endurance patience
faith hope love joy peace
strength to strength she glows
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.” (Proverbs 31:30-31)
Fearlessly she leads
(her sister watches behind)
braving ocean tides
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remarks from a senior visitor: “The smaller bird is in front. Remind me of times gone by for me and my sister. Size does not necessarily count sometimes. On the other hand the adventurous outgoing one learns costly lessons. Courage needs wisdom too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Words of Wisdom:
Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler. (Proverbs 6:4-5)
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.” (Proverbs 7:4)
Homing dove not lost
sure in heart swift wings to post
compass pointing Love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~She wrote back to him: I read your short email and post and affirm now that it was I who called. It doesn’t matter what noise you may have heard from the airport crowd I am fine and well as you have heard clearly in your heart recalling all the promises we have pledged to each other that regardless of the external factors and come what may we shall continue to stay in peace and hold fast to our confidence of love and good thoughts of each other and that our compass must always point to the direction of selfless Love. Thus you will never be lost to me. Neither will you ever lose me. This I truly affirm. You see, we have an unseen registry of covenant set by love in our heart and in heaven. Physical separation will not terminate the unseen words. Words written in our heart and spirit cannot be erased unless one party chooses to deny the record. Even then it will leave an unseen mark for life. I realize that love and faith cannot be separated. Faith implies trust in action.
Many years ago a young Mongolian woman married a young man she loved since childhood and he was conscripted the day after the wedding. They were separated for decades by long and cruel wars. The country was later split for political reason and he was banned from returning to the mainland. He was stranded on an island and was barred from communicating with her while she remained in Mongolia. He never married and finally saved enough means to come looking for her in his seventies when the political ban was relaxed. On the day of their reunion she fainted. Because she had stayed unmarried too for over half a century despite many suitors until just before her long lost first husband turned up. She finally accepted a recent proposal to re-marry as she became too old and frail to take care of herself. It was indeed a sad story. I don’t know what has happened to the woman who now has two men loving her at the same time. Love has kept the one day old bride and groom alive for so long and will keep them going even though they can no longer stay as man and wife. I like to imagine that he has built his yurt (tent) next to hers and see her everyday as her best friend. Perhaps the other man will allow him to have meals of buuz (dumplings), milk and cream with them. Perhaps they will live long to make up for the lost years.
I will not think that far into the distance. I pray and believe in a good ending.
[ The Shulamite to Her Beloved ] Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.
(An outing up a slope to eat and drink.)
Accepting lunch treat
senior puffed and panted walked
refreshment beckoned
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. (Matthew 11:28 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Another day’s spring
Untiringly for her prince
In a state of grace
=================
Art is contemplation of the world in a state of grace. Hermann Hesse.
Song of Solomon 2:1
I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.
The wilderness and the wastela
nd shall be glad for them,
And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
Even with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
The excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.
7 The parched ground shall
become a pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water;
In the habitation of jackals, where each lay,
There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray.
9 No lion shall be there,
Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;
It shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk there,
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(this beautiful and positive poem is quoted from Isaiah 35 NKJV)
a certain Friday
she received this tiny rose
a wordless hello
Averted social-media
today she speaks verbosely
encyclopedia
I try to give ear
the best of all stories smeared
with love this- my tear
Brilliant rich display
glorious on this sun-blessed day
keeps the gloom away
As she strolled she saw
walking wasn’t such a chore
babies doggies LOL
No, I can’t play dear
much as I’d like to good friend
ocean in-between
~~~~~~~~~~~~
(traveler teaching the dog internet)
Inevitably
it comes a time to move on
branching out alone
happy time abide
thank you for singing awhile
till we say goodbye
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!
(Song of Solomon 2:11-13)
they came to this point
saying goodbye to old dreams
adieu mon ami
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyday we walk and come across junctions. A junction is a place where we halt briefly and make a decision to choose one direction to continue. It can be a junction of three directions including the one from which you have left. A junction can be a place where four roads meet and is called a cross road. One thing we know is no one can linger at a junction for too long. You just need to make up your mind within the short span of time allowed. The good news is, you may travel far and one day come to the same junction again. By then of course things would have changed. i pray each one of us make the right decision at the right time with the right person.
They went round these bends
sunny stormy come what may
one day at a time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Set up road markers for yourself, make yourself guideposts, consider well the highway, return…return to these your cities.” Jeremiah 31:21
grand-aunt’s remarks:
“how brightly they bloom!”
effortless shinning each day
regardless what ails
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May there be abundant grain throughout the land, flourishing even on the hilltops. May the fruit trees flourish like the trees of Lebanon, and may the people thrive like grass in a field. (Psalm 72:16)
grand-aunt’s remarks:
“walking is easy”
when you hold the hand you love
dearly and gently
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They strolled separately
refreshed in beauty and grace
touched by breathless awe
one day she looked up
surprised by her friends up there
busy messaging
Women in their best 