I Used to Do This

And today, I just want to resume.  The reason:  I'm working on a book, part history, part novel, and all about an ancestor in terrible circumstances working to define herself.  As a hero to me, she lived through harder times than these, perhaps the hardest in Texas history, and emerged as a gracious woman.  She knew she was a "daughter of the King" and a "patriot of this country."  And when she worked through tough times,  there was an echo through our family one generation at a time, laying down the guidelines  and the fences, the definitions and the hopes.

It's always that way, certainly not unique to me and mine, but for all of us.  Definitions count.  That's how you survive economic hard times, that's how you make it as a subsistence farmer, that's how you go through unemployment.  That's how you make it through the very best of times, too.

It's like the old, worn declaration from a whole generation of coaches:  "We gonna dance with who brung us!"  It's what we all do.  But sometimes it's hard to tell "who brung us!"  When the whole social fabric changes around us, it's hard to tell exactly which  one of the masked partners is ours.  When we can't quite get the handle on traditional values, we need to re-mark the fence lines, re-discover the core values, and then tell each other the  stories of the journey.

So, I just believe there are new parables popping up all around us.  I believe God still, as always, speaks through familiar voices, visualized scenes, and surprises, because He has  a vested interest in making life abundant for all of us.

Treasures of my life have so often been suggestions from other folks.  Here's a book to read.....  Here's a song/poem to enjoy.....  Here's a challenging question for you.....  I disagree with you on ___________; what's your response.....  None of us is built to go through ANY day, specially rough ones, on our OWN!  God just didn't design us that way, and when we try, it just fails, unless.............

When we do try it all on our own, suddenly there are all these surprising gifts from friends we had forgotten, and all of these become new parables of finding the way.

Share if you like.  I do plan to keep it plain and simple, and just share discoveries along the way.

Bryan