You know—we should never stop dreaming!  You are never too old or too young to dream.  When we are young, it seems we can dream of doing anything, yet dreams seem far out of reach.  As we grow older, we question ourselves whether it is worth dreaming any longer.  It is always worth the dreaming!  Our dreaming is the hope deep inside of us that surfaces for our soul.  If you find yourself this week in a dream world, there is a purpose for that wondering.  One purpose for this hope you are given is to press forward in your life.  Embrace it and reach for new experiences and new directions!

Dreaming

God’s dream is my dream.

Do I always know that dream?

Sometimes yes.

Sometimes no.

 

I question sometimes whether I am dreaming.

My dreaming brings reassurance, so I am confident.

Then it brings uncertainty and fear.

And the dreaming goes on everywhere.

 

I dream beneath the stars.

The dream dances in my sleep.

I can dream as the warm sun touches my face.

As my coffee cools, I dream.

 

Do I always go toward the dream?

Do I sometimes wander from it?

I many times wonder, God, what is the dream?

I wonder when this dream will come true.

 

Where do I go to find the dream?

What do I do in making it come true?

How can I dream like this?

I am weak and Your dream is strong.

 

No, I do not always know how, where, what, or why,

But I still dream.

I dream big,

Because your power for me to dream is Your infinite dream!

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Enjoy your dreaming this week!  I pray that you don’t stifle or give up on your dreams.  God has great plans for you at any age.  Opportunities and places are given to you at all ages in order that you shape your dreams and ignite your hope! Don’t ignore these.  Go for those dreams that are inside of you and enjoy the life of dreaming you are blessed with!  Blessings on your dreams this week!  And thank you for sharing your time with me!

Love,

Rennae

 

Grace

 

 

 

The harvest was a term specifically coined by our ancestors.  It refers to the gathering of the crops.  It was a time when the last crop production occurred and the gathering of the last crops before the frost.  Even though many of us are not in an agrarian community any longer, we still celebrate the harvest time.  My celebration this week was in the form of a prayer expressing my harvest of blessings.  Whether you are in an agrarian area or not, I am sure your harvest is plump and large!  Especially if you are able to buy products from our own farmers, and also if you have family, friends, and love!  Maybe you just have not taken the time to count the many parts of your harvest this week.  If you have not this week, make sure that you do during this season.  Your prayer of harvest will probably be much larger than you ever imagined!  I know mine could have gone on forever!

Harvest Prayer

Pour Your grace upon me.

Surround me with Your love.

I feel whole when I feel You.

Your presence gives me power.

 

I can stand and celebrate!

Because of You my hope explodes.

I will celebrate my life.

And the lives of others.

 

There is evil in this world.

But I stand against that evil.

Not really me.

But You in me and Your hope through me.

 

I rejoice in the day because of You!

Your blessings on my life have been so countless.

Your grace has delivered me from pain.

Your plan has grown my soul and life.

 

With the changes You have for me.

I proceed with great confidence.

Because You clear the paths.

And You know where I will go even though I do not.

 

My fear turns into comfort because You protect me.

And Your promises allow my soul to rest.

I could never praise You enough!

But I will try.

 

As the sun turns the leaves.

And the moon lights the cool night.

Your peace develops my heart.

I gain the wisdom that I am beyond blessed!

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

I pray for blessings on your harvest this season!  I thank you for making mine the more fruitful and blessed by joining me each week.  Also, because I can celebrate when you share your blessings with me!  When you evaluate your gathering this season, find a reason to celebrate the goodness, love, and people you have.  The harvest should not be a time of false acknowledgements, but one of genuine and thoughtful praise.  As you gather your gourds, pumpkins, nuts, and fruits of the season, gather your blessings first!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

Blessings

 

Every year I still get chill bumps on 9/11.  I will probably always, as I should.  The date itself just swells up great feeling in me.  I wish I could say it is all anger, but a great deal of it is sadness.  Sadness that humanity could ever do such an evil deed.  We will never forget all the beautiful souls we lost that day and days after in New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania.  I also think on that day how families and loved ones have to experience that day over and over again year after year.  My profound experience around this day was the year we visited the museum—really one of the sanctified grounds of the resting place of these souls.  The one spot that touched me was the enormous wall inside the museum.  An encased area of the ashes and remains of so many sweet souls never found lies within this wall.  This wall stands as a tomb of remembrance.  A remembrance of those to never be forgotten.  And this is one place where the loved ones have to visit in honoring their fallen.

So, if we think our little political issues matter this week, stop and remember the sanctity of life far exceeds these insignificant issues.  That very day dads, moms, husbands, wives, and so many more stopped living a blessed life here on Earth.  They left their loved ones behind because of evil in this world.  Our goal in this country should be to unify for good.  Our differences are the underlying success of this country.  Our differences were represented in all the great souls lost in and during the battles of this country in order to remain free.  Free of choice.  Free of spirit.  Free of differences.  Free of tyranny.  Free of fear.  We have to as humans honor and never forget the price of life and humanity.  If putting our petty issues aside is a way of doing that, then we must succeed so that all of the souls we have lost will be for a great purpose.  Please read and remember this week.

We Will Always Remember

So much smoke.

The hottest of fires.

We all set in our places.

Wondering if what we had seen was true.

 

Then our greatest fears set in.

This was real.

Who could ever be so dark and evil?

To do this to helpless souls.

 

It progressively worsened.

As we were glued to our TVs.

The smoke and the fire gave way.

To the fall of the two tallest buildings.

 

One crumbled into the street.

Then the other sank into the Earth.

The buildings did not matter.

What mattered was the souls we cried for.

 

The souls reaching out the windows for help.

The souls scaling stairs to get out.

The souls defending America on the plane in the Pennsylvania air .

The souls laying in their last moments agonizing in pain.

The souls who never knew what hit in Washington.

 

Our prayers immediately were given up.

Our heroes jumped into action,

With many going down.

Churches became sanctuaries.

Neighbor helped neighbor.

 

All Americans pitched in.

Whether we searched for survivors.

Or wrote letters of encouragement.

Or flew our flag in honor.

Our communities held vigils for all of these.

 

Americans, hand in hand.

Mourning our dead brothers and sisters.

Comforting the loved ones of those.

Uplifting each other for hope.

 

The phrase will always remain.

We will never forget.

Americans in one of their worst hours.

Americans at their best.

And we will always remember.

 

It did not matter who you were.

Or where you came from.

You were an American that day.

You were the part of a family invested in love.

Love for each other and an amazing country.

 

As our years have passed,

Unfortunately, some of us have forgotten this time.

We choose to dwell on the insignificant things.

We want to see all the bad there is in this world.

And defend evil rather than fight it.

 

Tragedies should not have to happen.

For us to see the good.

Our hope is to step beyond these trivial things.

And step toward unity.

 

Unity of differences.

All of us under one flag as one people.

Unity of reverence for life.

And unity beyond a political world,

Refraining from placing blame.

 

For Americans are Americans.

All from different places making up one great country.

Americans loving humanity.

And reaching for a peaceful future.

 

We will never forget.

Lest our souls fall into the smoke and fire of our enemies.

And our humanity being lost.

We will always remember, because we do not have a choice.

If we do forget these souls, they were lost in vain.

We will not let this happen.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

I hope this week you take a few moments to reflect on the 9/11 day.  Consider the reality of who we are as a country.  Respect where we have come from and how hopeful our future can be.  It is easy to find all the faults in life, but it is difficult to live a celebrated.  Living a celebrated life to honor these souls.  Then the families and loved ones of those lost can know there truly was a purpose for their lost one.  God bless you and yours this week.  Our love and prayers go out to all loved ones and families that have lost a sweet soul in honor of this country.

Love,

Rennae

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really don’t understand why, but I become sad at the changes of the seasons.  When I have to move from one to another, I want to hold that particular one so closely that it never goes away!  Of course, I always delight in what is ahead in the curve of the road.  The new scents, colors, and atmosphere, but for one moment I am sad to say goodbye to the one I am leaving.  Whether it is the memories I cling to with the people I love, or I am just hard-headed and do not want to move on.  I really, just can’t say.  I do believe it is our human nature to hesitate about change.  We get comfortable and secure where we are, and change brings the unknown and fear into our minds.  It really takes us exercising our faith to move on.  So, I do know I will have faith and I will embrace the change when God presents all the hope that the next season brings.  I also know God allows me to appreciate my blessings of each season in the way of sadness for what I was freely given and enjoyed!

The Fading Summer

I felt the little breeze go past my arm.

It was still hot and humid.

The sun bearing down.

But I knew the breeze said change.

 

Grasses are dried everywhere.

Iron weed strutting throughout them.

The butterflies and hummers getting in their last sips before it arrives.

Pools of water had turned colder just within a week.

 

The trees were sprinkling a few leaves.

Not from the changes,

But from the heat.

The other leaves will create their show in a few weeks.

 

The sunflowers’ heads begin to droop.

They dry providing the birds with a buffet.

The zinnas’ colors begin to fade.

All know the change is coming.

 

Beach towels are replaced with blankets outside.

The gardening tools begin to be stored.

The sounds are changing too.

The once loud and noisy symphony at night.

Is now a mild serenade from creatures in the grasses and even quiet at times.

 

Instead of thirsting for an iced tea,

My yearning is turning toward a warm coffee or cocoa.

My coconut smells of the summer scents.

Starts longing for pumpkin bread and cinnamon.

 

All the colors are trying to hold onto the lush olives and bright greens.

But yellow and light brown are replacing them.

As quickly as it came.

It even quicker fades into the landscape.

 

Change is here.

Our long summer nights.

Turn shorter and shorter.

And my summer slips from my fingers.

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

Enjoy your last days of summer this week and be thankful.  Embrace your first days of fall with hope and joy!  It is quit the miracle that we are given to live in a forever changing life!  Sun rays of blessings and the magic of hope be upon you in the old and new week of the old and new season!

Love,

Rennae

 

Blessings