Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

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The Journey Begins

July 12, 2009 By Sandra Heska King

Welcome. I’m so glad you stopped in to visit.

I turned 60 this year. More than half my life on earth is done. Maybe even two-thirds. The reality, though, is that none of us know if we have another year, one more month, week, day, hour, or even one more minute. We could be called from this life with our next breath, in the twinkling of an eye.

On one hand, I try not to think about it – although I do find myself scanning the obituaries and making mental notes of ages and causes of death and how the writer saw that person’s life. There’s something about being leashed to earthly things, about trying to slow down time, about accomplishing everything on the bucket list and then some. I wonder if I’ve done enough to prepare my family to press on without me. And yes, there is a hint of fear. I’ll admit that. Yet I know that when my collar breaks and I’m loosed, I will race into the welcoming arms of Jesus. As I write that, I think of my childhood dog, Duchess, a Brittany spaniel who was confined to a kennel. And when we opened the gate to let her run, she was so excited that she tore up and down and round and round, 2 ears to the wind, tongue dragging, dirt flying. Total joy! I can only imagine.

So I’ve been looking at everything I do, everything I say, everything I own with an eye toward eternity. And I’ve been culling my “treasures,” selling and giving them away, holding things more lightly, feeling more free, and hoping to focus more on things that really matter. I want my life to count and to be ready when the count is out.

I enter blogland late as another voice sharing my heartaches and hopes with a dose of humor. My prayer is that anyone who shows up to share my journey will be blessed, encouraged, and inspired to reach up and out to the One who is the source of life and light, who is our only hope, that the mist would lift a little, and that they would see Him a bit more clearly.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:33-35

Where is your heart today?

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Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    July 13, 2009 at 5:46 am

    Congratulations on your new Christian blog. I hope that it works out for you and you find LOTS of good encouraging stuff to post about. 🙂 Myself and another saint have already given you a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon. Keep up the good work!

    Psalm 16:2,3

  2. Eric Hamil says

    August 21, 2009 at 4:13 pm

    Wow! I really want to thank you for your writings. I just happened to stumble upon it and I found it a wonderful read. I always find it so interesting to see what God does in other peoples lives. What is even better is that you have experienced life and are sharing the goodness of God throughout that life. I really commend you. This blog is definitely encouraging to the younger generations to believe in God fully. I love it and look forward to reading more. I probably will never meet you in real life, but I look forward to meeting you in the Home that He has prepared for us. Until then.

  3. Sandy/Snady says

    August 21, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    You have blessed me today, Eric! Thank you for that encouragement. I prayed for you tonight as you are getting ready to head out for school. May God hold you in the palm of His hand!

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“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
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✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
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This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
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Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
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https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
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Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
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#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
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