tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53764700610142193852024-03-14T11:09:22.101-05:00If you give a Mom a Camerainspiration for you to capture life before it passes you by...Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01840400350027735164noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376470061014219385.post-47980409142734032672012-07-26T14:09:00.001-05:002017-11-17T11:10:34.209-06:00Joe Knows I Am....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JGneqvbLU8euZYbGwvivpfgSapbg4gBcB8ewB82Mh0rroRy5eHFyx-sScTbphLoMNevu3Z-ncpOwtwGngAGmao7d8KyjKOvsJs0cCIj1QeCBbc3HBbSQcj6lABjJY6pOqEtGQLORegM/s1600/I-Am-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JGneqvbLU8euZYbGwvivpfgSapbg4gBcB8ewB82Mh0rroRy5eHFyx-sScTbphLoMNevu3Z-ncpOwtwGngAGmao7d8KyjKOvsJs0cCIj1QeCBbc3HBbSQcj6lABjJY6pOqEtGQLORegM/s320/I-Am-poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was eating lunch at Wahoo's </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">on South Congress in Austin </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">when I had to step outside </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">so I could hear and take a call from Paige.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I sat down in an Adirondack chair next to a man </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">with no shoes, a stack of children's books in his lap</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and a small worn photo book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You know me...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Little Miss Curious...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I had to meet him.</span><br />
<br />
<i>Hi, I am Gina.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">I am Joe.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">You like children's books?</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">I sell them.</i><br />
<i>People on the streets like to buy them from me.</i><br />
<i>I like this book right here.</i><br />
<i>You can put your family pictures in it.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">Do you have a family?</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">I did.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">Joe, are you homeless?</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">I am.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">I'm sorry.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">Don't be.</i><br />
<i>I live down there with some friends.</i><br />
<i>It's my home.</i><br />
<i>I had a nice life.</i><br />
<i>Life brought me here.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i>
<i style="background-color: white;">I teach school to some children who live in nice houses.</i><br />
<i>I have a brother with the most amazing house I've ever seen.</i><br />
<i>I lived in a really nice house before I divorced.</i><br />
<i>...You know what Joe?</i><br />
<i>I've realized that you can have a house and still be homeless.</i><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He agreed.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I asked him if he knew God.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He said yes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I asked him what he knew about God.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He said,</span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">God is I Am.</span></i><br />
<i>That's all I need to know.</i><br />
<i>He is I Am.</i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I really wanted to hear more about his story,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">his life, his understanding of God.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I had to wonder what events in his life</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">brought him to describe God as such.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He didn't go into detail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He didn't give me any theological references.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He didn't supply any anecdotes,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">theories or personal experiences...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">no religious upbringing to support his claim...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just a simple,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He is I Am.</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What has been his journey?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What path led him to the streets of Austin...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">without a job, house or family....?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The idea that I might fail and lose everything</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">has tried to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">tease</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">taunt </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and haunt me.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I fathom the possibility of</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">homelessness</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">nothingness</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">embarrassment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and shame....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But my mind goes back to Joe and his words...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>He is I Am.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And he spoke it with such certainty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I never really thought about or</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">understood exactly the meaning of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Am....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sounded like something was missing...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The only thing missing was my ability</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to allow God to be my Everything.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When possessions</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and relationships</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">are lost,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">you find peace in</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">God being enough...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">or maybe some of us have to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">be left with little or nothing to make room for Him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don't know...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">but I know Joe Knows I Am...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and I am 100% certain that</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will meet Joe again one day...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and that small photo book will not</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">be large enough to contain all the</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">pictures of our new family...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> smiling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~gina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<br />Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01840400350027735164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376470061014219385.post-89866940380316831622012-07-23T19:59:00.004-05:002018-09-30T19:47:23.396-05:00I trust youThere was a familiar game we played growing up called Trust.<br />
The idea was to stand with your back facing someone,<br />
arms to your side or crossed over your chest,<br />
eyes closed,<br />
falling freely backwards...<br />
trusting the person to catch you before you hit the ground.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Are you going to catch me?</i></b><br />
<b><i>Yes.</i></b><br />
<b><i>You promise?</i></b><br />
<b><i>I promise.</i></b><br />
<b><i>You better catch me.</i></b><br />
<b><i>I will catch you.</i></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white;"><i>here I go...</i></b><br />
<br />
After the person caught you<br />
there was an unspoken bond in place.<br />
You were going to fall.<br />
They said they would catch you.<br />
They did....<br />
and you were safe.<br />
Word was kept.<br />
Trust was established.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">It's not any different today.</span><br />
We may be adults.<br />
but w<span style="background-color: white;">e want to surround ourselves,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">and fall into the arms of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">the ones we trust the most.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Trust broken will destroy a relationship.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I've been on both sides...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">and neither place is a place I care </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">to ever revisit.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Relationships are such an emotional brew...</span><br />
Love, Attraction, Surrender, Pain, Forgiveness,<br />
Healing, Highs, Lows, Apathy, Compassion,<br />
Rejection, Redirection,<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Understanding, Confusion, Illusions,</span><br />
and Complete Exhaustion!<br />
<br />
It's a wonder why we want to be in one..<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">but we do.</span><br />
God made us that way.<br />
We are meant to be together.<br />
<br />
But first we have to trust.<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">I refuse to waste someone's time</span><br />
if I cannot give them my trust.<br />
And I would expect the same from them.<br />
Love may conquer all...<br />
but trust will show up for battle.<br />
Love wins.<br />
Trust says I'll be around to win more.<br />
Love feels good.<br />
Trust allows you to feel it.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">We fall in and out of Love...</span><br />
but much like the game...<br />
maybe we should fall into Trust.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I'm moving forwards.</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span><br />
but one day I will fall backwards...<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">knowing I've found someone to catch me...</span><br />
that will be a sweet release...<br />
~gina<br />
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<br />Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01840400350027735164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376470061014219385.post-49601994091715922932012-06-08T23:12:00.001-05:002017-11-17T11:13:25.312-06:00I'm so glad I asked...So this book...People I Met While Searching For Myself...<br />
The one I said I was writing...<br />
Well...this is where it all began.<br />
<br />
I'm in the doctor's office almost 4 years ago.<br />
I'm there because I think I have a stomach ulcer.<br />
I keep losing weight and I hurt all the time.<br />
I look around the room and I am at least 3 decades younger than anyone else present.<br />
I think to myself,<br />
I am too young to be dealing with this stuff...<br />
<br />
Directly across from me sits the most adorable couple I've ever seen.<br />
She was giggling<br />
And he was to blame.<br />
They were not using their inside voices...<br />
and they didn't care.<br />
They were so absorbed in each other...<br />
in their own world..<br />
nothing and no one else mattered.<br />
<br />
She had on a white sequined beret, red dress and big smile.<br />
He had on denim overalls, plaid shirt and ball cap.<br />
I could not take my eyes off of them.<br />
<br />
If they weren't married,<br />
they were the best of friends...<br />
<br />
I soon found out they were both.<br />
<br />
They were called back before me and finished before I was called back.<br />
<br />
They left the office and exited<br />
into the hall...<br />
what came over me,<br />
I don't know,<br />
but I went after them.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Excuse me,</i><br />
<i>can I ask you a question?</i><br />
<br />
They said yes.<br />
<br />
<i>I need to know why you're so happy.</i><br />
<i>I need to know what you know.</i><br />
<i>I just divorced and I'm scared.</i><br />
<i>What if I'm in a doctor's office 40 years from now</i><br />
<i>and no one is there with me.</i><br />
<i>I want to get it right this time.</i><br />
<i>Please help me.</i><br />
<i>Tell me your story.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Bless their hearts.<br />
They were probably thinking I need a psychiatrist instead of an internist.<br />
<br />
They were so gracious.<br />
I took their name and number and they said<br />
I could call anytime and they would tell me their story.<br />
<br />
Weeks past and I could not stop thinking about<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Cole.<br />
Earline and Nathaniel.<br />
<br />
I finally decided to call and got an invitation to their home.<br />
I asked her why she would let a complete stranger into her home,<br />
and she said,<br />
<i>"I know you're okay. I just know."</i><br />
<br />
I wrote out some questions, grabbed my laptop and headed to Midland.<br />
I drove up to the sweetest house and Miss Earline was standing at the door with<br />
that big beautiful smile ready to greet me.<br />
<br />
Mr. Cole was napping,<br />
otherwise known as "reluctant".<br />
<br />
She talked...<br />
and talked...<br />
and I listened....<br />
and listened...<br />
<br />
We still talk regularly.<br />
I call and know to give her plenty of time to get to the phone.<br />
Mr. Cole has warmed up to me...<br />
he even gave me the secret to his delicious cornbread recipe.<br />
They love me..<br />
and I love them back.<br />
They remind me to trust Jesus and<br />
they pray for me and my girls.<br />
<br />
There is so much more to the story,<br />
but I will save it for the book.<br />
It's worth reading....<br />
and The Coles are worth knowing.<br />
<br />
<br />
Their story was more than I ever expected and<br />
I was so glad I asked.<br />
A story that broke my heart and mended my soul at the same time.<br />
I am in love.<br />
With them.<br />
with their story,<br />
with life.<br />
<br />
~gina<br />
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<br />Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01840400350027735164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376470061014219385.post-57481350380652469702012-05-14T12:37:00.000-05:002018-09-30T19:58:45.398-05:00Pride, Prejudice & Probation<br />
When girls watch love stories, chick flicks, boy meets girl cinema,<br />
we hold out for the scene where everyone<br />
finds true love...<br />
we do.<br />
Guilty.<br />
We just want everyone to be happy...<br />
In love.<br />
We love love.<br />
It's a girl thing.<br />
<br />
Yesterday Paige introduced me to Pride & Prejudice.<br />
I know...<br />
You've probably all read or watched it by now and<br />
I'm late to the party,<br />
but actually the timing was perfect.<br />
Just perfect.<br />
<br />
I've been praying for the man that<br />
will get the privilege to be a part of my life, and the life of my girls.<br />
Yes, I said privilege.<br />
I'm not just any girl.<br />
And I don't have just any daughters.<br />
I won't settle.<br />
And they won't let me.<br />
<br />
When I pray I try and picture God.<br />
I like to imagine myself sitting beside Him.<br />
He's not in a hurry.<br />
I don't feel as if I'm wasting His precious time.<br />
I can imagine Him shaking His head and smiling at some of the things I say.<br />
I am severely honest when we talk.<br />
I mean, seriously...<br />
what's there to hide.<br />
I talk about my relationships.<br />
Those I've had, and those I imagine in my future.<br />
<br />
In the movie, Donald Sutherland plays Mr. Bennett, the daddy to 5 daughters.<br />
He is attentive, kind, and seemingly unfazed by all the estrogen,<br />
drama and complexities of raising girls.<br />
<br />
When Mr. Bennett hears of Elizabeth's desire to marry Mr. Darcy he first asks if this is truly what she wants.<br />
Once she convinces him that she not only likes Mr. Darcy, but loves him,<br />
tears come to her precious father's eyes and he says:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"I could not have parted with you, my Lizzie, to anyone less worthy."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
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Wow.<br />
And then at that moment, as I was soaking in the beauty of it all...<br />
living vicariously through the story of love found; hearts captured and surrendered to another...<br />
I pictured my Father, my Abba Father...<br />
taking my hand when I find my someone and saying to me:<br />
<i>"I could not have parted with you, my Gina, to anyone less worthy."</i><br />
<br />
It will be in that moment that I understand why nothing else ever worked out.<br />
Why I was on Relationship Probation.<br />
A time for healing, dealing, reform and supervision from a higher authority.<br />
He was holding onto me, selfishly, like a good Daddy until<br />
He knew I was ready to be loved...and to love in return.<br />
<br />
~gina<br />
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<br />Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01840400350027735164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376470061014219385.post-84950537670466682552012-05-04T13:59:00.002-05:002022-07-22T16:45:42.988-05:00You've Been Set Free, Stay that Way.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
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<br />
One of two things will happen when you set a prisoner free...<br />
they will move past all that incarcerated them<br />
or they will repeat offenses and chance returning to a life behind bars.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
Why would someone repeat the same behavior that took away their freedom?<br />
<br />
Could 24 hour surveillance,<br />
rules,<br />
demands,<br />
fear,<br />
and small confined spaces feel safer<br />
than the freedom to explore, move about,<br />
trust your own choices, decisions and create your own life?<br />
<br />
What insecurities plague the soul enough to put a person back in<br />
a position that restricts them from a life that's<br />
peaceful...<br />
happy...<br />
safe...<br />
Why would anyone return?<br />
<br />
I have a quote on my wall in my classroom that reads,<br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">"If you don't make a plan for your life someone else will,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">and you may not like the plans they have for you."</span></b></i><br />
<br />
My 3rd period class is all girls. And they are 100% girl.<br />
They are boy crazy, romantics and Valentine's Day was more<br />
anticipated than Christmas Break.<br />
But unfortunately, Cupid can be a little stinker.<br />
I've seen tears,<br />
heartbreaks...<br />
names that were written in hot pink all over their notebooks,<br />
now scribbled out in a massacre of black sharpie.<br />
It breaks my heart, too.<br />
<br />
One day I talked to them in reference to that quote about<br />
having a set agenda for their fabulous lives waiting to happen.<br />
To not let some silly boy come along and play Rescue Ranger<br />
to a lost little girl afraid to take a step without him telling her how<br />
to step, and what shoes to wear while taking that step.<br />
All the while preaching to myself as I spoke.<br />
I don't know what training we get as young girls<br />
that formulates the belief that distress equates to desirable...<br />
Stupid fairy tales...<br />
All we need is a poisonous apple, a wicked step mother,<br />
and to be kidnapped and placed in the top of a tall tower with<br />
nothing to do but brush our hair until it grows out of control and<br />
then magically our prince will arrive...<br />
coming over the hill on a white steed,<br />
all buff and hunky and ask us to let down our hair.<br />
<br />
<br />
Do we let others put us in a tall tower locked away from<br />
the rest of the world?<br />
Thinking this is our life, so we learn to live it there.<br />
Locked up.<br />
Sad and lonely,<br />
but dreaming of our release,<br />
rescue, escape from all that holds us back...<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>We let</b> others control us and tell us who we are<br />
and what we have to do in order to obtain their approval...<br />
placing us in a "prison" to their demands,<br />
behaviors and manipulation.<br />
<b>We let.</b><br />
<b>Stop letting.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
According to the Bureau of Justice reports, approximately 650,000 state and federal prisoners reenter society each year. They are set free.<br />
Given their walking papers.<br />
An All-American Do-Over granted.<br />
Yet about half of all former prisoners are returned for a new crime or parole violation within 3 years.<b> </b><br />
The reasons they return are understandable.<br />
Once accustomed to prison they are less likely to<br />
have the skills to function independently.<br />
They have to be taught.<br />
They have relied on someone else to tell them<br />
what to do,<br />
when to do it,<br />
and how to do it.<br />
This becomes their care.<br />
their safety...<br />
And sad to say,<br />
but how they feel loved.<br />
<br />
Trusting your own decisions is not always easy.<br />
We dream, but are we brave enough to<br />
follow our dreams?<br />
What keeps us from putting past failures in the past where they belong ...<br />
and moving forward?<br />
oh no...and add the effects of those who've known you best,<br />
watched you fail,<br />
make a mess<br />
and talk a good talk,<br />
and your chances of going back to "prison" multiply.<br />
They don't even know what to do with you anymore...<br />
They are so used to visiting with you behind bars.<br />
<br />
What prisons have you escaped?<br />
What walls, or should I say, electric fences are you hiding behind?<br />
How many times will you be set free only to return again?<br />
Why are you afraid of the life waiting for you?<br />
<br />
Watching through the bars of your prison cell as the world passes you by<br />
will supply you plenty of time to dream.<br />
Not much else to do....<br />
But as for me,<br />
I'd like to live this life awake.<br />
Alive.<br />
Free.<br />
<br />
~gina<br />
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<br />Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01840400350027735164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376470061014219385.post-37869660003256560032012-03-21T23:36:00.001-05:002017-11-17T11:14:12.346-06:00Jonny Baby<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't know what I'm searching for...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">but I know I will find it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And I will love it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I will know it's what I was trying to find,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">even though I didn't know what I was looking for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I promise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of searching, I am writing that book I told you I was going to write.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And I plan to share bits and pieces of it as I go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">It goes something like this...</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><em>People I Met While Searching for Myself</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The purpose of my mission is clear.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The possible outcome is not.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am already in love with it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That's really all that matters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I will share more about the details later, but for now...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meet Jonny Baby.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He's bad. Real bad. And he wanted me to know it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">A former associate member of the Bandito Motorcycle Gang,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Jonny has slept in a jail cell dozens of nights,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">sold drugs,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">done drugs,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">treated women poorly and carried anger in his heart in an effort to leave no room for anyone else.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">How do I know all this? ...because I asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I stopped at his antique store to look for a particular photo prop and upon leaving I noticed the same devotional I've been reading sitting on his desk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Are you reading that?</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"Yes."</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Me too. I've read several devotionals in the past but I'm really, really liking this one.</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"I like it too. I've only been a believer for 4 years but I like the way this one speaks to me."</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">That's all it took for me to want to know more. I love a good "How I found God story".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Can I interview you?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><em>Yes.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Can I take your picture?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><em>Yes. But I've done some really bad things.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Okay. It's okay. Just don't tell me anything you don't want everyone to know...Because I'm writing a book and everyone is going to want to read it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I ran to grab my camera and realized my notepad was not in my car.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I went back in and had to ask to borrow some paper and a pen...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Glad I did...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He hands me a notebook with a skull and crossbone on it...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><em>"Told you I was bad."</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">His name is Jon Willey but his friends call him Jonny Baby.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Never married. Not that he didn't want to, just hadn't.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He believes in love. In fact his best example of a loving relationship is close to home...his own parents have been married for 62 years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">They still kiss each other goodnight and hold hands everyday. Sweet...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He loves his friends and family...and now he loves God.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In the middle of my questions he asked me if I was happy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It took me by surprise a little.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I am the one asking questions here Jonny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">I answered him and then found myself struggling to hold back tears. </span><span style="font-size: large;">What is going on here?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I walk in an antique store with one purpose and now I am finding my heart touched by a self proclaimed "bad boy".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Then he shows concern for me placing myself in possibly dangerous situations by interviewing complete strangers...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><em>Did you feel safe because you saw the devotional on my desk?</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">No, it was more than that. I saw something in your eyes. I knew I was okay.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Me saying that to him blessed him and then he got teary eyed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He went on to say how God removed anger from his heart.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He went to church with some friends, not with the intentions of finding God, but to go eat afterwards...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He doesn't have a burning bush experience...no mountain moving, earth shattering moment...just a realization that God is real and He took his anger away. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><em>"It was gone. No more anger. I can't explain it. It just happened."</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Simple enough. Make room in your heart for more God and you leave little room for anything else...Okay. Got it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Lately I wonder if God hears me. I pray so hard for people that I love to give their hearts and lives to Him. It breaks my heart when they don't. I realized after 15 minutes of asking a complete stranger a few simple questions that God will get to people when He wants to. He has not forgotten my prayers. He is listening and loves them even more than I do. He will take care of people's hearts...all I have to do is love them. I can't save anyone. I can't even save myself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If you want to meet Jonny Baby, he and his new motorcycle gang, The Wigglers, are serving free meals every Sunday evening from 6:30-7:30 at the Outreach Cafe in Brownfield, Texas. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He's sounds real bad, doesn't he? Be afraid. And then give him a hug from me. </span><br />
<br />
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Ginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01840400350027735164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376470061014219385.post-47140621751538563312011-12-25T00:08:00.020-06:002017-11-17T11:22:55.125-06:00this Christmas...<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Wake up to snow. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Not just any snow...but Narnia like billows of endless flakes for over 24 hours.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Hannah said she prayed it would snow.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">prayer answered.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I prayed for God to permeate the walls of my house with laughter.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He answered that one too...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I am so blessed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">at peace.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I am beyond thankful.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I am amazed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">May you enjoy this day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Don't just give presents...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">be present.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Look around you.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and when things are not perfect...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">appreciate the imperfections.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">make new traditions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">there will never be another Christmas...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">just like this one.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">...wishing you laughter.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">love,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">gina</span><br />
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