Welcome to my very first contributing author post on Christian Blessings!  May His richest blessings fall on all of you today.

I open with this prayer which never, ever grows mundane for me as I speak to others about aspects of my Christian journey:

“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be alway accepteable to you, Oh, Lord, my strength and my Redeemer!”

I begin this post with a reposting of one of my narrative poems from http://granbee.wordpress.com, first posted on 11/29/2011, just after the beginning of Advent, our new Christian “year” for us liturgical folks.  Praise be!

“INJURED OLD WOMAN WITH THE ANGRY DOG

Because I have recently experienced more old “twinges” from injuries sustained in surviving a car-jacking/kidnapping/murder attempt some years ago,

Because I have recently been reminded of my “dog whispering” skills which I have never understood but always found available when I needed them,

Because I have recently been painfully reminded that not many other people understand neither of the above,

Because I have recently been painfully reminded that people often redirect their anger at their own self-perceived/self-assigned failings onto whoever is near whom they perceive as having greater skills than themselves, especially in the face of danger, I kept coming back to several versions of the following lines when attempting to complete a post for today:

OLD GRANNY TODDLED DOWN HER FRONT STEPS IN FRONT OF HER MORNING STRENGTH

OLD GRANNY SKIPPED AND SLIPPED HER TUNING WAY DOWN HER WOULD-BE DRIVEWAY

YOUNG DOGGIE, LITTLE DOGGIE BOTH DANCING AND JUMPING IN TEST OF MORNING’S LENGTH

YOUNG DOGGIE, LITTLE DOGGIE IN TURN LEADING THE SNIFF INTO COULD-BE BLYTHE-WAY

OLD GRANNY, YOUNG DOGGIE, LITTLE DOGGIE IN THREESOME ROUND THE BEND OF LIGHT

OLD GRANNY, YOUNG DOGGIE, LITTLE DOGGIE IN BANDS OF FULSOME HURL TO LEAVINGS

STRANGE DOGGIE, ANGRY DOGGIE, LARGE BRISTLING DOGGIE SHINING OUT IN MIGHT

STRANGE DOGGIE, ANGRY DOGGIE, LARGE BRISTLING DOGGIE TOOTHING CURL TO HEAVINGS.

OLD GRANNY SKIPPING AND SLIPPING CALM FINGER TO WAVE A DANCE, A SLOW DANCE,

OLD GRANNY CALM FINGERING TENDER CRUMBLIES IN ACROBATICS OF SOOTHE

ANGRY DOGGIE IN SETTLING BRISTLES WEAVING BACK TO SEEK SOFTER GROUND

ANGRY DOGGIE IN SMOOTHING THROAT BUBBLES ROLLING DOWN INTO A SMOOTH

NOW NEIGHBOR, WATCHER, AND ALL, HUFFING BEHIND HIS SAFEHOUSE

NOW NEIGHBOR, WATCHER, AND ALL, STUFFING WORDS LIKE A MOUSE

NOW NEIGHBOR, WATCHER, AND ALL, CUFFING A PHONE LINE TO PRY

NOW GRANNY, WATCHER, AND ALL, CHUFFING COFFEEDROPS IN SLY.

May there always be a jig danced, and seen, on your every pathway!”

I share this as part of my hope and my victory celebrated all day, every day as I walk and talk by the power of the Holy Spirit with Our Lord!  One of my favorite verses since a girl in a rural Mississippi Sunday School is  this:

EXODUS:  15:20-21:  “And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”

This is how we prove our source of hope:  we sing, we dance, we celebrate, we praise.  Through these expressions gifted us from God do we shine lightrays of hope into the dark shadows in the hearts of countless others we know not of!  We can touch hearts otherwise hardened to more conventional forms of spreading the Gospel.

As a Sunday School child, I was already being brought into the musical life of my church family through the piano.  I was very blessed to have my own dear earthly father as our songleader and hymn selecter.  I had a heartmurmer improperly diagnosed and was considered a nerd and a geek by the larger community.  However, when my daddy had me come to play for hymn time at the piano, only hope and praise radiated throughout the building!

As I have  gone on in the decades of my adult life and joyfully reached my present stage of being white-haired and growing in communion with Him, with traumatized animals (as in my poem above), and with so many out here online, I am reminded of the scriptures I will close with today.  As we read these words, let us indeed go out making a joyful noise unto the Lord!

ROMANS 8:24-27  “For we are saved by hope: but hope  that is seen is not  hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:  for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:  but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”