Journal Snippet

Do you struggle with this? I admit I do. Anything I post that suggests an action or reads like an injunction is aimed at the first person, myself, before anyone else, like you.

Among the changes I have lately endured, I became separated from most of my possessions. I am learning to hold on lightly.

I struggle with trust, but I believe God abides with me. I know the Holy Spirit can go before us and prepare our paths. I believe there has been leading in the house being available to Alex almost immediately, some guys in a truck letting us know the tow rig for the Explorer came loose and was held only by a chain on our way from the hotel to this house, my finding a church home for us on the third try, and now having someone who helps me with things I cannot handle.

I am excited that I am not left strictly to my own devices because I can mess things up badly. God is in control, I thank Him for it.

I have begun reading a book titled Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. I did not realize it was a textbook until Amazon alerted me. I mentioned it to Alex today, and he commented that it sounded like something he might study at ACU. I guess it will be a long read because I want to look up the verses it gives when expressing a Biblical truth.

I am also reading Shadows of Winter by Lindsay Buroker, which is a sci-fi novel. It is a much easier read; well-written, and fast-paced. I also have some reads I neglected to finish that I need to finish up.

I wonder if you are ever set upon by AI and have to ignore it to retain your voice. It makes it such that I rather write longhand. I am also abysmally slow as a typist or texter.

I hope you have an awesome rest of your day. May God’s blessing be upon you all along your way.

If you enjoyed your visit here, please comment, follow, like, and share as you may.

Enough said. Always and Evermore…

Journal Pages (Opening Up)

I hope these are legible and can be seen clearly enough. I lost a contact so am relying on eyes, glasses, and 3 power reading glasses. I rather not worry with the glasses so I tax my eyesight. All these journal pages were written eyes only.

I am struggling. So many needs, no one to turn to but God. He is who I should go to first, anyway.

The worship service at First Baptist Church of Abilene on Sunday has impacted my thought life ever since.

My insecurities over the state of my soul play plentifully as well.

I am posting this thinking it might be encouraging to someone else. Ah, but the other opinion that comes to mind is it might trouble someone and that is not my intent.

Funny thing: Facebook is advertising to me as if I am a lawyer. Right, (sarcasm), me with no college and in temporary penury. I once hoped to become a lawyer, but my life led other places.

Prompt: Did your life turn you in unexpected directions? Create something about your situation.

GRATITUDE LIST

I am attending (some) church again. First Baptist Church of Abilene is my new church home. I Love my church. I hope to get there with more regularity in the future.
My best friend, Reba, does not desert me though I likely do not deserve her Love.
I have the tools I need to write and the ability to do it.
I have a poem appearing in Villa Rica News and Views’ April Issue.
Always thankful for music, reading, and writing.

I pour myself out in ink sometimes. Writing on my devices is not quite so raw. Do you find your creativity comes in different flavors according to the implements you use? I am using my phone for the text parts of this post. I also took the images of my pages with it and left them unedited.

Alex is after me to write a book, any book. He says my talent should make me money. He also asks do I want all my work to die with me? Morbid, but craftily motivational are his speeches. What a wonderful son I have, even with us often upsetting one another.

I guess I should let this go. Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you found something to challenge you and make you examine yourself. If you would like to see more of posts, or less, like this one drop a like, follow, comment, and invite someone who might find this interesting to visit.

This post and site are © Jo Ann J. A. Jordan. If you would like to use this content elsewhere please give proper credit. Letting me know would also be appreciated.

Go put your Creativity to work. I believe in you. May God richly bless you in everything!

Love to you all! Always and Evermore, Jo Ann

Randomness

Entry Nine – 2023 Creativity Project

Creativity is the motor, imagination the spark, and motivation the drive; randomness is sometimes the result.

Each poem today comprises conjoined tanka, five lines with syllables, 5-7-5-7-5. They are intended to be a bit jarring.

Journal Page with Antique Cat Squeaky –
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Gratitude:

1. Rain
2. Rest
3. Newsboys
4. Wookie, Tribble, Maui
5. Electric Blanket

Thank you for taking the time to visit Haphazard Creative. May encouragement and inspiration find you. Follow, like, comment, and share if you wish. These help keep me agile in the brain; creativity likes an audience.

May God richly bless you in all your times and endeavors.

Always & Ever,
Jo Ann

Images, Imagined

Entry Five – 2023 Creativity Project

Like photographs falling out of a pocket, scattered hither and yonder, we live these days, morphing from now to ever.

I collect things, pens, journals, books, images, and feelings. Never know when I might find myself in need, so I squeeze things in, some with ease. Others come harder, jagged, and broken, but those find meaning, too.

Rosy Shades and Bared – © Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

PROMPT: Go somewhere, familiar or strange, take photographs that soothe or move you. See if you have words to fit the images. Try them out to fit. Post if you can and will.

There is something I want to catch. I have not gotten it yet. Maybe I will share it when I do. Today came close, but we all know there are times when images play us for fools, spooling out with bartered charm.

He is my son, Alex’s dog, and I am captivated by his strength and how he simetimes seems pensive and aloof.

Trees, Shadows, Moon – © Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

I caught other photographs, but maybe these are enough for today. I do not know, indeed cannot say for sure, but I might bog someone down. Time will keep, until it does not, then it will slide out and away.

Thankful for these, Today:

1. Oreo cookies.
2. The pen I photographed above is a spirit of music, and music is a muse.
3. January, days when the depth and darkness seem to fall away.
4. Finishing reading the first book in the new year.
5. Sleep.

Thanks for popping by to visit my site. I hope you found encouragement or perhaps inspiration. You can click the button to subscribe if you care to do so. It will set you up for updates when I post. If you liked what I brought, please let me know what you thought with a like or comment, or should you wish both. This lets me know these thoughts are not simply going into the void. Maybe it allows me to focus a little more clearly on what gives value.

Always & Ever,
Jo Ann

Beginning Maybe

It is yesterday’s news, but you might read it some distant tomorrow, never knowing the when of it all. It fell apart again, but no one knew the signs; they were too busy in their lives of satisfactory rhyme.

The dregs in the pot that provided the coffee could perhaps illuminate, but by then, it was probably too late. Broken hearts litter the ground where discordant words often find their sound.

A whisper of waking to the morning linen gives hope, but the bed contains only one body, insufficient for an incident of joy.

Tomorrow is the predicate of yesterday, but today wends away. Fortune is no lasting friend but slips off with a passing wind. One seldom remembers but never forgets a love vanishing to purchase what survives beyond regret.

Familiar, those bonds forged over a bundle of years breaking down into stifled tears disallowed to tumble from wary eyes. No one left to ensure feeling together thrives.