The Kindness of Strangers

It's a beautiful feeling when you post for the first time in months and receive five comments from three of your followers in the first two days.

So people do actually care that much about what I have to say and write? Who would have thought!

Thank you, luvs, for following me so closely. (Even if the only reason you saw my post is because you happened to check the feed on your dashboard. It's okay, I forgive you. I'm still absolutely in love with you right now.)


1. How often does she smile? Would she smile at a stranger? Of course she would smile at a stranger! To be honest, though, she really doesn't smile that often. More so now than she used to.


2. What is the cruelest thing she's ever been told? And what was her reaction? That she was worthless. She didn't fully believe it, but didn't fully deny it, either.


3. What is the kindest thing she's ever been told? And what was her reaction? That she was important to that person in a way that no one else could be, and that she had saved a life.


4. What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting? That time her doll was taken from her and thrown in the trash. All because she was crying because the doll's arm had gotten broken. It was a deep and traumatizing event for a toddler.


5. What book (a real actual published book!) do you think your character would benefit from reading? The Book Thief. Everyone would benefit from reading that book. It's a masterpiece.


6. Has she ever been seriously injured? How severely? How did she react? She tore a muscle. She dealt with it; largely ignored it until the time came to go to a doctor about it, despite how painful it was.


7. Does she like and get along with her neighbors? She doesn't know them, except for one. She doesn't really live in a neighborhood setting, though she has neighbors and lives in the country.


8. On a scale of 1-10 (one being easy and ten being difficult) how easy is she to get along with? I guess that would depend on who's rating her.


9. If she could travel anywhere in the world, where would she go? Europe. She wants to go everywhere and see everything, but especially Europe. In particular, places such as Ireland, Scotland, England, Sweden.


10. Who was the last person she held hands with? Probably her SO, if she has one.

Well, that was a beautiful mess. And you don't even know who I'm talking about. Honestly, it was a lot of randomness, truth and fiction, all inbetween. I'll leave you to decide what that means. But then, isn't most all fiction just a mix of truth with a bit of a lie thrown in?

Sob Story

"It slowly doesn't even matter anymore."

I heaved a deep breath as I desperately tried to stop.

Tried to stop crying.

Tried to stop thinking.

Tried to stop feeling anything.

I was once a master of hardness.

Not hard-heartedness.

I still cared.

I just cared too much.

And so I shut off the feeling of it.

Now I'm stuck in a reality where I've allowed feelings in.

I allowed the walls to fall.

I allowed these things to happen.

And the reason I allowed it is the reason I wish I hadn't.

While at the same time still glad that I had.

Your secrets don't bother me.
My own do, but yours don't.
No one's do, no one's but mine.
None seem so dark as these, even when they are.
They're only a shadow of my own.
Of course I'll still love you.

No need to fear, you aren't alone.
I'm here, I understand.
I'll talk you up and hold you down.
After you fall you'll stand.

Tell me everything you've done, child.
Tell me everything you can.
Tell me all you thought and saw.
I promise I'll understand.

"Copper, you're my best friend."

"And you're mine, too, Tod."

"And we'll always be friends forever. Won't we?"

"Yeah, forever."

(The Fox and the Hound)

And in the end,
they were.



  •> this is to all who are and will be mine <•> I love you <•  

Impossibly Possible

It's February 29th. Leonardo DiCaprio has won an Oscar. And I'm in a place of life I never dreamed I'd be.

Rare and impossible things are beginning and continuing this year, and I'm going to be a par5t of them in my own life, for the rest of my life. God has brought me to a place where I can begin to make a bigger difference in the world than ever before, and I shall be taking these opportunities, seizing these moments, and making the best of them.

Yesterday at church, Tara ____ from the ____ County Department of Human Resources (also the foster parent of over twenty children and adoptive parent of four) did a presentation before both services. Before the evening service, she played this video:

Statistically, I am supposed to be dead, in jail, or homeless. So what happened? ONE. CARING. ADULT.More videos & resources at: http://joshshipp.com/get-started
Posted by Josh Shipp on Monday, February 8, 2016

Afterword, Pastor gave his message. He's been going through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, and tonight he preached on "the merciful", on mercy and grace.

I wrote this post on a day that doesn't exist. Anything is possible.