to friends like Danny Breslin, who read it on his kindle and posted a wonderful review!
And to everyone who has nominated me for awards, I thank you and love you all.
Love and Peace!
Glass house (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I loved looking at the big imposing building, every time I strolled past, my straying eyes would always seek out the glasses which seemed to cover the length and breadth of the house. One day after school, I decided to speak to my mom about the mysterious house and its elusive occupant.
I had finished my lunch when I brought up the topic and knowing how my mom detested gossiping, I put on my most innocuous look, mom had once told me I had dreamy eyes so I reckoned If I gave her a shot of that she wouldn’t be so keen to shut me up.
”Hey mom,” I began tentatively, trying to see if she was in a good mood, ”Do you know anything about the owner of the glass house down the street?”
She glared at me with a hiss and stood up totally ignoring me, and I grunted in dismay, it was like squeezing water out of a rock, my mom wouldn’t assuage my hyperactive imagination.
The next day after school, I told my best friend about the glass house that I wanted to check it out, would she care to come with me?
”Not on your life,” she had replied unconvincingly but I knew Tia, she would do anything for me.
”Please!” I begged with my cutest smile and dreamy eyes… well…, she succumbed. I smiled with satisfaction but also knew I was treading on dangerous terrain.
”When are we going?” Tia asked with a frown, I noticed she wanted to get it over with.
”Today after school,”
I said and the day flew past like a fly on a mission.
After school, with my bag slouched over my shoulder, we walked home, Tia was exceptionally quiet, after walking for about twenty minutes, we got to the front of the glass house and I hesitated briefly.
Tia looked at me and asked in a whisper,
”Do you really want to go ahead with this?” And I nodded in the affirmative.
”So, how are we going to get in? We can’t climb over the fence.”
Tia was becoming more of a pest than a friend and I toyed with the idea of going in alone but I couldn’t risk it, what if something went wrong? I glanced briefly at my wristwatch, it was almost three in the afternoon, mom would be worried if we don’t go home soon.
Without thinking, I pressed the white bell attached to the massive gate and suddenly the gate flung open to show a breathtaking view of the house, dazed with the beauty, I sauntered in, I’d totally forgotten I was with Tia.
Tia had done a disappearing act, I took a few paces inside the gate and I saw a figure standing outside the house, the man’s features was not that visible but he looked quiet old. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go in, I retreated backwards with a word of greeting to the man,
”Good afternoon, you’ve got a beautiful house!”
”Thank you, why not come in,” his baritone voice sounded friendly but something else made up my mind for me.
There was no mistaking the sound, it was a low rumbling growl, I glanced sideways and saw a very massive Alsatian dog, I didn’t wait to find out whether the dog was on a leash or not before I took to my heels.
I got home to meet a very angry mother, Tia had told my mom about our little escapade. Well, if you’d read a few things about my mom, you would have known the rest of the story. When my dad came back from work and mom told him what happened, dad took me to the garden with a stern look on his face.
I turned to face him, expecting an earful but he simply asked me why I went to the house.
”I’ve heard people say strange things about the man and I was curious, I wanted to find out for myself.”
My dad kept quiet for a while before speaking and let me repeat that his words stuck with me till today.
”Life is not a story, it is not fiction, life is real. In stories, you make up people and tell them what to do but in life, people do the strangest thing in the confines of their homes. You were lucky today, don’t ever go where you were not invited, ever again.”
I realised my mistake, I mused, the man could have been a serial killer but I wasn’t convinced, maybe, he was a man with secrets but who doesn’t have one?
”Yes dad,” I said with eyes downcast and then it occurred to me.
”Can I write about him dad, my story, my own words,”
My dad smiled and gave me the go ahead to write the story.
I wrote ”The Man In The Glass House” when I was thirteen, in my own words. The man was not a villain, in my mind, he was a hero, I don’t know anything about him, nobody does and I guess what people don’t know they made up.
I wrote the man’s story in a notebook, when I finished, I gave it to my dad to read, he loved it and gave it to his secretary in the office who typed it for me. But publishers thought my imagination was too strong for a girl my age and that was where it ended until this morning when I found my notebook in the loft while rummaging for some stuffs.
And I made a promise to myself to write the man’s story. The man died before I left home, I stood outside the house after he was buried, wondering why he was such a recluse, with no family nor friends, at least I don’t see anyone near his house.
One day, I am going to release the story of the man in the glass house, would you read it when I do?
Thanks for reading my story friends!
Too Many Shadows (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is the words of a song I heard today which made a big impression on me,
”Though The Shadows Lingers All Around Us,
Let us Turn Our Faces To The Light”
Shadows will forever be part of us as humans, I have never seen a man born of a woman who has no shadow but this could also be used metaphorically.
What kind of shadows kept lingering or trailing behind us? These shadows could cut our lives short and make us miserable, like the shadows of deceit, of anger, of adultery, of lies or lying, shadows of un forgiveness? Shadows of fear, of death, of failure…
The list is endless but my like my husband used to say,
”You are the only person who can make yourself happy,”
And I think he is right, I don’t think our happiness should be based on the approval of others or their behavior towards us, rather, I opined that we should discard every lingering shadow which could draw us deeper in the quagmire of sorrow by liking ourselves for who we are.
So friends, let’s enjoy ourselves by turning our faces to the light of love, hope, forgiveness and friendship.
I am not writing this because of Christmas, rather, I am writing this post to encourage us to LIVE and actually enjoy our lives, life is too short…
Thanks for reading my post friends!
Original caption: Not faked. I was trying to take a hankie photo cos I have a cold and sneezed! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Much of Britain is soggy, wet, windy, cold and most of the west Midlands, Wales and parts of Scotland had been issue with flood warnings, it’s not an enticing prospect.
It’s been a very unpleasantly wet day and to cap it up, I caught a cold. Well… you might say having a cold is not a big deal but to me it is. I could have been perfectly okay with the cold but for the sneezing and headache, it was hell!
I was able to do most of my work except working on the computer, the screen was blurry and I couldn’t see a thing which was when the ‘bless you’ began. I sneezed the first time, and my kids chorused together,
”Bless you,” and courtesy demands that I say thank you (that’s our unspoken rule in the house, don’t know about other families)
Second sneeze!
”Bless you,” (Thank you)
And by the time it was the third, fourth, fifth sneezes going on to the sixth, I yelled in frustration,
”Don’t bless me again!”
And typical of my six-year-old daughter, she asked coyly with traces of a smile lurking around the corner of her mouth,
”Mum, what’s the opposite of bless you,” I thought about it before answering and said without looking at her.
”Nothing,”
But she didn’t buy that and her older brother chipped in, ”Opposite of bless you is….” And I cut in before he could complete the statement.
”Any one cares for Open Season? I asked and was able to diffuse the tension, wouldn’t want my children saying the opposite of bless you! ‘Open Season’ is a very funny movie we all love watching, it featured Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher.
Kids are funny and honest, unlike adults!
*****
I have been given two great awards within three days and I am so grateful, I promise to write a post on it and announce my nominees, everyone deserved it anyway and it’s been a pleasure connecting with such intelligent, awesome friends. Wish I could see everyone and we’ll have a great party. Thanks folks for reading my post always.
Love and Peace!
Congo (Photo credit: robynejay)
I left work quiet late and rushed to pick my kids from school, when we got home, I quickly rustled some food together and we had a hearty lunch. I decided to take a nap before going back to my home office and get some work done but I couldn’t sleep so I came back to the living room.
6.30 pm:
Reclining on my favourite sofa while surfing through different television channels and suddenly the unexpected happened, we were plunged into darkness. My children looked confused because it’s never happened before and I was too.
I was not ready for that so for the first ten minutes or so I just sat in that darkness completely nonplussed and indecisive. My kids were firing fusillade of questions at me but I had no answer for what had happened.
By the time I sprang into action, my kids were getting used to it and after a series of phone calls, I was able to find out a few facts. We weren’t alone in that situation, our whole street was in darkness so it was a major problem and it would take a while before the problem could be rectified. Though we slept in the cold without heating, at least we were safe. By the next morning everything was back to normal but the experience stayed with me and brought a lot of scenario to the fore.
Life is very unpredictable and that is a predictable fact. Sometimes, what we don’t plan for could derail our lives in unimaginable ways. My electricity going off was a minor issue you might say but sleeping in the cold and not been able to cook for my kids wasn’t a pleasant experience but what about people in war-torn countries? How would they survive living in fears for their lives knowing the next moment could be their very last? How do they survive living in such inhumane and brutal condition?
In the Democratic Republic Of Congo, rebels are instigating another round of fighting and people are fleeing their homes, it was totally unexpected, lives are ruined because people have been forcefully ejected from their homes, livelihood would be none existence, it was like survival of the fittest and none of them signed up for it, just a few bigoted fools who believed they can plunge their country to war at will are responsible for such atrocities. I can go on and on but we should just be thankful for little mercies we have, many people aren’t so lucky and many of these innocent people did not ask for war but it came to them unexpectedly.
How do they cope? I have no idea but it breaks my heart knowing right now as I write this post a little girl might be living in fear for her life!
When life throws something totally unexpected at you, how would you react?
Thank you all for reading this post!
The Critic (Photo credit: A river runs through)
”Do you know the easiest job in the world?” My friend asked nibbling through her popcorn as we watched Mel Gibson‘s acclaim film, ‘The Patriot.’
”No,” I replied absent-mindedly, totally engrossed with Mel Gibson hacking through the body of a British soldier who had taken his son.
”The job of a critic,” she declared self righteously, her eyes spitting fire and I groaned inwardly, knowing exactly where the conversation was heading.
”Huh,” I grunted and she got the message. I was not going to allow her distract my attention from the film.
The film was over before I knew it and I saw her off, we chatted briefly about the story line and the American war of Independence and she left with a promise to keep in touch. On my way back home, I thought about the question she’d asked earlier.
We are all critics one way or the other, watching X factor, I had my favourites contestants, there are some books I would never read, some music I would never listen to and some movies I would never watch and I think I am not alone. That doesn’t make me a critic but I just chose not to like such forms of entertainment.
Granted, it’s easy to criticise but sometimes critics can build us up and make us a better person. Writers hated bad reviews with a passion, I do and I even dread it with every fibre of my being but sometimes you can see through the eyes of a critic and improve yourself.
But some people would never see anything good about anything or anybody, people like that have problems, deep-seated issues about their lives.
Maybe you’ve come across people like that in your neighbourhood, it could be anywhere, my advice… Just ignore them and live your life with no care in the world!
Everyone cannot love you, Barack Obama can testify to that. It is deeply imbedded in our makeup as humans, we are irrevocably fallible and prone to seeking people’s approval, when we don’t even realise it.
And the great news is while some people might hate your gut others may simply kiss the ground you walk on.
S. S. David 