Dr Henry Cloud

Boundaries

“We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.”

Do you have problems with people that don't have boundaries?  Then this is a great book to read by Dr. Henry Cloud.  I attended a television seminar on this once and found it useful.  There is a general boundaries book as well as one on dating boundaries.  Here's a question though, you may have good boundaries but what about others that don't?  Then what do you do?  

Esther Ahn Kim

If I Perish

What do Esther Ahn Kim and her Biblical namesake have in common?  They both decided to risk their lives for what they believed in.  I read this book years ago when I was younger.  It's amazing to see the courage in Esther.  It's called taking a stand and I have a friend named Esther that is going to go to Guatemala because that is where she is being led to go.  I think it takes great courage to make a life-changing decision like that.  Why is it that I am friends with so many movers and shakers?  Perhaps because I am a mover and shaker myself?  We shall see!

The Silence is Deafening

No Voice

There is a fine line
between discipline
and abuse.

Sometimes a
child suffers
in silence.

There are people
in this world
that love to abuse.

They do what
they want to whoever
they choose.

Thinking they
will get away
with it.

Well there is
a higher power
and justice
is not dead
just delayed.

A time will come
when a hidden sin
comes to light.

Then the world
will know
the injustice
brought upon
a silent someone.

A child is silent
when feeling
threatened.

A bully can't pick
on someone
their own size.

They pick on
someone they
think they can
threaten
to remain quiet.

So...  let your
voice be heard!
Don't be a silent witness!

If you don't speak
up for yourself.
No one else will.
Don't let the
evil one win.

And you don't
have to be a child
to be silenced
into cooperating
with a monster.

Unleash the child
within yourself
that was silenced.
Let your voice
be heard.

Because you
have a voice
and I will listen.
Because I
have been silenced too!

@JoSH Poetic Popcorn Poetry

Everyday you read about child abuse:  A parent that abuses their child.  You also hear about adults abusing each other:  A manager abusing a direct report.  I had more than one abusive boss when working in the corporate world.  What causes these monsters to unleash their ire upon innocent children and good employees?  It's because inside they hate who they are.  Wouldn't you hate yourself if you were a monster and you knew it?  Can you believe that I actually had a manager threaten to write me up because my electric stapler was too loud?  Incredible!  I told a class I was attending about it and they told me to send the email to Dilbert.  However I have yet to see this comic come into existence.  

Thinking of a warmer day!

Especially when it's cold outside!

 

Hidden Corruption

Blue Nation

A child learns early
between right and wrong
and a conscience
that develops over time.

However what if that child
is pressured into
remaining silent
when things go wrong?

They say in New York City
that a person can
get mugged and killed
right before your very eyes.

Do people care
if someone comes
to harm?  As long
as it's not them?

What about a company
that promotes honesty
and ethics only to hide
the corruption within?

Are your eyes
wide shut?
Or do they
remain open?

One day your soul
will show you
what you didn't stand up for.
Coward!

@JoSH Poetic Popcorn Poetry

It's always amazing to me that whistleblowers get such a bum rap from the very people who are in essence doing something wrong.  If someone's trying to hide something then doesn't that make you wonder what they're hiding?  Think of everything that is going wrong with our world today.

In the story of David & Goliath, only David was not scared to fight the giant.  What a bunch of wimps the other soldiers were.  

This poem is dedicated to all those people out there who were not afraid to stand up for truth and justice.  You are the Davids that faced their Goliaths!

A Big Snow Haiku

Falling Snow

Clustering snowflakes
fall swiftly in gathering
big clumps to the ground.

@JoSH Poetic Popcorn Poetry

Just another day in this blustering season we call winter.  It's not wonder bears hibernate?  Imagine if we did the same.  The world would stop during the winter season.  Hard to imagine because I know there are a lot of workaholics out there.

Nat Brant

The Town that Started the Civil War

Nothing makes history come alive like a dramatization of true events.  I recently saw one based on the events in Nat Brant's The Town that Started the Civil War.  I had no idea of the history surrounding Ohio in regards to the Underground Railroad.  There were so many pivotal events that happened in Ohio I'm coming to find.  It was definitely an eye-opener to find out what happened in Oberlin oh so many years ago.  Oberlin was one of the few places where the races were truly integrated.  

Martin Luther King Jr

I have a dream...

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

Everyone remembers Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous speech however I found this quote of his to be very much on target.  Sometimes we can get so caught up in the injustice of ourselves and others however we all have to remember that there is good and bad in all of us.  

Robert J Morgan

Mastering Life

I recently started reading a book that helps you plan your time wisely.  Sometimes we get everything done that we're supposed to do and sometimes we don't.  Sometimes life happens...  maybe good...  maybe bad...  It's hard to account for every minute of every day and then there are those things that happen that are out of our control.

Cold Haiku

Being Frozen

Sitting at my desk

Looking out and seeing white

Thinking of summer.

@JoSH Poetic Popcorn Poetry

This winter has only just begun, don't you think?  I'm brrr...  a lot these day!  Why are winters so long?  Last winter lasted from November to May.  Pretty long!  

Cold Weather Visit

Indoor Flowers

Genesis

Garden of Eden

There once existed
a place like no other.
Where beauty abounded
and grace surrounded.
Because God
in his infinite glory
created beings.
First he created man
and then a woman
for this man.
He meant
for this couple
to live
in harmony forever.
With no sadness
and no death.
No pain and no sorrow...
But Satan in the form
of a serpent hissed.
And the woman listened
and fell into sin.
And the man
followed her into it.
The world as we know it
was not created
according to God's wishes
but man's free well.

@JoSH Poetic Popcorn Poetry

This poem was inspired by the Genesis account of Adam and Eve.  Whether people realize it or not, God did not create this world to be as it is now.  This is a fallen world because God gave us the free will to choose.  If you choose God then you live and if you don't...  then there are consequences.

I once read somewhere that the opposite of good is not bad but evil.  Think about it!  Some people believe in God but don't believe that there is an evil presence in this world and yet there are countless movies that explore the conflict between good and bad.  Do you truly believe that there is no devil?  There are books out there about heaven and hell, why not read them?

Thomas R Horn

Redeemed Unredeemable

What do you say to a notorious murderer?  Are there some things in life that are unforgivable?  Can you forgive the unforgivable?  I heard about this book called Redeemed Unredeemable.  This book is about seriously sick people that have done atrocious things only to turn their life around.  Is that even possible?  Why not read the book and find out?

Kevin Sorbo

True Strength

It seems everyone is writing books these days.  I keep running into local authors and then I keep hearing about all these great books through the radio, word of mouth, etc.  I love to read but I don't know if I have enough time in a day to read every book I own much less want to read some day.  True Strength is a book written by Kevin Sorbo about his life.  I hope to read it someday!  Here's to writers everywhere!  Where would we be if we had never written at all?  

Dr David Jeremiah

Agents of the Apocalypse

I recently just finished reading this book written by Dr David Jeremiah.  It's a very fascinating and thought-provoking book.  If have done any reading in the book of Revelations than this book will make sense to you.