Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

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Close – Open

December 30, 2011 By Sandra Heska King

Another five minutes flat today with Lisa Jo on the word open. Join us?

GO!

Close!

I’m glad to close the door on this year.

So.

Glad.

As I stand at the threshold of the new, God, give me eyes to see
the beauty all around me.

And the pain.

Give me ears to hear the music.

And the silence.

And the tears.

Give me arms to embrace all that waits for me
on the other side of this door.

Both the joy and the pain.

Let it be more joy than pain, please.

Or at least joy in the pain.

Help me to love those who hurt.

Give me hands to bring your healing.

Open hands to receive, to pass on, and to let go.

Help me to be open and transparent in my writing.

To reach deep.

To spill wide.

Help me to prune and peel and slice down to the core

Let me dance through all you have for me.

In the sunshine.

And in the rain.

Give me courage and serenity and wisdom.

To love.

To laugh.

To live.

Open.

Amen.

STOP!

All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. ~Psalm 38:9 (NIV)

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Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Comments

  1. Kathy Robbins says

    December 30, 2011 at 9:44 am

    Beautiful….we don’t know what he has in store for us, but we do know that whatever it is, we will not be alone. Amen.

  2. kells says

    December 30, 2011 at 9:48 am

    girl. go!

    do it. you want too. its inside of you. you got this.

    2012 is open for business…you can do all those things. you will.

    blessings.

  3. Sheila says

    December 30, 2011 at 9:48 am

    Open.

    It’s a good way to be.

    Happy, happy new year, dear Sandy.

  4. Eli says

    December 30, 2011 at 10:01 am

    I hope that the new year brings wonderful things to you.

  5. Louise G says

    December 30, 2011 at 10:23 am

    This is beautiful Sandra — and I pray for you it all comes to be.

    Hugs

  6. Corinne Rodrigues says

    December 30, 2011 at 10:51 am

    Such a beautiful prayer, Sandra. I loved the prompt and took it up on my blog too!

  7. Shelly Miller says

    December 30, 2011 at 11:25 am

    Love how a new year brings a new perspective like wiping a slate clean or a blank page in a journal. Love your thoughts and prayers and I echo your sentiments. Blessings!

  8. Carolyn Counterman says

    December 30, 2011 at 2:39 pm

    Yes. This. Have you on my mind every day. Hoping and praying that when Sept/Oct rolls around that we will see each other again. I think we will both need a retreat by then, yes?

  9. diana says

    December 31, 2011 at 1:05 am

    Oh, so lovely, my lovely friend. Praying with you for a joy-filled 2012 and for eyes and ears to behold the glory even in the dark, even in the difficult. Love to you. And Happy New Year!

    • Sandra says

      January 1, 2012 at 11:29 am

      That glory. So much brighter in the dark, right. More love to you, Diana.

  10. Tracy says

    December 31, 2011 at 3:27 am

    Wow, Sandy, great 5 minute post. So glad I found your blog over at Lisa-Jo. Praying you have a joy-filled 2012 with abundant blessings.
    God bless
    Tracy

    • Sandra says

      January 1, 2012 at 11:14 am

      So glad to see you, Tracy. Welcome.

  11. Joanne Norton says

    January 3, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    AMEN!!! So agree… with it all.

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I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

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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. 
🌱

✨ 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
✨
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.
🌴
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:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#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.
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🌱 
#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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