Empowering Daughters of God

RING OUT WILD BELLS Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,  The flying cloud, the frosty light:  The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the times; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good. Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thous

 Ebenezer Scrooge is a famous character from one of the world's favorite classics!  I know I've talked about this before.......A Christmas Carol is my favorite book!  I've been fascinated by the absolute genius of Charles Dickens.  This genius has earned him "favorite author" status on the bookshelf of my life!!  The word Ebenezer came to me the other day while driving home from work.  As thoughts of the season penetrated my mind along with Christmas music and a love for the season, I thought of Ebenezer Scrooge.  I've heard the word Ebenezer in a church hymn......Come Thou Fount, "I raise my Ebenezer" is the lyric.  I thought "what does that mean?"  After a quick Google search I learned that the exact definition is "a commemoration of divine assistance"!  After finding this out my mind was blown yet again by Dickens' genius!  I wonder, did he know what that word meant and used it on purpose?  I know Ebenezer was a common name

 "Get Used to Different....." is what Jesus says to His new students John, James, Andrew, and Simon in The Chosen when he invites Matthew, the tax collector to follow Him.  If you haven't watched The Chosen yet I would highly recommend it!  It's a beautiful portrayl of the New Testament events.  Jesus' current followers do not like Matthew very much.  He is awkward, genius, and a traitor to the Jewish people.  I feel for Matthew though, he is an outlier that seeks to fit somewhere, but has trouble wherever he goes.  This part of the story spoke to me.  It shows that no matter who we are or what we've done, if we are willing to follow, we can. He will have us.  It doesn't matter what we've done or how far off the path we are, there is a way back and He wants us back.  He asks much of those who follow Him and little of those who don't.  When we take His name upon us, we change, we are responsible for our knowledge, we know better. Our faith extends o

 This past Independence Day was typical for me......I worked!  It takes some mental preparation to work several days in a row, waking up by 4:30am in the morning, and anticipating the crazy fireworks that will fill the sky above my house and fill my ears with booming sound!  Then I have to wake up....again at 4:30am the next day to go to work.  "Well, at least it's not as bad as 3 and 4 years ago when the fireworks did not stop till 3am", I think, gratefully!  People must have called the city complaining about the ridiculous over-kill of fireworks in our area.  So this past July 4th I enjoyed some fireworks......that's right........if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  I do that some years!  I figure, if I can't sleep I might as well try to enjoy it instead of lay irritated in my bed.  I really don't enjoy fireworks so much.  I feel like I've seen many fireworks shows and they are all very similar.  This year as I watched I thought very deeply abou

 Ever felt like your life didn't turn out as expected?   Of course, that's probably all of us to some extent!  Am I right?  Why does it feel like my life is always going against the grain, I'm always swimming against the current.......?! Maybe we all feel like we are swimming upstream. Well, before I get into it, I want to first state, at the risk of sounding narcissistic, that this blog is about me!  It is somewhat of a journal that creates a kind of self-help for me, and maybe.....hopefully, others too.  I'm not here to criticize anyone.  Your choices are yours and you have your reasons and it's none of my business!  With that said I also hope that no one will take anything I say here the wrong way.  These are just my thoughts for me and are not meant to criticize or judge anyone else.  This whole blog is to talk about my life's journey, so much of what I say might only apply to me.   A few years ago, I was Gung-ho about the idea of having more children.......