A Note From the Author

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for visiting Naphtalis Land.  There are some exciting new changes coming this month. Please be patient while the updates are taking place.  You can still visit to catch up on anything you missed but there won't be any new posts for a few weeks.  Enjoy your Sunner!

Riddles and Rhymes

What so fun about blank spaces

Making up chaotic grids

Or dismembered objects

That we just can’t seem to fix

 

Metal rods bent just so

Sadistically entangled

Aisles of endless paths that end

In 90^o angles

 

What is the lure that calls us to

Seek out the sheer frustration

 

That's disguised as

            Entertainment and/or relaxation

 

Are we challenging our minds

Or secretly competing

With everyone who’s gone before us

The thought is quite intriguing

 

Crosswords, mazes, cubes perplex us

Numbers, shapes and puzzles vex us

We reason, guess and calculate

Applying logic, law and faith

 

To find the answer someone knew

But disguised to hide from view

Challenging us to search and find

By paths known only in their mind

 

Meant to question and to seek

To find the wisdom of belief

 

The wonders of the mind of man

Are formed in us by God’s own hand

 

So through the mazes of this life

Misunderstandings, pain and strife

We can be guided by His light

When we recieve the mind of Christ

Storm's End

Thick stillness welcomes a shroud of clouds

The sunlight dims to disguise the hour

 

The leaves rustle like a nervous laugh

Before the wind chooses a path

 

Silently with a stroke of light

That flashes a warning of its might

 

A distant growl becomes a roar

Revealing the flashes at their source

 

They shake the ground and slap the sky

Releasing torrents in a violent tide

 

The wind then choosing its fickle path

Stretches its power across the land

 

Scarring the earth as though a knife

Cutting through homes and hopes and lives

 

With silent flashes like a bitter scowl

It pulls away its tattered shroud

 

That was torn by light regaining power

Scattering the clouds and revealing the hour

 

The suns shining rays are at first subdued

As they filter through the colorful hues

 

Drawn by His hand a promise renewed

Of His steadfast love and a hope that’s true

 

Stretching across the battered earth

             Beauty for ashes promised by His word

 

               Greater than storms that sweep through our lives

                Is the healing power of His glorious light

Mothers Day or A Place Like No Other

Todays about Mothers

            Those here and those gone
            To honor, remember and thank them for all
          
            Beginnings don’t matter
            The time, place or source
              To love as a mother she made the choice
 

              No matter how many

            She holds in her heart
              There’s a place never shared that was yours from the start

               It’s all about you there

               You are treasured and known
               No matter the distance it is always your home

               It’s filled with her prayers

               Her hopes and her dreams
               For your needs to be met and your goal’s to be reached

               How can I be sure

               That all this is true
                I’m not just a daughter, I’m a mom too

I Am Sorry Officer But I Just Can't Do That or Oh Lucy IV

My husband and I shared our truck until his parents gifted us with their old car.  The only problem was I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift.  I was so anxious to learn that I insisted on having my first lesson the night it arrived.  It was dark and snowy so we drove around the parking lot of a local shopping center to play it safe.

 We only lived a few blocks from the school so I thought it would be good practice to pick up the kids the next day.  Everything was fine until I came to a stop sign on top of a small hill.  School had just let out and there was a line of traffic behind me.  There were no hills in the parking lot the night before and when I tried to release the clutch to move forward, the car rolled backwards.  I took a deep breath and tried a second time but it rolled back again to within a few inches of the car behind me. That driver decided the solution to my problem was to lay on her horn.  Horrified I turned on the flashers, opened my window and waved the cars around me.

Suddenly a squad car pulled up behind us with its lights on.  The officer walked over to my window and asked if the car had broken down.  I had no idea what to say so I answered rather shortly that it had not.  He said that I would have to move along then because I was holding up traffic.  Choking back tears I told him that I just could not do that.  He seemed shocked as I just sat there clutching the wheel. The kids had all but melted under the back seat in humiliation and didn’t say a word. He asked why I couldn’t move and I was forced to tell him the embarrassing truth, bracing myself for whatever penalty I would receive for refusing his order.  Trying not to laugh he kindly told me how to use the emergency break to keep from sliding backwards.  He waited while I tried it and even blocked anyone else from going around me until I was safely underway. I never had the chance to thank him because I had no intention of stopping again until I reached home, but I will never forget him.

To Tell the Truth

The moments I lived for

When my hope was renewed

Were the moments of clarity

When reality met truth

Beyond the confusion

Past the noise in my mind

To a place that was peaceful

Where freedom was mine

I could see with my heart

Others struggle for peace

From that vantage point

I knew just what they'd need

I'd start to invite them

To join me and then

Fears of rejection

Began to seep in

Not wanting the world

To steal my peace

I held out my heart

But just beyond reach

As the guilt and the shame

Grew larger than truth

The clarity dissolved

My confusion renewed

From my sinful place

I can't see past my own

Disappointments and sorrows

Until He calls me home

He shows me the way

Through Forgiveness and Grace

Freely given in Love

Gently growing my faith

Learning to trust

That He'll love me through all

The times that I doubt

And run from His call

Slowly I'm learning

That when He is near

From that place of peace

I have nothing to fear

I can see through His eyes

And reach with His hands

With His words that I share

He will gather His lambs

The moments I live for

Have now become

The moments I’m telling

The world of His Son

A Right Of Passage or That Kid's Got An Arm

                Third in a line of girls, I was forced to give up my position as the baby of the family when my brother was born.  You could tell my Dad was anxiously waiting to teach him about all things male, but growing up with three older sisters wasn’t setting the stage for his rough and tumble future. We all loved holding him and feeding him and he made a great addition to our pretend families when we played house.

 I think all that nurturing was beginning to worry Dad because one day he announced that it was about time for him to be completely done with bottle feeding.  He was a toddler by that time and was only getting an occasional bottle but as a milestone it suddenly became very important.  My brother did not take to the idea and what could have been a war of wills was turned into a unique Right of passage designed by my Dad.  We lived on the banks of the Fox River and we were all called to assemble down by the water’s edge one Sunday afternoon.  My brother came, bottle in hand with my mom and dad.  Dad announced that my brother was now a big boy and big boys did not drink from bottles so he was going to throw his last bottle into the river.  My Dad held his hand to steady him and after a little encouragement my brother threw the bottle into the water.  Cheers all around and that was that as we all marched back up the bank to Sunday dinner.

When I think about all the times in my life that I had to let go of the past before I could take the next step toward a new beginning I picture my Dad steadying my brother and making him feel strong and capable.  I know my Heavenly Father is always there for me, steadying me and loving me through the letting go if I walk hand in hand with Him.