Sign Language for Dogs

when i seek to punish myself for going against what i already know……..after i have tormented myself………Jesus steps in to soften the blows…….. when i languish because i gave into my heart took my hands off the reins and let go…….i knew it would lead to confusion and dismay but…

when i look up i can see……..a ray of light that calls to me……”stay where you are but you will never be free…………bring you trouble to the light and come to me”…………….mustering up the courage to stand…………i dig notches for my feet and hands ………and as i scale, the higher…

it didn’t take much for me to change my tune…….perhaps i understand why quality of faith is desired over quantity……… when the blank…………is ready……the blank will appear………couldn’t that be said about almost anything in life………………..when we are ready………….then whatever we need happens………. so what gets us ready……………honesty tops the list………….a…

i am never alone………because you wait with me.…i am seldom forlorn…….because you wait with me………….i am hopeful and find strength to carry on………..because you wait with me………. the world has become less torn…….because You wait with me………Your ways have become my own…….because You wait with me.…………i can feel at home…

the significance of one cannot be undone for those issues it holds………………..partners, mates, God, purpose, goals……. for those concerns are better served with alliance and focus……singularly…………………. one tire doesn’t work, one friend could work but you would inevitably wear them out……..one change of clothes would keep people at a distance…

i still can hear your booming voice and you laughed at my dismay………..you replied , ” you could have asked, but you had to have it your way”……………. ”your in it now………..so lets discuss a way, you can do what’s right for everyone………and maybe next time you will choose a…

i didn’t know, it didn’t occur to me…………how could i have known it would turnout this way…………..these are things you won’t hear me say…………we all have an internal compass…….. we all know the difference between right and wrong……..and if you ignore that feeling that you get in your gut………..then don’t…

the most difficult part of fishing on the edge is having the courage to admit that you don’t always know where that is………first concern…….. you have to spend the appropriate time determining the line…………….and then the second concern………..respecting it…… your gear is a little different here……..your line has to be…

until further notice i will continue on the path before me……………neither deviating left nor right…………..focused on each step…………..as it is measured and a slow cadence…….. the circumstances before me neither find me overwhelmed nor taxed…………the power that resides inside me is far greater than any situation that may confront…………..not free…

”happy” seems to indicate things are going my way……..whereas ”joyful” is bigger than circumstance or condition……it is an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and recognition of blessings bestowed…….. doesn’t matter what i may face……..a mere temporary situation…………………….what matters is there is a force in my life that encourages me to be…

beautiful confusion wouldn’t change a thing………….not even trying to sort it out……..watching the pieces as they land………. doesn’t seem out of order………. no sense of urgency……….like a boy standing by a stream tossing rocks at passing leaves………… so i believe there is a reason………..i have learned not to pursue answers…

i suppose when something touches you to the bone…..you try to dismiss it but it won’t leave you alone………..it doesn’t offend you…….but it is kinda strange…………..perhaps in your DNA there is a mutant strain…………………. you have always loved the vastness of the ocean………but it never felt like home………..it’s in the…

i thought they were so outdated they couldn’t be lit……settled into the assumption i was over it …….. the flame got close and damn if they didn’t catch………now all i see are fireworks……. the flowers, the trees, the earth and its’ smells have been turned up a notch and it’s…

the monkey is gone……you made him leave……but not before he brought you to your knees…….as he we tying the noose to put around your throat………….you stepped down from the platform………..you had enough……………although he pleaded to you to try dodging the hangman one more time…….in a moment of clarity……………..you had no…

grateful it has come to this……hurtful things i no longer resist………for the deeper the arrow goes………..awakens me to the core……………..and i have the courage to ask for more………. i have traveled along this way and i have learned there is a blessing for me…………and i look back on the hurt…

glad for the happy……….glad for the sad…………..glad i can experience the good and the bad………….glad to view all the colors i see……..glad i can pick the right ones for me…………glad i can dream and glad i can soar……………glad for the days i just want to lie in the floor…….glad to…

the ”obvious” came around and quietly sat down……..because the gate was open………….and we were left to figure out to close it or leave it………. we have a say in how things will unfold but it isn’t totally up to us………… what’s right and how that goes is contingent upon doing…

i can scant recall a word so small that encompasses so many things………..wrapped up inside is appreciation and pride and an acknowledgement of what has been done………..and the lingering vibe is akin to a tribe of well wishers chanting to come in………… and yet perhaps i am as guilty as…

you never know where life will go and we best be ready to ride the tide…………what had seemed like a sure thing doesn’t seem that solid after all……………………. we look across a frozen pond and we wonder if the ice will hold………….debate the pros and cons and decide to wait…

so what is the criteria for a life well lived…………..would have to include mistakes……..learning from those mistakes…………..love…..lost and reclaimed………fear……acknowledged and overcome…….goals…met and not met……..giving………..received graciously and rebuffed………..patience……..tried and broken……….and held by a thread…………….influential by actions accompanied by a few well placed words……….running off half-cocked and returning to measured steps………………life torn…

after all the medical procedures and treatments that destroy your body to fight of the cancer…….i still see your light……… that spirit that chucks the middle finger up at your disease and says i’m living in spite of you……………i’m still making a difference in people’s lives……that light….. that light that’s…

what can i bring to a dying man who is full of more life than most of us…………who accepts the outcome but not the terms…..he has basically told his disease, ”i’m going when i’m ready………………not when you’re ready………this is my show and God is the director and producer……….so sit over…

efforts to make God more reasonable and easier to comprehend are the equivalent of bringing God down to our level……i couldn’t put much faith in a God that operates with the same skill-set of a man……………… the need to understand and comprehend the works and measures that God takes is…

the appropriate definition for the aforementioned word is : YOUR ACTIONS NOW GIVE ME FREE REIGN TO DO WHAT I WANTED TO, AND IT’S YOUR FAULT…….. when we are hellbent, and i do me hellbent to do what we want……..we will find a way to make it acceptable……..and your fault……….…

there comes a time when reality hits…….. after you have given your best shot…….it’s time to quit……. when you pick up the pen and connect the last dot………the picture was easy to spot, a long time ago………but you couldn’t be honest…….you couldn’t let go……… so the ball you have been…

it’s been awhile since you have been gone but i still feel your presence as i go along and when i seem anxious about the best way to proceed i think of you fondly and ask you to lead……one a natural father and the other an adopted father……when i needed…

the reality is i am in recovery from myself. yes i used alcohol, drugs, women, money to change the way i felt…………..but at the core was an inability and unwillingness to accept what i was and what i wasn’t………scared, inferior and lazy………….and not confidant, truthful or committed…….to anything….. the challenge,…

you will never…….never………never……know what is in someones’ head…………..if you know them for 50 years………………live with them or was raised with them or by them……………..never…… but you will know what is in their heart……….by the way they address you……..pay attention to you…….stay in touch with you and confide in you…………………… so…

situations…….what people do or don’t do……..desires not met…… lack of appreciation………..respect………injustice……..lies…….unfaithfulness………….the list is virtually endless……..these are hard things that at some point in time most of us will face……….but without a dominant underlying belief and appreciation for life and the wonder of life one is doomed with the seemingly continuous…

deny, deny, deny until it’s on top of you……looks you in the eye and says, ”what wrong with you ….you don’t have to like it but stop lying to you”….. you have been in the process for so long that you aren’t even mad that it took you so long……you…