Love is...

 Like the Flower that Sits on the Side of a Cactus

Its, the Walk Across the Hot Beach Sand on Your Way Back to the Car 

It's the First Taste of Ice Cream

It's the First Roller Coaster Ride with Arms up 

It's the Jelly Bean Chosen with Closed Eyes 

It's a Star Sailing Across the Nights Sky

It's the Gum Under Restaurant Tables

It's a Puppies Kiss

It's Running Out of Gas on a Hot Summers day

It's Winter by the Crackling Fire,

a Splinter Under Your Nail

Is your First Snow Angel

It's the Champagne Bubbles that Tickle Your Nose

It's the Last Drop of Rain,

and the First Sunrise

Broken Toy Soldier

I remember holding you in my hand, you were new, 

 red, white and pretty blue

Oh, so perfect with not even the slightest scratch on you

Your shoulders strong, squared back with such authority,
always marching to and from with top priority

 What happened, what went wrong my little boy blue to all your lovely new?

I hold you now and it saddens me to see 

how worn you are

 Your shine is all but gone now and your color has faded,

You have deep dented scratches of someone jaded

To many years gone bye of being tossed about, 
lost and downtrodden but never forgotten

My mind wonders how they all became so apparent, 

your scratches and damage that were done.
 you know, where there use to be none

How high was the place where you first fell from?

Toy Soldier, how I yearn to find the right key,

 that will wind you up and bring life again to you and me. 

The possibility of what could still be there, 

seems to rarely appear

Your eyes have lost their outward search of hope and glory,

 and cast their gaze instead on what's dark and gory 

I have seen your worth and I have no desire for a replacement, so I will wash, love and mend you the best I can, 

So you are not treated as some tin can

Toy Soldier, I do see a future of restoration 

so I will place you on the shelf of safety and preservation. 

You see, I am in need of tender care myself

 I am never far but always near, 
watching over what I hold so dear

You can fall no more, or be mistreated by the hands of others. You will not be overlooked in a dark cabinet of your past but stand free in the future of the warm sunlight that streams in from the window of possibility. 

How about, You find your shine, 

fade no more, and I my beating heart 

Together we will let the toy maker who has made us all,
be your key and me his doll

So when I myself have been made new with no

 scratches to see, or dents to mend on me, 

Then again I will be ready for the odd beat of the,
 rum tum tum of my toy soldiers drum 

LOST IN THE ATLANTIC

Ever feel like you have been dropped in the middle of the Atlantic by the backside of a carrier pigeon?

Well, that's how I feel sometimes. My legs kicking beneath the cold water, my arms moving back and forth like the wet wings of a fallen bird, while the warm sun beats down on my head. I look to the north and see clouds, I glance to the south and see no land. I yell for someone, for anybody but still not a soul insight. 

I hold on to the hope that at any moment a ship could come by and pull me from this water, so I keep kicking. Because I choose to hold on. I choose to wait for the ship I can not see.

I am kicking away when fear begins to set in and what is soon to follow is hours of tormenting shadows of doubt that take shape of sharks beneath me. Do I keep kicking or should I remain still is the question that plays on repeat.

 The minutes go by, so do the days and yet I am still waiting for some kind of change. Maybe I can catch the current and head in a new direction. Maybe this thirst will be quenched with the clouds swiftly coming in from the north. Hold on, help is coming.

The hardest moments come at night when its just the stillness of the water, the stars above, what swims beneath me, the vast silence, and growing noise in my mind.  
My thoughts are consumed with what will come when the sun returns again tomorrow. I am overwhelmed by what challenges I will again be faced with. 

A person doesn't know what they are truly made of until they are dropped into a life altering situation.
Its when we find out if we are built to survive or believe the lie that its time to die and just let circumstance have its way. 

I have always been a survivor and I will not let shadows of doubt consume me. I will keep fighting and holding on to hope for my ship, for my rescue...

Psalm 144:7 amp 
Stretch forth Your hand from above; rescue me and deliver out of great waters, from the hand of the hostile enemies.

Ezekiel 34:12 amp
As a shepherd seeks out his sheep in the day that he is among his flock that are scattered, so will I seek out My sheep; and I will rescue them out of all places where they have been scattered in the day of clouds and thick darkness.