Month: June 2016

I Will Be Heard

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I will be heard

This great country has given me freedom and life.  People have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice in order that I have the freedom to write and speak the truths that I hold the dearest.  When I wrote the passage below all I could think about was that no matter what happens or whoever tries to stop this speech and freedom they will not be able to stop it.  I owe it to all those that have given their lives to stand up and speak or else what they believed in and what they stood for is for naught. People consumed with hate and fear can never know this freedom or sacrifice.  I feel so sorry for them.  They can never understand love and love for others, because they will never and have never sacrificed for their neighbor.

Americans have and will always.  I know this country stands for the rights of others.  My family experienced Ellis Island and immigration through the Carolinas.  They settled like many families, past and present, and formed the backbone of this great country.  A country not about cowards hiding behind their weaknesses, but a country about people working hard and standing with their fellowman to love others.  A country seeking a better way of living for all people.  A country standing up for the equality of mankind.  I am one of millions that believe this to be true and together we will be heard!  We the People will be heard!

I Will Be Heard

My voice will be heard.

I will cry out with the truth.

You cannot stop me.

Because my heart leads the way.

 

My voice will only get louder if you try to silence me.

My cries will be heard past the mountains and through the seas.

The truth I speak will not be quietened.

Because I hold in my soul the sounds of the weak.

 

My voice is unstoppable.

Your threats and attempts to muffle me will not work.

For the wisdom will go past these like the wind moves past the branches.

Because others will accept the stories.

 

My voice rises above the screams of the critics.

Their disbelief will fade like the sound of a train as it passes.

The strength of the word will capture their eyes and open them to the hope.

Because we all want a better future.

 

My voice will yell.

My sound will get louder and louder laying a blanket of shame across the doubters.

The sky will carry it further and further.

Because you cannot silence me.

 

My yell reaches beyond the clouds.

It makes others listen intently.

The yell will cry for freedom, justice, and hope.

Because we all seek the truth.

 

My voice will be heard.

I will cry out with the truth.

You cannot stop me.

Because my heart leads the way.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

I ask this week that you not be discouraged by the hateful and fearful acts of the weak and selfish, but rather that you rally to let others know we are a great people made of great qualities!  We are people from all over brought together for a greater good than we will ever know!   Thank you so much for reading with me this week.  For taking your precious time to hopefully be encouraged and inspired!  Blessings as you are heard this week!

Love,

Rennae

 

Journey

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Seasonal Reflections

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Seasons for the Soul

seasonsforthesoul.com

  • What experience has evoked such an emotion within you as it did within me in my writing?

 

 

  • When were you in a situation where you should have stood up and been heard but chose to remain silent?

 

 

  • When was the last time you took action when you felt passionate about something—-even a small passion in your everyday life?

 

 

  • How can we react in a spiritual way to others that seek to evoke fear and hate toward other people or even to you and yours?

 

 

  • From the experience you wrote about in the first question, construct a small journal expression about your emotions.

 

 

 

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Ideas

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Ideas

You have heard we are our own worst enemy.  My brain can be my worst enemy.  I have ideas that float around constantly.  Discernment of these ideas is the most difficult thing to do.  Do I believe they are mine or are they God’s?  That is the question I have to ask on a continuous basis.  I really believe God placed them there, and He is waiting for me to find them!  He gives us creative thought, and I truly believe these ideas are the creative power of God working through me.  Many times when these ideas cause my brain to doubt or to be over confident is when the discernment comes in.  That is when we have to let it go!!  That is true trust!!  Now I am sure any one else has this problem?!!  It is so hard to do this, because we are controlling creatures.  If you do keep having the ideas—-Let them flow—There is no telling where God will take you or them!!!

Ideas

The breeze is God’s breath against my cheek.

The sun is his warmth on my eyes.

There are ideas in my head.

I just want what You want God.

 

But I do want good health and joy.

God I seek what you seek.

I know I must be patient.

It’s just so hard.

 

Ideas are in my head, but are these from you or me?

Sometimes when I have done these ideas,

The ones from me, they were wrong.

I think they were wrong or is there a wrong?

 

What am I to do Dear Lord?

Where do I turn?

What do I do?

I want to be creative for You.

 

I want joy not just happiness.

I just imagine You would want joy too.

But I am Your servant and I want what You want in this kingdom.

I want to live for you now, Dear God.

 

With all my heart.

With all my soul,

With all my being!

With all my creative ideas!

 

I want Your ideas to be mine.

Please make sure I listen.

Please make these ideas visible.

Make them come to life!

 

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

I just have to share with you today that 28 years ago today was one of the happiest days in my life!  My oldest son, Seth, was born.  It has been an adventure and true trust ever since!  I am so proud of you and who you have become.  I love you so much!!!

Thank you for joining me this week.  I hope you don’t feel alone in this personal quest!  I know I so appreciate you and how you share time with me.  May your ideas be glorious and wonderful this week!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

Journey

 

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Seasonal Reflections

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Seasons for the Soul

seasonsforthesoul.com

What ideas have you had in the past and acted on?

 

What ideas do you wish you would have acted on?

 

When we search our hearts, what is really holding us back from fully trusting God and letting go?

 

How do you describe joy?

 

How is joy different from happiness?

 

What signs have you been given that helps you know how to choose your ideas?

Seasonal Reflections

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Adding Reflections to Blog

Our creative lives include three areas.  Our present moment enjoying the blessings we are immediately receiving or giving.  Our revisit to our past and our learning from those experiences.  And our creative hope for the future.

Questions, thoughts, and processes can allow us to reflect upon all three of these areas.  Why would we want to do this?  To become the better person God is seeking for us to be.  To serve humanity with a more specific reason by the use of our gifts.  And most importantly to worship God for the life we have been given.

I will be including a very important piece with The Seasons for the Soul Blog.  This piece will be called “Seasonal Reflections.”  This piece will allow us to examine these three areas.  You can do this simply by talking to yourself (I wish someone would have told me early in life that it is ok to talk to yourself!) or by “journaling” your responses.  Remember “journaling” does not have to be just words!  Picture maps, drawings, sewing, cooking, building, paintings, recordings, songs, and many more things are all ways of “journaling”.  You may want to have another soul join you in doing your “Seasonal Reflections”.  We will begin this week with a few general thought provoking reflections.  In the following weeks, the reflection will follow our discussion and creative piece posted in the blog.  Please share with me know how you use these reflections in your life.

My creative wish is that this will allow you to better know yourself, your life, and your living.  I especially hope that you will grow spiritually in ways you never knew you could!  I know God will bless you in this new venture.  Thank you for going on this life journey with me.  I am privileged to be a part of your story!

In the light of tragedies occurring over the past weeks, we pray and ask for prayers of all of the victims and their families and friends.  Our love is with you.  We pray for healing.

Love,

Rennae

Blessings

 

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Seasonal Reflections

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Seasons for the Soul

seasonsforthesoul.com

 

How do you describe “becoming a better person”? 

 

What spiritual attributes does this include?

 

There are attributes throughout humanity that describe “becoming a better person”.  What are some of these attributes that we witness among various cultures, religions, and populations?

 

Define your spiritual gifts.

 

In my everyday life I use these gifts by:

 

How will I worship in this precious life I have been given, and will my worship intersect with the lives of others?

 

What celebration methods will I use to show my worship?

 

Ode To The City

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Ode to the City

My interpretation of a city visit has been expressed in the writing today.  I had the opportunity to visit my daughter in New York City a couple of years ago and was rudely awakened to the pace of my life compared to city life!  I have always lived in the south and in a small town that moves at a snail’s pace.  Although everything seemed to be going so fast in the city, it was at the same moment there was a timelessness about the whole space.  The cultures, the religions, and the sacred were all so visible.  I would catch a glimpse of a person reading by a shaded tree, a person lunching at a table in a small park, creative people entertaining others who had stopped to peak into the arts, a squirrel finding some yummies in the grass, a family having a special moment at a fountain, and even a person sharing their apple with another person on the subway.  I was able to see all of this fast time slow down and even stop for just a minute.  I think it is important no matter where we are we understand our environment.  In understanding it, we can find and see spots where the Holy Spirit is working!

One of my favorites on that trip was in the Natural History Museum.  There is a room dedicated to sea life, and the center of the room holds a gigantic whale suspended and floating above you.  There is a gigantic pad across the floor representing the sea floor.  You are encouraged to lie down and experience the real sensation of the sea.  That experience lets you realize very quickly the perspective of man and his hierarchy in the world.  But at the same time the uniqueness of this experience happening in the middle of this fast pace.  I was so happy that here in this city my southern snail pace could be accepted by a whale!  All of this to say, no matter where you are visiting or where you live, control your pace.  You are the only one that can!  If you are at the lake, at the ocean, in the city, on a farm, or where ever you are this summer, find the pace that allows you to experience a blessing provided by the Holy Spirit!

Ode to the City

Swoosh!  Swish!  Swash!

Buildings buzzing by.

There are so many.

They cover the sky.

They cover the ground.

 

They pierce into the clouds.

There is something in every millimeter.

They block the air.

They take over the trees.

They have many, many windows.

 

Pictures, people, lights, blur together from so many!

Fast!  Faster!  Fastest!

Everyone chooses to go fast!

Speed trot!  Speed walk!  Speed run!

Go!  Go!  Go!

 

Brick, mortar, metal melts together like a big sculpture.

Weird smells, loud sounds, and colored lights.

Parks and benches in the middle of art and architecture.

Excitement and entertainment everywhere!

 

All types of foods for the palette.

Italian, Chinese, American, Tai, English, Japanese.

Breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, drinks.

Fresh ingredients, new mixes, old taste.

Every corner, every crevice, every street.

 

Scary but comforting.

Emotional but prideful.

Police, ambulances, firemen, security guards.

Big City!  Big Buildings!  Big!

Life moves differently.

Oh! City

Oh! City

 

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Thank you so much for reading with me this week.  I am so pleased you chose the pace that led you here!  I have to say Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband today.  That is the reason I am a little later posting, we were just enjoying the company of each other.  After 38 years I still find such peace enjoying an afternoon with Danny at the pool!  You could say my paced just stopped a little today!!  Let your pace stop and enjoy your summer!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

 

Blessings

 

 

 

 

A Woman’s 21st Century Psalm

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A Womans 21st Century Psalm

Sometimes we just have to put it all out there!  We burst with so much energy that to voice that energy is essential.  I really feel that a true psalm allows us to do that.  A psalm by historical terms is a sacred song or hymn used in worship.  The first psalms I read were from the Bible.  I fell in love with this part of the Bible at an early age.  When I wrote this psalm, it was at a time where I needed to voice my thanks and praises to God for all the gifts I had been blessed with.  I have even been blessed so much more since that time.  I just said it all—-I proclaimed where all my belief, trust, and life is vested.  So go out this week—or go in!!!  And write your anthem, chorale, spiritual, or canticle proclaiming your thanks for blessings!

 A Woman’s 21st Century Psalm

My soul praises God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit!

For He dwells outside of me and within me creating the joy within every breath—

Here, There, and Everywhere!

 

He is the daughter who rest her curls upon the mother’s shoulder for one brief moment passing her energy of love to the mother’s heart.

Praise the Living!

 

He is the sweet souled son who taller than his own mother, wraps his muscular arms around her, and lays his head upon her shoulder to pass his compassion and pure kindness.

Praise the Light!

 

He is the mother’s strong willed son who in one small moment leans forward displaying his mossy brown hair for a kiss from his mother on his head and voices “I love you.”

Praise the Longing!

 

He is the smile from two faces that show the signs of living and yet can still give love so deeply and unconditionally.

Praise the Long Journey!

 

He is the warm brown and black fur from the creatures that know nothing but loyalty and yet ask for nothing in return except a rub and a play.

Praise the Laughter!

 

He is the man who once with ebony hair now finds sprinkles of salt all throughout from experiences that have made him grow wiser, yet more dependent on God.  A man who promised many years ago that the heart he gave to her would not ever be given again to anyone except God.  A man who serves her, loves her, woes her, challenges her, and seeks her love.

Praise the Love!

 

He is the friend that always knows the right words of encouragement or the right words of truth to give you at the right time.

Praise Language and Logic!

 

He is the quiet morning, the wind that touches my cheek, the dark black sky with piercing light, and the deer with their thirst.

Praise the Landscape!

 

He is the rain against the window, the warmth of the candle light, the warm sun against my skin, the snow on my nose, and the peace in the quietness of life.

Praise the Lord!

 

He is the heaven, the hell, the angels, and the demons.  All who make us grow on the journey.

Praise the Legend!

 

He is the peace and the giving, and we are the chaos and war, but He leads us to victory with ourselves and each other.

Praise the Leader!

 

He gave all to me and I am His vessel.

He creates my soul and my thoughts and my heart to serve in His holy journey—

Here, there, and forever more!

Praise the Listening!

 

My soul praises God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit!

For every moment and every day and every gesture and every sign showing us the greatest reason for life!

The God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit that lives, loves, and laughs forever!

 Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Thank you for joining me this week.  I hope you seriously consider everyday finding the thanks you can give for the many blessings.  I am just like you.  I get wrapped up in the busyness of life and find it much easier to complain or see only the troubles instead of the many good happenings in my life.  I pray for you to be given the sight this week to see and then to tell of your many gifts!  Blessings to you and yours!  Praise the spirits of the souls in others!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

 

Journey