Get out of my own way.....

If you are Brave enough to Leave

behind everything familiar

and comforting, which can be anything

from your house to bitter, old resentments....

...and to set out on a truth-seeking journey

either Externally or Internally,

and if you are truly willing to

regard everything that happens to you

on that journey as a clue,

and if you accept everyone you meet

along the way as a Teacher

and if you are prepared, most of all,

to face and forgive some very

difficult realities about yourself

then the truth will not be withheld from you.

-

Liz Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love

-

The Rev. Susan Sparks once said

"Just get out of the way and let Jesus do his work"

What great advice for life.

Oh, we can put up a whole lot of blocks to the spirit.

Things like

Anger, Negativity, Fear, Doubt, Resentment, Sadness.

These emotions weigh us down!

We all have a spirit that yearns for joy and lightness -

a spirit that yearns to soar!

But then life gets in the way.....

In my microcosm,  Dreams have been destroyed,

Hopes dashed, Spirits crushed.

Life has become Flat, Heavy and Bleak.

With the new year upon me,

Here is to

new Hopes, new Dreams and new Possibilities.

Perhaps, I need to just get out of my own way and

let the lord do his work.

A chance to start again...

(With help from above)

Amen.

One of my recent Paintings.
I have found a new Passion!

My Special Christmas Gift....

Here we go, another Holiday season. For the first time in the LGW (Less Gaye World), I have put up a Christmas tree and actually decorated the house. It is a beautiful tree with all the trimmings that Deacon and I are quite proud of! Could this be a sign of healing?  Of course,  I still shed a tear most days.  But the tears are ones of great feeling and emotion and I mean that in a very positive and constructive way.

Because of Gaye,

I have come to understand, appreciate and fully envelope

Love and Compassion.

I read the below quote often to remind me of the love I shared and the blessing I had....

"Grief can destroy you --or focus you. You can decide a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end in death, and you alone. OR you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared to recognize at the time, so much meaning it scared you, so you just lived, just took for granted the love and laughter of each day, and didn't allow yourself to consider the sacredness of it. But when it's over and you're alone, you begin to see that it wasn't just a movie and a dinner together, not just watching sunsets together, not just scrubbing a floor or washing dishes together or worrying over a high electric bill. It was everything, it was the why of life, every event and precious moment of it. The answer to the mystery of existence is the love you shared sometimes so imperfectly, and when the loss wakes you to the deeper beauty of it, to the sanctity of it, you can't get off your knees for a long time, you're driven to your knees not by the weight of the loss but by gratitude for what preceded the loss. And the ache is always there, but one day not the emptiness, because to nurture the emptiness, to take solace in it, is to disrespect the gift of life."
— Dean Koontz (Odd Hours)

I like to think that is Gaye's present to me for this Christmas,
 Love and Compassion.

I couldn't ask for a better Gift!!!!

Two perfect Christmas Gifts
Gaye had just completed a Stem Cell transplant the day before this pic
which had kept her in the hospital for over 20 days.
It was a wonderful Homecoming.

Amazing Grace

"What we do differently today will have

changed the past for people in the future"

Those words are the introduction to Stephanie Ann Paulk's Blog.  An Artist, Writer, Poet, Performer, Attorney and Wife, Stephanie seemed to be such a unique individual. Stephanie died a couple weeks ago at the age of 38 from Brain Cancer. I had read about her passing in the obituary section of the AJC. (Us widowers look at the Obituary daily to see who is joining the club).

A beautiful looking girl, I was awestruck at her story and life and how she had handled her illness with such strength and grace since 2001.  (Yes, she does remind me of someone!)

I never had the pleasure of meeting Stephanie -  I think a loss for everyone that had not experienced her courageous spirit and love. Through Reading her Blogs, Poems and writings - I DO get a sense of who she was and continues to be.

I Like to think that certain people are truly a Gift from the Grace of God.  A gift that immeasurably changes our lives and defines who we are. Those that have been loved and touched by these gifts are in my mind, the Lucky Ones. Tell me who wouldn't want to be touched by an Angel?  Yes, indeed, we are the Lucky Ones!

No, I never met you Stephanie - but I do know that your life, passions and spirit carries on in those that were blessed to have been loved by you. What a Wonderful and Special Gift you were.

I like to believe you might even have a new Soul Sister on the other side.