Passion

Let's talk passionate. Let's talk emotional, in your face, just raw unadulterated FEELING.

To clarify: I don't mean the bumping uglies passion, I mean the heart kind. What gets your blood going when you do it? What do you do on a normal basis that you can't NOT just do?

For some people it's a TV show, or knitting, or body harvesting (just kidding...I hope.) But for others, it's READING.

Reading is...magical, breathtaking, transforming, and most of all, it's EMPOWERING.

 How many people can say that they've been to Italy, Montana, the Catskills up north, marched across the Sahara Desert while waiting to be rescued, been held hostage in an 19th century pirate ship, rescued hostages from hostile countries, or sailed to a new world? I can. I've experienced all of these and more from the comfort of my own home. I can sit on my bed and save a 5 year old girl on a rescue mission.

 Do you ever just get so into something that when it ends you kind of just want to cry? That's what reading is like. You become so absorbed, absolutely carried away, that it's almost hopeless to try and escape it. And the crazy part is how much you begin to enjoy it. Enjoy yourself.

 One of the very first things my children will learn is how to read. Reading opens doors for everyone who cares to indulge. Reading teaches you, it strengthens your vocabulary, gives you confidence in your abilities. Anyone who reads is dangerous.

I pray that you find something you're passionate enough about to want to shout it to the world. I pray that you find something that moves you to tears occasionally. Mostly I pray that you find something that makes you so happy that you don't mind to do it over and over again.

Southern Sensibilities

So I'm changing the directions of this blog for one final time.

INTRODUCING....

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SOUTHERN SENSIBILITIES


The blog about, for, and including Southern-isms that I've learned and made up (mostly made up) in my 20 years of living in East Tennessee. 

The first one we'll talk about is sweet tea. 

Yes, we're starting commonly. 

Sweet tea is the life blood that pumps through our veins. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it doesn't matter hwne we drink it as long as we have some. I don't mean a tablespoon of sugar in some hot tea. I mean 6 tea bags in a huge pitcher left out in the sun at noon and brought inside right before supper. 2 cups of sugar added, and briskly stirred with an old wire whisk. Pour it over some ice and it's the most refreshing drink you'll ever have.

While it is something that's wet and sweet, it's also go a scientific purpose that was probably never taken into account when the tradition started.

Tea lowers the iron count in the blood stream, which in turn leads to a slight anemia. Which can make you feel colder than you already are. Which, if you've ever been south of Kentucky in mid July at high noon, is a blessing and a half.

When God Makes Lemonade

I'm not going to lie, I read the description for this book and I honestly didn't think that I would be interested. But, being the nerd that I am, I had to read it just to challenge myself, and because I loved the title.

Ladies, and gentelmen?, let me tell you. I laughed, I cried, I made my mom read a story or two, and I finished reading this book feeling like a different person.

 I cried when I read about a father suffering the loss of a child due to miscarriage, I cried when a teenage girl was raped and her abortion attempts were thwarted THREE times. God spoke to her three times in a row. Can you imagine, hearing that still small voice in your heart the first time? A second? The third and final? 

I was brought to my knees when I read about a little baby girl who saved her family's life.

Each story was full of emotion, and an overwhelming sense of peace and love for the Almighty Father. Over 40 stories of how God has proven, time and again, how He is always there for us, and loves us unconditionally. The "main author" even tells his story in the first chapter, and it is nothing short of a miracle. He was found after accidentally shooting himself, and just as he's about to give up, he's told "If you can make it to morning, you'll live." And just before sunrise a search party found him lying in the brush.

This book was so well written, many of the authors are free lance writers themselves, and almost all of them are bloggers just like you and me. How crazy is that?

Do you have any stories where God has made you your own personal lemonade? Did you recognize it at the time? Have you heard your own small still voice? If you have, I would love to do guest posts about everyone's individual stories, the email is mjpeters193@gmail.com