Please Tell Me That I Did Not Just Do That!

Daily Prompt: Isn’t Your Face Red

by michelle w. on February 5, 2014

When was the last time you were embarrassed? How do you react to embarrassment? 
Photographers, artists, poets: show us RED.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/category/daily-prompts/

I do not know what my last embarrassing moment was, they all kind of run together into a hazy memory that I try to forget.  I am a blond that is usually daydreaming and in more touch with imagination than reality; so I have almost daily encounters with face-blushing times.  The VERY HUMILIATING one that comes to mind right now happened a few years ago and still comes back to haunt me.  Whenever I talk about this yet, my face turns that amazing shade of RED.

I was on tour with a group of young people from Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute, and we were singing in churches from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin.  We would travel all day on the bus, give a program in the evening, and then be distributed out to local church members’ homes to spend the night so that we would not have to pay for lodging at a hotel.  This particular time I was placed in a young family’s house.  If I remember right, it was two guys, a girl, and I that were to occupy the rooms that this hospitable couple had provided for us.

We made it through the program, quite tired and exhausted from traveling all day, battling the cold, and fighting illness, and traveled to this family’s house where they had prepared a lovely snack and tried to hold friendly conversation with us zombies.  

Finally, everyone decided to retire for the night.  I trudged myself and my luggage into the room that I was sharing with the other girl and proceeded to organize the mass confusion inside of my suitcase.  My dear friend used the bathroom to get her shower, brush her teeth, and whatever else she needed to do while I waited and replied to my accumulated text messages that I had not gotten a chance to reply to yet.  She finally appeared from the land of warm, soapy water, and I gathered my supplies for the trek into that realm of relaxing cleanliness.  Before I left, I got specific directions from her about where the bathroom actually was.

Problem is, in my half-conscious state, I misunderstood her and trudged down the hall- in oblivion to the fact that I had misunderstood her.  I came to the door that I thought was the right one, opened it, searched for the light switch, and almost dropped my toothbrush and washcloth in shock as I realized that I just entered the room of the hosting couple.  I could not see my face, but I am pretty sure that it must have burned a shade of red that has not even been discovered by Crayola yet.  I mumbled something quickly about looking for the bathroom, turned off the light, and rushed out the door as fast as my legs could carry me. 

I did eventually find the bathroom that night yet and managed to get a shower, although disappearing into a deep hole in the earth never to be seen again did cross my mind.

Oh well, I guess we need those moments to realize that we are very human and prone to times that we wish we could redo=D

Would love to hear your embarrassing moment!  (If you’re brave enough;) – go ahead and share in the reply box!

The Snow Zoe----In Flattery of Dr. Seuss

Daily Prompt: The Sincerest Form of Flattery

by michelle w. on February 3, 2014

Publish a post in the style of a favorite author/blogger or photographer.

Photographers, artists, poets: show us COPIES.

I looked outside-
And what should I see?
But piles of snow covering up our trees.

I put on my jacket,
My hat, scarf, and boots,
And rushed out the door with a holler and hoot.

I ran through the drifts
And flung snow ’round my head,
But then stopped as if I had been struck dead.

For there came a creature
As big as a house
With purple feathers and a yellow-toothed mouth.

“Who are you?” I squeaked
From behind the tree
Where I ran for protection from this thing close to me.

“I’m a Zoe,” it laughed,
“And I come once a year
When the snow is its highest and the cold is near.

I see you are lonely-
not a friend by your side
And you can’t have winter fun with noone close by.”

The Zoe grabbed my hand
And twirled me around
Till I flew through the air far up from the ground.

I danced with the snowflakes
And tasted ice crystals.
I skated upon the lake while I whistled.

I slid from soft branches
Like a rollercoaster ride
And all with the good faithful Zoe by my side.

We built a snowman-
I stuck on the nose
And Zoe sculpted shoes to cover its toes.

The day grew darker
And the light went away;
I knew it was only a matter of time till Mom would say,

“Come in, Laura, dear,
It is now time to eat.
Please wash up and warm up and then take your seat.”

So I looked at my friend,
And he looked at me;
And we both knew for certain that now he must leave.

“Goodbye, Little Friend,”
He started to say,
“This once a year ritual has been a great day!

No more will you see me-
I visit just once,
And come back no more to a place where I was.

But remember each snowfall
A big fluffy Zoe
Who was willing to be your friend in the snow.

And go look for someone as lonely as you
And be to them Zoe
And do as I do.

For you’ll find if you do that
Each time you’ll have fun
And have happy memories for years yet to come.”

I watched as the Zoe
Shook his long purple feathers
And then walked away to the wild lonely heather.

And I waved goodbye
To my yellow-toothed Zoe
Who taught me to reach out and have fun in the snow!

-MarJanita LaRosa
in form of Dr. Seuss

Setting Up Monuments

Did you ever read in the Old Testament how so often the people set up some sort of memorial in honor of what the Lord had done for them?

Joshua 4:20-24 “And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.  ²¹ And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?  ²² Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.  ²³For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:  ²⁴ That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.”

When I was younger and we traveled a lot, my mother would do a similar thing, except it wasn’t with rocks.  She kept a notebook and wrote in it all the miracles that we saw happen.  Years later, it was interesting to look back over the times that God had saved us from an accident, kept us out of a snowstorm, or provided money when finances were tight.

As time passed and life got busier, this tradition dropped.  However, I have renewed it for myself personally.  It is easy to focus on the things that I don’t get my way and the things that go wrong- while forgetting the many times that God actually provided little miracles and helped me.  I have a special book that I now write in all my prayer requests or burdens weighing heavily on my heart.  Once a prayer is answered with a “yes”, I put a checkmark beside of it.  Prayers that are still in waiting remain on the list, and prayers that are answered with a “no” can receive an “x”.  What I want to do for the “no” answers is to then write beside them the blessing that I can see from not getting a “yes”.  Ones that I can’t figure out will receive a question mark, because I know that there is a reason whether or not I can see it right now.  There can also be a separate category for hugs from Heaven- times when unexpected blessings are sent my way.  Hopefully when I look back and reminisce (because I love looking back through my old journals and writings) I will see an even clearer picture of how great God actually is.  Years later those question marks may make sense, and I will finally be able to write in the reason beside them.  Some may remain a mystery to me on earth forever, but I can be okay with that because I will also see the times when God surprised me with special blessings and checkmarks.

This is not the only way that you can build monuments to remember special times and blessings.  Frame a leaf from your walk in the woods when you poured your heart out to God and you felt Him wrap you in His arms.  Write down on a bookmark the words of a song that was playing on your radio and spoke of hope when you felt like there was none left.  Take a picture of the sunset that convinced you that there is Someone in control.  Copy an inspiring quote to a magnet and stick it on the fridge.  Write down each blessing, miracle, or “yes” answer on a popsicle stick and store it in a jar.  When the jar is full, have a special date with God (volunteer at a soup kitchen, help with a food drive, donate to a charitable cause, buy a meal for someone who is struggling).

You don’t have to physically erect a bunch of rocks in your back yard to remember the blessings in your life, but I think it is important to find some kind of creative way to keep track of the good things, because if you are like me it is easier to see the glass as half empty rather than half full!

Special Purpose or Special Man

Daily Prompt: BFFs

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from the person you’re the closest to?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us FRIENDS

When I read this I had to stop and think.  I can't quite say who I am absolutely closest to, but I do know that I revere my father and honor his advice very much- and he is one of my best friends!

I also can't say that this is the most important lesson I have ever learned from him, but it is one of the more recent ones that has meant a lot to me.  I thought I would share it, because I'm not the only girl out there that wonders at times about her single status.

I'm about to have another birthday which makes me another year older, and occasionally I whine to my parents about how overlooked I am by the opposite gender.  It isn't that I am intent on marriage as an ultimate goal (truth of the matter is that I'll be just as happy single and fulfilling all the many things I dream of doing as I would be sharing the rest of my life with that special someone and raising a beautiful family), but sometimes I have to wonder what is wrong with me that I am still single while a lot of my friends have had Prince Charming sweep them off their feet.  I mean is it my looks?  Is it my personality?  Is it because I like studying and wearing funky clothing?  Is it because I'm not like most of the other girls in thought and personality? 

I'm being honest here because I know that I have single friends that ask the same questions.

But this is what my father said to me-

"Daughter, God is either saving you for a Special Purpose or a Special Man.  He doesn't want you getting all distracted by guys that will sidetrack you from what He has in store for you."

Pretty powerful stuff right there, isn't it?  It kind of put things in perspective for me.  I should not feel like I don't meet society's expectations if I don't have a boyfriend or three guys falling for me like all the romance stories portray.  God thinks I'm pretty awesome, so awesome in fact that He is keeping me for something very special.  It just excites me to think about it.  Either I'm single for a special purpose, which only being dedicated to God would allow me the freedom to do or else I'm single and saved for the man that God picked just for me and will bring in His own timing. 

Anyways, this wasn't going to be another long post, just short and to the point for the daily prompt; but here I am going on and on about singleness and romance and all that gushy stuff.  So I'll stop and tell you to have a wonderful day and think about how God truly does care about you.  Remember not to base your value on other people, but on what the Father thinks of you! 

The Year's Hardest Word

 

Last year I decided to take a word and claim it for the year- just one word that I wanted to work on and have God accomplish in me.  A word that (whenever I heard it, read it, or saw it) would remind me to cultivate this special quality.  Last year’s word was JOY.  This year’s word is one that I will struggle with all year and possibly still struggle with even when I move onto my next word.  Let’s see if I can even get this word out- TRUST!  Why is this so hard for me? 

I’ve been starting to realize how self-reliant I have become.  Life seems easier if you do not need to depend on anyone for anything.  No worry about being hurt or taken advantage of, no worry of dreams not coming true.  Then God struck me with the fact that I haven’t been trusting others; but even more importantly, I haven’t been trusting Him.

“Child, you have been fighting your way through life trying to get what you want- when you want it- on your own power.  You have held me off from guiding your footsteps, and you have held off people who would walk beside you.”

“But, God, seriously, I used to trust You and others; but then I got smart.  I mean, why would I bother with people when they only end up leaving me or rejecting me?  And as for You, well that’s another subject.  You know what I was supposed to be doing with my life by now, but here I am, still uncertain about what the future holds for me.”

“Oh, so you think that you can’t trust Me because I did not make life go exactly like you thought it should.  You think that because you’re an author, you can write the best plot.  My Dear, you have so much to learn.  If you would only let go of the pencil for a little, I could script a story that would blow you away.  See, I’m good at that, very good.”

“But what about all those people who allowed You to script their lives and they ended up dead in a prison camp, ambushed by killers, burnt at the stake, or suffering from cancer.  That’s not how I want my life’s book to read- ‘MarJanita, faithful follower of God died ? from enemy explosion as she was trying to rescue children from the war zone.’  I want it to read- ‘MarJanita, celebrated and accomplished writer, musician, world-traveler, and philanthropist will now be making her appearance at the Giant Center to give a speech on her latest book The Three Keys to Open the Door of Success.’”

“See, that’s what I have been trying to tell you.  You can’t trust because you think you know what is best, but you really don’t.  No offense, but you’re human, you’re not God.  Your understanding is limited.  What you don’t realize is that when I write someone’s story I write it in mystery-novel style.  I don’t write plain comedy, because although life is fun it is also serious.  I don’t write plain romance, because sometimes love is hard to see and you need to come to Me to find it.  I don’t write plain tragedy, because there is also joy in life; and I don’t write biographies, because that would mean there is an end to the story.  I write mysteries, but I won’t reveal the ending until you’re sitting here with Me and I can personally read it to you.  I am trying to do something very special; I only wish you could see that.”

“Okay, I’m starting to understand, but why do I need other people?”

“When have you read a story with only one character in it?”

“Um…well…never?”

“That’s right, because life would be pretty lonely if there was only one star in the show.  Yes, you will get hurt when you open your heart to others, some will only be with you to see what they can gain.  Others will find someone else to walk beside and move out of your life.  But enjoy the moments when they are right there in your story walking through life with you.  Loving and being loved are the richest blessings you can find.  To be without that is a tragedy indeed.”

So, I finally tried to let go, let go of my wishes, my dreams, and my hold on life and what I love.  And God took the pencil from my hand and started to write.  In the last few weeks, He has shocked me with what He has written.  I like to think that I can create some imaginative stories, but God can script things that we can not even begin to think and form on our own. 

So this year, I’m going to try to be okay with my life being a mystery novel.  In my novel there will be comedy, tragedy, romance, and suspense; but I’m going to have to wait for it all to come together until I reach Home- and I’m going to try to be okay with that because I will TRUST!  Blessings to you as you continue to let God guide you as well.

Proverbs 3:5-6

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Musy the Sputterfly

Daily Prompt: BYOB(ookworm)

by michelle w. on January 24, 2014

Write the blurb for the book jacket of the book you’d write, if only you had the time and inclination.

Photographers, artists, poets: show us BOOKS.

                                                                Musy the Sputterfly

                                    A twisty-curvy tale of a little creature's quest for adventure!

                                                                -MarJanita LaRosa 

This is a book jacket blurb for an actual children's book I have written and stored in the archives in hopes of one day publishing=)

Musy the Sputterfly is bored of her life and is ready for an adventure.  What Musy does not know is that sometimes adventures are not always what they appear to be.  You will fall in love with Musy as her world-traveling escapades get her into just enough trouble to realize that home is not so bad after all.  Children and adults of all ages will read this twisty-curvy tale over and over again. 

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Daily Prompt: Mirror, Mirror

by michelle w. on January 22, 2014

Look in the mirror. Does the person you see match the person you feel like on the inside? How much stock do you put in appearances?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us MIRRORED.

I yawn and push my hair back behind my ear as I lean forward to survey myself in the mirror.  I wrinkle my nose in disgust at the puffy eyes and sleep lines criss-crossing my forehead. 

But wait!

I look closer and deeper in shock as suddenly the mirror begins to vibrate and pull apart into a new reflecting substance.  I gasp as I no longer see my blue eyes and curly hair, but instead see my soul- every thought and feeling and emotion. 

I quickly look away, not sure if I really want to see all of this.  Is this the way I look inside?  What would people say if they could see this? 

I always thought that the outside of me matched the inside of me, but now I’m not so sure.  The outside of me always wears a smile and a laugh, but the inside of me speaks of hurt and tears.  The outside of me is dressed just right, but the inside of me is scattered and confused.  I did not realize how this part of me looked. 

To the left I see an ugly blotch of jealousy; I quickly grab some concealer to cover it.  Then I frantically try to scrub away the acne of pride.  Soon, I begin to use the tweezers on complaining.  

I look away from the mirror and fall back into a chair in frustration because nothing I do seems to get rid of this ugliness within me.  As I bury my head in my hands and weep, I hear a tender voice alongside of me.  I cover my soul with my hands trying to hide what I want no one to see. 

“It isn’t pretty is it?  No matter how hard you have tried to gloss and shine the outside, the inside is quite the opposite.”

I nod my head in despair, still keeping my eyes lowered in shame.

“I have tried for years to get you to look at this part of you, but you were always too busy and wanted to pretend that there was nothing wrong.  I wanted to show you, but only now were you willing to look.”

I grab a sweater and pull it over my open soul, “But, why do I have to?  I wish I had never seen this.  Why can’t I go on believing that the inside is as good as the outside?”

“Because, it is impossible for any human to have a perfect inside.  The quicker you realize this, the quicker you can do something about it.”

“But I can’t do anything about it.  I have tried everything that I can possibly do, but it all is still there.”

I feel soft hands raise my head and turn me towards himself.  “Look into my eyes,” he commands. 

Slowly, I lift my eyes until they lock with his.  Never have I felt anything like this- I feel like I am about to drown in guilt, but yet there is such an unspeakable love that is holding me up above the waves.  He pulls my sweater from me and guides me to the mirror once again.  This time, instead of only seeing my horrible soul, I see his beauty and grace standing beside me.  I now know that he is The Great Physician.  I bow my head and clasp my hands as I plead, “Will you heal me?”

He does not say a word, but begins to wash my soul.  Oh, it hurts to be sanitized and disinfected, but I keep my attention on his scarred hands to take my mind from the pain as He gently cleans.  Suddenly he stops, I look at him wondering if it is possibly finished.  He nods His head as if He had read my thoughts.  Then He lifts His hands and I look into the mirror once again.  I gasp.  This could not be my soul.  It must be someone else’s.  The blacks and darks have been replaced with warmth and brightness.  My soul seems to completely radiate and shine.  All the defects have been replaced with beauty.  Instead of jealousy there is love.  Servanthood has replaced pride, and gratitude has taken the place of complaining.  I finally get words out of my mouth, “How did you do this?”

He smiles as He shows me His hands and then clasps mine in His, “Because of this, my child.  These hands were scarred and I was tortured so that I can make you as beautiful inside as you are outside- because the inside beauty is more important that the outside.  The inside is who you really are.  You need to be willing to look at your soul and come to me for washing whenever there is something ugly within your soul.  If you let it grow unhindered, it will take control again; but if you allow me to keep you clean and pure, the lovely things that you now see will only bloom fuller and more perfect.  You can not do it on your own, but I will always be here, my Daughter.”