It's That Simple...

                "Love must be SINCERE,
                 HATE what is EVIL,
                 CLING to what is GOOD"
                                            Rom. 12:9

   That is what the minister preached about this past Sunday.  While I was growing up that was just a given to me.  I would often wander why we were even taught such things cause I just believed that is the way you are supposed to live. I thought everybody knew that.  Of course, I was raised in a Christian home with a father that is a pentecostal minister.  I have since learned the older you become the harder it is to live by that verse. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss..and what you don't know can't hurt you.
   I also didn't understand how we would ever feel persecuted as a Christian. After all we do live in a free country. Right? It isn't like this is China or a communist society. We have freedom of religion. That is written in our Constitution. Slowly, but surely though we are living in an age where children are being expelled from school for expressing their religious beliefs. And because that freedom applies to all religions sometimes our children are taught of other beliefs we don't necessarily agree with.  It is harder to give your own religion validity when every other religion believes they are the right one. How confusing for a child.
   Consistency is the key to most of our achievements.  It's definitely what you need for discipline and creating order.  I made the mistake of putting a gap in the time I took my children to church and now I am paying the price for it. We as humans are creatures of habit. Unfortunately I made Sunday another Saturday for my kids. Now I have to change that bad habit. I want my children to have the sense of peace that I had growing up, knowing there is a loving God that takes our hand and guides us through life.  We live in such an unstable time we need that reassurance that a higher power can help us make it through.
   My love for them should be so sincere that I want to teach them to hate what is evil and help them to cling to what is good.  By the renewing of my mind and actions I can get us back on the right track again.  Then life will seem more simple in such a complicated world.

Heart Impressions by Darla: What Is True Love?

Heart Impressions by Darla: What Is True Love?

What is true love?

   I believe we all have our own version or meaning of what true love is. It all stems from what we are passionate about.  Some find true love through security while others might say security is the trap that keeps us from seeking out to find true love.  I wrote a poem many years ago that I believe helped me to define it in several variations.  It pretty much is a quest that you dare to conquer.  First I questioned what is was in order to define it. Then I expressed desperation to find it.  And finally I am confident I know what it is and long to have it.  My poem "What Is True Love" is posted on my poetry blog heartimpressionsbydarla.blogspot.com.  I love sharing that poem with people because I think I captured the meaning accidentally by just putting words together to rhyme.  It is so neat when answers just sneak up on us.  It's when you go looking for them they seem so hard to find.  Pretty much like finding true love.
   In the times we live in I believe we become pretty self-centered because we have been pushed in that direction for so long.  "Be all that you can be". "The world is your oyster." "You can have it all".  I truly believe the Bible captured the true meaning where it says "Love one another as you love yourself" and "..Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  I believe we can find true love when we are able to give our love unconditionally.  Then we reap what we sew.  
   I wouldn't say that I believe in Karma, cause I wasn't raised that way. I do believe in faith though. And I put a lot of faith in good things come to those who wait and believe they will.  I believe God gives us the desires of our hearts.  To some this all may sound too much like fairy tales, but if you never believe in something it's like you never have anything to look forward to.  It can be a risk and you might get your heart broken along the way, but I believe finding true love is worth it.  Go now to heartimpressionsbydarla.blogspot.com and find the answer to what true love is.  May you find that special love in your lifetime..and when you do don't let it slip away.

Cruisin....

I grew up in a town where cruising was the social network of the day. Every weekend that is where you hooked up with your friends and met a whole lot of new ones. There were all these smaller farm towns that were all around this main city. Those teens would drive to Enid to cruise VanBuren, we called it VB. There were different stops you would risk hanging out at until the cops would shoo you along for loitering. If you had a cool car with a revved up motor you would have to show it off and peel out. I am sure there was the occasional fight or under age drinking, but for the most part it was good clean fun. Where you could blare your favorite song as you drove down the street..and honked at ones you knew or wanted to know as they passed ...you could have watergun fights...grab a cherry vanilla coke at Sonic...or just park behind McDonald's and hang out. Those were the days!
I started a group page the other day on Facebook called, "VanBuren Cruisers of Enid" and in just four days there were already 200 people signed up as members or cruisers..lol. That tells me that Facebook is where a lot of those cruisers have gone. We all want the social interaction with each other. It is what encourages and inspires us. This group of people that we shared our youth with has this special connection or bond. By reaching out and sharing our memories of those times helps us to enjoy them all over again. Thank you Facebook for making a virtual time machine for us to reach back into our glory days and relive them.
It is sad to think that our children do not have that same luxury of "safe" carefree independence that we had growing up. They need more outlets like that that are not tainted by the fear of gangs and abductors. I guess our children will have to cruise the virtual drag called Facebook..in safe quarters to have that social network. Somehow it doesn't have the same appeal that we had behind the wheel. If we get to have a reunion and catch up with our old friends on VanBuren you might want to bring your kids along just so they have a little taste of how it was when we were young.

Calling on God!!! Please be there...

I received a very troubling call last night. My mother was at the other end and she was distraught. Through her tears she told me that my dad had been told he has ocular cancer.. He was given the choice to have his eye removed or have radiation therapy. He has decided to have his eye removed.
His eye had been bothering him so he went to the eye doctor and they said he had a cataract that needed to be removed. Then at his next appointment they said that his retina had detached from the eye. So he was sent to see an eye specialist yesterday and they told him he had ocular cancer. This is so unreal. Who knows how long he has had this.
At first I was troubled about the news, but the longer it has set with me I feel so confused and lost with this. If anyone know my dad they know that he is one of the most caring souls on this earth. For me to think that he would have to suffer really hurts me. My dad sounded optimistic on the phone because he has such great faith. That is one thing about him, he can lose his hair, his teeth, gallbladder and eye, but nothing can take away his faith. He was also being strong for my mom, cause she has had her bouts with cancer before. When she was 29 she had cervical cancer and then years later on different occasions she has been inflicted with Paget's disease a skin cancer and had to have skin grafts. Needless to say she has been through it and doesn't want my dad to have to go through what she did.
I just hope that it is all going to be ok. I trust that God will not put us through more than we can bare. I ask that you all will pray for my dad. Pray he will get through this with minimal suffering. I love him so much and I can't stand that he has been given this lot to carry. My dad is a preacher and he is the most selfless human I know. God, please take care of my dad. Be gentle, he is so good. He would never hurt anyone. He so doesn't deserve this I just want to hear that they made a mistake and this is just a bad dream.

Reminiscing

Last night I started a trip down memory lane on youtube. I was listening to my favs, like Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. I even remembered most of the lyrics to their songs, cause of course I still have their albums on cassette. Before I knew it, all of my kids came over to sit and watch with me all these older videos. This past year I took my older daughter to see Miley Cyrus, which was a big deal to her. She really put on a pretty entertaining concert. I noticed while we were watching Debbie Gibson's videos at her concerts that her and Miley shared a lot of similarities. She and Miley were about the same age and they wore some of the same style of outfits. Their stage performance was similar too. So pretty much what comes around goes around. Things change, like technology allows for more impressive concerts, but styles of clothes and music repeat themselves a lot. I would say that our family really appreciates music. My husband plays the guitar and he has played in a band. And I was always involved with Choir, whether it was at school or at church. We love sharing music with our children. Thanks to youtube, they generally find songs of our past that we have forgotten about. They are taken by "Axel F" and "Video Killed the Radio Star". It is funny to see their reactions when they think they have discovered something new and my husband and/or I recognize it. My son loves the Eagles and he got to see them in concert a few years back on their reunion tour. He will never forget that. I have to drag my husband to see Kenny Chesney with me every time he comes to town. He doesn't mind he really likes going too. I go with him to his David Allen Coe concerts. It is nice to have something we can all enjoy together. It is finding those gold nuggets in life that helps us keep common ground with our families. I added a video box to this page to share some of my favorite songs over the years. I hope you can enjoy listening to some of them too.

FREE.....

The good things in life are even better when they are free.  Generosity is the willingness to give.  Helping one another out when we can is very admirable.  I was at the store the other day looking at shoes, shoes on sale that is.  I have four children and we generally pass clothes and shoes down when we can.  Anyways I was looking for shoes for my four year old and didn't find any marked down in her size.  I started to leave the aisle when another mother trying shoes on her daughter asked me what size my daughter wore.  The lady had purchased a pair too big for her daughter at another store and was at this store purchasing some to replace those.  I ended up with a new free pair of nice tennis shoes for my daughter.  I offered to pay her for them, but she refused.  I walked away and prayed that God would bless her in an area of her life where she may have a need.  It is nice to know that human kindness still exists.