Month: May 2015

The Master’s Masters

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Masters MastersWe are so blessed to have so many beautiful works of art. These pieces of art range from paintings to sculptures to plays and even to writings. The authors of these have put their messages, hearts, and creativity out there for us all to receive special blessings. Whether these artists realize it or not, God speaks to all of us through these gifts. And what is so amazing is that we all can receive a very different message! Just stop this week and enjoy a work of art. Stand back, mull it over, look at the details, and open your heart to the gift provided by this special soul and the message from the Divine. Your life will be enriched!

 The Master’s Masters

With every stroke,

Life and death are expressed.

Hard strokes, light strokes,

All along a line.

 

God’s stone shaped by man

With God’s direction.

Thoughts of living

Shown in every curve and edge.

 

The colors describe all that God has provided

From light to dark.

The secrets that man tries to hide from God

Come forth vibrantly and muted.

 

Each one speaks to each eye differently.

Although the Masters have passed from their bodies,

Their Master and spirits rein in chemicals, paper, and marble.

Who will hear His message next through these gifts?

 

Will it be the young teenager,

Will it be the small child,

Will it be the one passing that one special plane in time,

Or will it be the senior with wisdom?


The strokes and the colors will speak to all.

Up close we merely see line after line

And color bursting into color.

An array of blended design.

 

When we step one step away and then another,

The lines and the colors create the message we are meant to receive.

The Master will always lead us

Through His gifts provided to other Masters.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

I am so grateful for you reading with me this week. Do look for opportunities to enjoy all art. To quote Stephen King, “Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around.”* So let art be your support-system for life! And enjoy the blessings!

Love,

Rennae

*Stephen King; On Writing A Memoir of the Craft. 2000 Scribner

Blessings

 

 

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Second Chances

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Second ChancesFor some “humanly” reason we just don’t think we deserve them—second chances. It’s like we have not earned them or we have not behaved well enough to deserve them. But isn’t that what every day is all about? We rest and awaken to do it again. To make it better, to improve it, to love it more, to create more, to laugh more, to cry more, and just to live more! If you are getting second chances, there is a reason and a purpose. Fulfill your special purpose today and make every chance count. If God considers us so very special to have second chances, why can’t we let ourselves enjoy them!

 Second Chances

I was given a second chance yesterday.

I was given the opportunity to see clearly again.

Sometimes I am so blind to the mysteries set before me.

I really just do not stop and even look.

 

I give in to the times of the day.

And the pace of the clock.

Missing each precious view.

I was given more time yesterday .

 

I have been given a second chance today.

Another time to watch the sunrise and the moon set.

Even though I squandered my perspective,

I was able to enjoy coffee, family dinner, and dark chocolate.

 

I saw the moment of breath through my furry friends sleeping.

Even though I chose not to slow down.

Time stopped for me to see the last flower of summer and the first color of fall.

I could see all that had been laid before me.

 

I will be given a second chance tomorrow.

Even though I don’t understand,

I will be given grace.

I will be loved by someone.

 

Even though I may not love in return.

When I don’t help that other soul,

Some sweet soul will show me kindness.

I will see the hope because tomorrow means my days continue.

 

Even though my life seems mundane,

It will be more than extraordinary.

Because I have been given a second chance.

I have been given the blessing of another piece of time.

 

Not a do again.

Not another bat at the plate.

Not another serve.

Not a do over, another chance.

 

When my blood does not continue to flow,

And my breath of oxygen does not lift my chest,

And when my eyes have closed,

And my heart stops pumping,

And my soul transforms,

I will still have a second chance.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

 Do not let your second chance go by today without recognizing it. Make it worth all it can be! Thank you so much for reading with me today—thanks for giving me a second chance!

Love,

Rennae

Journey

 

Reed-Walker

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Reed WalkerThere are just some places where you need to be still and know as the Psalmist says. Reed-Walker is a place like this. Such a place lets you go inside yourself and almost touch the Divine. Sacred is the very best way to describe it in human terms. And this is not a sanctimonious place by appearance-it is a place of deep, calm peace. As you are on this journey here on Earth, find your be still and know place. Go deep, understand all is fine, and you are cared for.

Reed-Walker

There it sits.

On a small knoll.

Sunshine rising in the east,

Setting in the west.

 

Purple flowers wave quietly across the knoll.

There is always a breeze.

Even on scorching days.

A breeze touches your cheek like a soft hand.

As if to say be still and know.

 

The few old trees that have seen one hundred years or more,

Stand swaying and strong.

A couple of stumps verify the weather and insects have caught up with them.

The cows around the knoll stop and ponder who you are.

And then they go right back to grazing.

Calm and enjoying each grass bite in the field surrounding Reed-Walker.

Only the fence separates them both.

 

Some markers say nothing and others tell a life story.

Some stones have seen the sun, ice, snow, and rain.

Others were just placed in their honorable locations.

Each carrying a timeless message demonstrating honor and respect.

Dates varying as much as the occupants themselves.

 

Lay me ‘neath the field of flowers here.

Put me at peace on this knoll.

Let my marker read,

A vessel on this Earth for her God,

A soul in eternity for her Lord.

Reed-Walker hold my body,

Release my soul,

And mark my existence on this Earth within this time.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

 Thank you so much for being with me. I hope you discover your be still and know place this week. Get there, soak it all in, and let the Divine heal and comfort you. God’s blessings on you this week.

Love,

Rennae

Journey

Beauty

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BeautyWhat better time to celebrate the beauty of women than this week which includes Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to women everywhere! Even though we seem to have educational campaigns trying to teach all of us how inner beauty is so important, we continue to fall for the false perception. Society wants to use the concept of beauty to harm women instead of using beauty to build women up. Labels and physical concepts are applied to women. Women—step up, speak out, and proclaim! We are beautiful! I am beautiful because my soul is beautiful, and no one will ever take that from me or make that seem less. I will celebrate because I have been made especially to be who I am—I am beauty!

Beauty

We are the most beautiful,

When we are the most vulnerable.

When a pain has struck the chords of our heart

And we play a new song.

When we see ourselves as less,

Yet others see us as more.

 

Beauty is when we surrender to God.

When we forgive more than we remember.

When we love more than we hate.

Beauty is when we cry.

It is when we laugh.

It is when we sacrifice for those we love.

 

Beauty is usually described in this world as-

Certain sizes,

Certain looks,

Or as certain styles.

But beauty cannot be measured by a face or a body.

 

It should be measured by personalities,

By smiles,

By courage,

By bravery,

By insight,

By love,

And by the moment in a life.

 

It is the mother holding the child with gazes between each other.

It is the woman kneeling to pray.

It is the woman resting to enjoy the earth.

It is a woman solving a complicated problem.

 

It is the woman baking bread.

It is the woman waiting tables.

It is the woman working each day for her family.

It is the woman serving God each day through His design for her.

 

Beauty when used by humans can be so harmful.

Especially humans with shallow souls.

But when used by deep souled individuals,

Beauty becomes the exact ingredient used by God!

 

Beauty is not a picture in the mind.

Beauty is not skin deep.

Beauty goes to the bone.

Beauty is beyond the bone.

 

Beauty really lies within the soul.

Beauty is a vessel that filters light and love.

Woman!

You are beautiful!

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

 Thank you beautiful woman for reading with me this week (and handsome men also)!  I hope you have been encouraged this week to be more confident about your beautiful self. Let God’s light shine through!

Love,

Rennae

Grace