When it’s -22 windchill – blow some bubbles…
children blog
Happiness
What is happiness she asked?
Tiny, frail little fairy sitting on a log
all frumpy and stuff.
She never knew love,
never found the joy in living…
she had never felt happiness.
She sat down on her mushroom pillow,
tiny wings all bent at the edges
from the windstorm that had blown in.
I tried to rearrange her flower hat
as she gracefully looked up at me
with her emerald green eyes,
and I had to ask…
“how can you be so tiny
so enchantingly beautiful,
and have such great big questions?”
I must have hurt her feelings
as she hung her head in shame.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I said.
“It’s just, how can someone so tiny,
so mesmerizingly beautiful
have never felt happiness?”
It never occurred to me
as I thought for a minute…
she’s never seen her reflection
in the tiny puddles of water
that welled up in the leaves.
I told her to come with me
as I cupped her in my hand
and I took her to the edge of the pond.
I watched her reaction
as I held her tiny body
above the crystal, clear water.
She quickly turned away
and I told her to look again.
She looked down this time
long and hard and couldn’t believe
that the reflection was herself looking back.
She giggled as she looked down
at herself and then
she looked at me with
tears flowing down her face.
Tiny water droplets that glistened
like a rainbow in the sun.
I asked her what was wrong,
and she replied…”I’ve found happiness.”
Sandie Heckman
The Masterpiece
It’s a masterpiece I screamed!
She had chaotically painted on the wall
all the colors of the rainbow,
they wrapped around the corner
and went straight down the hall.
It hadn’t occurred to me
that this display of artistic pleasure,
was a simple reminder that
inside this tiny body of hers,
was a love that couldn’t be measured.
I watched her as she proudly looked on
at her artwork on display,
I decided to leave her fingerprints
and artwork on my wall,
I cherished it, fell in love
it’s still there to this day.
I pass her artwork on my walls now
as I walk to my kitchen alone,
she’s been gone and moved out for decades,
she’s all grown up, and living on her own.
The day I saw her paintings,
her artistic side and all.
it didn’t matter how far she had painted,
she left her love behind on all my walls.
Sandie Heckman
Love Notes
God sends Love Notes to remind us of His Promise…Just Keep Swimming
God sends angels…just keep swimming!
Today I had a few poor me, moments- then I went swimming.
I met 3 year old Avia there. We had a unique conversation- it was almost like she was an angel; she was because she grounded me – made me laugh.
I asked her her name, she said Avia. She held up 3 fingers and said she was 3. She asked how old I was, I held up 5 fingers and I said “I’m this many times ten plus”. She said, “wow you’re lucky, your big for 7.” I thought for a minute yeah I’m a big 7 year old.
We always wish we are somewhere else, or someone else, and we can never seem to find our groove. Wishing for this or that.
When Avia thought I was 7, she said “okay, you want to play Barbies?” So, I did, I played Barbies, and I found joy. I found joy in a 3 year old who didn’t care who I was, or what my story was, she just accepted me. When I got out of the pool, she thanked me for being her friend. She was a tiny angel sent to say, it’s okay, just find joy in the moment – and I did, with a tiny, 3 year old angel named Avia.
Jesus sent Avia today to swim in my path. We all have moments of discontent – just keep swimming- God will send Angels with life preservers to help us float.
Sandie Heckman –
Everyday…
Our world deserves it – Our kids deserve it – we all deserve to be loved.
Magical Garden
If I could take a trip, to the Magical Garden I’d go. Swinging all day long, taking in life nice and slow.
I’d wait for the slow-mo mail on a snail so slow, the mailman would come and go three times in a row.
I’d visit the gnome in his mushroom home, and give a bath to his pet frog named Jerome.
The Magical Garden is a majestic place lost in time, where fairies ride on turtles and frogs sing in rhymes.
If you ever grow weary, and want to escape to the land that time forgot, come to the garden and together we can get lost.
S Heckman
Grumpyville
It feels like it’s been raining forever!
It’s rained for the past two weeks, with only a day or two of sunshine breaks.
I need the Sun!
I need brilliant sunshine streaming into my windows!
How do you lift yourself up on gray days? How do you keep going when there seems to be no break in the dreariness of the week? How do you lift up others?
I took the low road to Grumpyville today.
It didn’t take long to get there, in fact it was the shortest ride of my life. Today, I got caught up between a blissful kind of day and grumpy people, and off I went directly to the land of the lost, the Dreams Forgotten Town and ended up right smack in the middle of Grumpyville.
Now, if you’ve ever been to Grumpyville, you know it is the grayest of places. It not only strips you of your smiles and bouncy cares, it straight-out takes you to the unknown land of the forgotten, where no one knows your name. Frankly, no one cares what your name is, because they are too caught up in their own grouchiness, and fixed and determined to ruin each others day.
As I stepped up on the curb of Disagreeable Drive, I saw a man yelling at a young boy and I couldn’t help but ask what had happened. Well, Mr. Snobish decided he wasn’t talking, and he took Tommy Do-No-Good to the other side of the street to yell some more. I went about my own business, and realized when I turned onto Snappish Street that I had gotten off at the wrong town. I didn’t want to be in Grumpyville! I wanted out and I wanted out now.
I grabbed my cell phone and called for a taxi, and even I was yelling at the lady on the other side of the phone, “get me out of here!” In a lickity-split second the taxi rolled up. I was astonished at the beauty of this sleek taxi cab ordered just for me. Pink and glistening as it rolled down Aggressive Avenue as I started jumping for joy. The sign on the side of the taxi read “Tickled Pink Taxi Company,” and I couldn’t have been any happier.
All the Grumpies turned and stared like they’ve never seen anything like this pink taxi before in their lives. I knew they hadn’t, since not one taxis had come to this town for over ten years. The last time the Pink Taxi Company had gotten a call, was ten years ago from a Mrs. Simplymarvelous – she had taken a wrong turn too.
I got in the taxi and as we started to drive down Disagreeable Drive, I felt sorry for everyone walking around. I even felt sorry for Gloomy Gus – head hanging, shoulders droopy and I knew he didn’t belong here, and neither did anyone else.
Who would want to live in Grumpyville? It’s the saddest, gloomiest place on earth. As the taxi turned the corner on Bitter Bi-way, I started shouting out the window, “Good Morning Beautiful, Hello Handsome, It’s a beautiful day.” People started staring and I didn’t care! The more I yelled, the brighter the sky became. Soon the sun started shining through the clouds and all the people of Grumpyville started rubbing their eyes. People started smiling and clapping their hands – they started hugging each other and jumping up and down. They were spreading joy and sunshine in Grumpyville, and it was working!
The Taxi made it down Irritable Way and I could see people running out of their houses and businesses, and soon they were running down the street. The whole town was transforming into Happyville and I couldn’t have been any happier.
What have you done today to transform the lives of others? Have you spread joy, or spent the day wallowing in Grumpyville? Find your joy, find your blessings, they are everywhere. Make a list of things you are thankful for and share it with others. Today and everyday let’s spread joy and help our world, our towns to find happiness in each other again.
S Heckman
Fine Lines
I etched a “fine line cross” on my wrist. I sat there staring at this cross and I found this fine line at the edge of sunrise – where the sun rises at the edge of the new morning. A fine line of red and blue that greet each other in the new day.
Fine lines at sunset, fine lines on our face that others see and know we are aging with grace. Each time we smile or frown a new line starts to form.
“Fine” we say to others as they ask how we are. “I am fine” when asked “how are you,” but are you really fine?
Are you fine or hurting, and those layers of your heart where your fine is hurting, are kept tucked neatly inside, for you dare not speak your truth?
Are you fine with Jesus?
Are you afraid to expose to Him how you’re really feeling? He meets us at our fine lines. He knows our fineness, our edgy edges and He’s defining who we are in Him.
Your heart beats and the cracks in our hearts – those fine line cracks from being hurt or in pain, lost loves, fear of not being good enough – are where God meets us. He fills these cracks with love, because we are enough!
Meet Him at the “fine line” of truth today, the edge of forgiveness where He just loves to smooth out our lines with grace and hope.
His heart beats for you – you are refined in Him.
S Heckman
Only one
One Oreo Diet
Bet you can only eat one
S Heckman
soul writer for him 
