Flight of The Gypsy Bird

I sat outside this morning, on my spiritual mom's patio, with my Papa God waiting to hear from Him as to what He wants to speak to his kids this evening. He was quiet and so was I....just enjoying our time together in the silence.  Words are overrated at times.   Sometimes we just need to BE with Him... And thennnnn.....  Riley.  See, my "mama" has this dog. He's quite a character.  He's grumpy and a tad bossy, lol.  He's an opportunist. Do NOT leave your food close to the edge of the table...or unattended. PERIOD. He's a sneak and he's completely adorable in all his spoiled-rottenness.  He's Riley. And he taught me something.  On this morning, he insisted to come out with me, so I obliged him. (If you know Riley at all, you will know that, oblige or not, he tends to have his way, haha. ) I sat there, soaking in the cool morning breeze...loving the embrace of my Father, and I noticed Rile...

About 8 months ago, a dear friend prophesied over me that I would write 3 books and not to get distracted by the illustrations. I thought, "Ok. I've got 2 already in the works...but....I really....don't need illustrations..." And then she said, "And there are children's books too." Wait. I know I didn't hear that. I'm not a children's author. She must've heard wrong. The books I write are novels and blog-style...definitely not children's books and I CERTAINLY don't feel a pull in that direction....At all. But I know this woman....I know she hears from Papa.... So I chalked it up and put it, wrapped ever-so-neatly, onto the shelf in the back of my mind for another season. Then, in December, I was sitting in the recliner at our former house and one of the littles came through and said, "Mama can you tie my shoes? I been tryin' and tryin' and it's just too hard!" He was quite upset...

Oceans. That song. Dangerous to your faith. ...And your life. Not too long ago, I read a blog post that circulated throughout facebook that talked about not singing the lyrics to "Oceans" unless you meant it. For those who may be unfamiliar with it, here are the lyrics that will cause you great difficulty if actually taken to heart: "OCEANS" Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, Solomon Ligthelm (c) Copyright 2012 Hillsong Music Publishing VS You called me out upon the waters The great unknown, where feet may fail And there, I find You in the mystery In oceans deep, my faith will stand CH And I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise my soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours and You are mine VS Your grace abounds in deepest waters Your sovereign hand will be my guide Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me You've never failed and You won't start now BRIDGE Spirit lead me where my trust i...

As I'm preparing for a word I'm to speak soon, and I'm studying through my talk relating to my blog post on "Slayer"... I hear " Cheat codes." And it gets me to thinking. Hmm...Cheat Codes. Well, let's explore this a sec. In relation to video games, Cheat codes are for those who want to advance quickly without having to actually learn the game...without actually having to struggle through the battles.  While it is CHEATING, and normally I would be adverse to skipping out on the process, I can see how this is beneficial. Don't hate. You know at some point you have pulled out that owner's manual looking for a hint only to find just enough info to piss you off. I mean  COME ON!!  Help a gamer out!! JEEZ!! And! If you think about it...the writers of the games come up with these codes...well...writers and hackers, lol. ANYWHO!! So! For the sake of argument, let's assume that God is the writer of this game...

"WYATT! DON'T SASSINATE ME!!" "Okay." (gun fire) "WYATT!! I SAID DON'T SASSINATE ME!!!" (no answer) "You have ta let me sassinate YOU!" "You have to earn your assassinations." As I sit here, computer in lap...working on a completely different blog...I hear this exchange between a very frustrated Nacho and his older brother, and I look up from my blogging and watch them.  I see the almost desperate face of my 6 year old as he whole-heartedly petitions his brother not to "sassinate" him and I see the utter calm and resignation on the face of his older brother, who is unmoved by his pleas and unceremoniously "sassinates" him. "WYATT!!! LET ME SASSINATE YOU!!" Nacho demands desperately, but unfortunately his brother is not feeling benevolent. "No." (Whining) "THAT'S WHY I WANT TO JUST PLAY BY MYSELF!" As a mom, it's tempting to intervene on behalf...

So...yeah. Captivity.  As believers...especially in a charismatic body...its a word that embodies negative things, right? I mean, when you think of 'captivity' you think of the Children of Israel in Egypt...or atleast I do...You think of addictions, chains, bondages, prison, slavery, etc.....See? Negative.  If you read my last blog, you know that Papa kinda rocked my world by just flat out atom-bombing a paradigm that most ppl who claim "charismatic" have.   Welp. He did it again. Read on.                  Wednesday night, before service (I play guitar for our youth service), I was walking the room and interceding (that would be ' praying'  for the non-church-i-fied) for the ppl who would come to the gathering that night...  Following is the dialogue that would wreck my sleep that night and every other night this week, so far...seeing as its 3:18am on Saturday morning.... ME-  ...

So this is Ernie's Trail in Wyomia Tyus Park . Shane and I were walking through the amazing nature trails at a local park where we live and we came across a cute little bridge. We stopped for a minute and looked over the rails at the multitude of moss covered rocks and pebbles beneath us. The water trickled over them invitingly, as if saying,"Come explore!" Instantly, we were both transported back to our childhoods and the adventures we would have in creeks just like this one. Shane laughed and said, "Oh, wow! I remember when I was a kid, how I would spend HOURS down in there climbing all over, turning over rocks and..." "..And looking for salamanders and crawdads and getting soaking wet!" I finished his sentence and we both laughed and reminisced about all the things we would do in creeks like this one.  Then, he said something that kinda hurt my heart a little... He looked over the edge of the bridge again and said, "You know, I pr...