beyond anything imaginable

Last Sunday at church, the preacher spoke and brought a tug of joy right at my heart. He said his remarkable success in everything that he has done and is doing can only be because of God's grace. Through his recital of all his accomplishments, he never hinted at anything but gratitude towards a God that created him and breathed such an adventurous life in him that everyone noticed. There was not a chord of pride in his speech and litany of his life's events. It was like God just led him to the podium and dictated all that He had gifted him: "My boy, get up and say all those things..."

The preacher spoke with burning steel and passion that clearly set him apart for His purposes:

Ephesians 3:20 (New King James Version)

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us...


A living proof that God is able to do above and beyond anything that we can ever ask or think or imagine, Barry C. Black shared about the power that works in him, a faithful instrument of Almighty God. Barry C. Black is the 62nd Chaplain of the United States Senate. He was elected to this position on June 27, 2003, becoming the first African-American, the first Seventh-day Adventist, and the first military chaplain to hold the office of chaplain to the United States Senate. He previously served for over 27 years as a chaplain in the United States Navy, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral and ending his career as the Chief of Navy Chaplains. He officially retired from the Navy on August 15, 2003.

There is a power that works in us, according to the preacher. He stated simply, that the secret to the power is unlocked by staying humble and letting God be who God is in us. He also went on to say that we should take our problems to Jesus. It's the kind of faith that says Jesus can handle this. Lastly, he said that we ought to have a robust faith; the kind of faith that overflows from our love for God. We ought to know Him, read His love letter which is the Bible and trust in Him completely.

As I listened intently and took to heart what the preacher said, I asked myself: When have I completely and totally trusted Him? When did I honestly believe that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think?

Admittedly, I am still a babe; not in worldly terms, but in spiritual matters.

I just went down the road back and reminisced my outdated jaunts and other dead, old days when I was not even born again. Too often I lived days and nights when I thought like the world thought, acted like the world acted, spoke like the world spoke and, obviously, carried a heart like the world did.

I did not have any gumption to give to Jesus what, ultimately, is His: My life. I did not believe enough in His being able, in His exceedingly abundantly all, in His love for me.

I repent. I give to Him what is His. I believe.

I thank You now for everything and anything that is beyond my imagination!

Note: On another event: Featured guest in the tv show, The Evidence, the host asked Barry C. Black when he first gave his life to Jesus. He said that he now daily give his life to Jesus. What a revelation to me that I could actually do the same thing!

The Birth of King's Rose

There was this day when I just thought: What will I do when I don't do what I do now? Will I write to get paid? Or will I do portraits and legal stuff with my hands?

Then I discovered the joy of making personalized greeting cards. And I labeled it at the back of the card, just like Hallmark cards do them, "King's Rose" and then drew a mini-rose just for effect.

With my bare hands I started cropping old cards, photos, even used an old nail polish over the photo of my diva dog, a.k.a. Bootchick, and then assembled them in a way that betrayed mental gravity. I even thought that my old, missing sequined, pieces of cheap, costume jewelry now serve some sort of purpose: they could spend some unknown duration glued to cardstock paper, prettied up and perfectly in place, or not, and yet learn to live with newfound meaning. Oh, and my dusty-old, silly elementary exercises I called "poetry traffic whilst rush hour" will have an exit ramp, finally. Nevertheless, some kind of purpose incarnates.

But then who's to know? So unless I give them a reason to be, then nothing is as nothing does.

Ergo, the avenue of artistic possibilities could be limitless, in a pseudo-simplistic sort of way. Prolific, possibly or accidentally, but just ordinarily extraordinary in nature. No pressure. Just being collaged or pasted or taped or stapled in a way that makes a remarkably unique presence to a particular heart. May I say it could very well be very organic in a sense and deeply orgasmic in another esoteric level of some kind?

But then again, who's to know unless we do what needs to be done? And give what must be given, in order for another to receive the pleasure of having one's own personalized card.

It's free anyway. But it's best given, best received, best done!


Special Note: Incoherence displayed here has nothing to do with the joy of birthing King's Rose. It's a process. Deal with it. So did I. Still do.