Nearly Unnoticed

by Reese

She is lonelyEven though you can't tellShe is reaching outFor what, she doesn't knowShe will continue to sit in silenceAnd hope that someone may stumble acrossHer and all of her emptinessBut they only hope that they do it in timeOtherwise she will have drifted too farAnd she may let goOf whatever grasp of the world she hasAs she slowly fades out of the lives of everyoneNearly unnoticed.

Ouch

The Prisoner In The Dark CaveThere once was a man who was sentenced to die. He wasblindfolded and put in a pitch dark cave. The cave was 100yards by 100 yards. He was told that there was a way out ofthe cave, and if he could find it, he was a free man.After a rock was secured at the entrance of the cave, theprisoner was allowed to take his blindfold off and roamfreely in the darkness. He was to be fed only bread andwater for the first 30 days and nothing thereafter. Thebread and water were lowered from a small hole in the roofat the south end of the cave. The ceiling was about 18 feethigh. The opening was about one foot in diameter. Theprisoner could see a faint light up above, but no lightcame into the cave.As the prisoner roamed and crawled around the cave, hebumped into rocks. Some were rather large. He thought thatif he could build a mound of rocks and dirt that was highenough, he could reach the opening and enlarge it enough tocrawl through and escape. Since he was 5'9", and his reachwas two feet, the mound had to be at least 10 feet high.So the prisoner spent his waking hours picking up rocks anddigging up dirt. At the end of two weeks, he had built amound of about six feet. He thought that if he couldduplicate that in the next two weeks, he could make itbefore his food ran out. But as he had already used most ofthe rocks in the cave, he had to dig harder and harder. Hehad to do the digging with his bare hands. After a monthhad passed, the mound was nine and half feet high and hecould almost reach the opening if he jumped. He was almostexhausted and extremely weak.One day just as he thought he could touch the opening, hefell. He was simply too weak to get up, and in two days hedied. His captors came to get his body. They rolled awaythe huge rock that covered the entrance. As the lightflooded into the cave, it illuminated an opening in thewall of the cave about three feet in circumference.The opening was the opening to a tunnel which led to theother side of the mountain. This was the passage to freedomthe prisoner had been told about. It was in the south walldirectly under the opening in the ceiling. All the prisonerwould have had to do was crawl about 200 feet and he wouldhave found freedom. He had so completely focused on theopening of light that it never occurred to him to look forfreedom in the darkness. Liberation was there all the timeright next to the mound he was building, but it was in thedarkness.

Brent's Blog

WOW

I am a reality in your every day. I have many names, many faces, many shapes, and I come in every size and color. I’m blamed for more failures than anything or anyone else. I have no respect for or of persons, I do not play favorites, and I never choose sides. Within me are invisible seeds of greatness and immeasurable fields of frustration. What you choose to do with me will make you better or make you bitter. The people who don’t want me the most inevitably have the most of me. The great paradox is I will never go away but yet I can show anyone a better way. Without me there would be zero success. In fact, I am the driving force behind all achievement and the better you get at dealing with me the better you… you will be.

It’s not a matter of IF you will face me but WHEN you will face me. And with that, let me make a guarantee. I will be in your face every day. I am the one thing in your life that has the potential to help you think bigger, be better, and do the impossible in every area of your life. Unfortunately, until you meet me, everything is fine. And like most people say, “it is what it is.” Those people, by the way, don’t know the power I have to make their potential a reality. The most important thing about me that you need to know is I am waiting everyday to be used by you. Or in worst case scenarios, to be used against you.

Who am I? I am your Problem. And just in case no one has told you, my last name is Solution.

-Keith A. Craft

Get it?

Sometimes its sooo hard to not ask "why me"? With so much to be thankfull for, with such great kids, with so much love between us why are we frozen? Why are we frozen in our house of pain? Why do we hurt? Even harder to understand is why do we hurt each other? Dont we want the same things out of life?

Poof

In a flash it all slipped away. I dont know where the slippery slope started but i know now whats at the bottom. Looking back it all seems like a dream... a nightmare. Looking inside it has taken its toll on my everything. In the pit my stomach things churn. So many things beyond my control have taken over my life. What will be left of me?

I no longer feel like i have a heartbeat... it feels like my soul is pounding to get out of my body. My body a shell to big for the smaller version of me that lives there today.

Rehab

Rehab and Kid Rock in concert here in town and i went on a whim! Yup just grabbed a kid and bolted at the last minute and im soooo glad i did. While i was having a good time and taking in the great tunes i thought to myself. Not a life changing thought but a direction changing thought and here it is. All the b.s. i have survived in my life the trauma, drama and crap and im still here! I made it. And to top it off if i stand back and look at what i have WOW i have so much to be proud of and i should be proud of myself. I dont know how i let little things like bills and stresses bring me down recently but no more. NO MORE!



I have delt with far worse in my life and been far worse off than i am now and it seems when you block out some of the crap that happens in life you also block out the feeling of overcoming that crap and the fact that you did OVERCOME. Well at least i seem to have recently. I need to get my head stright and embrace the speed bumps in my life. When i was born life was already rocky. Being that i was a baby *shrug* what did i know. lol In time things became worse for my parents not because of me im sure such is life for them. Those problems are the burden they carry, i never did but i suffered because of them.



Into the world on July 11, 1974 was born a fighter! ME! I joined the ranks with many others who have and will fight the battle of hardknocks looking for light, justice and to make this world a better place. As a toddler i fought to breath with a full size mattress on top of me and won. As a preschooler i battled the need for my mother quickly making due with my new mama, learning to find comfort in a stranger, wrapping my mind around the fact that comfort, love and understanding is only an open mind away. I fought off the urge to cry out to my mother at night and insteed learned to pray and believe that if i was a good person (a good kid) i would be alright and I WAS!



Im not the only child (i know) to find ways around a drunk father, to except the fact that people we love sometimes leave us, to hold the life of younger brothers and sisters lives in their hands. Sometimes its easier to know that others had tramas and issues too but i hurt for them (for us) AND i relize children like us are stronger for it, i weep for the ones who did not "make it out". I DID! I must remember i made it out. I must never forget that im stronger than i give myself credit for. Even with the hardships i have had in my life it could have been worse. There are children with no love in this world, who will go hungry far more than the few times i did, who will never know the feeling of comfort, the strenght of God, the feel



TBC

Game Day!

Its on! Its Game Day!! Today is Taylors first JV came of his JR year in highschool. I never even made it to my juinor year. Sad :( I went to school a lot at the start of the year however making it all the way to class a whole different story. What a guy that son of mine is, i marvel at his and his brothers and sisters and the things they accomplish. It never fails to amaze me how simply life can really be growing up if everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing. THAT very light has come on over my lil mans head a few years ago ~ you know about the time he ran into his first true love FOOTBALL. I can remember when he was a really little guy in first grade i believe and one of the cutest lil girls in his class came up to me and said "know why i like taylor? cus he knows how to treat a lady!". I still lol when i look back on that day him all running around and testing himself as he climbed and ran and jumped.

Now years later i will sit in the stands watching him run, jump and mabey even climb (a few other kids that is). He will take the feild and my breath. The crowd will be yelling and screaming and i will too inside. Inside ill be yelling please dont get hurt, please dont get hurt, PLEASE DONT GET HURT! On the outside it will be GO BABY GO! With every little impact my heart will skip a beat as i wait for the outcome. SCORE he didnt get hurt. lol Ok ok i know im supposed to get exceited when they make a touchdown but in every moment that he is on that feild i will be to, inside him, willing him every bit of my own strengh, courage, speed, agility and love. Not that he needs it! I can only hope that his heart and love for football make up for his lack of size and that his speed and strengh keep him safe and at the top of his game.

Even if he never takes the feild today it will not change a think. Taylor is a STAR to me! If he was to never put a jersey on one more time for the rest of his life ill never forget the heart and love he played with. Ill never forget the bruises, scrathes, bumps, pulled mucsles, hours of time, and heart that he played with. I will never be the same for having loved him! I will never question his ability to hold his own or his manhood. For as much as his girlfriend thinks she loves him now she will never equal or even come close to loving him as deeply as i. I am not just his mother i am his number ONE fan ~ in football and in life!