“You think you’ve won, but the truth is that I’m just taking a rest and planning my next strategy.”
Thanks to beautifulfreepictures.com for the photo
~~~
Love Cinquain Collection
Now that we have moved into the “month of love,” I thought I’d dig back through my cinquain archives and take a look at some of the love cinquains I’ve written in the past. I will have to write some new ones this year, of course, but I enjoy reading those from past years and remembering what triggered the idea for writing them exactly as I did. This list isn’t comprehensive, by any means. There are several more on the same theme. But these caught my attention this week. So I hope you enjoy this little trip down cinquain memory lane with a focus on love.
DIAGNOSIS
Heart pounds;
Palms sweat; mouth’s dry;
Can’t seem to concentrate.
Is this some rare disease? No, wait:
It’s LOVE
~~~
MY QUEST
My quest:
Looking for love.
I want a love that lasts
Beyond the transient flame of lust
‘Til death.
~~~
MY HEART’S DESIRE
My heart
Longs to find love
That takes me as I am,
But makes me so much better by
Its pow’r.
~~~
LOVE’S SIGHT
Some say
That love is blind.
Not so. Instead I find
True love seeks out and focuses
On good.
~~~
SOLITARY LOVE
Tears fall.
Hard to believe:
I thought we had it all,
But now I find I loved alone.
He’s gone.
~~~
HOW TO LOVE
Loving
Done correctly
Is more a matter of
Faithfulness and honor than of
Feelings.
~~~
REACHING THE GOAL
Today
I walk the aisle
And give to my best friend
My hand and heart for all my life;
“I do.”
~~~
Three-Day Coffee Cinquain Challenge — Day 3
Okay! We’re finishing up the first full month of 2021 on a great note: with coffee and cinquain. What better combination is there?
(Well …. maybe coffee and chocolate … but we’ll do that again later.)
Ooopsie!
Don’t want to spill
Or waste a single drop
Of this delicious coffee in
My cup.
Three-Day Coffee Cinquain Challenge — Day 2
I admit that for this Day 2 cinquain I did not use the actual word coffee. But I stand by the poem as indicative of the allure and satisfaction that only coffee can bring. 🙂
Ready.
How much longer?
Your fragrance titillates.
We’re trembling in our saucers now.
Hurry!
For Your Information …
Whenever I’m holding healing schools, I generally put my healing book on a special sale so that any students who would like to have a copy can get it at a reduced price. I hand out a lot of material that is covered in the book during classes, but many students want a copy of the whole book for their own use after the classes are over.
So I also like to let my website viewers know about the sale period in case they’d like to take advantage of the special prices as well.
The paperback is on sale for $6.99.
The E-book is on sale for $1.99
These prices will be good through March, 2021.
You can find the book here.
Three-Day Coffee Cinquain Challenge — Day 1
I decided it’s time I wrote about coffee again, and I like to challenge myself to write about a common topic in an uncommon way. So I’ve decided to close out January with a 3-day challenge to myself to write a brand new coffee cinquain for the last 3 days of the month. And if any of my viewers would like to join the challenge, you are very welcome to do so. Just write your own coffee cinquain on your own site and hop over here and put the link to it in the Comment Window below. If you’re not familiar with cinquain, you can find an explanation on my poetry site at this link: Ahyoka/Cinquain.
So let’s get started with Day 1’s poem.
My day
Is starting right:
My coffee’s black and hot,
My cup entwined in happy leaves.
Content.
Birthday Cinquain
Birthdays:
Mine’s coming up.
But I’m not getting old.
Just like good wine, I’m at my best
When aged.
Power Play
`
The pen really is mightier than the sword. That’s why dictators lock up journalists and let murderers go free.
Silent Sunday — Just Hangin’ Out
Freedom of Speech
I know there are some who will hate me.
And others speak evil of me,
For taking a stand for what’s moral
And for keeping this nation free.
They’ve already gagged social media
That work constitutionally —
Those that allow us to speak truth,
And keep our speech legally free.
But, frankly, I won’t let it stop me.
Their opinions are not worth a sigh.
They don’t have the sense to perceive truth;
Their ignorance quotient’s too high.
But thousands have sacrificed dearly,
To win and preserve liberty.
Their blood cries out now to my own soul
That I must fight to keep us free.
And then there are millions of babies
Whose cries echo down through the years —
Butchered and murdered expertly
As lib’rals emphatically cheer.
So I won’t be quiet and passive.
I’ll speak forth the truth loud and clear.
And I know the forces of evil
Will be quite incensed when they hear.
They’ll sputter and spew out their harsh threats,
And might even put me in chains.
But even in prison, I’ll be right,
And they’ll find that they’ve nothing gained.
Because there’s an end to life on earth,
And before their Maker they’ll quell.
No matter how they twist their stories,
They’ll still end up going to hell.
Wishing For a Short Journey Back to Childhood
I miss my dad all the time, but in these very troubled times, I miss him more than I can say. I miss my mother as well, and the strong atmosphere of peace and well-being that permeated our home while she was in charge of it. My parents created a loving, stable, safe, and peaceful home for us throughout childhood and young adulthood. It was still a place of peace and wholeness for years after we were on our own and went back to visit.
I often find myself wishing for just one evening with them in that environment again. It’s true that I can find a place of peace and rest with the Lord, but it takes the operation of my own faith to get me there. Back then, it didn’t take faith on my part to feel safe and loved and cared for. My parents provided it, and all I had to do was enjoy it. I guess I’m still enough of a child to want it that way again sometimes — like now.
Patterned Garden
Winter Friends
Just a little winter whimsy.
I had a little snowman;
His smile was big and wide.
He was a happy snowman,
When I was by his side.
But since it was quiet freezing,
I could not stay and play,
And when I had to go in,
He followed me one day.
I hurried to the fireplace
To warm my hands and toes,
And suddenly I found myself
Adrift in melted snow.
My happy little snowman
Had come inside to play,
Not knowing that the warm fire
Would melt him quite away.
But not to worry, dear friend;
I’ve dipped him up you see,
And poured the water outside
Where it will now refreeze.
Then I’ll scoop him back up
Add some fresh snow too,
And mold him back together
So he’ll be good as new.
The Politically Correct Drink
Politics ruffle my soul.
The worst of most people they show.
But when I get stressed and uptight,
I know what will make it quite right:
Please give me Coffee!
I need to lean back and breathe slow.
For Presidents will come and go.
Some are corrupt and hell-bent.
I’ll pray they’re removed, but ’til then,
Please give me Coffee!
I look back on hist’ry; alas:
We should have learned more from the past.
But I haven’t given up hope.
So with four years of crap I can cope
If I have LOTS OF COFFEE!!!!!!!!
Healing School Classes Online
GREAT NEWS: The Healing Classes that I teach at a local college are going online this term:
Many of you know that as part of my Christian ministry I hold Healing Schools several times a year — in various venues: civic centers, churches, community buildings, private homes, etc. The Lord has used me in this particular form of ministry for over 20 years. Of course, I’ve been in active Christian ministry for over 50 years, with a strong focus on healing most of that time. A couple years ago the college where I teach creative writing classes decided to offer my healing classes as part of the college curriculum in their community education department. It’s been a great experience.
However, with the covid lockdowns, no classes met last year except what could be offered online. And unfortunately, many of the classes are going to have to revert to online only this spring term as well. So the administration and I decided we’d make the effort to set up the healing classes in a video format and offer them through YouTube.
Unfortunately, my video equipment has sound problems currently, so I’m not able to tape the lessons live. However I’m able to record the lessons using other equipment and put them into a video format. The audio lesson will be accompanied by something pleasant to look at on the screen. I’ve offered video lessons on other subjects in that format for years on my ministry YouTube channel, and they seem to be pretty popular. So I think this series of lessons will work out as well.
The course title is BIBLICAL PATHWAYS TO HEALTH & WHOLENESS. I’m posting the official course description here:
This course presents a detailed explanation of nine separate pathways discussed in the Bible by which individuals can acquire healing and maintain health. It also covers the foundational principles required to get into a position to make use of these pathways. The course explains that there are three major avenues of healing accepted among most societies today: healing through physical medications and treatments, healing through mental and psychological treatments, and healing through application of spiritual means made available through Jesus Christ. This course deals with the spiritual pathways and explains how application of these spiritual methods of receiving health is actually logical and scientific. It also explains how individuals can take advantage of those means and pathways. The course also describes and explains eight common roadblocks to healing and how to overcome them.
If there’s a chance you might be interested in taking this course, read on for more details:
The course will run 6 weeks, and will be conducted via YouTube and e-mail. I will e-mail each student links to the video lessons, along with study sheets and other printed curriculum that they can print out and keep. Every student will have access to a personal e-mail where they can ask me any questions or discuss any part of the material during those 6 weeks. The cost is minimal: $25.00.
When I do the healing schools as part of my ministry in other venues, I never charge for the classes. However, the college is required by the state to charge because they are required to pay a certain specified fee to the teachers, and they must cover the various expenses involved in carrying out an educational institution.
I’d like to invite all my followers who are interested in learning more about receiving healing from the Lord to register for the class. I generally have two kinds of students in the healing schools: people who are in need of healing personally and want to know more about what God says about His will to heal and His methods of healing — and people who don’t need healing personally but who want to share the information with others and help them receive healing.
We’ve had students in the past who found that after sitting in the class and absorbing God’s healing Word during the lessons, their bodies were well. The Word of God can do that when we give ourselves to it completely. Others have found that they left the classes with a much better understanding of how to use God’s Word as medicine for their own bodies and a renewed faith in God’s will to have them well and whole.
Anyone interested in taking the class is welcome to register. You don’t have to live in my state of Illinois. Students from all over the country and from other nations as well take classes from John A. Logan College. If you’re interested in taking the course online, you can register by either method listed below:
Online: https://www.jalc.edu/community-education/
By Phone: (618) 985-2828, Ext. 5.
Your identification information and a credit card are all that’s required.
You need to register by January 21.
I hope some of you decide to participate in the classes. I’d love to be able to interact with you on a more personal basis and about a subject that is very dear to my heart.
