Last night I visited the blog of a dear online friend, Cheryl Smith. We met quite serendipitously through The High Calling Blogs website. She a Welcome Editor and me a wide-eyed new blogger, our paths seemed eerily similar and so the kindred heart exchanges began. She, too, was a former ministry wife who lost her …
The Answer
I'm signed up for a working writers' conference this weekend in which I'm suppose to bring a fresh idea for a book. The objective is to storyboard the concept and craft a book proposal. Days pass and here I sit with a bushel of half-finished projects. I cannot justify starting another one. My best friend insists …
The Charade
I am the Wizard of Oz Hiding behind a curtain of my own design Blogs flashing, words splashing Mask of purpose firmly in place All in an attempt to hide my insignificance Sometimes in the midst of self-doubt, I feel like a charlatan. Just as the Wizard of Oz controlled his masterful devices from behind a veil …
Safe arrival…music to my ears!
There is a deadness that sinks into your soul and burrows ever deeper as it goes. You call his number, but to no avail. "No service available."    He's gone...flying far away through amber skies. You weep. A mother's heart is broken.     I scribbled these thoughts on a sticky note after trying to return my son's phone …
My One Year Blogging Anniversary
I awoke in my enchanting Carmel-by-the-Sea hotel room, looked out the window, and thought, "I think today is my one year blogging anniversary."   Excited to see whether this inkling was true, I quickly powered up my computer and looked in the archive for my first post. "UNBELIEVABLE," rolled over my brain and out through …
Rose-colored walls
There is something so irresistible about waking up in an old-fashioned, quaint hotel by the sea (no offense intended hubby). Rose-colored walls, white shudders, and a mermaid carved headboard resonate with "my time." How lovely to have reached this moment in my life when such a blessing is possible. *Gift back to my empty self …
Change, that necessary monster of soul
"Winds of time, winds of change."    I never liked change—oh ruthless fiend tearing at my heart—but change doesn't mind me. He keeps coming back for more. Moving my son, yesterday, tore out a large chunk.    Maybe my aversion to change results from a tendency towards hopeless sentimentality. I move through life in emotional slow motion, reminiscing days …
Moving Day Mourning
Tomorrow is moving day. I will drive our truck down to Santa Monica and help my son, Josiah, move the last of his possessions into storage.  He had to sell or give away his furniture because our home and shed are full. Yet, neither he nor I could bear to part with the oak dresser his Uncle Steve made for him before he …
“Mary, I miss you.”
I miss my former Twelve-step sponsor. I want to tell her I sang her favorite affirmation on the way to work yesterday, "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad," and it worked. I felt my courage return.     I want to tell her that I sing this scripture …
JoDee Luna Art 