SoCS: Just Showing Up with Sunsets

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “prize.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Everybody gets a prize… sooner or later, big or small. I think it’s okay to get a prize for just showing up. Not a trophy, but something. Like a nice pencil or a bag of jellybeans. When my kids were little and went to the doctor, they’d get to go to the prize box after seeing the doctor and before going to the check out. Even if they cried, they got a prize after seeing the doctor. It might have been a little plastic dinosaur or a plastic ring. Lots or plastic. 😦 I wonder if they still do that.

In my old job as a counselor, I started the family Christmas party group for clients. For many years, I went to the dollar store and bought 50 presents to play that game where you can take the other person’s gift and go back to the pile. It was always fun to see a big tough guy open a baby toy. This was one of the highlights of my old job. I have a feeling they don’t do that anymore, but I could be wrong. It would be great to be wrong about that. I think probably individual groups have a party.

Yesterday’s prize was sunny weather in the low 80s. I broke down and took an allergy pill which helped with the fuzzy head. It’s cooler today.

Another prize, if you could call it that is that I get to play a lot more guitar and pull together music for church over the past three Sundays since our music director/organist has been in the hospital. He came home a couple days ago and is not out of the woods yet. He’s in what my husband would call, “deep weeds.” Healing prayers and good vibes are appreciated for my friend, Chris.

A couple of months ago, I was thinking I should use my singing voice more as a form of service. So now, I am called to do that in a way that was unexpected and not what I had in mind. Last weekend I invited a few friends over (something I rarely do) and we sang peace songs in the backyard. Maybe I’ll make this monthly and record something for you.

Sunsets are prizes we get just for showing up. Sunrises, too, though I show up more for sunsets. Here are a few recent sunsets seen from my neck of the woods:

(It took me a while to complete this post, because my photos would not load from my phone, and it took a while for them to show up in my aol email which is randomly slow.)

~~~

For more info on Stream of Consciousness Saturday

and to read more streams,

visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

Yawns, Sighs, and Sunsets

Our mission for this Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness was:

“… “yawn.” Write about the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the word “yawn,” when you sit down to write your post. Enjoy!”

We think of a yawn as implying boredom, but it’s also a way to reset our breathing or something like that – like a sigh which is somewhat more voluntary than a yawn. Have you ever tried to yawn on purpose? It’s just not the same. I just tried it. And try to suppress a yawn. You can keep your mouth closed, but the yawn is in there. Did they see it? There’s this guy in choir who yawns really loud. He doesn’t really try to suppress it. The choir director says, “No yawning in the choir loft!” (It’s not really a loft.) But it doesn’t matter. We all chuckle.

Now, a sigh is different. A sigh can be voluntary and also a reset. In yoga class we were encouraged to sigh out loud. Or yawn or whatever. Just let it all out.

Yawn rhymes with dawn. Dawn’s early light which I rarely see, because I’m not a morning person. I have nothing against dawn or early mornings, but much prefer sunset when I’m more awake and can take it all in with a sigh instead of a yawn. But yawning and sighing are both okay. Dawn and sunset are both beautiful blessings.

I typed dawn into the search bar for my pictures. Nothing. Then, I typed sunset and got 900 and something items. Really? I probably take more sunset photos than anything else. Let’s see if I can find some of my favorites. Without planning.

(All the photos were taken in North Carolina with the last 2 from Beech Mountain.)

Minimal planning or something like that.  We’ll see below.  I got the “have fun” part right.

For more information on #SoCS, or to jump in the stream, visit our host, Linda G. Hill at

https://lindaghill.com/2019/02/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-16-19/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

 

God is Great

 

waiting for the stars

Last night, my husband and I watched the meteor shower at the beach and talked about how big God is when we allow God to expand beyond the box some people try to put God in. We don’t want to get rid of the box. We just want to let it expand to be as big as God really is. God is beyond male or female. God is beyond age or race. God is bigger than any church or any one religion. That’s why there are so many churches and so many religions.  We, with our limited understanding, cannot contain all of God, but pieces of God can be in us and shine through us.

That reminds me of the story of the blind men and the elephant. Each blind man encountered a different part of the elephant, and each of them thought what he experienced was the elephant. They were each partly correct, but none of them got the whole “picture.”

I will still practice my religion and go to my church where I see and feel God’s love through the teachings and image of Jesus. Yet, I also know God through creation: through the dynamic sunsets, the powerful ocean, the wisdom of the trees  and the twinkling of distant stars that seem close enough to touch. God is the creator of this beautiful, magnificent planet we have all been given to live on and to take care of.

God is awesome love. God is great. God  is good. Thank you, God.